THE MUTINEERS ESCAPE. _ 897

it appeased till the captain, rousing up his courage and taking us
all to his assistance, parted them by force, and making two of the
most refractory fellows prisoners, he laid them in irons; and as
they had been active in the former disorders, and let fall some
dangerous ugly words the second time, he threatened to carry them
in irons to England, and have them hanged there for mutiny and
running away with the ship.

This, it seems, though the captain did not intend to do it,
frighted some other men in the ship, and some of them had put it
into the heads of the rest that the captain only gave them good
words for the present, till they should come to some English port,
and that then they should be all put into jail, and tried for their
lives.

The mate got intelligence of this, and acquainted us with it;
upon which it was desired that I, who still passed for a great man
among them, should go down with the mate and satisfy the men,
and tell them that they might be assured, if they behaved well the
rest of the voyage, all they had done for the time past should be
pardoned. So I went, and after passing my honour’s word to
them, they appeared easy; and the more so, when I caused the
two men who were in irons to be released and forgiven.

But this mutiny had brought us to an anchor for that night, the
wind also falling calm. Next morning, we found that our two
men who had been laid in irons had stole each of them a musket
and some other weapons, what powder or shot they had we know
not, and had taken the ship’s pinnace, which was not yet hauled
up, and run away with her to their companions in roguery on
shore.

As soon as we found this, I ordered the long-boat on shore, with
twelve men and the mate, and away they went to seek the rogues ;
but they could neither find them nor any of the rest, for they all
fled into the woods when they saw the boat coming on shore. The
mate was once resolved, in justice to their roguery, to have de-
stroyed their plantations, burned all the household stuff and furni-
ture, and left them to shift without it; but having no order, he
let it all alone, left everything as they found it, and bringing the
pinnace away, came on board without them.