these are 6 small Islands in lat 23 d. 11 m. a little to the South of the Tropick of Cancer and about 3 leagues from the Main where a Salt-Lake hath its out-let into the Sea These Isles are of an indifferent heighth Some of them have a few shrubby bushes the rest are bare of any sort of Wood. They are rocky round by the Sea only one or two of them have sandy Bays on the North side There is a sort of Fruit growing on these Islands called Penguins and 't is all the Fruit they have The Penguin Fruit is of two sorts the yellow and the red The yellow Penguin grows on a green stem as big as a Man's Arm above a foot high from the ground The leaves of this stalk are half a foot long and an inch broad the edges full of sharp prickles The Fruit grows at the head of the stalk in 2 or 3 great clusters 16 or 20 in a cluster The Fruit is as big as a Pullets Egg of a round form and in colour yellow It has a thick skin or rind and the inside is full of small black seeds mixt among the Fruit. It is a sharp pleasant Fruit. The red Penguin is of the bigness and colour of a small dry Onion and is in shape much like a Nine-pin for it grows not on a stalk or stem as the other but one end on the ground the other standing upright 60 or 70 grow thus together as close as they can stand one by another and all from the same root or cluster of roots These Penguins are encompast or fenced with long leaves about a foot and an half or 2 foot long and prickly like the former and the Fruit too is much alike They are both wholsom and never offend the stomach but those that eat many will find a heat or tickling in their Fundament They grow so plentifully in the Bay of Campeachy that there is no passing for their high prickly leaves There are some Guanoes on these Islands but no other sort of Land Animal The Bays about the Islands are sometimes visited with Seal and this was the first place where I had seen any of these Animals on the North side of the Equator in these Seas For the Fish on this sandy Coast lye most in the Lagunes or Salt-lakes and mouths of Rivers but the Seals come not so much there as I judge for this being no rocky Coast where Fish resort most there seems to be but little food for the Seals unless they will venture upon Cat fish Captain Swan went away from hence with 100 Men in our Canoas to the Northward to seek for the River Coolecan possibly the same with the River of Pastla which some Maps lay down in the Province or Region of Cullacan This River lieth in about 24 d. N. lat We were informed that there is a fair and rich Spanish Town seated on the East side of it with Savannahs about it full of Bulls and Cows and that the Inhabitants of this Town pass over in Boats to the Island California where they fish for Pearl I have been told since by a Spaniard that said he had been at the Island California that there are great plenty of Pearl-Oysters there and that the Native Indians of California near the Pearlfishery are mortal Enemies to the Spaniards Our Canoas were absent 3 or 4 days and said they had been above 30 leagues but found no River that the Land by the Sea was low and all sandy Bay but such a great Sea that there was no landing They met us in their return in the lat 23 d. 30 m. coasting along shore after them towards Cullacan so we returned again to the Eastward This was the farthest that I was to the North on this Coast. 6 or 7 leagues N. N. W. from the Isles of Chametly there is a small narrow entrance into a Lake which runs about 12 leagues Easterly parallel with the shore making many small low Mangrove Islands The mouth of this Lake is in lat about 23 d. 30 m. It is called by the Spaniards Rio de Sal for it is a Salt Lake There is Water enough for Boats and Canoas to enter and smooth landing after you are in On the West side of it there is an House and an Estantion or Farm of large Cattel Our Men went into the Lake and landed and coming to the House found 7 or 8 Bushels of Maiz but the Cattle were driven away by the Spaniards yet there our Men took the Owner of the Estantion and brought him aboard He said that the Beefs were driven a great way into the Country for fear we should kill them While we lay here Captain Swan went into this lake again and landed 150 Men on the N. E. side and marched into the Country About a mile from the landing place as they were entring a dry Salina or Salt-pond they fired at two Indians that crost the way before them one of them being wounded in the thigh fell down and being examined he told our Men that there was an Indian Town 4 or 5 leagues off and that the way which they were going would bring them thither While they were in discourse with the Indian they were attacqued by 100 Spanish Horsemen who came with a design to scare them back but wanted both Arms and Hearts to do it Our Men past on from hence and in their way marched through a Savannah of long dry Grass This the Spaniards set on fire