Indians or savages, call them which you please, and there is no
room to doubt they came upon the old errand of feeding upon their
slaves; but that part was now so familiar to the Spaniards, and to
our men too, that they did not concern themselves about it, as I
did: but having been made sensible, by their experience, that
their only business was to lie concealed, and that if they were not
seen by any of the savages they would go off again quietly, when
their business was done, having as yet not the least notion of
there being any inhabitants in the island; I say, having been made
sensible of this, they had nothing to do but to give notice to all
the three plantations to keep within doors, and not show
themselves, only placing a scout in a proper place, to give notice
when the boats went to sea again.
This was, without doubt, very right; but a disaster spoiled all
these measures, and made it known among the savages that there were
inhabitants there; which was, in the end, the desolation of almost
the whole colony. After the canoes with the savages were gone off,
the Spaniards peeped abroad again; and some of them had the
curiosity to go to the place where they had been, to see what they
had been doing. Here, to their great surprise, they found three
savages left behind, and lying fast asleep upon the ground. It was
supposed they had either been so gorged with their inhuman feast,
that, like beasts, they were fallen asleep, and would not stir when
the others went, or they had wandered into the woods, and did not
come back in time to be taken in.
The Spaniards were greatly surprised at this sight and perfectly at
a loss what to do. The Spaniard governor, as it happened, was with
them, and his advice was asked, but he professed he knew not what
to do. As for slaves, they had enough already; and as to killing
them, there were none of them inclined to do that: the Spaniard
governor told me they could not think of shedding innocent blood;
for as to them, the poor creatures had done them no wrong, invaded
none of their property, and they thought they had no just quarrel
against them, to take away their lives. And here I must, in
justice to these Spaniards, observe that, let the accounts of
Spanish cruelty in Mexico and Peru be what they will, I never met
with seventeen men of any nation whatsoever, in any foreign
country, who were so universally modest, temperate, virtuous, so
very good-humoured, and so courteous, as these Spaniards: and as
to cruelty, they had nothing of it in their very nature; no
inhumanity, no barbarity, no outrageous passions; and yet all of
them men of great courage and spirit. Their temper and calmness
had appeared in their bearing the insufferable usage of the three
Englishmen; and their justice and humanity appeared now in the case
of the savages above. After some consultation they resolved upon
this; that they would lie still a while longer, till, if possible,
these three men might be gone. But then the governor recollected
that the three savages had no boat; and if they were left to rove
about the island, they would certainly discover that there were
inhabitants in it; and so they should be undone that way. Upon
this, they went back again, and there lay the fellows fast asleep
still, and so they resolved to awaken them, and take them
prisoners; and they did so. The poor fellows were strangely
frightened when they were seized upon and bound; and afraid, like
the women, that they should be murdered and eaten: for it seems
those people think all the world does as they do, in eating men’s
flesh; but they were soon made easy as to that, and away they
carried them.
It was very happy for them that they did not carry them home to the
castle, I mean to my palace under the hill; but they carried them
first to the bower, where was the chief of their country work, such