which reaches from the mouth of the river Oroonoko to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha.  He told me that up a great way beyond the moon, that was, beyond the setting of the moon, which must be west from their country, there dwelt white bearded men, like me, and pointed to my great whiskers, which I mentioned before; and that they had killed much mans, that was his word:  by all which I understood, he meant the Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had been spread over the whole country, and were remembered by all the nations, from father to son.

I inquired if he could tell me how I might go from this island and get among those white men; he told me, Yes, yes, you may go in two canoe.  I could not understand what he meant, or make him describe to me what he meant by two canoe; till, at last, with great difficulty, I found he meant it must be in a large boat, as big as two canoes.  This part of Friday’s discourse began to relish with me very well; and from this time I entertained some hopes that, one time or other, I might find an opportunity to make my escape from this place, and that this poor savage might be a means to help me.

During the long time that Friday had now been with me, and that he began to speak to me, and understand me, I was not wanting to lay a foundation of religious knowledge in his mind:  particularly I asked him one time, Who made him?  The poor creature did not understand me at all, but thought I had asked him who was his father:  but I took it up by another handle, and asked him who made the sea, the ground we walked on, and the hills and woods?  He told me, it was one old Benamuckee, that lived beyond all; he could describe nothing of this great person, but that he was very old, much older, he said, than the sea or the land, than the moon or the stars.  I asked him then, if this old person had made all things, why did not all things worship him?  He looked very grave, and with a perfect look of innocence said, All things say O to him.  I asked him if the people who die in his country went away any where?  He said, Yes; they all went to Benamuckee:  then I asked him whether these they eat up went thither too?  He said, Yes.

From these things I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the true God:  I told him that the great Maker of all things lived up there, pointing up towards heaven; that he governed the world by the same power and providence by which he made it; that he was omnipotent, and could do every thing for us, give every thing to us, take every thing from us; and thus, by degrees, I opened his eyes.  He listened with great attention, and received with pleasure the notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us, and of the manner of making our prayers to God, and his being able to hear us, even in heaven.  He told me one day, that if our God could hear us up beyond the sun, he must needs be a greater God than their Benamuckee, who lived but a little way off, and yet could not hear till