thinking to burn them but that did not hinder our Men from marching forward though it did trouble them a little They rambled for want of Guides all this day and part of the next before they came to the Town the Indian spake of There they found a company of Spaniards and Indians who made head against them but were driven out of the Town after a short dispute Here our Chirurgeon and one Man more were wounded with Arrows but none of the rest were hurt When they came into the Town they found 2 or 3 Indians wounded who told them that the Name of the Town was Massaclan that there were a few Spaniards living in it and the rest were Indians that 5 leagues from this Town there were 2 rich Gold Mines where the Spaniards of Compostella which is the chiefest Town in these parts kept many Slaves and Indians at work for Gold Here our Men lay that night and the next morning packt up all the Maiz that they could find and brought it on their backs to the Canoas and came aboard We lay here till the 2d of February and then Captain Swan went away with about 80 Men to the River Rosario whâ—…re they landed and marched to an Indian Town of the same Name They found it about 9 mile from the Sea the way to it fair and even This was a fine little Town of about 60 or 70 Houses with a fair Church and it was chiefly inhabited with Indians They took Prisoners there which
Cotton and Cabbage-trees whereof there is great plenty and they are as large of their kinds as ever I saw There are two sorts of Cotton-trees one is called the Red the other the White Cotton-tree The white Cotton-tree grows like an Oak but generally much bigger and taller than our Oaks The body is streight and clear from knots or boughs to the very head there it spreads forth many great limbs just like an Oak The Bark is smooth and of a grey colour the Leaves are as big as a large Plumb Leaf jogged at the edge they are oval smooth and of a dark green colour Some of these Trees have their bodies much bigger 18 or 20 foot high than nearer the ground being big-bellied like Nine-pins They bear a very fine sort of Cotton called Silk Cotton When this Cotton is ripe the Trees appear like our Apple-trees in England when full of Blossoms If I do not mistake the Cotton falls down in November or December then the ground is covered white with it This is not substantial and continuous like that which grows upon the Cotton-shrubs in Plantations but like the Down of Thistles so that I did never know any use made of it in the West Indies because it is not worth the labour of gathering it but in the East Indies the Natives gather and use it for Pillows It hath a small black Seed among it The Leaves of this Tree fall off the beginning of April while the old Leaves are falling off the young ones spring out and in a weeks time the Tree casts off her old Robes and is cloathed in a new pleasant garb The red Cotton-tree is like the other but hardly so big it bears no Cotton but its Wood is somewhat harder of the two yet both sorts are soft spungy Wood fit for no use that I know but only for Canoas which being streight and tall they are very good for but they will not last long especially if not drawn ashore often and tarred otherwise the Worm and the Watersoon rot them They are the biggest Trees or perhaps Weeds rather in the West Indies They are common in the East and West Indies in good fat Land As the Cotton is the biggest Tree in the Woods so the Cabbage-tree is the tallest The Body is not very big but very high and streight I have measured one in the Bay of Campeachy 120 feet long as it lay on the ground and there are some much higher It has no Limbs nor Boughs but at the head there are many Branches bigger than a mans Arm. These Branches are not covered but flat with sharp edges they are 12 or 14 foot long About 2 foot from the Trunk the Branches shoot forth small long leaves about an inch broad which grow so regularly on both sides of the Branch that the whole Branch seems to be but one Leaf made up of many small ones The Cabbage Fruit shoots out in the midst of these Branches from the top of the Tree It is invested with many young Leaves or Branches which are ready to spread abroad as the old Branches droop and fall down The Cabbage it self when it is taken out of the Leaves which it seems to be folded in is as big as the small of a mans Leg and a foot long It is as white as Milk and as sweet as a Nut if eaten raw and it is very sweet and wholesom if boiled Besides the Cabbage it self there grow out between the Cabbage and the large Branches small â—…wigs as of a Shrub about two foot long from their Stump At the end of those Twigs which grow very thick together there hang Berries hard and round and as big as a Cherry These the Tree sheds every year and they are very good for Hogs for this reason the Spaniards fine any who shall cut down one of these in their Woods The body of the Tree is full of rings