As to bread, we had no help from them; for they had none but what they made of rice, and they had not sufficient store of that. But we had more to do yet: for, when the ship was fitted up, and our men had the possession of her, they were surprised one morning, on a sudden, with a most horrible tumult among the pirates: and had not our brigantine been at hand to secure the possession, I believe they had taken the ship from our men again, and perhaps have come down with her and their two sloops, and have attacked us. The case was this: The gunner, who was a punctual fellow to his word, resolved that none of the men should go in the ship but such as he had singled out; and they were such as were generally taken out of merchant ships by force: but when he came to talk to the men of who should go, and who should stay, truly they would all go, to a man, there was not a man of them would stay behind; and, in a word, they fell out about it to that degree that they came to blows, and the gunner was forced to fly for it, with about twenty-two men that stood to him, and six or seven were wounded in the fray, whereof two died. The gunner being thus driven to his shifts, made down to the shore to his boat, but the rogues were too nimble for him, and had got to his boat before him, and prepared to man her and two more, to go on board and secure the ship. In this distress, the gunner, who had taken sanctuary in the woods at about a mile distance, but unhappily above the camp, so that the platform of guns was between him and the ship, had no remedy but to send one of his men, who swam very well, to take a compass round behind the pirates' camp and come to the water-side below the camp and platform, so to take the water and swim on board the ship, which lay near a league below their said camp, and give our men notice of what had happened; to warn them to suffer none of their men to come on board, unless the gunner was with them; and if possible, to send a boat on shore to fetch off the gunner and his men, who were following by the same way, and would be at the same place, and make a signal to them to come for him. Our men had scarce received this notice, when they saw a boat full of men put off from the platform, and row down under shore towards them: but as they resolved not to suffer them to come on board, they called to them by a speaking-trumpet, and told them they might go back again, for they should not come on board, nor any other boat, unless the gunner was on board.