第84章

While my Man Friday fir'd at them，I pull'd out my Knife，and cut the Flags that bound the poor Victim，and loosing his Hands，and Feet，I lifted him up，and ask'd him in the Portuguese Tongue，What he was？ He answer'd in Latin，Christianus；but was so weak，and faint，that he could scarce stand，or speak；I took my Bottle out of my Pocket，and gave it him，making Signs that he should drink，which he did；and I gave him a Piece of Bread，which he eat；then I ask'd him，What Countryman he was？ And he said，Espagniole；and being a little recover'd，let me know by all the Signs he could possibly make，how much he was in my Debt for his Deliverance；Seignior，said I，with as much Spanish as I could make up，we will talk afterwards；but we must fight now；if you have any Strength left，take this Pistol，and Sword，and lay about you；he took them very thankfully，and no sooner had he the Arms in his Hands，but as if they had put new Vigour into him，he flew upon his Murtherers，like a Fury，and had cut two of them in Pieces，in an instant；for the Truth is，as the whole was a Surprize to them；so the poor Creatures were so much frighted with the Noise of our Pieces，that they fell down for meer Amazement，and Fear；and had no more Power to attempt their own Escape，than their Flesh had to resist our Shot；and that was the Case of those Five that Friday shot at in the Boat；for as three of them fell with the Hurt they receiv'd，so the other two fell with the Fright.

I kept my Piece in my Hand still，without firing，being willing to keep my Charge ready；because I had given the Spaniard my Pistol，and Sword；so I call'd to Friday，and bad him run up to the Tree，from whence we first fir'd，and fetch the Arms which lay there，that had been discharg'd，which he did with great Swiftness；and then giving him my Musket，I sat down my self to load all the rest again，and bad them come to me when they wanted：While I was loading these Pieces，there happen'd a fierce Engagement between the Spaniard，and one of the Savages，who made at him with one of their great wooden Swords，the same Weapon that was to have kill'd him before，if I had not prevented it：The Spaniard，who was as bold，and as brave as could be imagin'd，though weak，had fought this Indian a good while，and had cut him two great Wounds on his Head；but the Savage being a stout lusty Fellow，closing in with him，had thrown him down （being faint） and was wringing my Sword out of his Hand，when the Spaniard，tho' undermost wisely quitting the Sword，drew the Pistol from his Girdle，shot the Savage through the Body，and kill'd him upon the Spot；before I，who was running to help him，could come near him.

Friday being now left to his Liberty，pursu'd the flying Wretches with no Weapon in his Hand，but his Hatchet；and with that he dispatch'd those three，who，as I said before，were wounded at first and fallen，and all the rest he could come up with，and the Spaniard coming to me for a Gun，I gave him one of the Fowling-Pieces，with which he pursu'd two of the Savages，and wounded them both；but as he was not able to run，they both got from him into the Wood，where Friday pursu'd them，and kill'd one of them；but the other was too nimble for him，and though he was wounded，yet had plunged himself into the Sea，and swam with all his might off to those two who were left in the Canoe，which three in the Canoe，with one wounded，who we know not whether he dy'd or no，were all that escap'd our Hands of one and twenty：The Account of the Rest is as follows；

3 Kill'd at our first Shot from the Tree.

2 Kill'd at the next Shot.

2 Kill'd by Friday in the Boat.

2 Kill'd by Ditto，of those at first wounded.

1 Kill'd by Ditto，in the Wood.

3 Kill'd by the Spaniard.

4 Kill'd，being found dropp'd here and there of their Wounds，or kill'd by Friday in his Chase of them.

4 Escap'd in the Boat，whereof one wounded if not dead.

21 In all.

Those that were in the Canoe，work'd hard to get out of Gun-Shot；and though Friday made two or three Shot at them，I did not find that he hit any of them：Friday would fain have had me took one of their Canoes，and pursu'd them；and indeed I was very anxious about their Escape，least carrying the News home to their People，they should come back perhaps with two or three hundred of their Canoes，and devour us by meer Multitude；so I consented to pursue them by Sea，and running to one of their Canoes，I jump'd in，and bad Friday follow me；but when 1 was in the Canoe，I was surpriz'd to find another poor Creature lye there alive，bound Hand and Foot，as the Spaniard was，for the Slaughter，and almost dead with Fear，not knowing what the Matter was；for he had not been able to look up over the Side of the Boat，he was ty'd so hard，Neck and Heels，and had been ty'd so long，that he had really but little Life in him.

I immediately cut the twisted Flags，or Rushes，which they had bound him with，and would have helped him up；but he could not stand，or speak，but groan'd most piteously，believing it seems still that he was only unbound in order to be kill'd.

When Friday came to him，I bad him speak to him，and tell him of his Deliverance，and pulling out my Bottle，made him give the poor Wretch a Dram，which，with the News of his being deliver'd，reviv'd him，and he sat up in the Boat；but when Friday came to hear him speak，and look in his Face，it would have mov'd any one to Tears，to have seen how Friday kiss'd him，embrac'd him，hugg'd him，cry'd，laugh'd，hollow'd，jump'd about，danc'd，sung，then cry'd again，wrung his Hands，beat his own Face，and Head，and then sung，and jump'd about again，like a distracted Creature：It was a good while before I could make him speak to me，or tell me what was the Matter；but when he came a little to himself，he told me，that it was his Father.