round it half a foot asunder from the bottom to the top The Bark is thin and brittle the Wood is black and very hard the heart or middle of the Tree is white pith They do not climb to get the Cabbage but cut them down for should they gather it off the Tree as it stands yet its head being gone it soon dies These Trees are much used by Planters in Jamaica to board the sides of the Houses for it is but splitting the Trunk into 4 parts with an Axe and there are so many Planks These Trees appear very pleasant and they beautifie the whole Wood spreading their green Branches above all other Trees All this Country is subject to very great Rains so that this part of Peru pays for the dry weather which they have about Lima and all that Coast. I believe that is one reason why the Spaniards have made such small discoveries in this and other Rivers on this Coast. Another reason may be because it lies not so directly in their way for they do not Coast it a long in going from Panama to Lima but first go West-ward as far as to the Keys or Isles of Cobaya for a Westerly wind and from thence stand over towards Cape St. Francisco not touching any where 〈◊〉 till they come to Manta near Cape St. Lorenzo In their return indeed from Lima to Panama they may keep along the Coast hereabouts but then their Ships are always laden whereas the light Ships that go from Panama are most at leasure to make discoveries A third reason may be the wildness and enmity of all the Natives on this Coast who are naturally fortified by their Rivers and vast Woods from whence with their Arrows they can easily annoy any that shall land there to assault them At this River particularly there are no Indians live within 6 leagues of the Sea and all the Country so far is full of impassible Woods so that to get at the Indians or the Mines and Mountains there is no way but by rowing up the River and if any who are Enemies to the Natives attempt this as the Spaniards are always hated by them they must all the way be exposed to the Arrows of those who would lye purposely in Ambush in the Woods for them These wild Indians have small Plantations of Maiz and good Plaintain-gardens for Plantâ—… are their chiefest food They have also a few Fowls and Hogs It was to this River that we were bound to seek for Canoas therefore the 26th supposing our selves to be abrest of it we went from our Ships with 4 Canoas The 27th day in the morning we entered at half Flood into the smaller Branch of that River and rowed up 6 leagues before we met any inhabitants There we found two small Huts thatched with Palmeto Leaves The Indians seeing us rowing towards their Houses got their Wives and little ones with their Houshold-stuff into their Canoas and paddled away faster than we could row for we were forced to keep in the middle of the River because of our Oars but they with their
shore and saw no Land till the 14th day but then being in lat 12 d. 50 m. the Volcan of Guatimala appeared in sight This is a very high Mountain with two peeks or heads appearing like two Sugar-loaves It often belches forth Flames of Fire and Smoak from between the two heads and this as the Spaniards do report happens chiefly in tempestuous weather It is called so from the City Guatimala which stands near the foot of it about 8 leagues from the South Sea and by report 40 or 50 leagues from the Gulf of Matique in the Bay of Honduras in the North Seas This City is famous for many rich Commodities that are produced thereabouts some almost peculiar to this Country and yearly sent into Europe especially 4 rich Dies Indico Otta or Anatta Silvester and Cochineel Indico is made of an Herb which grows a foot and half or two foot high full of small branches and the branches full of leaves resembling the leaves which grow on Flax but more thick and substantial They cut this Herb or Shrub and cast it into a large Cistern made in the ground for that purpose which is half full of Water The Indico Stalk or Herb remains in the Water till all the leaves and I think the skin rind or bark rot off and in a manner dissolve but if any of the leaves should stick fast they force them off by much labour tossing and tumbling the mass in the water till all the pulpy substance is dissolved Then the Shrub or woody part is taken out and the Water which is like Ink being disturbed no more settles and the Indico falls to the bottom of the Cistern like Mud. When it is thus settled they draw off the Water and take the Mud and lay it in the Sun to dry which there becomes hard as you see it brought home Otta or Anatta is a red sort of Dye It is made of a red Flower that grows on Shrubs 7 or 8 foot high It is thrown into a Cistern of Water as the Indico is but with this difference that there is no stalk nor so much as the head of the Flower but only the Flower it self pull d off from the head as you peel Rose-leaves from the bud This remains in the Water till