"There she is..."

Chief Gilbert and a company of 10 men, including several Hakawa, had been travelling North along the coast for the past few days and had finally reached the entrance to Arthur's Cove. A watchtower had been spotted rising up from a hill on the Eastern side, so the men had wisely decided to disembark on the Western side and hide their canoe amongst the bushes before carefully trekking North through the untouched forests towards the settlement of Port Arthur. In the distance, the "Charlotte" - Chief聽Gilbert's prize - could be seen docked at the Port Arthur wharves. It was the middle of the night, and a thick fog clouded the air - the perfect cover for their brazen plan. As the men crept along the shoreline, making sure to stay out of sight, they finally reached the docks. Suddenly, voices were heard from above - the men froze in their tracks - "George, what are you doing here?" "Sorry Peter, I forgot to pack my supper - I'll head back up in a moment". "Alright, see you in the morning". As the footsteps faded into the distance, the men continued towards the "Charlotte", wading through the water along the edge of the wharves. They reached their target and climbed up a rope onto the deck. The mooring line was cut and the "Charlotte" began to silently drift out across Arthur's Cove towards the heads.

The last challenge was getting past the watchtower. A small fire could be seen through the fog, flickering in the distance. Chief Gilbert and his men could only hope they would not be seen...

As dawn broke in Port Arthur, Peter was on his way heading up towards the watchtower to replace George when he noticed something different about the docks. It seemed emptier than usual. Where was the "Charlotte"? He thought perhaps Arthur had taken her out earlier in the morning - perhaps some practice for the sailors? - in any case, George would know... "Hey George, did you happen to see where the "Charlotte" went? She's not at the docks." George's face went white. "What do you mean?" replied George. Peter's face went white... "George..." Peter turned around and could see quite a commotion down by the Port Arthur docks. He could see Arthur and the marines rushing about - "this is not good... not good at all... I swear I wasn't asleep... you've got to believe me..." Arthur and the marines were now on their way racing up towards the watchtower.

"Mr Henderson - notice anything suspicious during your watchtower duties last night?" asked Arthur. "Not at all" replied George聽"What is the matter?" Arthur pointed back towards the docks "Notice anything?" "Ummm...聽oh yes... where is the "Charlotte"?" "My question indeed" replied Arthur. Peter stepped in "I was down on the docks late last night sir, and she was there - but there was quite a heavy fog over the bay - I'm not sure if George would have been able to see much from up here - right George?" "Thats exactly right - I could barely see my own hands" replied George. "I see..." replied Arthur. "George -聽come with me... Peter - keep watch and make sure to ring the bell if you see anything at all." "Yes Sir!"

An emergency town meeting was called where Arthur ordered everybody be accounted for. If anyone was missing, they must be responsible for the theft of the "Charlotte". Unfortunately for Arthur, not a single person was unaccounted for. After pondering for a few minutes, he came up with the two most likely probabilities - Old Reg had recently been banished from Port Arthur and his last words raised suspicion with Arthur. Arthur did know he was once a sailor in the navy and would probably be capable of navigating a ship. Old Reg also knew the town well and would have been able to sneak around undetected without much trouble. A small group of marines led by William was ordered to search for Old Reg, who was last seen heading East into the woods to the North of Port Arthur.

The other, possibly more likely scenario聽was that Captain Gilbert had come back for revenge and re-taken the "Charlotte" for himself. This would be a much more serious scenario, as Captain Gilbert would most certainly look to head back to the British colony of New South Wales and spread word of the mutiny - likely leading to a British raid on Port Arthur and imprisonment of all the mutineers. Arthur knew the journey back to New South Wales would take quite some time and Captain Gilbert would first need to stock up on supplies before heading out. There was time - but not a lot. Arthur ordered a larger group to head South with him in search of Captain Gilbert and his men, including several cannons in preparation for a possible battle. The "Charlotte" was still armed with a few cannons, however only limited gunpowder supplies remained on board.

The small group of marines who had been searching for Old Reg came across quite rough terrain fairly quickly. This did slow them down, however the exposed rocky outcrops did give them quite substantial views over New Southland. Behind them they could see the smoke rising from the Port Arthur settlement, and beyond was just endless forest stretching off into the distance. They could see several large bays to the East, however no sight of the "Charlotte" - or Old Reg.

Meanwhile, the second group of marines, who had travelled South could see plumes of smoke rising in the distance - they must be close. As they rounded the Southern headland, and trekked westward, Camp Gilbert came into view. It was much larger than what Arthur had expected - there were definitely more than just those six men who had been banished along with Captain Gilbert all those years ago. Who were these other people and where did the come from? The answers to those questions could wait, as Arthur's focus was now fixated on just one thing - there she was - glimmering in the water - the "Charlotte" had been found!

The company quickly set up positions on the opposite side of the cove and awaited Arthur's signal. Arthur could see Captain Gilbert, who he could barely recognise being covered head-to-toe in deerskin talking to some people he had never seen before. They had darker skin and seemed to have set up a camp along the shore, substantially outnumbering the other men. What was he planning? Whatever it was, Arthur was about to put an end to it. With the signal given, two cannon shots were fired across the cove, directly hitting Camp Gilbert and destroying two buildings.

Captain Gilbert and his men had been caught completely by surprise and rushed aboard the "Charlotte" to arm the cannons. Arthur, hesitant to fire at the "Charlotte" ordered more shots fired at Camp Gilbert - hoping to force a surrender. However, if he had learnt one thing, it was that Captain Gilbert was not one to surrender, even in the face of certain defeat. Shots were fired from the "Charlotte" destroying one of Arthur's cannons and injuring several marines.

There was only one option now. "Down she goes!" yelled Arthur as cannon fire directly hit the "Charlotte" blowing a huge hole in her hull. A second successive hit gave the final blow and Captain Gilbert and his men were seen jumping into the waters below as the "Charlotte" sank down into the abyss.

"There shall be no mercy!" yelled Arthur as he ordered his men to open fire on Camp Gilbert. The only thing that stopped them was the dwindling supply of gunpowder. As thick smoke rose from Camp Gilbert, ablaze and in ruins, Arthur and his men retreated back to Port Arthur, empty handed, however with the knowledge that at least Captain Gilbert's plan had been thwarted and his threat to New Southland was largely neutralised. Arthur would ensure that going forward regular scouting missions would continue to keep an eye on Captain Gilbert to ensure the security of Port Arthur and the future of New Southland.