The two men had innumerable young trees planted about their huts, that when you came to the place nothing was to be feen but a wood; and though they had their plantation twice demolished, once by their own countrymen, and once by the enemy, as fhall be fhewn in its place; yet they had restored all again, and every thing was flourishing and thriving about them: they had grapes planted in order, and managed like a vineyard, though they had themfelves never seen any thing of that kind and by their good ordering their vines, their grapes were as good again as any of the others. They had alfo formed themfelves a retreat in the thickeft part of the woods, where, though there was not a natural cave, as I had found, yet they made one with inceffant labour of their hands, and where, when the mifchief which followed happened, they fecured their wives and children, fo as they could never be found; they having, by fticking innumerable stakes and poles of the wood, which, as I faid, grew fo eafily, made a grove impaffable, except in one place, where they climbed up to get over the outfide part, and then went in by ways of their own leaving.

As to the three reprobates, as I juftly call them, though they were much civilized by their new fettlement, compared to what they were before, and were not fo quarrelfome, having not the fame opportunity, yet one of the certain companions of a profligate mind never left them, and that was their idlenefs: It is true, they planted corn, and made fences; but Solomon's words were never better verified than in them: "I went by the vineyard of the flothful, "and it was overgrown with thorns;" for when

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the

the Spaniards came to view their crop, they could not fee it in fome places for weeds; the hedge had feveral gaps in it, where the wild goats had gotten in, and eaten up the corn; perhaps here and there a dead bufh was crammed in, to ftop them out for the prefent, but it was only fhutting the ftable door after the fteed was ftolen; whereas, when they looked on the colony of the other two, there was the very face of induftry and fuccefs upon all they did; there was not a weed to be feen in all their corn, or a gap in any of their hedges; and they, on the other hand, verified Solomon's words in another place: The diligent hand maketh rich;" for every thing grew and thrived, and they had plenty within and without; they had more tame cattle than the others, more utenfils and neceffaries within doors, and yet more pleasure and diverfion too.

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It is true, the wives of the three were very handy and cleanly within doors; and having learned the English ways of dreffing and cooking from one of the other Englishmen, who, as I faid, was a cook's mate on board the fhip, they dreffed their hufbands victuals very nicely; whereas the other could not be brought to understand it; but then the husband, who, as I said, had been cook's mate, did it himfelf; but, as for the hufbands of the three wives, they loitered about, fetched turtles eggs, and caught fifh and birds: in a word, any thing but labour; and they fared accordingly. The diligent lived well and comfortably; and the flothful lived hard and beggarly; and fo I believe, generally fpeaking, it is all over the world.

But

But now I come to a fcene different from all that had happened before, either to them or me; and the origin of the ftory was this:

Early one morning there came on fhore five or fix canoes of Indians, or favages, call them which you please; and there is no room to doubt that they came upon the old errand of feeding upon their flaves; but that part was now fo familiar to the Spaniards, and to our men too, that they did not concern themselves about it, as I did; but, having been made fenfible by their experience, that their only business was to lie concealed, and that, if they were not feen by any of the favages, they would . go off again quietly, when their bufinefs was done, having as yet not the leaft notion of there being any inhabitants in the ifland; I fay, having been made fenfible of this, they had nothing to do but to give notice to all the three plantations to keep within doors, and not to fhew themselves; only placing a fcout in a proper place, to give notice when the boats went off to fea again.

After the canoes with

This was, without doubt, very right; but a disafter spoiled all thefe measures, and made it known among the favages, that there were inhabitants there; which was, in the end, the defolation of almoft the whole colony. the favages were gone off, the Spaniards peeped abroad again, and fome of them had the curiofity to go to the place where they had been, to see what they had been doing. Here, to their great furprise, they found three favages left behind, and lying fast afleep upon the ground; it was fuppofed they had either been fo gorged with their inhuman feaft, that,

like beafts, they were asleep, and would not stir when the others went, or they were wandered into the woods, and did not come back in time to be taken in.

The Spaniards were greatly furprised at this fight, and perfectly at a lofs what do; the Spaniard governor, as it happened, was with them, and his advice was afked; but he profeffed he knew not what to do; as for flaves, they had enough already; and as to killing them, they were none of them inclined. to that; the Spaniard governor told me they could not think of fhedding innocent blood; for as to them, the poor creatures had done no wrong, invaded none of their property; and they thought they had no juft quarrel against them to take away their lives.

And here I muft, in juftice to these Spaniards, obferve, that let all the accounts of Spanish cruelty in Mexico and Peru be what they will, I never met with feventeen men, of any nation whatsoever, in any foreign country, who were fo univerfally modeft, temperate, virtuous, fo very good-humoured, and fo courteous, as thefe Spaniards; and, as to cruelty, they had nothing of it in their very nature; no inhumanity, no barbarity, no outrageous paffions, and yet all of them men of great courage and spirit.

Their temper and calmness had appeared in their bearing the infufferable ufage of the three Englishmen; and their juftice and humanity appeared now in the cafe of the favages, as above: after fome confultation, they refolved upon this, that they would lie ftill awhile longer, till, if poffible, thefe three men might be gone; but then the governor Spa

niard recollected, that the three favages had no boat; and that, if they were left to rove about the island, they would certainly discover that there were inhabitants in it, and fo they should be undone that way.

Upon this they went back again, and there lay the fellows faft afleep ftill; fo they refolved to awaken them, and take them prisoners; and they did fo: the poor fellows were strangely frighted when they were feized upon and bound, and afraid, like the women, that they fhould be murdered and eaten; for, it seems, thofe people think all the world do as they do, eating men's flefh; but they were foon made eafy as to that; and away they carried them.

It was very happy for them, that they did not carry them home to their caftle; I mean to my palace under the hill; but they carried them first to the bower, where was the chief of their country work; fuch as the keeping the goats, the planting the corn, &c. and afterwards they carried them to the habitation of the two Englishmen.

Here they were fet to work, though it was not much they had for them to do: and whether it was by negligence in guarding them, or that they thought the fellows could not mend themfelves, I know not, but one of them ran away; and, taking into the woods, they could never hear of him more.

They had good reafon to believe he got home again foon after in fome other boats or canoes of favages, who came on fhore three or four weeks afterwards, and who, carrying on their revels as ufual, went off again in two days time: this thought terrified them exceedingly; for they concluded, and

that