The youth, indeed, was not so far gone; yet lay stretched out on a cabin bed, like one that had scarce any life. In his mouth was a piece of an old glove, the rest of which he had ate up. At first he vomited what the mate had given him; but at length began sensibly to revive, though in the greatest concern for the death of his tender mother.

As to the poor maid, she lay by her mistress, like one in the last pangs of death: her limbs were distorted, one of her hands were clasped round the frame of a chair, which she grasped so hard, that it was with some difficulty we separated her from it; her other arm lay over her head, and her feet lay both together, set fast against the frame of the cabin table; not only being, starved with hunger, but overcome with grief at the loss of her mistress, whom she loved most tenderly. It was a great while before the surgeon could bring her to life, and a much longer time before she came to her senses.

After we had sailed with them some days, we sent them five barrels of beef, one of pork, two hogsheads of biscuit, with peas, flour, and other things; taking three casks of sugar, some rum, and some pieces of eight as payment, we left them, but took the youth and maid with us, with all their goods. The lad was about seventeen years old, very handsome, modest, sensible, and well-bred, but mightily concerned for the loss of his honoured mother, having lost his father at Barbadoes but a few months before. He beseeched the surgeon to intercede with me to take him out of the ship; for that the sailors, not sparing a small sustenance, had starved his mother. But hunger has no bounds, no right, and consequently is incapable of any compassion. When the surgeon told him, our voyage might put him in bad circumstances, and farther from his friends, he said he did not care, if he was delivered from that terrible crew; that as the Captain (meaning me) had saved him from death, so he was sure he would do him no harm; and, as for the maid, when she was restored to her senses, she would be no less thankful, let us carry them where we would. And indeed the surgeon so represented their case to me, that I consented, and took them on board with all their goods, except eleven hogsheads of sugar; but the youth having a bill of lading, I made the commander oblige himself to deliver a letter and the deceased widow's goods to Mr. Rogers, a merchant in Bristol; but I believe the ship was lost at sea, for we never could hear what became of her afterwards. We were now in the latitude 19 deg. 32 min. having as yet a tolerable good voyage. But, passing by several little incidents relating to wind and weather, I shall relate what is most remarkable concerning my little kingdom, to which I was then drawing near. I had great difficulty in finding it, for as I came to, and went from it before, on the south and east side of the island, as coming from the Brazils, so now approaching between the main and the island, not having any chart for the coast, nor land mark, it obliged us to go on shore on several islands in the mouth of the river Oroonoko, but to the purpose. Thus I perceived, that what I thought was a continent before, was no such thing, but a long island, or rather a ridge of sands. On one of these islands I found some Spaniards, but they belonged to the isle of Trinidad, who came hither in a sloop to make salt, and try to find some pearl muscles. But at length I came fair on the south side of my island, and there I presently knew the countenance of my little kingdom; so we brought the ship safe to an anchor, broadside within the creek, where stood my ancient and venerable castle.

No sooner did I see the place, but calling for Friday, I asked him where he was? But when he looked a little, he clapped his hands, crying, O joy, O there, O yes, O there! pointing to our old abode, and then fell a dancing and capering as if he was mad, and I had much ado to keep him from jumping into the sea, to swim ashore. 'Friday,' said I, 'what do you think, shall we go to see your father?' at the mentioning his father's name, the poor affectionate creature fell a-weeping: No, no, says he, me see him no more, never see poor father more! he long ago die, die long ago: he much old man. 'You don't know that,' said I, 'but shall we see any body else?' He looks about, and pointing to the hill above my house, cries out, We see, we see there much men and there: which, though I could not perceive them with my perspective glass, was true, by what the men themselves told me the next day.

When the English ancient was spread, and three guns fired, as a signal of friendship, we perceived a smoke rise from the creek; upon which I ordered the boat out, taking Friday with me, and hanging out a white flag of truce, I went on shore, accompanied also by the young friar, to whom I had related the history of the first part of my life; besides we had sixteen men well armed, in case we had met with any opposition.

After we had rowed directly into the creek, the first man I fixed my eye upon was the Spaniard, whose life I had saved, and whose face I perfectly well knew. I ordered them all to stay in the boat for a while: but Friday, perceiving his father at a distance, would have jumped into the sea, had they not let the boat go. No sooner was he on shore, but he flew like a swift arrow out of a bow to embrace his aged father. Certainly it would melt a man of the firmest resolution into the softest tears to see with what uncommon transports of joy he saluted him; he first kissed him, then stroked his face, took him in his arms, laid him under a shady tree, sat down by him, then looked as earnestly at him as one could do at a picture, for a quarter of an hour together. After this he would lie upon the ground, stroke his legs and kiss them, then get up and stare at him, as though he was bewitched; but the next day one could not forbear laughter to see his behaviour, for he would walk several hours with his father along the shore, leading him by the hand as tho' he was a lady; while, every now and then, he would run to the boat to get something for him, as a lump of sugar, dram, biscuit, or something or other that was good. His frolics ran in another channel in the afternoon; when he set old Friday on the ground, he would dance round him, making comical postures and gestures; and all this while would be telling him one story or another of his travels and adventures.

It was on the 10th of April, anno 1695, that I set my foot upon the island a second time. When my faithful Spaniard, accompanied by one more, approached the boat, he little knew who I was, till I discovered myself to him. Seignor, said I, in Portuguese, don't you know me? He spoke never a word, but giving his musket to his attendant, extended his arms, and saying something in Spanish that I did not then understand, he came forward & embraced me, saying, he was inexcusable not to know his deliverer: who, like an angel sent from heaven, had saved his life; He then beckoned to the man to call out his companions, asking me if I would walk to my own habitation and take possession, where I should find some mean improvements; but indeed they were extraordinary ones: for they had planted so many trees so close together, that the place was like a labyrinth, which none could find out except themselves, who knew its intricate windings. I asked him the meaning of all these fortifications? he told me he would give a large account of what had passed since my departure till this time, and how he had subdued some English, who thought to be their murderers, hoping I would not be displeased, since necessity compelled them to it. As I knew they were wicked villains, so I told him, that I was not only far from finding fault with it, but was rather heartily glad that they had subdued them. While we were thus talking, the man whom he sent returned, accompanied by eleven more, but in such habits, that it was impossible to tell what nations they were of. He first turned to me, and pointing to them, These Sir, said he, are some of the gentlemen who owe their lives to your goodness, then turning to them, and pointing to me, he made them sensible who I was; and, then indeed they saluted me one by one, not as ordinary men, but as tho' they had been ambassadors or noblemen, and I a triumphant conqueror; for their behaviour not only agreed with a manlike, majestic gravity, but at the same time was so obliging and courteous, as made them agreeable to the last degree.

Before I relate the history of the transactions of my kingdom, as I had it from the Spaniard's own mouth, I must here insert what I omitted in my former relation. The matter is this: Just before we weighed anchor and set sail, there happened a quarrel on board the ship, which had like to have occasioned a second mutiny, till such time the courageous Capitan, taking two of the most refractory prisoners, laid them in irons threatening, as they were concerned in the former disorders, so have them hanged in England for running away with the ship. This frightened some of the rest, as thinking the Captain would serve them in the same manner, though he seemed to give them good word for the present. But the mate having intelligence of this, mad me acquainted with their fears; so that to make them more easy, and ourselves more safe from their conspiracies I was obliged to go down, and pass my honour's word for it, that upon their good behaviour, all that was past should be forgiven; in testimony of which, I ordered the two men's irons to be taken off; & themselves forgiven. But as this had brought us to an anchor that night, in which there was a calm; the two men that had been in irons stole each of them a musket, and some other weapons, and taking the ship's pinnace, not yet hauled up, ran away to their brother rogues. The next morning we sent the long-boat with men to pursue them, but all in vain; the mate, in revenge, would have demolished my little castle, burnt his furniture and destroyed their plantations, but having no orders for it, he did not put it in execution. And thus there were five Englishmen in the island, which caused great differences, as my faithful Spaniard gave me a perfect account of, in the following manner:

