as the keeping the goats, the planting the corn, &c.; and afterward
they carried them to the habitation of the two Englishmen. Here
they were set 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 themselves, I know not, but one
of them ran away, and, taking to the woods, they could never hear
of him any more. They had good reason to believe he got home again
soon after in some other boats or canoes of savages who came on
shore three or four weeks afterwards, and who, carrying on their
revels as usual, went off in two days’ time. This thought
terrified them exceedingly; for they concluded, and that not
without good cause indeed, that if this fellow came home safe among
his comrades, he would certainly give them an account that there
were people in the island, and also how few and weak they were; for
this savage, as observed before, had never been told, and it was
very happy he had not, how many there were or where they lived; nor
had he ever seen or heard the fire of any of their guns, much less
had they shown him any of their other retired places; such as the
cave in the valley, or the new retreat which the two Englishmen had
made, and the like.
The first testimony they had that this fellow had given
intelligence of them was, that about two mouths after this six
canoes of savages, with about seven, eight, or ten men in a canoe,
came rowing along the north side of the island, where they never
used to come before, and landed, about an hour after sunrise, at a
convenient place, about a mile from the habitation of the two
Englishmen, where this escaped man had been kept. As the chief
Spaniard said, had they been all there the damage would not have
been so much, for not a man of them would have escaped; but the
case differed now very much, for two men to fifty was too much
odds. The two men had the happiness to discover them about a
league off, so that it was above an hour before they landed; and as
they landed a mile from their huts, it was some time before they
could come at them. Now, having great reason to believe that they
were betrayed, the first thing they did was to bind the two slaves
which were left, and cause two of the three men whom they brought
with the women (who, it seems, proved very faithful to them) to
lead them, with their two wives, and whatever they could carry away
with them, to their retired places in the woods, which I have
spoken of above, and there to bind the two fellows hand and foot,
till they heard farther. In the next place, seeing the savages
were all come on shore, and that they had bent their course
directly that way, they opened the fences where the milch cows were
kept, and drove them all out; leaving their goats to straggle in
the woods, whither they pleased, that the savages might think they
were all bred wild; but the rogue who came with them was too
cunning for that, and gave them an account of it all, for they went
directly to the place.
When the two poor frightened men had secured their wives and goods,
they sent the other slave they had of the three who came with the
women, and who was at their place by accident, away to the
Spaniards with all speed, to give them the alarm, and desire speedy
help, and, in the meantime, they took their arms and what
ammunition they had, and retreated towards the place in the wood
where their wives were sent; keeping at a distance, yet so that
they might see, if possible, which way the savages took. They had
not gone far but that from a rising ground they could see the
little army of their enemies come on directly to their habitation,
and, in a moment more, could see all their huts and household stuff