It happened one night, that the Spaniard governor, as I call him, that is to fay, the Spaniard whose life I had faved, who was now the captain, or leader, or governor of the reft, found himself very uneafy in the night, and could by no means get any fleep : he was perfectly well in body, as he told me the story, only found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon men fighting, and killing one another, but was broad awake, and could not by any means get any fleep; in fhort, he lay a great while; but growing more and more uneafy, he refolved to rife: as they lay, being fo many of them, upon goat-skins, laid thick upon fuch couches and pads as they made for themselves, and not in hammocks and fhip-beds, as I did, who was but one, so they had little to do, when they were willing to rife, but to get up upon their feet, and perhaps put on a coat, fuch as it was, and their pumps, and they were ready for going any way that their thoughts guided them.

Being thus gotten up, he looked out; but, being dark, he could fee little or nothing; and befides, the trees which I had planted, as in my former account is defcribed, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his fight, so that he could only look up, and fee that it was a clear ftar-light night; and, hearing no noife, he returned and laid him down again; but it was all one, he could not fleep, nor could he compofe himself to any thing like rest, but his thoughts were to the laft degree uneafy, and yet he knew not for what.

Having made fome noife with rifing and walking about, going out and coming in, another of them

waked,

waked, and, calling, afked who it was that was up? The governor told him, how it had been with him. Say you fo? fays the other Spaniard; fuch things are not to be flighted, I affure you; there is certainly fome mischief working, fays he, near us; and prefently he asked him, Where are the Englishmen? They are all in their huts, fays he, safe enough. It seems, the Spaniards had kept poffeffion of the main apartment, and had made a place, where the three Englifhmen, fince their last mutiny, always quartered by themselves, and could not come at the rest. Well, fays the Spaniard, there is fomething in it, I am perfuaded from my own experience; I am fatisfied our fpirits embodied have converse with, and receive intelligence from, the fpirits unembodied, and inhabiting the invifible world; and this friendly notice is given for our advantage, if we know how to make ufe of it. Come, fays he, let us go out and look abroad; and if we find nothing at all in it to justify our trouble, I'll tell you a story to the purpose, that fhall convince you of the juftice of my propofing it.

In a word, they went out to go to the top of the hill, where I ufed to go; but they, being strong, and in good company, nor alone, as I was, used none of my cautions to go up by the ladder, and then pulling it up after them, to go up a second stage to the top, but were going round through the grove unconcerned and unwary, when they were furprised with feeing a light as of fire, a very little way off from them, and hearing the voices of men, not of one, or two, but of a great number.

In all the difcoveries I had made of the favages landing on the island, it was my conftant care to prevent them making the leaft difcovery of there being any inhabitant upon the place; and when by any neceffity they came to know it, they felt it fo effectually, that they that got away, were fcarce able to give any account of it, for we disappeared as foon as poffible, nor did ever any that had feen me, efcape to tell any one elfe, except it were the three favages in our laft encounter, who jumped into the boat, of whom I mentioned that I was afraid they fhould go home, and bring more help.

Whether it was the confequence of the efcape of those men, that fo great a number came now together; or whether they came ignorantly, and by accident, on their ufual bloody errand, the Spaniards could not it feems underftand: but whatever it was, it had been their bufinefs, either to have concealed themselves, and not have feen them at all; much lefs to have let the favages have feen, that there were any inhabitants in the place; but to have fallen upon them fo effectually, as that not a man of them should have escaped, which could only have been by getting in between them and their boats; but this prefence of mind was wanting to them, which was the ruin of their tranquillity, for a great while.

We need not doubt but that the governor, and the man with him, furprised with this fight, ran back immediately, and raised their fellows, giving them an account of the imminent danger they were all in; and they again as readily took the alarm, but it was impoffible to perfuade them to stay clofe within where

they

they were, but that they must all run out to fee how things flood.

While it was dark indeed, they were well enough, and they had opportunity enough, for some hours, to view them by the light of three fires they had made at fome distance from one another; what they were doing they knew not, and what to do themselves they knew not; for, firft, the enemy were too many; and, fecondly, they did not keep together, but were divided into feveral parties, and were on fhore in feveral places.

The Spaniards were in no fmall confternation at this fight; and as they found that the fellows ran ftraggling all over the fhore, they made no doubt, but, firft or laft, fome of them would chop in upon their habitation, or upon fome other place, where they would fee the tokens of inhabitants; and they were in great perplexity alfo for fear of their flock of goats, which would have been little lefs than ftarving them, if they fhould have been deftroyed; fo the first thing they refolved upon, was to dispatch three men away before it was light, viz. two Spaniards and one Englishman, to drive all the goats away to the great valley where the cave was, and, if need were, to drive them into the very cave itself.

Could they have feen the favages altogether in one body, and at a diftance from their canoes, they refolved, if there had been an hundred of them, to have attacked them; but that could not be obtained, for there were fome of them two miles off from the other, and, as it appeared afterwards, were of two different nations.

After

After having mufed a great while on the courfe they should take, and beaten their brains in confidering their present circumstances, they refolved at laft, while it was dark, to fend the old favage (Friday's father) out, as a fpy, to learn, if poffible, fomething concerning them, as what they came for, and what they intended to do, and the like; the old man readily undertook it, and, ftripping himself quite naked, as most of the favages were, away he went: after he had been gone an hour or two, he brings word, that he had been among them undifcovered, that he found they were two parties, and of two feveral nations, who had war with one another and had had a great battle in their own country, and that both fides having had feveral prifoners taken in the fight, they were by mere chance landed in the fame island, for the devouring their prisoners, and making merry; but their coming fo by chance to the fame place, had spoiled all their mirth; that they were in a great rage at one another, and were fo near, that he believed they would fight again as foon as day-light began to appear; but he did not perceive that they had any notion of any body's being on the island but themselves. He had hardly made an end of telling the ftory, when they could perceive, by the unufual noife they made, that the two little armies were engaged in a bloody fight.

Friday's father ufed all the arguments he could to perfuade our people to lie clofe, and not be feen; he told them, their fafety confifted in it, and that they had nothing to do but to lie ftill, and the favages would kill one another to their hands, and the rest would