Jon Hagadorn

Moreover, all along the sides of these narrow paths contained large thorns which grew upon a tree in that country, thorns which were struck into the ground with their points uppermost, and the patch itself being made crooked and serpentine.

If a man should attempt to come near the hut at night, he would certainly have struck upon these thorns, though he had been provided with that clue which Ariadne gave to Thesis when he entered the cave of the Minotaur.

thus tyrant like they lived fearing and feared by all and in this situation they were found by captain woods rogers when he went to madagascar in the delicia a ship of forty guns with the design of buying slaves in order to sell to the dutch at batavia or new holland

We happened to touch upon a part of the island where no ship had been seen for seven or eight years before, where he met with some of the pirates, at which time they had been upon the island about twenty-five years, having a large, motley generation of children and grandchildren descended from them.

There being about that time, eleven of them remaining alive.

Upon their first seeing a ship of this force in Burthen, they supposed it to be a man of war sent to take them.

They therefore lurked within their fastnesses,

but when some from the ship came on shore, without any show of hostility, and offering to trade with the negroes, they ventured to come out of their holes, attended like princes, and since they actually are kings de facto, which is a kind of a right, we ought to speak of them as such.

Having been so many years upon this island, it may be imagined their clothes had long been worn out, so that their majesties were extremely out at the elbows.

I cannot say they were ragged, since they had no clothes.

They had nothing to cover them but the skins of beasts without any tanning, but with all the hair on, nor a shoe nor stocking, so they looked like the pictures of Hercules in the lion's skin.

And being overgrown with beard and hair upon their bodies, they appeared the most savage figures that a man's imagination could frame."

However, they soon got rigged, for they sold great numbers of those poor people under them, for clothes, knives, saws, powder, and ball, and many other things, and became so familiar that they went aboard the Delicia, and were observed to be very curious, examining the inside of the ship, and very familiar with men, inviting them ashore.

Their design in doing this, as they afterwards confessed, was to try, if it was not practicable, to surprise the ship in the night, which they judged very easy, in case there was but a slender watch kept on board, they having boats and men enough in command.

But it seems the captain was aware of them, and kept so strong a watch upon deck, that they found it was in vain to make any attempt.

Wherefore, when some of the men went ashore, they were for inveigling them, and drawing them into a plot, for seizing the captain and securing the rest of the men under hatches, when they should have had the night watch, promising a signal to come on board to join them, proposing, if they succeeded, to go a-pirating together, not doubting but with that ship they should be able to take anything they met on the sea.

But the captain, observing an intimacy growing betwixt them and some of his men, thought it could be for no good.

He therefore broke it off in time, not suffering them so much as to talk together.

And when he sent a boat on shore with an office to treat with them about the sale of slaves, the crew remained on board the boat, and no man was suffered to talk with them but the person deputed by him for that purpose.

Before he sailed away, and they found that nothing was to be done, they confessed all the designs they had formed against him.