It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the stores being so low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came. But our best hope, it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until they either hauled down their flag or ran away with the Hispaniola . From nineteen they were already reduced to fifteen, two others were wounded, and one at least—the man shot beside the g*n—severely wounded, if he were not dead. Every time we had a c***k at them, we were to take it, saving our own lives, with the extremest care. And besides that, we had two able allies—rum and the climate.
As for the first, though we were about half a mile away, we could hear them roaring and singing late into the night; and as for the second, the doctor staked his wig that, camped where
