A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed BeforeDefoe, Daniel
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A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before
Defoe, Daniel
Adventure stories; Voyages around the world -- Fiction
I was very angry when I heard the gun; had I been there he had never got
leave to fire; however, when it was done, I was pleased well enough to
see the effect it had upon these poor innocent well-meaning people. At
first it frightened them to the last degree, and I may truly say it
frightened them out of their senses, for they that were near it started
so violently, that they fell down and lay speechless for some time;
those that were farther off ran away, as if it had been some new kind of
lightning and thunder, and came out of the earth instead of out of the
clouds; but when they saw the two creatures fall down dead from above,
and could see nothing that flew upward to kill them, they were perfectly
astonished, and laid their two hands on their breasts and looked up to
heaven, as if they were saying their prayers, in the most solemn manner
imaginable.
However, this accident gave them terrible ideas of us, and I was afraid
at first they would run all away from us through fear. I therefore used
them after it with all the kindness and tenderness imaginable, gave them
every day some trifle or other, which, though of no value to me, they
were exceedingly fond of; and we asked nothing of them in return but
provisions, of which they had great plenty, and gave us enough every day
to satisfy us. As for drink, they had none of the milky liquor which we
had in the other part of the country, but they had a root which they
steeped in water, and made it taste hot, as if pepper had been in it,
which made it so strong, that though it would not make our men drunk, it
was worse, for it made them nearly mad.
I was so pleased with these people that I came over to them every other
day, and some of our men lay on shore, under a sail pitched for a tent;
and they were so safe, that at last they kept no watch, for the poor
people neither thought any harm, nor did any; and we never gave them the
least occasion to apprehend anything from us, at least not till our man
fired the gun, and that only let them know we were able to hurt them,
without giving them the least suspicion that we intended it; on the
contrary, one of our men played an odd prank with a child, and fully
satisfied them that we would do them no harm. This man having seen one
of their children, a little laughing speechless creature, of about two
years old, the mother having gone from it a little way, on some
particular occasion, the fellow took it and led it home to the tent, and
kept it there all night.
The next morning, he dressed it up with beads and jewels wondrous fine,
a necklace about its neck, and bracelets of beads about its wrists, and
several strings of beads wrapped up and tied in its hair, having fed it
and laid it to sleep, and made much of it.
In this figure he carried it up in his arms to the Indian's hut where he
had found it, and where there had been a lamentable outcry for the child
all the night, the mother crying and raising her neighbours, and in a
most strange concern.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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