It was five or six months after this before they heard any more of the
savages, in which time our men were in hopes they had either forgot their
former bad luck, or given over hopes of better; when, on a sudden, they
were invaded with a most formidable fleet of no less than
eight-and-twenty canoes, full of savages, armed with bows and arrows,
great clubs, wooden swords, and such like engines of war; and they
brought such numbers with them, that, in short, it put all our people
into the utmost consternation.
As they came on shore in the evening, and at the easternmost side of the
island, our men had that night to consult and consider what to do. In
the first place, knowing that their being entirely concealed was their
only safety before and would be much more so now, while the number of
their enemies would be so great, they resolved, first of all, to take
down the huts which were built for the two Englishmen, and drive away
their goats to the old cave; because they supposed the savages would go
directly thither, as soon as it was day, to play the old game over again,
though they did not now land within two leagues of it. In the next
place, they drove away all the flocks of goats they had at the old bower,
as I called it, which belonged to the Spaniards; and, in short, left as
little appearance of inhabitants anywhere as was possible; and the next
morning early they posted themselves, with all their force, at the
plantation of the two men, to wait for their coming. As they guessed, so
it happened: these new invaders, leaving their canoes at the east end of
the island, came ranging along the shore, directly towards the place, to
the number of two hundred and fifty, as near as our men could judge. Our
army was but small indeed; but, that which was worse, they had not arms
for all their number. The whole account, it seems, stood thus: first, as
to men, seventeen Spaniards, five Englishmen, old Friday, the three
slaves taken with the women, who proved very faithful, and three other
slaves, who lived with the Spaniards. To arm these, they had eleven
muskets, five pistols, three fowling-pieces, five muskets or
fowling-pieces which were taken by me from the mutinous seamen whom I
reduced, two swords, and three old halberds.
To their slaves they did not give either musket or fusee; but they had
each a halberd, or a long staff, like a quarter-staff, with a great spike
of iron fastened into each end of it, and by his side a hatchet; also
every one of our men had a hatchet. Two of the women could not be
prevailed upon but they would come into the fight, and they had bows and
arrows, which the Spaniards had taken from the savages when the first
action happened, which I have spoken of, where the Indians fought with
one another; and the women had hatchets too.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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