could come to give them but one volley before they were discovered. This they had a fair opportunity to do; for one of the two Englishmen, in whofe quarter it was where the fight began, led them round between the woods and the fea-fide, weftward, and turning fhort fouth, they came fo near where the thickeft of them lay, that before they were seen or heard, eight of them fired in among them, and did dreadful execution upon them; in half a minute more eight others fired after them, pouring in their fmall fhot in fuch a quantity, that abundance were killed and wounded; and all this while they were not able to see who hurt them, or which way to fly.

The Spaniards charged again, with the utmost expedition, and then divided themselves into three bodies, and refolved to fall in among them all together they had in each body eight perfons; that is to fay, twenty-four, whereof were twenty-two men, and the two women, who, by the way, fought defperately.

They divided the fire-arms equally in each party, and fo of the halberts and ftaves. They would have had the women keep back; but they faid, they were refolved to die with their hufbands. Having thus formed their little army, they marched out from among the trees, and came up to the teeth of the enemy, fhouting and hallooing as loud as they could; the favages stood all together, but were in the utmost confufion, hearing the noise of our men fhouting from three quarters together; they would have fought if they had feen us; and, as foon as we came near enough to be seen, fome arrows were

fhot,

fhot, and poor old Friday was wounded, though not dangerously. But our men gave them no time; but, running up to them, fired among them three ways, and then fell in with the but-ends of their mufquets, their fwords, armed ftaves, and hatchets ; and laid about them fo well, that, in a word, they fet up a difmal fcreaming and howling, flying to fave their lives which way foever they could.

Our men were tired with the execution; and killed, or mortally wounded, in the two fights, about 180 of them; the rest, being frighted out of their wits, fcoured through the woods, and over the hills, with all the fpeed that fear and nimble feet could help them to do; and as we did not trouble ourselves much to purfue them, they got all together to the fea-fide, where they landed, and where their canoes lay. But their difafter was not at an end yet; for it blew a terrible storm of wind that evening from the fea-ward; fo that it was impoffible for them to put off; nay, the ftorm continuing all night, when the tide came up, their canoes were most of them driven by the furge of the fea fo high upon the fhore, that it required infinite toil to get them off; and fome of them were even dafhed to pieces against the beach, or against one another.

Our men, though glad of their victory, yet got little reft that night; but having refreshed themselves as well as they could, they refolved to march to that part of the island where the savages were fled, and see what posture they were in. This neceffarily led them over the place where the fight had been, and where they found feveral of the poor creatures not quite dead, and yet past recovering life; a fight dif

agreeable

agreeable enough to generous minds; for a truly great man, though obliged by the law of battle to destroy his enemy, takes no delight in his mifery.

However, there was no need to give any order in this cafe; for their own favages, who were their fervants, difpatched thofe poor creatures with their hatchets.

At length they came in view of the place where the more miferable remains of the favages' army lay, where there appeared about 100 ftill; their posture was generally fitting upon the ground, with their knees up towards their mouth, and the head put between the hands, leaning down upon the knees.

When our men came within two mufquet shot of them, the Spaniard governor ordered two mufquets to be fired without ball, to alarm them; this he did, that by their countenance he might know what to expect, viz. Whether they were ftill in heart to fight, or were fo heartily beaten, as to be difpirited and difcouraged, and fo he might manage accordingly.

This ftratagem took; for, as foon as the favages heard the first gun, and saw the flash of the second, they started up upon their feet in the greatest confternation imaginable; and, as our men advanced swiftly towards them, they all ran screaming and yawling away, with a kind of an howling noise, which our men did not understand, and had never heard before; and thus they ran up the hills into the country.

At first, our men had much rather the weather had been calm, and they had all gone away to fea; but they did not then confider, that this might probably have been the occafion of their coming again in fuch

multitudes as not to be refifted; or, at least, to come fo many and fo often, as would quite defolate the island, and ftarve them: Will Atkins therefore, who, notwithstanding his wound, kept always with them, proved the best counsellor in this cafe: his advice was, to take the advantage that offered, and clap in between them and their boats, and fo deprive them of the capacity of ever returning any more to plague the island.

They confulted long about this, and fome were against it, for fear of making the wretches fly into the woods, and live there defperate; and fo they fhould have them to hunt like wild beasts, be afraid to ftir about their bufinefs, and have their plantation continually rifled, all their tame goats deftroyed, and, in fhort, be reduced to a life of continual diftrefs.

Will Atkins told them, they had better have to do with 100 men, than with 100 nations; that as they muft destroy their boats, fo they must destroy the men, or be all of them deftroyed themfelves. In a word, he fhewed them the neceffity of it fo plainly, that they all came into it; fo they went to work immediately with the boats, and, getting fome dry wood together from a dead tree, they tried to fet fome of them on fire; but they were fo wet, that they would scarce burn. However, the fire fo burned the upper part, that it foon made them unfit for fwimming in the fea as boats. When the Indians faw what they were about, fome of them came running out of the woods; and coming as near as they could to our men, kneeled down and cried, Oa, Oa, Wȧramokoa,

VOL. II.

I

ramokoa, and fome other words of their language, which none of the others understood any thing of; but as they made pitiful geftures, and ftrange noifes, it was eafy to understand they begged to have their boats fpared, and that they would be gone, and never return thither again.

But our men were now fatisfied, that they had no way to preferve themfelves, or to fave their colony, but effectually to prevent any of thefe people from ever going home again; depending upon this, that if ever fo much as one of them got back into their country to tell the ftory, the colony was undone; fo that, letting them know that they should not have any mercy, they fell to work with their canoes, and destroyed them every one that the ftorm had not destroyed before; at the fight of which, the favages raised a hideous cry in the woods, which our people heard plain enough; after which they ran about the ifland like diftracted men; fo that, in a word, our men did not really know at first what to do with them.

Nor did the Spaniards, with all their prudence, confider that while they made those people thus defperate, they ought to have kept good guard at the fame time upon their plantations; for though it is true they had driven away their cattle, and the Indians did not find their main retreat, I mean my old caftle at the hill, nor the cave in the valley; yet they found out my plantation at the bower, and pulled it all to pieces, and all the fences and planting about it; trod all the corn under foot; tore up the vines and grapes, being just then almost ripe; and did our men an ineftimable damage, though,

to