You cannot, Sir, but remember the embassy you sent me about, and what a disappointment we met with, by your absence, at our return. There is but little variety in the relation of all our voyage, being blessed with calm weather and a smooth sea. Great indeed was the joy of my countrymen to see me alive, having acted as the principal man on board, the captain of the shipwrecked vessel dying before; nor was their surprise less, as knowing I was taken prisoner by the savages of another nation, they had thought me long since entombed in their monstrous bowels. But when I showed them the arms, ammunition, and provisions I had brought for them, they looked upon me as a second Joseph advanced in Pharoah's court, and immediately prepared to come along with me. Indeed they were obliged to trespass upon their friendly savages, by borrowing two of their canoes, under a pretext for fishing; and they came away the next morning, but without any provisions of their own, except a few roots which served them instead of bread. After three weeks absence we arrived at our habitation. Here we met with three English sailors, who, I confess, gave us provisions, and that letter of direction you had left for us, which informed us how to bring up tame goats, plant corn, cure grapes, make pots, and, in short, every thing that was necessary for our life. As, in particular, I knew your method best, so taking Friday's father to assist me, we managed all the affairs; nor were the rest of the Spaniards wanting in their kind offices, dressing food for the Englishmen, who did nothing but ramble and divert themselves in the woods, either shooting parrots, or catching tortoises. But we had not been long ashore, before we were informed of two more Englishmen, unnaturally turned out of their common place of residence, by the three others above mentioned; this made my Spaniards and me (whom they now looked upon as their governor in your absence) endeavour to persuade them to take them in, that we might be as one family; but all our intreaties were in vain, so that the poor fellows finding nothing to be done without industry, pitched their tents on the north side of the island, a little inclining to the west, for fear of savages. Here they built two huts, one to lodge, and the other to lay their stores in; for my good natured Spaniards giving them some seeds, they dug and planted as I had done, and began to live prettily. But while they were thus comfortably going on, the three unnatural brutes, their countrymen, in a mere bullying humour, insulted them by saying, 'the governor (meaning you) had given them a possession of the island, and d-mn 'em they should build no houses upon their ground, without paying rent.' The two honest men (for so let me now distinguish them) thought their three countrymen only jested, and one of them invited them in, to see their fine habitations; while the other facetiously told them 'that since they built tenements with great improvements, they should, according to the custom of lords, give them a longer lease;' at the same time desiring them to fetch a scriviner to draw the writings. One of these wretches swearing he should pay for the jest, snatches up a fire brand, and clapping it to the outside of their hut, very fairly set it on fire, which would soon have consumed it, had not the honest man thrust him away, and trod it with his feet. Hereupon the fellow returns with his pole, with which he would have ended his days, had not the poor man avoided the blow when fetching his musket, he knocked down the villain that began the quarrel. The other two coming to assist their fellow, obliged the honest man to take his musket also, and both of them presenting their pieces bid the villains stand off; and if they did not lay down their arms, death should decide the dispute one way or other. This brought them to a parley, in which they agreed to take their wounded man and begone; but they were in the wrong that they did not disarm them when they had the power, and then make their complaint to me and my Spaniards for justice, which might have prevented their farther designs against them. And indeed so many trespass did they afterwards commit, by treading down their corn, shooting their young kids and goats, and plaguing them night and day, that they resolved to come to my castle, challenge all the three, and decide their right by one plain battle, while the Spaniards stood by to see fair play. One day it happened, that two of my Spaniards (one of whom understood English) being in the woods, were met by one of the honest men, who complained how barbarous their countrymen had been in destroying their corn, killing their milk-goat and three kids, which deprived them of their subsistence; and that if we did not grant them relief, they must be inevitably starved, and so they parted; but when my Spaniards came home at night, and supper being on the table, one of them began to reprehend the Englishmen, but in a very mannerly way; which they resenting, replied, What business had their countrymen in that place without leave, when it was none of their ground? Why, said my Spaniard, calmly, Inglise, they must not starve: but they replied, Let them starve and be damn'd, they should neither plant nor build, and damn them, they should be their servants, and work for them, for the island was their's, and they would burn all the huts they should find in the island. By this rule, said my Spaniard, smiling, We shall be your servants too. Aye, by God, and so you shall replied the impudent rascal. Upon which, starting up, Will Atkins cries, Come Jack, let's have t'other brush with them; who dare to build in our dominions?—Thus leaving us something heated with just passion, away they trooped, every man having a gun, pistol, and sword, muttering some threatening words, that we could then but imperfectly understand. That night they designed to murder their two companions, and slept till midnight in the bower, thinking to fall upon them in their sleep: not were the honest men less thoughtful concerning them; for at this juncture they were coming to find them out, but in a much fairer way. As soon as the villains came to the huts, and found nobody there, they concluded that I and my Spaniard had given them notice, and therefore swore to be revenged on us. Then they demolished the poor men's habitations; not by fire, as they attempted before, but pulled down their houses, limb from limb, not leaving stick nor stone on the ground where they stood, broke their household stuff in pieces, tore up their trees, spoiled their inclosures, and, in short, quite ruined them of every thing they had. Had these people met together, no doubt but there would have been a bloody battle; but Providence ordered it for the better; for just as the three were got together the two were at our castle; and when they left us, the three came back again, but in great rage, scoffingly telling us what they had done; when one taking hold of a Spaniard's hat, twirls it round, saying, And you Seignor Jack Spaniard, shall have the same sauce, if you don't mind your manners. My Spaniard, a grave but courageous man, knocked him down with one blow of his fist; at which another villain fired his pistol, and narrowly missed his body, but wounded him a little in the ear. Hereat enraged, the Spaniard takes up the fellow's musket who he had knocked down, and would have shot him, if I and the rest had not come out, and taken their arms from every one of them.

"These Englishmen perceiving they had made all of us their enemies, began to cool; but not withstanding their better words the Spaniards would not return them their arms again, telling them, 'they would do them no manner of harm, if they would live peaceably; but if they offered any injury to the plantation or castle, they would shoot them as they would do ravenous beasts. This made them so mad, that they went away raging like furies of hell. They were no sooner gone, but in came the two honest men, fired with the justest rage, if such can be, having been ruined as aforesaid. And indeed it was very hard, that nineteen of us should be bullied by three villains, continually offending with impunity.

"It was a great while, Sir, before we could persuade the two Englishmen from pursuing, and undoubtedly killing them with their fire-arms; but we promised them 'justice should be done them, and, in the mean time, they should reside with us in our habitation.' In about five days after, these three vagrants, almost starved with hunger, drew near our grove, and perceiving me, the governor, & two others walking by the side of the creek, they very submissively desired to be received into the family again. We told them of 'their great incivility to us, and of their unnatural barbarity to their countrymen; but yet we would see what the rest agreed to, and in half an hour's time would bring them word.' After some debate, we called them in, where their two countrymen laid a heavy charge against them, for not only ruining, but designing to murder them, which they could not deny. But here I was forced to interpose as a mediator, by obliging the two Englishmen not to hurt them, being naked & unarmed, and that the other three should make them restitution, by building their two huts, and fencing their ground in the same manner as it was before. Well, being in a miserable condition, they submitted to this at present, and lived some time regularly enough, except as to the working part, which they did not care for, but the Spaniards would have dispensed with that, had they continued easy and quiet. Their arms being given them again, they scarce had them a week when they became as troublesome as ever; but an accident happening soon after, obliged us to lay aside private resentments, and look to our common preservation.

