CHARACTERS. 



561 



ing, that he would desire liim to 

 beg his father to send a ship for 

 hira, and goods for his ransom. 

 The Portuguese, he affirmed, 

 would not understand their con- 

 versation. This he said, because 

 the Tupinambas had planned an 

 expedition on the side of Bertioga 

 for the ensuing August, and he 

 feared they would suspect his in- 

 tention of giving intelligence of 

 it. They in their simplicity be- 

 lieved him, and carried him within 

 astone's throw of the vessel. Hans 

 cried out immediately, that only 

 one must speak to him, for he had 

 said none but his brother could 

 understand him. One of his 

 friends took upon him this part, 

 and told him they were sent to 

 ransom hira if they could, and if 

 that proposal was rejected, to seize 

 some of the Tupinambas, and so 

 recover him by exchange. He 

 begged them, for God's sake, not 

 to attempt either means; but to 

 say he was a Frenchman, and give 

 him fishing-hooks and knives. 

 This they readily did, and a canoe 

 was sent to take them in. He 

 then told them of the projected 

 expedition ; and they on their 

 part informed him, that their allies 

 designed to attack Uwattibi again, 

 and bade him be of good heart. 

 He expressed himself thankful, 

 that his sins were to receive their 

 punishment in this world rather 

 than in the next, and implored 

 their prayers for his deliverance. 

 The parley was then broken off. 

 Hans gave his masters the knives 

 and fishing-hooks, and promised 

 them more when the ship came 

 for him ; for he had told his bro- 

 ther how kindly they had treated 

 him. They wereof opinion thatthey 

 had treated him with great kind- 

 VoL. LII. 



ness ; but now, they said, it was 

 plain he was a Frenchman of some 

 worth, and was therefore to be 

 treated still better : so they per- 

 mitted him to accompany them to 

 the woods, and bear his part in 

 their ordinary employments. 



There was a Cairo slave in the 

 town, who having been a slave 

 among the Portuguese, had fled 

 to these Tupinambas, and lived 

 three years with them ; a longer 

 timetlianHans had been in Brazil: 

 nevertheless, from some strange 

 hatred which he had conceived 

 against him, he frequently urged 

 his masters to kill him, declaring 

 that he had oftentimes seen him 

 fire at the Tupinambas, and that 

 he was the person who had killed 

 one of their chiefs. This man 

 fell sick, and Hans was desired to 

 bleed hira by his master, who pro- 

 mised him, if he cured the pa- 

 tient, a share of all the game 

 which he should kill, for his fee. 

 Their instrument for bleeding is a 

 sharp tooth, with which, not be- 

 ing used to it, Hans could not open 

 a vein. They then said he was a lost 

 man, and that there was nothing 

 to be done but to kill him, lest he 

 should die, and so become uneat- 

 able. Shocked at this, Hans re- 

 presented that the man might yet 

 recover ; but it availed not ; they 

 took him out of his hammock, 

 two men supported him upright, 

 for he was too ill to stand, or to 

 know what they were doing, and 

 his master knocked out his brains. 

 Hans then endeavoured to dis- 

 suade them from eating him, ob- 

 serving that the body was yellow 

 with disease, and might produce 

 pestilence. They threw away the 

 head and intestines on this ac- 

 count, and devoured the rest. He 



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