PAYING THEM WITH PITCH. 5655

Two of the enemy’s men entered the boat just where this fellow
stood, being in the fore-shects ; he immediately saluted them with
a ladle-full of the stuff, boiling hot, which so burned and scalded
them, being half naked, that they roared out like two bulls, and
enraged with the fire, leaped both into the sea. The carpenter
saw it, and cried out, ‘““ Well done, Jack! give them some more of
it;” and stepping forward himself, takes one of their mops, and dip-
ping it in the pitch-pot, he and his man threw it among them so
plentifully, that, in short, of all the men in the three boats, there
was not one that was not scalded and burned with it in a most
frightful and pitiful manner, and made such a howling and crying
that I never heard a worse noise, and indeed nothing like it: for
it is worth observing that though pain naturally makes all people
cry out, yet every nation has a particular way of exclamation and
making noises, as different from one another as their speech. I
cannot give the noise these creatures made a better name than
howling, nor a name more proper to the tone of it; for I never
heard anything more like the noise of the wolves, which, as I have
said, I heard howl in the forest on the frontiers of Languedoc.

I was never pleased with a victory better in my life; not only
as it was a perfect surprise to me, and that our danger was imminent
before, but as we got this victory without any bloodshed, except of
that man the fellow killed with his naked hands, and which I was
very much concerned at; for I was sick of killing such poor savage
wretches, even though it was in my own defence, knowing they
came on errands which they thought just, and knew no better.
And though it may be a just thing, because necessary, for there
is no necessary wickedness in nature, yet I thought it was a sad
life, in which we must be always obliged to be killing our fellow-
creatures to preserve our own; and indeed I think so still, and I
would even now suffer a great deal, rather than I would take away
the life even of the person injuring me. And I believe all consider-
ing people, who know the value of life, would be of my opinion; at
least they would, if they entered seriously into the consideration
of it.

But to return to my story. All the while this was doing, my
partner and I, who managed the rest of the men on board, had with