totter, rather than walk. Twenty of these poor women were sent on board
the vessel I was in; they were hauled on board by the hair, and treated
in a most savage manner. When the chief came on board, he questioned
them respecting the circumstances of their friends, and demanded ransoms
accordingly, from six thousand to six hundred dollars each. He ordered
them a berth on deck, at the after part of the vessel, where they had
nothing to shelter them from the weather, which at this time was very
variable--the days excessively hot, and the nights cold, with heavy
rains. The town being plundered of everything valuable, it was set on
fire, and reduced to ashes by the morning. The fleet remained here three
days, negotiating for the ransom of the prisoners, and plundering the
fish-tanks and gardens. During all this time, the Chinese never ventured
from the hills, though there were frequently not more than a hundred
Ladrones on shore at a time, and I am sure the people on the hills
exceeded ten times that number.

"On the 10th we formed a junction with the Black-squadron, and proceeded
many miles up a wide and beautiful river, passing several ruins of
villages that had been destroyed by the Black-squadron. On the 17th, the
fleet anchored abreast four mud batteries, which defended a town, so
entirely surrounded with wood, that it was impossible to form any idea
of its size. The weather was very hazy, with hard squalls of rain. The
Ladrones remained perfectly quiet for two days. On the third day the
forts commenced a brisk fire for several hours: the Ladrones did not
return a single shot, but weighed in the night and dropped down the
river. The reasons they gave for not attacking the town, or returning
the fire, were, that Joss had not promised them success. They are very
superstitious, and consult their idol on all occasions. If his omens are
good, they will undertake the most daring enterprises. The fleet now
anchored opposite the ruins of the town where the women had been made