The vessels lay side by side, locked in an unyielding embrace.  Our ordnance had wrought havoc on the corsair, her huge lateen yards lying athwart her decks, while heaps of dead and dying men encumbered her slippery planks. But the remnant still resisted, and for us the completion of our victory was to be dearly bought.  We had already suffered considerably, many men having been slain on our fo’c’sle and poop, and now, headed by our gallant Captain Poynings, we threw ourselves upon the foemen’s deck, where we met with a desperate resistance.  The corsairs knew that surrender meant an ignominious death, and fought with the courage of despair, calling on Allah and Mohammed as they slew or were slain.