had a little scratch in the shoulder, perhaps by the same ball that
went through the body of the second; and being dreadfully
frightened, though not so much hurt, sat down upon the ground,
screaming and yelling in a hideous manner.
The five that were behind, more frightened with the noise than
sensible of the danger, stood still at first; for the woods made
the sound a thousand times bigger than it really was, the echoes
rattling from one side to another, and the fowls rising from all
parts, screaming, and every sort making a different noise,
according to their kind; just as it was when I fired the first gun
that perhaps was ever shot off in the island.
However, all being silent again, and they not knowing what the
matter was, came on unconcerned, till they came to the place where
their companions lay in a condition miserable enough. Here the
poor ignorant creatures, not sensible that they were within reach
of the same mischief, stood all together over the wounded man,
talking, and, as may be supposed, inquiring of him how he came to
be hurt; and who, it is very rational to believe, told them that a
flash of fire first, and immediately after that thunder from their
gods, had killed those two and wounded him. This, I say, is
rational; for nothing is more certain than that, as they saw no man
near them, so they had never heard a gun in all their lives, nor so
much as heard of a gun; neither knew they anything of killing and
wounding at a distance with fire and bullets: if they had, one
might reasonably believe they would not have stood so unconcerned
to view the fate of their fellows, without some apprehensions of
their own.
Our two men, as they confessed to me, were grieved to be obliged to
kill so many poor creatures, who had no notion of their danger;
yet, having them all thus in their power, and the first having
loaded his piece again, resolved to let fly both together among
them; and singling out, by agreement, which to aim at, they shot
together, and killed, or very much wounded, four of them; the
fifth, frightened even to death, though not hurt, fell with the
rest; so that our men, seeing them all fall together, thought they
had killed them all.
The belief that the savages were all killed made our two men come
boldly out from the tree before they had charged their guns, which
was a wrong step; and they were under some surprise when they came
to the place, and found no less than four of them alive, and of
them two very little hurt, and one not at all. This obliged them
to fall upon them with the stocks of their muskets; and first they
made sure of the runaway savage, that had been the cause of all the
mischief, and of another that was hurt in the knee, and put them
out of their pain; then the man that was not hurt at all came and
kneeled down to them, with his two hands held up, and made piteous
moans to them, by gestures and signs, for his life, but could not
say one word to them that they could understand. However, they
made signs to him to sit down at the foot of a tree hard by; and
one of the Englishmen, with a piece of rope-yarn, which he had by
great chance in his pocket, tied his two hands behind him, and
there they left him; and with what speed they could made after the
other two, which were gone before, fearing they, or any more of
them, should find way to their covered place in the woods, where
their wives, and the few goods they had left, lay. They came once
in sight of the two men, but it was at a great distance; however,
they had the satisfaction to see them cross over a valley towards
the sea, quite the contrary way from that which led to their
retreat, which they were afraid of; and being satisfied with that,
they went back to the tree where they left their prisoner, who, as