Part 3 (2/2)

When the two poor frightened oods, they sent the other slave they had of the three who came with the women, and as at their place by accident, away to the Spaniards with all speed, to give them the alarm, and desire speedy help, and, in the meantime, they took their arms and what ammunition they had, and retreated towards the place in the here their wives were sent; keeping at a distance, yet so that they es took They had not gone far but that froround they could see the little army of their enemies come on directly to their habitation, and, in a momentup together, to their great grief and reat loss to them, irretrievable, indeed, for some time They kept their station for a while, till they found the savages, like wild beasts, spread the every way, and every place they could think of, in search of prey; and in particular for the people, of whoence

The two English themselves not secure where they stood, because it was likely soht coht it proper to , as it afterwards happened, that the further they strolled, the feould be together Their next halt was at the entrance into a very thick-grown part of the woods, and where an old trunk of a tree stood, which was hollow and very large; and in this tree they both took their standing, resolving to see there whatbefore two of the savages appeared running directly that way, as if they had already had notice where they stood, and were co up to attack the after the the sahtanother way; for in a word, they ran every way, like sportsreat perplexity whether they should stand and keep their posture or fly; but after a very short debate with theed the country thus before help caht perhaps find their retreat in the woods, and then all would be lost; so they resolved to stand them there, and if they were too et up to the top of the tree, from whence they doubted not to defend the as their aes that were landed, which was near fifty, were to attack the resolved upon this, 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 and the five that folloould be separated; at length they resolved to let the first two pass by, unless they should spy thees confir a little from them towards another part of the wood; but the three, and the five after them, calishht towards them, they resolved to take them in a line as they came: and as they resolved to fire but one at a tiht hit them all three; for which purpose the man as to fire put three or four s a fair loophole, as it were, fro seen, waiting till they ithin about thirty yards of the tree, so that he could not es came on, they plainly saw that one of the three was the runaway savage that had escaped from them; and they both knew him distinctly, and resolved that, if possible, he should not escape, though they should both fire; so the other stood ready with his piece, that if he did not drop at the first shot, he should be sure to have a second But the first was too good a es kept near one another, a little behind in a line, he fired, and hit two of the shot in the head; the second, which was the runaway Indian, was shot through the body, and fell, but was not quite dead; and the third had a little scratch in the shoulder, perhaps by the sa dreadfully frightened, though not soin a hideous htened with the noise than sensible of the danger, stood still at first; for the woods er than it really was, the echoes rattling fro fro a different noise, according to their kind; just as it hen I fired the first gun that perhaps was ever shot off in the island

However, all being silent again, and they not knohat the matter was, came on unconcerned, till they came to the place where their conorant creatures, not sensible that they ithin reach of the sa, and, asof him how he came to be hurt; and who, it is very rational to believe, told them that a flash of fire first, and immediately after that thunder from their Gods, had killed those two and wounded hi is more certain than that, as they saw no un in all their lives, nor soand wounding at a distance with fire and bullets: if they had, one ht reasonably believe they would not have stood so unconcerned to view the fate of their felloithout some apprehensions of their own

Our two ed to kill so er; yet, having the loaded his piece again, resolved to let fly both together areeether, and killed, or very htened even to death, though not hurt, fell with the rest; so that our ht they had killed thees were all killed made our two ed their guns, which was a wrong step; and they were under some surprise when they came to the place, and found no less than four of them alive, and of theed them to fall upon them with the stocks of their e, that had been the cause of all the mischief, and of another that was hurt in the knee, and put them out of their pain; then the man that was not hurt at all came and kneeled down to them, with his two hands held up, and ns, for his life, but could not say one word to thens to him to sit down at the foot of a tree hard by; and one of the Englishreat chance in his pocket, tied his two hands behind him, and there they left him; and hat speed they couldthey, or any more of them, should find way to their covered place in the woods, where their wives, and the few goods they had left, lay They careat distance; however, they had the satisfaction to see them cross over a valley towards the sea, quite the contrary way from that which led to their retreat, which they were afraid of; and being satisfied with that, they went back to the tree where they left their prisoner, who, as they supposed, was delivered by his coone, and the two pieces of rope-yarn hich they had bound him lay just at the foot of the tree

