第60章

Sometime I contriv'd to dig a Hole under the Place where they made their Fire，and put in five or six Pound of Gun-powder，which when they kindled their Fire，would consequently take Fire，and blow up all that was near it；but as in the first Place I should be very loth to wast so much Powder upon them，my Store being now within the Quantity of one Barrel；so neither could I be sure of its going off' at any certain Time，when it might surprise them，and at best，that it would do little more than just blow the Fire about their Ears and fright them，but not sufficient to make them forsake the Place；so I laid it aside，and then propos'd，that I would place my self in Ambush，in some convenient Place，with my three Guns，all double loaded；and in the middle of their bloody Ceremony，let fly at them，when I should be sure to kill or wound perhaps two or three at every shoot；and then falling in upon them with my three Pistols，and my Sword，I made no doubt，but that if there was twenty I should kill them all：This Fancy pleas'd my Thoughts for some Weeks，and I was so full of it，that I often dream'd of it；and sometimes that I was just going to let fly at them in my Sleep.

I went so far with it in my Imagination，that I employ'd my self several Days to find out proper Places to put my self in Ambuscade，as I said，to watch for them；and I went frequently to the Place it self，which was now grown more familiar to me；and especially while my Mind was thus fill'd with Thoughts of Revenge，and of a bloody putting twenty or thirty of them to the Sword，as I may call it，the Horror I had at the Place，and at the Signals of the barbarous Wretches devouring one another，abated my Malice.

Well，at length I found a Place in the Side of the Hill，where I was satisfy'd I might securely wait，till I saw any of their Boats coming，and might then，even before they would be ready to come on Shore，convey my self unseen into Thickets of Trees，in one of which there was a Hollow large enough to conceal me entirely；and where I might sit，and observe all their bloody Doings，and take my full aim at their Heads，when they were so close together，as that it would be next to impossible that I should miss my Shoot，or that I could fail wounding three or four of them at the first Shoot.

In this Place then I resolv'd to fix my Design，and accordingly I prepar'd two Muskets，and my ordinary Fowling Piece. The two Muskets I loaded with a Brace of Slugs each，and four or five smaller Bullets，about the Size of Pistol Bullets；and the Fowling Piece I loaded with near a Handful of Swan-shot，of the largest Size；I also loaded my Pistols with about four Bullets each，and in this Posture，well provided with Ammunition for a second and third Charge，I prepar'd my self for my Expedition.

After I had thus laid the Scheme of my Design，and in my Imagination put it in Practice，I continually made my Tour every Morning up to the Top of the Hill，which was from my Castle，as I call'd it，about three Miles，or more，to see if I cou'd observe any Boats upon the Sea，coming near the Island，or standing over towards it；but I began to tire of this hard Duty，after I had for two or three Months constantly kept my Watch；but came always back without any Discovery，there having not in all that Time been the least Appearance，not only on，or near the Shore；but not on the whole Ocean，so far as my Eyes or Glasses could reach every Way.

As long as I kept up my daily Tour to the Hill，to look out；so long also I kept up the Vigour of my Design，and my Spirits seem'd to be all the while in a suitable Form，for so outragious an Execution as the killing twenty or thirty naked Savages，for an Offence which I had not at all entred into a Discussion of in my Thoughts，any farther than my Passions were at first fir'd by the Horror I conceiv'd at the natural Custom of that People of the Country，who it had been suffer'd by Providence in his wise Disposition of the World，to have no other Guide than that of their own abominable and vitiated Passions；and constantly were left，and perhaps had been so for some Ages，to act：horrid Things，and receive such dreadful Customs，as nothing but Nature entirely abandon'd of Heaven，and acted by hellish Degeneracy，could have run them into：But now，as I have said，I began to be weary of the fruitless Excursion，which I had made so long，and so far，every Morning in vain，so my Opinion of the Action it self began to alter，and I began with cooler and calmer Thoughts to consider what it was I was going to engage in. What Authority，or Call I had，to pretend to be Judge and Executioner upon these Men as Criminals，whom Heaven had thought fit for so many Ages to suffer unpunish'd，to go on，and to be as it were，the Executioners of his Judgments one upon another. How far these People were Offenders against me，and what Right I had to engage in the Quarrel of that Blood，which they shed promiscuously one upon another. I debated this very often with my self thus；How do I know what God himself judges in this particular Case？ is certain these People either do not commit this as a Crime；it is not against their own Consciences reproving，or their Light reproaching them. They do not know it be Offence，and then commit it in Defiance of Divine Justice，we do in almost all the Sins we commit. They think it no ore a Crime to kill a Captive taken in War，than we do kill an Ox；nor to eat humane Flesh，than we do to eat Mutton.

When I had consider'd this a little，it follow'd necessarily，that I was certainly in the Wrong in it，that these People were not Murtherers in the Sense that I had before condemn'd them，in my Thoughts；any more than those Christians were Murtherers，who often put to Death the Prisoners taken in Battle；or more frequently，upon many Occasions，put whole Troops of Men to the Sword，without giving Quarter，though they threw down their Arms and submitted.