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Updated: June 22, 2025
When he was gone, I turned to the boy, whom they called Xury, and said to him, “Xury, if you will be faithful to me, I’ll make you a great man; but if you will not stroke your face to be true to me”—that is, swear by Mahomet and his father’s beard—“I must throw you into the sea too.” The boy smiled in my face, and spoke so innocently that I could not distrust him, and swore to be faithful to me, and go all over the world with me.
This was game indeed to us, but this was no food; and I was very sorry to lose three charges of powder and shot upon a creature that was good for nothing to us. However, Xury said he would have some of him; so he comes on board, and asked me to give him the hatchet. "For what, Xury?" said I, "Me cut off his head," said he.
The poor lad said he could not go on shore till dawn. "Well," said I, "then we must give it up, but it may be that in the day time we shall be seen by men, who for all we know would do us more harm than wild beasts." "Then we give them the shoot gun," said Xury with a laugh, "and make them run away." I was glad to see so much mirth in the boy, and gave him some bread and rice.
He then swam for the shore, and no doubt got safe there, as the sea was so calm. At first I thought I would take the Moor with me, and let Xury swim to land; but the Moor was not a man that I could trust. When he was gone I said to Xury, "If you will swear to be true to me, you shall be a great man in time; if not, I must throw you out of the boat too."
Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some. I asked him why he would go and not I? The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away." A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature. This indeed increased my affection to the child.
The land in front of us ran out four or five miles, like a bill; and we had to keep some way from the coast, to make this point, so that we lost sight of the shore. I gave the helm to Xury and sat down to think what would be my best course to take: when all at once I heard the lad cry out "A ship with a sail! A ship with a sail!"
Accordingly looking where he pointed, I espied a fearful monster indeed. It was a terrible great lion that lay on shore, covered as it were by a shade of a piece of the hill. "Xury," said I, "you shall go on shore and kill him." But the boy looked amazed: "Me kill him!" says he, "he eat me at one mouth:" meaning one mouthful.
Then Xury took heart, and would have me let him go on shore; "Well, go," said I; so the boy jumped into the water, and taking a little gun in one hand, swam to shore with the other hand, and coming close to the creature, put the muzzle of the piece to his ear, and shot him in the head again, which dispatched him quite.
They had no weapons in their hands, except one, who held a long stick, which Xury told me was a lance, with which they could kill at a great distance.
One day as we were sailing along, we saw people stand on the shore looking at us: we could also perceive they were black and stark naked. I was inclined to go on shore, but Xury cried, "No, no:" however, I approached nearer, and I found they run along the shore by me a good way.
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