uickly after, though not
quite dead.

"Now, Friday," says I, laying down the discharged pieces, and taking up
the musket which was yet loaden, "follow me;" which he did with a great
deal of courage; upon which I rushed out of the wood, and showed myself,
and Friday close at my foot. As soon as I perceived they saw me, I
shouted as loud as I could, and bade Friday do so too; and running as
fast as I could, which, by the way, was not very fast, being loaded with
arms as I was, I made directly towards the poor victim, who was, as I
said, lying upon, the beach, or shore, between the place where they sat
and the sea. The two butchers, who were just going to work with him, had
left him at the surprise of our first fire, and fled in a terrible
fright to the sea-side, and had jumped into a canoe, and three more of
the rest made the same way. I turned to Friday, and bade him step
forwards, and fire at them; he understood me immediately, and running
about forty yards, to be nearer them, he shot at them, and I thought he
had killed them all, for I saw them all fall of a heap into the boat,
though I saw two of them up again quickly: however, he killed two of
them, and wounded the third so, that he lay down in the bottom of the
boat as if he had been dead.

While my man Friday fired at them, I pulled out my knife and cut the
flags that bound the poor victim; and loosing his hands and feet, I
lifted him up, and asked him in the Portuguese tongue, what he was. He
answered in Latin, Christianus; but was so weak and faint that he could
scarce stand or speak. I took my bottle out of my pocket, and gave it
him, making signs that he should drink, which he did; and I gave him a
piece of bread, which he eat. Then I asked him what countryman he was:
and he said, Espagniole; and being a little recovered, let me know, by
all the signs he could possibly make, how much he was in my debt for his
deliverance. "Seignior," said I, with as much Spanish as I could make
up, "we will talk afterwards, but we must fight now: if you have any
strength left, take this pistol and sword, and lay about you." He took
them very thankfully; and no sooner had he the arms in his hands, but,
as if they had put new vigour into him, he flew upon his murderers like
a fury, and had cut two of them in pieces in an instant; for the truth
is, as the whole was a surprise to them, so the poor creatures were so
much frightened with the noise of our pieces, that they fell down