in the middle
of the house, with the bung taken out and the Indians filling their
calabashes by pouring it out of the bung-hole, wasting one-half in
pouring it out. The governor's invitation to spend the night with him
was readily accepted. He promised me he would restore all my goods that
could be found about his premises. The next day I found one pipe of gin
and one hogshead of rum unopened, which he consented to restore to me.
Here a difficulty arose: the distance from his house to the landing
place at the river was about one and a half miles, and no way of
conveyance except rolling the casks. I requested the governor to furnish
me men, and I would pay them liberally for their services in conveying
the goods to the landing place. He said he could not compel them to
assist me. My mate and two men I had brought with me succeeded in
rolling the casks to the shore after a tedious job of one and a half
days. I found sixteen barrels of salt belonging to me about the
premises, which we undertook to roll to the landing, but the governor
pursued us with his axe and broke the staves of the casks, when we
abandoned them. I then picked up all the remaining goods I could find
belonging to me, sent them on board the canoes, and putting my mate and
seamen on board as sentries for the night, took lodgings at the
governor's house. In the morning my attention was drawn towards the
governor's nine wives, who were seated round a fire outside of the
house, eating their breakfast in perfect harmony. From appearance their
ages were from sixteen to sixty years. I afterwards learned that eight
of the Indians had died from the effects of the liquor which they had
stolen from the wreck.
The governor and his gang had destroyed and robbed me of about eighteen
hundred dollars' worth of property, for which I could not obtain any
redress. We embarked in our canoes and proceeded to the schooner, where
we took the goods on board, and the next day landed them at the Lagoon.
My property being all collected together, I fitted up my store and
received calls from all parts of the country, having that load-stone
_Rum_ to attract them.
Among the visiters who came to console me in my unfortunate situation,
was a Sookerman, named Hewlett, who brought me a present of two
pine-apples, for which I offered him twelve and a half cents in payment,
he refused it, saying, "I was a poor cast-away thing, and all Indians
must help me." I placed a bottle of gin upon
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