were perfectly at a loss to find out the Houses or Town they came from The 28th day being tired and hopeless to find any Town we went aboard our Ships that were now come abrest of the place where we were for always when we leave our Ships we either order a certain place of meeting or else leave them a sign to know where we are by making one or more great Smoaks yet we had all like to have been ruin'd by such a signal as this in a former Voyage under Captain Sharp when we made that unfortunate attempt upon Arica which is mentioned in the History of the Buccaneers For upon the routing our Men and taking several of them some of those so taken told the Spaniards that it was agreed between them and their Companions on board to make two great Smokes at a distance from each other assoon as the Town should be taken as a signal to the Ship that it might safely enter the Harbour The Spaniards made these Smokes presently I was then among those who stay'd on board and whether the signal was not so exactly made or some other discouragement happen'd I remember not but we forbore going in till we saw our scatter'd Crew coming off in their Canoas Had we entred the Port upon the false signal we must have been taken or sunk for we must have past close by the Fort and could have had no Wind to bring us out till the Land-wind should rise in the night But to our present Voyage After we came aboard we saw the Volcan of Colima This is a very high Mountain in about 18d 36m North standing 5 or 6 leagues from the Sea in the midst of a pleasant Valley It appears with 2 sharp peeks from each of which there do always issue flames of fire or smoke The Valley in which this Volcan stands is called the Valley of Colima from the Town itself which stands there not far from the Volcan The Town is said to be great and rich the chief of all its Neighborhood and the Valley in which it is seated by the relation which the Spaniards give of it is the most pleasant and fruitful Valley in all the Kingdom of Mexico This Valley is about 10 or 12 leagues wide by the Sea where it makes a small Bay but how far the Vale runs into the Country I know not It is said to befull of Cacao gardens fields of Corn Wheat and Plantain-walks The neighbouring Sea is bounded with a sandy shore but there is no going ashore for the violence of the waves The Land within it is low all along and Woody for about 2 leagues from the East side at the end of the Woods there is a deep River runs out into the Sea but it hath such a great Bar or Sandy shole that when we were here no Boat or Canoa could possibly enter the Sea running so high upon the Bar otherwise I judge we should have made some farther discovery into this pleasant Valley On the West side of the River the Savannah land begins and runs to the other side of the Valley We had but little wind when we came aboard therefore we lay off this Bay that afternoon and the night ensuing The 29th day our Captains went away from our Ships with 200 men intending at the first convenient place to land and search about for a path for the Spanish Books make mention of 2 or 3 other Towns hereabouts especially one called Sallagua to the West of this Bay Our Canoas rowed along as near the shore as they could but the Sea went so high that they could not land About 10 or 11 a clock 2 Horsemen came near the shore and one of them took a Bottle out of his pocket and drank to ourmen While he was drinking one of our men snatcht up his Gun and let drive at him and kill'd his Horse so his consort immediately set Spurs to his Horse and rode away leaving the other to come after afoot But he being Booted made but slow haste therefore 2 of our men stript themselves and swam ashore to take him but he had a Macheat or long Knife wherewith he kept them both from seizing him they having nothing in their hands wherewith to defend themselves or offend him The 30th day our men came all aboard again for they could not find any place to land in The first day of December we passed by the Port of Sallagua This Port is in lat 18 d. 52 m. It is only a pretty deep Bay divided in the middle with a rocky point which makes as it were two Harbours Ships may ride securely in either but the West Harbour is the best there is good anchoring any where in 10 or 12 fathom and a Brook of fresh Water runs into the Sea Here we saw a great new thatched House and a great many Spaniards both Horse and Foot with Drums beating and Colours flying in defiance of us as we thought We took no notice of them till the next morning and then we landed about 200 Men to try their Courage but they presently withdrew The Foot never stay'd to exchange one shot but the Horsemen stay'd till 2 or 3 were knocked down and then they drew off our Men pursuing them At last 2 of our Men took 2 Horses that had lost their Riders and mounting them rode after the Spaniards full drive till they came among them thinking to have taken a Prisoner for Intelligence but had like to have been taken themselves for 4 Spaniards surrounded them after they had discharged their Pistols and unhorsed them and if some of our best Footmen had not come to their rescue they must have yielded or have been killed They were both cut in 2 or 3 places but their wounds were not mortal The 4 Spaniards got away before our Men could hurt them and mounting their Horses speeded after their Consorts who were marched away into the Country Our Men finding a broad Road leading into the Country followed it about 4 leagues in a dry stony Country full of short Woods but finding no sign of Inhabitants they returned again In their way back they took two Mulatto's who were not able to march as fast as their Consorts therefore they had skulked in the Woods and by that means thought to have escaped our Men. These Prisoners informed us that this great Road did lead to a great City called Oarrha from whence many of those Horsemen before spoken of came that this City was distant from hence as far as a Horse will go in 4 days and that there is no place of consequence nearer that the Country is very poor and thinly inhabited They said also that these Men came to assist the Phillippine Ship that was every day expected here to put ashore Passengers for Mexico The Spanish Pilot-Books mention a Town also called Sallagua hereabouts but we could not find it nor hear any thing of it by our Prisoners We now intended to cruize off of Cape
sail and they have thus vanished on a sudden The Fish which they take near the shore with their Nets are Snooks Dog-fish and sometimes Tarpoms The Tarpom is a large scaly Fish shaped much like a Salmon but somewhat flatter 'T is of a dull Silver Colour with Scales as big as a Half Crown A large Tarpom will weigh 25 or 30 Pound 'T is good sweet wholsom Meat and the Flesh solid and firm In its Belly you shall find two large Scalops of Fat weighing two or three Pound each I never knew any taken with Hook and Line but are either with Nets or by striking them with Harpoons at which the Moskito-Men are very expert The Nets for this purpose are made with strong double Twine the Meshes 5 or 6 Inches square For if they are too small so that the Fish be not intangled therein he presently draws himself a little backward and then springs over the Net Yet I have seen them taken in a Sain made with small Meshes in this manner After we have inclosed a great number whilst the two ends of the Net were drawing ashore 10 or 12 naked Men have followed and when a Fish struck against the Net the next Man to it grasped both Net and Fish in his Arms and held all fast till others came to his assistance Besides these we had three Men in a Canoa in which they mov'd side ways after the Net and many of the Fish in springing over the Net would fall into the Canoa And by these means we should take two or 3 at every Draught These Fish are found plentifully all along that shore from Cape Catoch to Trist especially in clear Water near sandy Bays but no where in muddy or rocky Ground They are also about Jamaica and all the Coast of the Main especially near Carthagena West from Rio de la Gartos there is a Look-out or Watch-tower called Selam This is a Place close by the shore contrived by the Spaniards for their Indians to watch in There are many of them on this Coast Some built from the Ground with Timber others only little Cages placed on a Tree big enough for one or two Men to sit in with a Ladder to go up and down These Watch-towers are never without an Indian or two all the day long the Indians who live near any of them being obliged to take their turns About three or four Leagues Westward of Selam is another Watch-Box on a High Tree called Linchanchee Lookout from a large Indian Town of that Name 4 Leagues up in the Country and two Leagues farther within Land is another Town called Chinchanchee I have been ashore at these Look-outs and have been either rowing in a Canoa or walking ashore on all this Coast even from Rio de la Gartos to Cape Condecedo but did never see any Town by the shore nor any Houses besides Fishing-hutts on all the Coast except only at Sisal Between Selam and Linchanchee are many small regular Salt Ponds divided from each other by little Banks the biggest Pond not above 10 Yards long and 6 broad The Inhabitants of these two Towns attend these Ponds in the Months of May June and July to gather the Salt which supplies all the Inland Towns of these Parts and there is a skirt of Wood between the Sea and the Ponds that you can neither see them nor the People at Work till you come ashore From these Salt Ponds further West about three or four Leagues is the Look-out called Sisal This is the highest and most remarkable on all the Coast it stands close by the Sea and it is built with Timber This is the first Object that we make off at Sea and sometimes we take it for a Sail till running nearer we discover the high Mangrove-trees appearing in small Tufts at several Distances from it Not far from hence there is a Fort with 40 or 50 Soldiers to Guard the Coast and from this Place there is a Road through the Country to the City of Merida This is the chiefest City in all the Province of Jucatan it being inhabited mostly with Spaniards Yet there are many Indian Families among them who live in great subjection as do the rest of the Indians of this Country The Province of Jucatan especially this Northern and the most Easterly Part of it is but indifferently fruitful in comparison of that rich Soil farther to the West Yet is it pretty populous of Indians who all live together in Towns but none within five or six Miles of the Sea except as I said at two or three Fishing Places and even there the Indians resort to fish but at certain Seasons of the Year Therefore when Privateers come on this Coast they fear not to Land and ramble about as if they were in their own Country seeking for Game of any sort either Fowl or Deer of both which there are great plenty especially of the latter though sometimes they pay dear for it A small Jamaica Privateer once Landed 6 or 7 Men at this Look-out of Sisal who not suspecting any danger ordered the Canoa with 3 or 4 Men to row along by the shore to take them in upon their giving a sign or firing a Gun But within half an hour they were attack'd by about 40 Spanish Soldiers who had cut them off from the shore to whom they surrendred themselves Prisoners The Spaniards carried them in triumph to the Fort and then demanded which was the Captain Upon this they all stood mute for the Captain was not among them and they were afraid to tell the Spaniards so for fear of being all hanged for Straglers Neither did any one of them dare to assume that Title because they had no Commission with them nor the Copy of it for the Captains don't usually go ashore without a Copy at least of their Commission which is wont to secure both themselves and their Men. At last one John Hullock cock'd up his little cropt Hat and told them that he was the Captain and the Spaniards demanding his Commission he said it was aboard for that he came ashore only to hunt not thinking to have met any Enemy The Spaniards were well satisfied with this Answer and afterwards respected him as the Captain and served him with better Provision and Lodging than the rest and the next day when they were sent to the City of Merida about 12 or 13 Leagues from thence Captain Hullock had a Horse to ride on while the rest went on Foot And though they were all kept in close Prison yet Hullock had the honour to be often sent for to be examined at the Governours House and was frequently Regal'd with Chocolate c. From thence they were carried to Campeachy Town where still Captain Hullock was better served than his Comrades At last I know not how they all got their Liberties and Hullock was ever after call'd Captain Jack It is about 8 Leagues from Sisal to Cape Condecedo Twenty Leagues North of which
this River Their chiefest employment when they are not at Sea is fishing These men are oblig'd by the Spaniards to keep good watch for Ships that Anchor at Point Arena which as I said before is 7 leagues from the Town Puna The place where they keep this watch is at a Point of Land on the Island Puna that starts out into the Sea from whence they can see all Ships that anchor at Point Arena The Indians come thither in the morning and return at night on Horse-back From this watching point to Point Arena it is 4 leagues all drowned Mangrove-land and in the midway between these two Points is another small Point where these Indians are obrig d to keep another Watch when they fear an Enemy The Centinel goes thither in a Canoa in the morning and returns at night for there is no coming thither by Land through that Mangrove marshy ground The middle of the Island Puna is Savannah or pasture There are some ridges of good Woodland which is of a light yellow or sandy mould producing large tall Trees most unknown even to Travellers But there are plenty of Palmeto Trees which because I am acquainted with I shall describe The Palmeto Tree is about the bigness of an ordinary Ash It is about 30 foot high the body streight without any limb or branch or leaf except at the head only where it spreads forth into many small branches not half so big as a mans arm some no bigger than ones finger These branches are about 3 or 4 foot long clear from any knot At the end of the branch there groweth one broad leaf about the bigness of a large Fan. This when it first shoots forth grows in folds like a Fan when it is closed and still as it grows bigger so it opens till it becomes like a Fan spread abroad It is strengthned towards the stalk with many small ribs springing from thence and growing into the leaf which as they grow near the end of the leaf grow thinner and smaller The Leaves that make the brush part of the Flag-brooms which are brought into England grow just in this manner and are indeed a small kind of Palmeto for there are of them of several dimensions In Bermudas and elsewhere they make Hats Baskets Brooms Fans to blow the fire instead of Bellows with many other House-Implements of Palmeto-Leaves On the ridges where these Trees grow the Indians have here and there Plantations of Maiz Yams and Potatoes There are in the Town of Puna about 20 Houses and a small Church The Houses stand all on Posts 10 or 12 foot high with Ladders on the outside to go up into them I did never see the like buildings any where but among the Malayans in the East Indies They are thatched with Palmeto-leaves and their Chambers well boarded in which last they exceed the Malayans The best place for Ships to lye at an anchor is against the middle of the Town There is 5 fathom water within a Cables length of the shore and good soft deep Oaze where ships may careen or hale ashore it flows 15 or 16 foot water up and down From Puna to Guiaquil is reckoned 7 leagues It is one league before you come to the River of Guiaquil s mouth where it is above two mile wide from thence upwards the River lies pretty streight without any considerable turnings Both sides of the River are low swampy Land overgrown with Red Mangroves so that there is no landing Four mile before you come to the Town of Guiaquil there is a low Island standing in the River This Island divides the River into two parts making two very fair Channels for Ships to pass up and down The S. W. Channel is the widest the other is as deep but narrower and narrower yet by reason of many Trees and Bushes which spread over the River both from the Main and from the Island and there are also several great stumps of Trees standing upright in the Water on either side The Island is above a mile long From the upper part of the Island to the Town of Guiaquil is almost a league and near as much from one side of the River to the other In that spacious place Ships of the greatest burthen may ride afloat but the best place for Ships is nearest to that part of the Land where the Town stands and this place is seldom without Ships Guiaquil stands facing the Island close by the River partly on the side and partly at the foot of a gentle Hill declining towards the River by which the lower part of it is often overflown There are two Forts one standing in the low ground the other on the hill This Town makes a very fine prospect it being beautified with several Churches and other good Buildings Here lives a Governor who as I have been informed hath his Patent from the King of Spain Guiaquil may be reckoned one of the chiefest Sea-Ports in the South Seas The Commodities which are exported from hence are Cacao Hides Tallow Sarsaparilla and other Drugs and Woollen Cloath commonly called Cloath of Quito The Cacao grows on both sides of the River above the Town It is a small Nut like the Campeachy Nut I think the smallest of the two they produce as much Cacao here as serves all the Kingdom of Peru and much of it is sent to Acapulco and from thence to the Phillipine Islands Sarsaparilla grows in the Water by the sides of the River as I have been informed The Quito-cloath comes from a rich Town in the Country within land called Quito There is a great deal made both Serges and Broad-cloath This Cloath is not very fine but is worn by the common sort of people throughout the whole Kingdom of Peru. This and all other commodities which come from Quito are shipt off at Guiaquil for other parts and all imported goods for the City of Quito pass by Guiaquil by which it may appear that Guiaquil is a place of no mean trade Quito as I have been informed is a very populous City seated in the heart of the Country It is inhabited partly by Spaniards but the major part of its Inhabitants are Indians under the Spanish Government It is environ'd with Mountains of a vast heighth from whose bowels many great Rivers have their rise These Mountains abound in Gold which by violent rains is wash'd with the Sand into the adjacent Brooks where the Indians resort in Troops washing away the Sand and putting up the Gold-dust in their Calabashes or Gourd Shells But for the manner of gatnering the Gold I refer you to Mr. Waffer's Book Only I shall remark here that Quito is the place in all the Kingdom of Peru that abounds most with this rich Metal as I have been often informed The Country is subject to great Rains and very thick Fogs especially the Valleys For that reason it is very unwholsome and sickly The chiefest Distempers are Fevers violent Head-ach Pains in the Bowels and
up their mother Fruit did not the Indians who plant large fields of these Trees when once they perceive the Fruit open take care to drive them out for they spread under the branches of the Tree a large Linnen cloth and then with sticks they shake the branches and so disturb the poor insects that they take wing to be gone yet hovering still over the head of their native Tree but the heat of the Sun so disorders them that they presently fall down dead on the cloth spread for that purpose where the Indians let them remain 2 or 3 days longer till they are throughly dry When they fly up they are red when they fall down they are black and when first they are quite dry they are white as the sheet wherein they lye though the colour change a little after These yield the much esteemed Scarlet The Cochineel-trees are called by the Spaniards Toona's They are planted in the Country about Guatimala and about Cheape and Guaxaca all 3 in the Kingdom of Mexico The Silvester is a red grain growing in a Fruit much resembling the Cochineel-fruit as doth also the Tree that bears it There first shoots forth a yellow Flower then comes the Fruit which is longer than the Cochineel-fruit The Fruit being ripe opens also very wide The inside being full of these small Seeds or Grains they fall out with the least touch or shake The Indians that gather them hold a dish under to receive the Seed and then shake it down These Trees grow wild and 8 or 10 of these Fruits will yield an ounce of Seed but of the Cochineel-fruits 3 or 4 will yield an ounce of insects The Silvester gives a colour almost as fair as the Cochineel and so like it as to be often mistaken for it but it is not near so valuable I often made enquiry how the Silvester grows and of the Cochineel but was never fully satisfied till I met a Spanish Gentleman that had lived 30 years in the West Indies and some years where these grow and from him I had these relations He was a very intelligent person and pretended to be well acquainted in the Bay of Campechy therefore I examined him in many particulars concerning that Bay where I was well acquainted my self living there 3 years He gave very true and pertinent answers to all my demands so that I could have no distrust of what he related When we first saw the Mountain of Guatimala we were by judgment 25 leagues distance from it As we came nearer the Land it appeared higher and plainer yet we saw no fire but a little smoak proceeding from it The Land by the Sea was of a good height yet but low in comparison with that in the Country The Sea for about 8 or 10 leagues from the shore was full of floating Trees or Drift Wood as it is called of which I have seen a great deal but no where so much as here and Pumice-stones floating which probably are thrown out of the burning Mountains and washed down to the shore by the Rains which are very violent and frequent in this Country and on the side of Honduras it is excessively wet The 24th day we were in lat 14 d. 30 m. North and the weather more settled Then Captain Townly took with him 106 men in 9 Canoas and went away to the Westward where he intended to Land and romage in the Country for some refreshment for our sick men we having at this time near half our men sick and many were dead since we left Ria Lexa We in the Ships lay still with our Topsails furled and our Corses or lower Sails hal'd up this day and the next that Captain Townly might get the start of us The 26th day we made sail again coasting to the Westward having the Wind at North and fair weather We ran along by a tract of very high Land which came from the Eastward more within Land than we could see after we fell in with it it bare us company for about 10 leagues and ended with a pretty gentle descent towards the West There we had a perfect view of a pleasant low Country which seemed to be rich in Pasturage for Cattle It was plentifully furnished with groves of green Trees mixt among the grassy Savannahs Here the Land was fenced from the Sea with high sandy Hills for the Waves all along this Coast run high and beat against the shore very boisterously making the Land wholly unapproachable in Boats or Canoas So we Coasted still along by this low Land 8 or 9 leagues farther keeping close to the shore for fear of missing Captain Townly We lay by in the night and in the day made an easie sail The 2d day of October Captain Townly came aboard he had coasted along shore in his Canoas seeking for an entrance but found none At last being out of hopes to find any Bay Creek or River into which he might safely enter he put ashore on a sandy Bay but overset all his Canoas he had one man drowned and several lost their Arms and some of them that had not waxt up their Cartrage or Catouche Boxes wet all their Powder Captain Townly with much ado got ashore and dragged the Canoas up dry on the Bay then every man searched his Catouche-box and drew the wet Powder out of his Gun and provided to march into the Country but finding it full of great Creeks which they could not ford they were forced to return again to their Canoas In the night they made good fires to keep themselves warm the next morning 200 Spaniards and Indians fell on them but were immediately repulsed and made greater speed back than they had done forward Captain Townly followed them but not far for fear of his Canoas These men came from Teguantapeque a Town that Captain Townly went chiefly to seek because the Spanish Books make mention of a large River there but whether it was run away at this time or rather Captain Townly and his men were short sighted I know not but they could not find it Upon his return we presently made sail coasting still Westward having the Wind at E. N. E. fair weather and a fresh gale We kept within 2 mile of the shore sounding all the way and found at 6 miles distance from Land 19 fathom at 8 miles distance 21 fathom gross Sand. We saw no opening nor sign of any place to land at so we sailed about 20 leagues farther and came to a small high Island called Tangola where there is good anchoring The Island is indifferently well furnished with Wood and Water and lieth about a league from the shore The Main against the Island is pretty high champion Savannah Land by the Sea but 2 or 3 leagues within land it is higher and very woody We coasted a league farther and came to Guatulco This Port is in lat 15 d. 30 m. it is one of the best in all this Kingdom of Mexico Near a mile
