With these I carried a tailor, who had offered himself to go passenger to the East Indies with my nephew, but afterwards consented to stay on our new plantation, and proved a most necessary handy fellow as could be desired, in many other businesses besides that of this trade; for, as I observed formerly, necessity arms us for all employments.

My cargo, as near as I can recollect, for I have not kept an account of the particulars, consisted of a sufficient quantity of linen, and some thin English stuffs for clothing the Spaniards that I expected to find there, and enough of them as by my calculation might comfortably supply them for seven years: if I remember right, the materials which I carried for clothing them, with gloves, hats, shoes, stockings, and all such things as they could want for wearing, amounted to above two hundred pounds, including some beds, bedding, and household-stuff, particularly kitchen utensils, with pots, kettles, pewter, brass, &c. besides near a hundred pounds more in iron-work, nails, tools of every kind, staples, hooks, hinges, and every necessary thing I could think of.

I carried also a hundred spare arms, muskets, and fuzees, besides some pistols, a considerable quantity of shot of all sizes, three or four tons of lead, and two pieces of brass cannon; and because I knew not what time and what extremities I was providing for, I carried an hundred barrels of powder, besides swords, cutlasses, and the iron part of some pikes and halberts; so that, in short, we had a large magazine of all sorts of stores; and I made my nephew carry two small quarter-deck guns more than he wanted for his ship, to leave behind if there was occasion; that when they came there we might build a fort, and man it against all sorts of enemies: and indeed I at first thought there would be need enough of it all, and much more, if we hoped to maintain our possession of the island, as shall be seen in the course of the story.

I had not such bad luck in this voyage as I had been used to meet with; and therefore shall have the less occasion to interrupt the reader, who perhaps may be impatient to hear how matters went with my colony; yet some odd accidents, cross winds, and bad weather happened on this first setting out, which made the voyage longer than I expected it at first; and I, who had never made but one voyage, viz. my first voyage to Guinea, in which I might be said to come back again as the voyage was at first designed, began to think the same ill fate still attended me; and that I was born to be never contented with being on shore, and yet to be always unfortunate at sea.

Contrary winds first put us to the northward, and we were obliged to put in at Galway, in Ireland, where we lay wind bound two-and-thirty days; but we had this satisfaction with the disaster, that provisions were here, exceeding cheap, and in the utmost plenty; so that while we lay here we never touched the ship's stores, but rather added to them: here also I took several hogs, and two cows with their calves, which I resolved, if I had a good passage, to put on shore in my island; but we found occasion to dispose otherwise of them.

We set out the 5th of February from Ireland, and had a very fair gale of wind for some days; as I remember, it might be about the 20th of February in the evening late, when the mate having the watch, came into the round-house, and told us he saw a flash of fire, and heard a gun fired; and while he was telling us of it, a boy came in, and told us the boatswain heard another. This made us all run out upon the quarter-deck, where for a while we heard nothing, but in a few minutes we saw a very great light, and found that there was some very terrible fire at a distance. Immediately we had recourse to our reckonings, in which we all agreed that there could be no land that way in which the fire shewed itself, no, not for five hundred leagues, for it appeared at W.N.W. Upon this we concluded it must be some ship on fire at sea; and as by our hearing the noise of guns just before, we concluded it could not be far off, we stood directly towards it, and were presently satisfied we should discover it, because the farther we sailed the greater the light appeared, though the weather being hazy we could not perceive any thing but the light for a while; in about half an hour's sailing, the wind being fair for us, though not much of it, and the weather clearing up a little, we could plainly discern that it was a great ship on fire in the middle of the sea.

I was most sensibly touched with this disaster, though not at all acquainted with the persons engaged in it; I presently recollected my former circumstances, in what condition I was in when taken up by the Portugal captain; and how much more deplorable the circumstances of the poor creatures belonging to this ship must be if they had no other ship in company with them: upon this I immediately ordered that five guns should be fired, one soon after another, that, if possible, we might give notice to them that there was help for them at hand, and that they might endeavour to save themselves in their boat; for though we could see the flame in the ship, yet they, it being night, could see nothing of us.

We lay by some time upon this, only driving as the burning ship drove, waiting for daylight; when on a sudden, to our great terror, though we had reason to expect it, the ship blew up in the air, and immediately sunk. This was terrible, and indeed an afflicting sight, for the sake of the poor men, who, I concluded, must be either all destroyed in the ship, or be in the utmost distress in their boats in the middle of the ocean, which, at present, by reason it was dark, I could not see: however, to direct them as well as I could, I caused lights to be hung out in all the parts of the ship where we could, and which we had lanterns for, and kept firing guns all the night long; letting them know by this, that there was a ship not far off.

About eight o'clock in the morning we discovered the ship's boats, by the help of our perspective-glasses; and found there were two of them, both thronged with people, and deep in the water; we perceived they rowed, the wind being against them; that they saw our ship, and did the utmost to make us see them.

We immediately spread our ancient, to let them know we saw them; and hung a waft out, as a signal for them to come on board; and then made more sail, standing directly to them. In a little more than half an hour we came up with them, and in a word took them all in, being no less than sixty-four men, women, and children; for there were a great many passengers.

Upon the whole, we found it was a French merchant-ship of three hundred tons, homeward-bound from Quebec, in the river of Canada. The master gave us a long account of the distress of his ship, how the fire began in the steerage by the negligence of the steersman; but, on his crying out for help, was, as everybody thought, entirely put out: but they soon found that some sparks of the first fire had gotten into some part of the ship, so difficult to come at, that they could not effectually quench it; and afterwards getting in between the timbers, and within the ceiling of the ship, it proceeded into the hold, and mastered all the skill and all the application they were able to exert.

They had no more to do then but to get into their boats, which, to their great comfort, were pretty large; being their long-boat, and a great shallop, besides a small skiff, which was of no great service to them, other than to get some fresh water and provisions into her, after they had secured themselves from the fire. They had indeed small hope of their lives by getting into these boats at that distance from any land; only, as they said well, that they were escaped from the fire, and had a possibility, that some ship might happen to be at sea, and might take them in. They had sails, oars, and a compass; and were preparing to make the best of their way to Newfoundland, the wind blowing pretty fair; for it blew an easy gale at S.E. by E. They had as much provisions and water, as, with sparing it so as to be next door to starving, might support them about twelve days; in which, if they had no bad weather, and no contrary winds, the captain said, he hoped he might get to the banks of Newfoundland, and might perhaps take some fish to sustain them till they might go on shore. But there were so many chances against them in all these cases; such as storms to overset and founder them; rains and cold to benumb and perish their limbs; contrary winds to keep them out and starve them; that it must have been next to miraculous if they had escaped.

In the midst of their consultations, every one being hopeless, and ready to despair, the captain with tears in his eyes told me, they were on a sudden surprised with the joy of hearing a gun fire, and after that four more; these were the five guns which I caused to be fired at first seeing the light: this revived their hearts, and gave them the notice which, as above, I designed it should, viz. that there was a ship at hand for their help.

It was upon the hearing these guns, that they took down their masts and sails; and the sound coming from the windward, they resolved to lie by till morning. Some time after this, hearing no more guns, they fired three muskets, one a considerable while after another; but these, the wind being contrary, we never heard.

Some time after that again, they were still more agreeably surprised with seeing our lights, and hearing the guns, which, as I have said, I caused to be fired all the rest of the night: this set them to work with their oars to keep their boats ahead, at least that we might the sooner come up with them; and at last, to their inexpressible joy, they found we saw them.

It is impossible for me to express the several gestures, the strange ecstasies, the variety of postures, which these poor delivered people ran into, to express the joy of their souls at so unexpected a deliverance; grief and fear are easily described; sighs, tears, groans, and a very few motions of head and hands, make up the sum of its variety: but an excess of joy, a surprise of joy, has a thousand extravagances in it; there were some in tears, some raging and tearing themselves, as if they had been in the greatest agonies of sorrow; some stark raving and downright lunatic; some ran about the ship stamping with their feet, others wringing their hands; some were dancing, several singing, some laughing, more crying; many quite dumb, not able to speak a word; others sick and vomiting, several swooning, and ready to faint; and a few were crossing themselves and giving God thanks.

I would not wrong them neither; there might he many that were thankful afterward; but the passion was too strong for them at first, and they were not able to master it; they were thrown into ecstasies and a kind of frenzy, and so there were but a very few who were composed and serious in their joy.

Perhaps also the case may have some addition to it, from the particular circumstance of the nation they belonged to; I mean the French, whose temper is allowed to be more volatile, more passionate, and more sprightly, and their spirits more fluid, than of other nations. I am not philosopher to determine the cause, but nothing I had ever seen before came up to it: the ecstasies poor Friday, my trusty savage, was in, when he found his father in the boat, came the nearest to it; and the surprise of the master, and his two companions, whom I delivered from the two villains that set them on shore in the island, came a little way towards it; but nothing was to compare to this, either that I saw in Friday, or any where else in my life.

