noon
For , except the beach on which we were encamped , we found the whole coast covered with thick forest to the water 's edge ; while our boats , in which we might have made shift to escape , had been either fired or taken off by the savages . At 10 a.m. , therefore , Captain Wills called a council of war , and informed us that he could think of no better plan than to push on for a harbour -LRB- its name , if I mistake not , was Gray 's Harbour -RRB- lying about seventy miles to the southward , where a ship of the Company was due to call early in the spring . Obed remembered it , and added that the journey might be quickly made , since his map showed no creek or river that promised to impede us , and the Indians were not likely to annoy us while the camp and the remains of the barque afforded any plunder . Accordingly we packed up , and having destroyed what muskets and weapons we did not want and thrown our spare gunpowder into the sea , shortly after noon began our march through the forest . We were nineteen persons in all : and each of us carried two muskets , a pistol and some pounds of ammunition , besides his share of the provisions . The only ones more lightly laden were Margit and Captain Wills . The latter , indeed , could with pain manage to walk at all , and so clogged the pace of the party that we made but eight miles before night-fall , when we halted in an open space , set watches , and passed the night with no more discomfort than came from the severe cold .