very blood into a ferment, and my pulse beat as
high as if I had been in a fever, merely with the extraordinary fervour
of my mind about it; nature, as if I had been fatigued and exhausted
with the very thought of it, threw me into a sound sleep: one would have
thought I should have dreamed of it; but I did not, nor of any thing
relating to it; but I dreamed, that as I was going out in the morning,
as usual, from my castle, I saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven
savages coming to land, and that they brought with them another savage,
whom they were going to kill, in order to eat him; when on a sudden, the
savage that they were going to kill jumped away, and ran for his life:
then I thought in my sleep, that he came running into my little thick
grove, before my fortification, to hide himself; and that I seeing him
alone, and not perceiving that the others sought him that way, shewed
myself to him, and, smiling upon him, encouraged him: that he kneeled
down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him; upon which I shewed my
ladder, made him go up it, and carried him into my cave, and he became
my servant; and that as soon as I had got this man, I said to myself,
"Now I may certainly venture to the main land; for this fellow will
serve me as a pilot, and will tell me what to do, and whither to go for
provisions, and whither not to go for fear of being devoured; what
places to venture into, and what to escape." I waked with this thought,
and was under such inexpressible impressions of joy at the prospect of
my escape in my dream, that the disappointments which I felt upon coming
to myself, and finding it was no more than a dream, were equally
extravagant the other way, and threw me into a very great dejection
of spirit.

Upon this, however, I made this conclusion, that my only way to go about
an attempt for an escape, was, if possible, to get a savage in my
possession; and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners whom
they had condemned to be eaten, and should bring hither to kill: but
these thoughts still were attended with this difficulty, that it was
impossible to effect this, without attacking a whole caravan of them,
and killing them all; and this was not only a very desperate attempt,
and might miscarry; but, on the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the
lawfulness of it to me, and my heart trembled at the thoughts of
shedding so much blood, though it was for my deliverance: I need not
repeat the arguments wh