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And here likewise are kept many thousand muskets, swords, and boarding-pikes for daily use, and a couple of ragged old standards of one of the English regiments, who pursued and conquered in Egypt the remains of the haughty and famous French republican army, at whose appearance the last knights of Malta flung open the gates of all their fortresses, and consented to be extinguished without so much as a remonstrance, or a kick, or a struggle.
Ere he had finished speaking the arming of the men had already begun, and within a very few minutes the cutlasses and long boarding-pikes had all been distributed, every man having some weapon. "Now, bo'sun, pipe the men to their stations," sang out the skipper, who appeared to have already matured his plan of action.
The blacks are not likely to come off to attack us, and if they do, we could very soon drive them back again." "If we are properly prepared we may," said my cousin; and we all continued the work we had in hand. Besides the firearms we had a few ship's cutlasses; and at Timbo's suggestion we fastened all the knives and axes we could find to some long spars, to use them as boarding-pikes.
The timbered warehouses were filled with long-toms and nine-pounders, muskets, blunderbusses, pistols, cutlases, boarding-pikes, hand grenades, tomahawks, grape, canister, and doubleheaded shot.
After the negroes had been given a full week in which to recover their health and strength, they were mustered early on a certain morning, given a good breakfast, allowed to load themselves up with as much meal as they chose to take, furnished with a few boarding-pikes and cutlasses from the prizes wherewith to defend themselves on the way, and transported across the harbour and fairly started upon their journey.
He landed three hundred and fifty sailors and marines and established a camp at San Pedro. Captain Stockton's biographer says: "There were only about ninety muskets in the whole corps. Some of the men were armed with carbines, others had only pistols, swords, or boarding-pikes. They presented a motley and peculiar appearance, with great variety of costume.
Grey and Billy Wise and two other men did the same, and let fly among the enemy. In another instant we were under the schooner's quarter. The bowman hooked on. Without asking leave, up we scrambled, and, cutlass in hand, in spite of boarding-pikes thrust at us, and pistols flashed in our faces, began to play heartily about us among the very much astonished Frenchmen.
They delayed until the runaway cannon crashed into another gun, and then they broke like sprinters from the mark and sped straight for the mainmast, seeking the rack of boarding-pikes. They ran nimbly, as men used to swaying decks, and compassed the distance in a few strides.
This conversation took place while we were making our breakfast. Instead of tea, we knocked off, with the boarding-pikes, lumps of ice, which we ate, and found perfectly fresh.
In addition to the muskets, each canoe had a long four or six-pounder in its bow, besides which the crews were armed with swords and boarding-pikes. In an instant their luggage was transferred to the canoes of their opponents, while some of them seized Pasco's wife, and were dragging her out of the canoe.
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