We now mustered seventeen armed men, all told, each of whom was provided with a firearm of some kind, while my own nine men, myself, and the general boasted sidearms as well.  Carter had no weapons of his own, neither had the doctor nor Briggs, but three of the youngsters possessed a brace of pistols each, which they were quite willing to lend; and with these Carter, the doctor, and Briggs were promptly armed.  This brought our number up to twenty against the twenty-three away in the longboat; and since we possessed the advantage over the mutineers that we had the ship's deck as a fighting platform, I thought that we might now regard ourselves as masters of the situation.  Nevertheless I did not feel disposed to neglect any further advantages that we might happen to possess--for not all of our party were fighting men, and I did not know how the civilians might behave in a hand-to-hand fight.  I therefore at once began to look round with the object of ascertaining what further means of defence the ship afforded.  She was pierced for twelve guns-- six of a side; but the only artillery that she actually carried was a pair of 6-pounder brass carronades, the carriages of which were secured one on either side of the main-deck entrance to the saloon.  I suspected that these pieces had been put on board by the owners more for the purpose of signalling than as a means of defence, but I now gave them a very careful overhaul, and came to the conclusion that they were good, reliable weapons, and capable of rendering efficient service.  But when I came to question Carter about ammunition he could tell me nothing, as he had not been aboard the ship when her cargo was stowed.  However, at my suggestion he now took possession of the skipper's cabin, and proceeded to give it a thorough overhaul, with the result that in a short time he reappeared with a key in his hand, attached to which was a parchment label inscribed "Magazine".  This was strong presumptive evidence in favour of the supposition that a magazine existed somewhere aboard the ship, and a little further search resulted in its discovery abaft the lazarette.  With all due precautions we at once proceeded to open this receptacle, and found, to our very great satisfaction, that it not only contained a supply of signal rockets, but also a liberal supply of powder cartridges for the signal guns, and a dozen stands of muskets, together with a goodly number of kegs, some of which contained powder, while the remainder were full of bullets.  This was a most fortunate discovery indeed, especially in so far as the muskets were concerned, for the possession of them at once gave us a definite and very decided advantage over the mutineers.  The muskets were forthwith conveyed on deck, together with a supply of powder and three kegs of bullets, and also a dozen cartridges for the guns.  The afternoon was by this time well advanced, and we might look for the return of the mutineers at any moment.  We therefore loaded the carronades with five double handfuls of musket balls apiece--about a hundred bullets to each gun--in place of round shot, and, running them forward, mounted them on the topgallant forecastle as being the most commanding position in the ship.  Then we loaded the muskets and placed them in the rack on the fore side of the deck-house, which completed our preparations.  And now all that remained was to keep a sharp look-out, and, while doing so, determine upon the policy to be pursued when the returning longboat should heave in sight.