outside of the ship.
In this posture we lay by for them, and in a little while they came
up with us; but never was such a horrid sight seen by Christians;
though my mate was much mistaken in his calculation of their
number, yet when they came up we reckoned about a hundred and
twenty-six canoes; some of them had sixteen or seventeen men in
them, and some more, and the least six or seven. When they came
nearer to us, they seemed to be struck with wonder and
astonishment, as at a sight which doubtless they had never seen
before; nor could they at first, as we afterwards understood, know
what to make of us; they came boldly up, however, very near to us,
and seemed to go about to row round us; but we called to our men in
the boats not to let them come too near them. This very order
brought us to an engagement with them, without our designing it;
for five or six of the large canoes came so near our long-boat,
that our men beckoned with their hands to keep them back, which
they understood very well, and went back: but at their retreat
about fifty arrows came on board us from those boats, and one of
our men in the long-boat was very much wounded. However, I called
to them not to fire by any means; but we handed down some deal
boards into the boat, and the carpenter presently set up a kind of
fence, like waste boards, to cover them from the arrows of the
savages, if they should shoot again.
About half-an-hour afterwards they all came up in a body astern of
us, and so near that we could easily discern what they were, though
we could not tell their design; and I easily found they were some
of my old friends, the same sort of savages that I had been used to
engage with. In a short time more they rowed a little farther out
to sea, till they came directly broadside with us, and then rowed
down straight upon us, till they came so near that they could hear
us speak; upon this, I ordered all my men to keep close, lest they
should shoot any more arrows, and made all our guns ready; but
being so near as to be within hearing, I made Friday go out upon
the deck, and call out aloud to them in his language, to know what
they meant. Whether they understood him or not, that I knew not;
but as soon as he had called to them, six of them, who were in the
foremost or nighest boat to us, turned their canoes from us, and
stooping down, showed us their naked backs; whether this was a
defiance or challenge we knew not, or whether it was done in mere
contempt, or as a signal to the rest; but immediately Friday cried
out they were going to shoot, and, unhappily for him, poor fellow,
they let fly about three hundred of their arrows, and to my
inexpressible grief, killed poor Friday, no other man being in
their sight. The poor fellow was shot with no less than three
arrows, and about three more fell very near him; such unlucky
marksmen they were!
I was so annoyed at the loss of my old trusty servant and
companion, that I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with
small shot, and four with great, and gave them such a broadside as
they had never heard in their lives before. They were not above
half a cable’s length off when we fired; and our gunners took their
aim so well, that three or four of their canoes were overset, as we
had reason to believe, by one shot only. The ill manners of
turning up their bare backs to us gave us no great offence; neither
did I know for certain whether that which would pass for the
greatest contempt among us might be understood so by them or not;
therefore, in return, I had only resolved to have fired four or
five guns at them with powder only, which I knew would frighten