As The
Report Of Selling Their Children Was Then Current, I Thought, At First,
That He Wanted Me To Buy The Boy.
But at last I found that he wanted me to
give him a white shirt, which I accordingly did.
The boy was so fond of his
new dress, that he went all over the ship, presenting himself before every
one that came in his way. This freedom used by him offended Old Will, the
ram goat, who gave him a butt with his horns, and knocked him backward on
the deck. Will would have repeated his blow, had not some of the people
come to the boy's assistance. The misfortune, however, seemed to him
irreparable. The shirt was dirtied, and he was afraid to appear in the
cabin before his father, until brought in by Mr Forster; when he told a
very lamentable story against goury the great dog (for so they call all the
quadrupeds we had aboard), nor could he be reconciled, till his shirt was
washed and dried. This story, though extremely trifling in itself, will
shew how liable we are to mistake these people's meaning, and to ascribe to
them customs they never knew even in thought.
About nine o'clock, a large double canoe, in which were twenty or thirty
people, appeared in sight. Our friends on board seemed much alarmed,
telling us that these were their enemies. Two of them, the one with a
spear, and the other with a stone-hatchet in his hand, mounted the arm-
chests on the poop, and there, in a kind of bravado, bid those enemies
defiance; while the others, who were on board, took to their canoe and went
ashore, probably to secure the women and children.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 211 of 885
Words from 56606 to 56896
of 239428
