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第6章 万箭穿心

ese stakesalso being of a wood very forward to grow, they took care to havethem generally much larger and taller than those which I hadplanted. As they grew apace, they planted them so very thick andclose together, that when they had been three or four years grownthere was no piercing with the eye any considerable way into theplantation. As for that part which I had planted, the trees weregrown as thick as a man's thigh, and among them they had placed somany other short ones, and so thick, that it stood like a palisadoa quarter of a mile thick, and it was next to impossible topenetrate it, for a little dog could hardly get between the trees,they stood so close.

　　The Spaniard who was governor told them, in so many words, that ifthey had been of his own country he would have hanged them; for alllaws and all governors were to preserve society, and those who weredangerous to the society ought to be expelled out of it; but asthey were Englishmen, and that it was to the generous kindness ofan Englishman that they all owed their preservation anddeliverance, he would use them with all possible lenity, and wouldleave them to the judgment of the other two Englishmen, who weretheir countrymen. One of the two honest Englishmen stood up, andsaid they desired it might not be left to them. "For," says he, "Iam sure we ought to sentence them to the gallows;" and with that hegives an account how Will Atkins, one of the three, had proposed tohave all the five Englishmen join together and murder all theSpaniards when they were in their sleep.

　　We need not doubt but that the governor and the man with him,surprised with this sight, ran back immediately and raised theirfellows, giving them an account of the imminent danger they wereall in, and they again as readily took the alarm; but it wasimpossible to persuade them to stay close within where they were,but they must all run out to see how things stood. While it wasdark, indeed, they were safe, and they had opportunity enough forsome hours to view the savages by the light of three fires they hadmade at a distance from one another; what they were doing they knewnot, neither did they know what to do themselves. For, first, theenemy were too many; and secondly, they did not keep together, butwere divided into several parties, and were on shore in severalplaces.

backalone; and which way shall I get to my port afterwards, without aship, without a horse, without PECUNE?" so he called money, beinghis broken Latin, of which he had abundance to make us merry with.In short, he told us there was a great caravan of Muscovite andPolish merchants in the city, preparing to set out on their journeyby land to Muscovy, within four or five weeks; and he was sure wewould take the opportunity to go with them, and leave him behind,to go back alone.

　　I liked this proposal very well; and the more so because it seemedto be expressed with so much goodwill. In my loose, unhingedcircumstances, I was the fitter to embrace a proposal for trade, orindeed anything else. I might perhaps say with some truth, that iftrade was not my element, rambling was; and no proposal for seeingany part of the world which I had never seen before could possiblycome amiss to me. It was, however, some time before we could get aship to our minds, and when we had got a vessel, it was not easy toget English sailors - that is to say, so many as were necessary togovern the voyage and manage the sailors which we should pick upthere. After some time we got a mate, a boatswain, and a gunner,English; a Dutch carpenter, and three foremast men. With these wefound we could do well enough, having Indian seamen, such as theywere, to make up.

　　When the Spaniards came first on shore, the business began to goforward: the Spaniards would have persuaded the three Englishbrutes to have taken in their countrymen again, that, as they said,they might be all one family; but they would not hear of it, so thetwo poor fellows lived by themselves; and finding nothing butindustry and application would make them live comfortably, theypitched their tents on the north shore of the island, but a littlemore to the west, to be out of danger of the savages, who alwayslanded on the east parts of the island. Here they built them twohuts, one to lodge in, and the other to lay up their magazines andstores in; and the Spaniards having given them some corn for seed,and some of the peas which I had left them, they dug, planted, andenclosed, after the pattern I had set for them all, and began tolive pretty well. Their first crop of corn was on the ground; andthough it was but a little bit of land which they had dug up atfirst, having had but a little time, yet it was enou

　　W.A. - What, will my wicked life hinder you from believing in God?What a dreadful creature am I! and what a sad truth is it, that thehorrid lives of Christians hinder the conversion of heathens!

hangone of the three for an example to the rest, and that particularlyit should be he that had twice attempted to commit murder with hishatchet; indeed, there was some reason to believe he had done it,for the poor savage was in such a miserable condition with thewound he had received that it was thought he could not live. Butthe governor Spaniard still said No; it was an Englishman that hadsaved all their lives, and he would never consent to put anEnglishman to death, though he had murdered half of them; nay, hesaid if he had been killed himself by an Englishman, and had timeleft to speak, it should be that they should pardon him.

　　I was now struck dumb indeed, and had not one word to say. I hadhere the spirit of true Christian zeal for God and religion beforeme. As for me, I had not so much as entertained a thought of thisin my heart before, and I believe I should not have thought of it;for I looked upon these savages as slaves, and people whom, had wenot had any work for them to do, we would have used as such, orwould have been glad to have transported them to any part of theworld; for our business was to get rid of them, and we would allhave been satisfied if they had been sent to any country, so theyhad never seen their own. I was confounded at his discourse, andknew not what answer to make him.