Accidents > Life and most surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner, who lived eight and twenty years in an uninhabited island on the coast of America, near the mouth of the great river Oroonoque

ROBINSON CRUSOE. 229
put them out of their pain, by difpatching them
with thei ■ hatchets. At length, coming in view of
the remainder of their army, we found them leaning
upon their knees, which were bended towards their
mouth, and the head between the two hands.
Hereupon, coming within mufket-fhot of them, I
ordered two pieces to be fired without ball, in ordqr
to alarm them, that we might plainly know whether
they had the courage to venture another battle, or
were utterly difpirited from fuch an attempt, that fo
we might accordingly manage them. And indeed
the project took very well; for no fooner did the
favages hear the firft gun, and perceive the flafh of
the fecond, but they fuddenly ftarted upon their
feet, in the greatelf confternation ; and when we
approached towards them, they ran yowling and
fcreaming away up the hill into the country.
We could rather, at firft, have wifhed, that the
weather had permitted them to have gone off to the
fea : But when we coniidered that their efcape might
occalion the approach of multitudes, to our utter
ruin and diffblution, we were very well pleafed the
contrary happened : And Will. Atkins (who, though
wounded, would not part from us all this while) ad-
vifed us not to let flip this advantage, but clapping
between them and their boats, deprive them of the
capacity of ever returning to plague the ifland : I
inoiv (faid he), there is but one objection you can make,
which is, that thefe creatures, living like beajls in the
wood, may make excurfwns, rifle the plantations, and
deflroy the tame goats : But then csnftder, we had bet¬
ter to do with,an hundred men, whom we can kill, or
make Jlaves of, at leifure, than with an hundred na¬
tions, whom it is impofftble we Jhould fave ourfelves
from, much lefs fubdue. This advice and thefe ar¬
guments being approved of, we fet fire to their boats;
and though they were fo wet that they would not
burn entirely, yet we made them incapable for fwim-
l