It is farther observable, that these extravagances did not shew themselves in that different manner I have mentioned, in different persons only: but all the variety would appear in a short succession of moments, in one and the same person. A man that we saw this minute dumb, and, as it were, stupid and confounded, should the next minute be dancing and hallooing like an antic; and the next moment a-tearing his hair, or pulling his clothes to pieces, and stamping them under his feet like a madman; a few minutes after that, we should have him all in tears, then sick, then swooning; and had not immediate help been had, would in a few moments more have been dead; and thus it was, not with one or two, or ten or twenty, but with the greatest part of them; and, if I remember right, our surgeon was obliged to let above thirty of them blood.

There were two priests among them, one an old man, and the other a young man; and that which was strangest was, that the oldest man was the worst.

As soon as he set his foot on board our ship, and saw himself safe, he dropped down stone dead, to all appearance; not the least sign of life could be perceived in him; our surgeon immediately applied proper remedies to recover him; and was the only man in the ship that believed he was not dead: and at length he opened a vein in his arm, having first chafed and rubbed the part, so as to warm it as much as possible: upon this the blood, which only dropped at first, flowed something freely; in three minutes after the man opened his eyes; and about a quarter of an hour after that he spoke, grew better, and, in a little time, quite well; after the blood was stopped he walked about, told us he was perfectly well, took a dram of cordial which the surgeon gave him, and was, what we called, come to himself; about a quarter of an hour after this they came running into the cabin to the surgeon, who was bleeding a French woman that had fainted, and told him the priest was gone stark mad. It seems he had begun to revolve the change of his circumstances in his mind, and this put him into an ecstasy of joy: his spirits whirled about faster than the vessels could convey them; the blood grew hot and feverish; and the man was as fit for Bedlam as any creature that ever was in it; the surgeon would not bleed him again in that condition, but gave him something to doze and put him to sleep, which, after some time, operated upon him, and he waked next morning perfectly composed and well.

The younger priest behaved himself with great command of his passion, and was really an example of a serious, well-governed mind; at his first coming on board the ship, he threw himself flat on his face, prostrating himself in thankfulness for his deliverance; in which I unhappily and unseasonably disturbed him, really thinking he had been in a swoon: but he spoke calmly; thanked me; told me he was giving God thanks for his deliverance; begged me to leave him a few moments, and that next to his Maker he would give me thanks also.

I was heartily sorry that I disturbed him, and not only left him, but kept others from interrupting him also; he continued in that posture about three minutes, or a little more, after I left him, then came to me, as he had said he would, and with a great deal of seriousness and affection, but with tears in his eyes, thanked me that had, under God, given him and so many miserable creatures their lives: I told him, I had no room to move him to thank God for it rather than me; for I had seen that he had done that already: but I added, that it was nothing but what reason and humanity dictated to all men, and that we had as much reason as he to give thanks to God, who had blessed us so far as to make us the instruments of his mercy to so many of his creatures.

After this the young priest applied himself to his country-folks; laboured to compose them; persuaded, entreated, argued, reasoned with them, and did his utmost to keep them within the exercise of their reason; and with some he had success, though others were, for a time, out of all government of themselves.

I cannot help committing this to writing, as perhaps it may be useful to those into whose hands it may fall, in the guiding themselves in all the extravagances of their passions; for if an excess of joy can carry men out to such a length beyond the reach of their reason, what will not the extravagances of anger, rage, and a provoked mind, carry us to? And, indeed, here I saw reason for keeping an exceeding watch over our passions of every kind, as well those of joy and satisfaction, as those of sorrow and anger.

We were something disordered by these extravagances among our new guests for the first day; but when they had been retired, lodgings provided for them as well as our ship would allow, and they had slept heartily, as most of them did, being fatigued and frightened, they were quite another sort of people the next day.

Nothing of good manners, or civil acknowledgments for the kindness shown them, was wanting; the French, it is known, are naturally apt enough to exceed that way. The captain and one of the priests came to me the next day; and, desiring to speak with me and my nephew, the commander, began to consult with us what should be done with them; and first they told us, that as we had saved their lives, so all they had was little enough for a return to us for the kindness received. The captain said, they had saved some money, and some things of value in their boats, catched hastily out of the flames: and if we would accept it, they were ordered to make an offer of it all to us; they only desired to be set on shore somewhere in our way, where, if possible, they might get a passage to France.

My nephew was for accepting their money at first word, and to consider what to do with them afterwards; but I overruled him in that part; for I knew what it was to be set on shore in a strange country; and if the Portugal captain that took me up at sea had served me so, and took all I had for my deliverance, I must have starved, or have been as much a slave at the Brasils as I had been at Barbary, the being sold to a Mahometan only excepted; and perhaps a Portuguese is not a much better master than a Turk, if not, in some cases, a much worse.

I therefore told the French captain that we had taken them up in their distress, it was true; but that it was our duty to do so, as we were fellow-creatures, and as we would desire to be so delivered, if we were in the like or any other extremity; that we had done nothing for them but what we believed they would have done for us if we had been in their case and they in ours; but that we took them up to serve them, not to plunder them; and that it would be a most barbarous thing, to take that little from them which they had saved out of the fire, and then set them on shore and leave them; that this would be first to save them from death and then kill them ourselves; save them from drowning and then abandon them to starving; and therefore I would not let the least thing be taken from them: as to setting them on shore, I told them indeed that was an exceeding difficulty to us, for that the ship was bound to the East Indies; and though we were driven out of our course to the westward a very great way, which perhaps was directed by Heaven on purpose for their deliverance, yet it was impossible for us wilfully to change our voyage on this particular account; nor could my nephew, the captain, answer it to the freighters, with whom he was under charter-party to pursue his voyage by the way of Brasil; and all I knew he could do for them was, to put ourselves in the way of meeting with other ships homeward-bound from the West Indies, and get them passage, if possible, to England or France.

The first part of the proposal was so generous and kind, they could not but be very thankful for it; but they were in a great consternation, especially the passengers, at the notion of being carried away to the East Indies: they then entreated me, that seeing I was driven so far to the westward before I met with them, I would at least keep on the same course to the banks of Newfoundland, where it was possible I might meet some ship or sloop that they might hire to carry them back to Canada, from whence they came.

I thought this was but a reasonable request on their part, and therefore I inclined to agree to it; for indeed I considered, that to carry this whole company to the East Indies would not only be an intolerable severity to the poor people, but would be ruining our voyage by devouring all our provisions; so I thought it no breach of charter-party, but what an unforeseen accident made absolutely necessary to us; and in which no one could say we were to blame; for the laws of God and nature would have forbid, that we should refuse to take up two boats full of people in such a distressed condition; and the nature of the thing, as well respecting ourselves as the poor people, obliged us to see them on shore somewhere or other, for their deliverance; so I consented that we would carry them to Newfoundland, if wind and weather would permit; and, if not, that I would carry them to Martinico in the West Indies.

The wind continued fresh easterly, but the weather pretty good; and as it had blowed continually in the points between N.E. and S.E. a long time, we missed several opportunities of sending them to France; for we met several ships bound to Europe, whereof two were French, from St. Christopher's; but they had been so long beating up against the wind, that they durst take in no passengers for fear of wanting provisions for the voyage, as well for themselves as for those they should take in; so we were obliged to go on. It was about a week after this, that we made the banks of Newfoundland, where, to shorten my story, we put all our French people on board a bark, which they hired at sea there, to put them on shore, and afterwards to carry them to France, if they could get provisions to victual themselves with: when, I say, all the French went on shore, I should remember that the young priest I spoke of, hearing we were bound to the East Indies, desired to go the voyage with us, and to be set on shore on the coast of Coromandel: I readily agreed to that; for I wonderfully liked the man, and had very good reason, as will appear afterwards; also four of the seamen entered themselves in our ship, and proved very useful fellows.

From hence we directed our course for the West Indies, steering away S. and S. by E. for about twenty days together, sometimes little or no wind at all, when we met with another subject for our humanity to work upon, almost as deplorable as that before.

It was in the latitude of 27 degrees 5 minutes N. and the 19th day of March 1684—5, when we espied a sail, our course S.E. and by S. We soon perceived it was a large vessel, and that she bore up to us; but could not at first know what to make of her, till, after coming a little nearer, we found she had lost her main-topmast, fore-mast, and bowsprit; and presently she fires a gun as a signal of distress. The weather was pretty good, wind at N.N.W. a fresh gale, and we soon came to speak with her.