it rots and by much jumbling it dissolves to a liquid substance like the Indico and being settled and the Water drawn off the red Mud is made up into Rolls or Cakes and laid in the Sun to dry I did never see any made but at a place called the Angels in Jamaica at Sir Tho. Muddiford's Plantations about 20 years since but was grubb'd up while I was there and the ground otherwise employed I do believe there is none any where else on Jamaica and even this probably was owing to the Spaniards when they had that Island Indico is common enough in Jamaica I observed they planted it most in sandy ground they sow great Fields of it and I think they sow it every year but I did never see the Seeds it bears Indico is produced all over the West Indies on most of the Caribbee Islands as well as the Main yet no part of the Main yields such great quantities both of Indico and Otta as this Country about Guatimala I believe that Otta is made now only by the Spaniards for since the destroying that at the Angels Plantation in Jamaica I have not heard of any improvement made of this commodity by our Countrymen any where and as to Jamaica I have since been informed that 't is wholy left off there I know not what quantities either of Indico or Otta are made at Cuba or Hispaniola but the place most used by our Jamaica Sloops for these things is the Island Porto Rico where our Jamaica Traders did use to buy Indico for 3 Rials and Otta for 4 Rials the pound which is but 2 s. 3 d. of our Money and yet at the same time Otta was worth in Jamaica 5 s. the pound and Indico 3 s. 6 d. the pound and even this also paid in Goods by which means alone they got 50 or 60 per Cent. Our Traders had not then found the way of trading with the Spaniards in the Bay of Honduras but Captain Coxon went thither as I take it at the beginning of the year 1679. under pretence to cut Logwood and went into the Gulf of Matique which is in the bottom of that Bay There he landed with his Canoas and took a whole Store-house full of Indico and Otta in Chests piled up in several parcels and marked with different marks ready to be shipt off aboard two Ships that then lay in the road purposely to take it in but these Ships could not come at him it being shole-water He opened some of the Chests of Indico and supposing the other Chests to be all of the same species ordered his Men to carry them away They immediately set to work and took the nearest at hand and having carried out one heap of Chests they seized on another great pile of a different mark from the rest intending to carry them away next But a Spanish Gentleman their Prisoner knowing that there was a great deal more than they could carry away desired them to take only such as belonged to the Merchants whose Marks he undertook to shew them and to spare such as had the same Mark with those in that great Pile they were then entring upon because he said those Chests belonged to the Ship-Captains who following the Seas as themselves did he hoped they would for that reason rather spare their Goods than the Merchants They consented to his Request but upon their opening their Chests which was not before they came to Jamaica where by connivance they were permitted to sell them they found that the Don had been too sharp for them the few Chests which they had taken of the same Mark with the great Pile proving to be Otta of greater value by far than the other whereas they might as well have loaded the whole Ship with Otta as with Indico The Cochineel is an Insect bred in a sort of Fruit much like the Prickle Pear The Tree or Shrub that bears it is like the Prickle Pear-tree about 5 foot high and so prickly only the Leaves are not quite so big but the Fruit is bigger On the top of the Fruit there grows a red Flower This Flower when the Fruit is ripe falls down on the top of the Fruit which then begins to open and covers it so that no Rain nor Dew can wet the inside The next day or 2 days after its falling down the Flower being then scorched away by the heat of the Sun the Fruit opens as broad as the mouth of a pint pot and the inside of the Fruit is by this time full of small red insects with curious thin wings As they were bred here so here they would dye for want of food and rot in their husks having by this time eaten
