's blood: And, indeed, I have since known, they value no more
to kill and devour a captive taken in war, than we do to kill an ox or
eat mutton. I then concluded it necessarily followed, that these people
were no more murderers than Christians, who many times put whole troops
to the sword, after throwing down their arms.--Again I considered, that
if I fell upon them, I should be as much in the wrong as the Spaniards,
who had committed the greatest barbarities upon these people who had
never offended them in their whole lives; as if the kingdom of Spain was
eminent for a race of men without common compassion to the miserable, a
principal sign of the most generous temper: these considerations made me
pause, and made me think I had taken wrong measures in my resolution: I
now argued with myself, it was better for me never to attack, but to
remain undiscovered as long as I possibly could; that an opposite
conduct would certainly prove destructive; for as it was scarcely to be
supposed I could kill them all, I might either be overpowered by the
remaining, or that some escaping, might bring thousands to my certain
destruction. And, indeed, religion took their part so much as to
convince me how contrary it was to my duty to be guilty of shedding
human blood, innocent as to my particular, whatever they are to one
another: that I had nothing to do with it, but leave it to the God of
all power and dominion, as I said before, to do therein what seemed
convenient to his heavenly wisdom. And, therefore, on my knees I thanked
the Almighty for delivering me from blood guiltiness, and begged his
protection that I might never fall into their hands.

Thus giving over an attempt which I had rashly begun, I never ascended
the hill on that occasion afterwards: I only re-removed my boat, which
lay on the other side of the island, and every thing that belonged to
her, towards the east, into a little cove; that there might not be the
least shadow of any boat near, or habitation upon the island.--My castle
then became my cell, keeping always retired in it, except when I went
out to milk my she-goats, and order my little flock in the wood, which
was quite out of danger: for sure I was that these savages never came
here with expectations to find any thing, consequently never wandered
from the coast; however, as they might have several times been on shore,
as well before as after my dreadful apprehensions, I looked back with
horror to think in what