Indians, however, taking no notice of the beads and ribbons,
resolutely advanced within bow-shot, and then suddenly discharged their
arrows, which happily went over the boat without doing any mischief;
they did not prepare for a second discharge, but instantly ran away into
the woods, and our people discharged some musquets after them, but none
of them were wounded by the shot. Soon after this happened, the cutter
came under the ship's side, and the first person that I particularly
noticed was the master, with three arrows sticking in his body. No other
evidence was necessary to convict him of having acted contrary to my
orders, which appeared indeed more fully from his own account of the
matter, which it is reasonable to suppose was as favourable to himself
as he could make it. He said, that having seen some Indian houses with
only five or six of the inhabitants, at a place about fourteen or
fifteen miles to the westward of the ship's station, where he had
sounded some bays, he came to a grappling, and veered the boat to the
beach, where he landed with four men, armed with musquets and pistols;
that the Indians at first were afraid of him, and retired, but that soon
after they came down to him, and he gave them some beads and other
trifles, with which they seemed to be much pleased: That he then made
signs to them for some cocoa-nuts, which they brought him, and with
great appearance of friendship and hospitality, gave him a broiled fish
and some boiled yams: That he then proceeded with his party to the
houses, which, he said, were not more than fifteen or twenty yards from
the water-side, and soon after saw a great number of canoes coming round
the western point of the bay, and many Indians among the trees: That
being alarmed at these appearances, he hastily left the house where
they had been received, and with the men, made the best of his way
towards the boat; but that, before he could get on board, the Indians
attacked as well those that were with him as those that were in the
boat, both from the canoes and the shore. Their number, he said, was
between three and four hundred: Their weapons were bows and arrows, the
bows were six feet five inches long, and the arrows four feet four,
which they discharged in platoons, as regularly as the best disciplined
troops in Europe: That it being necessary to defend himself and his
people when they were thus attacked, they fired among the Indians to
favour their getting into the