We found her a ship of Bristol bound home from Barbadoes, but had been blown out of the road at Barbadoes, a few days before she was ready to sail, by a terrible hurricane, while the captain and chief mate were both gone on shore; so that beside the terror of the storm, they were but in an indifferent case for good artists to bring the ship home; they had been already nine weeks at sea, and had met with another terrible storm after the hurricane was over, which had blown them quite out of their knowledge to the westward, and in which they had lost their masts, as above; they told us, they expected to have seen the Bahama Islands, but were then driven away again to the south-east by a strong gale of wind at N.N.W. the same that blew now, and having no sails to work the ship with, but a main-course, and a kind of square sail upon a jury-foremast, which they had set up, they could not lie near the wind, but were endeavouring to stand away for the Canaries.

But that which was worst of all, was, that they were almost starved for want of provisions, besides the fatigues they had undergone; their bread and flesh was quite gone, they had not an ounce left in the ship, and had had none for eleven days; the only relief they had, was, their water was not all spent, and they had about half a barrel of flour left; they had sugar enough; some succades or sweetmeats they had at first, but they were devoured; and they had seven casks of rum.

There was a youth and his mother, and a maid-servant, on board, who were going passengers, and thinking the ship was ready to sail, unhappily came on board the evening before the hurricane began; and having no provisions of their own left, they were in a more deplorable condition than the rest; for the seamen, being reduced to such an extreme necessity themselves, had no compassion, we may be sure, for the poor passengers; and they were indeed in a condition that their misery is very hard to describe.

I had perhaps not known this part, if my curiosity had not led me, the weather being fair, and the wind abated, to go on board the ship: the second mate, who upon this occasion commanded the ship, had been on board our ship; and he told me indeed, that they had three passengers in the great cabin, that they were in a deplorable condition; "Nay," says he, "I believe they are dead, for I have heard nothing of them for above two days; and I was afraid to inquire after them," said he, "for I had nothing to relieve them with."

We immediately applied ourselves to give them what relief we could spare; and indeed I had so far overruled things with my nephew, that I would have victualled them, though we had gone away to Virginia, or any part of the coast of America, to have supplied ourselves; but there was no necessity for that.

But now they were in a new danger, for they were afraid of eating too much, even of that little we gave them. The mate or commander brought six men with him in his boat, but these poor wretches looked like skeletons, and were so weak they could hardly sit to their oars; the mate himself was very ill, and half-starved, for he declared he had reserved nothing from the men, and went share and share alike with them in every bit they ate.

I cautioned him to eat sparingly, but set meat before him immediately, and he had not eaten three mouthfuls before he began to be sick, and out of order; so he stopped awhile, and our surgeon mixed him up something with some broth, which he said would be to him both food and physic; and after he had taken it, he grew better: in the meantime I forgot not the men; I ordered victuals to be given them, and the poor creatures rather devoured than ate it; they were so exceeding hungry, that they were in a manner ravenous, and had no command of themselves; and two of them ate with so much greediness, that they were in danger of their lives the next morning.

The sight of these people's distress was very moving to me, and brought to mind what I had a terrible respect of at my first coming on shore in my island, where I had not the least mouthful of food, or any hopes of procuring it; besides the hourly apprehension I had of being made the food of other creatures. But all the while the mate was thus relating to me the miserable condition of the ship's company, I could not put out of my thought the story he had told me of the three poor creatures in the great cabin; viz. the mother, her son, and the maid-servant, whom he had heard nothing of for two or three days; and whom he seemed to confess they had wholly neglected, their own extremities being so great; by which I understood that they had really given them no food at all; and that therefore they must be perished, and be all lying dead perhaps on the floor or deck of the cabin.

As I therefore kept the mate, whom we then called captain, on board with his men to refresh them, so I also forgot not the starving crew that were left on board, but ordered my own boat to go on board the ship and with my mate and twelve men to carry them a sack of bread, and four or five pieces of beef to boil. Our surgeon charged the men to cause the meat to be boiled while they stayed, and to keep guard in the cook-room, to prevent the men's taking it to eat raw, or taking it out of the pot before it was well boiled, and then to give every man but a little at a time; and by this caution he preserved the men, who would otherwise have killed themselves with that very food that was given them on purpose to save their lives.

At the same time I ordered the mate to go into the great cabin, and see what condition the poor passengers were in, and, if they were alive, to comfort them and give them what refreshment was proper; and the surgeon gave him a large pitcher with some of the prepared broth which he had given the mate that was on board, and which he did not question would restore them gradually.

I was not satisfied with this; but, as I said above, having a great mind to see the scene of misery, which I knew the ship itself would present me with, in a more lively manner than I could have it by report, I took the captain of the ship, as we now called him, with me, and went myself a little after in their boat.

I found the poor men on board almost in a tumult to get the victuals out of the boiler before it was ready; but my mate observed his order, and kept a good guard at the cook-room door; and the man he placed there, after using all possible persuasion to have patience, kept them off by force: however, he caused some biscuit cakes to be dipped in the pot, and softened them with the liquor of the meat, which they call brewis, and gave every one one, to stay their stomachs, and told them it was for their own safety that he was obliged to give them but little at a time. But it was all in vain, and had I not come on board, and their own commander and officers with me, and with good words, and some threats also of giving them no more, I believe they would have broke into the cook-room by force, and torn the meat out of the furnace; for words indeed are of a very small force to an hungry belly: however, we pacified them, and fed them gradually and cautiously for the first time, and the next time gave them more, and at last filled their bellies, and the men did well enough.

But the misery of the poor passengers in the cabin was of another nature, and far beyond the rest; for as, first, the ship's company had so little for themselves, it was but too true, that they had at first kept them very low, and at last totally neglected them; so that for six or seven days, it might be said, they had really had no food at all, and for several days before, very little.

The poor mother, who, as the first mate reported, was a woman of good sense and good breeding, had spared all she could get so affectionately for her son, that at last she entirely sunk under it; and when the mate of our ship went in, she sat upon the floor or deck, with her back up against the sides, between two chairs, which were lashed fast, and her head sunk in between her shoulders, like a corpse, though not quite dead. My mate said all he could to revive and encourage her, and with a spoon put some broth into her mouth; she opened her lips, and lifted up one hand, but could not speak: yet she understood what he said, and made signs to him, intimating, that it was too late for her; but pointed to her child, as if she would have said, they should take care of him.

However, the mate, who was exceedingly moved with the sight, endeavoured to get some of the broth into her mouth; and, as he said, got two or three spoonfuls down, though I question whether he could be sure of it or not; but it was too late, and she died the same night.

The youth, who was preserved at the price of his most affectionate mother's life, was not so far gone; yet he lay in a cabin-bed as one stretched out, with hardly any life left in him; he had a piece of an old glove in his mouth, having eaten up the rest of it; however, being young, and having more strength than his mother, the mate got something down his throat, and he began sensibly to revive, though, by giving him some time after but two or three spoonfuls extraordinary, he was very sick, and brought it up again.

But the next care was the poor maid; she lay all along upon the deck hard by her mistress, and just like one that had fallen down with an apoplexy, and struggled for life: her limbs were distorted, one of her hands was clasped round the frame of one chair, and she griped it so hard, that we could not easily make her let it go; her other arm lay over her head, and her feet lay both together, set fast against the frame of the cabin-table; in short, she lay just like one in the last agonies of death; and yet she was alive too.

The poor creature was not only starved with hunger, and terrified with the thoughts of death, but, as the men told us afterwards, was broken-hearted for her mistress, whom she saw dying two or three days before, and whom she loved most tenderly.

We knew not what to do with this poor girl; for when our surgeon, who was a man of very great knowledge and experience, and with great application recovered her as to life, he had her upon his hand as to her senses, for she was little less than distracted for a considerable time after; as shall appear presently.

Whoever shall read these memorandums, must be desired to consider, that visits at sea are not like a journey into the country, where sometimes people stay a week or a fortnight at a place. Our business was to relieve this distressed ship's crew, but not lie by for them; and though they were willing to steer the same course with us for some days, yet we could carry no sail to keep pace with a ship that had no masts: however, as their captain begged of us to help him to set up a main-topmast, and a kind of topmast to his jury-foremast, we did, as it were, lie by him for three or four days, and then having given him five barrels of beef and pork, two hogsheads of biscuit, and a proportion of peas, flour, and what other things we could spare; and taking three casks of sugar and some rum, and some pieces of eight of them for satisfaction, we left them, taking on board with us, at their own earnest request, the youth and the maid, and all their goods.

The young lad was about seventeen years of age, a pretty, well-bred, modest, and sensible youth; greatly dejected with the loss of his mother, and, as it happened had lost his father bit a few months before at Barbados. He begged of the surgeon to speak to me, to take him out of the ship; for he said, the cruel fellows had murdered his mother; and indeed so they had, that is to say, passively; for they might have spared a small sustenance to the poor helpless widow, that might have preserved her life, though it had been just to keep her alive. But hunger knows no friend, no relation, no justice, no right; and therefore is remorseless, and capable of no compassion.

