the same sort of savages that I had been used to engage with. In
a short time more they rowed a little farther out to sea, till they came
directly broadside with us, and then rowed down straight upon us, till
they came so near that they could hear us speak; upon this, I ordered all
my men to keep close, lest they should shoot any more arrows, and made
all our guns ready; but being so near as to be within hearing, I made
Friday go out upon the deck, and call out aloud to them in his language,
to know what they meant. Whether they understood him or not, that I knew
not; but as soon as he had called to them, six of them, who were in the
foremost or nighest boat to us, turned their canoes from us, and stooping
down, showed us their naked backs; whether this was a defiance or
challenge we knew not, or whether it was done in mere contempt, or as a
signal to the rest; but immediately Friday cried out they were going to
shoot, and, unhappily for him, poor fellow, they let fly about three
hundred of their arrows, and to my inexpressible grief, killed poor
Friday, no other man being in their sight. The poor fellow was shot with
no less than three arrows, and about three more fell very near him; such
unlucky marksmen they were!

I was so annoyed at the loss of my old trusty servant and companion, that
I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with small shot, and four
with great, and gave them such a broadside as they had never heard in
their lives before. They were not above half a cable's length off when
we fired; and our gunners took their aim so well, that three or four of
their canoes were overset, as we had reason to believe, by one shot only.
The ill manners of turning up their bare backs to us gave us no great
offence; neither did I know for certain whether that which would pass for
the greatest contempt among us might be understood so by them or not;
therefore, in return, I had only resolved to have fired four or five guns
at them with powder only, which I knew would frighten them sufficiently:
but when they shot at us directly with all the fury they were capable of,
and especially as they had killed my poor Friday, whom I so entirely
loved and valued, and who, indeed, so well deserved it, I thought myself
not only justifiable before God and man, but would have been very glad if
I could have overset every canoe there, and drowned every one of them.

I can neither tell how many we killed nor how many we wounded at t