As for that, he told them they were not his prisoners, but the commander’s of the island; that they thought they had set him on shore in a barren, uninhabited island; but it had pleased God so to direct them that it was inhabited, and that the governor was an Englishman; that he might hang them all there, if he pleased; but as he had given them all quarter, he supposed he would send them to England, to be dealt with there as justice required, except Atkins, whom he was commanded by the governor to advise to prepare for death, for that he would be hanged in the morning.
Ezzel kapcsolatban elmondta nekik, hogy nem ő rendelkezik felettük, hanem a sziget ura, mert bár a lázadók azt hitték, hogy egy lakatlan szigeten teszik őt és két társát partra, ám Isten úgy rendelte, hogy a sziget nemcsak lakott, de angol kormányzója van, aki tetszés szerint felakasztathatná őket. A kormányzó mégsem így döntött, inkább kegyelmet gyakorol és feltehetően Angliába küldeti őket, hogy ott szolgáltassanak felettük igazságot.