Besides these there are an infinite number of small Islands of no account and even the great Islands many of them are without Names or at least so variously set down that I find the same Islands named by divers Names The Island St. John and Mindanao are the Southern-most of all these Islands and are the only Islands in all this Range that are not subject to the Spaniards St. Johns Island is on the East side of the Mindanao and distant from it 3 or 4 leagues It is in lat about 7 or 8 North. This Island is in length about 38 leagues stretching N. N. W. and S. S. E. and it is in breadth about 24 leagues in the middle of the Island The Northermost end is broader and the Southermost is narrower This Island is of a good heighth and is full of many small hills The Land at the South East end where I was ashore is of a black fat mould and the whole Island seems to partake of the same fatness by the vast number of large Trees that it produceth for it looks all over like one great Grove As we were passing by the S. E. end we saw a Canoa of the Natives under the shore therefore one of our Canoas went after to have spoken with her but she run away from us seeing themselves chaced put their Canoa ashore leaving her fled into the Woods nor would be allured to come to us altho we did what we could to entice them besides these Men we saw no more here nor sign of any Inhabitants at this end When we came aboard our Ship again we steered away for the Island Mindanao which was now fair in sight of us it being about 10 leagues distant from this part of St. Johns The 22d day we came within a league of the East side of the Island Mindanao and having the Wind at S. E. we steered toward the North end keeping on the East side till we came into the lat of 7d 40 m. and there we anchored in a small Bay about a mile from the shore in 10 fathom Water rocky foul ground Some of our Books gave us an account that Mindanao City and Isle lies in 7d 40 m. we guest that the middle of the Island might lye in this lat but we were at a great loss where to find the City whether on the East or West side Indeed had it been a small Island lying open to the Eastern Wind we might probably have searched first on the West side for commonly the Islands within the Tropicks or within the bounds of the Trade-Winds have their Harbours on the West sido as best sheltered but the Island Mindanao being guarded on the East side by St. Johns Island we might as reasonably expect to find the Harbour and City on this side as any where else but coming into the lat in which we judg'd the City might be found no Canoas or People that might give as any umbrage of a City or place of Trade near at hand though we coasted within a league of the shore The Island Mindanao is the biggest of all the Philippine Islands except Luconia It is about 60 leagues long and 40 or 50 broad The South end is in about 5 d. N. and the N. W. end reacheth almost to 8 d. N. It is a very mountainous Island full of Hills and Valleys The Mould in general is deep and black and extraordinary fat and fruitful The sides of the Hills are stony yet productive enough of very large tall Trees In the heart of the Country there are some Mountains that yield good Gold The Valleys are well moistned with pleasant Brooks and small Rivers of delicate Water and have Trees of divers sorts flourishing and green all the year The Trees in general are very large and most of them are of kinds unknown to us There is one sort which deserves particular notice called by the Natives Libby Trees These grow wild in great Groves of 5 or 6 mile long by the sides of the Rivers Of these Trees Sago is made which the poor Country People eat instead of Bread 3 or 4 months in the year This Tree for its body and shape is much like the Palmeto tree or the Cabbage tree but not so tall as the latter The Bark and Wood is hard and thin like a Shell and full of white Pith like the Pith of an Elder This Tree they cut down and split it in the middle and scrape out all the Pith which they beat lustily with a wooden Pestle in a great Mortar or Trough and then put into a Cloth or Strainer held over a Trough and pouring Water in among the Pith they stir it about in the Cloth so the Water carries all the substance of the Pith through the Cloth down into the Trough leaving nothing in the Cloth but a light sort of Husk which they throw away but that which falls into the Trough settles in a short time to the bottom like Mud and then they draw off the Water and take up the muddy substance wherewith they make Cakes which being baked proves very good Bread The Mindanao People live 3 or 4 months of the year on this food for their Bread kind The Native Indians of Teranate and Tidore and all the Spice Islands have plenty of these Trees and use them for food in the same manner as I have been inform'd by Mr. Caril Rofy who is now Commander of one of the Kings Ships He was one of our company at this time and being left with Captain Swan at Mindanao went afterwards to Teranate and lived there among the Dutch a year or two The Sago which is transported into other parts of the East Indies is dried in small pieces like little Seeds or Comfits and commonly eaten with Milk of Almonds by those that are troubled with the Flux for it is a great binder and very good in that distemper In some places of Mindanao there is plenty of Rice but in the hilly Land they plant Yams Potatoes and Pumkins all which thrive very well The other Fruits of this Island are Water-Melons Musk-Melons Plantains Bonanoes Guava's Nutmegs Cloves Betel-nuts Durians Jacks or Jaca's Coco-nuts Oranges c. The Plantain I take to be the King of all Fruit not except the Coco it self The Tree that bears this Fruit is about 3 foot or 3 foot and an half round and about 10 or 12 foot high These Trees are not raised from seed for they seem not to have any but from the roots of other old Trees If these young suckers are taken out of the ground and planted in another place it will be 15 months before they bear but if let stand in their own native Soil they will bear in 12 months As soon as the Fruit is ripe the Tree decays but then there are many young ones growing up to supply its place When this Tree first springs out of the ground it comes up with 2 leaves and by that time it is a foot
of Siam which they were not so sure of as to the rest of the goods and the English being then at War with the Siamers he made this his pretence for seizing them and got the Governor to assist him with his Authority and the Bells were accordingly carried ashore and kept at Hean This was thought a very strange action of the chief of the Factory to seize Goods as belonging to the King of Siam while they were in a River of Tonquin but he was a person but meanly qualified for the station he was in Indeed had he been a man of Spirit he might have been serviceable in getting a Trade with Japan which is a very rich one and much coveted by the Eastern people themselves as well as Europeans For while I was there there were Merchants came every year from Japan to Tonquin and by some of these our English Factory might probably have settled a Correspondence and Traffick But he who was little qualified for the station he was in was less fit for any new undertaking and tho men ought not to run inconsideratly into new discoveries or undertakings yet where there is a prospect of profit I think it not amiss for Merchants to try for a Trade for if our Ancestors had been as dull as we have been of late 't is probable we had never known the way so much as to the East Indies but must have been beholden to our Neighbours for all the Product of those Eastern Nations What care was formerly taken to get us a Trade into the E. Indies and other Countries what pains particularly did some take to find out the Muscovites by doubling the North Cape and a way thence by land Trade into Persia but now as if we were cloyed with Trade we sit still contented saying with Cato Non minor est virtus quam quaerere parta tueri This was the saying of an eminent Merchant of the East India Company to me but by his leave our Neighbours have incroached on us and that in our times too However 't is certainly for the interest of our Merchants to imploy fit men in their Factories since the reputation of the Company riseth or falls by the discreet management or ill conduct of the Agents Nor is it enough for the chief of a Factory to be a good Merchant and an honest man for though these are necessary qualifications yet the Governor or chief of the Factory ought to know more than barely how to buy sell and keep accounts Especially where other European Merchants reside among them or Trade to the same places for they keep a diligent Eye on the management of our affairs and are always ready to take all advantages of our mis-improvements Neither ought this care to be neglected where we have the Trade to our selves for there ought to be a fair understanding between us and the Natives and care taken that they should have no reason to complain of unjust dealings as I could shew where there has been but 't is an invidious subject and all that I aim at is to give a caution But to the matter in hand it seemed to me that our Factory at Tonquin might have got a Trade with Japan and to China as much as they pleased I confess the continual Wars between Tonquin and Cochinchina were enough to obstruct the designs of making a Voyage to this last and those other places of Champa and Cambodia as they are less known so was it more unlikely still to make thither any profitable Voyages yet possibly the difficulties here also are not so great but resolution and industry would overcome them and the profit would abundantly compensate the trouble But to proceed we found there was no recovering the Bells so we fell down from Hean to our Ships and Captain Weldon coming to us in a few days and Captain Brewster with him to go as a Passenger in his Ship together with one or two more and the 2 Ships who came with us being also ready for their departure we all weighed anchor and took leave of Tonquin CHAP VI. They set sail out of the Bay of Tonquin Of the R. and Country of Cambodia of Chinese Pirates settled there and the Buggasses a sort of Soldiers under the King of Siam both routed by the English in his service They pass by Pulo Condore are in fear of the King of Siam and enter the Streights of Malacca by Brewers Streights They arrive at Malacca The Story of Captain Johnson his buying a Vessel at Malacca and going over to Bancalis a Town on the opposite Coast of Sumatra to buy Pepper His Murder by the Malayans there and the narrow escape of his Men and Vessel The State of Trade in those parts and the Restraint put upon it Captain Johnson 's Vessel brought to Malacca by Mr. Wells The Authors departure from Malacea and arrival at Achin IT was the beginning of February 168 8 9 when we left this Country We went over the Bar 3 Ships in Company the Rainbow Captain Pool Commander bound for London and Captain Lacy in the Saphire bound for Fort St. George and I was in Captain Weldons Ship the Curtane bound thither also We kept Company some time after our departure from Tonquin and having an Easterly Wind we kept more to the middle of the Bay of Tonquin or towards the Eastern side than when we entred by which means we had the opportunity of sounding as well in the middleof the Bay now as we had on the West side of it at our coming into the Bay Coming out of the Bay of Tonquin we stood away Southward having the Sholes of Pracel on our Larboard and the Coasts of Cochinchina Champa and Cambodia on our Starboard I have just mentioned these Kingdoms in my former Volume and here I have but little to say of them having only sailed by them But not altogether to fail the Readers expectation I shall give a brief account of one or two particulars relating to Cambodia for as to Champa I have nothing material to speak and Cochinchina I have already spoken of in this Volume as I went to Tonquin The Kingdom of Cambodia seems to be much such a kind of Country within Land as the lower parts of Tonquin low Land very woody and little inhabited lying on each side a great River that comes from the North a great way and falls into the Sea over against Pulo Condore I know not the particular product of Cambodia but in the Vessels mentioned in my former Vol. p. 399. as taken at Pulo Uby and which came thither from Cambodia there were besides Rice Dragons Blood Lack in great Jars but it lookt blackish and thick and the yellow purging Gum which we from thence call Cambodia in great Cakes but I know not whence they get it This River and Kingdom if it be one is but little known to our Nation yet some English men have been there particularly Captain Williams and Captain Howel the last of
Savannah with some large Palmeto-Trees growing in it The North side of the VVest end is full of Coco-Plum-Bushes and some Grapes The Coco-Plum-Bush is about 8 or 9 Foot high spreading out into many Branches It s Rind black and smooth the Leaves oval and pretty large and of a dark Green The Fruit is about the bigness of a Horse-Plum but round some are black some white others redish The Skin of the Plum is very thin and smooth the inside white soft and woolly rather fit to suck than bite inclosing in the middle a large soft Stone This Fruit grows commonly in tho Sand near the Sea and I have tasted some that have been saltish but they are commonly sweet and pleasant enough and accounted very wholsom The Body of the Grape-Tree is about two or three Foot in Circumference growing 7 or 8 Foot high then sends forth many Branches whose Twigs are thick and gross the Leaves are shaped much like an Ivy Leaf but broader and more hard the Fruit is as big as an ordinary Grape growing in Bunches or Clusters among the Twigs all over the Tree it is black when ripe and the inside redish with a large hard Stone in the middle This Fruit is very pleasant and wholsom but of little substance the Stones being so large The Body and Limbs of the Tree are good Fewel making a clear strong fire therefore often used by the Privateers to harden the Steels of their Guns when faulty The Animals of this Island are Lizards Guanoes Snakes and Dear Beside the Common small Lizard there is another sort of a large kind called a Lyon-Lizard This Creature is shaped much like the other but almost as big as a Man's Arm and it has a large Comb on its head when it is assaulted it sets its Comb up an end but otherways it lyes down flat Here are two or three sorts of Snakes some very large as I have been told At the West end of the Island close by the Sea you may dig in the Sand 5 or 6 Foot deep and find good fresh Water There are commonly VVells ready made by Seamen to water their Ships but they soon fill up if not cleared and if you dig too deep your VVater will be salt This Island was seldom clear of Inhabitants when the English visited the Bay for Logwood for the biggest Ships did always ride here in 6 or 7 Fathom Water close by the Shore but smaller Vessels ran up 3 Leagues farther to One-Bush-Key of which in my former Chapter The second Mouth or Entrance into this Lagune is between Trist and Beef-Island and is about 3 Mile wide It is shoal without and only two Channels to come in The deepest Channel on a Spring Tide has 12 Foot Water It lyes near the middle of the Mouth hard Sand on the Barr the West Channel is about 10 Foot Water and lies pretty near Beef-Island You run in with the Sea-Breez and sound all the way taking your Sounding from Beef-Island shore The bottom is soft Oaz and it shoots gradually Being shot in within Beef-Island Point you will have three fathom then you may stand over towards Trist till you come near the Shore and there Anchor as you please There is good Anchoring any where within the Bar between Trist and Beef-Island but the Tide is much stronger than at Port-Royal This is the other Mouth or opening to the Salt Lagune before-mentioned This Lagune is call'd by the Spaniards Laguna Termina or the Lagune of Tides because they run very strong here Small Vessels as Barks Periagoes or Canoas may sail thro' this Lagune from one Mouth to the other or into such Creeks Rivers or smaller Lagunes as empty themselves into this of which here are many The first of Note on the East part of this Lagune as you come in at Port-Royal is the River Summasenta This River though but small yet it is big enough for Pereagoes to enter It disembogues on the South side near the middle of the Lagune There was formerly an Indian Village named Summasenta near the Mouth of the River and another large Indian Town called Chucquebul 7 or 8 Leagues up in the Country This latter was once taken by the Privateers by whom I have been informed that there were about 2000 Families of Indians in it and two or three Churches and as many Spanish Friers though no white Men beside The Land near this River yields plenty of Logwood From Summasenta River to One-Bush-Key is 4 or 5 Leagues the shore running West I have described One-Bush-Key and the Creek against it which as I said is very narrow and not above a Mile long before it opens into another wide Lake lying nearest N. and S. called the East Lagune It is about a League and half wide and 3 Leagues long encompassed with Mangrove-Trees At the S. E. corner of it there is another Creek about a Mile wide at the Mouth running 6 or 7 Mile into the Country on both sides of it grows plenty of Logwood therefore it was inhabited by Englishmen who lived in small Companies from three to ten in a Company and settled themselves at their best Convenience for Cutting At the Head of the Creek they made a path leading into a large Savanah full of black Cattle Horses and Deer which was often visited by them upon occasion At the North end and about the middle of the East Lagune there is another small Creek like that which comes out against One-Bush-Key but less and shallower which dischargeth it self into Laguna Termina against a small sandy Key called by the English Serles's Key from one Captain Serles who first carried his Vessel here and was afterwards killed in the Western Lagune by one of his company as they were cutting Logwood together This Captain Serles was one of Sir Henry Morgans Commanders at the Sacking of Panama who being sent out to cruise in a small Vessel in the South Seas happened to surprize at Toboca the Boatswain and most of the Crew belonging to the Trinity a Spanish Ship on Board which were the Friers and Nuns with all the old Gentlemen and Matrons of the Town to the number of 1500 Souls besides an immense Treasure in Silver and Gold as I was informed by Captain Peralta who then Commanded her as he did afterwards when she was taken by Captain Sharp all which he might have taken in the Ship had he pursued her On the West side of the East Lagune there is a small Skirt of Mangroves that separates it from another running Parallel with it called the East Lagune which is about the bigness of the former Towards the North end of this Laguue runs a small Creek coming out of the East Lagune deep enough for small Barks to pass through At the South end of this Lagune there is a Creek about a Mile wide at its Mouth and half a Mile from thence it divides into two Branches one called the East the other the West Branch both deep
not hurt them for we had our Bags rotten lying in the bottom of our Ship and yet the Nuts never the worse They raise the young Trees of Nuts set with the great end downward in fine black Mould and in the same places where they are to bear which they do in 4 or 5 years time without the trouble of transplanting There are ordinarily of these Trees from 500 to 2000 and upwards in a Plantation or Cacoa-walk as they call them and they shelter the young Trees from the weather with Plaintains set about them for 2 or 4 years destroying all the Plantains by such time the Cacoa-Trees are of a pretty good body and able to endure the heat which I take to be the most pernicious to them of any thing for tho these Valleys lye open to the North winds unless a little shelter'd here and there by some groves of Plaintain Trees which are purposely set near the Shores of the several Bays yet by all that I could either observe or learn the Cacao's in this Country are never blighted as I have often known them to be in other places Cacoa-Nuts are used as Money in the Bay of Campechy The chief Town of this Country is called Caraccos a good way within Land 't is a large wealthy place where live most of the Owners of these Cacao-walks that are in the Valleys by the shore the Plantations being managed by Overseers and Negro's It is in a large Savanah Country that abounds with Cattle and a Spaniard of my acquaintance a very sensible man who hath been there tells me that 't is very populous and he judges it to be 3 times as big as Coruma in Gallicia The way to it is very steep and craggy over that ridge of of Hills which I said closes up the Valleys and partition Hills of the Cacao Coast. In this Coast it self the chief place is La Guiare a good Town close by the Sea and though it hath but a bad Harbour yet it is much frequented by the Spanish shipping for the Dutch and English anchor in the sandy Bays that lye here and there in the mouths of several Valleys and where there is very good riding The Town is open but hath a strong Fort yet both were taken some years since by Captain Wright and his Privateers 'T is seared about 4 or 5 leagues to the Westward of Cape Blanco which Cape is the Eastermost boundary of this Coast of Caraccos Further Eastward about 20 leagues is a great lake or branch of the Sea called La Laguna de Vallensuella about which are many rich Towns but the mouth of the Lake is shallow that no Ships can enter Near this mouth is a place called Comana where the Privateers were once repulsed without daring to attempt it any more being the only place in the North Seas they attempted in vain for many years and the Spaniards since throw it in their teeth frequently as a word of reproach or defiance to them Not far from the place is Verina a small Village and Spanish Plantation famous for its Tobacco reputed the best in the world But to return to Caraccos all this Coast is subject to dry winds generally North-east which caused us to have scabby Lips and we always found it thus and that in different seasons of the year for I have been on this Coast several times In other respects it is very healthy and a sweet clear Air. The Spaniards have Look-outs or Scouts on the Hills and Breast-works in the Valleys and most of their Negro's are furnished with Arms also for defence of the Bays The Dutch have a very profitable Trade here almost to themselves I have known 3 or 4 great Ships at a time on the Coast each it may be of 30 or 40 Guns They carry hither all sorts of European Commodities especially Linnen making vast returns chiefly in Silver and Cacao And I have often wondred and regretted it that none of my own Countrymen find the way thither directly from England for our Jamaica-men Trade thither indeed and find the sweet of it though they carry English Commodities at second or third hand While we lay on this Coast we went ashore in some of the Bays and took 7 or 8 Tun of Cacoa and after that 3 Barks one laden with Hides the second with European Commodities the third with Earthen ware and Brandy With these 3 Barks we went again to the Islands of Roca's where we shar'd our Commodities and separated having Vessels enough to transport us all whither we thought most convenient Twenty of us for we were about 60 took one of the Vessels and our share of the goods and went directly for Virginia In our way thither we took several of the Sucking-fishes for when we see them about the Ship we cast out a Line and Hook and they will take it with any manner of Bait whether Fish or Flesh. The Sucking-fish is about the bigness of a large Whiting and much of the same shape towards the Tail but the Head is flatter From the Head to the middle of its Back there groweth a sort of flesh of a hard gristly substance like that part of the Limpit a Shell-fish tapering up Pyramidically which sticks to the Rocks or like the head or mouth of a Shell-Snail but harder This excrescence is of a flat oval form about 7 or 8 inches long and 5 or 6 broad and rising about half an inch high It is full of small ridges with which it will fasten it self to any thing that it meets with in the Sea just as a Snail doth to a Wall When any of them happen to come about a Ship they seldom leave her for they will feed on such filth as is daily thrown overboard or on meer excrements When it is fair weather and but little wind they will play about the Ship but in blustring weather or when the Ship sails quick they commonly fasten themselves to the Ships bottom from whence neither the Ships motion though never so swift nor the most tempestuous Sea can remove them They will likewise fasten themselves to any other bigger Fish for they never swim fast themselves if they meet with any thing to carry them I have found them sticking to a Shark after it was hal'd in on the deck though a Shark is so strong and boisterous a Fish and throws about him so vehemently for half an hour together it may be when caught that did not the Sucking-fish stick at no ordinary rate it must needs be cast off by so much violence It is usual also to see them sticking to Turtle to any old Trees Planks or the like that lye driving at Sea Any knobs or inqualities at a Ships bottom are a great hinderance to the swiftness of its sailing and 10 or 12 of these sticking to it must needs retard it as much in a manner as if its bottom were foul So that I am inclined to think that this Fish is the Remora of which
