Part 19

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._