"One night, Sir, I went to bed, perfectly well in health, and yet by no means could I compose myself to sleep; upon which, being very uneasy, I got up and looked out, but it being dark, I could perceive nothing but the trees around the castle. I went to bed again, but it was all one, I could not sleep; when one of my Spaniards, hearing me walk about, asked who it was up? I answered, It is I. When I told him the occasion, Sir, said he, such things are not to be slighted; for certainly there is some mischief plotting against us. Where are the Englishmen? said I. He answered In their huts; for they lay separate from us, Sir, since the last mutiny. Well, said I, some kind spirit gives this information for advantage. Come let us go abroad, and see if any thing offers to justify our fears. Upon which I and some of my Spaniards went up the mountain, not by the ladder, but through the grove, and then we were struck with a panic fear on seeing a light, as though it were a fire, at a very little distance, and hearing the voices of several men. Hereupon we retreated immediately, and raised the rest of our forces, and made them sensible of the impending danger; but with all my authority, I could not make them stay where they were, so earnest were they to see how things went. Indeed the darkness of the night gave them opportunity enough to view them by the light of the fire undiscovered. As they were in different parties, and straggling over the shore, we were much afraid that they should find out our habitations, and destroy our flocks of goats: to prevent which, we sent immediately an Englishman and two Spaniards to drive the goats into the valley where the cave lay; or, if there was occasion, into the cave itself: As to ourselves, resuming our native courage and prudent conduct, had we not been divided, we durst venture to attack an hundred of them; but before it was very light, we resolved to send out Friday's father as a spy, who, immediately stripping himself naked, gets among them undiscovered, and in two hours time brings word, that 'they were two parties of two different nations, who lately having a bloody battle with one another, happened to land by mere chance on the same island, to devour their miserable prisoners; that they were entirely ignorant of any person's inhabiting here; but rather filled with rage and fury against one another, he believed, that as soon as day light appeared, there would be a terrible engagement.' Old Friday had scarce ended his relation, when we heard an uncommon noise, and perceived that there was a horrid engagement between the two armies.

"Such was the curiosity of our party, especially the Englishmen, that they would not lie close, tho' Old Friday told them, 'their safety depended upon it; and that if we had patience, we should behold the savages kill one another.' However they used some caution, by going farther into the woods, and placing themselves in a convenient place to behold the battle.

"Never could there be a more bloody engagement, or men of more invincible spirits and prudent conduct, according to their manner and way of fighting. It lasted near two hours, till the party which was nearest our castle began to decline, and at last to fly from their conquerors. We were undoubtedly put into a great consternation on this account, lest they should run into our grove, and consequently bring us into the like danger. Hereupon we resolved to kill the first that came, to prevent discovery, and that too with our swords, and the butt end of our muskets, for fear the report of our guns should be heard.

"And so indeed, as we thought, it happened; for three of the vanquished army crossing the creek, ran directly to the place, as to a thick wood for shelter; nor was it long before our scout gave us notice of it: as also, that the victors did not think fit to pursue them. Upon this I would not suffer them to be slain, but had them surprised and taken by our party; afterwards they proved very good servants to us, being stout young creatures, and able to do a great deal of work. The remainder of the conquered savages fled to their canoes, and put out into the ocean, while the conquerors, joining together, shouted by way of triumph, and about three in the afternoon they also embarked for their own nation. Thus we were freed at once from these savages and our fears, not perceiving any of these creatures for some considerable time after. We found two and thirty men dead in the field of battle; some were slain with long arrows, which we found sticking in their bodies; & the rest were killed with great unwieldy wooden swords, which denoted their vast strength, and of which we found seventeen, besides bows and arrows: but we could not find one wounded creature among them alive; for they either kill their enemies quite, or carry those wounded away with them.

"This terrible fight tamed the Englishmen for some time, considering how unfortunate they might have been had they fallen into their hands, who would not only kill them as enemies, but also for food, as we do cattle; and indeed so much did this nauseate their stomachs, that it not only made them very sick, but more tractable to the common necessary business of the whole society, planting, sowing, and reaping, with the greatest signs of amity and friendship; so, that being now all good friends, we began to consider of circumstances in general; and the first thing we thought of was, whether, as we perceived the savages haunted that side of the island, and there being more retired parts of it, and yet as well suited to our manner of living, and equally to our advantage, we ought not rather to move our place of residence, & plant it in a much safer place, both for the security of our corn and cattle.

"After a long debate on this head; it was resolved, or rather voted, nemine comradicente, not to remove our ancient castle, and that for this very good reason, that some time or other we expected to hear from our supreme governor, (meaning you, Sir) whose messengers not finding us there, might think the place demolished, and all his subjects destroyed by the savages.

"As to the next concern relating to our corn and cattle, we consented to have them removed to the valley where the cave was, that being most proper and sufficient for both. But yet when we considered farther, we altered one part of our resolution, which was to remove part of our cattle thither and plant only part of our corn there; so that in case one part was destroyed, the other might be preserved. Another resolution we took, which really had a great deal of prudence in it; and that was, in not trusting the three savages whom we had taken prisoners, with any knowledge of the plantations we had made in the valley, of what number of cattle we had there, much less of the cave, wherein we kept several arms, and two barrels of powder you left for us at your departure from this island. But though we could not change our habitation, we resolved to make it more fortified and more secret. To this end, Sir, as you planted trees at some distance before the entrance of your palace; so we, imitating your example, planted and filled up the whole space of ground, even to the banks of the creek, nay, into the very ooze where the tide flowed, not leaving a place for landing; and among those I had planted, they had intermingled so many short ones, all of which growing wonderfully fast and thick, a little dog could scarcely find a passage through them. Nor was this sufficient, as we thought, for we did the same to all the ground, on the right and left hand of us, even to the top of the hill, without so much as leaving a passage for ourselves, except by the ladder; which being taken down, nothing but what had wings or witchcraft could pretend to come near us. And indeed this was exceedingly well-contrived, especially to serve that occasion for which we afterwards found it necessary.

"Thus we lived two years in a happy retirement, having, all this time, not one visit from the savages. Indeed one morning we had an alarm, which put us in some amazement; for a few of my Spaniards being out very early, perceived no less than twenty canoes, as it were coming on shore: upon which returning home, with great precipitation, they gave us the alarm, which obliged us to keep at home all that day and the next, going out only in the night-time to make our observations; but, as good luck would have it, they were upon another design, and did not land that time upon the island.

"But now there happened another quarrel between the three wicked Englishmen, and some of my Spaniards.—- The occasion was this: One of them being enraged at one of the savages, whom he had taken prisoner, for not being able to comprehend something which he was showing him, snatched up a hatchet in a great fury not to correct, but to kill him; yet missing his head gave him such a barbarous—cut in the shoulder, that he had like to have struck off his arm; at which one of my good-natured Spaniards interposing between the Englishman and the savage beseeched the former, not to murder the poor creature, but this kindness had like to have cost the Spaniard his life, for the Englishman, struck at him in the same manner; which he nimbly and wisely avoiding, returned suddenly upon him with his shovel, (being all at work about their corn land), and very fairly knocked the brutish creature down. Hereupon another Englishman coming to his fellow's assistance, laid the good Spaniard on the earth; when immediately two others coming to his relief were attacked by the third Englishman, armed with an old cutlass, who wounded them both. This uproar soon reached our ears, when we rushing out upon them, took the three Englishmen prisoners, and then our next question was, what would be done to such mutinous, and impudent fellows, so furious, desperate, and idle, that they were mischievious to the highest degree and consequently not safe for the society to let them live among them.

"Now, Sir, as I was governor in your absence, so I also took the authority of a judge, and, having them brought before me; I told them, that if they had been of my country, I would have hanged every mother's son of them, but since it was an Englishman (meaning you, kind Sir,) to whom we were indebted for our preservation and deliverance, I would, in gratitude, use them with all possible mildness, but at the same time leave them to the judgment of the other two Englishmen who, I hoped, forgetting their resentments, would deal impartially by them.'

"Hereupon one of his countrymen stood up: Sir, said he, leave it not for us, for you may be sensible we have reason to sentence them to the gallows: besides, Sir, this fellow, Will Atkins, and the two others, proposed to us, that we might murder you all in your sleep, which we could not consent to: but knowing their inability, and your vigilance, we did not think fit to discover it before now.