Beetles It was of a dusky colour towards black and about the hardness of mellow Cheese and of a very fragrant smell This that Mr. Hill shewed me being some of it which Mr. Barker gave him Besides those already mentioned all the places where I have heard that Ambergriese hath been found are Bermudas and the Bahama Islands in the West Indies and that part of the Coast of Africk with its adjacent Islands which reaches from Mozambique to the Red-Sea We went from this Island of Sall to St. Nicholas another of the Cape-Verd Islands lying West South West from Sall about 22 leagues We arrived there the next day after we left the other and Anchored on the S. E. side of the Island This is a pretty large Island it is one of the biggest of all the Cape-Verd and lyeth in a triangular-form The largest side which lyeth to the East is about 30 leagues long and the other two above 20 leagues each It is a mountainous barren Island and rocky all round towards the Sea yet in the heart of it there are Valleys where the Portuguese which inhabit here have Vineyards and Plantations and Wood for fewel Here are many Goats which are but poor in comparison with those in other places yet much better than those at Sall There are likewise many Asses The Governour of this Island came aboard us with 3 or 4 Gentlemen more in his Company who were all indifferently well cloathed and accoutred with Swords and Pistols but the rest that accompanied him to the Sea side which were about 20 or 30 men more were but in a ragged garb The Governour brought aboard some Wine made in the Island which tasted much like Madera Wine It was of a pale colour and lookt thick He told us the chief Town was in a Valley 14 mile from the Bay where we rode that he had there under him above one hundred families besides other Inhabitants that lived scattering in Valleys more remote They were all very swarthy the Governour was the cleaâ—est of them yet of a dark tawny complexion At this Island we scrubb'd the bottom of our Ship and here also we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ashore on the Bay and fill'd all our water and after 5 or 6 days stay we went from hence to Mayo another of the Cape-Verd Islands lying about 40 miles East and by South from the other arriving there the next day and anchoring on the N. W. side of the Island We sent our Boat on shore intending to have purchased some Provision as Beef or Goat with which this Island is better stock'd than the rest of the Islands But the inhabitants would not suffer our men to land for about a week before our arrival there came an English Ship the men of which came ashore pretending friendship and seized on the Governour with some others and carrying them aboard made them send ashore for Cattle to ransom their Liberties and yet after this set sail and carry'd them away and they had not heard of them since The English-man that did this as I was afterwards informed was one Captain Bond of Bristol Whether ever he brought back those men again I know not He himself and most of his men have since gone over to the Spaniards and t was he who had like to have burnt our Ship after this in the Bay of Panama as I shall have occasion to relate This Isle of Mayo is but small and invironed with sholes yet a place much frequented by shipping for its great plenty of Salt and though there is but bad landing yet many Ships lade here every year Here are plenty of Bulls Cows and Goats and at a certain season in the year as May June July and August a sort of small Sea-Tortoise come hither to lay their Eggs but these Turtle are not so sweet as those in the West Indies The Inhabitants plant Corn Yames Potatoes and some Plantations and breed a few Fowls living very poor yet much better than the Inhabitants of any other of these Islands St. Jago excepted which lieth 4 or 5 leagues to the Westward of Mayo and is the chief the most fruitful and best inhabited of all the Islands of Cape Verd yet mountainous and much barren Land in it On the East side of the Isle of St. Jago is a good Port which in peaceable times especially is seldom without Ships for this hath long been a place which Ships have been wont to touch at for Water and Refreshments as those outward bound to the East Indies English French and Dutch many of the Ships bound to the Coast of Guinea the Dutch to Surinam and their own Portuguese Fleet going for Braziel which is generally about the latter end of September but few Ships call in here in their return for Europe When any Ships are here the Country People bring down their Commodities to sell to the Seamen and Passengers viz. Bullocks Hogs Goats Fowls Eggs Plantains and Cocoa Nuts which they will give in Exchange for Shirts Drawers Handkerchiefs Hats Wastecoats Britches or in a manner for any sort of Cloath especially Linnen for Woollen is not much esteemed there They care not willingly to part with their Cattel of any sort but in exchange for Money or Linnen or some other valuable Commodity Travellers must have a care of these people for they are very thievish and if they see an opportunity will snatch any thing from you and run away with it We did not touch at this Island in this Voyage but I was there before this in the year 1670 when I saw a Fort here lying on the top of an Hill and commanding the Harbour The Governour of this Island is chief over all the rest of the Islands I have been told that there are two large Towns on this Island some small Villages and a great many Inhabitants and that they make a great deal of Wine such as is that of St. Nicholas I have not been on any other of the Cape Verd Islands nor near them but have seen most of them at a distance They seem to be mountainous and barren some of these before-mentioned being the most fruitful and most frequented by Strangers especially St. Jago and Mayo As to the rest of them Fogo and Brava are two small Islands lying to the Westward of St. Jago but of little note only Fogo is remarkable for its being a Vulcano It is all of it one large Mountain of a good heighth out of the top whereof issue Flames of Fire yet only discerned in the night and then it may be seen a great way at Sea Yet this Island is not without Inhabitants who live at the foot of the Mountain near the Sea Their subsistence is much the same as in the other Islands they having some Goats Fowls Plantains Coco-Nuts c. as I am informed Of the Plantains and Coco-Nuts I shall have occasion to speak when I come into the East Indies and shall defer the giving an account of them till then The
time we put ashore 5000 packs of flower for a reserve if we should have occasion of any before we left these Seas Here one of our Indian Prisoners informed us that he was born at Ria Lexa and that he would engage to carry us thither He being examin'd of the strength and riches of it satisfy'd the Company so well that they were resolv'd to go thither Having thus concluded the 12th of June we sailed from hence designing to touch at the Island Cocos as well to put ashore some Flower there as to see the Island because it was in our way to Ria Lexa We steer'd North till in Lat. 4. d. 40 min. intending then to steer W. by N. for we expected to have had the Wind at S. by E. or S. S. E. as wo had on the South side of the Equator Thus I had formerly found the Winds near the shore in these latitudes but when we first parted from the Gallapagos we had the Wind at S. and as we sailed farther North we had the Winds at S. by W. then at S. S. W. Winds which we did not expect We thought at first that the Wind would come about again to the South but when we came to sail off West to the Island Cocos we had the Wind at S. W. by S. and could lye but W. by N. Yet we stood that course till we were in the lat 5 d. 40 m. North and then despairing as the Winds were to find the Island Cocos we steer'd over to the Main for had we seen the Island then we could not have fetcht it being so far to the North of it The Island Cocos is so named by the Spaniards because there are abundance of Coco-nut Trees growing on it They are not only in one or two places but grow in great Groves all round the Island by the Sea This is an uninhabited Island it is 7 or 8 leagues round and pretty high in the middle where it is destitute of Trees but looks very green and pleasant with an Herb called by the Spaniards Gramadael It is low Land by the Sea side This Island is in 5 d. 15 m. North of the Equator it is environed with Rocks which makes it almost inaccessible only at the N. E. end there is a small Harbor where Ships may safely enter and ride secure In this Harbour there is a fine Brook of fresh Water running into the Sea This is the account that the Spaniards give of it and I had the same also from Captain Eaton who was there afterward Any who like us had not experienced the nature of the Winds in these parts might reasonably expect that we could have sailed with a flown sheet to Ria Lexa but we found our selves mistaken for as we came nearer the shore we found the winds right in our Teeth but I shall refer my Reader to the Chapter of Winds in the Appendix for a further account of this We had very fair weather and small winds in this Voyage from the Gallapagos and at the beginning of July we fell in with Cape Blanca on the Main of Mexico This is so called from two white Rocks lying off it When we are off at Sea right against the Cape they appear as part of the Cape but being near the shore either to the Eastward or Westward of the Cape they appear like two Ships under sail at first view but coming nearer they are like two high Towers they being small high and steep on all sides and they are about half a mile from the Cape This Cape is in lat 9 d. 56 m. It is about the height of Beachy-head in England on the Coast of Sussex It is a full point with steep Rocks to the Sea The top of it is flat and even for about a mile then it gradually falls away on each side with a gentle descent It appears very pleasant being covered with great lofty Trees From the Cape on the N. W. side the Land runs in N. E. for about 4 leagues making a small Bay called by the Spaniards Caldera A league within Cape Blanco on the N. W. side of it and at the entrance of this Bay there is a small Brook of very good water running into the Sea Here the Land is low making a sadling between two small Hills It is very rich Land producing large tall Trees of many sorts the Mold is black and deep which I have always taken notice of to be a fat foil About a mile from this Brook towards the N. E. the VVood land terminates Here the Savannah land begins and runs some leagues into the Country making many small Hills and Dales These Savannahs are not altogether clear of Trees but are here and there sprinkled with small Groves which render them very delightful The Grass which grows here is very kindly thick and long I have seen none better in the West Indies Toward the bottom of the Bay the Land by the Sea is low and full of Mangroves but farther in the Country the Land is high and mountainous The Mountains are part VVoodland part Savannah The Trees in those VVoods are but small and short and the Mountain Savannahs are cloathed but with indifferent Grass From the bottom of this Bay it is but 14 or 15 leagues to the Lake of Nicaragua on the North-Sea Coast the way between is somewhat Mountanous but most Savannah Captain Cook who was taken sick at John Fernandoes continued so till we came within 2 or 3 leagues of Cape Blanco and then dyed of a sudden tho he seemed that morning to be as likely to live as he had been some weeks before but it is usual with sick men coming from the Sea where they have nothing but the Sea Air to dye off as soon as ever they come within the view of the Land About 4 hours after we all came to an Anchor namely the the Ship that I was in Captain Eaton and the great Meal Prize a league within the Cape right against the Brook of Fresh-water in 14 fathom clean hard Sand. Presently after we came to an Anchor Captain Cook was carried ashore to be buried 12 men carried their Arms to guard those that were ordered to dig the Grave for although we saw no appearance of Inhabitants yet we did not know but the Country might be thick inhabited And before Captain Cook was interrâ—…d 3 Spanish Indians came to the place where our men were digging the Grave and demanded what they were and from whence they came to whom our men answered they came from Lima and were bound to Ria Lexa but that the Captain of one of the Ships dying at Sea obligâ—…d them to come into this place to give him Christian burial The 3 Spanish Indians who were very shy at first began to be more bold and drawing nearer asked many silly questions and our men did not stick to sooth them up with as many falshoods purposely to draw them into their clutches Our men often
the Indians to hasten him into the Church The Indian immediately ran away and all the rest taking the alarm sprang out of the Church like Deer it was hard to say which was first and Captain Davis who knew nothing of what hapned was left in the Church only with the Fryer When they were all fled Captain Davis his Men fired and kill'd the Secretary and thus our hopes perished by the indiscretion of one foolish fellow In the afternoon the Ships came into the Gulf between Point Casivina and Mangera and anchored near the Island Amapalla on the East side in 10 fathom water clean hard Sand. In the evening Captain Davis and his company came aboard and brought the Fryer with them who told Captain Davis that if the Secretary had not been kill d he could have sent him a Letter by one of the Indians that was taken at Mangera and perswaded him to come to us but now the only way was to send one of those Indians to seek the Casica and that himself would instruct him what to say and did not question but the Casica would come in on his word The next day we sent ashore one of the Indians who before night returned with the Casica and 6 other Indians who remained with us all the time that we staid here These Indians did us good service especially in piloting us to an Island where we kill'd Beef whenever we wanted and for this their service we satisfied them to their hearts content It was at this Island Amapalla that a party of Englishmen and Frenchmen came afterwards and stay'd a great while and at last landed on the Main and marched over Land to the Cape River which disembogues into the North Seas near Cape Gratia Dios and is therefore called the Cape River Near the Head of this River they made Bark-logs which I shall describe in the next Chapter and so went into the North Seas This was the way that Captain Sharp had proposed to go if he had been put to it for this way was partly known to Privateers by the discovery that was made into the Country about 30 years since by a party of Englishmen that went up that River in Canoas about as far as the place where these Frenchmen made their Bark-logs there they landed and marched to a Town called Segevia in the Country They were near a month getting up the River for there are many Cataracts where they were often forced to leave the River and hale their Canoas ashore over the Land till they were past the Cataracts and then launch their Canoas again into the River I have discoursed several Men that were in that Expedition and if I mistake not Captain Sharp was one of them But to return to our Voyage in hand when both our Ships were clean and our Water fill'd Captain Davis and Captain Eaton broke off Consortships Captain Eaton took aboard of his Ships 400 Packs of Flower and sailed out of the Gulf the second day of September CHAP. VI. They depart from Amapalla Tornadoes Cape St. Francisco They meet Captain Eaton and part again Isle of Plata described Another meeting with Capt. Eaton and their final parting Point Sancta Hellena Algatrane a sort of Tar. A Spanish VVreck Cruisings Manta near Cape St. Lorenzo Monte Christo. Cruisings Cape Blanco Payta The Buildings in Peru. The Soil of Peru. Colan Bark-logs described Piura The Road of Payta Lobos de Terra They come again to Lobos de la Mar. The Bay of Guiaquil Isle of Sancta Clara. A rich Spanish Wreck there Cat-fish Point Arena in the Isle Puna The Island described The Palmeto tree Town and Harbour of Puna River of Guiaquil Guiaquil Town Its Commodities Cacao Sarsaparilla Quito cloth Of the City and Gold and Air of Quito They enter the Bay in order to make an attempt on the Town of Guiaquil A great advantage slipt that might have been made of a company of Negroes taken in Guiaquil River They go to Plata again Isle Plata THE third day of September 1684. we sent the Frier ashore and left the Indians in possession of the Prize which we brought in hither though she was still half laden with Flower and we sailed out with the Land Wind passing between Amapalla and Mangera When we were a league out we saw a Canoa coming with Sail and Oars after us therefore we shortened Sail and staid for her She was a Canoa sent by the Governor of St. Michaels Town to our Captain desiring him not to carry away the Frier The Messenger being told that the Frier was set ashore again at Amapalla he returned with joy and we made Sail again having the Wind at W. N. W. We steered towards the Coast of Peru we had Tornadoes every day till we made Cape St. Francisco which from June to November are very common on these Coasts and we had with the Tornadoes very much Thunder Lightning and Rain When the Tornadoes were over the Wind which while they lasted was most from the South East came about again to the West and never failed us till we were in sight of Cape St. Francisco where we found the Wind at South with fair weather This Cape is in lat 01 d. 00 North. It is a high bluff or full point of Land cloathed with tall great Trees Passing by this Point coming from the North you will see a small low Point which you might suppose to be the Cape but you are then past it and presently afterwards it appears with three points The Land in the Country within this Cape is very high and the Mountains commonly appear very black When we came in with this Cape we overtook Captain Eaton plying under the shore he in his passage from Amapalla while he was on that Coast met with such terrible Tornadoes of Thunder and Lightning that as he and all his Men related they had never met with the like in any place They were very much affrighted by them the Air smelling very much of Sulphur and they apprehending themselves in great danger of being burnt by the Lightning He touch'd at the Island Cocos and put ashore 200 Packs of Flower there and loaded his Boat with Coco Nuts and took in fresh water In the evening we separated again from Captain Eaton for he stood off to Sea and we plied up under the shore making our best advantage both of Sea and Land Winds The Sea Winds are here at South the Land Winds at S. S. E. but sometimes when we came abreast of a River we should have the Wind at S. E. The 20th day of September we came to the Island Plata and anchored in 16 fathom We had very good weather from the time that we fell in with Cape St. Francisco and were now fallen in again with the same places from whence I begin the account of this Voyage in the first Chapter having now compast in the whole Continent of the South America The Island Plata as some report
many Groves and Spots of Trees that appear in the Savannahs like so many little Islands This City is incompassed with a high Stone Wall the Houses are said to be of Brick Their Roofs appear higher than the top of the City Wall It is beautified with a great many fair Churches and Religious Houses besides the President 's House and other eminent Buildings which altogether make one of the finest objects that I did ever see in America especially There are a great many Guns on her Walls most of which look toward the Land They had none at all against the Sea when I first entered those Seas with Captain Sawkins Captain Coxon Captain Sharp and others for till then they did not fear any Enemy by Sea but since then they have planted Guns clear round This is a flourishing City by reason it is a thorough-fair for all imported or exported Goods and Treasure to and from all parts of Peru and Chili whereof their Store-houses are never empty The Road also is seldom or never without Ships Besides once in 3 years when the Spanish Armada comes to Portobel then the Plate Fleet also from Lima comes hither with the Kings Treasure and abundance of Merchant Ships full of Goods and Plate at that time the City is full of Merchants and Gentlemen the Seamen are busy in landing the Treasure and Goods and the Carriers or Caravan Masters imployed in carrying it over land on Mules in vast droves every day to Portobel and bringing back European Goods from thence Though the City be then so full yet during this heat of business there is no hiring of an ordinary Slave under a piece of Eight a day Houses also Chambers Beds and Victuals are then extraordinary dear Now I am on this subject I think it will not be amiss to give the Reader an account of the progress of the Armada from Old Spain which comes thus every three years into the Indies Its first arrival is at Cartagena from whence as I have been told an Express is immediately sent over land to Lima thro the Southern Continent and another by Sea to Portobel with two Pacquets of Letters one for the Viceroy of Lima the other for the Viceroy of Mexico I know not which way that of Mexico goes after its arrival at Portobel whether by Land or Sea but I believe by Sea to La Vera Cruz. That for Lima is sent by Land to Panama and from thence by Sea to Lima. Upon mention of these Pacquets I shall digress yet a little further and acquaint my Reader that before my first going over into the South Seas with Captain Sharp and indeed before any Privateers at least since Drake and Oxengham had gone that way which we afterwards went except La Sound a French Captain who by Captain Wright's Instructions had ventured as far as Cheap Town with a body of Men but was driven back again I being then on board Capt. Coxon in company with 3 or 4 more Privateers about 4 leagues to the East of Portobel we took the Pacquets bound thither from Cartagena We open'd a great quantity of the Merchants Letters and found the Contents of many of them to be very surprizing the Merchants of several parts of Old Spain thereby informing their Correspondents of Panama and elsewhere of a certain Prophecy that went about Spain that year the tenour of which was That there would be English Privateers that year in the West Indies who would make such great Discoveries as to open a door into the South Seas which they supposed was fastest shut and the Letters were accordingly full of cautions to their Friends to be very watchful and careful of their Coasts This Door they spake of we all concluded must be the passage over Land through the Country of the Indians of Darien who were a little before this become our Friends and had lately fallen out with the Spaniards breaking off the Intercourse which for some time they 'r had with them and upon calling also 〈◊〉 mind the frequent Invitations we had from those Indians a little before this time to pass through their Country and fall upon the Spaniards in the South Seas we from henceforward began to entertain such thoughts in earnest and soon came to a Resolution to make those Attempts which we afterwards did with Capt. Sharp Coxon c. So that the taking these Letters gave the first life to those bold Undertakings and we took the advantage of the fears the Spaniards were in from that Prophecy or probable Conjecture or whatever it were for we sealed up most of the Letters again and sent them ashore to Portobel The occasion of this our late Friendship with those Indians was thus About 15 years before this time Capt. Wright being cruising near that Coast and going in among the Samballoes Isles to strike Fish and Turtle took there a young Indian Lad as he was paddling about in a Canoa He brought him aboard his Ship and gave him the Name of John Gret cloathing him and intending to breed him among the English But his Moskito Strikers taking a fancy to the Boy begg'd him of Captain Wright and took him with them at their return into their own Country where they taught him their Art and he married a Wife among them and learnt their Language as he had done some broken English while he was with Captain Wright which he improved among the Moskitoes who corresponding so much with us do all of them smatter English after a sort but his own Language he had almost forgot Thus he lived among them for many years till about 6 or 8 months before our taking these Letters Captain Wright being again among the Samballoes took thence another Indian Boy about 10 or 12 years old the Son of a Man of some account among those Indians and wanting a Striker he went away to the Moskito's Country where he took in John Gret who was now very expert at it John Gret was much pleased to see a Lad there of his own Country and it came into his mind to persuade Capt. Wright upon this occasion to endeavour a Friendship with those Indians a thing our Privateers had long coveted but never durst attempt having such dreadful apprehensions of their Numbers and Fierceness But John Gret offered the Captain that he would go ashore and negotiate the matter who accordingly sent him in his Canoa till he was near the shore which of a sudden was covered with Indians standing ready with their Bows and Arrows John Gret who had only a Clout about his middle as the fashion of the Indians is leapt then out of the Boat and swam the Boat retiring a little way back and the Indians ashore seeing him in that habit and hearing him call to them in their own Tongue which he had recovered by conversing with the Boy lately taken suffered him quietly to land and gathered all about to hear how it was with him He told them particularly that he was one
