them sufficiently: but when they shot at us directly with all the
fury they were capable of, and especially as they had killed my
poor Friday, whom I so entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed,
so well deserved it, I thought myself not only justifiable before
God and man, but would have been very glad if I could have overset
every canoe there, and drowned every one of them.
I can neither tell how many we killed nor how many we wounded at
this broadside, but sure such a fright and hurry never were seen
among such a multitude; there were thirteen or fourteen of their
canoes split and overset in all, and the men all set a-swimming:
the rest, frightened out of their wits, scoured away as fast as
they could, taking but little care to save those whose boats were
split or spoiled with our shot; so I suppose that many of them were
lost; and our men took up one poor fellow swimming for his life,
above an hour after they were all gone. The small shot from our
cannon must needs kill and wound a great many; but, in short, we
never knew how it went with them, for they fled so fast, that in
three hours or thereabouts we could not see above three or four
straggling canoes, nor did we ever see the rest any more; for a
breeze of wind springing up the same evening, we weighed and set
sail for the Brazils.
We had a prisoner, indeed, but the creature was so sullen that he
would neither cat nor speak, and we all fancied he would starve
himself to death. But I took a way to cure him: for I had made
them take him and turn him into the long-boat, and make him believe
they would toss him into the sea again, and so leave him where they
found him, if he would not speak; nor would that do, but they
really did throw him into the sea, and came away from him. Then he
followed them, for he swam like a cork, and called to them in his
tongue, though they knew not one word of what he said; however at
last they took him in again., and then he began to he more
tractable: nor did I ever design they should drown him.
We were now under sail again, but I was the most disconsolate
creature alive for want of my man Friday, and would have been very
glad to have gone back to the island, to have taken one of the rest
from thence for my occasion, but it could not be: so we went on.
We had one prisoner, as I have said, and it was a long time before
we could make him understand anything; but in time our men taught
him some English, and he began to be a little tractable.
Afterwards, we inquired what country he came from; but could make
nothing of what he said; for his speech was so odd, all gutturals,
and he spoke in the throat in such a hollow, odd manner, that we
could never form a word after him; and we were all of opinion that
they might speak that language as well if they were gagged as
otherwise; nor could we perceive that they had any occasion either
for teeth, tongue, lips, or palate, but formed their words just as
a hunting-horn forms a tune with an open throat. He told us,
however, some time after, when we had taught him to speak a little
English, that they were going with their kings to fight a great
battle. When he said kings, we asked him how many kings? He said
they were five nation (we could not make him understand the plural
‘s), and that they all joined to go against two nation. We asked
him what made them come up to us? He said, “To makee te great
wonder look.” Here it is to be observed that all those natives, as
also those of Africa when they learn English, always add two e’s at
the end of the words where we use one; and they place the accent