me some meat. Upon this I lowered the top of my sail and lay by,
and two of them ran up into the country, and in less than half-an-
hour came back, and brought with them two pieces of dried flesh and
some corn, such as is the produce of their country; but we neither
knew what the one or the other was; however, we were willing to
accept it, but how to come at it was our next dispute, for I would
not venture on shore to them, and they were as much afraid of us;
but they took a safe way for us all, for they brought it to the
shore and laid it down, and went and stood a great way off till we
fetched it on board, and then came close to us again.

We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing to make them
amends; but an opportunity offered that very instant to oblige them
wonderfully; for while we were lying by the shore came two mighty
creatures, one pursuing the other (as we took it) with great fury
from the mountains towards the sea; whether it was the male
pursuing the female, or whether they were in sport or in rage, we
could not tell, any more than we could tell whether it was usual or
strange, but I believe it was the latter; because, in the first
place, those ravenous creatures seldom appear but in the night;
and, in the second place, we found the people terribly frighted,
especially the women. The man that had the lance or dart did not
fly from them, but the rest did; however, as the two creatures ran
directly into the water, they did not offer to fall upon any of the
negroes, but plunged themselves into the sea, and swam about, as if
they had come for their diversion; at last one of them began to
come nearer our boat than at first I expected; but I lay ready for
him, for I had loaded my gun with all possible expedition, and bade
Xury load both the others. As soon as he came fairly within my
reach, I fired, and shot him directly in the head; immediately he