602 BINDING THE PRIESTS.

morning, we supposed the governor could not pretend to give them
any satisfaction upon us, when we were out of his power. The
Scots merchant, as steady in his resolution for the enterprise as
bold in executing, brought me a Tartar’s robe or gown of the
sheep-skins, and a bonnet, with a bow and arrows, and had pro-
vided the same for himself and his countryman, that the people, if
they saw us, should not be able to determine who we were.

All the first night we spent in mixing up some combustible
matter with aqua vite, gunpowder, and such other materials as we
could get ; and having a good quantity of tar in a little pot, about
an hour after night we set out upon our expedition.

We came to the place about eleven o’clock at night, and found
that the people had not the least jealousy of danger attending their
idol. The night was cloudy, yet the moon gave us light enough
to see that the idol stood just in the same posture and place that
it did before. The people seemed to be all at their rest, only that
in the great hut, or tent, as we called it, where we saw the three
priests, whom we mistook for butchers, we saw a light, and going
up close to the door, we heard people talking as if there were five
or six of them. We concluded, therefore, that if we set the wild-
fire to the idol, these men would come out immediately, and run
up to the place to rescue it from the destruction that we intended
for it; and what to do with them we knew not. Once we thought
of carrying it away, and setting fire to it at a distance; but when
we came to handle it, we found it too bulky for our carriage, so
we were ata loss again. The second Scotsman was for setting
fire to the tent or hut, and knocking the creatures that were there
on the head when they came out; but I could not join with that.
I was against killing them, if it was possible to be avoided.
“Well, then,” said the Scots merchant, “I'll tell you what we
will do: we will try to take them prisoners, tie their hands behind
them, and make them stand still and see their idol destroyed.”

As it happened, we had twine or packthread enough about us,
which was used to tie our fireworks together with; so we re-
solved to attack the people first, and with as little noise as we
could. The first thing we did, we knocked at the door, which
issued just as we desired it; for one of their idol priests came to