to themselves, not one farthing's worth of fer

vice.

Though our men were able to fight them upon all occafions, yet they were in no condition to pursue them, or hunt them up and down; for as they were two nimble of foot for our men when they found them fingle, so our men durft not go about single, for fear of being furrounded with their numbers; the best was, they had no weapons; for though they had bows, they had no arrows left, nor any materials to make any, nor had they any edged tool or weapon among them.

The extremity and distress they were reduced to was great, and indeed deplorable, but at the fame time our men were alfo brought to very hard circumstances by them; for though their retreats were preserved, yet their provision was deftroyed, and their harvest spoiled; and what to do, or which way to turn themselves, they knew not; the only refuge they had now was, the ftock of cattle they had in the valley by the cave, and fome little corn which grew there. The three Englishmen, William Atkins and his comrades, were now reduced to two, one of them being killed by an arrow, which ftruck him on the fide of his head, juft under the temples, fo that he never spoke more; and it was very remarkable, that this was the fame barbarous fellow who cut the poor favage flave with his hatchet, and who afterwards intended to have murdered the Spaniards.

I looked upon their cafe to have been worse at this time than mine was at any time after I first discovered the grains of barley and rice, and got into the method

I 2

method of planting and raising my corn, and my tame cattle; for now they had, as I may fay, an hundred wolves upon the island, which would devour every thing they could come at, yet could be very hardly come at themselves.

The first thing they concluded, when they faw what their circumftances were, was, that they would, if poffible, drive them up to the farther part of the island, south-east, that if any more favages came on fhore, they might not find one another; then, that they would daily hunt and harrass them, and kill as many of them as they could come at, till they had reduced their number; and if they could at last tame them, and bring them to any thing, they would give them corn, and teach them how to plant, and live upon their daily labour.

In order to this, they followed them, and so terrified them with their guns, that in a few days, if any of them fired a gun at an Indian, if he did not hit him, yet he would fall down for fear; and fo dreadfully frighted they were, that they kept out of fight farther and farther, till at laft our men following them, and every day almoft killing and wounding fome of them, they kept up in the woods and hollow places fo much, that it reduced them to the utmoft mifery for want of food; and many were afterwards found dead in the woods, without any hurt, but merely ftarved to death.

When our men found this, it made their hearts relent, and pity moved them; efpecially the Spaniard governor, who was the moft gentleman-like, generous minded man that ever I met with in my life; and he propofed, if poffible, to take one of them

alive, and bring him to understand what they meant, fo far as to be able to act as interpreter, and to go among them, and fee if they might be brought to fome conditions, that might be depended upon, to fave their lives, and do us no fpoil.

It was fome time before any of them could be taken; but being weak, and half-ftarved, one of them was at laft furprised, and made a prifoner; he was fullen at firft, and would neither eat nor drink; but finding himself kindly used, and victuals given him, and no violence offered him, he at laft grew tractable, and came to himself.

They brought old Friday to him, who talked often with him, and told him how kind the others would be to them all; that they would not only fave their lives, but would give them a part of the island to live in, provided they would give fatisfaction; that they should keep in their own bounds, and not come beyond them, to injure or prejudice others; and that they should have corn given them, to plant and make it grow for their bread, and fome bread given them for their prefent fubfiftence; and old Friday bade the fellow go and talk with the rest of his countrymen, and hear what they faid to it; affuring them, that if they did not agree immediately they fhould all be deftroyed.

The poor wretches, thoroughly humbled, and reduced in number to about thirty-feven, clofed with the proposal at the first offer, and begged to have fome food given them; upon which twelve Spaniards and two Englishmen, well armed, and three Indian flaves, and old Friday, marched to the place where they were; the three Indian flaves carried them a

large quantity of bread, and some rice boiled up to cakes, and dried in the fun, and three live goats; and they were ordered to go to the fide of an hill, where they fat down, eat the provisions very thankfully, and were the most faithful fellows to their words that could be thought of; for, except when they came to beg victuals and directions, they never came out of their bounds; and there they lived when I came to the island, and I went to fee them.

They had taught them both to plant corn, make bread, breed tame goats, and milk them; they wanted nothing but wives, and they foon would have been a nation: ́they were confined to a neck of land, furrounded with high rocks behind them, and lying plain towards the fea before them, on the fouth-east corner of the island; they had land enough, and it was very good and fruitful; for they had a piece of land about a mile and a half broad, and three or four miles in length.

Our men taught them to make wooden fpades, fuch as I made for myfelf; and gave among them * twelve hatchets, and three or four knives; and there they lived the most subjected innocent creatures that were ever heard of.

After this the colony enjoyed a perfect tranquillity, with refpect to the favages, till I came to re-vifit them, which was in about two years; not but that now and then fome canoes of favages came on fhore for their triumphal, unnatural feafts; but as they were of feveral nations, and, perhaps, had never heard of thofe that came before, or the reafon of it, they did not make any fearch or enquiry after their country

men;

men; and if they had, it would have been very hard. for them to have found them out.

Thus, I think, I have given a full account of all that happened to them, to my return, at least, that was worth notice. The Indians, or favages, were wonderfully civilized by them, and they frequently went among them; but forbid, on pain of death, any of the Indians coming to them, because they would not have their fettlement betrayed again.

One thing was very remarkable, viz. that they taught the favages to make wicker-work, or baskets; but they foon out-did their masters; for they made abundance of moft ingenious things in wicker-work; particularly, all forts of baskets, fieves, bird cages, cup-boards, &c. as also chairs to fit on, ftools, beds, couches, and abundance of other things, being very ingenious at fuch work, when they were once put in the way of it.

My coming was a particular relief to these people, because we furnished them with knives, fciffars, fpades, fhovels, pick-axes, and all things of that kind which they could want.

With the help of thefe tools they were so very handy, that they came, at laft, to build up their huts, or houses, very handfomely; raddling, or working it up like basket-work all the way round, which was a very extraordinary piece of ingenuity, and looked very odd; but was an exceeding good fence, as well againft heat, as against all forts of vermin; and our men were so taken with it, that they got the wild favages to come and do the like for them; fo that when I came to fee the two Englifhmen's colonies, they looked, at a distance, as if they lived all like bees in