living for some days with the Spaniards; for their own nabitation 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 ey 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, it seems, as they were to wait this half hour for an answer, they begged they would send them out some bread in the mean time, which they did; sending, at the same time, a large piece of goat's flesh, and a boiled parrot, which they ate very heartily, for they were hungry enough.

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 labor, 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 where they had pulled up their fences, plant trees in the room of those pulled up, dig up the land again for planting corn where they had spoiled it, and, in a word, to restore every thing in the same state as they found it, as near as they could; for entirely it could not be, the scason for the corn, and the growth of the trees and hedges, not being possible to be recovered.

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 gave them 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, but the ungrateful creatures began to be as insolent and troublesome as before; but, 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 Spanish governor, as I call him, that is to say, the Spaniard whose life I had saved, who was now the captain, or leader, or 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, as he told me the story, only found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon men fighting and killing of 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, upon goat-skins laid thick upon such couches and pads as they made for themselves, and not in hammocks and ship-beds, as I did, who was but one, so they had little to do, when they were willing to rise, but to get up 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, as in my former account is described, and which were now grown tall,

intercepted his sight, so that he could only look up, and see that it was a clear, star-light night; and hearing no noise, he returned and laid him down again: but it was all one; he could not sleep, nor could he compose himself to any thing 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 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 for the three Englishmen, who, since their last mutiny, were 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 imbodied have a converse with, and receive intelligence from, the spirits unimbodied, and inhabiting the invisible world; and this friendly notice is given for our advantage, if we knew how to make use of it. Come," says he, "let us go and look abroad; and if we find nothing at all in it to justify the trouble, I'll tell you a story to the purpose, that shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it.

In a word, they went out, to go up to the top of the hill, where I used to go; but they, being strong, and a good company, not alone, as I was, used none of my cautions, to go up by the ladder, and 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 savages 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 occasion they came to know it, they felt it so effectually, 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 was the three savages in our last encounter, who jumped into the boat; of whom, I mentioned, 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, or not to have seen them at all, much less to have let the savages have seen that there were any inhabitants in the place; or 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 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 a 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 token 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 despatch three men away before it was light, 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 a hundred of them, to have attacked them; but that could not be obtained; for they 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 beating their brains in considering their present circumstances, they resolved, at last, while it was still 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, 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 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 all on the same island, for the devouring their prisoners and making merry, but their 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; but he did not perceive that they had any notion of any body being on the island but themselves. He had hardly made an end of telling his story, when they could perceive, by the unusual noise they made, that the two little armies were engaged in a bloody fight.