into the middle of them, and as soon as he had fired, to make
his retreat as nimbly as he could round a part of the wood, and so come
in behind the Spaniards, where they stood, having a thicket of trees
before them.

When the savages came on, they ran straggling about every way in heaps,
out of all manner of order, and Will Atkins let about fifty of them pass
by him; then seeing the rest come in a very thick throng, he orders three
of his men to fire, having loaded their muskets with six or seven bullets
apiece, about as big as large pistol-bullets. How many they killed or
wounded they knew not, but the consternation and surprise was
inexpressible among the savages; they were frightened to the last degree
to hear such a dreadful noise, and see their men killed, and others hurt,
but see nobody that did it; when, in the middle of their fright, Will
Atkins and his other three let fly again among the thickest of them; and
in less than a minute the first three, being loaded again, gave them a
third volley.

Had Will Atkins and his men retired immediately, as soon as they had
fired, as they were ordered to do, or had the rest of the body been at
hand to have poured in their shot continually, the savages had been
effectually routed; for the terror that was among them came principally
from this, that they were killed by the gods with thunder and lightning,
and could see nobody that hurt them. But Will Atkins, staying to load
again, discovered the cheat: some of the savages who were at a distance
spying them, came upon them behind; and though Atkins and his men fired
at them also, two or three times, and killed above twenty, retiring as
fast as they could, yet they wounded Atkins himself, and killed one of
his fellow-Englishmen with their arrows, as they did afterwards one
Spaniard, and one of the Indian slaves who came with the women. This
slave was a most gallant fellow, and fought most desperately, killing
five of them with his own hand, having no weapon but one of the armed
staves and a hatchet.

Our men being thus hard laid at, Atkins wounded, and two other men
killed, retreated to a rising ground in the wood; and the Spaniards,
after firing three volleys upon them, retreated also; for their number
was so great, and they were so desperate, that though above fifty of them
were killed, and more than as many wounded, yet they came on in the teeth
of our men, fearless of danger, and shot their arrows like a cloud; and
it