330 ROBINSON CRUSOE.

less supplied with the necessaries of life, than they had reason
to believe others were in the same part of the world: and yet
they found that these savages were less ravenous and voracious
than those who had better supplies of food. Also they added,
they could not but see with what demonstrations of wisdom and
goodness the governing providence of God directs the events
of things in this world ; which, they said, appeared in their
circumstances ; for if, pressed by the hardships they were
under, and the barrenness of the country where they were, they
had searched after a better to live in, they had been out of the
way of the relief that happened to them by my means.

They then gave me an account how the Savages whom they
lived among expected them to go out with them irto their wars ;
and it was true, that as they had fire-arms with taem, had they
not had the disaster to lose their ammunition, they could have
been serviceable not only to their friends, but have made them-
selves terrible both to friends and enemies 3; but being without
powder and shot, and yet in a condition that they could not in
reason deny to go out with their landlords to their wars, so
when they came into the field of battle, they were in a worse
condition than the savages themselves, for they had neither
bows nor arrows, nor could they use those the savages gave
them ; so they could do nothing but standstill and be wounded
with arrows, till they came up to the teeth of their enemy ; and
then, indeed, the three halberds they had were of use to them ;
and they would often drive a whole little army before them
with those halberds, and sharpened sticks put into the muzzles
of their muskets: but that, for all this, they were sometimes
surrounded with multitudes, and in great danger from their
arrows, till at last they found the way to make themselves large
targets of wood, which they covered with skins of wild beasts,
whose names they knew not, and these covered them from the
arrows of the savages : that, notwithstanding these, they were
sometimes in great danger ; and five of them were once knocked
down together with the clubs of the savages, which was the
time when one of them was taken prisoner, that is to say, the
Spaniard whom I relieved: that at first they thought he had
been killed; but when they afterwards heard he was taken
prisoner, they were under the greatest grief imaginable, and
would willingly have all ventured their lives to have rescued
him. ;

They told me that when they were so knocked down, the
rest of their company rescued them, and stood over them fight-
ing till they were come to themselves, all but him who they

.