"How, Signor, said I, do you hear what is alledged against you? What can you say to justify so horrid an action, as to murder us in cold blood? So far, Sir, was the wretch from denying it, that he swore, damn him but he would do it still. But what have we done to you, Seignor Atkins, said I, or what will you gain by killing us? What shall we do to prevent you? Must we kill you, or you kill us? Why will you Seignor Atkins, said I, smiling, put us to such an unhappy dilemma, such a fatal necessity? But so great a rage did my scoffing and yet severe jest put him into, that he was going to fly at me and undoubtedly had attempted to kill me if he had been possessed of weapons, and had not been prevented by three Spaniards. This unparalleled and villainous carriage, made us seriously consider what was to be done. The two Englishmen and the Spaniard, who had saved the poor Indian's life, mightily petitioned me to hang one of them, for an example to the others, which should be him that had twice attempted to commit murder with his hatchet, it being at that time thought impossible the poor slave should recover. But they could never gain my consent to put him to death, for the reasons above mentioned, since it was an Englishman (even yourself) who was my deliverer; and as merciful counsels are most prevailing when earnestly pressed, so I got them to be of the same opinion as to clemency. But to prevent them doing us any farther mischief; we all agreed, that they should have no weapons, as sword, gun, powder, or shot, but be expelled from the society, to live as they pleased by themselves; that neither the two Englishmen, nor the rest of the Spaniards, should have conversation with them upon any account whatsoever; that they should be kept from coming within a certain distance of our castle; and if they dared to offer us any violence, either by spoiling, burning, killing, or destroying any of the corn, plantings, buildings, fences, or cattle, belonging to the society, we would shoot them as freely as we would do beasts of prey, in whatsoever places we should find them.

"This sentence seemed very just to all but themselves; when, like a merciful judge, I called out to the two honest Englishmen, saying, You must consider they ought not to be starved neither: and since it will be some time before they can raise corn and cattle of their own, let us give them some corn to last them eight months, and for seed to sow, by which time they'll raise some for themselves; let us also bestow upon them six milch goats, four he ones, and six kids, as well for their present support, as for a further increase; with tools necessary for their work, as hatchets, an ax, saw, and other things convenient to build them huts: all which were agreed: but before they took them into possession, I obliged them solemnly to swear, never to attempt any thing against us, or their countrymen for the future. Thus dismissing them from our society, They went away, sullen & refractory, as though neither willing to go nor stay; however seeing no remedy, they took what provision was given them, proposing to choose a convenient place where they might live by themselves.

"About five days after, they came to those limits appointed, in order for more victuals, and sent me word by one of my Spaniards, whom they called to, where they had pitched their tents; and marked themselves out an habitation and plantation, at the N.E. and most remote part of the island. And, indeed, there they built themselves two very handsome cottages, resembling our little castle, being under the side of a mountain, with some trees already growing on three sides of it; so that planting a few more, it would be obscured from sight, unless particularly sought for. When these huts were finished, we gave them some dry goat-skins for bedding and covering; & upon their giving us fuller assurances of their good behaviour for the future, we gave them some pease, barley, and rice for sowing and whatever tools we could spare.

"Six months did they live in this separate condition, in which they got their first harvest in, the quantity of which was but small, because they had planted but little land; for, indeed, all their plantations being to form, made it more difficult; especially as it was a thing out of their element; and when they were obliged to make their boards and pots, &c. they could make little or nothing of it. But the rainy season coming on, put them into a greater perplexity for want of a cave to keep their corn dry, and prevent it from spoiling: and so much did this humble them, that they begged of my Spaniards to help them, to which the good-natured men readily consented, and in four days space, worked a great hole in the side of the hill for them, large enough for their purpose, to secure their corn and other things from the rain, though not comparable to ours, which had several additional appartments.

"But a new whim possessed these rogues about three quarters of a year after, which had like to have ruined us, and themselves too: for it seems, being tired and weary of this sort of living, which made them work for themselves, without hopes of changing their condition, nothing would serve them, but that they would make a voyage to the continent, and try if they could seize upon some of the savages, and bring them over as slaves, to do their drudgery, while they lived at ease and pleasure.

"Indeed the project was not so preposterous, if they had not gone farther; but they neither did, nor proposed any thing, but what had mischief in the design, or the event. One morning, these three fellows came down to the limited station, and humbly desired to be admitted to talk with us, which we readily granted; they told us in short, that being tired of their manner of living, and the labour of their hands in such employments, not being sufficient to procure the necessaries of life, they only desired one of the canoes we came over in, with some arms and ammunition for their defence, and they would seek their fortunes abroad, and never trouble us any more. To be sure we were glad enough to get rid of such wretched plagues; but yet honesty made us ingenuously represent to them, by what we ourselves had suffered, the certain destruction they were running into, either of being starved to death or murdered by the savages. To this they very audaciously replied, that they neither could nor would work: and consequently that they might as well be starved abroad as at home: & neither had they any wives or children to cry after them: nay, so intent were they upon their voyage, that if the Spaniards had not given them arms, so they had but the canoe they would have gone without them.

"Though we could not well spare our fire arms, rather than they should go like naked men, we let them have two muskets, a pistol, a cutlass, and three hatchets, which were thought very sufficient: we gave them also goat's flesh, a great basket full of dried grapes, a pot of fresh butter, a young live kid, and a large canoe sufficient to carry twenty men. And thus, with a mast made of a long pole, and a sail of six large goat-skins dried, having a fair breeze, and a flood-tide with them, they merrily sailed away, the Spaniards calling after them, Bon voyaje, no man ever expecting to see them more.

"When they were gone, the Spaniards and Englishmen would often say to one another, O how peaceably do we now live, since these turbulent fellows have left us! Nothing could be farther from their thoughts than to behold their faces any more; and yet scarce two and twenty days had passed over their heads, but one of the Englishmen, being abroad a planting, perceived at a distance, three men well armed, approaching towards him. Away he flies with speed to our castle, and tells me and the rest, that we were all undone, for that strangers were landed upon the island, and who they were he could not tell; but added that they were not savages but men habited, bearing arms. Why then, said I, we have the less occasion to be concerned, since, if they were not Indians, they must be friends; for I am sure there is no Christian people upon earth, but what will do us good rather than harm. But while we were considering of the event, up came the three Englishmen, whose voices we quickly knew, and so all our admiration of that nature ceased at once. And our wonder was succeeded by another sort of inquiry, which was, what could be the occasion of their returning so quickly to the island, when we little expected, and much less desired their company? But as this was better to be related by themselves, I ordered them to be brought in, when they gave me the following relation of their voyage.

"After two days sail, or something less, they reached land, where they found the people coming to give them another sort of reception than what they expected or desired; for, as the savages were armed with bows and arrows, they durst not venture on shore, but steered northward, six or seven hours, till they gained an opening, by which they plainly perceived, that the land that appeared from this place, was not the main land, but an island. At their entrance into the opening of the sea, they discovered another island, on the right hand northward, and several more lying to the westward; but being resolved to go on shore some where or other, they put over to one of the western islands. Here they found the natives very courteous to them, giving them several roots and dried fish; nay, even their women too were as willing to supply them with what they could procure them to eat, bringing it a great way to them upon their heads. Among these hospitable Indians they continued some days, inquiring by signs and tokens, what nations lay around them; and were informed, that there were, several fierce and terrible people lived every way, accustomed to eat mankind; but for themselves they never used such diet, except those that were taken in battle, and of them they made a solemn feast.