The surgeon told him how far we were going, and how it would carry him away from all his friends, and put him perhaps in as bad circumstance, almost, as we found them in; that is to say, starving in the world. He said it mattered not whither he went, if he was but delivered from the terrible crew that he was among: that the captain (by which he meant me, for he could know nothing of my nephew) had saved his life, and he was sure would not hurt him; and as for the maid, he was sure, if she came to herself, she would he very thankful for it, let us carry them whither we would. The surgeon represented the case so affectionately to me, that I yielded, and we took them both on board with all their goods, except eleven hogsheads of sugar, which could not be removed, or come at; and as the youth had a bill of lading for them, I made his commander sign a writing, obliging him to go, as soon as he came to Bristol, to one Mr. Rogers, a merchant there, to whom the youth said he was related, and to deliver a letter which I wrote to him, and all the goods he had belonging to the deceased widow; which I suppose was not done; for I could never learn that the ship came to Bristol; but was, as is most probable, lost at sea, being in so disabled a condition, and so far from any land, that I am of opinion, the first storm she met with afterwards she might founder in the sea; for she was leaky, and had damage in her hold when I met with her.

I was now in the latitude of 19 deg. 32 min. and had hitherto had a tolerable voyage as to weather, though at first the winds had been contrary. I shall trouble nobody with the little incidents of wind, weather, currents, &c. on the rest of our voyage; but, shortening my story for the sake of what is to follow, shall observe, that I came to my old habitation, the island, on the 10th of April, 1695. It was with no small difficulty that I found the place; for as I came to it, and went from it before, on the south and east side of the island, as coming from the Brasils; so now coming in between the main and the island, and having no chart for the coast, nor any land-mark, I did not know it when I saw it, or know whether I saw it or no.

We beat about a great while, and went on shore on several islands in the mouth of the great river Oroonoque, but none for my purpose: only this I learnt by my coasting the shore, that I was under one great mistake before, viz. that the continent which I thought I saw from the island I lived in, was really no continent, but a long island, or rather a ridge of islands reaching from one to the other side of the extended mouth of that great river; and that the savages who came to my island, were not properly those which we call Caribbees, but islanders, and other barbarians of the same kind, who inhabited something nearer to our side than the rest.

In short, I visited several of the islands to no purpose; some I found were inhabited, and some were not. On one of them I found some Spaniards, and thought they had lived there; but speaking with them, found they had a sloop lay in a small creek hard by, and that they came thither to make salt, and catch some pearl-muscles, if they could; but they belonged to the Isle de Trinidad, which lay farther north, in the latitude of 10 and 11 degrees.

Thus coasting from one island to another, sometimes with the ship, sometimes with the Frenchman's shallop (which we had found a convenient boat, and therefore kept her with their very good will,) at length I came fair on the south side of my island, and I presently knew the very countenance of the place; so I brought the ship safe to an anchor broadside with the little creek where was my old habitation.

As soon as I saw the place, I called for Friday, and asked him, if he knew where he was? He looked about a little, and presently clapping his hands, cried, "O yes, O there, O yes, O there!" pointing to our old habitation, and fell a-dancing and capering like a mad fellow; and I had much ado to keep him from jumping into the sea, to swim ashore to the place.

"Well, Friday," said I, "do you think we shall find any body here, or no? and what do you think, shall we see your father?" The fellow stood mute as a stock a good while; but when I named his father, the poor affectionate creature looked dejected; and I could see the tears run down his face very plentifully. "What is the matter, Friday?" said I; "are you troubled because you may see your father"—"No, no," says he, shaking his head, "no see him more, no ever more see again."—"Why so," said I, "Friday? how do you know that?"—"O no, O no," says Friday, "he long ago die; long ago, he much old man."—"Well, well," said I, "Friday, you don't know; but shall we see any one else then?" The fellow, it seems, had better eyes than I, and he points just to the hill above my old house; and though we lay half a league off, he cries out, "Me see! me see! yes, yes, me see much man there, and there, and there." I looked, but I could see nobody, no, not with a perspective-glass; which was, I suppose, because I could not hit the place; for the fellow was right, as I found upon inquiry the next day, and there were five or six men all together stood to look at the ship, not knowing what to think of us.

As soon as Friday had told me he saw people, I caused the English ancient to be spread, and fired three guns, to give them notice we were friends; and about half a quarter of an hour after, we perceived a smoke rise from the side of the creek; so I immediately ordered a boat out, taking Friday with me; and hanging out a white flag, or a flag of truce, I went directly on shore, taking with me the young friar I mentioned, to whom I had told the whole story of living there, and the manner of it, and every particular both of myself and those that I left there, and who was on that account extremely desirous to go with me, We had besides about sixteen men very well armed, if we had found any new guest there which we did not know of; but we had no need of weapons.

As we went on shore upon the tide of flood near high water, we rowed directly into the creek; and the first man I fixed my eye upon was the Spaniard whose life I had saved, and whom I knew by his face perfectly well; as to his habit, I shall describe it afterwards. I ordered nobody to go on shore at first but myself; but there was no keeping Friday in the boat; for the affectionate creature had spied his father at a distance, a good way off of the Spaniards, where indeed I saw nothing of him; and if they had not let him go on shore he would have jumped into the sea. He was no sooner on shore, but he flew away to his father like an arrow out of a bow. It would have made any man shed tears in spite of the firmest resolution to have seen the first transports of this poor fellow's joy, when he came to his father; how he embraced him, kissed him, stroked his face, took him in his arms, set him down upon a tree, and lay down by him; then stood and looked at him as any one would look at a strange picture, for a quarter of an hour together; then lay down upon the ground, and stroked his legs, and kissed them, and then got up again, and stared at him; one would have thought the fellow bewitched: but it would have made a dog laugh to see how the next day his passion run out another way: in the morning he walked along the shore to and again, with his father, several hours, always leading him by the hand as if he had been a lady and every now and then would come to fetch something or other for him from the boat, either a lump of sugar, or a dram, a biscuit, or something or other that was good. In the afternoon his frolics ran another way; for then he would set the old man down upon the ground, and dance about him, and made a thousand antic postures and gestures; and all the while he did this be would be talking to him, and telling him one story or another of his travels, and of what had happened to him abroad, to divert him. In short, if the same filial affection was to be found in Christians to their parents in our parts of the world, one would be tempted to say there hardly would have been any need of the fifth commandment.

But this is a digression; I return to my landing. It would be endless to take notice of all the ceremonies and civilities that the Spaniards received me with. The first Spaniard whom, as I said, I knew very well, was he whose life I saved; he came towards the boat attended by one more, carrying a flag of truce also; and he did not only not know me at first, but he had no thoughts, no notion, of its being me that was come til I spoke to him. "Seignior," said I, in Portuguese, "do you not know me?" At which he spoke not a word; but giving his musket to the, man that was with him, threw his arms abroad, and saying something in Spanish that I did not perfectly hear, came forward, and embraced me, telling me, he was inexcusable not to know that face again that he had once seen, as of an angel from Heaven sent to save his life: he said abundance of very handsome things, as a well-bred Spaniard always knows how: and then beckoning to the person that attended him, bade him go and call out his comrades. He then asked me if I would walk to my old habitation, where he would give me possession of my own house again, and where I should see there, had been but mean improvements; so I walked along with him; but alas! I could no more find the place again than if I had never been there; for they had planted so many trees, and placed them in such a posture, so thick and close to one another, in ten years time they were grown so big, that, in short, the place was inaccessible, except by such windings and blind ways as they themselves only who made them could find.

I asked them, what put them upon all these fortifications? He told me, I would say there was need enough of it, when they had given an account how they had passed their time since their arriving in the island, especially after they had the misfortune to find that I was gone: he told me he could not but have some satisfaction in my good fortune, when he heard that I was gone in a good ship, and to my satisfaction; and that he had oftentimes a strong persuasion that one time or other he should see me again: but nothing that ever befel him in his life, he said, was so surprising and afflicting to him at first, as the disappointment he was under when he came back to the island, and found I was not there.

As to the three barbarians (so he called them) that were left behind, and of whom he said he had a long story to tell me; the Spaniards all thought themselves much better among the savages, only that their number was so small. "And," says he, "had they been strong enough, we had been all long ago in purgatory and with that he crossed himself upon the breast. But, Sir," says he, "I hope you will not be displeased, when I shall tell you how, forced by necessity, we were obliged, for our own preservation, to disarm them, and making them our subjects, who would not be content with being moderately our masters, but would be our murderers." I answered, I was heartily afraid of it when I left them there; and nothing troubled me at my parting from the island, but that they were not come back, that I might have put them in possession of every thing first, and left the other in a state of subjection, as they deserved; but if they had reduced them to it, I was very glad, and should be very far from finding any fault with it; for I knew they were a parcel of refractory, ungovernable villains, and were fit for any manner of mischief.

