alone; in
which evil strait Mr. O. fought like a very Guy of Warwick, and I verily
believe every man of them likewise; for there was none of them who had
not his shrewd scratch to show. And indeed, Mr. Oxenham's party had once
gotten within the barricades, but the Spaniards being sheltered by
the tree trunks (and especially by one mighty tree, which stood as I
remembered it, and remember it now, borne up two fathoms high upon its
own roots, as it were upon arches and pillars), shot at them with such
advantage, that they had several slain, and seven more taken alive, only
among the roots of that tree. So seeing that they could prevail nothing,
having little but their pikes and swords, they were fain to give back;
though Mr. Oxenham swore he would not stir a foot, and making at the
Spanish captain was borne down with pikes, and hardly pulled away by
some, who at last reminding him of his lady, persuaded him to come away
with the rest. Whereon the other party fled also; but what had become
of them they knew not, for they took another way. And so they miserably
drew off, having lost in men eleven killed and seven taken alive,
besides five of the rascal negroes who were killed before they had time
to run; and there was an end of the matter.*

* In the documents from which I have drawn this veracious
history, a note is appended to this point of Yeo's story,
which seems to me to smack sufficiently of the old
Elizabethan seaman, to be inserted at length.

"All so far, and most after, agreeth with Lopez Vaz his
tale, taken from his pocket by my Lord Cumberland's mariners
at the river Plate, in the year 1586. But note here his
vainglory and falsehood, or else fear of the Spaniard.

"First, lest it should be seen how great an advantage the
Spaniards had, he maketh no mention of the English calivers,
nor those two pieces of ordnance which were in the pinnace.

"Second, he saith nothing of the flight of the Cimaroons:
though it was evidently to be gathered from that which he
himself saith, that of less than seventy English were slain
eleven, and of the negroes but five. And while of the
English seven were taken alive, yet of the negroes none.
And why, but because the rascals ran?

"Thirdly, it is a thing incredible, and out of experience,
that eleven English should be slain and seven taken, with
loss only of two Spaniards kill