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it, and by his side an axe. There were two of the wives who could not be |
kept back, but would go out and fight with bows and darts. |
The wild men came on with a bold and fierce mien, not in a line, but |
all in crowds here and there, to the point were our men lay in wait for |
them. When they were so near as to be in range of the guns, our men shot |
at them right and left with five or six balls in each charge. As the foe |
came up in close crowds, they fell dead on all sides, and most of those |
that they did not kill were much hurt, so that great fear and dread came |
on them all. |
Our men then fell on them from three points with the butt end of their |
guns, swords, and staves, and did their work so well that the wild men |
set up a loud shriek, and flew for their lives to the woods and hills, |
with all the speed that fear and swift feet could help them to do. As |
our men did not care to chase them, they got to the shore where they had |
come to land and where the boats lay. |
But their rout was not yet at an end, for it blew a great storm that day |
from the sea, so that they could not put off. And as the storm went on |
all that night, when the tide came up, the surge of the sea drove most |
of their boats so high on the shore, that they could not be got off save |
with great toil, and the force of the waves on the beach broke some of |
them to bits. |
At break of day, our men went forth to find them, and when they saw the |
state of things, they got some dry wood from a dead tree, and set their |
boats on fire. When the foe saw this, they ran all through the isle with |
loud cries, as if they were mad, so that our men did not know at first |
what to do with them, for they trod all the corn down with their feet, |
and tore up the vines just as the grapes were ripe, and did a great deal |
of harm. |
At last they brought old Jaf to them, to tell them how kind they would |
be to them, that they would save their lives, and give them part of the |
isle to live in, if they would keep in their own bounds, and that they |
should have corn to plant, and should make it grow for their bread. They |
were but too glad to have such good terms of peace, and they soon learnt |
to make all kinds of work with canes, wood, and sticks, such as chairs, |
stools, and beds, and this they did with great skill when they were once |
taught. |
From this time till I came back to the isle my friends saw no more wild |
men. I now told the chief that I had not come to take off his men, but |
to bring more, and to give them all such things as they would want to |
guard their homes from foes, and cheer up their hearts. |
The next day I made a grand feast for them all, and the ship's cook and |
mate came on shore to dress it. We brought out our rounds of salt beef |
and pork, a bowl of punch, some beer, and French wines; and Carl gave |
the cooks five whole kids to roast, three of which were sent to the crew |
on board ship, that they, on their part, might feast on fresh meat from |
shore. |
I gave each of the men a shirt, a coat, a hat, and a pair of shoes, and |
I need not say how glad they were to meet with gifts so new to them. |
Then I brought out the tools, of which each man had a spade, a rake, an |
axe, a crow, a saw, a knife and such like things as well as arms, and |
all that they could want for the use of them. |
As I saw there was a kind will on all sides, I now took on shore the |
youth and the maid whom we had brought from the ship that we met on her |
way to France. The girl had been well brought up, and all the crew had |
a good word for her. As they both had a wish to be left on the isle, |
I gave them each a plot of ground, on which they had tents and barns |
built. |
I had brought out with me five men to live here, one of whom could turn |
his hand to all sorts of things, so I gave him the name of "Jack of all |
Trades." |
One day the French priest came to ask if I would leave my man Friday |
here, for through him, he said, he could talk to the black men in their |
own tongue, and teach them the things of God. "Need I add," said he, |
"that it was for this cause that I came here?" I felt that I could not |
part with my man Friday for the whole world, so I told the priest that |
if I could have made up my mind to leave him here, I was quite sure that |
Friday would not part from me. |
When I had seen that all things were in a good state on the isle, I set |
to work to put my ship to rights, to go home once more. One day, as I |
was on my way to it, the youth whom I had brought from the ship that |
was burnt, came up to me, and said, "Sir, you have brought a priest with |
you, and while you are here, we want him to wed two of us." |
I made a guess that one of these must be the maid that I had brought |
to the isle, and that it was the wish of the young man to make her his |
wife. I spoke to him with some warmth in my tone, and bade him turn it |
well in his mind first, as the girl was not in the same rank of life as |
he had been brought up in. But he said, with a smile, that I had made a |
wrong guess, for it was "Jack of all Trades" that he had come to plead |
for. It gave me great joy to hear this, as the maid was as good a girl |
as could be, and I thought well of Jack; so on that day I gave her to |
him. They were to have a large piece of ground to grow their crops on, |
with a house to live in, and sheds for their goats. |
The isle was now set out in this way: all the west end was left waste, |
so that if the wild men should land on it, they might come and go, and |
hurt no one. My old house I gave to the chief, with all its woods, which |
now spread out as far as the creek, and the south end was for the white |