his Men. They were coming out of the River in the night and took 2 Barks bound for Panama the one was laden with Flower the other with Wine Brandy Sugar and Oyl The Prisoners that he took declared that that the Lima Fleet was ready to sail We went and anchored among the Kings Islands and the next day Captain Swan returned out of the River of Santa Maria being informed by the Indians that Captain Townley was come over to the Kings Islands At this place Captain Townley put out a great deal of his Goods to make room for his Men. He distributed his Wine and Brandy soâ—…e to every Ship that it might be drunk out because he wanted the Jars to carry Water in The Spaniards in these Seas carry all their Wine Brandy and Oyl in Jars that hold 7 or 8 Gallons When they lade at Pisco a place about 40 leagues to the Southward of Lima and famous for Wine they bring nothing else but Jars of Wine and they sâ—…ow one tier on the top of another so artificially that we could hardly do the like without breaking them yet they often carry in this manner 1500 or 2000 or more in a Ship and seldom break one The 10th day we took a small Bark that came from Guiaquil she had nothing in her but Ballast The 12th day there came an Indian Canoa out of the River of Santa Maria and told us that there were 300 English and French men more coming over Land from the North Seas The 15th day we met a Bark with 5 or 6 English men in her that belonged to Captain Knight who had been in the South Seas 5 or 6 months and was now on the Mexican Coast. There he had spied this Bark but not being able to come up with her in his Ship he detach'd these 5 or 6 Men in a Canoa who took her but when they had done could not recover their own Ship again losing company with her in the night and therefore they came into the Bay of Panama intending to go over land back into the North Seas but that they luckily met with us for the Isthmus of Darien was now become a common Road for Privateers to pass between the North and South Seas at their pleasure This Bark of Captain Knight's had in her 40 or 50 Jars of Brandy she was now commanded by Mr. Henry More but Captain Swan intending to promote Captain Harris caused Mr. More to be turned out alledging that it was very likely these Men were run away from their Commander Mr. More willingly resigned her and went aboard of Captain Swan and became one of his Men. It was now the latter end of the dry season here and the Water at the Kings or Pearl Islands of which there was plenty when we first came hither was now dried away Therefore we were forced to go to Point Garachina thinking to water our Ships there Captain Harris being now Commander of the new Bark was sent into the River of Santa Maria to see for those Men that the Indians told us of whilst the rest of the Ships sailed towards Point Garachina where we arriv'd the 21st day and anchored 2 mile from the Point and found a strong Tide running out of the River Sambo The next day we run within the Point and anchored in 4 fathom at low water The Tide riseth here 8 or 9 foot the Flood sets N. N. E. the Ebb S. S. W. The Indians that inhabit in the River Sambo came to us in Canoas and brought Plantains and Bonanoes They could not speak nor understand Spanish therefore I believe they have no Commerce with the Spaniards We found no fresh Water here neither so we went from hence to Port Pinas which is 7 leagues S. by W. from hence Porto Pinas lieth in lat 7 d. North. It is so called because there are many Pine-trees growing there The Land is pretty high rising gently as it runs into the Country This Country near the Sea is all covered with pretty high Woods the Land that bounds the Harbor is low in the middle but high and rocky at both sides At the mouth of the Harbor there are 2 small high Islands or rather barren Rocks The Spaniards in their Pilot Books commend this for a good Harbour but it lieth all open to the S. W. Winds which frequentlly blow here in the wet season besides the Harbor within the Islands is a place of but small extent and hath a very narrow going in what depth of Water there is in the Harbor I know not The 25th day we arrived at this Harbor of Pines but did not go in with our Ships finding it but an ordinary place to lye at We sent in our Boats to search it and they found a stream of good Water running into the Sea but there were such great swelling surges came into the Harbor that we could not conveniently fill our Water there The 26th day we returned to Point Garachina again In our way we took a small Vessel laden with Cacao she came from Guiaquil The 29th day we arrived at Point Garachina There we found Captain Harris who had been in the River of Santa Maria but he did not meet the Men that he went for Yet he was informed again by the Indians that they were making Canoas in one of the branches of the River of Santa Maria. Here we shared our Cacao lately taken Because we could not fill our Water here we designed to go to Tabago again where we were sure to be supplied Accordingly on the 30th day we set sail being now 9 Ships in company and had a small Wind at S. S. E. The first day of April being in the Channel between the Kings Islands and the Main we had much Thunder Lightning and some Rain This evening we anchored at the Island Pacheque and immediately sent 4 Canoas before us to the Island Tabago to take some Prisoners for information and we followed the next day The 3d day in the evening we anchored by Perica and the next morning went to Tabago where we found our 4 Canoas They arrived there in the night and took a Canoa that came as is usual from Panama for Plantains There were in the Canoa 4 Indians and a Mulata The Mulata because he said he was in the Fireship that came to burn us in the night was immediately hang'd These Prisoners confirmed that one Captain Bond an English man did command her Here we fill'd our Water and cut Fire-wood and from hence we sent 4Canoas over to the Main with one of the Indians lately taken to guide them to a Sugar-work for now we had Cacao we wanted Sugar to make Chocolate But the chiefest of their business was to get Coppers for each Ship having now so many Men our Pots would not boil Victuals fast enough though we kept them boiling all the day About 2 or 3 days after they returned aboard with 3 Coppers While we lay here Captain Davis his Bark went
no water in all the way till you come to an Indian Town which is 2 mile before you come to the City and from thence it is a pleasant straight sandy way to Leon. This City stands in a plain not far from a high peeked Mountain which oftentimes casts forth fire and smoak from its top It may be seen at Sea and it is called the Volcan of Leon. The Houses of Leon are not high built but strong and large with Gardens about them The Walls are Stone and the covering of Pan-tile There are 3 Churches and a Cathedral which is the head Church in these parts Our Countryman Mr Gage who travelled in these parts recommends it to the World as the pleasantest place in all America and calls it the Paradice of the Indies Indeed if we consider the advantage of its situation we may find it surpassing most places for health and pleasure in America for the Country about it is of a sandy Soil which soon drinks up all the Rain that falls to which these parts are much subject It is incompassed with Savannahs so that they have the benefit of the breezes coming from any quarter all which makes it a very healthy place It is a place of no great Trade and therefore not rich in money Their wealth lies in their Pastures and Cattle and Plantations of Sugar It is said that they make Cordage here of Hemp but if they have any such Manufactory it is at some distance from the Town for here is no sign of any such thing Thither our men were now marching they went from the Canoas about 8 a clock Captain Townly with 80 of the briskest men marched before Captain Swan with 100 men marched next and Captain Davis with 170 men marched next and Captain Knight brought up the Rear Captain Townly who was near 2 mile a head of the rest met about 70 Horsemen 4 mile before he came to the City but they never stood him About 3 a clock Captain Townly only with his 80 men entered the Town and was briskly charged in a broad street with 170 or 200 Spanish Horsemen but 2 or 3 of their Leaders being knock d down the rest fled Their foot consisted of about 500 men which were drawn up in the Parade for the Spaniards in these parts make a large square in every Town tho the Town it self be small This Square is calcled the Parade commonly the Church makes one side of it and the Gentlemens Houses with their Galleries about them the other But the Foot also seeing their Horse retire left an empty City to Captain Townly beginning to save themselves by flight Captain Swan came in about 4 a clock Captain Davis with his men about 5 and Captain Knight with as many men as he could incourage to march came in about 6 but he left many men tired on the road these as is usual came dropping in one or two at a time as they were able The next morning the Spaniards kill d one of our tired men he was a stout old Grey-headed man aged about 84 who had served under Oliver in the time of the Irish Rebellion after which he was at Jamaica and had followed Privateering ever since He would not accept of the offer our men made him to tarry ashore but said he would venture as far as the best of them and when surrounded by the Spaniards he refused to take quarter but discharged his Gun amongst them keeping a Pistol still charged so they shot him dead at a distance His name was Swan he was a very merry hearty old man and always used to declare he would never take quarter But they took Mr. Smith who was tired also he was a Merchant belonging to Captain Swan and being carried before the Governour of Leon was known by a Mulatta woman that waited on him Mr. Smith had lived many years in the Canaries and could speak and write very good Spanish and it was there this Mulatto woman remembred him He being examined how many men we were said 1000 at the City and 500 at the Canoas which made well for us at the Canoas who straggling about every day might easily have been destroyed But this so daunted the Governour that he did never offer to molest our men although he had with him above 1000 men as Mr. Smith guessed He sent in a Flag of Truce about noon pretending to ransom the Town rather than let it be burnt but our Captains demanded 300000 pieces of eight for its ransom and as much provision as would victual 1000 men 4 months and Mr. Smith to be ransomed for some of their Prisoners but the Spaniards did not intend to ransom the Town but only capitulated day after day to prolong time till they had got more men Our Captains therefore considering the distance that they were from the Canoas resolved to be marching down The 14th day in the morning they ordered the City to be set on fire which was presently done and then they came away but they took more time in coming down than in going up The 15th day in the morning the Spaniards sent in Mr. Smith and had a Gentlewoman in exchange Then our Captains sent a Letter to the Governor to acquaint him that they intended next to visit Ria Lexa and desired to meet him there they also released a Gentleman on his promise of paying 150 Beefs for his Ransom and to deliver them to us at Ria Lexa and the same day our Men came to their Canoas where having staid all night the next morning we all entered our Canoas and came to the Harbour of Ria Lexa and in the afternoon our Ships came thither to an anchor The Creek that leads to Ria Lexa lyeth from the N. W. part of the Harbour and it runs in Northerly It is about 2 leagues from the Island in the Harbours mouth to the Town 2 thirds of the way it is broad then you enter a narrow deep Creek bordered on both sides with Red Mangrove Trees whose limbs reach almost from one side to the other A mile from the mouth of the Creek it turns away West There the Spaniards have made a very strong Brestwork fronting towards the mouth of the Creek in which were placed 100 Soldiers to hinder us from landing and 20 yards below that Brestwork there was a Chain of great Trees placed cross the Creek so that 10 Men could have kept off 500 or 1000. When we came in sight of the Brestwork we fired but two Guns and they all ran away and we were afterwards near half an hour cutting the Boom or Chain Here we landed and marched to the Town of Rio Lexo or Rea Lejo which is about a mile from hence This Town stands on a Plain by a small River It is a pretty large Town with 3 Churches and an Hospital that hath a fine Garden belonging to it besides many large fair Houses they all stand at a good distance one from another with Yards
had one man shot through the Thigh Afterward they went into a Lagune or Lake of Salt-water where they found much dried Fish and brought some aboard We being now abrest of that place sent in a Canoa mann'd with 12 men for more Fish The mouth of this Lagune is not Pistol-shot wide and on both sides are pretty high Rocks so conveniently placed by nature that many men may abscond behind and within the Rock the Lagune opens wide on both sides The Spaniards being allarmed by our 2 Canoas that had been there 2 or 3 days before came armed to this place to secure their Fish and seeing our Canoa coming they lay snug behind the Rocks and suffered the Canoa to pass in then they fired their Vōlley and wounded 5 of our men Our people were a little surprized at this sudden adventure yet fired their Guns and rowed farther into the Lagune for they durst not adventure to come out again through the narrow entrance which was near a quarter of a mile in length Therefore they rowed into the middle of the Lagune where they lay out of Gun-shot and looked about to see if there was not another passage to get out at broader than that by which they entered but could see none So they lay still 2 days and 3 nights in hopes that we should come to seek them but we lay off at Sea about 3 leagues distant waiting for their return supposing by their long absence that they had made some greater discovery and were gone farther than the Fish-range because it is usual with Privateers when they enter upon such designs to search farther than they proposed if they meet any encouragement But Captain Townly and his Bark being nearer the shore heard some Guns fired in the Lagune So he mann'd his Canoa and went towards the shore and beating the Spaniards away from the Rocks made a free passage for our men to come out of their pound where else they must have been starved or knocked on the head by the Spaniards They came aboard their Ships again the 31st of October This Lagune is about the lat of 16 d. 40 m. North. From hence we made sail again coasting to the Westward having fair weather and a Current setting to the West The second day of November we past by a Rock called by the Spaniards the Algatross The Land hereabout is of an indifferent height and woody and more within the Country Mountainous Here are 7 or 8 white cliffs by the Sea which are very remarkable because there are none so white and so thick together on all the Coast. They are 5 or 6 mile to the West of the Algatross Rock There is a dangerous shoal lieth S. by W. from these Cliffs 4 or 5 mile off at Sea Two leagues to the West of these Cliffs there is a pretty large River which forms a small Island at its mouth The Channel on the East side is but shoal and sandy but the West Channel is deep enough for Canoas to enter On the Banks of this Channel the Spaniards have made a Brestwork to hinder an Enemy from landing or filling Water The 3d day we anchored abrest of this River in 14 fathom Water about a mile and a half off shore The next morning we mann'd our Canoas and went ashore to the Brestwork with little resistance although there were about 200 men to keep us off They fired about 20 or 30 Guns at us but seeing we were resolved to land they quitted the place one chief reason why the Spaniards are so frequently routed by us although many times much our superiors in numbers and in many places fortified with Brestworks is their want of small Fire-arms for they have but few on all the Sea Coasts unless near their larger Garrisons Here we found a great deal of Salt brought hither as I judge for to salt Fish which they take in the Lagunes The Fish I observed here mostly were what we call Snooks neither a Sea-fish nor fresh Water-fish but very numerous in these salt Lakes This Fish is about a foot long and round and as thick as the small of a mans Leg with a pretty long head It hath Scales of a whitish colour and is good meat How the Spaniards take them I know not for we never found any Nets Hooks or Lines neither yet any Bark Boat or Canoa among them on all this Coast except the Ship I shall mention at Acapulco We marched 2 or 3 leagues into the Country and met with but one House where we took a Mulatto Prisoner who informed us of a Ship that was lately arrived at Acapulco she came from Lima. Captain Townly wanting a good Ship thought now he had an opportunity of getting one if he could perswade his men to venture with him into the Harbour of Acapulco and fetch this Lima Ship out Therefore he immediately proposed it and found not only all his own men willing to assist him but many of Captain Swan's men also Captain Swan opposed it because Provision being scarce with us he thought our time might be much better imployed in first providing our selves with food and here was plenty of Maiz in the River where we now were as we were informed by the same Prisoner who offered to conduct us to the place where it was But neither the present necessity nor Captain Swan's perswasion availed any thing no nor yet their own interest for the great design we had then in hand was to lye and wait for a rich Ship which comes to Acapulco every year richly laden from the Philippine Islands But it was necessary we should be well stored with Provisions to enable us to cruize about and wait the time of her coming However Townley's Party prevailing we only fill'd our Water here and made ready to be gone So the 5th day in the afternoon we sailed again coasting to the westward towards Acapulco The 7th day in the afternoon being about 12 leagues from the shore we saw the high Land of Acapulco which is very remarkable for there is a round Hill standing between other 2 Hills the westermost of which is the biggest and highest and hath two Hillocks like two paps on its top the eastermost Hill is higher and sharper than the middlemost From the middle Hill the Land declines toward the Sea ending in a high round point There is no Land shaped like this on all the Coast. In the evening Captain Townly went away from the Ships with 140 men in 12 Canoas to try to get the Lima Ship out of Acapulco Harbour Acapulco is a pretty large Town 17 degrees North of the Equator It is the Sea-port for the City of Mexico on the West side of the Continent as La Vera-Cruz or St. John d' Ulloa in the Bay of Nova Hispania is on the North side This Town is the only place of Trade on all this Coast for there is little or no Traffick by Sea on all the N. W. part of this vast Kingdom
and West Indies for thatching Houses they are very lasting and serviceable much surpassing the Palmeto For this Thatch if well laid on will endure 5 or 6 years and this is called by the Spaniards the Palmeto Royal. The English at Jamaica give it the same Name Whether this be the same which they in Guinea get the Palm-wine from I know not but I know that it is like this The Land in the Country is full of small peeked barren Hills making as many little Valleys which appear flourishing and green At the West end of this Bay is the Hill of Petaplan in lat 17d 30 m. N. This is a round point stretching out into the Sea at a distance it seems to be an Island A little to the West of this Hill are several round Rocks which we left without us steering in between them and the round point where we had 11 fathom water We came to an anchor on the N. W. side of the Hill and went ashore about 170 Men of us and marched into the Country 12 or 14 miles There we came to a poor Indian Village that did not afford us a Meal of Victuals The people all fled only a Mulatto woman and 3 or 4 small Children who were taken and brought aboard She told us that a Carrier one who drives a Caravan of Mules was going to Acapulco laden with Flower and other Goods but stopt in the Road for fear of us a little to the West of this Village for he had heard of our being on this Coast and she thought he still remained there and therefore it was we kept the Woman to be our Guide to carry us to that place At this place where we now lay our Moskito-men struck some small Turtle and many small Jew-fish The Jew-fish is a very good Fish and I judge so called by the English because it hath Scales and Fins therefore a clean Fish according to the Levitical Law and the Jews at Jamaica buy them and eat them very freely It is a very large Fish shaped much like a Cod but a great deal bigger one will weigh 3 or 4 or 5 hundred weight It hath 3 large head with great Fins and Scales as big as an Half-Crown answerable to the bigness of his body It is very sweet Meat and commonly fat This Fish lives among Rocks there are plenty of them in the West Indies about Jamaica and the Coast of Caraccos but chiefly in these Seas especially more Westward We went from hence with our Ships the 18th day and steered West about 2 leagues farther to a place called Chequetan A mile and half from the shore there is a small Key and within it is a very good Harbour where Ships may careen there is also a small River of fresh water and wood enough The 14th day in the morning we went with 95 Men in 6 Canoas to seek for the Carrier taking the Mulatto woman for our Guide but Captain Townly would not go with us Before day we landed at a place called Estapa a league to the West of Chequetan The woman was well acquainted here having been often at this place for Muscles as she told us for here are great plenty of them they seem in all respects like our English Muscles She carry'd us through the pathless Wood by the side of a River for about a league then we came into a Savannah full of Bulls and Cows and here the Carrier before mentioned was lying at the Estantion-house with his Mules not having dared to advance all this while as not knowing where we lay so his own fear made him his Mules and all his Goods become a Prey to us He had 40 packs of Flower some Chocolate a great many small Cheeses and abundance of Earthen Ware The eatables we brought away but the Earthen Vessels we had no occasion for and therefore left them The Mules were about 60 we brought our Prize with them to the shore and so turn'd them away Here we also kill'd some Cows and brought with us to our Canoas In the afternoon our Ships came to an anchor half a mile from the place where we landed and then we went aboard Captain Townly seeing our good success went ashore with his Men to kill some Cows for here were no Inhabitants near to oppose us The Land is very woody of a good fertile soil watered with many small Rivers yet it hath but few Inhabitants near the Sea Captain Townly killed 18 Beefs and after he came aboard our Men contrary to Captain Swan's inclination gave Captain Townly part of the Flower which we took ashore Afterwards we gave the Woman some Cloaths for her and her Children and put her and two of them ashore but one of them a very pretty Boy about 7 or 8 years old Captain Swan kept The Woman cried and begg'd hard to have him but Captain Swan would not but promis'd to make much of him and was as good as his word He proved afterwards a very fine Boy for Wit Courage and Dexterity I have often wonder'd at his Expressions and Actions The 21st day in the evening we sailed hence with the Land-wind The Land-winds on this part of the Coast are at N. and the Sea-winds at W. S. W. We had fair weather and coasted along to the Westward The Land is high and full of ragged Hills and West from these ragged Hills the Land makes many pleasant and fruitful Valleys among the Mountains The 25th day we were abrest of a very remarkable Hill which towring above the rest of its fellows is divided in the top and makes two small parts It is in lat 18 d. 8 m. North. The Spaniards make mention of a Town called Thelupan near this Hill which we would have visited if we could have found the way to it The 26th day Captain Swan and Captain Townly with 200 Men of whom I was one went in our Canoas to seek for the City of Colima a rich place by report but how far within Land I could never learn for as I said before here is no Trade by Sea and therefore we could never get Guides to inform us or conduct us to any Town but one or two on this Coast and there is never a Town that lieth open to the Sea but Acapulco and therefore our search was commonly fruitless as now for we rowed above 20 leagues along shore and found it a very bad Coast to land we saw no House nor sign of Inhabitants although we past by a fine Valley called the Valley of Maguella only at two places the one at our first setting out on this Expedttion and the other at the end of it we saw a Horseman set as we supposed as a Centinel to watch us At both places we landed with difficulty and at each place we followed the track of the Horse on the sandy Bay but where they entered the Woods we lost the track and although we diligently searcht for it yet we could find it no more so we
told them that the River Rosario is rich in Gold and that the Mines are not above 2 leagues from the Town Captain Swan did not think it convenient to go to the Mines but made haste aboard with the Maiz which he took there to the quantity of about 80 or 90 Bushels and which to us in the scarcity we were in of Provisions was at that time more valuable than all the Gold in the world and had he gone to the Mines the Spaniards would probably have destroyed the Corn before his return The 3d day of February we went with our Ships also towards the River Rosario and anchored the next day against the Rivers mouth in 7 fathom good oazy ground a league from the shore This River is in lat 22 d 51 m. N. When you are at an anchor against this River you will see a round Hill like a Sugar-loaf a little way within Land right over the River and bearing N. E. by N. To the Westward of that Hill there is another pretty long Hill called by the Spaniards Caput Cavalli or the Horse's Head The 7th day Captain Swan came aboard with the Maiz which he got This was but a small quantity for so many Men as we were especially considering the place we were in being strangers and having no Pilots to direct or guide us into any River and we being without all sort of Provision but what we were forced to get in this manner from the shore And though our Pilot-book directed us well enough to find the Rivers yet for want of Guides to carry us to the Settlements we were forced to search 2 or 3 days before we could find a place to land for as I have said before besides the Seas being too rough for landing in many places they have neither Boat Bark nor Canoa that we could ever see or hear of and therefore as there are no such landing places in these Rivers as there are in the South Seas so when we were landed we did not know which way to go to any Town except we accidentally met with a path Indeed the Spaniards and Indians whom we had aboard knew the Names of several Rivers and Towns near them and knew the Towns when they saw them but they knew not the way to go to them from the Sea The 8th day Captain Swan sent about 40 men to seek for the River Oleta which is to the East-ward of the River Rosario The next day we followed after with the Ships having the Wind at W. N. W. and fair weather In the afternoon our Canoas came again to us for they could not find the River Oleta therefore we designed next for the River St. Jago to the Eastward still The 11th day in the evening we anchored against the mouth of the River in 7 fathom water good soft oazy ground and about 2 mile from the shore There was a high white Rock without us called Maxentelbo This Rock at a distance appears like a Ship under sail it bore from us W. N. W. distant about 3 leagues The Hill Zelisco bore S. E. which is a very high Hill in the Country with a Saddle or bending on the top The River St. Jago is in 〈◊〉 22 d. 15 m. It is one of the principal Rivers on this Coast there is 10 foot Water on the bar at low Water but how much it flows here I know not The mouth of this River is near half a mile broad and very smooth entring Within the mouth it is broader for there are 3 or 4 Rivers more meet there and issue all out together The Water is brackish a great way up yet there is fresh Water to be had by digging or making Wells in the sandy Bay 2 or 3 foot deep just at the mouth of the River The 11th day Captain Swan sent 70 men in 4 Canoas into this River to seek a Town for although we had no intelligence of any yet the Country appearing very promising we did not question but they would find Inhabitants before they returned They spent 2 days in rowing up and down the Creeks and Rivers at last they came to a large Field of Maiz which was almost ripe They immediately fell to gathering as fast as they could and intended to lade the Canoas but seeing an Indian that was set to watch the Corn they quitted that troublesom and tedious work and seiz'd him and brought him aboard in hopes by his information to have some more easy and expedite way of a supply by finding Corn ready cut and dried He being examined said that there was a Town called Santa Pecaque 4 leagues from the place where he was taken and that if we designed to go thither he would undertake to be our Guide Captain Swan immediately ordered his men to make ready and the same evening went away with 8 Canoas and 140 men taking the Indian for their Guide He rowed about 5 leagues up the River and landed the next morning The River at this place was not above Pistol shot wide and the Banks pretty high one each side and the Land plain and even He left 23 men to guard the Canoas and marcht with the rest to the Town He set out from the Canoas at 6 a clock in the morning and reacht the Town by 10. The way thro which he passed was very plain part of it Wood-land part Savannahs The Savannahs were full of Horses Bulls and Cows The Spaniards seeing him coming run all away so he entered the Town without the least opposition This Town of Santa Pecaque stands on a Plain in a Savannah by the side of a VVood with many Fruit Trees about it It is but a small Town but very regular after the Spanish mode with a Parade in the midst The Houses fronting the Parade had all Balconies there were 2 Churches one against the Parade the other at the end of the Town It is inhabited most with Spaniards Their chiefest occupation is Husbandry There are also some Carriers who are imployed by the Merchants of Compostella to trade for them to and from the Mines Compostella is a rich Town about 21 leagues from hence It is the chiefest in all this part of the Kingdom and is reported to have 70 white Families which is a great matter in these parts for it may be that such a Town hath not less than 500 Families of copper-coloured People besides the white The Silver Mines are about 5 or 6 leagues from Santa Pecaque where as we were told the Inhabitants of Compostella had some hundreds of Slaves at work The Silver here and all over the Kingdom of Mexico is said to be finer and richer in proportion than that of Potosi or Peru tho the Oar be not so abundant and the Carriers of this Town of Santa Pecaque carry the Oar to Compostella where it is refined These Carriers or Sutlers also furnish the Slaves at the Mines with Maiz whereof here was great plenty now in the Town designed for that
