about nine o'clock
The old fellow grumbled excessively when I told him to throw them overboard , and then somewhat annoyed me by saying that all the talk about them being unsafe was bunkum . He had , he said , caught and eaten just the same kind of fish at Vavau , in the Tonga Islands , time and time again . It was no use arguing with such a creature , so , after again warning him not to eat any fish of any kind unless the natives `` passed '' them as non-poisonous , I left him and went on board my own vessel . We had supper rather later than usual that evening , and , as the mate and myself were smoking on deck about nine o'clock , we heard four shots in rapid succession fired from the wreck . Knowing that something was wrong , I called a couple of hands , and in a few minutes was pulled on board , where I found the old carpenter lying writhing in agony , his features presenting a truly shocking and terrifying appearance . His revolver lay on the deck near him -- he had fired it to bring assistance . I need not here describe the peculiarly drastic remedies adopted by the natives to save the man 's life .