"The Englishmen inquired how long it was since they had a feast of that kind? They answered, about two moons ago, pointing to the moon, and then two fingers; that, at this time, their king had two hundred prisoners, which were fattening up for the slaughter. The Englishmen were mighty desirous of seeing the prisoners, which the others mistaking, thought that they wanted some of them for their own food: upon which they beckoned to them, pointing to the rising, and then to the setting of the sun; meaning, that by the time it appeared in the east next morning, they would bring them some: and indeed they were as good as their word; for by that time they brought eleven men & five women, just as so many cows & oxen are brought to sea-port towns to victual a ship. But as brutish as these Englishmen were, their stomachs turned at the sight. What to do in this case, they could not tell: to refuse the prisoner, would have been the highest affront offered to the savage gentry; and to dispose of them, they knew not, in what manner; however, they resolved to accept them, and so gave them, in return, one of their hatchets, an old key, a knife, and six or seven of their bullets; things which, tho' they were wholly ignorant of, yet of seemed entirely contented with; & dragging the poor wretches into the boat, with their hands bound behind them, delivered them to the Englishmen. But this obliged them to put off as soon as they had these presents, lest the donors should have expected two or three of them to be killed, and to be invited to dinner the next day; and so taking leave with all possible respect and thanks, though neither of them understood what the others said, they sailed away back to the first island, and there set eight of the prisoners at liberty. In their voyage they endeavoured to comfort, and have some conversation with the poor captives; but it was impossible to make them sensible of any thing; and nothing they could say or give, or do for them, could make them otherwise persuaded, but that they were unbound only to be devoured: if they gave them any food, they thought it was only to fatten them for the slaughter; or looked at any one more particularly, the poor creature supposed itself to be the 'first sacrifice'; and even when we brought them to our island, and began to use them with the greatest humanity and kindness, yet they expected every day that their new masters would devour them.

"And thus, Sir, did these three strange wanderers conclude their unaccountable relation of their voyage, which was both amazing and entertaining. Hereupon, I asked them, where there new family was? They told me they had put them into one of their huts, and they came to beg some victuals for them. This, indeed, made us all long to see them; and taking Friday's father with us, leaving only two at our castle, we came down to behold these poor creatures.

"When we arrived at the hut, (they being bound again by the Englishmen, for fear of escaping) we found them stark naked, expecting their fatal tragedy: there were three lusty men, well shaped, with straight and good limbs, between thirty and five and thirty years old; and five women, two of them might be from thirty to forty, two more not above four and twenty; and the last, a comely tall maiden of about seventeen. Indeed, all the women were very agreeable, both in proportion and features, except that they were tawny, which their modest behaviour, and other graces, made amends for, when they afterwards came to be clothed.

"This naked appearance, together with their miserable circumstances, was no very comfortable sight to my Spaniards, who, for their parts, I may venture, Sir, without flattery, to say, are men of the best behaviour, calmest tempers, and sweetest nature, that can possibly be; for they immediately ordered Friday's father to see if he knew any of them, or if he understood what they could say. No sooner did the old Indian appear, but he looked at them with great seriousness; yet, as they were not of his nation, they were utter strangers to him, and none could understand his speech or signs, but one woman. This was enough to answer the design, which was to assure them they would not be killed, being fallen into the hands of Christians, who abhorred such barbarity. When they were fully satisfied of this, they expressed their joy by such strange gestures, and uncommon tones, as it is not possible for me to describe. But the woman their interpreter, was ordered next to enquire, whether they were content to be servants, and would work for the men who had brought them hither to save their lives? Hereupon, (being at this time unbound) they fell a capering and dancing, one taking this thing upon her shoulders, and the other that, intimating, that they were willing to do any thing for them. But now, Sir, having women among us, and dreading that it might occasion some strife, if not blood, I asked the three men 'what they would do, and how they intended to use these creatures, whether as servants or women?' One of them very pertly and readily answered, 'they would use them as both,' Gentlemen, said I as you are your own masters, I am not going to restrain you from that; but methinks, for avoiding dissentions among you, I would only desire you to engage, that none of you will take more than one for a woman or wife, and that having taken this one, none else should presume to touch her; for though we have not yet a priestly authority to marry you, yet it is but reasonable, that whoever thus takes a woman, should be obliged to maintain her, since nobody has any thing to do with her; and this, indeed, appeared so just to all present, that it was unanimously agreed to. The Englishmen then asked my Spaniards, 'whether they designed to take any of them? but they all answered, No; some declaring they had already wives in Spain; and others that they cared not to join with infidels. On the reverse, the Englishmen took each of them a temporary wife, and so set up a new method of living. As to Friday's father, the Spaniards, and the three savage servants we had taken in the late battle, they all lived with me in our ancient castle; and indeed we supplied the main part of the island with food, as necessity required. But the most remarkable part of the story is, how these Englishmen, who had been so much at variance, should agree about the choice of those women; yet they took a way good enough to prevent quarreling among themselves. They let the five women in one of their huts, and going themselves to the other, drew lots which should have the first choice. Now, he that had the first lot went to the hut, and fetched out her he chose; and it is remarkable, that he took her that was the most homely and eldest of the number, which made the rest of the Englishmen exceedingly merry; the Spaniards themselves could not help but smile at it; but as it happened, the fellow had the best thought, in choosing one fit for application and business; and indeed she proved the best wife of all the parcel.

"But when the poor creatures perceived themselves placed in a row, and separated one by one, they were again seized with an unspeakable terror, as now thinking they were going to be slain in earnest; and when the Englishmen came to take the first, the rest set up a lamentable cry, clasped their arms around her neck, and hanging about her, took their last farewell, as they thought, in such trembling agonies, and affectionate embraces, as would have softened the hardest heart in the world, and made the driest eyes melt into tears; nor could they be persuaded but that they were going to die, till such time as Friday's father made them sensible that the Englishmen had chosen them for their wives, which ended all their terror and concern upon this occasion.

"Well, after this, the Englishmen went to work, and being assisted by my good natured Spaniards, in a few hours they, erected every one of them a new hut or tent for their separate lodging, since those they had already were, filled with tools, household stuff, and provision. They all continued on the north shore of the island, but separate as before; the three wicked ones pitching farther off, and the two honest men nearer our castle; so that the island seemed to be peopled in three places, three towns beginning to be built for that purpose. And here I cannot but remark, what is very common, that the two honest men had the worst wives, (I mean as to industry, cleanliness, and ingenuity) while the three reprobates enjoyed women of quite contrary qualities.

"But another observation I made was, in favour of the two honest men, to show what disparity there is between a diligent application to business, on the one hand, and a slothful negligent, and idle temper, on the other. Both of them had the same parcel of ground laid out, and corn to sow, sufficient either in their cultivation or their planting. The two honest men had a multitude of young trees planted about their habitations, so that when you approached near them, nothing appeared but a wood, very pleasing and delightful. Every thing they did prospered and flourished: their grapes, planted in order, seemed as though managed in a vineyard and were infinitely preferable to any of the others. Nor were they wanting to find out a place of retreat, but dug a cave in the most retired part of a thick wood, to secure their wives and children, with their provision and chiefest goods, surrounded with innumerable stakes, and having a most subtle entrance, in case any mischief should happen either from their fellow countrymen, or the devouring savages.

"As to the reprobates, (though I must own they were much more civilized than before) instead of delightful wood surrounding their dwellings, we found the words of King Solomon too truly verified: I went by the vineyard of the slothful, and it was all overgrown with thorns. In many places their crop was obliterated by weeds: the hedges having several gaps in them, the wild goats had got in, and eaten up the corn, and here and there was a dead bush to stop these gaps for the present, which was no more than shutting the stable door after the steed was stolen away. But as to their wives, they (as I observed before) were more diligent, and cleanly enough, especially in their victuals, being instructed by one of the honest men, who had been a cook's mate on board a ship: & very well it was so, for as he cooked himself, his companion and their families lived as well as the idle husbands, who did nothing but loiter about, fetch turtle's eggs, catch fish and birds, and do any thing but work, and lived accordingly; while the diligent lived very handsomely and plentifully, in the most comfortable manner.

"And now, Sir, I come to lay before your eyes a scene quite different from any thing that ever happened to us before, and perhaps ever befel you in all the time of your residence on this island. I shall inform you of its original in the following manner.

"One morning, Sir, very early, there came five or six canoes of Indians on shore, indisputably upon their old custom of devouring their prisoners. All that we had to do upon such an occasion, was to lie concealed, that they, not having any notice of inhabitants, might depart quietly after performing their bloody execution: whoever first discovered the savages, was to give notice to all the three plantations to keep within doors, and then a proper scout was to be placed to give intelligence of their departure. But notwithstanding these wise measures, an unhappy disaster discovered us to the savages, which was like to have caused the desolation of the whole island; for, after the savages were gone off in their canoes, some of my Spaniards and I looking abroad; and being inflamed with a curiosity to see what they had been doing, to our great amazement beheld three savages fast asleep on the ground, who, either being gorged, could not awake when the others went off, or having wandered too far into the woods, did not come back in time.