their Banks and drown the low Land carrying great Trees into the Sea Thus it continues sometimes a week together before the Sun or Stars appear The fiercest of this weather is in the latter end of July and in August for then the Towns seem to stand in a great Pond and they go from one house to another in Canoas At this time the Water carries away all the filth and nastiness from under their Houses Whilst this tempestuous season lasts the weather is cold and chilly In September the weather is more moderate and the Winds are not so fierce nor the Rain so violent The Air thence-forward begins to be more clear and delightsome but then in the morning there are thick Fogs continuing till 10 or 11 a clock before the Sun shines out especially when it has rained in the night In October the Easterly Winds begin to blow again and bring fair weather till April Thus much concerning the natural state of Mindanao CHAP. XII Of the Inhabitants and Civil State of the Isle of Mindanao The Mindanayans Hilanoones Sologues and Alfoorees Of the Mindanayans properly so called Their Manners and Habits The Habits and Manners of their Women A Comical Custom at Mindanao Their Houses their Diet and Washings The Languages spoken there and transactions with the Spaniards Their fear of the Dutch and seeming desire of the English Their Handy crafts and peculiar sort of Smiths Bellows Their Shipping Commodities and Trade The Mindanao and Manila Tobacco A sort of Leprosie there and other Distempers Their Marriages The Sultan of Mindanao his Poverty Power Family c. The Proes or Boats here Raja Laut the General Brother to the Sultan and his Family Their way of fighting Their Religion Raja Laut's Devotion A Clock or Drum in their Mosques Of their Circumcision and the Solemnity then used Of other their Religious Observations and Superstitions Their abhorrence of Swines Flesh c. THis Island is not subject to one Prince neither is the Language one and the same but the People are much alike in colour strength and stature They are all or most of them of one Religion which is Mahometanism and their customs and manner of living are alike The Mindanao people more particularly so called are the greatest Nation in the Island and trading by Sea with other Nations they are therefore the more civil I shall say but little of the rest being less known to me but so much as hath come to my knowledge take as follows There are besides the Mindanayans the Hilanoones as they call them or the Mountaniers the Sologues and Alfoorees The Hilanoones live in the heart of the Country They have little or no commerce by Sea yet they have Proe's that row with 12 or 14 Oars apiece They enjoy the benefit of the Gold Mines and with their Gold buy foreign Commodities of the Mindanao people They have also plenty of Bees Wax which they exchange for other Commodities The Sologues inhabit the N. W. end of the Island They are the least Nation of all they Trade to Manila in Proe's and to some of the neighbouring Islands but have no commerce with the Mindanao people The Alfoorees are the same with the Mindanayans and were formerly under the subjection of the Sultan of Mindanao but were divided between the Sultan's Children and have of late had a Sultan of their own but having by Marriage contracted an alliance with the Sultan of Mindanao this has occasioned that Prince to claim them again as his Subjects and he made War with them a little after we went away as I afterwards understood The Mindanayans properly so called are men of mean statures small Limbs streight Bodies and little Heads Their Faces are oval their Fore heads flat with black small Eyes short low Noses pretty large Mouths their Lips thin and red their Teeth black yet very sound their Hair black and straight the colour of their Skin rawney but inclining to a brighter yellow than some other Indians especially the Women They have a custom to wear their Thumb-nails very long especially that on their left Thumb for they do never cut it but scrape it often They are indued with good natural Wits are ingenious nimble and active when they are minded but generally very lazy and thievish and will not work except forced by hunger This laziness is natural to most Indians but these people's laziness seems rather to proceed not so much from their natural inclinations as from the severity of their Prince of whom they stand in great awe For he dealing with them very arbitrarily and taking from them what they get this damps their industry so they never strive to have any thing but from hand to mouth They are generally proud and walk very stately They are civil enough to strangers and will easily be acquainted with them and entertain them with great freedom but they are implacable to their Enemies and very revengeful if they are injured frequently poisoning secretly those that have affronted them They wear but few Cloaths their Heads are circled with a short Turbat fringed or laced at both ends it goes once about the head and is tied in a knot the laced ends hanging down They wear Frocks and Breeches but no Stockings nor Shooes The Women are fairer than the Men and their Hair is black and long which they tie in a knot that hangs back in their poles They are more round vifaged than the Men and generally well featured only their Noses are very small and so low between their Eyes that in some of the Female Children the rising that should be between the Eyes is scarce discernable neither is there any sensible rising in their Foreheads At a distance they appear very well but being nigh these Impediments are very obvious They have very small Limbs They wear but two Garments a Frock and a sort of Petticoat the Petticoat is only a piece of Cloth sowed both ends together but it is made 2 foot too big for their Wastes so that they may wear either end uppermost that part that comes up to their Wastes because it is so much too big they gather it in their Hands and twist it till it sits close to their Wastes tucking in the twisted part between their Waste and the edge of the Petticoat which keeps it close The Frock sits loose about them and reaches down a little below the Waste The Sleeves are a great deal longer than their Arms and so small at the end that their Hands will scarce go through Being on the Sleeve sits in folds about the wrist wherein they take great pride The better sort of people have their garments made of long Cloath but the ordinary sort wear Cloth made of Plantain-tree which they call Saggen by which Name they call the Plantain They have neither Stocking nor Shooe and the Women have very small Feet The Women are very desirous of the company of Strangers especially of White Men and doubtless would be very
Tea in abundance is brought from thence being much used there and in Tunquin and Cochinchina as common drinking Women sitting in the Streets and selling Dishes of Tea hot and ready made they call it Chau and even the poorest People sip it But the Tea at Tonqueen or Cochinchina seems not so good or of so pleasant a bitter or of so fine a colour or such virtue as this in China for I have drank of it in these Countries unless the fault be in their way of making it for I made none there my self and by the high red colour it looks as if they made a Decoction of it or kept it stale Yet at Japan I was told there is a great deal of pure Tea very good The Chinese are very great Gamesters and they will never be tired with it playing night and day till they have lost all their Estates then it is usual with them to hang themselves This was frequently done by the Chinese Factors at Manila as I was told by Spaniards that lived there The Spaniards themselves are much addicted to gaming and are very expert at it but the Chinese are too subtle for them being in general a very cunning people But a particular account of them and their Country would fill a Volume nor doth my short experience of them qualify me to say much of them Wherefore to confine my self chiefly to what I observ'd at St. John s Island where we lay some time and visited the shore every day to buy Provision as Hogs Fowl and Buffaloe Here was a small Town standing in a wet swampy ground with many filthy Ponds amongst the Houses which were built on the ground as ours are not on posts as at Mindanao In these Ponds were plenty of Ducks the Houses were small and low and covered with Thatch and the inside were but ill furnished and kept nastily and I have been told by one who was there that most of the Houses in the City of Canton it self are but poor and irregular The Inhabitants of this Village seem to be most Husbandmen They were at this time very busy in Sowing their Rice which is their chiefest Commodity The Land in which they choose to Sow the Rice is low and wet and when Plowed the Earth was like a mass of Mud. They plow their Land with a small Plow drawn by one Buffaloe and one man both holds the Plow and drives the Beast When the Rice is ripe and gathered in they tread it out of the Earth with Buffaloes in a large round place made with a hard floor fit for that purpose where they chain 3 or 4 of these Beasts one at the tail of the other and driving them round in a ring as in a Horse-mill they so order that the Buffaloes may tread upon it all I was once ashore at this Island with 7 or 8 English men more and having occasion to stay some time we killed a small Shote or young Porker and roasted it for our Dinners While we were busy dressing of our Pork one of the Natives came and sat down by us and when our Dinner was ready we cut a good piece and gave it him which he willingly received But by signs he begged more and withal pointed into the Woods yet we did not understand his meaning nor much mind him till our Hunger was pretty well asswaged although he did still make signs and walking a little way from us he beckoned to us to come to him which at last I did and 2 or 3 more He going before led the way in a small blind path through a thicket into a small grove of Trees in which there was an old Idol Temple about 10 foot square The Walls of it were about 9 foot high and 2 foot thick made of Bricks The floor was paved with broad Bricks and in the middle of the floor stood an old rusty Iron Bell on its brims This Bell was about two foot high standing flat on the ground the brims on which it stood were about 16 inches diameter From the brims it did taper away a little towards the head much like our Bells but that the brims did not turn out so much as ours do On the head of the Bell there were 3 Iron bars as big as a mans Arm and about 10 inches long from the top of the Bell where the ends join'd as in a center and seemed of one Mass with the Bell as if cast together These bars stood all parallel to the ground and their further ends which stood triangularly and opening from each other at equal distances like the flyers of our Kitchen Jacks were made exactly in the shape of the paw of some monstrous Beast having sharp claws on it This it leems was their God for as soon as our zealous Guide came before the Bell he fell flat on his face and beckned to us seeming very desirous to have us do the like At the inner side of the Temple against the Walls there was an Altar of white hewn Stone The Table of the Altar was about 3 foot long 16 inches broad and 3 inches thick It was raised about two foot from the ground and supported by 3 small pillars of the same white Stone On this Altar there were several small Earthen Vessels one of them was full of small sticks that had been burned at one end Our Guide made a great many signs for us to fetch and to leave some of our meat there and seemed very importunate but we refused We left him there and went aboard I did see no other Temple nor Idol here While we lay at this place we saw several small China Jonks sailing in the Lagune between the Islands and the Main one came and anchored by us I and some more of our men went aboard to view her She was built with a square flat Head as well as Stern only the head or fore part was not so broad as the Stern On her Deck she had little thatcht Houses like Hovels covered with Palmeto Leaves and raised about 3 foot high for the Seamen to creep into She had a pretty large Cabin wherein there was an Altar and a Lamp burning I did but just look in and saw not the Idol The Hold was divided in many small partitions all of them made so tight that if a leak should spring up in any one of them it could go no farther and so could do but little damage but only to the Goods in the bottom of that room where the leek springs up Each of these rooms belong to one or two Merchants or more and every man freights his Goods in his own room and probably lodges there if he be on board himself These Jonks have only two Masts a Main-mast and a Fore-mast The Fore-mast has a square Yard and a square Sail but the Main-mast has a Sail narrow aloft like a Sloops Sail and in fair weather they use a Top-fail which is to hale down on the Deck in foul weather Yard and
a steep bank Therefore we never strive to anchor where we see the Land high and bounding the Sea with steep Cliffs and for this reason when we came in sight of States Island near Terra del Fuego before we entered into the South Seas we did not so much as think of anchoring after we saw what Land it was because of the steep Cliffs which appear'd against the Sea Yet there might be little Harbours or Coves for Shallops or the like to anchor in which we did not see nor search after As high steep Cliffs bounding on the Sea have this ill consequence that they seldom afford anchoring so they have this benefit that we can see them far off and sail close to them without danger for which reason we call them Bold Shores Whereas low Land on the contrary is seen but a little way and in many places we dare not come near it for fear of running aground before we see it Besides there are in many places shoals thrown out by the course of great Rivers that from the low Land fall into the Sea This which I have said that there is usually good anchoring near low Lands may be illustrated by several instances Thus on the South side of the Bay of Campeachy there is mostly low Land and there also is good anchoring all along shore and in some places to the Eastward of the Town of Campeachy we shall have so many fathom as we are leagues off from Land that is from 9 or 10 leagues distance till you come within 4 leagues and from thence to Land it grows but shallower The Bay of Honduras also is low Land and continues mostly so as we past along from thence to the Coasts of Portobel and Cartagena till we came as high as Santa Martha afterwards the Land is low again till you come towards the Coast of Caraccus which is a high Coast and bold shore The Land about Surinam on the same Coast is low and good anchoring and that over on the Coast of Guinea is such also And such too is the Bay of Panama where the Pilot-book orders the Pilot always to sound and not to come within such a depth be it by night or day In the same Seas from the high Land of Guatimala in Mexico to California there is mostly low Land and good anchoring In the Main of Asia the Coast of China the Bays of Siam and Bengal and all the Coast of Coromandel and the Coast about Malacca and against it the Island Sumatra on that side are mostly low anchoring shores But on the West side of Sumatra the shore is high and bold so most of the Islands lying to the Eastward of Sumatra as the Islands Borneo Celebes Gilolo and abundance of Island of less note lying scattering up and down those Seas are low Land and have good anchoring about them with many shoals scattered to and fro among them but the Islands lying against the East Indian Ocean especially the West sides of them are high Land and steep particularly the West parts not only of Sumatra but also of Java Timor c. Particulars are endless but in general 't is seldom but high Shores and deep Waters and on the other side low Land and shallow Seas are found together But to return from this digression to speak of the rest of these Islands Monmouth and Grafton Isles are very hilly with many of those steep inhabited Precipices on them that I shall describe particularly The two small Islands are flat and even only the Bashee Island hath one steep scraggy Hill but Goat-Island is all flat and very even The mold of these Islands in the Valleys is blackish in some places but in most red The Hills are very rocky The Valleys are well watered with Brooks of fresh water which run into the Sea in many different places The Soil is indifferent fruitful especially in the Valleys producing pretty great plenty of Trees tho not very big and thick Grass The sides of the Mountains have also short Grass and some of the Mountains have Mines within them for the Natives told us that the yellow Metal they shew'd us as I shall speak more particularly came from these Mountains for when they held it up they would point towards them The fruit of the Islands are a few Plantains Bonanoes Pine-apples Pumkins Sugar-canes c. and there might be more if the Natives would for the ground seems fertile enough Here are great plenty of Potatoes and Yames which is the common food for the Natives for bread kind for those few Plantains they have are only used as Fruit. They have some Cotton growing here of the small plants Here are plenty of Goats and abundance of Hogs but few Fowls either wild or tame For this I have always observed in my Travels both in the East and West Indies that in those places where there is plenty of Grain that is of Rice in the one and Maiz in the other there are also found great abundance of Fowls but on the contrary few Fowls in those Countries where the Inhabitants feed on Fruits and Roots only The few wild Fowls that are here are Parakites and some other small Birds Their tame Fowl are only a few Cocks and Hens Monmouth and Grafton Islands are very thick inhabited and Bashee Island hath one Town on it The Natives of these Islands are short squat people they are generally round visaged with low Foreheads and thick Eye-brows their Eyes of a hazel colour and small yet bigger than the Chinese short low Noses and their Lips and Mouths middle proportioned Their Teeth are white their Hair is black and thick and lank which they wear but short it will just cover their Ears and so it is cut round very even Their Skins are of a very dark copper colour They wear no Hat Cap nor Turbat nor any thing to keep off the Sun The men for the biggest part have only a small clout to cover their Nakedness some of them have Jackets made of Plantain leaves which were as rough as any Bears skin I never saw such rugged things The Women have a short Petticoat made of Cotton which comes a little below their Knees It is a thick sort of stubborn cloath which they make themselves of their Cotton Both Men and Women do wear large Ear-rings made of that yellow Metal before mention'd Whether it were Gold or no I cannot positively say I took it to be so it was heavy and of the colour of our paler Gold I would fain have brought away some to have satisfied my curiosity but I had nothing wherewith to buy any Captain Read bought 2 of these Rings with some Iron of which the people are very greedy and he would have bought more thinking he was come to a very fair Market but that the paleness of the Metal made him and his Crew distrust its being right Gold For my part I should have ventur'd on the purchase of some but having no property in
which would thrive here as well as any where were the Natives industrious to propagate them The Land is every where cloath'd with herbage of one kind or other but the dry Land has the same Fate that most dry Lands have between the Tropicks to be over-run with Purslain which growing wild and being pernicious to other tender Herbs and Plants they are at the pains to weed it out of their Fields and Gardens tho t is very sweet and makes a good Sallad for a hot Country There is a sort of Herb very common in this Country which grows wild in stagnant Ponds and floats on the surface of the water It has a narrow long green thick leaf It is much esteemed and eaten by the Natives who commend it for a very wholesom herb and say that 't is good to expel poyson This Country produces many other sorts of wild herbs and their gardens also are well furnish'd with pleasant and wholsome ones especially many Onions of which here are great plenty Plantains and Bonanoes grow and thrive here as well as any where but they are used here only as Fruit and not for Bread as in many places of America Besides these here are divers sorts of excellent fruits both Ground fruit and Tree fruit The ground Fruits are Pumpkins Melons Pine-apples c. the Tree Fruits are Mangoes a few Oranges Limes Coco-nuts Guava's Mulberry's their much esteem'd Betle a Fruit call'd Lichea c. The Oranges are of divers sorts and two of them more excellent than the rest One sort is called Cam-chain the other is called Camquit Cam in the Tonquinese Language signifies an Orange but what the distinguishing words Cam and Quit signifie I know not The Cam-chain is a large Orange of a yellowish colour the rind is pretty thick and rough and the inside is yellow like Amber It has a most fragrant smell and the taste is very delicious This sort of Orange is the best that I did ever taste I believe there are not better in the world A man may eat freely of them for they are so innocent that they are not denied to such as have Fevers and other sick people The Cam quit is a very small round Fruit not above half so big as the former It is of a deep red dolour and the rind is very smooth and thin The inside also is very red the taste is not inferiour to the Cam-chain but it is accounted very unwholesom fruit especially to such as are subject to fluxes for it both creates and heightens that distemper These 2 sorts are very plentiful and cheap and they are in season from October till February but then the Cam-chain becomes redder and the rind is also thinner The other sorts of Oranges are not much esteemed The Limes of Tonquin are the largest I ever saw They are commonly as big as an ordinary Limon but rounder The rind is of a pale yellow colour when ripe very thin and smooth They are extraordinary juicy but not near so sharp of tart in taste as the West Indian Limes Coco nuts and Guava's do thrive here very well but there are not many of the latter The Betle of Tonquin is said to be the best in India there is great plenty of it and 't is most esteemed when it is young green and tender for 't is then very juicy At Mindanao also they like it best green but in other places of the East-Indies it is commonly chew'd when it is hard and dry The Lichea is another delicate fruit 'T is as big as a small Pear somewhat long shaped of a reddish colour the rind pretty thick and rough the inside white inclosing a large black kernel in shape like a Bean. The Country is in some part woody but the low Land in general is either grassy pasture or Rice Fields only thick set with small Groves which stand scattering very pleasantly all over the low-Country The Trees in the Groves are of divers sorts and most unknown to us There is good Timber for building either Ships or Houses and indifferent good Masts may here be had There is a Tree called by the Natives Pone chiefly used for making Cabinets or other wares to be lackered This is a soft sort of wood not much unlike Fir but not so serviceable Another Tree grows in this Country that yields the Lack with which Cabinets and other fine things are overlaid These grow plentifully in some places especially in the Champion Lands Here are also Mulberry Trees in great plenty to feed the Silk worms from whence comes the chief Trade in the Country The Leaves of the old Trees are not so nourishing to the Silk-worms as those of the young Trees and therefore they raise crops of young ones every year to feed the Worms for when the season is over the young Trees are pluckt up by the roots and more planted against the next year so the Natives suffer none of these Trees to grow to bear Fruit. I heard of no Mulberries kept for eating but some few raised by our English Merchants at Hean and these bear but small hungry Fruit. Here is good plenty of Rice especially in the low Land that is fatned by the overflowing Rivers They have two crops every year with great increase if they have seasonable Rains and Floods One crop is in May and the other in November and tho the low Land is sometimes overflown with water in the time of Harvest yet they matter it not but gather the crop and fetch it home wet in their Canoas and making the Rice fast in small bundles hang it up in their Houses to dry This serves them for Bread-corn and as the Country is very kindly for it so their Inhabitants live chiefly of it Of Land Animals in this Country there are Elephants Horses Buffaloes Bullocks Goats Deer a few Sheep for their King Hogs Dogs Cats Lizards Snakes Scorpions Centapees Toads Frogs c. The Country is so very populous that they have but few Deer or wild Game for Hunting unless it be in the remoter parts of the Kingdom But they have abundance of Fowls both tame and wild The tame Fowls are Cocks and Hens and Ducks also in great plenty of the same sort with ours The Inhabitants have little Houses made purposely for the Ducks to lay their Eggs in driving them in every night in laying time and letting them out again in the morning There are also some Geese Parrots Partridges Parakites Turtle Doves c. with many sorts of smaller Birds Of wild Water-fowls they have Ducks Widgeons Teals Herons Pelicans and Crabcatchers which I shall describe in the Bay of Campeachy and other smaller Water-fowls The Duck Widgeon and Teal are innumerable they breed here in the months of May June and July then they fly only in couples but from October to March you will see over all the low watry Lands great companies together and I have no where seen such large flights nor such plenty of Game They are
