known, they value no more to kill and devour a captive taken in war, than we do to kill an ox or eat mutton.  I then concluded it necessarily followed, that these people were no more murderers than Christians, who many times put whole troops to the sword, after throwing down their arms.—­Again I considered, that if I fell upon them, I should be as much in the wrong as the Spaniards, who had committed the greatest barbarities upon these people who had never offended them in their whole lives; as if the kingdom of Spain was eminent for a race of men without common compassion to the miserable, a principal sign of the most generous temper:  these considerations made me pause, and made me think I had taken wrong measures in my resolution:  I now argued with myself, it was better for me never to attack, but to remain undiscovered as long as I possibly could; that an opposite conduct would certainly prove destructive; for as it was scarcely to be supposed I could kill them all, I might either be overpowered by the remaining, or that some escaping, might bring thousands to my certain destruction.  And, indeed, religion took their part so much as to convince me how contrary it was to my duty to be guilty of shedding human blood, innocent as to my particular, whatever they are to one another:  that I had nothing to do with it, but leave it to the God of all power and dominion, as I said before, to do therein what seemed convenient to his heavenly wisdom.  And, therefore, on my knees I thanked the Almighty for delivering me from blood guiltiness, and begged his protection that I might never fall into their hands.

Thus giving over an attempt which I had rashly begun, I never ascended the hill on that occasion afterwards:  I only re-removed my boat, which lay on the other side of the island, and every thing that belonged to her, towards the east, into a little cove; that there might not be the least shadow of any boat near, or habitation upon the island.—­My castle then became my cell, keeping always retired in it, except when I went out to milk my she-goats, and order my little flock in the wood, which was quite out of danger:  for sure I was that these savages never came here with expectations to find any thing, consequently never wandered from the coast; however, as they might have several times been on shore, as well before as after my dreadful apprehensions, I looked back with horror to think in what state I might have been, had I suddenly met them slenderly armed; with one gun only loaded with small shot; and how great would have been my amazement, if, instead of seeing the print of one man’s foot, I had perceived fifteen, or twenty savages, who having once set their eyes upon me, by the swiftness of their feet would have left me no possibility of escaping?  These thoughts would sink my very soul, so that I would fall into a deep melancholy, till such time as the consideration of my gratitude to the Divine Being moved it from my heart.  I then fell into a contemplation of the