next day; and there were five or six men all together, who stood to
look at the ship, not knowing what to think of us.
As soon as Friday told me he saw people, I caused the English
ancient to be spread, and fired three guns, to give them notice we
were friends; and in about a quarter of an hour after we perceived
a smoke arise from the side of the creek; so I immediately ordered
the boat out, taking Friday with me, and hanging out a white flag,
I went directly on shore, taking with me the young friar I
mentioned, to whom I had told the story of my living there, and the
manner of it, and every particular both of myself and those I left
there, and who was on that account extremely desirous to go with
me. We had, besides, about sixteen men well armed, if we had found
any new guests there which we did not know of; but we had no need
of weapons.
As we went on shore upon the tide of flood, near high water, we
rowed directly into the creek; and the first man I fixed my eye
upon was the Spaniard whose life I had saved, and whom I knew by
his face perfectly well: as to his habit, I shall describe it
afterwards. I ordered nobody to go on shore at first but myself;
but there was no keeping Friday in the boat, for the affectionate
creature had spied his father at a distance, a good way off the
Spaniards, where, indeed, I saw nothing of him; and if they had not
let him go ashore, he would have jumped into the sea. He was no
sooner on shore, but he flew away to his father like an arrow out
of a bow. It would have made any man shed tears, in spite of the
firmest resolution, to have seen the first transports of this poor
fellow’s joy when he came to his father: how he embraced him,
kissed him, stroked his face, took him up in his arms, set him down
upon a tree, and lay down by him; then stood and looked at him, as
any one would look at a strange picture, for a quarter of an hour
together; then lay down on the ground, and stroked his legs, and
kissed them, and then got up again and stared at him; one would
have thought the fellow bewitched. But it would have made a dog
laugh the next day to see how his passion ran out another way: in
the morning he walked along the shore with his father several
hours, always leading him by the hand, as if he had been a lady;
and every now and then he would come to the boat to fetch something
or other for him, either a lump of sugar, a dram, a biscuit, or
something or other that was good. In the afternoon his frolics ran
another way; for then he would set the old man down upon the
ground, and dance about him, and make a thousand antic gestures;
and all the while he did this he would be talking to him, and
telling him one story or another of his travels, and of what had
happened to him abroad to divert him. In short, if the same filial
affection was to be found in Christians to their parents in our
part of the world, one would be tempted to say there would hardly
have been any need of the fifth commandment.
But this is a digression: I return to my landing. It would be
needless to take notice of all the ceremonies and civilities that
the Spaniards received me with. The first Spaniard, whom, as I
said, I knew very well, was he whose life I had saved. He came
towards the boat, attended by one more, carrying a flag of truce
also; and he not only did not know me at first, but he had no
thoughts, no notion of its being me that was come, till I spoke to
him. “Seignior,” said I, in Portuguese, “do you not know me?” At
which he spoke not a word, but giving his musket to the man that