CHARACTERS. 



667 



not ; brave men die valiantly in 

 the land of their enemies. Our 

 country is wide, and it is inhabited 

 by warriors who will not let our 

 deaths go unrevenged. The others 

 made answer, You have taken and 

 devoured many of our people, 

 and now we will revenge them 

 upon you. On the third day they 

 reached their own border, divided 

 the prisoners, and separated. 

 Eight savages, and three of the 

 surviving christians fell to the 

 share of Uwattibi. The remain- 

 ing flesh of the two who had been 

 buccaneered was carried home to 

 be reserved for a solemn feast ; 

 part of Jeronymo was hung over a 

 fire in the house where Hans was 

 an inmate, for three weeks. They 

 would not take him to the ship 

 till their feast was over, and before 

 that time she sailed. He had 

 now no other hope than the con- 

 solation which they gave him, 

 that ships came every year. There 

 came, however, a time when he 

 was grateful to Providence for this 

 merciful disappointment. This 

 vessel had captured a Portuguese 

 one in Rio de Janeiro, and given 

 one of the prisoners to the savages 

 to be devoured : the boat's crew 

 belonged to her who had refused 

 to take in Hans when he swam off 

 to them, and the Norman inter- 

 preter who had advised the Tupi- 

 nambas to eat him, embarked to 

 return in her. It may be some 

 satisfaction to the reader, as it was 

 to Hans, to learn that the ven- 

 geance of God was upon them, 

 and they perished in the sea. 



Hans was now transferred to 

 another master, a chief of the 

 settlement called Tacwarasutibi. 

 Before he left Uwattibi, he gave 

 the Portuguese prisoners the best 



directions he could which way 

 to travel, if they could find means 

 to fly. He was dismissed with an 

 excellent character for predicting 

 future events, healing diseases, 

 and procuring fine weather ; and 

 received with the respect which 

 such qualifications deserved. He 

 told his new master that his bro- 

 tiier was to come for him ; and 

 luckily in the course of a fortnight 

 a gun was heard from the near 

 harbour of Rio de Janeiro. He 

 besought them to take him to the 

 ship, but they were in no hurry. 

 The captain, however, heard he 

 was tliere, and sent two of his 

 men to see in what manner he 

 could be delivered from this 

 wretched bondage. Hans told 

 them that one of them must be 

 his brother, and say that he had 

 brought out goods for him, get 

 permission for him to go on board 

 and receive them, and feign that 

 he must stay in the country till 

 next year to collect a cargo for 

 them, because he was now the 

 friend of the Tupinambas. 



The scheme was well laid and 

 well executed. Hans and his 

 master went on board, and re- 

 mained there five days : the sa- 

 vage then asked for the goods, and 

 wanted to return, Hans ordered 

 them to be produced, declaring 

 that he was ready to accompany 

 him, but begged a little longer 

 time to feast with his friends ; 

 and thus by plying him with meat 

 and drink, they kept the chief on 

 board till the ship had completed 

 her cargo. Then, as they were 

 on the point of sailing, the cap- 

 tain thanked this Tupinamba for 

 having treated his countryman so 

 kindly, and said that he had in- 

 vited them there to give him pre- 



