and feet, as close to the ground as they could, that they might not be discovered; and to get as near them as they possibly could, before they offered to fire.

Having approached in the manner described, the captain and Friday, starting up on their feet, let fly at them. The boatswain was killed upon the spot; the next man was shot in the body, and fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour or two after; and the third ran for it. At the report of the guns I immediately advanced with my whole army, which was now eight men, viz. myself, commander-inchief; Friday, my lieutenant-general; the captain and his two men, and three prisoners of war whom he had trusted with arms. We came upon them, indeed, in the dark, so that they could not see our number; and I ordered the man they had left in the boat, who was now one of our party, to call them by name, as I wanted to bring them to terms. So he called out as loud as he could to one of them, "Tom Smith! Tom Smith!" Tom Smith answered immediately, "Is that Robinson?" for it seems he knew the voice. The other answered, “Ay, ay; throw down your arms and yield, or you are all dead men this moment.' "Whom must we yield to? Where are they?" said Smith again. they are," said Robinson; "here's our captain with his men, who have been hunting you these two hours. The boatswain is killed; Will Fry is wounded, and I am a prisoner; and if you do not yield, you are all lost." "Will they give us quarter then?" said Tom Smith," and we will yield.” “I'll go and ask," said Robinson. He asked the captain; and the captain himself then sung out, "You, Smith, you know my voice; if you lay down your arms immediately, and submit, you shall have your lives."

"Here

At the word they all laid down their arms, and begged for their lives; then I sent the man that had spoken to them, with two others, to bind them all; and then my great

army came up and seized them, and their boat. I kept myself and one more out of sight for reasons of State.

WE LAY OUR PLANS FOR SEIZING THE MUTINIED SHIP.

It now dawned upon me that the time of our deliverance had come, and that it would be a most easy thing to bring these fellows in to be hearty in getting possession of the ship. But I retired in the dark from them, that they might not see what kind of a governor they had. I called the captain to me; when I called, at a good distance, one of the men was ordered to speak again, and say to the captain, "Captain, the commander calls for you;" and presently the captain replied, "Tell his Excellency I am just coming." This more completely amazed them, and they all believed the commander was just bye, with his army.

On the captain coming to me, I proposed a plan for seizing the ship, which he liked wonderfully well; and we resolved to put it in execution the next morning. Meanwhile, some of the prisoners were conveyed to the cave, as to a prison; and it was indeed a dismal place, especially to men in their condition. The others I ordered to my bower, and as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, the place was secure enough.

To these in the morning I sent the captain, who was to enter into a parley with them; in other words, to try them, whether he thought they might be trusted or not to go on board and surprise the ship. He talked to them of the injury done him, of the condition they were brought to; that if they were sent to England, they would all be hanged in chains; but, if they would join in so just an attempt as to recover the ship, he would get them the governor's promise of pardon.

Any one may guess how readily such a proposal would be accepted by men in their condition. They fell down on their knees to the captain, and promised they would

be faithful to him to the last drop of their blood; that they would own him as their father as long as they lived. "Well," said the captain, "I must go and tell the governor what you say, and see what I can do to bring him to consent to it." So he brought me an account of the temper he found them in, adding that he truly believed they would be faithful.

Our forces were now ordered for the expedition thus :First, the captain, his mate, and passenger. Second, the two prisoners of the first gang, whom, having had their character from the captain, I had granted pardon to, and trusted with arms. Third, the other two that I had hitherto kept pinioned in my bower, but, on the captain's motion, now released. Fourth, the five last released: so that there were twelve in all, besides a reserve of five, whom we still kept prisoners in the cave.

I asked the captain if he was willing to venture with these hands on board the ship; but as for me and my man Friday, I did not think it was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind. It was employment enough for us to keep them asunder, and provide them with victuals. As to the five in the cave, I resolved to keep them confined; but Friday went in twice a day to them, to supply them with necessaries.

When I showed myself to the two hostages, it was with the captain, who told them I was the person the governor had ordered to look after them; and that it was the governor's pleasure they should not stir anywhere but by my direction; that if they did, they would be fetched into the castle, and laid in irons. As we never suffered them to see me as governor, I appeared as another person, and spoke of the governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like, on all occasions.

THE ATTACK, AND MY DELIVERANCE FROM THE ISLAND.

The captain now had no difficulty before him, but to furnish his two boats, stop the breach of one, and man them. He made his passenger captain of one, with four other men; and himself and his mate, and five more, went in the other. And they contrived their business very well, for they came up to the ship about midnight. As soon as they came within call of the ship, he made Robinson hail them, and tell them he had brought off the men and the boat; but that it was a long time before they had found them, and the like. He held them in chat till they came to the ship's side, when the captain and the mate, entering first, with their arms, immediately knocked down the second mate and the carpenter with the butt-end of their muskets; and they were faithfully seconded by their men. They secured all the rest that were upon the main and quarter decks, and began to fasten the hatches to keep those down who were below.

Meanwhile, our men of the other boat, entering by the fore chains, secured the forecastle of the ship, making three men whom they found there prisoners. When this was done, and all safe upon deck, the captain ordered the mate, with three men, to break into the round-house where the new rebel captain lay. He, having taken the alarm, got up, along with two men and a boy, all with fire-arms in their hands. When the mate with a crow-bar split open the door, the rebel captain and his men fired boldly among them, wounding the mate with a musket-ball, which broke his arm, and wounded two more of our men, but killed nobody. The mate, calling for help, now rushed into the roundhouse, wounded as he was, and, with his pistol, shot the rebel captain in the head. The bullet, entering at his mouth, came out again behind one of his ears; so he never

spoke another word: upon this, the rest yielded, and the ship was taken effectually, without any more lives being lost.

As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal agreed upon with me, to give me notice of his success. This, you may be sure, I was glad to hear, having sat watching upon the shore for it till two o'clock in the morning.

Having heard the signal plainly, I lay down, and, being very much fatigued, fell sound asleep, till shortly I was awoke by the noise of a gun. Starting up, I heard a man call me by the name of "Governor." It was the captain's voice. There he stood; and, pointing to the ship, he clasped me in his arms. "My dear friend and deliverer," said he, "there's your ship; for she is all yours, and so are we, and all that belongs to her." I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she rode about half a mile off the shore, for they had weighed anchor as soon as they were masters of her; and, the weather being fair, had brought her to anchor against the mouth of the little creek, just at my door.

I was, at first, ready to sink down with surprise; for I saw my deliverance indeed visibly put into my hands, all things easy, and a large ship just ready to carry me away whither I pleased to go. For some time I was unable to utter one word; but, as the captain was holding me in embrace, I held fast by him, otherwise I should have fallen to the ground. He perceived my situation, and immediately pulled a bottle out of his pocket and gave me a dram of cordial, which he had brought with him on purpose for

me.

After I drank it, I sat down upon the ground, and it was a good while before I could speak to him.

After some time I came to myself, and then I embraced him in my turn as my deliverer, and we rejoiced together. I told him that I looked upon him as a man sent from