are Markets duly kept all over Tonquin one in a week in a neighbourhood of 4 or 5 Villages and held at each of them successively in its order so that the same Village has not the Market return'd to it till 4 or 5 weeks after These Markets are abundantly more stor'd with Rice as being their chief subsistence especially of the poorer sort than either with Flesh or Fish yet wants there not for Pork and young Pigs good store Ducks and Hens plenty of Eggs Fish great and small fresh and salted Balachaun and Nuke-Mum with all sorts of Roots Herbs and Fruits even in these Country Markets But at Cachao where there are markets kept every day they have besides these Beef of Bullocks Buffaloes Flesh Goats Flesh Horse Flesh Cats and Dogs as I have been told and Locusts They dress their food very cleanly and make it savory for which they have several ways unknown in Europe but they have many sorts of dishes that wou'd turn the Stomach of a stranger which yet they themselves like very well as particularly a dish of raw Pork which is very cheap and common This is only Pork cut and minced very small fat and lean together which being afterwards made up in balls on rolls like Sausages and prest very hard together is then neatly wrapt up in clean leaves and without more ado served up to the Table Raw Beef is another dish much esteemed at Cachao When they kill a Bullock they singe the hair off with Fire as we singe Bacon Hogs in England Then they open it and while the Flesh is yet hot they cut good Collops from off the lean parts and put them into very tart Vinegar where it remains 3 or 4 hours or longer till it is sufficiently soaked and then without more trouble they take it out and eat it with great delight As for Horseflesh I know not whether they kill any purposely for the Shambles or whether they only do it when they are not likely to live as I have seen them do their working Bullocks at Galicia in Old Spain where the Cattel falling down with labour and being so poor and tired that they cannot rise they are slaughtered and sent to market and I think I never eat worse Beef than at the Groin The Horseflesh comes to Market at Cachao very frequently and is as much esteemed as Beef Elephants they eat also and the Trunk of this Beast is an acceptable present for a Nobleman and that too tho the beast dyes with Age or Sickness For here are but few wild Elephants and those so shy that they are not easily taken But the King having a great number of tame Elephants when one of these dyes 't is given to the poor who presently fetch away the Flesh but the Trunk is cut in pieces and presented to the Mandarins Dogs and Cats are killed purposely for the Shambles and their Flesh is much esteemed by people of the best fashion as I have been credibly informed Great yellow Frogs also are much admired especially when they come fresh out of the Pond They have many other such choice dishes and in all the Villages at any time of the day and be it market day or not there are several to be sold by poor people who make it their Trade The most common sorts of Cookeries next to boil'd Rice is to dress little bits of Pork spitted 5 or 6 of them at once on a small skiver and roasted In the Markets also and daily in every Village there are Women sitting in the Streets with a Pipkin over a small Fire full of Chau as they call it a sort of very ordinary Tea of a reddish brown colour and 't is their ordinary drink The Kingdom of Tonquin is in general healthy enough especially in the dry season when also it is very delightsom For the seasons of the year at Tonquin and all the Countries between the Tropicks are distinguished into Wet and Dry as properly as others are into Winter and Summer But as the alteration from Winter to Summer and vice versa is not made of a sudden but with the interchangeable Weather of Spring and Autumn so also toward the end of the dry season there are some gentle showers now and then that precede the violent wet months and again toward the end of these several fair days that introduce the dry time These seasons are generally much alike at the same time of the year in all places of the Torrid Zone on the same side of the Equator but for 2 or 3 degrees on each side of it the weather is more mixt and uncertain tho inclining to the wet extreme and is often contrary to that which is then settled on the same side of the Equator more toward the Tropick So that even when the wet Season is set in in the Northern parts of the Torrid Zone it may yet be dry weather for 2 or 3. degrees North of the Line and the same may be said of the contrary Latitudes and Seasons This I speak with respect to the driness or moisture of Countries in the Torrid Zone but it may also hold good of their Heat or Cold generally for as to all these qualities there is a further difference arises from the make or situation of the Land or other accidental causes besides what depends on the respective latitude or regard to the Sun Thus the Bay of Compeachy in the West Indies and that of Bengal in the East in much the same latitude are exceeding hot and moist and whether their situation being very low Countries and the scarcity and faintness of the Sea-breezes as in most Bays may not contribute hereunto I leave others to judge Yet even as to the Latitudes of these places lying near the Tropicks they are generally upon that account alone more inclined to great Heats than places near the Equator This is what I have experienc'd in many places in such Latitudes both in the East and West Indies that the hottest parts of the World are these near the Tropicks especially 3 or 4 Degrees within them sensibly hotter than under the Line itself Many reasons may be assign'd for this beside the accidental ones from the make of the particular Countries Tropical Winds or the like For the longest day at the Equator never exceeds 12 hours and the night is always of the same length But near the Tropicks the longest day is about 13 hours and an half and an hour and an half being also taken from the night what with the length of the day and the shortness of the night there is a difference of three hours which is very cousiderable Besides which at such places as are about 3 degrees within the Tropicks or in the Lat. of 20 Deg. N. the Sun comes within 2 or 3 degrees of the Zenith in the beginning of May and having past the Zenith goes not above 2 or 3 degrees beyond it before it returns and passeth the Zenith once more and by
Ladder The sides of it are 2 large Bamboes of about 10 or 12 foot long with several such rounds or sticks as Ladders have to keep the sides asunder but much shorter for the 2 side Bamboes are no farther asunder than to admit of a narrow room for the Neck and the 2 rounds in the middle are much at the same distance from each other on each side the Neck forming a little Square thro which the man looks as if he were carrying a Ladder on his Shoulders with his head through the rounds If either of these Yoke's were to be taken off in a short time as in 6 9 or 12 hours it would be no great matter but to wear one of them a month 2 3 or longer as I have been informed they sometimes do seems to be a very severe punishment Yet 't is some comfort to some that they have the Liberty to walk abroad where they will but others are both yoak'd and imprison'd and the Prisoners in publick Prisons are used worse than a man would use a Dog they being half starved and soundly beaten to boot They have a particular punishment for such as are suspected to fire Houses or who are thought to have occasioned the Fire through their neglect The master of the House where the Fire first breaks out will hardly clear himself from suspicion and the severity of the Law The punishment in this case is to sit in a Chair of 12 or 14 foot high bare-heade d3 whole days successively in the hot scorching Sun this Chair is set for his greater disgrace before the place where his House stood Other smaller Crimes are punished with blows which we call Bambooing The Criminal is laid flat on his belly on the ground with his britches pluckt down over his hams in which posture a lusty fellow bangs his bare britch with a split Bambo about 4 fingers broad and 5 foot long The number of his blows are more or less according to the nature of the crime or the pleasure of the Magistrate yet Money will buy favour of the Executioner who knows how to moderate his strokes for a fee before-hand Otherwise his blows usually fall so heavy that the poor offender may be lamed a month or two After a man has suffered any of these punishments he can never obtain any publick favour or employment They have no Courts of Judicature but any single Magistrate issues out his Warrants for the apprehending of Malefactors and upon taking them immediately tries them and as the Sentence is final and without appeal so 't is no sooner past but 't is executed also without more ado Their punishment in capital crimes is usually beheading The Criminal is carried immediately from the Magistrates house to his own for there is no common place of Execution but the Malefactor suffers near his own house or where the fact was committed There he is placed sitting on the ground with his body upright and his legs stretched out and the Executioner being provided with a large Curtane or Backsword and striking a full back-blow on the neck at one stroke he severs the head from the body the head commonly tumbling down into the owners lap and the trunk falling backward on the ground Theft is not thought worthy of Death but is punished with cutting off some member or part of a member according to the degree of the offence For sometimes only one joynt of a Finger is chopt off for other crimes a whole finger or more and for some the whole hand The Magistrates and other great men of this Kingdom are called Mandarins Most of them in office about the King are Eunuchs and not only gelded but also their members cut quite off quite flat to their Bellies These as I have been informed are all very learned men after their way especially in the Laws of the Country They rise gradually by their merit or favour from one degree to another as well they who are employ'd in Civil as in Military affairs and scarce place of trust or profit goes beside them No man is permitted to walk familiarly about the Kings Palace without the leave of the Eunuch Mandarins and for this reason having such free access to the King themselves and excluding whom they will they engross his favour This is taken so much to heart by some that through envy and discontent they often pine away as is commonly said even to death and I heard of such an one who was called Ungee Thuan Ding Ungee seems a title of honour among them He was a man of great Learning in the Laws extremely politick and mighty high spirited This man sought all the means imaginable to be preferred but could not for want of being an Eunuch He fretted to see his inferiours raised but plainly seeing that there was no rising without removing that objection he one day in a rage took up a sharp Knife and qualify'd himself effectually He had a Wife and 6 or 8 Children who were all in great fear of his life but he was not at all dismayed tho in that condition and the King advanced him He was living when I was there and was a great Mandarin He had the care of the Armory and Artillery being great Master of the King's Ordnance There was another Mandarin also one Vngee Hane who finding himself baffled by the Eunuchs was forced to make himself one to be upon the level with them This Gentleman it seems was Lord of a Village or two where both he and his Tenants were often plagued with the domineering Eunuchs and having born their malice for some time and seeing no end of it he agreed with an expert Gelder to castrate him for here are many in this Country who profess this Art and are so expert at it that they will undertake to cut a man of any Age for so many thousand Cash as the man is years old 'T is reported that they first put the Patient into a Sleep but how long they are curing him after the Operation is over I know not I heard of but 3 Mandarins of any grandeur in the Government who were not Eunuchs One was the Governor of the East Province whose Daughter was married to a Prince of the Royal Family The other two who were Governors of Cachao were also married men and had Children and one of these married the Kings Daughter All the Mandarins rule with absolute power and authority in their several precincts yet in great obedience to the King who is as absolute over them as they are over the Common people These Eunuch Mandarins especially live in great state Many of these have command of the Souldiery and have Guards attending them at their own Houses there being a certain number of Soldiers allowed to attend on each Mandarin according to his Quality They are generally covetous beyond measure and very malicious Some of them are Governors of Provinces but all are raised to places of trust and profit Once every year the Mandarins
Southward of the Streights first mouth and were gotten to the Southermost Entrance near the Sumatra shore but Captain Lacy who chose to go the old way made sail again to the Northward and so passed nearer the Malacca shore by the Sincapore the way we went before His was also the best and nearest way but Captain Weldon was willing to satisfie his curiosity and try a new passage which we got thro tho we had but little depth of water and this Entrance we past is called Brewers Streights Brewers Streights are sometimes passed by small Ships that sail from Batavia to Malacca because for them it is a nearer cut than to run so far as Pulo Timaon or the Streights of Sincapore In this Channel tho in some places we found but 14 or 15 foot water yet the bottom was soft Oaze and it lies so among Islands that there cannot go a great Sea Captain Weldon had also a Dutch man aboard who had been this way and he professing to know the Channel incouraged our Captain to try it which we effected very well tho sometimes we had but little more water than we drew This made us make but an easy Sail and therefore we were 7 or 8 days before we arrived at Malacca but Captain Lacy was there 2 or 3 days before us Here we first heard of the Death of Constant Falcon for whom Captain Brewster seemed to be much concerned There also we found besides several Dutch Sloops and our Companion Captain Lacy an English Vessel of 35 or 40 Tuns This Vessel was bought by one Captain Johnson who was sent by the Governor of Bencouli in a small Sloop to Trade about the Island of Sumatra for Pepper but Captain Johnson being killed the Sloop was brought hither by one Mr. Wells Being thus insensibly fallen into the mention of this Captain Johnson and intending to defer what little I have to say of Malacca till my coming thither again from Achin I shall bestow the rest of this Chapter in speaking of this mans Tragedy and other occurences relating to it which tho of no great moment in themselves yet the Circumstances I shall have occasion to relate with them may be of use to the giving some small light into the state of the opposite Coast of Sumatra which was the Scene of what I am going to speak of for tho I shall have other occasion to speak of Achin and Bencouli yet I shall not have opportunity to say any thing of this part oft hat Island opposite to Malacca unless I do it here To go on therefore with his Story it seems Captain Johnson was part owner of the small Bencooly Sloop but thinking it too small for his turn he came to Malacca intending to buy a larger Sloop of the Dutch if he could light on a bargain He had the best part of a thousand Dollars in Spanish money aboard for which one may purchase a good Sloop here for the Dutch as I have before observ'd do often buy Proe-bottoms for a small matter of the Malayans especially of the people of Jihore and convert them into Sloops either for their own use or to sell. Of these sort of Vessels therefore the Dutch men of Malacca have plenty and can afford good pennyworths and doubtless it was for this reason that Captain Johnson came hither to purchase a Sloop Here he met with a bargain not such a Proe-bottom reformed but an old ill shaped thing yet such a one as pleased him The Dutch man who sold him this Vessel told him withal that the Government did not allow any such dealings with the English tho they might wink at it and that therefore the safest way for them both to keep out of trouble would be to run over to the other side the Streights to a Town called Bancalis on Sumatra where they might safely buy and sell or exchange without any notice taken of them Captain Johnson accepting the offer they sailed both together over to Bancalis a Malayan Town on that Coast commanding the Country about it There they came to an anchor and Captain Johnson paying the price agreed on for the Vessel he had her delivered to him The Dutchman immediately returned over to Malacca again leaving Captain Johnson with 2 Vessels under his Command viz. the Sloop that he brought from Bencooly and this new bought Vessel The Bencooly Sloop he sent into a large River hard by to Trade with the Malayans for Pepper under the Command of Mr. Wells He was no Seaman but a pretty intelligent person that came first out of England as a Soldier to serve the East India Company in the Island Santa Helena He lived sometime very meanly in that Island but having an aspiring mind he left that poor but healthy place to serve the Company at Bencooly which tho 't is accounted the most unhealthy place of any that we Trade too yet the hopes of preferment engaged him to remove thither After some stay there he was sent with Captain Johnson to assist him in this Pepper expedition more because he could use his Pen than his Hands in Sea service He had 3 or 4 raw Seamen with him to work the Sloop up into the River Captain Johnson stayed near Bancalis to fit his new Vessel for with other necessaries she wanted a new Boltsprit which he intended to cut here having a Carpenter with him for that purpose as also to repair and fit her to his mind He had also a few other raw Seamen but such as would have made better Landmen they having served the King of Siam as Soldiers and they were but lately come from thence with the French who were forced to leave that Country But here in the Indies our English are forced for want of better to make use of any Seamen such as they can get and indeed our Merchants are often put hard to it for want of Seamen Here are indeed Lascars or Indian Seamen enough to be hired and these they often make use of yet they always covet an English man or 2 in a Vessel to assist them Not but that these Lascars are some of them indifferent good Sailers and might do well enough but an English man will be accounted more faithful to be employed on matters of moment beside the more free Conversation that may be expected from them during the term of the Voyage So that tho oft times their English men are but ordinary Sailers yet they are promoted to some charge of which they could not be so capable any where but in the East Indies These Seamen would be in a manner wholly useless in Europe where we meet with more frequent and hard storms but here they serve indifferent well especially to go and come with the Monsoons but enough of that Mr. Wells being gone to purchase Pepper Capt. Johnson went ashore about 5 or 6 leagues from Bancalis Town with his Carpenter to cut a Boltsprit there being there plenty of Timber Trees fit for his
long yet graceful enough They have black Eyes middling Noses thin Lips and black Teeth by the frequent use of Betle They are very lazy and care not to work or take pains The poorer sort are addicted to theft and are often punished severely for it They are otherwise good natured in general and kind enough to strangers The better sort of them wear Caps fitted to their heads of red or other coloured Woollen Cloath like the Crown of a Hat without any brims for none of the Eastern people use the Complement of uncovering their Heads when they meet as we do But the general wear for all sorts of people is a small Turban such as the Mindanaians wear described in the 12th Chapter of my former Volume page 326. They have small Breeches and the better sort will have a piece of Silk thrown loosely over their Shoulders but the poor go naked from the waste upwards Neither have they the use of Stockings and Shoes but a sort of Sandals are worn by the better sort Their Houses are built on Posts as those of Mindanao and they live much after the same fashion but by reason of their Gold Mines and the frequent resort of strangers they are richer and live in greater plenty Their common food is Rice and the better sort have Fowls and Fish with which the Markets are plentifully stored and sometimes Buffaloes flesh all which is drest very savourily with Pepper and Garlick and tinctured yellow with Turmerick to make it pleasant to the Eye as the East Indians generally love to have their food look yellow neither do they want good Achars or Sauces to give it a relish The City of Achin is the chief in all this Kingdom It is seated on the Banks of a River near the N. W. end of the Island and about 2 miles from the Sea This Town consists of 7 or 8000 Houses and in it there are always a great many Merchant-strangers viz English Dutch Danes Portuguese Chinese Guzarats c. The Houses of this City are generally larger than those I saw at Mindanao and better furnished with Houshold Goods The City has no Walls nor so much as a Ditch about it It has a greater number of Mosques generally square built and covered with Pantile but neither high nor large Every morning a man madea great Noise from thence but I saw no Turrets or Steeples for them to climb up into for that purpose as they have generally in Turkey The Queen has a large Palace here built handsomely with Stone but I could not get into the inside of it 'T is said there are some great Guns about it 4 of which are of Brass and are said to have been sent hither as a present by our K. James the 1st The chief Trades at Achin are Carpenters Blacksmiths Goldsmiths Fishermen and Money-changers but the Country people live either on breeding heads of Cattle but most for their own use or Fowls especially they who live near the City which they send weekly thither to sell others plant Roots Fruits c. and of late they have sown pretty large Fields of Rice This thrives here well enough but they are so proud that it is against their Stomach to work neither do they themselves much trouble their heads about it but leave it to be managed by their Slaves and they were the Slaves brought lately by the English and Danes from the Coast of Coromandel in the time of a Famin there I spoke of before who first brought this sort of Husbandry into such request among the Achinese Yet neither does the Rice they have this way supply one quarter of their occasions but they have it brought to them from their Neighbouring Countreys The Fishermen are the richest working people I mean such of them as can purchase a Net for thereby they get great profit and this sort of imployment is managed also by their Slaves In fair weather you shall have 8 or 10 great Boats each with a Sain or haling Net and when they see a Shoal of Fish they strive to incompass them with these Nets and all the Boats that are near assist each other to drag them ashore Sometimes they draw ashore this way 50 60 or 100 large Fish as big as a mans Leg and as long and then they rejoyce mightily and scamper about making a great shout The Fish is presently sent to the Market in one of their Boats the rest looking out again for more Those who Fish with Hook and Line go out in small Proes with but 1 or 2 Slaves in each Proe These also get good Fish of other sorts which they carry home to their Masters The Carpenters use such hatchets as they have at Mindanao They build good Houses after their fashion and they are also ingenious enough in building Proes making very pretty ones especially of that sort which are Flying Proes which are built long deep narrow and sharp with both sides alike and outlagers on each side the Head and Stern like other Boats They carry a great Sail and when the Wind blows hard they send a man or two to sit at the extremity of the Windward outlager to poise the Vessel They build also some Vessels of 10 or 20 Tuns burthen to Trade from one place to another but I think their greatest ingenuity is in building their Flying Proes which are made very smooth kept neat and clean and will sail very well for which reason they had that name given them by the English There are but few Blacksmiths in this Town neither are they very skilful at their Trade The Goldsmiths are commonly strangers yet some of the Achinese themselves know how to work Metals tho not very well The Money-changers are here as at Tonquin most Women These sit in the Markets and at the corners of the Streets with leaden Money called Cash which is a name that is generally given to small money in all these Countreys but the Cash here is neither of the same Metal nor value with that at Tonquin for that is Copper and this is Lead or Block Tin such as will bend about the Finger They have but two sorts of Coin of their own the least sort is this Leaden money call'd Cash and 't is the same with what they call Petties at Bantam Of these 1500 make a Mess which is their other sort of Coin and is a small thin piece of Gold stampt with Malayan Letters on each side It is in value 15 pence English 16 Mess make a Tale which here is 20 s. English 5 Tale make a Bancal a weight so called and 20 Bancal make a Catty another weight But their Gold Coin seldom holds weight for you shall sometimes have 5 Tale and 8 Mess over go to make a Pecul and tho 1500 Cash is the value of a Mess yet these rise and fall at the discretion of the Money-changers for sometimes you shall have 1000 Cash for a Mess but they are kept usually between those 2
