With bows and arrows, too, they were able to shoot with great accuracy; and the boys felt sure that, if properly led, they would be able to make a stout resistance to the Spaniards.
They heard, several times during the first three weeks of their sojourn there, of raids made by small parties of the Spaniards; but in none of these cases were the searchers successful in finding traces of the fugitive slaves, nor did they come into the part of the wood in which was the village which served as headquarters of the negroes.
At the end of three weeks, the boys accompanied a party of their friends to other points at which the fugitives were gathered.
Altogether they found that, in that part of the island, there were some hundreds of natives, with about forty or fifty runaway negroes.

Through the latter, the boys explained to the natives that they ought to build strong places to which, in case of necessity, they could retreat, and where they could offer a desperate resistance to the enemy.

The extreme roughness of the ground, the deep ravines and precipices, were all favorable for defense; and although they could not hope to make a permanent resistance to a large armed force, yet they might easily resist small parties, and then make good their retreat before large reinforcements could arrive.
The negroes expressed their approval of the plans, but the Indians shook their heads over the proposition.
"These men have no courage," the blacks said to the boys.

"Their heart is broken.

They fly at the sound of a Spaniard's voice.