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Before we could ship our oars to get away, they shot at us again, but did us no harm; the negroes came to the rocks close beside us, whence they discharged calivers at us, and the Portuguese shot off their base twice more. On this our ship made some shots at them, but they were protected by the rocks and hills.
Wishing to obtain provisions, Cavendish at once sent a boat to the main; but the fierce Araucanians who inhabited the country, mistaking the crew for Spaniards, of whom they have ever been the deadly enemies, furiously assailed them, but were soon compelled to retreat by a few discharges of the English calivers.
Sixty-six of these were paraws, having their sides defended with bags of cotton by advice of the Italians, to ward off our shot; and each of these had twenty-five men and two pieces of ordnance, five of the men in each paraw being armed with calivers or matchlocks.
When Sir Oliver staggered to his feet he found the battle joined. The Spaniards had fired a volley from their calivers and a dense cloud of smoke hung above the bulwarks; through this surged now the corsairs, led by a tall, lean, elderly man with a flowing white beard and a swarthy eagle face.
In that manner they came bravely towards us, with their flags displayed, sounding their trumpets, and sailed at least three times about us, discharging at us their muskets and calivers and some pieces of great ordnance, doing us no harm in the hull of our ship, but spoiled all our sails and ropes, and so plagued us that no man durst put forth his head.
Our modern sailor in the navy, however, would be hopelessly lost in trying to follow directions like the following: Make ready your cannons, middle culverins, bastard culverins, falcons, sakers, slings, headsticks, murderers, passevolants, bazzils, dogges, crook arquebusses, calivers, and hail shot! 'A sail! 'How bears she? To-windward or lee-ward? Set him by the compass!
If, as all say, there are moments which are hours, how many hours was Amyas Leigh in reaching that boat's bow? Alas! the negroes are there as soon as he, and the guard, having left their calivers, are close behind them, sword in hand. Amyas is up to his knees in water battered with stones blinded with blood.
Though well aimed, the ball struck the ground beneath his horse's feet, and Nicholas continued his way unmoved, while the faulty marksman jumped down the crag. At the same time four other men started from their places of concealment behind the stones, and, levelling their calivers at the fugitives, fired.
Aboard the Spanish vessel there broke a terrible cry of "Asad-ed-Din" the name of the most redoubtable Muslim corsair since the Italian renegade Ochiali the Ali Pasha who had been killed at Lepanto. Trumpets blared and drums beat on the poop, and the Spaniards in morion and corselet, armed with calivers and pikes, stood to defend their lives and liberty. The gunners sprang to the culverins.
Having a small boat which we called a light horseman, there went into her myself and four men armed with calivers, and four others to row, in which we went towards them against the wind.
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