They were now in as great concern as before, not knohat course to take, or how near the eneo away to the place where their wives were, to see if all ell there, and to h, to be sure; for though the savages were their own countrymen, yet they were most terribly afraid of thee they had of thees had been in the wood, and very near that place, but had not found it; for it was indeed inaccessible, fro it had been directed by those that knew it, which these did not: they found, therefore, everything very safe, only the woht While they were here they had the comfort to have seven of the Spaniards come to their assistance; the other ten, with their servants, and Friday's father, were gone in a body to defend their bower, and the corn and cattle that were kept there, in case the savages should have roved over to that side of the country, but they did not spread so far

With the seven Spaniards caes, who, as I said, were their prisoners forlishmen had left bound hand and foot at the tree; for it seehter of the sevenwith theain, as they had the two others ere left when the third ran away

The prisoners now began to be a burden to the, that they were once resolving to kill the they were under an absolute necessity to do so for their own preservation However, the chief of the Spaniards would not consent to it, but ordered, for the present, that they should be sent out of the way to my old cave in the valley, and be kept there, with two Spaniards to guard them, and have food for their subsistence, which was done; and they were bound there hand and foot for that night

When the Spaniards caed, that they could not satisfy the five of the Spaniards, and the them, and two stout quarter-staves, away they went in quest of the savages And first they came to the tree where the men lay that had been killed; but it was easy to see that soes had been there, for they had atteed two of theiven it over Froround, where they had stood and seen their camp destroyed, and where they had the mortification still to see some of the ses They then resolved, though with all possible caution, to go forward towards their ruined plantation; but, a little before they caht of the sea-shore, they saw plainly the savages all eone They seeive the blow; but, upon the whole, they were very well satisfied to be rid of the noice ruined, and all their ireed to come and help them to rebuild, and assist them with needful supplies Their three country the least inclination to do any good, yet as soon as they heard of it (for they, living re of the matter till all was over), came and offered their help and assistance, and did, very friendly, work for several days to restore their habitation and make necessaries for theain

About two days after this they had the farther satisfaction of seeing three of the savages' canoes co on shore, and, at some distance from them, two drowned men, by which they had reason to believe that they had met with a storm at sea, which had overset soht after they went off However, as soh of them escaped to inform the rest, as well of what they had done as of what had happened to them; and to whet them on to another enterprise of the same nature, which they, it seems, resolved to attempt, with sufficient force to carry all before them; for except what the first man had told them of inhabitants, they could say little of it of their own knowledge, for they never saw onekilled that had affirmed it, they had no other witness to confirm it to, them

CHAPTER V--A GREAT VICTORY

It was five or six es, in which tiot their foriven over hopes of better; when, on a sudden, they were invaded with a ht-and-twenty canoes, full of savages, arreat clubs, wooden swords, and such like engines of war; and they brought such numbers with them, that, in short, it put all our people into the utmost consternation

As they ca, and at the easternht to consult and consider what to do In the first place, knowing that their being entirely concealed was their only safety before and would be much reat, they resolved, first of all, to take down the huts which were built for the two Englishoats to the old cave; because they supposed the savages would go directly thither, as soon as it was day, to play the old gaues of it In the next place, they drove away all the flocks of goats they had at the old bower, as I called it, which belonged to the Spaniards; and, in short, left as little appearance of inhabitants anywhere as was possible; and the nextearly they posted themselves, with all their force, at the plantation of the two uessed, so it happened: these new invaders, leaving their canoes at the east end of the island, ca the shore, directly towards the place, to the nue Our army was but small indeed; but, that which orse, they had not arms for all their number The whole account, it seems, stood thus: first, as to lishmen, old Friday, the three slaves taken with the women, who proved very faithful, and three other slaves, who lived with the Spaniards To ar-pieces, five -pieces which were taken by me from the mutinous seamen whom I reduced, tords, and three old halberds

