their due, they went about it as warily as boldly; they were
gallantly armed, for they had every man a fusee or musket, a
bayonet, and a pistol; some of them had broad cutlasses, some of
them had hangers, and the boatswain and two more had poleaxes;
besides all which they had among them thirteen hand grenadoes.
Bolder fellows, and better provided, never went about any wicked
work in the world. When they went out their chief design was
plunder, and they were in mighty hopes of finding gold there; but a
circumstance which none of them were aware of set them on fire with
revenge, and made devils of them all.
When they came to the few Indian houses which they thought had been
the town, which was not above half a mile off, they were under
great disappointment, for there were not above twelve or thirteen
houses, and where the town was, or how big, they knew not. They
consulted, therefore, what to do, and were some time before they
could resolve; for if they fell upon these, they must cut all their
throats; and it was ten to one but some of them might escape, it
being in the night, though the moon was up; and if one escaped, he
would run and raise all the town, so they should have a whole army
upon them; on the other hand, if they went away and left those
untouched, for the people were all asleep, they could not tell
which way to look for the town; however, the last was the best
advice, so they resolved to leave them, and look for the town as
well as they could. They went on a little way, and found a cow
tied to a tree; this, they presently concluded, would be a good
guide to them; for, they said, the cow certainly belonged to the
town before them, or the town behind them, and if they untied her,
they should see which way she went: if she went back, they had
nothing to say to her; but if she went forward, they would follow
her. So they cut the cord, which was made of twisted flags, and
the cow went on before them, directly to the town; which, as they
reported, consisted of above two hundred houses or huts, and in
some of these they found several families living together.
Here they found all in silence, as profoundly secure as sleep could
make them: and first, they called another council, to consider
what they had to do; and presently resolved to divide themselves
into three bodies, and so set three houses on fire in three parts
of the town; and as the men came out, to seize them and bind them
(if any resisted, they need not be asked what to do then), and so
to search the rest of the houses for plunder: but they resolved to
march silently first through the town, and see what dimensions it
was of, and if they might venture upon it or no.
They did so, and desperately resolved that they would venture upon
them: but while they were animating one another to the work, three
of them, who were a little before the rest, called out aloud to
them, and told them that they had found – Tom Jeffry: they all ran
up to the place, where they found the poor fellow hanging up naked
by one arm, and his throat cut. There was an Indian house just by
the tree, where they found sixteen or seventeen of the principal
Indians, who had been concerned in the fray with us before, and two
or three of them wounded with our shot; and our men found they were
awake, and talking one to another in that house, but knew not their
number.
The sight of their poor mangled comrade so enraged them, as before,
that they swore to one another that they would be revenged, and
that not an Indian that came into their hands should have any
quarter; and to work they went immediately, and yet not so madly as
might be expected from the rage and fury they were in. Their first