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rainy season came on, for want of a cave in the earth, they could not keep their grain dry, and it was in great danger of spoiling; and this humbled them much; so they came and begged the Spaniards to help them, which they very readily did, and in four days worked a great hole in the side of the hill for them, big enough to secure their corn and other things from the rain; but it was but a poor place, at best, compared to mine, and especially as mine was then, for the Spaniards had greatly enlarged it, and made several new apartments in it. About three quarters of a year after this separation, a new frolic took these rogues, which, together with the former villany they had committed, brought mischief enough upon them, and had very near been the ruin of the whole colony. The three new associates began, it seems, to be weary of the laborious life they led, and that without hope of bettering their circumstances; and a whim took them, that they would make a voyage to the continent, from whence the savages came, and would try if they could seize upon some prisoners among the natives there, and bring them home, so as to make them do the laborious part of their work for them.

The project was not so preposterous, if they had gone no farther but they did nothing, and proposed nothing, but had either mischief in the design, or mischief in the event; and, if I may give my opinion, they seemed to be under a blast from Heaven; for if we will not allow a visible curse to pursue visible crimes, how shall we reconcile the events of things with the divine justice? It was certainly an apparent vengeance on their crime of mutiny and piracy that brought them to the state they were in; and they showed not the least remorse for the crime, but added new villanies to it, such as the piece of monstrous cruelty of wounding a poor slave, because he did not, or perhaps could not, understand to do what he directed, and to wound him in such a manner as made him a cripple all his life, and in a place where no surgeon or medicine could be had for his cure; and what was still worse, the murderous intent, or, to do justice to the crime, the intentional murder,

for such to be sure it was, as was afterwards the formed design they all laid, to murder the Spaniards in cold blood, and in their sleep.

But I leave observing, and return to the story :-The three fellows came down to the Spaniards one morning, and in very humble terms desired to be admitted to speak with them: the Spaniards very readily heard what they had to say, which was this:-That they were tired of living in the manner they did; and that they were not handy enough to make the necessaries they wanted, and that having no help, they found they should be starved; but if the Spaniards would give them leave to take one of the canoes which they came over in, and give them. arms and ammunition proportioned to their defence, they would go over to the main and seek their fortunes, and so deliver them from the trouble of supplying them with any other provisions.

The Spaniards were glad enough to get rid of them, but very honestly represented to them the certain destruction they were running into; told them they had suffered such hardships upon that very spot, that they could, without any spirit of prophecy, tell them they would be starved, or murdered, and bade them consider of it.

The men replied audaciously, they should be starved if they staid here, for they could not work, and would not work, and they could but be starved abroad; and if they were murdered, there was an end of them: they had no wives or children to cry after them; and, in short, insisted importunately upon their demand; declaring they would go, whether they would give them any arms or no.

The Spaniards told them, with great kindness, that if they were resolved to go, they should not go like naked men, and be in no condition to defend themselves; and that though they could ill spare their fire-arms, having not enough for themselves, yet they would let them have two muskets, a pistol, and a cutlass, and each man a hatchet, which they thought was sufficient for them. In a word, they accepted the offer; and having baked them bread enough to serve them a month

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and given them as much goat's flesh as they could eat while it was sweet, and a great basket of dried grapes, a pot of fresh water, and a young kid alive, they boldly set out in the canoe for a voyage over the sea where it was at least forty miles broad.

The boat, indeed, was a large one, and would very well have carried fifteen or twenty men, and therefore was rather too big for them to manage; but as they had a fair breeze, and flood-tide with them, they did well enough. They had made a mast of a long pole, and a sail of four large goat-skins dried, which they had sewed or laced together; and away they went merrily enough: the Spaniards called after them, Bon veyajo; and no man ever thought of seeing them any

more.

