sent for the men up to me to my
apartment, and entered seriously into discourse with them of their
circumstances. I told them I thought they had made a right choice;
that if the captain carried them away, they would certainly be hanged.
I showed them the new captain hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, and
told them they had nothing less to expect.

When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I then told them
I would let them into the story of my living there, and put them into
the way of making it easy to them. Accordingly I gave them the whole
history of the place, and of my coming to it, showed them my
fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my
grapes; and in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy. I
told them the story also of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be
expected, for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat
them in common with themselves.

I left them my firearms, viz., five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and
three swords. I had above a barrel and a half of powder left; for
after the first year or two I used but little, and wasted none. I gave
them a description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to
milk and fatten them, and to make both butter and cheese.

In a word, I gave them every part of my own story, and I told them I
would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder
more, and some garden seeds, which I told them I would have been very
glad of. Also I gave them the bag of peas which the captain had
brought me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and increase them.

Having done all this, I left them the next day, and went on board the
ship. We prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that night.
The next morning early two of the five men came swimming to the ship's
side, and, making a most lamentable complaint of the other three,
begged to be taken into the ship for God's sake, for they should be
murdered, and begged the captain to take them on board, though he
hanged them immediately.

Upon this the captain pretended to have no power without me; but after
some difficulty, and after their solemn promises of amendment, they
were taken on board, and were some time after soundly whipped and
pickled, after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows.

Some time after this the boat was ordered on shore, the tide being up,
with the things promised to the men, to which the captain, at my
intercession,