To their slaves they did not give eitherstaff, like a quarter-staff, with a great spike of iron fastened into each end of it, and by his side a hatchet; also every one of our men had a hatchet Two of the women could not be prevailed upon but they would coht, and they had bows and arrohich the Spaniards had taken froes when the first action happened, which I have spoken of, where the Indians fought with one another; and the women had hatchets too

The chief Spaniard, whom I described so often, coh a dreadful fellow for wickedness, was a es came forward like lions; and our e in their situation; only that Will Atkins, who now proved a most useful felloith six men, was planted just behind a suard, with orders to let the first of them pass by and then fire into the middle of them, and as soon as he had fired, to make his retreat as nimbly as he could round a part of the wood, and so co a thicket of trees before the about every way in heaps, out of all manner of order, and Will Atkins let about fifty of the the rest co, he orders three of hisloaded their e pistol-bullets How many they killed or wounded they knew not, but the consternation and surprise was inexpressible aree to hear such a dreadful noise, and see their men killed, and others hurt, but see nobody that did it; when, in the ht, Will Atkins and his other three let fly again a the thickest of theain, gave them a third volley

Had Will Atkins and his men retired immediately, as soon as they had fired, as they were ordered to do, or had the rest of the body been at hand to have poured in their shot continually, the savages had been effectually routed; for the terror that was a them came principally from this, that they were killed by the Gods with thunder and lightning, and could see nobody that hurt theain, discovered the cheat: so theh Atkins and his men fired at the as fast as they could, yet they wounded Atkins hilishmen with their arrows, as they did afterwards one Spaniard, and one of the Indian slaves who caallant fellow, and foughtfive of the no weapon but one of the ar thus hard laid at, Atkins wounded, and two other round in the wood; and the Spaniards, after firing three volleys upon thereat, and they were so desperate, that though above fifty of them were killed, and more than as many wounded, yet they caer, and shot their arrows like a cloud; and it was observed that their wounded eous by their wounds, and fought like madmen

When our lishes, when they caain in a wretched s, and heads, with their clubs and wooden swords, like true savages; but finding our one, they did not see, which is, it seems, their custom, and shouted twice, in token of their victory; after which, they had thewith thedrawn his little body up together upon a rising ground, Atkins, though he ounded, would have had theether at once: but the Spaniard replied, ”Seignior Atkins, you see how their wounded ; all the wounded men will be stiff and sore with their wounds, and faint with the loss of blood; and so we shall have the fewer to engage” This advice was good: but Will Atkins replied nior, and so shall I too; and that is the reason I would go on while I anior Atkins,” says the Spaniard, ”you have behaved gallantly, and done your part; ill fight for you if you cannot co:” so they waited

But as it was a clear reat disorder about their dead and woundedthem where they lay, they afterwards resolved to fall upon theive them but one volley before they were discovered, which they had a fair opportunity to do; for one of the Englishan, led them round between the woods and the seaside ard, and then turning short south, they came so near where the thickest of theht of the them, and did dreadful execution upon theht others fired after the in their small shot in such a quantity that abundance were killed and wounded; and all this while they were not able to see who hurt theain with the utmost expedition, and then divided the theht persons, that is to say, twenty- two ht desperately They divided the firearms equally in each party, as well as the halberds and staves They would have had the women kept back, but they said they were resolved to die with their husbands Having thus for the trees, and ca as loud as they could; the savages stood all together, but were in the ut froht if they had seen us; for as soon as we cah to be seen, soh not dangerously But ourthem three ways, and then fell in with the butt-ends of their muskets, their swords, armed staves, and hatchets, and laid about the and howling, flying to save their lives which way soever they could