While I was saying this came the man whom he had sent back, and with him eleven men more: in the dress they were in, it was impossible to guess what nation they were of; but he made all clear both to them and to me. First he turned to me, and pointing to them, said, "These, Sir, are some of the gentlemen who owe their lives to you;" and then turning to them, and pointing to me, he let them know who I was; upon which they all came up one by one, not as if they had been sailors, and ordinary fellows, and I the like, but really as if they had been ambassadors or noblemen, and I a monarch or a great conqueror: their behaviour was to the last degree obliging and courteous, and yet mixed with a manly majestic gravity, which very well became them; and, in short, they had so much more manners than I, that I scarce knew how to receive their civilities, much less how to return them in kind.

The history of their coming to, and conduct in the island after my going away, is so remarkable, and has so many incidents, which the former part of my relation will help to understand, and which will, in most of the particulars, refer to that account I have already given, that I cannot but commit them with great delight to the reading of those that come after me.

I shall no longer trouble the story with a relation in the first person, which will put me to the expense of ten thousand Said I's, and Said he's, and He told me's, and I told him's, and the like; but I shall collect the facts historically as near as I can gather them out of my memory from what they related to me, and from what I met with in my conversing with them, and with the place.

In order to do this succinctly, and as intelligibly as I can, I must go back to the circumstance in which I left the island, and which the persons were in of whom I am to speak. At first it is necessary to repeat, that I had sent away Friday's father and the Spaniard, the two whose lives I had rescued from the savages; I say, I had sent them away in a large canoe to the main, as I then thought it, to fetch over the Spaniard's companions whom he had left behind him, in order to save them from the like calamity that he had been in, and in order to succour them for the present, and that, if possible, we might together find some way for our deliverance afterward.

When I sent them away, I had no visible appearance of, or the least room to hope for, my own deliverance, any more than I had twenty years before; much less had I any foreknowledge of what after happened, I mean of an English ship coming on shore there to fetch them off; and it could not but be a very great surprise to them when they came back, not only to find that I was gone, but to find three strangers left on the spot, possessed of all that I had left behind me, which would otherwise have been their own.

The first thing, however, which I inquired into, that I might begin where I left off, was of their own part; and I desired he would give me a particular account of his voyage back to his countrymen with the boat, when I sent him to fetch them over. He told me there was little variety in that part; for nothing remarkable happened to them on the way, they having very calm weather and a smooth sea; for his countrymen it could not be doubted, he said, but that they were overjoyed to see him (it seems he was the principal man among them, the captain of the vessel they had been shipwrecked in having been dead some time:) they were, he said, the more surprised to see him, because they knew that he was fallen into the hands of savages, who, they were satisfied, would devour him, as they did all the rest of their prisoners; that when he told them the story of the deliverance, and in what manner he was furnished for carrying them away, it was like a dream to them; and their astonishment, they said, was something like that of Joseph's brethren, when he told them who he was, and told them the story of his exaltation in Pharaoh's court; but when he shewed them the arms, the powder, the ball, and the provisions that he brought them for their journey or voyage, they were restored to themselves, took a just share of the joy of their deliverance, and immediately prepared to come away with him.

Their first business was to get canoes; and in this they were obliged not to stick so much upon the honest part of it, but to trespass upon their friendly savages, and to borrow two large canoes or periaguas, on pretence of going out a-fishing, or for pleasure.

In these they came away the next morning; it seems they wanted no time to get themselves ready, for they had no baggage, neither clothes, or provisions, or any thing in the world, but what they had on them, and a few roots to eat, of which they used to make their bread.

They were in all three weeks absent, and in that time, unluckily for them, I had the occasion offered for my escape, as I mentioned in my other part, and to get off from the island; leaving three of the most impudent, hardened, ungoverned, disagreeable villains behind me that any man could desire to meet with, to the poor Spaniards' great grief and disappointment you may be sure.

The only just thing the rogues did, was, that when the Spaniards came on shore, they gave my letter to them, and gave them provisions and other relief, as I had ordered them to do; also they gave them the long paper of directions, which I had left with them, containing the particular methods which I took for managing every part of my life there; the way how I baked my bread, bred up my tame goats, and planted my corn; how I cured my grapes, made my pots, and, in a word, every thing I did; all this being written down, they gave to the Spaniards, two of whom understood English well enough; nor did they refuse to accommodate the Spaniards with any thing else, for they agreed very well for some time; they gave them an equal admission into the house, or cave, and they began to live very sociably; and the head Spaniard, who had seen pretty much of my method, and Friday's father together, managed all their affairs; for as for the Englishmen, they did nothing but ramble about the island, shoot parrots, and catch tortoises, and when they came home at night, the Spaniards provided their suppers for them.

The Spaniards would have been satisfied with this would the other but have left them alone; which however, they could not find in their hearts to do long; but, like the dog in the manger, they would not eat themselves, and would not let others eat neither: the differences, nevertheless, were at first but trivial and such as are not worth relating: but at last it broke out into open war, and it began with all the rudeness and insolence that can be imagined, without reason, without provocation, contrary to nature, and indeed to common sense; and though, it is true, the first relation of it came from the Spaniards themselves, whom I may call the accusers, yet when I came to examine the fellows, they could not deny a word of it.

But before I come to the particulars of this part, I must supply a defect in my former relation; and this was, that I forgot to set down among the rest, that just as we were weighing the anchor to set sail, there happened a little quarrel on board our ship, which I was afraid once would turn to a second mutiny; nor was it appeased till the captain, rousing up his courage, and taking us all to his assistance, parted them by force, and making two of the most refractory fellows prisoners, he laid them in irons; and as they had been active in the former disorders, and let fall some ugly dangerous words the second time, he threatened to carry them in irons to England, and have them hanged there for mutiny, and running away with the ship.

This, it seems, though the captain did not intend to do it, frighted some other men in the ship; and some of them had put it in the heads of the rest, that the captain only gave them good words for the present till they should come to some English port, and that then they should be all put into a gaol, and tried for their lives.

The mate got intelligence of this, and acquainted us with it; upon which it was desired that I, who still passed for a great man among them, should go down with the mate and satisfy the men, and tell them, that they might be assured, if they behaved well the rest of the voyage, all they had done for the time past should be pardoned. So I went, and after passing my honour's word to them they appeared easy, and the more so, when I caused the two men who were in irons to be released and forgiven.

But this mutiny had brought us to an anchor for that night, the wind also falling calm. Next morning we found that our two men who had been laid in irons, had stole each of them a musket and some other weapons; what powder or shot they had we knew not; and had taken the ship's pinnace, which was not yet haled up, and run away with her to their companions in roguery on shore.

As soon as we found this, I ordered the long-boat on shore, with twelve men and the mate, and away they went to seek the rogues; but they could neither find them, nor any of the rest; for they all fled into the woods when they saw the boat coming on shore. The mate was once resolved, in justice to their roguery, to have destroyed their plantations, burnt all their household stuff and furniture, and left them to shift without it; but having no order, he let all alone, left every thing as they found it, and bringing the pinnace away, came on board without them.

These two men made their number five: but the other three villains were so much wickeder than these, that after they had been two or three days together, they turned their two new-comers out of doors to shift for themselves, and would have nothing to do with them; nor could they, for a good while, be persuaded to give them any food: as for the Spaniards, they were not yet come.

When the Spaniards came first on shore, the business began to go forward; the Spaniards would have persuaded the three English brutes to have taken in their two countrymen again, that, as they said, they might be all one family; but they would not hear of it: so the two poor fellows lived by themselves, and finding nothing but industry and application would make them live comfortable, they pitched their tents on the north shore of the island, but a little more to the west, to be out of the danger of the savages, who always landed on the east parts of the island.

Here they built two huts, one to lodge in, and the other to lay up their magazines and stores in; and the Spaniards having given them some corn for seed, and especially some of the peas which I had left them, they dug and planted, and enclosed, after the pattern I had set for them all, and began to live pretty well; their first crop of corn was on the ground, and though it was but a little bit of land which they had dug up at first, having had but a little time, yet it was enough to relieve them, and find them with bread or other eatables; and one of the fellows, being the cook's mate of the ship, was very ready at making soup, puddings, and such other preparations, as the rice and the milk, and such little flesh as they got, furnished him to do.

They were going on in a little thriving posture, when the three unnatural rogues, their own countrymen too, in mere humour, and to insult them, came and bullied them, and told them the island was theirs; that the governor, meaning me, had given them possession of it, and nobody else had any right to it; and, damn them, they should build no houses upon their ground, unless they would pay them rent for them.

The two men thought they had jested at first, and asked them to come and sit down, and see what fine houses they were that they had built, and tell them what rent they demanded: and one of them merrily told them, if they were ground-landlords, he hoped if they built tenements upon the land and made improvements, they would, according to the custom of all landlords, grant them a long lease; and bid them go fetch a scrivener to draw the writings. One of the three, damning and raging, told them they should see they were not in jest; and going to a little place at a distance, where the honest men had made a fire to dress their victuals, he takes a firebrand and claps it to the outside of their hut, and very fairly set it on fire; and it would have been all burnt down in a few minutes, if one of the two had not run to the fellow, thrust him away, and trod the fire out with his feet, and that not without some difficulty too.