The Spaniards were often saying to one another, and to the two honest Englishmen who remained behind, how quietly and comfortably they lived, now these three turbulent fellows were gone; as for their coming again, that was the remotest thing from their thoughts that could be imagined; when, behold, after two-and-twenty days' absence, one of the Englishmen, being abroad upon his planting work, sees three strange men coming towards him at a distance, with guns upon their shoulders.

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Away runs the Englishman as if he was bewitched, comes frightened and amazed to the governor Spaniard, and tells him they were all undone, for there were strangers landed upon the island, but could not tell who. The Spaniard, pausing a while, says to him, "How do you mean, you cannot tell who? They are the savages, to be sure." No, no," says the Englishman; they are men in clothes, with arms. Nay, then," says the Spaniard, "why are you concerned? If they are not savages, they must be friends; for there is no Christian nation upon earth but will do us good rather than harm."

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While they were debating thus, came the three Englishmen, and standing without the wood, which was new planted, halloved to them they presently knew their voices, and so all

the wonder of that kind ceased. But now the admiration was turned upon another question, viz. What could be the matter, and what made them come back again?

It was not long before they brought the men in, and inquiring where they had been, and what they had been doing, they gave them a full account of their voyage in a few words, viz. That they reached the land in two days, or something less; but finding the people alarmed at their coming, and preparing with bows and arrows to fight them, they durst not go on shore, but sailed on to the northward six or seven hours, tik they came to a great opening, by which they perceived that the land they saw from our island was not the main, but an island; upon entering that opening of the sea, they saw another island on the right hand, north, and several more west; and being resolved to land somewhere, they put over to one of the islands which lay west, and went boldly on shore; that they found the people very courteous and friendly to them; and that they gave them several roots and some dried fish, and appeared very sociable; and the women, as well as the men, were very forward to supply them with any thing they could get for them to eat, and brought it to them a great way upon their heads.

They continued here four days; and inquired, as well as they could of them, by signs, what nations were this way, and that way, and were told of several fierce and terrible people that lived almost every way, who, as they made known by signs to them, used to eat men; but as for themselves, they said, they never ate men or women, except only such as they took in the wars; and then, they owned, they made a great feast, and ate their prisoners.

The Englishmen inquired when they had had a feast of that kind; and they told them about two moons ago, pointing to the moon, and to two fingers; and that their great king had two hundred prisoners now, which he had taken in his war, and they were feeding them to make them fat for the next feast. The Englishmen seemed mighty desirous of seeing tnose prisoners; but the others, mistaking them, thought they

were desirous to have some of them to carry away for their own eating; so they beckoned to them, pointing to the setting of the sun, and then to the rising; which was to signify, that the next morning at sun-rising they would bring some for them; and, accordingly, the next morning they brought down five women and eleven men, and gave them to the Englishmen, to carry with them on their voyage, just as we would bring so many cows and oxen down to a seaport town to victual a ship.

As brutish and barbarous as these fellows were at home, their stomachs turned at this sight, and they did not know what to do. To refuse the prisoners would have been the highest affront to the savage gentry that could be offered them, and what to do with them they knew not. However, after some debate, they resolved to accept of them; and, in return, they gave the savages that brought them, one of their hatchets, an old key, a knife, and six or seven of their bullets; which, though they did not understand their use, they seemed particularly pleased with; and then tying the poor creatures' hands behind them, they dragged the prisoners into the boat for

our men.

The Englishmen were obliged to come away as soon as they had them, or else they that gave them this noble present would certainly have expected that they should have gone to work with them, have killed two or three of them the next morning, and perhaps have invited the donors to dinner. But having taken their leave, with all the respect and thanks that could well pass between people, where, on either side, they understood not one word they could say, they put off with their boat, and came back towards the first island; where, when they arrived, they set eight of their prisoners at liberty, there being too many of them for their occasion.

In their voyage, they endeavored to have some communication with their prisoners; but it was impossible to make them understand any thing; nothing they could say to them, or give them, or do for them, but was looked upon as going to murder them. They first of all unbound them; but the poor

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