"What to do with them as first, we could not tell; as for slaves we had enough of them already; and as to killing them, neither Christianity or humanity would suffer us to shed the blood of persons who never did us wrong. We perceived they had no boat left them to transport them to their own nation; and that, by letting them wander about, they might discover us, and inform the first savages that should happen to land upon the same bloody occasion, which information might entirely ruin us; and therefore I counselled my Spaniards to secure them, and set them about some work or other, till we could better dispose of them.

"Hereupon we all went back, and making them awake, took them prisoners. It is impossible to express the horror they were in, especially when bound, as thinking they were going to be murdered and eaten, but we soon eased them of their fear as to that point. We first took them to the bower, where the chief of our country work lay as keeping goats, planting corn, &c and then carried them to the two Englishmen's habitation, to help them in their business; but happy it was for us all we did not carry them to our castle, as by the sequel will appear. The Englishmen, indeed, found them work to do; but whether they did not guard them strictly, or that they thought they could not better themselves, I cannot tell; but certainly one of them ran away into the woods, and they could not hear of him for a long time after.

"Undoubtedly there was reason enough to suppose he got home in some of the canoes, the savages returning in about four weeks time, and going off in the space of two days. You may be certain, Sir, this thought could not but terrify us exceedingly, and make us justly conclude, that the savage would inform his countrymen of our abode in the island, how few and weak we were in comparison to their numbers & we expected it would not be long before the Englishmen would be attacked in their habitations; but the savages had not seen their places of safety in the woods, nor our castle, which it was a great happiness they did not know.

"Nor were we mistaken in our thoughts upon this occasion: for, about eight months after this, six canoes, with about ten men in each canoe, came sailing by the north side of the island, which they were never accustomed to do before, and landed about an hour after sunrise, near a mile from the dwelling of the two Englishman, who, it seems, had the good fortune to discover them about a league off: to that it was an hour before they could come at them. And now being confirmed in this opinion that they were certainly betrayed, they immediately bound the two slaves which were left, causing two of the three men, whom they brought with the women, and who proved very faithful to lead them with their wives, and other conveniences, into their retired care in the wood, and there to bind the two fellows hand and foot till they had further orders. They then opened their fences, where they kept their milch goats, and drove them all out, giving the goats liberty to ramble in the woods, to make the savages believe that they were wild ones; but the slave had given a truer information, which made them come to the very inclosures. The two frighted men sent the other slave of the three, who had been with them by accident, to alarm the Spaniards, and desire their assistance; in the mean time they took their arms and ammunition, and made to the cave where they had sent their wives, and securing their slaves, seated themselves in a private place, from whence they might behold all the actions of the savages. Nor had they gone far, when ascending a rising ground, they could see a little army of Indians approach to their beautiful dwelling, and in a few moments more, perceive the same, and their furniture, to their unspeakable grief, burning in a consuming flame, and when this war done, they spread here and there, searching every bush and place for the people, of whom it was very evident, they had information. Upon which the two Englishmen, not thinking themselves secure where they stood, retreated about half a mile higher in the country, rightly concluding, that the farther the savages strolled, there would be less numbers together: upon which they next took their stand by the trunk of an old tree, very hollow and large, whence they resolved to see what would offer: but they had not stood long there, before two savages came running directly towards them, as though having knowledge of their being there, who seemed resolved to attack them; a little farther were three more, and five more behind them again, all running the same way. It cannot be imagined the perplexity the poor men were in at this sight, thinking that if assistance did not speedily come their cave in the wood would be discovered, and consequently all therein lost; so they resolved to resist them there, and, when overpowered, to ascend to the top of the trees, where they might defend themselves as long as their ammunition lasted, and sell their lives as dear as possible to those devouring savages. Thus fixed in their resolution, they next considered, whether they should fire at the first two, or wait for the three, and so take the middle party, by which the two first & the five last would be separated. In this regulation the two savages also confirmed them, by turning a little to another part of the wood: but the three, & the five after them, came directly towards the tree. Hereupon they resolved to take them in a direct line, as they approached nearer, because perhaps the first shot might hit them all three; and upon this occasion, the man who was to fire, charged his piece with three or four bullets. And thus while they were waiting, the savages came on, one of them was the runaway, who had caused all the mischief; so they resolved he should not escape, if they both fired at once. But, however, though they did not fire together, they were ready charged; when the first that let fly, was too good a marksman to miss his aim; for he killed the foremost outright, the second (who was the runaway Indian) fell to the ground, being shot through the body, but not dead and the third was a little wounded in the shoulder, who, sitting down on the ground, fell a screaming in a most fearful manner. The noise of the guns, which not only made the most resounding echoes, from one side to the other, but raised the birds of all sorts, fluttering with the most confused noise, so much terrified the five savages behind that they stood still at first, like so many inanimate images. But when all things were in profound silence, they came to the place where there companions lay; and here, not being sensible that they were liable to the same fate, stood over the wounded man, undoubtedly inquiring the occasion of this sad calamity; and 'tis as reasonable to suppose he told them, that it came by thunder and lightning from the gods, having never seen or heard of a gun before, in the whole course of their lives. By this time the Englishmen, having loaded their pieces, fired both together a second time, when seeing them all fall immediately on the ground, they thought they had killed every creature of them. This made them come up boldly before they had charged their guns, which indeed was a wrong step; for, when they came to the place, they found four alive, two of them very little wounded, and one not at all, which obliged them to fall upon them with their muskets: they first knocked the runaway savage on the head, and another that was but a little wounded in the arm, & then put the other languishing wretches out of their pain: while he that was not hurt, with bended knees and uplifted hands, made piteous moans, and signs to them to spare his life; nor, indeed, were they unmerciful to the poor wretch, but pointed to him to sit down at the root of a tree hard by; and then, one of the Englishmen, with a piece of rope twine he had in his pocket, by mere chance, tying his two feet fast together, and his two hands behind him, they left him there, making all the haste they could after the other two, fearing they should find out their cave; but though they could not overtake them, they had the satisfaction to perceive them at a distance, cross a valley towards the sea, a quite contrary way to their retreat: upon which they returned to the tree, to look after their prisoner; but when they came there, he was gone, leaving the piece of rope-yarn, wherewith he was bound, behind him.

"Well, now they were as much concerned as ever, as not knowing how near their enemies might be, or in what numbers. Immediately they repaired to the cave, to see if all was well there, and found every thing safe, except the women, who were frightened upon their husbands account, whom they now loved entirely. They had not been long here, before seven of my Spaniards came to assist them; while the other ten, their servants, and Friday's father, were gone to defend their bower, corn, and cattle, in case the savages should have rambled so far. There accompanied the seven Spaniards, one of the three savages that had formerly been taken prisoner; and with them also that very Indian whom the Englishmen had, a little before, left under the tree; for it seems, they passed by that way where the slaughter was made, and so carried along with them that poor wretch that was left bound. But so many prisoners now becoming a burthen to us, and fearing the dreadful consequence of their escaping, most of the Spaniards and English urged the absolute necessity there was of killing them for our common preservation; but, Sir, the authority I bore, as a governor, over-ruled that piece of cruelty; and then I ordered them to be sent prisoners to the old cave in the valley, bound hands and feet, with two Spaniards to guard them.

"So much encouraged were the Englishmen at the approach of the Spaniards, and so great was their fury against the savages for destroying their habitations, that they had not patience to stay any longer; but, taking five Spaniards along with them, armed with four muskets, a pistol, and a quarter staff, away they went in pursuit of their enemies. As they passed by the place where the savages were slain, it was very easy to be perceived that more of them had been there, having attempted to carry off their dead bodies, but found it impracticable. From a rising ground our party had the mortification to see the smoke that proceeded from their ruins; when coming farther in flight of the shore, they plainly perceived that the savages had embarked in their canoes, and were putting out to sea. This they were very sorry for, there being no coming at them to give them a parting salute, but however, they were glad enough to get clear of such unwelcome guests.