The fellow was in such a rage at the honest man's thrusting him away, that he turned upon him with a pole he had in his hand; and had not the man avoided the blow very nimbly, and run into the hut, he had ended his days at once. His comrade, seeing the danger they were both in, ran in after him, and immediately they came both out with their muskets; and the man that was first struck at with the pole knocked the fellow down who began the quarrel with the stock of his musket, and that before the other two could come to help him; and then seeing the rest come at them, they stood together, and presenting the other ends of their pieces to them, bade them stand off.

The others had fire-arms with them too; but one of the two honest men, bolder than his comrade, and made desperate by his danger, told them if they offered to move hand or foot they were all dead men, and boldly commanded them to lay down their arms. They did not indeed lay down their arms; but seeing him resolute, it brought them to a parley, and they consented to take their wounded man with them, and be gone; and, indeed, it seems the fellow was wounded sufficiently with the blow: however, they were much in the wrong, since they had the advantage, that they did not disarm them effectually, as they might have done, and have gone immediately to the Spaniards, and given them an account how the rogues treated them; for the three villains studied nothing but revenge, and every day gave them some intimation that they did so.

But not to crowd this part with an account of the lesser part of their rogueries, such as treading down their corn, shooting three young kids and a she-goat, which the poor men had got to breed up tame for their store; and in a word, plaguing them night and day in this manner, it forced the two men to such a desperation, that they resolved to fight them all three the first time they had a fair opportunity. In order to this they resolved to go to the castle, as they called it, that was my old dwelling, where the three rogues and the Spaniards all lived together at that time, intending to have a fair battle, and the Spaniards should stand by to see fair play. So they got up in the morning before day, and came to the place, and called the Englishmen by their names, telling a Spaniard that answered, that they wanted to speak with them.

It happened that the day before two of the Spaniards, having been in the woods, had seen one of the two Englishmen, whom, for distinction, I call the honest men; and he had made a sad complaint to the Spaniards, of the barbarous usage they had met with from their three countrymen, and how they had ruined their plantation, and destroyed their corn, that they had laboured so hard to bring forward, and killed the milch-goat, and their three kids, which was all they had provided for their sustenance; and that if he and his friends, meaning the Spaniards, did not assist them again, they should be starved. When the Spaniards came home at night, and they were all at supper, he took the freedom to reprove the three Englishmen, though in gentle and mannerly terms, and asked them, how they could be so cruel, they being harmless inoffensive fellows, and that they were putting themselves in a way to subsist by their labour, and that it had cost them a great deal of pains to bring things to such perfection as they had?

One of the Englishmen returned very briskly, "What had they to do there? That they came on shore without leave, and that they should not plant or build upon the island; it was none of their ground."—"Why," says the Spaniard, very calmly, "Seignior Inglese, they must not starve." The Englishman replied, like a true rough-hewn tarpaulin, "they might starve and be d—ed, they should not plant nor build in that place."—"But what must they do then, Seignior?" says the Spaniard. Another of the brutes returned, "Do! d—n them, they should be servants, and work for them."—"But how can you expect that of them? They are not bought with your money; you have no right to make them servants." The Englishman answered, "The island was theirs, the governor had given it to them, and no man had any thing to do there but themselves;" and with that swore by his Maker, that he would go and burn all their new huts; they should build none upon their land.

"Why, Seignior," says the Spaniard, "by the same rule, we must be your servants too."—"Ay," says the bold dog, "and so you shall too, before we have done with you;" mixing two or three G—d d—mme's in the proper intervals of his speech. The Spaniard only smiled at that, and made him no answer. However, this little discourse had heated them; and starting up, one says to the other, I think it was he they called Will Atkins, "Come, Jack, let us go and have the other brush with them; we will demolish their castle, I will warrant you; they shall plant no colony in our dominions."

Upon this they were all trooping away, with every man a gun, a pistol, and a sword, and muttered some insolent things among themselves, of what they would do to the Spaniards too, when opportunity offered; but the Spaniards, it seems, did not so perfectly understand them as to know all the particulars; only that, in general, they threatened them hard for taking the two Englishmen's part.

Whither they went, or how they bestowed their time that evening, the Spaniards said they did not know; but it seems they wandered about the country part of the night; and then lying down in the place which I used to call my bower, they were weary, and overslept themselves. The case was this: they had resolved to stay till midnight, and so to take the poor men when they were asleep; and they acknowledged it afterwards, intending to set fire to their huts while they were in them, and either burn them in them, or murder them as they came out: and, as malice seldom sleeps very sound, it was very strange they should not have been kept waking.

However, as the two men had also a design upon them, as I have said, though a much fairer one than that of burning and murdering, it happened, and very luckily for them all, that they were up, and gone abroad, before the bloody-minded rogues came to their huts.

When they came thither, and found the men gone, Atkins, who it seems was the forwardest man, called out to his comrades, "Ha! Jack, here's the nest; but d—n them, the birds are flown." They mused awhile to think what should be the occasion of their being gone abroad so soon, and suggested presently, that the Spaniards had given them notice of it; and with that they shook hands, and swore to one another, that they would be revenged of the Spaniards. As soon as they had made this bloody bargain, they fell to work with the poor men's habitation; they did not set fire indeed to any thing, but they pulled down both their houses, and pulled them so limb from limb, that they left not the least stick standing, or scarce any sign on the ground where they stood; they tore all their little collected household-stuff in pieces, and threw every thing about in such a manner, that the poor men found, afterwards, some of their things a mile off from their habitation.

When they had done this, they pulled up all the young trees which the poor men had planted; pulled up the enclosure they had made to secure their cattle and their corn; and, in a word, sacked and plundered every thing, as completely as a herd of Tartars would have done.

The two men were at this juncture gone to find them out, and had resolved to fight them wherever they had been, though they were but two to three; so that, had they met, there certainly would have been bloodshed among them; for they were all very stout, resolute fellows, to give them their due.

But Providence took more care to keep them asunder, than they themselves could do to meet; for, as they had dogged one another, when the three were gone thither, the two were here; and afterwards, when the two went back to find them, the three were come to the old habitation again: we shall see their differing conduct presently. When the three came back, like furious creatures, flushed with the rage which the work they had been about put them into, they came up to the Spaniards, and told them what they had done, by way of scoff and bravado; and one of them stepping up to one of the Spaniards, as if they had been a couple of boys at play, takes hold of his hat, as it was upon his head, and giving it a twirl about, jeering in his face, says he to him, "And you, Seignior Jack Spaniard, shall have the same sauce, if you do not mend your manners." The Spaniard, who, though quite a civil man, was as brave as a man could desire to be, and withal a strong well-made man, looked steadily at him for a good while; and then, having no weapon in his hand, stepped gravely up to him, and with one blow of his fist knocked him down, as an ox is felled with a pole-axe; at which one of the rogues, insolent as the first, fixed his pistol at the Spaniard immediately; he missed his body indeed, for the bullets went through his hair, but one of them touched the tip of his ear, and he bled pretty much. The blood made the Spaniard believe he was more hurt than he really was, and that put him into some heat, for before he acted all in a perfect calm; but now resolving to go through with his work, he stooped and took the fellow's musket whom he had knocked down, and was just going to shoot the man who had fired at him; when the rest of the Spaniards, being in the cave, came out, and calling to him not to shoot, they stepped in, secured the other two, and took their arms from them.

When they were thus disarmed, and found they had made all the Spaniards their enemies, as well as their own countrymen, they began to cool; and giving the Spaniards better words, would have had their arms again; but the Spaniards, considering the feud that was between them and the other two Englishmen, and that it would be the best method they could take to keep them from one another, told them they would do them no harm; and if they would live peaceably they would be very willing to assist and associate with them, as they did before; but that they could not think of giving them their arms again, while they appeared so resolved to do mischief with them to their own countrymen, and had even threatened them all to make them their servants.

The rogues were now more capable to hear reason than to act reason; but being refused their arms, they went raving away, and raging like madmen, threatening what they would do, though they had no fire-arms: but the Spaniards, despising their threatening, told them they should take care how they offered any injury to their plantation or cattle; for if they did, they would shoot them, as they would do ravenous beasts, wherever they found them; and if they fell into their hands alive, they would certainly be hanged. However, this was far from cooling them; but away they went, swearing and raging like furies of hell. As soon as they were gone, came back the two men in passion and rage enough also, though of another kind; for, having been at their plantation, and finding it all demolished and destroyed, as above, it will easily be supposed they had provocation enough; they could scarce have room to tell their tale, the Spaniards were so eager to tell them theirs; and it was strange enough to find, that three men should thus bully nineteen, and receive no punishment at all.

The Spaniards indeed despised them, and especially having thus disarmed them, made light of their threatenings; but the two Englishmen resolved to have their remedy against them, what pains soever it cost to find them out.

