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第9章 还敢回来？

　　I was so annoyed at the loss of my old trusty servant andcompanion, that I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded withsmall shot, and four with great, and gave them such a broadside asthey had never heard in their lives before. They were not abovehalf a cable's length off when we fired; and our gunners took theiraim so well, that three or four of their canoes were overset, as wehad reason to believe, by one shot only. The ill manners ofturning up their bare backs to us gave us no great offence; neitherdid I know for certain whether that which would pass for thegreatest contempt among us might be understood so by them or not;therefore, in return, I had only resolved to have fired four orfive guns at them with powder only, which I knew would frightenthem sufficiently: but when they shot at us directly with all thefury they were capable of, and especially as they had killed mypoor Friday, whom I so entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed,so well deserved it, I thought myself not only justifiable befo

　　In this voyage, being by contrary winds obliged to beat up and downa great while in the Straits of Malacca and among the islands, wewere no sooner got clear of those difficult seas than we found ourship had sprung a leak, but could not discover where it was. Thisforced us to make some port; and my partner, who knew the countrybetter than I did, directed the captain to put into the river ofCambodia; for I had made the English mate, one Mr. Thompson,captain, not being willing to take the charge of the ship uponmyself. This river lies on the north side of the great bay or gulfwhich goes up to Siam. While we were here, and going often onshore for refreshment, there comes to me one day an Englishman, agunner's mate on board an English East India ship, then riding inthe same river. "Sir," says he, addressing me, "you are a strangerto me, and I to you; but I have something to tell you that verynearly concerns you. I am moved by the imminent danger you are in,and, for aught I see, you have no knowledge of it."

　　Two of those boats (which by our glasses we could see were English)outsailed the rest, were near two leagues ahead of them, and gainedupon us considerably, so that we found they would come up with us;upon which we fired a gun without ball, to intimate that theyshould bring to: and we put out a flag of truce, as a signal forparley: but they came crowding after us till within shot, when wetook in our white flag, they having made no answer to it, and hungout a red flag, and fired at them with a shot. Notwithstandingthis, they came on till they were near enough to call to them witha speaking-trumpet, bidding them keep off at their peril.

　　I WAS astonished at the sincerity and temper of this pious Papist,as much as I was oppressed by the power of his reasoning; and itpresently occurred to my thoughts, that if such a temper wasuniversal, we might be all Catholic Christians, whatever Church orparticular profession we joined in; that a spirit of charity wouldsoon work us all up into right principles; and as he thought thatthe like charity would make us all Catholics, so I told him Ibelieved, had all the members of his Church the like moderation,they would soon all be Protestants. And there we left that part;for we never disputed at all. However, I talked to him anotherway, and taking him by the hand, "My friend," says I, "I wish allthe clergy of the Romish Church were blessed with such moderation,and had an equal share of your charity. I am entirely of youropinion; but I must tell you that if you should preach suchdoctrine in Spain or Italy, they would put you into theInquisition." - "It may be so," said he; "I know not what theywould do in S

　　His discourse was very prettily delivered, considering his youth,and was the more agreeable to me, because he told me positively thematch was not for himself. I gave him all possible assurances thatif I lived to come safe to England, I would deliver his letters,and do his business effectually; and that he might depend I shouldnever forget the circumstances I had left him in. But still I wasimpatient to know who was the person to be married; upon which hetold me it was my Jack-of-all-trades and his maid Susan. I wasmost agreeably surprised when he named the match; for, indeed, Ithought it very suitable. The character of that man I have givenalready; and as for the maid, she was a very honest, modest, sober,and religious young woman: had a very good share of sense, wasagreeable enough in her person, spoke very handsomely and to thepurpose, always with decency and good manners, and was neither toobackward to speak when requisite, nor impertinently forward when itwas not her business; very handy and housewi

　　As soon as the fire begun to blaze, the poor frightened creaturesbegan to rush out to save their lives, but met with their fate inthe attempt; and especially at the door, where they drove themback, the boatswain himself killing one or two with his poleaxe.The house being large, and many in it, he did not care to go in,but called for a hand grenado, and threw it among them, which atfirst frightened them, but, when it burst, made such havoc amongthem that they cried out in a hideous manner. In short, most ofthe Indians who were in the open part of the house were killed orhurt with the grenado, except two or three more who pressed to thedoor, which the boatswain and two more kept, with their bayonets onthe muzzles of their pieces, and despatched all that came in theirway; but there was another apartment in the house, where the princeor king, or whatever he was, and several others were; and thesewere kept in till the house, which was by this time all in a lightflame, fell in upon them, and they were smothered

　　Away runs the Englishman, frightened and amazed, as if he wasbewitched, to the governor Spaniard, and tells him they were allundone, for there were strangers upon the island, but he could nottell who they were. The Spaniard, pausing a while, says to him,"How do you mean - you cannot tell who? They are the savages, tobe sure." "No, no," says the Englishman, "they are men in clothes,with arms." "Nay, then," says the Spaniard, "why are you soconcerned! If they are not savages they must be friends; for thereis no Christian nation upon earth but will do us good rather thanharm." While they were debating thus, came up the threeEnglishmen, and standing without the wood, which was new planted,hallooed to them. They presently knew their voices, and so all thewonder ceased. But now the admiration was turned upon anotherquestion - What could be the matter, and what made them come backagain?

　　When our men found this, it made their hearts relent, and pitymoved them, especially the generous-minded Spaniard governor; andhe proposed, if possible, to take one of them alive and bring himto understand what they meant, so far as to be able to act asinterpreter, and go among them and see if they might be brought tosome conditions that might be depended upon, to save their livesand do us no harm.

　　I confess I was greatly surprised with this good news, and hadscarce power to speak to him for some time; but at last I said tohim, "How do you know this? are you sure it is true?" - "Yes," sayshe; "I met this morning in the street an old acquaintance of mine,an Armenian, who is among them. He came last from Astrakhan, andwas designed to go to Tonquin, where I formerly knew him, but hasaltered his mind, and is now resolved to go with the caravan toMoscow, and so down the river Volga to Astrakhan." - "Well,Seignior," says I, "do not be uneasy about being left to go backalone; if this be a method for my return to England, it shall beyour fault if you go back to Macao at all." We then went toconsult together what was to be done; and I asked my partner whathe thought of the pilot's news, and whether it would suit with hisaffairs? He told me he would do just as I would; for he hadsettled all his affairs so well at Bengal, and left his effects insuch good hands, that as we had made a good voyage, if he couldin