her Mistress, who was in Years, and a weakly Woman too, fhe might ftruggle harder with it; I fay, the poor Maid might be fuppofed to feel the the Extremity fomething fooner than her Mistress, who might be allowed to keep the last Bit fomething longer than fhe parted with any to relieve the Maid. No Question, as the Cafe is here related, if our Ship, or fome other, had not fo providentially met them, a few Days more would have ended all their Lives, unless they had prevented it by eating one another; and even, that as their Cafe ftood, would have ferv'd them but a little while, they being 500 Leagues from any Land, or any Poffibility of Relief, other than in the miraculous Manner it happen'd: But this is by the Way; I return to my Difpofition of Things among the People.

And, Firft, It is to be obferv'd here, That for many Reasons I did not think fit to let them know any Thing of the Sloop I had fram'd, and which I thought of fetting up among them; for I found, at least at my first coming, fuch Seeds of Divifions among them, that I faw it plainly had I fet up the the Sloop, and left it among them, they would upon every light Difguft have feparated, and gone away from one another, or perhaps have turn'd Pirates, and fo made the land a Den of Thieves, inftead of a Plantation of fober and religious People, fo as I intended it; nor did I leave the two Pieces of Brafs Cannon that I had on Board, or the two Quarter-Deck Guns, that my Nephew took extraordinarily for the fame Reafon: I thought it was enough to qualify them for a defenfive War against any that should invade them ; but not to fet them up for an offenfive War, or to encourage them to go Abroad to attack others,

which in the End would only bring Ruin and Deftruction upon themfelves and all their Undertaking: I referv'd the Sloop therefore, and the Guns, for their Service another Way, as I fhall obferve in its Place.

I have now done with the Ifland; I left them all in good Circumftances, and in a flourishing Condition, and went on Board my Ship again the of having been five and twenty Days among them; and as they were all refolv'd to stay upon the Ifland 'till I came to remove them, I promis'd to fend fome further Relief from the Brafils, if I could poffibly find an Opportunity; and particularly I promis'd to fend them fome Cattel, fuch as Sheep, Hogs, and Cows: For as to the two Cows and Calves which I brought from England, we had been oblig'd by the Length of our Voyage to kill them at Sea, for want of Hay to feed them.

The next Day, giving them a Salute of five Guns at Parting, we fet Sail, and arriv'd at the Bay of All-Saints in the Brafils in about 22 Days; meeting nothing remarkable in our Paffage, but this, That about three Days after we fail'd, being becalm'd, and the Current fetting ftrong to the E. N. E. running, as it were, into a Bay or Gulph on the Land Side, we were driven fomething out of our Course, and once or twice our Men cry'd Land to the Eaft-ward; but whether it was the Continent or Iflands, we could not tell by any Means.

But the third Day towards Evening, the Sea fmooth, and the Weather calm, we faw the Sea, as it were, cover'd towards the Land with fome

thing very black, not being able to discover what it was, 'till after fome Time, our chief Mate going up the main Shrowds a little Way, and looking at them with a Perspective, cry'd out it was an Army. I could not imagine what he meant by an Army, and spoke a little haftily, calling the Fellow a Fool, or fome fuch Word: Nay, Sir, Says he, don't be angry, for 'tis an Army and a Fleet too; for I believe there are a thoufand Canoes, and you may fee them paddle along, and they are coming towards us too, apace.

I was a little furpriz'd then indeed, and fo was my Nephew, the Captain; for. he had heard fuch terrible Stories of them in the Ifland, and having never been in those Seas before, that he could not tell what to think of it, but faid two or three Times, we fhould all be devour'd. I must confess, confidering we were becalm'd and the Current fet ftrong towards the Shore, I lik'd it the worfe: However, I bad him not be afraid, but bring the Ship to an Anchor, as foon as we came fo near to know that we must engage them.

The Weather continu'd calm, and they came on apace towards us; fo I gave Order to come to an Anchor, and furle all our Sails: As for the Savages, I told them they had nothing to fear but Fire; and therefore they fhould get their Boats out, and fasten them, one close by the Head, and the other by the Stern, and man them both well, and wait the Iffue in that Pofture: This I did, that the Men in the Boats might be ready with Skeets and Buckets to put out any Fire thefe Savages might endeavour to fix to the Out-fide of the Ship.

In this Pofture we lay by for them, and in a little while they came up with us; but never was

fuch

fuch a horrid Sight feen by Chriftians: My Mate was much miftaken in his Calculation of their Number, I mean of a thoufand Canoes; the moft. we could make of them when they came up, being about a hundred and fix and twenty; and a great many of them too; for fome of them had fixteen or feventeen Men in them, and fome more; and the least fix or seven.

When they came nearer to us, they feem'd to be ftruck with Wonder and Aftonifhment, as at a Sight which they had doubtlefs never feen before; not could they at firft, as we afterwards underftood, know what to make of us: They came boldly up however very near to us, and feem'd to go about to row round us; but we call'd to our Men in the Boats, not to let them come too near them.

This very Order brought us to an Engagement with them, without our defigning it; for five or fix of their large Canoes came fo near our LongBoat, that our Men beckon'd with their Hands to them to keep back, which they understood very weil, and went back; but at their Retreat, about 50 Arrows came on Board us from thofe Boats; and one of our Men in the Long-Boat was very much wounded.

However, I call'd to them not to fire by any Means; but we handed down fome Deal Boards into the Boat, and the Carpenter prefently fet up a kind of a Fence like wafte Boards to cover them from the Arrows of the Savages, if they fhould fhoot again.

About

About half an Hour afterwards they came all up in a Body a-stern of us, and pretty near us, fo near that we could eafily difcern what they were, tho' we could not tell their Defign: And I easily found they were fome of my old Friends, the fame Sort of Savages that I had been used to engage with; and in a little Time more they row'd a little farther out to Sea, 'till they came directly Broad-fide with us, and then row'd down ftrait upon us, 'till they came fo near, that they could hear us fpeak: Upon this I order'd all my Men to keep close, least they should shoot any more Arrows, and made all our Guns ready; but being fo near as to be within hearing, I made Friday go out upon the Deck, and call out aloud to them in his Language, to know what they meant, which accordingly he did; whether they understood him or not, that I knew not: But as foon as he had call'd to them, fix of them, who were in the foremost or nighest Boat to us, turns their Canoes from us; and ftooping down, fhew'd us their naked Backfides, juft as if in English, faving your Prefence, they had bid us kifs ; whether this was a Defiance or Challenge, we know not; or whether it was done in meer Contempt, or as a Signal to the reft; but immediately Friday cry'd out they were going to fhoot, and unhappily for him poor Fellow; they let fly about 300 of their Arrows, and, to my inexpreffible Grief, kill'd poor Friday, no other Man being in their Sight. The poor Fellow was fhot with no lefs than three Arrows, and about three more fell very near him; fuch unlucky Markfmen they were.

I was fo enrag'd with the Lofs of my old Servant, the Companion of all my Sorrows and Solitudes,