privilege But of all the Merchants that trade to this City the Chinese are the most remarkable There are some of them live here all the year long but others only make annual Voyages hither from China These latter come hither some time in June about 10 or 12 sail and bring abundance of Rice and several other Commodities They take up Houses all by one another at the end of the Town next the Sea and that end of the City is call'd the China Camp because there they always quarter and bring their goods ashore thither to sell. In this Fleet come several Mechanicks viz. Carpenters Joyners Painters c. These set themselves immediately to work making of Chests Drawers Cabinets and all sorts of Chinese Toys which are no sooner finish'd in their Working houses but they are presently set up in Shops and at the Doors to sale So that for two months or ten weeks this place is like a Fair full of Shops stufft with all sort of vendible commodities and people resorting hither to buy and as their goods sell off so they contract themselves into less compass and make use of fewer Houses But as their business decreases their Gaming among themselves increases for a Chinese if he is not at work had as lieve be without Victuals as without Gaming and they are very dexterous at it If before their goods are all sold they can light of Chapmen to buy their Ships they will gladly sell them also at least some of them if any Merchant will buy for a Chinese is for selling every thing and they who are so happy as to get Chapmen for their own Ships will return as passengers with their Neighbours leaving their Camp as t is called poor and naked like other parts of the City till the next year They commonly go away about the latter end of September and never fail to return again at the Season and while they are here they are so much followed that there is but little business stirring for the Merchants of any other Nations all the discourse then being of going down to the China Camp Even the Europeans go thither for their diversion the English Dutch and Danes will go to drink their Hoc-ciu at some China Merchants House who sells it for they have no tippling Houses The European Seamen return thence into the City drunk enough but the Chinese are very sober themselves The Achinese seem not to be extraordinary good at Accounts as the Banians or Guzurats are They instruct their youth in the knowledge of Letters Malayan principally and I suppose in somewhat of Arabick being all Mahometans They are here as at Mindanao very superstitious in washing and cleansing themselves from defilements and for that reason they delight to live near the Rivers or Streams of water The River of Achin near the City is always full of People of both Sexes and all Ages Some come in purposely to wash themselves for the pleasure of being in the Water which they so much delight in that they can scarce leave the River without going first into it if they have any business brings them near Even the sick are brought to the River to wash I know not whether it is accounted good to wash in all distempers but I am certain from my own Experience it is good for those that have Flux especially Mornings and Evenings for which reason you shall then see the Rivers fullest and more especially in the Morning But the most do it upon a Religious account for therein consists the chief part of their Religion There are but few of them resort daily to their Mosques yet they are all stiff in their Religion and so zealous for it that they greatly 〈◊〉 in making a Proselyte I was told that while I was at Tonquin a Chinese inhabiting here turn'd from his Paganism to Mahometanism and being circumcised he was thereupon carry'd in great state thro the City on an Elephant with one crying before him that he was turn'd Believer This man was call'd the Captain of the China Camp for as I was informed he was placed there by his Country-men as their chief Factor or Agent to negotiate their affairs with the people of the Country Whether he had dealt falsly or was only envied by others I know not but his Countrymen had so entangled him in Law that he had been ruined if he had not made use of this way to disingage himself and then his Religion protected him and they could not meddle with him On what score the two English Runagadoes turn d here I know not The Laws of this Country are very strict and offenders are punished with great severity Neither are there any delays of Justice here for as soon as the offender is taken he is immediately brought before the Magistrate who presently hears the matter and according as he finds it so he either acquits or orders punishment to be inflicted on the Party immediately Small offenders are only whipt on the back which sort of punishment they call Chaubuck A Thief for his first offence has his right hand chopt off at the wrist for the second offence off goes the other and sometimes instead of one of their hands one or both their feet are cut off and sometimes tho very rarely both hands and feet If after the loss of one or both hands or feet they still prove incorrigible for they are many of them such very Rogues and so arch that they will steal with their Toes then they are banish'd to Pulo Way during their Lives and if they get thence to the City as sometimes they do they are commonly sent back again tho sometimes they get a Licence to stay On Pulo VVay there are none but this sort of Cattle and tho they all of them want one or both hands yet they so order matters that they can row very well and do many things to admiration whereby they are able to get a livelihood for if they have no hands they will get somebody or other to fasten Ropes or Withes about their Oars so as to leave Loops wherein they may put the stumps of their Arms and therewith they will pull an Oar lustily They that have one hand can do well enough and of these you shall see a great many even in the City This sort of punishment is inflicted for greater Robberies but for small pilfering the first time Thieves are only whipt but after this a Petty Larceny is look'd on as a great crime Neither is this sort of punishment peculiar to the Archinese Government but probably used by the other Princes of this Island and on the Island Java also especially at Bantam They formerly when the King of Bantam was in his prosperity depriv'd men of the right hand for Theft and may still for ought I know I knew a Dutch-man so serv'd he was a Seaman belonging to one of the King of Bantam's Ships Being thus punished he was dismist from his service and when I was this time
aboard for 20 or 30 leagues farther if the winds did not favour us for the Sea Winds were now at N. W. This day we kept near the shore and the night ensuing but the next day the Wind coming at N. and N. N. E. we stood over for Sumatra and the next evening we past by Diamond Point and the wind coming at E. N. E. we got in about two days more to Achin about the end of November 1689. Here we found Mr Coventry who had got hither 2 or 3 days before us Captain Minchin went ashore with his Passengers and was discharged of his Command I kept aboard till all the goods were unladen and then lay ashore and was very sick for a sortnight of a kind of Fever But after Christmas I was sent aboard again by order of Mr Coventry who had then bought out Mr Dalton's and Capt. Tiler's shares to take charge of the Vessel which he then laded with Pepper Cubebs which I think grow somewhere in Sumatra and Tutanegg which he bought of an English Vessel that came from Queda to Achin and with these he had also some of our Malacca Cargo which we kept on board viz. Rattans and Walking-canes With this Cargo we were bound for Fort St. George We took in also two English Passengers who had escap'd out of Prison in the Mogul's Country The one belong'd to the Defence Captain Heath's Ship which I came home to England in afterwards he was Purser of it the other was Midship man in the Princess Anne which return'd to England at the same time But during our War with the Mogul these Ships had been in the Bay of Bengal to fetch away our effects from the R. of Hugly These 2 men with 2 or 3 others went ashore upon some occasion and were taken Prisoners by the Mogul's Subjects who sent them a great way up into the Country where they were kept in close Custody and often threatned with Death The old Anabob or Governour of the Province being remov'd and a new one coming thither he released these men and gave them leave to go to the Sea side where finding a Dutch Ship bound to Batavia these 2 and one more went aboard her the rest getting other passage but she meeting with that English Ship coming from Queda which brought the Tutanegg I but now mention'd to Achin they left the Dutch Ship and went to Achin with the other English Vessel and those 2 were now for going with us to Fort St George 'T was about New-years day 1690. that we set out from Achin again We steered away toward the Nicobar Islands and came in sight of that which I had formerly been set ashore upon But leaving it on our Star-board we stood more Northerly up into the Bay for by Mr Coventry I had learnt there were Northerly and North Easterly Winds in the Bay at this time of year We stood over therefore as high as Pallacat and having then a fair North East Wind we run along the Coast till we came before Fort St George which was about the middle of January I was much pleased with the Beautiful prospect this place makes off at Sea For it stands in a plain Sandy spot of Ground close by the shore the Sea sometimes washing its Walls which are of Stone and high with Half Moons and Flankers and a great many Guns mounted on the Battlements so that what with the Walls and fine Buildings within the Fort the large Town of Maderas without it the Pyramids of the English Tombs Houses and Gardens adjacent and the variety of fine Trees scatter'd up and down it makes as agreeable a Landskip as I have any where seen But 't is not my design to enter into a Description of a place so well known to my Country-men as this is It may suffice to have mentioned it and that after some months stay here and meeting with Mr Moody and Jeoly the painted Prince I prepared to go for Sumatra again to Bencouli as I have said in my former Vol. p. 512. I set out from Fort St George with Captain Howel in July 1690. we steered a pretty way along the Coast of Coromandel before we stood over for Sumatra and then made the best of our way for Bencouli I have in that Volume spoken of my Arrival there but having given no account of the place I shall do it briefly now and so shut up this Supplement Bencouli lyes on the West Coast of the Island of Sumatra in about 4 d. S. Lat. It is a place noted enough at Sea by reason of a high slender Hill in the Country It has a small Island before it within which Ships ride The point of Sillabar lies 2 or 3 leagues to the Southward of it and runs out farther than any part of the shore making a small bay within it Besides these marks when you come within 2 or 3 Leagues of the shore you 'll see the English Fort fronting to the Sea which makes a fine show On the N. W. of the Fort is a small River at the mouth of which is a large Store-house to put Pepper in About a quarter of a mile from the Sea stands a small Indian Village close by the River on the same side that the Fort is on and but a small distance from it The Houses are small and low all built on posts after the Malayan manner as at Mindanao and Achin for 't is a Swamp that the Town stands on but the Malayans usually choose to build in such low places near Rivers for the convenience of washing themselves which they greatly delight in as 't is indeed a part of their Religion as Mahometans and if they can they will have their Houses stand on posts over the River The Weather here is none of the pleasantest There are great Rains chiefly in September October and November and pretty great heats But when the Wind blew hard which 't would often do the Air would be chill and the Sea-breezes in fair weather were generally pretty fresh and comfortable The Land Winds coming over Swamps usually brought a stink with them 'T is in general an unhealthy place and the Soldiers of the Fort were sickly and died very fast On the South side of the Fort is a fair champion Savannah of a mile or 2 Square called Greenhil It produces long thick Grass the N W. part of it fronts the Sea and the S. E. is bounded with lofty Woods The Soil of this Country is very different according to its different position for within Land 't is hilly yet those hills are cloathed with Trees which shews it to be fruitful enough The low Land near the River especially near the Sea is swampy producing nothing but Reeds or Bamboes but the higher ground which is of a reasonable heigth is very fruitful The mould is deep and is either black or yellow and in some places clay or such mould as is very proper for making Bricks The Trees in the Woods are mostly
by their firing as they should have done was taken without any resistance Villa de Mose is a small Town standing on the Starbord side of the River four Leagues beyond this Breast-work 'T is inhabited chiefly by Indians with some Spaniards there is a Church in the middle and a Fort at the West end which commands the River Thus far Ships come to bring goods especially European Commodities viz. Broad-cloth Serges Perpetuana's Kersies Thred-Stockings Hats Ozenbrigs white and blew Ghentins Platilloes Britannias Hollandilloes Iron-work c. They arrive here in November or December and stay till June or July selling their Commodities and then load chiefly with Cacao and some Sylvester All the Merchants and petty Traders of the Country Towns come hither about Christmas to Traffick which makes this Town the chiefest in all these parts Campeachy excepted yet there are but few Rich Men that live here Sometimes Ships that come hither load Hides and Tallow if they cannot fraight with Cacao But the chiefest place for Hides is a Town lying on a Branch of this River that comes out a League below the Breast-work where Spanish Barks usually lade once a year but I can give no further account of it Four Leagues beyond Villa de Mose further up the River lies Estapo inhabited partly with Spaniards but most Indians as generally the Towns in this Country are it 's said to be pretty rich stands close by the River on the South side and is so built between two Creeks that there is but one Avenue leading to it and so well guarded with a Breast-work that Captain Hewet a Privateer who had under him near 200 Men was there repulsed losing many of them and himself wounded in the Leg. In his way thither he took Villa de Mose and left a Party there to secure his Retreat If he had taken Estapo he designed to pass on to Halpo a Rich Town three Leagues farther up the River and from thence to visit Tacatalpo lying 3 or 4 Leagues beyond which is accounted the wealthiest of the three the Spaniards call it Tacatalpo de Sierra whether to distinguish it from another Town of that name or to denote its nearness to the Mountains I know not 'T is the best Town on this River having three Churches and several Rich Merchants and between it and Villa de Mose are many large Cacao Walks on each side the River I have seen a sort of white Cacao brought from hence which I never met with any where else It is of the same bigness and colour on the outside and with such a thin husky Coat as the other but the inner substance is white like fine Flower and when the outward Coat is broken it crumbles as a lump of Flower doth Those that frequent the Bay call it Spuma and affirm that it is much used by the Spaniards of those parts to make their Chocolate froth who therefore set a great value on it But I never yet met with any in England that knew it except the Right Honourable the Earl of Carbery who was pleased to tell me he had seen of it The Land on the South side of the River is low Savannahs or Pasture The side where the Town of Villa de Mose stands is a sort of grey sandy Earth and the whole Country the Up-land I mean seems to be much the same But the Low-land is of a black deep Mould and in some places very strong Clay and there is not a Stone to be found in all the Country The healthy dry Land is very Woody except where inhabited or planted It is pretty thick settled with Indian Towns who have all a Padre or two among them and a Cacique or Governour to keep the Peace The Cacao Tree thrives here very well but the Nuts are smaller than the Caraccus Nuts yet Oyly and Fat whilst New They are not planted near the Sea as they are on the Coast of Caraccus but at least 8 or 10 Miles up in the Country The Cacao-walks belong chiefly to the Spaniards and are only planted and dress'd by Indians hired for that purpose yet the Indians have of their own Plantain-walks Plantations of Maiz and some small Cacao-walks about which they spend the chiefest of their time Some Employ themselves to search in the Woods for Bees that build in hollow Trees and get a good livelihood by their Honey and Wax These are of two sorts One pretty large the other no bigger but longer than an ordinary black Fly in other respects just like our common Bees only of a darker colour Their Stings are not strong enough to enter a Man's Skin but if disturbed they will fly at one as furiously as the great Bees and will tickle but cannot hurt you Their Honey is white and clear and they make a great deal of it The Indians keep of them tame and cut hollow Trunks for them to make their Combs in They place one end of the Log which is saw'd very even on a Board leaving a hole for the Bees to creep in at and the upper end is covered with a Board put close over it The young and lusty Indians such as want Employment hire themselves to the Spaniards They Work cheap and are commonly paid in such Goods as the Spaniards do not value And I have been told that they are obliged to Work for their Masters one day in a Week gratis But whether this Priviledge belongs only to the Padres or to the Laity also I know not The Indians inhabiting these Villages live like Gentlemen in Comparison of those that are near any great Town such as Campeachy or Merida for there even the Poorer and Rascally sort of People that are not able to hire one of these poor Creatures will by violence drag them to do their Drudgery for nothing after they have work'd all day for their Masters nay they often take them out of the Market from their Business or at least enjoyn them to come to their Houses when their Market is ended and they dare not refuse to do it This Country is very fruitful yielding plentiful Crops of Maiz which is their chiefest Subsistence After it is boil'd they bruise it on such a Rubbing-stone as Chocolate is grownd on Some of it they make into small thin Cakes called Tartilloes The rest they put into a Jar till it grows sowr and when they are thirsty mix a handful of it in a Callabash of Water which gives it a sharp pleasant taste then streining it through a large Callabash prick'd full of small Holes to keep out the Husks they drink it off If they treat a Friend with this Drink they mix a little Honey with it for their Ability reaches no higher And this is as acceptable to them as a Glass of Wine to us If they travel for two or three Days from Home they carry some of this Grown'd Maiz in a Plantain Leaf and a Callabash at their Girdles to make their drink and take no farther
of Cattle belonging to an Indian Village In the Woods on each side this River there are plenty of Guanoes Land-Turtle and abundance of Quams and Corresos with some Parrots and there is no Settlement nearer than the Beef Estantion nor any thing else remarkable in this River that I know A League West from Checapeque there is another small River called Dos Boccas 't is only fit for Canoas to enter It has a Bar at its Mouth and therefore is somewhat dangerous Yet the Privateers make light of it for they will govern a Canoa very ingeniously However Captain Rives and Captain Hewet two Privateers lost several Men here in coming out for there had been a North which had raised the Bar and in going out most of their Canoas were over-set and some Men drowned This River wlll not float a Canoa above a League within its Mouth and so far is salt but there you meet with a fine clear Stream of fresh Water about a League up in the Country and beyond this are fair Savannahs of long Grass fenced in with Ridges of as rich Land as any in the World The Mold such as is formerly described all plain and level even to the Hills of Chiapo There are no Indian Towns within 4 or 5 Leagues of the Sea but further off they are pretty thick lying within a League 2 or 3 one of another Halpo is the chiefest The Indians make use of no more Land than serves to maintain their Families in Maiz and to pay their Taxes And therefore between the Towns it lies uncultivated In all this Country they rear abundance of Poultry Viz. Turkies Ducks and Dunghil Fowls but some of them have Cacao-Walks The Cacao of these Parts is most of it sent to Villa de Mose and ship'd off there Some of it is sold to Carriers that travail with Mules coming hither commonly in Nov. or Dec. and staying till Febr. or March They lye a Fortnight at a time in a Village to dispose of their Goods which are commonly Hatchets Macheats Axes Hoes Knives Cizars Needles Thread Silk for sowing Womens Frocks small Looking-glasses Beads Silver or Copper Rings wash'd with Gold set with Glass instead of Stones small Pictures of Saints and such like Toys for the Indians And for the Spaniards Linnen and Woollen Cloaths Silks Stockings and old Hats new dress'd which are here very valuable and worn by those of the best Quality so that an old English Beaver thus ordered would be worth 20 Dollars so much is Trade wanted here in this Country When he has sold off his Goods he is generally paid in Cacao which he carries to La Vera Cruz. From Dos Boccas to the River Palmas is 4 Leagues low Land and sandy Bay between From Palmas to the Halover is 2 Leagues The Halover is a small Neck of Land parting the Sea from a large Lagune It is so call'd by the Privateers because they use to drag their Canoas in and out there From the Halover to St. Anns is 6 Leagues St. Anns is a Mouth that opens the Lagune before mentioned there is not above 6 or 7 Foot Water yet Barks often go in there to Careen From St. Anns to Tondelo is 5 Leagues The Coast still West the Land low and sandy Bay against the Sea a little within which are pretty high Sand-Banks cloathed with prickly Bushes such as I have already described at Beef-Island Against the Sea near the West end within the Sand Bank the Land is lower again the Woods not very high and some spots of Savannahs with plenty of fat Bullocks In Hunting of which a Frenchman unhappily lost his Life For his Company being stragled from him to find Game he unluckily met a Drove of Cattle flying from them in the Woods which were so thick that there was no passing but in these very narrow Paths that the Cattle themselves had made so that not being able to get out of their way the foremost of the Drove thrust his Horns into his Back and carried him a 100 Paces into the Savannah where he fell down with his Guts trailing on the Ground The River Tondeloe is but narrow yet capable to receive Barks of 50 or 60 Tuns there is a Bar at the Entrance and the Channel crooked On the West side of the Bar there is a spit of Sand shoots out therefore to avoid it at your coming in you must keep the East side aboard but when once entred you may run up for two or three Leagues on the East side a quarter of a Mile within the Mouth you may lie secure but all this Coast and especially this River intolerably swarms with Musketoes that there is no sleeping for them About 4 or 5 Leagues from the Mouth this River is fordable and there the Road crosses it where two French Canoas that lay in this River intercepted the Caravan of Mules laden with Cacao that was returning to La Vera Cruz taking away as much as they could carry with them From Tondeloe River to the River of Guasickwalp is 8 Leagues more the Coast still West all along sandy Bay and sand-Hills as between St. Anns and Tondeloe only towards the West part the Bank is lower and the Trees higher This is one of the Principal Rivers of this Coast 't is not half the breadth of the Tobasco River but deeper It s Bar is less dangerous than any on this Coast having 14 foot Water on it and but little Sea Within the Bar there is much more and soft Oasie ground The Banks on both sides are low The East side is woody and the West side Savannah Here are some Cattle but since it has been frequented by Privateers the Spaniards have driven most of their Bullocks from hence farther into the Country This River hath its rise near the South Sea and is Navigable a great way into Land especially with Boats or small Barks The River Teguantapeque that falls into the South Seas hath its Origine near the Head of Guasickwalp and it is reported that the first Naval Stores for the Manila Ships were sent through the Country from the North to the South Seas by the conveniency of these two Rivers whose Heads are not above 10 or 12 Leagues asunder I heard this discoursed by the Privateers long before I visited the South Seas and they seemed sometimes minded to try their Fortunes this way supposing as many do still that the South Sea shore is nothing but Gold and Silver But how grosly they are mistaken I have satisfied the World already And for this part of the Country though it is rich in Land yet it has not the least appearance of any Mine neither is it thick inhabited with Spaniards And if I am not deceived the very Indians in the heart of the Country are scarce their Friends The Town of note on the S. Sea is Teguantapeque and on the N. Seas Keyhooca is the chiefest near this River Besides these two the Country is only inhabited by Indians