But the Spaniards interposed here too, and told them, that they were already disarmed: they could not consent that they (the two) should pursue them with fire-arms, and perhaps kill them: "But," said the grave Spaniard, who was their governor, "we will endeavour to make them do you justice, if you will leave it to us; for, as there is no doubt but they will come to us again when their passion is over, being not able to subsist without our assistance, we promise you to make no peace with them, without having full satisfaction for you; and upon this condition we hope you will promise to use no violence with them, other than in your defence."

The two Englishmen; yielded to this very awkwardly and with great reluctance; but the Spaniards protested, they did it only to keep them from bloodshed, and to make all easy at last; "For," said they, "we are not so many of us; here is room enough for us all, and it is great pity we should not be all good friends." At length they did consent, and waited for the issue of the thing, living for some days with the Spaniards; for their own habitation was destroyed.

In about five days time the three vagrants, tired with wandering, and almost starved with hunger, having chiefly lived on turtles' eggs all that while, came back to the grove: and finding my Spaniard, who, as I have said, was the governor, and two more with him, walking by the side of the creek; they came up in a very submissive humble manner, and begged to be received again into the family. The Spaniards used them civilly, but told them, they had acted so unnaturally by their countrymen, and so very grossly by them, (the Spaniards) that they could not come to any conclusion without consulting the two Englishmen, and the rest; but however they would go to them and discourse about it, and they should know in half-an-hour. It may be guessed that they were very hard put to it; for, as they were to wait this half-hour for an answer, they begged they would send them out some bread in the meantime, which they did, sending at the same time a large piece of goat's flesh and a boiled parrot, which they ate very eagerly.

After half-an-hour's consultation they were called in, and a long debate ensued, their two countrymen charging them with the ruin of all their labour, and a design to murder them; all which they owned before, and therefore could not deny now. Upon the whole, the Spaniards acted the moderators between them; and as they had obliged the two Englishmen not to hurt the three while they were naked and unarmed, so they now obliged the three to go and rebuild their fellows' two huts, one to be of the same and the other of larger dimensions than they were before; to fence their ground again, plant trees in the room of those pulled up, dig up the land again for planting corn, and, in a word, to restore everything to the same state as they found it, that is, as near as they could.

Well, they submitted to all this; and as they had plenty of provisions given them all the while, they grew very orderly, and the whole society began to live pleasantly and agreeably together again; only that these three fellows could never be persuaded to work—I mean for themselves—except now and then a little, just as they pleased. However, the Spaniards told them plainly that if they would but live sociably and friendly together, and study the good of the whole plantation, they would be content to work for them, and let them walk about and be as idle as they pleased; and thus, having lived pretty well together for a month or two, the Spaniards let them have arms again, and gave them liberty to go abroad with them as before.

It was not above a week after they had these arms, and went abroad, before the ungrateful creatures began to be as insolent and troublesome as ever. However, an accident happened presently upon this, which endangered the safety of them all, and they were obliged to lay by all private resentments, and look to the preservation of their lives.

It happened one night that the governor, the Spaniard whose life I had saved, who was now the governor of the rest, found himself very uneasy in the night, and could by no means get any sleep: he was perfectly well in body, only found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon men fighting and killing one another; but he was broad awake, and could not by any means get any sleep; in short, he lay a great while, but growing more and more uneasy, he resolved to rise. As they lay, being so many of them, on goat-skins laid thick upon such couches and pads as they made for themselves, so they had little to do, when they were willing to rise, but to get upon their feet, and perhaps put on a coat, such as it was, and their pumps, and they were ready for going any way that their thoughts guided them. Being thus got up, he looked out; but being dark, he could see little or nothing, and besides, the trees which I had planted, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his sight, so that he could only look up, and see that it was a starlight night, and hearing no noise, he returned and lay down again; but to no purpose; he could not compose himself to anything like rest; but his thoughts were to the last degree uneasy, and he knew not for what.

Having made some noise with rising and walking about, going out and coming in, another of them waked, and, calling, asked who it was that was up? The governor told him how it had been with him. "Say you so?" says the other Spaniard; "such things are not to be slighted, I assure you; there is certainly some mischief working," says he, "near us;" and presently he asked him, "Where are the Englishmen?" "They are all in their huts," says he, "safe enough." It seems, the Spaniards had kept possession of the main apartment, and had made a place, where the three Englishmen, since their last mutiny, always quartered by themselves, and could not come at the rest. "Well," says the Spaniard, "there is something in it, I am persuaded from my own experience; I am satisfied our spirits embodied have converse with, and receive intelligence from, the spirits unembodied, and inhabiting the invisible world; and this friendly notice is given for our advantage, if we know how to make use of it. Come," says he, "let us go out and look abroad; and if we find nothing at all in it to justify our trouble, I'll tell you a story of the purpose, that shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it."

In a word, they went out to go to the top of the hill, where I used to go; but they, being strong, and in good company, nor alone, as I was, used none of my cautions to go up by the ladder, and then pulling it up after them, to go up a second stage to the top but were going round through the grove unconcerned and unwary, when they were surprised with seeing a light as of fire, a very little way off from them, and hearing the voices of men, not of one or two, but of a great number.

In all the discoveries I had made of the savage landing on the island, it was my constant care to prevent them making the least discovery of there being any inhabitant upon the place; and when by any necessity they came to know it, they felt it so effectively, that they that got away, were scarce able to give any account of it, for we disappeared as soon as possible, nor did ever any that had seen me, escape to tell any one else, except it were the three savages in our last encounter, who jumped into the boat, of whom I mentioned that I was afraid they should go home, and bring more help.

Whether it was the consequence of the escape of those men, that so great a number came now together; or whether they came ignorantly, and by accident, on their usual bloody errand, the Spaniards could not, it seems, understand: but whatever it was, it had been their business, either to have: concealed themselves, and not have seen them at all; much less to have let the savages have seen, that there were any inhabitants in the place; but to have fallen upon them so effectually, as that not a man of them should have escaped, which could only have been by getting in between them and their boats: but this presence of mind was wanting to them; which was the ruin of their tranquillity for a great while.

We need not doubt but that the governor, and the man with him, surprised with this sight, ran back immediately, and raised their fellows, giving them an account of the imminent danger they were all in; and they again as readily took the alarm, but it was impossible to persuade them to stay close within where they were, but that they must all run out to see how things stood.

While it was dark indeed, they were well enough, and they had opportunity enough, for some hours, to view them by the light of three fires they had made at some distance from one another; what they were doing they knew not, and what to do themselves they knew not; for, first, the enemy were too many; and, secondly, they did not keep together, but were divided into several parties, and were on shore in several places.

The Spaniards were in no small consternation at this sight; and as they found that the fellows ran straggling all over the shore, they made no doubt, but, first or last, some of them would chop in upon their habitation, or upon some other place, where they would see the tokens of inhabitants; and they were in great perplexity also for fear of their flock of goats, which would have been little less than starving them, if they should have been destroyed; so the first thing they resolved upon, was to dispatch three men away before it was light, viz. two Spaniards and one Englishman, to drive all the goats away to the great valley where the cave was, and, if need were, to drive them into the very cave itself.

Could they have seen the savages all together in one body, and at a distance from their canoes, they resolved, if there had been an hundred of them, to have attacked them; but that could not be obtained, for there were some of them two miles off from the other, and, as it appeared afterwards, were of two different nations.

After having mused a great while on the course they should take, and beaten their brains in considering their present circumstances, they resolved, at last while it was dark, to send the old savage (Friday's father) out as a spy, to learn if possible something concerning them, as what they came for, and what they intended to do, and the like. The old man readily undertook it, and stripping himself quite naked, as most of the savages were, away he went. After he had been gone an hour or two, he brings word that he had been among them undiscovered, that he found they were two parties, and of two several nations who had war with one another, and had had a great battle in their own country, and that both sides having had several prisoners taken in the fight, they were by mere chance landed in the same island for the devouring their prisoners, and making merry; but this coming so by chance to the same place had spoiled all their mirth; that they were in a great rage at one another, and were so near, that he believed they would fight again as soon as daylight began to appear; he did not perceive that they had any notion of anybody's being on the island but themselves. He had hardly made an end of telling the story, when they could perceive, by the unusual noise they made, that the two little armies were engaged in a bloody fight.

Friday's father used all the arguments he could to persuade our people to lie close, and not be seen; he told them their safety consisted in it, and that they had nothing to do but to lie still, and the savages would kill one another to their hands, and the rest would go away; and it was so to a tittle. But it was impossible to prevail, especially upon the Englishmen, their curiosity was so importunate upon their prudentials, that they must run out and see the battle; however, they used some caution, viz. they did not go openly just by their own dwelling, but went farther into the woods, and placed themselves to advantage, where they might securely see them manage the fight, and, as they thought, not to be seen by them; but it seems the savages did see them, as we shall find hereafter.

