Several plans were discussed, with no good result, till there came a seaman, who offered to track the villains and try and discover the fate of our comrades. He was of New England, having joined us at the Bermudas on our voyage hither, and was skilled in savage warfare and woodcraft, for at one time he had been a member of the trainband of Salem, in New England, which town had oft been in jeopardy from the savages. "Let me but land after it is night," said he, "and I’ll warrant ye’ll see me with news of some sort by noon to-morrow. If so be I do not return by that time, let the purser mark me off the books, ’D.D.’ (Discharged--dead), and send what money should be owing to me to my wife at Providence, in Rhode Island." This man’s offer being accepted, and assurances given that his wishes should be carried out if he failed to return, we could do nothing but wait for nightfall. Directly darkness set in we lowered a boat, the oars and tholes being muffled to deaden all sound. The New Englander had stripped, and had anointed himself from head to foot with a dark, offensive-smelling grease, which, he assured us, would keep him immune from insect bites, and at the same time render him nearly invisible. Nimbly he lowered himself into the boat, where the men were waiting with tossed oars. Silently they shoved off, and were lost in the darkness; but in a quarter of an hour the boat returned, having gone as close as possible to the inner line of breakers, so that the man could with little difficulty swim ashore. All night double watches were set, and the guns, double-shotted, were run out ready for instant use. Still, not a sound was heard to cause us alarm, only the dull roar of the surf both ahead and astern of us. It was a miserable, anxious night, for the disaster to our shipmates (we not knowing whether they were dead or alive) threw a gloom over the whole ship. For my part I could not sleep, my hand paining me greatly, while I troubled deeply for my comrades, particularly my friend Greville Drake; so by choice I paced the deck the entire night, till with extraordinary suddenness day broke and the sun rose above the horizon. The whole of the forenoon passed without incident, but just at midday the lookout perceived a man leaping across the rocks by the tree-fringed shore. It was the New England seaman. Instantly a boat was lowered, and urged by lusty strokes headed straight for the shore. The man had thrown himself into the sea, and we could make out his head and shoulders as from time to time he appeared between the white masses of foam. He was an active and powerful swimmer, and gained the boat in safety, though probably it was well that the breakers had subsided somewhat.