450 ROBINSON CRUSOE.

However, upon second thoughts, we were willing to delay it
till the next night, because the caravan being to set forward in
the 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 sheep-skins, and a bonnet, with a bow and arrows,
and had provided the same for himself and his countryman,
that the people, if they saw us, should not determine who we
were.

All the first night we spent in mixing up some combus-
tible matter, with aqua vite, gunpowder, and such other ma-
terials as we could get ; and having a good quantity of tar in
a litile pot, about an hour after night we set out upon our ex-
pedition,

We came to the place about eleven o’clock at night, and
found that the people had not the least jealousy of danger at-
tending their idol. The night was cloudy ; yet the moon gave
us light enough to see that the idol stood just in the same pos-
ture 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 prie8ts, whom we mistook for butch-
ers, 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 con-
cluded, therefore, that if we set wildfire 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 at a 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 were possible to avoid it. “Well,
then,” said the Scots merchant, “I will tell you what we will
do: we will try to make them prisoners, tie their hands, and
make them stand and see their idol destroyed.”

As it happened, we had twine or packthread enough about
us, which we used to tie our firelocks together with ; so we re-
solved to attack these people first, and with as little noise as
wecould. The first thing we did we knocked at the door, when
one of the priests coming to it, we immediately seized upon
him, stopped his mouth, and tied his hands behind him, and
led him to the idol, where we gagged him that he might not