er the shot. I felt myself stunned, and imagining the bullet
had entered my brain, discharged mine as quick as possible, that I might
not die unrevenged: then flying upon my antagonist, knocked out several
of his fore-teeth with the butt-end of the piece, and would certainly
have made an end of him with that instrument, had he not disengaged
himself, and seized his cutlass, which he had given to his servant
when he received the pistol. Seeing him armed in this manner, I drew my
hanger, and, having flung my pistol at his head, closed with him in
a transport of fury, and thrust my weapon into his mouth, which it
enlarged on one side to his ear. Whether the smart of this wound
disconcerted him, or the unevenness of the ground made him reel, I know
not, but he staggered some paces back: I followed close, and with one
stroke cut the tendons of the back of his hand, Upon which his cutlass
dropped, and he remained defenceless. I know not with what cruelty my
rage might have inspired me, if I had not at that instant been felled to
the ground by a blow on the back part of my head, which deprived me of
all sensation. In this deplorable situation, exposed to the rage of an
incensed barbarian, and the rapine of an inhuman crew, I remained for
some time; and whether any disputes arose among them during the state
of my annihilation, I cannot pretend to determine; but in one particular
they seemed to have been unanimous, and acted with equal dexterity and
dispatch; for when I recovered the use of my understanding, I found
myself alone in a desolate place, stripped of my clothes, money, watch,
buckles, and everything but my shoes, stockings, breeches and shirt.
What a discovery must this have been to me, who, but an hour before, was
worth sixty guineas in cash! I cursed the hour of my birth, the parents
that gave me being, the sea that did not swallow me up, the poniard of
the enemy, which could not find the way to my heart, the villainy of
those who had left me in that miserable condition; and in the ecstacy of
despair resolved to be still where I was, and perish.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

I get up and crawl into a barn, where I am in danger of perishing,
through the fear of the country people--their inhumanity--I am succoured
by a reputed witch--her story--her advice--she recommends me as a valet
to a single lady, whose character she explains

But as I lay ruminating, my passion insensibly abated; I considered my
situation in quite