"Thus the two honest, but unfortunate Englishmen, being ruined a second time, and their improvements quite destroyed, most of my good natured Spaniards helped them to rebuild, and we all assisted them with needful supplies; nay, what is more remarkable, their three mischievous countrymen, when they heard of it (which was after all these disasters were over, they living more remote eastward) very friendly sympathised with them, and worked for them several days; so that, in a little, their habitations were rebuilt, their necessities supplied, and themselves restored to their former tranquility.

"Though the savages had nothing to boast of in this adventure, (several canoes being driven ashore, followed by two drowned creatures, having undoubtedly met with a storm at sea that very night they departed) yet it was natural to be supposed, that those whose better fortune it was to attain their native shore, would inflame their nation to another ruinous attempt, with a greater force, to carry all before them. And, indeed, so it happened: for about seven months after, our island was invaded with a most formidable navy, no less than eight and twenty canoes full of savages, armed with wooden swords, monstrous clubs, bows and arrows, and such like instruments of war, landing at the east end of the island.

"You may well, Sir, imagine what consternation our men were in upon this account, and how speedy they were to execute their resolution, having only that night's time allowed them. They knew that since they could not withstand their enemies, concealment was the only way to procure their safety; and, therefore, they took down the huts that were built for the two Englishmen, and drove their flocks of goats together with their own at the bower, to the old cave in the valley, leaving as little appearance of inhabitants as possible; and then posted themselves, with all their force, at the plantation of the two men. As they expected, so it happened: for early the next morning, the Indians, leaving their canoes at the east-end of the island, came running along the shore, about two hundred and fifty in number, as near as could be guessed. Our army was but little indeed; and what was our greatest misfortune, we had not arms sufficient for them. The account, as to the men, Sir, is an follows: viz. 17 Spaniards, 5 Englishmen, Old Friday, the three savages, taken with the five women, who proved faithful servants, and three other slaves, living with the Spaniards. To arm these they had 11 muskets, 5 pistols, 3 fowling-pieces, 2 swords, 3 old halberts, 5 muskets, or fowling-pieces, taken from the sailors whom you reduced. As to the slaves, we gave three of them halberts, and the other three long staves, with great iron spikes at the end of them, with hatchets by their sides; we also had hatchets sticking in our girdles, besides the fire-arms: nay, two of the women, inspired with Amazonian fortitude, could not be dissuaded from fighting along with their dear husbands, and if they died, to die with them, Seeing their resolution, we gave them hatchets likewise; but what pleased them best, were the bows and arrows (which they dexterously knew how to use) that the Indians had left behind them, after their memorable battle one against another.

"Over this army, which though little, was of great intrepidity, I was constituted chief general and commander: and knowing Will Atkins, though exceedingly wicked, yet a man of invincible courage, I gave him the power of commanding under me: he had six men with their muskets loaded with six or seven bullets a-piece, and were planted just behind a small thicket of bushes, as an advanced guard, having orders to let the first pass by; and then, when he fired into the middle of them, making a nimble retreat round a part of the wood, and so come in the rear of the Spaniards, who were shaded by a thicket of trees: for though the savages came on with the fierceness of lions, yet they wanted the subtility of foxes, being out of all manner of order, and straggling in heaps every way: and, indeed, when Will Atkins, after fifty of the savages had passed by, had ordered three of his men to give fire, so great was their consternation, to see so many men killed and wounded, and hear such a dreadful noise, and yet knew not whence it came, that they were frightened to the highest degree: and when the second volley was given, they concluded no less but that their companions were slain by thunder and lightning from Heaven. In this notion they would have continued, had Will Atkins and his men retired, as soon as they fired, according to order: or had the rest been near them, to pour in their shot continually, their might have been a complete victory obtained: but staying to load their pieces again, discovered the whole matter. They were perceived by some of the scattering savages at a distance, who let fly their arrows among them, wounded Atkins himself, and killed his fellow Englishman, and one of the Indians taken with the women. Our party did not fail to answer them, and in their retreat killed about twenty savages. Here I cannot but take notice of our poor dying slave, who, tho' stopt from his retreat by a fatal arrow, yet with his staff and hatchet, desperately and gallantly assailed his pursuers, and killed five of the savages, before his life submitted to a multiplicity of wounds. Nor is the cruelty or malice of the Indians to be less remarked, in breaking the arms, legs, and heads of the two dead bodies, with their clubs and wooden swords, after a most wretched manner. As Atkins retreated our party advanced, to interpose between him and the savages: but after three vollies, we were obliged to retreat also: for they were so numerous and desperate, that they came up to our very teeth, shot their arrows like a cloud, and their wounded men, enraged with cruel pain, fought like madmen. They did not, however, think fit to follow us, but drawing themselves up in a circle, they gave two triumphant shouts in token of victory, though they had the grief to see several of their wounded men bleed to death before them.

"After I had, Sir, drawn up our little army together, upon a rising ground, Atkins, wounded as he was, would have had us attack the whole body of the savages at once, I was extremely well pleased with the gallantry of the man: but, upon consideration, I replied, You perceive, Seignor Atkins, how their wounded men fight; let them alone till morning, when they will be faint, stiff, and sore, and then we shall have fewer to combat with. To which Atkins, smiling, replied, That's very true, Seignor, so shall I too; and that's the reason I would fight them now I am warm. We all answered, Seignor Atkins for your part you have behaved very gallantly; and, if you are not able to approach the enemy in the morning, we will fight for you, till then we think it convenient to wait, and so we tarried.

"By the brightness of the moon that night, we perceived the savages in great disorder about their dead and wounded men. This made us change our resolution, and resolve to fall upon them in the night, if we could give them one volley undiscovered. This we had a fair opportunity to do, by one of the two Englishmen leading us round, between the woods and the sea-side westward, and turning short south, came privately to a place where the thickest of them were. Unheard and unperceived, eight of us fired among them, and did dreadful execution; and in half a minute after, eight more of us let fly, killing and wounding abundance of them; and then dividing ourselves into three bodies, eight persons in each body we marched from among the trees, to the very teeth of the enemy, sending forth the greatest shouts and acclamations. The savages hearing a different noise from three quarters at once, stood in the utmost confusion; but coming in sight of us, let fly a volley of arrows, which wounded poor old Friday, yet happily it did not prove mortal. We did not, however, give them a second opportunity; but rushing in among them, we fired three several ways, and then fell to work with our swords, staves, hatchets, and the butt-end of our muskets, with a fury not to be resisted; so that with the most dismal screaming and howling they had recourse to their feet, to save their lives by a speedy flight. Nor must we forget the valour of the two women; for they exposed themselves to the greatest dangers, killed many with their arrows, and valiantly destroyed several more with their hatchets.

"In fighting these two battles, we were so much tired, that we did not then trouble ourselves to pursue them to their canoes, in which we thought they would presently put to the ocean; but their happening a dreadful storm at sea, which continuing all that night, it not only prevented their voyage, but dashed several of their boats to pieces against the beach, and drove the rest so high upon the shore, that it required infinite labour to get them off. After our men had taken some refreshment and a little repose, they resolved early in the morning to go towards the place of their landing, and see whether they were gone off, or in what posture they remained. This necessarily led them to the place of battle, where several of the savages were expiring, a sight no way pleasing to generous minds, to delight in misery, though obliged to conquer them by the law of arms; but our own Indian slaves put them out of their pain, by dispatching them with their hatchets. At length, coming in view of the remainder of the army, we found them leaning upon their knees, which were bended towards their mouth, and the head between the two hands. Hereupon, coming within musket shot of them, I ordered two pieces to be fired without ball, in order to alarm them, that we might plainly know, whether they had the courage to venture another battle, or were utterly dispirited from such an attempt, that so we might accordingly manage them. And indeed, the prospect took very well; for, no sooner did the savages hear the first gun, and perceive the flash of the second, but they suddenly started upon their feet in the greatest consternation; and when we approached towards them, they ran howling and screaming away up the hill into the country.

