My men would fain have had me give them leave to fall upon them at once in the dark; but I was willing to take them at some advantage, so as to spare them, and kill as few of them as I could; and especially I was unwilling to hazard the killing of any of our men, knowing the others were very well armed.
I miei avrebbero voluto ch’io permettessi loro di piombare d’improvviso su que’ bricconi e coglierli tutti in una volta. Io invece desiderava assalirli con qualche vantaggio, per risparmiarli, o almeno ucciderne il minor numero che potessi; soprattutto poi mi stava a cuore di non rischiare la vita de’ nostri, perchè coloro erano ben armati.