are to worship such horrid things."--"Look
you, Sir," said he; "if your zeal prompts you to it so warmly, you must
do it; but in the next place, I would have you consider these wild
nations of people are subjected by force to the czar of Muscovy's
dominion; and if you do this, it is ten to one but they will come by
thousands to the governor of Nertzinskay, and complain, and demand
satisfaction; and if he cannot give them satisfaction, it is ten to one
but they revolt; and it will occasion a new war with all the Tartars in
the country."

This, I confess, put new thoughts into my head for a while; but I harped
upon the same string still; and all that day I was uneasy to put my
project in execution. Towards the evening the Scots merchant met me by
accident in our walk about the town, and desired to speak with me: "I
believe," said he, "I have put you off your good design; I have been a
little concerned about it since; for I abhor the idol and idolatry as
much as you can do."--"Truly," said I, "you have put it off a little, as
to the execution of it, but you have not put it all out of my thoughts;
and, I believe, I shall do it still before I quit this place, though I
were to be delivered up to them for satisfaction."--"No, no," said he,
"God forbid they should deliver you up to such a crew of monsters! they
shall not do that neither; that would be murdering you indeed."--"Why,"
said I, "how would they use me?"--"Use you!" said he: "I'll tell you how
they served a poor Russian, who affronted them in their worship just as
you did, and whom they took prisoner, after they had lamed him with an
arrow, that he could not run away: they took him and stripped him stark
naked, and set him upon the top of the idol monster, and stood all round
him, and shot as many arrows into him as would stick over his whole
body; and then they burnt him, and all the arrows sticking in him, as a
sacrifice to the idol."--"And was this the same idol:" said I.--"Yes,"
said he, "the very same."--"Well," said I, "I will tell you a story." So
I related the story of our men at Madagascar, and how they burnt and
sacked the village there, and killed man, woman, and child, for their
murdering one of our men, just as it is related before; and when I had
done, I added, that I thought we ought to do so to this village.

He listened very attentively to the story; but when I talked of doing so
to that village, said he, "You mistake very much; it was not this
vill