"We could rather, at first, have wished, that the weather had permitted them to have gone off to the sea; but when we considered, that their escape might occasion the approach of multitudes, to our utter ruin and dissolution; we were very well pleased the contrary happened; and Will Atkins (who, tho' wounded, would not part from us all this while) advised us not to let slip this advantage, but clapping between them and their boats, deprive them of the capacity of ever returning to plague the island: I know, said he, there is but on objection you can make, which is, that these creatures, living like beasts in the wood, may make excursions, rifle the plantations, and destroy the tame goats; but then, consider, we had better to do with an hundred men whom we can kill, or make slaves of at leisure, than with an hundred nations, whom it is impossible we should save ourselves from, much less subdue. This advice, and these arguments being approved of, we set fire to their boats; and though they were so wet that we could not burn them entirely, yet we made them incapable for swimming in the seas. As soon as the Indians perceived what we were doing, many of them ran out of the woods, in fight of us, and kneeling down, piteously cried out, Oa, Oa! Waramakoa. Intimating, I suppose, that, if we would but spare their canoes, they would never trouble us again.

"But all their complaints, submissions, and entreaties, were in vain; for self-preservation obliging us to the contrary, we destroyed every one of them that had escaped the fury of the ocean. When the Indians perceived this, they raised a lamentable cry, and ran into the woods, where they continued ranging about; making the woods ring with their lamentation. Here we should have considered, that making these creatures, thus desperate, we ought, at the same time to have set a sufficient guard upon the plantations: for the savages, in their ranging about, found out the bower, destroyed the fences, trod the corn down under their feet, and tore up the vines and grapes. It is true, we were always able to fight these creatures; but, as they were too swift for us, and very numerous, we durst not go out single, for fear of them; though that too was needless, they having no weapons, nor any materials to make them; and, indeed, their extremity appeared in a little time after.



"Though the savages, as already mentioned, had destroyed our bower, and all our corns, grapes, &c. yet we had still left our flock of cattle in the valley, by the cave, with some little corn that grew there, and the plantation of Will Atkins and his companions, one of whom being killed by an arrow, they were now reduced to two: it is remarkable that this was the fellow who cut the poor Indian with his hatchet, and had design to murder me and my countrymen the Spaniards. As our condition was low, we came to the resolution to drive the savages up to the farther part of the island, where no Indians landed, to kill as many of them as we could, till we had reduced their number; and then to give the remainder some corn to plant, and to teach them how to live by their daily labour, accordingly we pursued them with our guns, at the hearing of which they were so terrified, that they would fall to the ground. Every day we killed and wounded some of them, and many were found starved to death, so that our hearts began to relent at the sight of such miserable objects. At last, with great difficulty, taking one of them alive, and using him with kindness, & tenderness, we brought him to Old Friday, who talked to him, & told him how good we would be to them all, giving them corn and land to plant and live in, and present nourishment, provided they should keep within such bounds as should be allotted them, and not do prejudice to others: Go then, said he, and inform your countrymen of this; which, if they will not agree to, every one of them shall be slain.

"The poor creatures, thoroughly humbled, being reduced to about thirty-seven, joyfully accepted the offer, and earnestly begged for food; hereupon we sent twelve Spaniards and two Englishmen well armed, together with Old Friday, and three Indian slaves were loaded with a large quantity of bread and rice cakes, with three live goats: and the poor Indians being ordered to sit down on the side of the hill, they ate the victuals very thankfully, and have proved faithful to the last, never trespassing beyond their bounds, where at this day they quietly and happily remain, and where we now and then visit them. They are confined to a neck of land about a mile and a half broad, and three or four in length, on the south-east corner of the island, the sea being before, and lofty mountains behind them, free from the appearance of canoes; and indeed their countrymen never made any inquiry after them. We gave them twelve hatchets, and three or four knives; have taught them to build huts, make wooden spades, plant corn, make bread, breed tame goats and milk them, as likewise to make wicker work, in which I must ingenuously confess, they infinitely out do us, having made themselves several pretty necessaries and fancies, as baskets, sieves, bird-cages, and cupboards, as also stools, beds and couches, no less useful than delightful; and now they live the most innocent and inoffensive creatures that ever were subdued in the world, wanting nothing but wives to make them a nation.

"Thus, kind Sir, have I given you, according to my ability, an impartial account of the various transactions that have happened, in the island since your departure to this day; and we have great reason to acknowledge the kind providence of Heaven in our merciful deliverance. When you inspect your little kingdom, you will find in it some little improvement, your flocks increased, and your subjects augmented, so that from a desolate island, as this was before your wonderful deliverance upon it, here is a visible prospect of its becoming a populous and well governed little kingdom, to your immortal fame and glory."

There is no doubt to suppose but that the preceeding relation of my faithful Spaniard was very agreeable and no less surprising to me, to the young priest, and to all who heard it: now were these people less pleased with those necessary utensils that I brought them, such as the knives, scissars, spades, shovels, and pick-axes, with which they now adorn their habitations.

So much had they addicted themselves to wicker-work, prompted by the ingenuity of the Indians, who assisted them, that when I viewed the Englishmen's colonies, they seemed at a distance as though they had lived like bees in a hive: for Will Atkins, who was now become a very industrious and sober man, had made himself a tent of basket-work round the outside; the walls were worked in as a basket, in pannels or strong squares of thirty-two in number, standing about seven feet high: in the middle was another, not above twenty-two paces round, but much stronger built, being of an octagonal form, and in the eight corners stood eight strong poles, round the top of which he raised a pyramid for the roof, mighty pretty, I assure you, and joined very well together, with iron spikes, which he made himself; for he had made him a forge, with a pair of wooden bellows and charcoal for his work, forming an anvil cut of one of the iron crows, to work upon, and in the manner would he make himself hooks, staples, spikes, bolts, and hinges. After he had pitched the roof of his innermost tent, he made it so firm between the rafters with basket-work, thatching that over again with rice-straw, and over that a large leaf of a tree, that his house was as dry as if it had been tiled or slated. The outer circuit was covered as a lean-to, quite round this inner appartment, laying long rafters from the thirty-two angles to the top posts of the inner house, about twenty-feet distant, so that there was a space like a wall between the outer and inner wall, near twenty feet in breadth. The inner place he partitioned off with the same wicker-work, dividing it into six neat apartments every one of which had a door, first into the entry of the main tent, and another into the space and walk that was round it, not only convenient for retreat, but for family necessaries. Within the door of the outer circle, there was a passage directly to the door of the inner house; on either side was a wicker partition, and a door, by which you go into a room twenty-two feet wide, and about thirty long, and through that into another of a smaller length; so that in the outer circle were ten handsome rooms, six of which were only to be come at through the apartments of the inner tent, serving as retiring rooms to the respective chambers of the inner circle, and four large warehouses, which went in through one another, two on either hand of the passage that led through the outer door to the inner tent. In short, nothing could be built more ingeniously, kept more neat, or have better conveniences; and here lived the three families, Will Atkins, his companion, their wives and children, and the widow of the deceased. As to religion, the men seldom taught their wives the knowledge of God, any more than the sailors' custom of swearing by his name. The greatest improvement their wives had, was, they taught them to speak English, so as to be understood.

None of their children were then above six years old; they were all fruitful enough; and I think the cook's mate's wife was big of her sixth child.

When I inquired of the Spaniards about their circumstances while among the savages, they told me, that they abandoned themselves to despair, reckoning themselves a poor and miserable people, that had no means put into their hands, and consequently must soon be starved to death. They owned, however, that they were in the wrong to think so, and for refusing the assistance that reason offered for their support, as well as future deliverance, confessing that grief was a most insignificant passion, as it looked upon things as without remedy, and having no hope of things to come; all which verified this noted proverb,