440 SKIRMISH WITH THE ADVANCED GUARD.

with a great spike of iron fastened into each end of it, and by hie
side a hatchet; also every one of our men had hatchets. Two of
the women could not be prevailed upon but they would come into
the fight; and they had bows and arrows, which the Spaniards
had taken from the savages when the first action happened, which
T have spoken of, where the Indians fought with one another; and
the women had hatchets too.

The Spaniard governor, whom I have described so often, com-
manded the whole; and William Atkins, who, though a dreadful
fellow for wickedness, was a most daring bold fellow, commanded
under him. The savages came forward like lions, and our men,
which was the worst of their fate, had no advantage in their situa-
tion, only that William Atkins, who now proved a most useful
fellow, with six men, was planted just behind a small thicket of
bushes as an advanced guard, with orders to let the first of them
pass by, and then fire into the middle of them; and as soon as he
had fired, to make his retreat as uimbly as he could round a part of
the wood, and so come in behind the Spaniards where they stvod,
having a thicket of trees also before them.

When the savages came on they ran straggling about every way
in heaps, out of all manner of order, and William Atkins let about
fifty of them pass by him; then seeing the rest come in a very
thick throng, he orders three of his men to fire, having loaded their
muskets with six or seven bullets a piece about as big as large
pistol bullets. How many they killed or wounded they knew not,
but the consternation and surprise were inexpressible among the
savages; they were frighted to the last degree to hear such a
dreadful noise, and see their men killed, and others hurt, but see
nobody that did it. When in the middle of their fright William
Atkins and his other three let fly again among the thickest of them ‘
and in less than a minute the first three, being loaded again, gave
them a third volley.

Had William Atkins and his men retired immediately as soon
as thoy had fired, as they were ordered to do, or had ‘the rest of
the body been at hand to have poured in their shot continually,
the savages had been effectually routed; for the terror that was
among them caine principally from this, namely, that they were