the Line in the Months of April and September but near the Line as a degree or two on each side the Winds are not so constant Indeed there they are so very uncertain that I cannot be particular so as to give any true Account of them Only this I know that Calms are very frequent there as also Tornadoes and sudden Gusts in which the Winds fly in a moment quite round the Compass CHAP. IV. Of Sea and Land-Breezes How Sea-Breezes differ from Common Trade-Winds The time and manner of their Rise And particularly at Jamaica Of the Land-Breezes The time and manner of their Rise As on the Isthmus of Darien and at Jamaica The places where these Winds blow strongest or slackest as at Gapes and Head Lands deep Bays Lagunes and Islands Seals-Skin Bladders used instead of Bark Loggs SEA-Breezes generally speaking are no other than the Common Trade-Wind of the Coasts on which they blow with this difference that whereas all Trade-Winds whether they are those that I call the general Trade-Winds at Sea or coasting Trade-Winds either constant or shifting do blow as well by Night as by Day with an equal briskness except when Tornadoes happen So contrarily Sea-Winds are only in the Day and cease in the Night and as all Trade-Winds blow constantly near to one Point of the Compass both where the constant Trade-Winds are or where they shift on the contrary these Sea-Winds do differ from them in this that in the Morning when they first spring up they blow commonly as the Trade-Winds on the Coast do at or near the same Point of the Compass but about Mid-Day they fly off 2 3 or 4 Points further from the Land and so blow almost right in on the Coast especially in fair Weather for then the Sea-Breezes are truest as for instance on the Coast of Angola the Land lies almost North and South there the Trade-Wind is from the S. S. W. to the S. W. the true Sea Breezes near the shore are at W. by S. or W. S. W. and so of any other Coast. These Sea-Breezes do commonly rise in the Morning about Nine a Clock sometimes sooner sometimes later they first approach the shore so gently as if they were afraid to come near it and oft-times they make some faint breathings and as if not willing to offend they make a halt and seem ready to retire I have waited many a time both ashore to receive the pleasure and at Sea to take the benefit of it It comes in a fine small black Curle upon the Water whenas all the Sea between it and the shore not yet reach'd by it is as smooth and even as Glass in Comparison in half an Hour's time after it has reached the shore it fans pretty briskly and so increaseth gradually till 12 a Clock then it is commonly strongest and lasts so till 2 or 3 a very brisk gale about 12 at Noon it also veres off to Sea 2 or 3 Points or more in very fair Weather After 3 a Clock it begins to dye away again and gradually withdraws its force till all is spent and about 5 a Clock sooner or later according as the Weather is it is lull'd asleep and comes no more till the next Morning These Winds are as constantly expected as the day in their proper Latitudes and seldom fail but in the wet Season On all Coasts of the main whether in the East or West Indies or Guinea they rise in the Morning and withdraw towards the Evening yet Capes and Head Lands have the greatest benefit of them where they are highest rise earlier and blow later Bays contrarily have the disadvantage for there they blow but faintly at best and their continuance is but short Islands that lye nearest East and West have the benefit of these Winds on both sides equally for if the Wind is at S. W. or S. W. by S. on the South side of any Island then on the North side it would be at N. W. or N. W. by N. i. e. in fair Weather but if turbulent Weather it would be E. S. E. on the Southside and E. N. E. on the other But this true Sea-Breeze does not veer so far out except only near the shore as about 3 or 4. Leagues distant for farther than that you will find only the right Coasting Trade-Wind This I have experienced in several Parts of the World particularly at Jamaica about which I have made many Voyages both on the North and the South side where I have experienced the Sea-Breezes very much to differ for on the South side I have found the true Sea-Wind after 12 a Clock and in very fair Weather at S. or S. S. E. though it sprung up in the Morning at E. S. E. or S. E. And on the North side I have found the Sea-Breez at N. or N. N. E. though it rose in the Morning at E. N. E. but whether there may be the like difference about smaller Islands as at Barbadoes c. I cannot determine tho' I am apt to believe there is not So much for the Sea-Winds next of the Land-Breezes Land-Breezes are as remarkable as any Winds that I have yet treated of they are quite contrary to the Sea-Breezes for those blow right from the shore but the Sea-Breez right in upon the shore And as the Sea-Breezes do blow in the Day and rest in the Night so on the contrary these do blow in the Night and rest in the Day and so they do alternately succeed each other For when the Sea-Breezes have performed their Offices of the Day by breathing on their respective Coasts they in the Evening do either withdraw from the Coast or lye down to rest Then the Land-Winds whose Office it is to breathe in the Night moved by the same order of Divine Impulse do rouze out of their private recesses and gently fan the Air till the next Morning and then their task ends and they leave the Stage There can be no proper time set when they do begin in the Evening or when they retire in the Morning for they do not keep to an hour but they commonly spring up between 6 and 12 in the Evening and last till 6 8 or 10 in the Morning They both come and go away again earlier or later according to the Weather the Season of the Year or some accidental Cause from the Land For on some Coasts they do rise earlier blow fresher and remain later than on other Coasts as I shall shew hereafter They are called Land-Winds because they blow off shore contrary to the Sea-Breez which way soever the Coast lies Yet I would not so be understood as if these Winds are only found to breathe near the shores of any Land and not in the Inland Parts of such Countries remote from the Sea for in my Travells I have found them in the very heart of the Countries that I have passed through as particularly on the Isthmus of Darien and the Island of Jamaica Both
have not been known on the North side of the Island where the Mountains are bordering on the Sea or at least but a little distance off it For there they are supplied with seasonable Showers almost all the Year and even in the dry time it self near the Full and Change of the Moon But in the wet Season the Rains are more violent which is their Inconvenience As for the Valleys in the Country they are not subject to such Droughts as the plain Land by the Sea at least I have not observed it my self nor have I heard it mentioned by others The Isle of Pines near Cuba is so noted a place for Rain that the Spaniards inhabiting near it on Cuba say that it rains more or less every day in the Year at one place or another It is generally spoken also believ'd by Privateers for it has been oft visited by them I have been there my self but cannot confirm that report However it is well known to be a very wet and rainy place It is but a small Island of about 9 or 10 Leagues long and 3 or 4 broad and in the midst is a high pecked Mountain which is commonly clouded and the Privateers say that this Hill draws all the Clouds to it for if there is not another Cloud to be seen any where else yet this Hill is seldom or never clear Gorgonia in the South Seas also has the same report It is much smaller than Pines I have mentioned it in my Voyage round the World Chap. VII Page 172. This Isle lies about 4 Leagues from the Main but the Isle of Pines not above 2 and is a great deal bigger than it The Main against Gorgonia is very low Land but Cuba near Pines is pretty high and the Mountain of Pines is much bigger and higher than the Hill of Gorgonia which yet is of a good height so that it may be seen 16 or 18 Leagues off And tho' I cannot say that it rains every day there yet I know that it rains very much and extraordinary hard I have been at this Isle three times and always found it very rainy and the Rains very violent I remember when we touch'd there in our return from Captain Sharp we boiled a Kettle of Chocolate before we clean'd our Bark and having every Man his Callabash full we began to sup it off standing all the time in the Rain but I am confident not a Man among us all did clear his Dish for it rained so fast and such great drops into our Callabashes that after we had sup'd off as much Chocolate and Rain-Water together as suffised us our Callabashes were still above half full and I heard some of the Men swear that they could not sup it up so fast as it rained in at last I grew tir'd with what I had left and threw it away and most of the rest did so likewise As Clouds do usually hover over Hills and Mountains so do they also keep near the Land I have mentioned something of this in my Voyage round the World Chap. X. Page 283. where I have said that in making Land we commonly find it Cloudy over the Land tho' 't is clear every where beside And this may still confirm what I have said in the foregoing Discourse that Hills are commonly clouded for High Land is the first discerned by us and that as I said before is commonly clouded But now I shall speak how we find the Clouds when we are but a little way from Land either coasting along the shore or at an Anchor by it I hope the Reader will not imagine that I am going to prove that it never Rains at Sea or but very little there for the contrary is known to every Body and I have already said in this Discourse of Winds in my first Chapter That there are very frequent Tornadoes in several Seas especially near the Equator and more particularly in the Atlantick Sea Other Seas are not so much troubled with them neither is the Atlantick so to the North or South of the Line especially at any considerable distance from the shore but yet 't is very probable however that the Sea has not so great a portion of Tornadoes as the Land hath For when we are near the shore within the torrid Zone we often see it rain on the Land and perceive it to be very cloudy there when it is fair at Sea and scarce a Cloud to be seen that way And though we have the Wind from the shore the Clouds seeming to be drawing off yet they often wheel about again to the Land as if they were Magnetically drawn that way Sometimes indeed they do come off a little but then they usually either return again or else insensibly vanish and that 's the Reason that Seamen when they are sailing near the shore and see a Tornado coming off they don't much mind it but cry the Land will devour it But however sometimes they fly off to Sea And 't is very rare that Tornadoes arise from thence for they generally rise first over the Land and that in a very strange manner for even from a very small Cloud arising over the top of a Hill I have often seen it increase to such a bulk that I have known it rain for 2 or 3 days successively This I have observed both in the East and VVest Indies and in the South and North Seas And 't is impossible for me to forget how oft I have been disturbed by such small Clouds that appeared in the Night 'T is usual with Seamen in those parts to sleep on the Deck especially for Privateers among whom I made these Observations In Privateers especially when we are at an Anchor the Deck is spread with Mats to lye on each Night Every Man has one some two and this with a Pillow for the Head and a Rug for a Covering is all the Bedding that is necessary for Men of that Employ I have many times spread my Lodging when the Evening has promised well yet have been forced to withdraw before Day and yet it was not a little Rain that would afright me then neither at its first coming could I have thought that such a small Cloud could afford so much Rain And oftentimes both my self and others have been so deceived by the appearance of so small a Cloud that thinking the Rain would soon be over we have lain till we were dropping wet and then have been forced to move at last But to proceed I have constantly observed that in the wet Season we had more Rain in the Night than in the day for though it was fair in the Day yet we seldom escaped having a Tornado or two in the Night If we had one in the Day it rose and came away presently and it may be we had an Hours Rain more or less but when it came in the Night though there was little appearance of Rain yet we should have it 3 or 4 Hours together but
it as I received it from my ingenious Friend Capt. Rogers who is lately gone to that Place and hath been there several times before THE Country of Natal takes up about 3 d. and half of Lat. from N. to S. lying between the lat of 31 d. 30 m. South and 28 S. 'T is bounded on the S. by a Country inhabited by a small Nation of Savage People called by our English Wild-bush-Men that live in Caves and in holes of Rocks and have no other Houses but such as are formed by Nature They are of a low stature tauny colour'd with crisped Hair They are accounted very cruel to their Enemies Their Weapons are Bows and poisoned Arrows These People have for their Neighbours on the S. the Hottantots Dellagoa is a Navigable River in Lat. 28 S. that bounds Natal on the N. The Inhabitants of this River have a Commerce with the Portuguese of Mozambique who oft visit them in small Barks and trade there for Elephants Teeth of which they have great plenty Some English too have lately been there to purchase Teeth particularly Capt. Freak just mentioned in my former Volume Ch. 23. P. 510. who after he had been in the River of Dellagoa and purchased 8 or 10 Tun of Teeth lost his Ship on a Rock near Madagascar The Country of Natal lies open to the Indian Sea on the East but how far back it runs to the Westward is not yet known That part of the Country which respects the Sea is plain Champion and Woody but within Land it appears more uneven by Reason of many Hills which rise in unequal Heights above each other Yet is it interlaced with pleasant Valleys and large Plains and 't is checker'd with Natural Groves and Savannahs Neither is there any want of Water for every Hill affords little Brooks which glide down several ways some of which after several turnings and windings meet by degrees and make up the River of Natal which dischargeth it self into the East Indian Ocean in the lat of 30 d. South There it opens pretty wide and is deep enough for small Vessels But at the Mouth of the River is a Bar which has not above 10 or 11 foot Water on it in a Spring-Tide Though within there is Water enough This River is the principal of the Country of Natal and has been lately frequented by some of our English Ships particularly by a small Vessel that Capt. Rogers formerly mentioned commanded There are also other Streams and Rivers which bend their Courses Northerly especially one of a considerable bigness about a â—…00 Mile within Land and which runs due North. The Woods are composed of divers sorts of Trees many of which are very good Timber and fit for any uses they being tall and large The Savannahs also are cloathed with kindly thick Grass The Land-Animals of this Country are Lyons Tigers Elephants Buffaloes Bullocks Deer Hogs Conies c. Here are also abundance of Sea-Horses Buffaloes and Bullocks only are kept tame but the rest are all wild Elephants are so plenty here that they feed together in great Troops 1000 or 1500 in a Company Mornings and Evenings they are seen grazing in the Savannahs but in the heat of the day they retire into the Woods and they are very peaceable if not molested Deer are very numerous here also They feed quietly in the Savannahs among the tame Cattle for they are seldom disturbed by the Natives Here are Fowls of divers sorts some such as we have in England viz. Duck and Teal both tame and wild and plenty of Cocks and Hens Besides abundance of will Birds wholly unknown to us Here are a sort of large Fowls as big as a Peacock which have many fine coloured Feathers They are very rare and shy There are other like Curlews but bigger The flesh of these is black yet sweet and wholesom Meat The Sea and Rivers also do abound in Fish of divers sorts yet the Natives do but seldom endeavour to take any except Tortoises and that is chiefly when they come ashore in the Night to lay their Eggs. Though they have also another very odd way which they sometimes make use of to catch Turtle or Tortoises They take a living sucking Fish or Remora and fastning a couple of strings to it one at the head and the other at the tail they let the sucking Fish down into the Water on the Turtle Ground among the half-grown or young Turtle and when they find that the Fish hath fastned himself to the back of a Turtle as he will soon do they then draw him and the Turtle up together This way of Fishing as I have heard is also used at Madagascar The Natives of this Covntry are but of a middle Stature yet have very good Limbs The Colour of their Skins is black their Hair crisped they are oval visaged their Noses neither flat nor high but very well proportioned their Teeth are white and their Aspect is altogether graceful They are nimble People but very lazy which probably is for want of Commerce Their chief Employment is Husbandry They have a great many Bulls and Cows which they carefully look after for every Man knows his own though they run all promisucously together in their Savannahs yet they have Pens near their own Houses where they make them gentle and bring them to the Pail They also plant Corn and fence in their Fields to keep out all Cattle as well tame as wild They have Guinea Corn which is their Bread and a small sort of Grain no bigger than Mustard-seed with which they make their drink Here are no Arts nor Trades profess'd among them but every one makes for himself such necessaries as Need or Ornament requires the Men keeping to their Employment and the Women to theirs The Men build Houses Hunt Plant and do what is to be done abroad And the Women milk the Cows dress the Victuals c. and manage all Matters within Doors Their Houses are not great nor richly furuished but they are made close and well thatched that neither Winds nor Weather can hurt them They wear but few Cloaths and those extraordinary mean The Men go in a manner naked their common Garb being only a square piece of Cloath made with Silk Grass or Moho Rind and wrought in form of a short Apron At the upper corners it has two straps to tye round their Wastes and the lower end being finely fringed with the same hangs down to their Knees They have Caps made with Beef Tallow of about 9 or 10 Inches high They are a great while a making these Caps for the Tallow must be made very pure before 't is fit for this use Besides they lay on but a little at a time and mixt it finely among the Hair and so it never afterwards comes off their heads When they go a Hunting which is but seldom they pare off 3 or 4 Inches from the top of it that so it may sit the snugger but the next
familiar if the Custom of the Country did not debar them from that freedom which seems coveted by them Yet from the highest to the lowest they are allowed liberty to converse with or treat Strangers in the sight of their Husbands There is a kind of begging Custom at Mindanao that I have not met elsewhere with in all my Travels and which I believe is owing to the little Trade they have which is thus When Strangers arrive here the Mindanao Men will come aboard and invite them to their Houses and inquire who has a Comrade which word I believe they have from the Spaniards or a Pagally and who has not A Comrade is a familiar Male-friend a Pagally is an innocent Platonick Friend of the other Sex All Strangers are in a manner oblig'd to accept of this Acquaintance and Familiarity which must be first purchased with a small Present and afterwards confirmed with some Gift or other to continue the Acquaintance and as often as the Stranger goes ashore he is welcome to his Comrade or Pagally s House where he may be entertained for his Money to eat drink or sleep and complimented as often as he comes ashore with Tobacco and Betel-nut which is all the Entertainment he must expect gratis The richest Mens Wives are allowed the freedom to converse with her Pagally in publick and may give or receive Presents from him Even the Sultans and the Generals Wives who are always coopt up will yet look out of their Cages when a Stranger passeth by and demand of him if he wants a Pagally and to invite him to their Friendship will send a Present of Tobacco and Betel-nut to him by their Servants The chiefest City on this Island is called by the same Name of Mindanao It is seated on the South side of the Island in lat 7 d. 20 m. N. on the banks of a small River about 2 mile from the Sea The manner of building is somewhat strange yet generally used in this part of the East Indies Their Houses are all built on Posts about 14 16 18 or 20 foot high These Posts are bigger or less according to the intended Magnificence of the Superstructure They have but one floor but many partitions or rooms and a ladder or stairs to go up out of the streets The roof is large and covered with Palmeto or Palm-leaves So there is a clear passage like a Piazza but a filthy one under the House Some of the poorer People that keep Ducks or Hens have a fence made round the posts of their Houses with a door to go in and out and this under-room serves for no other use Some use this place for the common draught of their Houses but building mostly close by the River in all parts of the Indies they make the River receive all the filth of their Houses and at the time of the Land-floods all is washed very clean The Sultans House is much bigger than any of the rest It stands on about 180 great Posts or Trees a great deal higher than the common Building with great broad stairs made to go up In the first room he hath about 20 Iron Guns all Saker and Minion placed on Field-Carriages The General and other great Men have some Guns also in their Houses About 20 paces from the Sultan's House there is a small low House built purposely for the Reception of Ambassadors or Merchant Strangers This also stands on Posts but the floor is not raised above 3 or 4 foot above the ground and is neatly matted purposely for the Sultan and his Council to sit on for they use no Chairs but sit cross-legg'd like Taylors on the floor The common Food at Mindanao is Rice or Sago and a small Fish or two The better sort eat Buffalo or Fowls ill drest and abundance of Rice with it They use no Spoons to eat their Rice but every Man takes a handful out of the Platter and by wetting his Hand in Water that it may not stick to his Hand squeezes it into a lump as hard as possibly he can make it and then crams it into his mouth They all strive to make these lumps as big as their mouths can receive them and seem to vie with each other and glory in taking in the biggest lump so that sometimes they almost choak themselves They always wash after meals or if they touch any thing that is unclean for which reason they spend abundance of Water in their Houses This Water with the washing of their Dishes and whatother filth they make they pour down near their Fire-place for their Chambers are not boarded but floored with split Bamboos like Laths so that the Water presently falls underneath their dwelling rooms where it breeds Maggots and makes a prodigious stink Besides this filthiness the sick people ease themselves and make water in their Chambers there being a small hole made purposely in the floor to let it drop through But healthy sound people commonly ease themselves and make water in the River For that reason you shall always see abundance of people of both Sexes in the River from morning till night some easing themselves others washing their bodies or cloaths If they come into the River purposely to wash their cloaths they strip and stand naked till they have done then put them on and march out again both men and women take great delight in swimming and washing themselves being bred to it from their Infancy I do believe it is very wholsome to wash mornings and evenings in these hot Countries at least 3 or 4 days in the week for I did use my self to it when I lived afterwards at Ben-cooly and found it very refreshing and comfortable It is very good for those that have Fluxes to wash and stand in the River mornings and evenings I speak it experimentally for I was brought very low with that distemper at Achin but by washing constantly mornings and evenings I found great benefit and was quickly cured by it In the City of Mindanao they spake two Languages indifferently their own Mindanao Language and the Malaya but in other parts of the Island they speak only their proper Language having little Commerce abroad They have Schools and instruct the Children to read and write and bring them up in the Mahometan Religion Therefore many of the words especially their Prayers are in Arabick and many of the words of civility the same as in Turkey and especially when they meet in the morning or take leave of each other they express themselves in that Language Many of the old people both Men and Women can speak Spanish for the Spaniards were formerly settled among them and had several Forts on this Island and then they sent two Friers to this City to convert the Sultan of Mindanao and his people At that time these people began to learn Spanish and the Spaniards incroached on them and endeavoured to bring them into subjection and probably before this time had brought them all under