fell to coaksing the captain with so many fine words as the Fox in the fable had 

 for the allurement of his prey unto him and urged mightily, that ensign Hill, 

 who stood with the flag of truce, might stand a little nearer to their army. The 

 captain for a good reason to be presently discerned, could not allow that: where- 

 upon they fell to threatening and raging, like so many' defeated devils, using these 

 words, damn ye, we'll cut you as small as tobacco before tomorrow morning. 

 The captain bid 'em to make haste, for he wanted work; so the Indian throwing 

 his flag on the ground, ran away, and ensign Hill nimbly stripping his flag, ran 

 into the valley, near the place where they had urged for a parley. 



And now for poor John Diamond! the enemy recreating (which opportunity ^ 

 'the sloops took to burn down the dangerous hay-stock) into the plain, out of gun- 

 shot they fell to torturing thear captive John Diamond ^ter a manner very 



diabolical. They stripped him, they scalped him alive, and after .they 



finished that article in the punishment of traitors upon him; they slit him with 



knives between his fingers ; they made cruel gashes in the most fleshy parts 



of his body, and stuck the gashes with firebrands which were afterwards found 

 sticking in the wounds. They thus butchered one poor Englishman with all the 

 fury that they would have spent upon them all; and performing an exploit for 

 five hundred furies to brag of at their coming home. Ghastly to express! what 

 was it then to sulfer? They returned then unto the garrisop, and kept firing at 

 it now and then till near ten a clock at night; when they all marched off, leaving 

 behind 'em some of their dead: Whereof one was Monsieur Labrocree, who had 

 about his neck a pouch with about a dozen reliques ingeniously made up, and a 

 printed paper of indulgences, and several other implements; and no doubt thought 

 himself as good safety as if he had all the spells of Lapland about him: but it 

 seems none of the amulets about his neck would save him from a mortal shot in 

 the head. Thus in forty-eight hours was finished an action as worthy as to be 

 related, as perhaps any that occurs in our story. And it was not long before the 

 valiant Gouge, who bore this part in this action, did another that was not much 

 inferior to it, when he suddenly recovered from the French a valuable prey, which 

 they had newly taken upon our coast. 



I doubt, reader, we have had this article of our history a little too long.— We 

 will finish it, when we have remark'd, that albeit there were too much feebleness ■ 

 discovered by my countrymen in some of their actions during this war at sea, as 

 well as on shore, yet several of their actions, especially at sea, deserves to be 

 remembered. And I cannot but particularly bespeak a remembrance for the 

 exploit performed by some of my neighbors in a vessel going into Barbadoes. 

 They were in sight of Barbadoes assaulted by a French vessel, which had a good 

 number of guns, and between sixty and seventy hands. Our vessel had four 

 guns, and eight fighting men, (truly such!) with two tawny servants. The names 

 of these men were Barret, Saunderland, Knoles, Nash, Morgan, Fosdyke, and 

 two more that I now forget. A desperate engagement ensued wherein our eight 

 mariners managed the matter with such bravery, that by the help of heaven they 

 killed between thirty and forty of the French assailants, without losing one of 

 their own little number: And they sank the French vessel which lay by their 

 side, out of which they took twenty-seven prisoners, whereof some were wounded, 

 and all crying for quarter. In the fight the French pennant, being by the wind 

 fastened about the top-mast of the English vessel, it was torn off by the sinking 

 of the French vessel, and left pleasantly flying there. So they sailed into Bar- 

 badoes, where the assembly voted them one publick acknowledgment of their 

 courage and conduct in this brave action, and our history now gives them another. 



•Col. Storer, the present posseesor, kept up the stockadoes, and one or more c 

 flank arts until since the year 17G0, rather as a memorial than necessary defence. 



History of Massachusetts, by Thomas Hutehii 



of the 



