However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he durst not leave them there:  upon this I seemed to be a little angry with the captain, and told him, that they were my prisoners, not his; and that seeing I had offered them so much favour, I would be as good as my word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to it, I would set them at liberty as I found them; and if he did not like that, he might take them again if he could catch them.

Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at liberty, and bade them retire into the woods, to the place whence they came, and I would leave them some fire-arms, some ammunition, and some directions how they should live very well, if they thought fit.

Upon this, I prepared to go on board the ship; but told the captain, that I would stay that night to prepare my things; and desired him to go on board in the meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send the boat on shore the next day for me; ordering him in the meantime to cause the new captain who was killed, to be hanged at the yard-arm, that these men might see him.

When the captain was gone, I sent for the men up to me to my apartment, and entered seriously into discourse with them of their circumstances:  I told them, I thought they had made a right choice; that if the captain carried them away, they would certainly be hanged:  I shewed them their captain hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, and told them they had nothing less to expect.

When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I then told them, I would let them into the story of my living there, and put them into the way of making it easy to them:  accordingly I gave them the whole history of the place, and of my coming to it:  shewed them my fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my grapes; and, in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy.  I told them the story of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be expected; for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat them in common with themselves.

I left them my fire-arms; viz. five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and three swords:  I had about a barrel of powder left; for after the first year or two I used but little, and wasted none.  I gave them a description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to milk and fatten them, to make both butter and cheese.

In a word, I gave them every part of my own story; and I told them, I would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder more, and some garden-seed, which I told them I would have been very glad of; also I gave them the bag of peas which the captain had brought me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and increase them.

Having done all this, I left them the next day, and went on board the ship:  we prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that night:  the next morning early, two of the five men came swimming to the ship’s side, and making a most lamentable complaint of the other three, begged to be taken into the ship for God’s sake, for they should be murdered; and begged the captain to take them on board though he hanged them immediately.