The battle was very fierce, and if I might believe the Englishmen, one of them said he could perceive that some of them were men of great bravery, of invincible spirits, and of great policy in guiding the fight. The battle, they said, held two hours before they could guess which party would be beaten; but then that party which was nearest our people's habitation began to appear weakest, and, after some time more, some of them began to fly; and this put our men again into a great consternation, lest any of those that fled should run into the grove before their dwelling for shelter, and thereby involuntarily discover the place, and that by consequence the pursuers should do the like in search for them. Upon this they resolved, that they would stand armed within the wall, and whoever came into the grove they should sally out over the wall, and kill them, so that if possible not one should return to give an account of it; they ordered also, that it should be done with their swords, or by knocking them down with the stock of the musket, not by shooting them, for fear of raising an alarm by the noise.

As they expected it fell out: three of the routed army fled for life, and crossing the creek ran directly into the place, not in the least knowing whither they went, but running as into a thick wood for shelter. The scout they kept to look abroad gave notice of this within, with this addition to our men's great satisfaction, viz. that the conquerors had not pursued them, or seen which way they were gone. Upon this the Spaniard governor, a man of humanity, would not suffer them to kill the three fugitives; but sending three men out by the top of the hill, ordered them to go round and come in behind them, surprise and take them prisoners; which was done: the residue of the conquered people fled to their canoes, and got off to sea; the victors retired, and made no pursuit, or very little, but drawing themselves into a body together, gave two great screaming shouts, which they suppose were by way of triumph, and so the fight ended; and the same day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, they also marched to their canoes. And thus the Spaniards had their island again free to themselves, their fright was over, and they saw no savages in several years after.

After they were all gone, the Spaniards came out of their den, and viewing the field of battle, they found about two-and-thirty dead men upon the spot; some were killed with great long arrows, several of which were found sticking in their bodies, but most of them were killed with their great wooden swords, sixteen or seventeen of which they found in the field of battle, and as many bows, with a great many arrows. These swords were great unwieldy things, and they must be very strong men that used them; most of those men that were killed with them had their heads mashed to pieces, as we may say, or, as we call it in English, their brains knocked out, and several of their arms and legs broken; so that it is evident they fight with inexpressible rage and fury. They found not one wounded man that was not stone dead; for either they stay by their enemy till they have quite killed them, or they carry all the wounded men, that are not quite dead, away with them.

This deliverance tamed our Englishmen for a great while; the sight had filled them with horror, and the consequence appeared terrible to the last degree; especially upon supposing that some time or other they should fall into the hands of those creatures, who would not only kill them as enemies, but kill them for food as we kill our cattle. And they professed to me, that the thoughts of being eaten up like beef or mutton, though it was supposed it was not to be till they were dead, had something in it so horrible that it nauseated their very stomachs, made them sick when they thought of it, and filled their minds with unusual terror, that they were not themselves for some weeks after.

This, as I said, tamed even the three English brutes I have been speaking of, and for a great while after they were very tractable, and went about the common business of the whole society well enough; planted, sowed, reaped, and began to be all naturalized to the country; but some time after this they fell all into such simple measures again as brought them into a great deal of trouble.

They had taken three prisoners, as I had observed; and these three being lusty stout young fellows, they made them servants, and taught them to work for them; and as slaves they did well enough; but they did not take their measures with them as I did by my man Friday, viz. to begin with them upon the principle of having saved their lives, and then instructed them in the rational principles of life, much less of religion, civilizing and reducing them by kind usage and affectionate arguings; but as they gave them their food every day, so they gave them their work too, and kept them fully employed in drudgery enough; but they failed in this by it, that they never had them to assist them and fight for them as I had my man Friday, who was as true to me as the very flesh upon my bones.

But to come to the family part: Being all now good friends (for common danger, as I said above, had effectually reconciled them,) they began to consider their general circumstances; and the first thing that came under their consideration was, whether, seeing the savages particularly haunted that side of the island, and that there were more remote and retired parts of it equally adapted to their way of living, and manifestly to their advantage, they should not rather remove their habitation, and plant in some more proper place for their safety, and especially for the security of their cattle and corn.

Upon this, after long debate, it was conceived that they should not remove their habitation, because that some time or other they thought they might hear from their governor again, meaning me; and if I should send any one to seek them, I would be sure to direct them on that side, where if they should find the place demolished they would conclude the savages had killed us all, and we were gone, and so our supply would go away too.

But as to their corn and cattle, they agreed to remove them into the valley where my cave was, where the land was as proper to both, and where indeed there was land enough; however, upon second thoughts they altered one part of that resolution too, and resolved only to remove part of their cattle thither, and plant part of their corn there; and so, if one part was destroyed, the other might be saved; and one piece of prudence they used, which it was very well they did; viz. that they never trusted these three savages, which they had taken prisoners, with knowing any thing of the plantation they had made in that valley, or of any cattle they had there; much less of the cave there, which they kept in case of necessity as a safe retreat; and thither they carried also the two barrels of powder which I had left them at my coming away.

But however they resolved not to change their habitation; yet they agreed, that as I had carefully covered it first with a wall and fortification, and then with a grove of trees; so seeing their safety consisted entirely in their being concealed, of which they were now fully convinced, they set to work to cover and conceal the place yet more effectually than before: to this purpose, as I had planted trees (or rather thrust in stakes which in time all grew to be trees) for some good distance before the entrance into my apartment, they went on in the same manner, and filled up the rest of that whole space of ground, from the trees I had set quite down to the side of the creek, where, as I said, I landed my floats, and even into the very ooze where the tide flowed, not so much as leaving any place to land, or any sign that there had been any landing thereabout. These stakes also being of a wood very forward to grow, as I had noted formerly, they took care to have generally very much larger and taller than those which I had planted, and placed them so very thick and close, that when they had been three or four years grown there was no piercing with the eye any considerable way into the plantation. As for that part which I had planted, the trees were grown as thick as a man's thigh; and among them they placed so many other short ones, and so thick, that, in a word, it stood like a palisado a quarter of a mile thick, and it was next to impossible to penetrate it but with a little army to cut it all down; for a little dog could hardly get between the trees, they stood so close.

But this was not all; for they did the same by all the ground to the right hand, and to the left, and round even to the top of the hill, leaving no way, not so much as for themselves to come out, but by the ladder placed up to the side of the hill, and then lifted up and placed again from the first stage up to the top; which ladder, when it was taken down, nothing but what had wings or witchcraft to assist it, could come at them.

This was excellently well contrived, nor was it less than what they afterwards found occasion for; which served to convince me, that as human prudence has authority of Providence to justify it, so it has, doubtless, the direction of Providence to set it to work, and, would we listen carefully to the voice of it, I am fully persuaded we might prevent many of the disasters which our lives are now by our own negligence subjected to: but this by the way.

I return to the story: They lived two years after this in perfect retirement, and had no more visits from the savages; they had indeed an alarm given them one morning, which put them in a great consternation for some of the Spaniards being out early one morning on the west side, or rather end of the island which, by the way, was that end where I never went, for fear of being discovered, they were surprised with seeing above twenty canoes of Indians just coming on shore.

They made the best of their way home in hurry enough, and, giving the alarm to their comrades, they kept close all that day and the next, going out only at night to make observation; but they had the good luck to be mistaken, for wherever the savages went, they did not land at that time on the island, but pursued some other design.

And now they had another broil with the three Englishmen, one of which, a most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one of the three slaves which I mentioned they had taken, because the fellow had not done something right which he bid him do, and seemed a little untractable in his shewing him, drew a hatchet out of a frog-belt, in which he bore it by his side, and fell upon him, the poor savage, not to correct him but to kill him. One of the Spaniards who was by, seeing him give the fellow a barbarous cut with the hatchet which he aimed at his head, but struck into his shoulder, so that he thought he had cut the poor creature's arm off, ran to him, and entreating him not to murder the poor man, clapt in between him and the savage to prevent the mischief.

The fellow being enraged the more at this, struck at the Spaniard with his hatchet, and swore he would serve him as he intended to serve the savage; which the Spaniard perceiving, avoided the blow, and with a shovel which he had in his hand (for they were working in the field about the corn-land) knocked the brute down; another of the Englishmen running at the same time to help his comrade, knocked the Spaniard down, and then two Spaniards more came to help their man, and a third Englishman fell upon them. They had none of them any fire-arms, or any other weapons but hatchets and other tools, except the third Englishman; he had one of my old rusty cutlasses, with which he made at the last Spaniards, and wounded them both. This fray set the whole family in an uproar, and more help coming in, they took the three Englishmen prisoners. The next question was, what should be done with them? they had been so often mutinous, and were so furious, so desperate, and so idle withal, that they knew not what course to take with them, for they were mischievous to the highest degree, and valued not what hurt they did any man; so that, in short, it was not safe to live with them.