cently at work, on
some part of the Alcalde's house that he had not yet removed his
clothes and tools, finding I rejected his advice, very humanely
supplied me with several articles of clothing and four quarters
of a dollar in money.

About nine miles on a circuitous road towards Matanzas, was a
plantation where he was employed in building a house. Hither he
accompanied me, we both riding on one horse; and as it was nearly
sun-set when we arrived, he gave me an invitation to pass the
night with him, which I accepted. As we entered the planter's
house, I observed three men, armed like Pirates; whose curiosity
being rather excited by my appearance, they began to inquire of
the Carpenter, who and whence I was? The bold Englishman
possessing more frankness and spirit (neither of which had
suffered from a parting glass with the Alcalde) than prudence,
told them my whole story, concluding with an oath that denounced
them all as a gang of Pirates. A quarrel soon ensued, and swords
were drawn on both sides; but the Carpenter who was a very stout
man, and well armed with pistols as well as sword, with my feeble
assistance, soon silenced them, and in less than an hour they
left the house. After supper, we retired to rest. The Englishman
had once been a soldier, and I had been in the United States'
Navy, (where I received a wound that fractured the bone of my
right leg) during and ever since the late war, until my trip in
the Betsey. We, therefore, like the broken soldier of the Poet,

"Wept o'er _our_ wounds, and talk'd the night away."

After an early breakfast in the morning, as we were preparing to
depart, the three armed men, with several others, who called
themselves soldiers, rode up to the door and demanded me, saying
they had a commission to present me to some officer of Government
at Villa Clara, on the ground that some suspicion rested on me.
After a short and warm debate between them and the Carpenter, and
when they were on the eve of resorting to arms, he told me to
shew them my pass. This enraged them to a great degree, and the
Carpenter, with a hearty laugh, enjoying their ire, they muttered
over at him a few Spanish oaths, threw my pass on the ground, and
left us. Being fitted out with as much provision as I could
conveniently carry, I commenced my journey with the Carpenter,
who accompanied me armed, to the main road, or rather path, to
Matanzas, about six miles; here he presented me with a heavy cane
to