we help them over but bid them be of good comfort and stay till the River did fall But we marched 2 mile farther by the side of the River and there built our Hutts having gone this day 6 miles We had scarce finished our Hutts before the River rose much higher and overflowing the Banks obliged us to remove into higher ground But the next night came on before we could build more Hutts so we lay straggling in the Woods some under one Tree some under another as we could find conveniency which might have been indifferent comfortable if the weather had been fair but the greatest part of the night we had extraordinary hard Rain with much lightening and terrible claps of Thunder These hardships and inconveniencies made us all careless and there was no Watch kept tho I believe no body did sleep So our slaves taking opportunity went away in the night all but one who was hid in some hole and knew nothing of their design or else fell asleep Those that went away carried with them our Chyrurgeons Gun and all his Money The next morning being the 8th day we went to the Rivers side and found it much fallen and here our Guide would have us ford it again which being deep and the current running swift we could not Then we contrived to swim over those that could not swim we were resolved to help over as well as we could But this was not so feizable for we should not be able to get all our things over At length we concluded to send one man over with a Line who should hale over all our things first and then get the men over This being agreed on one George Gayny took the end of a Line and made it fast about his Neck and left the other end ashore and one man stood by the Line to clear it away to him But when Gayny was in the midst of the water the Line in drawing after him chanc'd to kink or grow entangled and he that stood by to clear it away stopt the Line which turned Gayny on his back and he that had the Line in his hand threw it all into the River after him thinking he might recover himself but the stream running very swift and the man having three hundred Dollars at his back was carried down and never seen more by us Those two men whom we left behind the day before told us afterwards that they found him lying dead in a Creek where the Eddy had driven him ashore and the Money on his back but they meddled not with any of it being only in care how to work their way through a wild unknown Country This put a period to that contrivance This was the fourth man that we lost in this Land-Journey for those two men that we left the day before did not come to us till we were in the North Seas so we yielded them also for lost Being frustrated of getting over the River this way we lookt about for a Tree to fell across the River At length we found one which we cut down and it reach d clear over on this we passed to the other side where we found a small Plantain-walk which we soon ransackt While we were busie getting Plantains our Guide was gone but in less than two hours came to us again and brought with him an old Indian to whom he deliver'd up his charge and we gave him a Hatchet and dismist him and entered our selves under the conduct of our new Guide who immediately led us away and crost another River and enter'd into a large Valley of the fattest Land I did ever take notice of the Trees were not very thick but the largest that I saw in all my travels We saw great tracks which were made by the Pecaries but saw none of them We march'd in this pleasant Country till 3 a clock in the afternoon in all about 4 miles and then arrived at the old mans Country-house which was only a habitation for Hunting there was a small Plantain-walk some Yams and Potatoes Here we took up our quarters for this day and refreshed our selves with such food as the place afforded and dryed our Cloaths and Ammunition At this place our Indian provided to leave us for now we thought our selves past danger This was he that was perswaded to stay at the last house we came from to marry the young mans Sister and we dismiss'd him according to our promise The ninth day the old man conducted us towards his own habitation We marched about 5 miles in this Valley and then ascended a Hill and travelled about 5 miles farther over two or three small Hills before we came to any settlement Half a mile before we came to the Plantations we light of a path which carried us to the Indians habitations We saw many wooden Crosses erected in the way which created some jealousie in us that here were some Spaniards Therefore we new primed all our Guns and provided our selves for an Enemy but coming into the Town found none but Indians who were all got together in a large house to receive us for the old man had a little boy with him that he sent before They made us welcome to such as they had which was very mean for these were new Plantations the Corn being not eared Patatoes Yams and Plantains they had none but what they brought from their old Plantations There were none of them spoke good Spanish Two young men could speak a little it caused us to take more notice of them To these we made a Present and desired them to get us a Guide to conduct us to the North side or part of the way which they promised to do themselves if we would reward them for it but told us we must lye still the next day But we thought our selves nearer the North Sea than we were and and proposed to go without a Guide rather than stay here a whole day However some of our men who were tired resolved to stay behind and Mr. Wafer our Chirurgeon who marched in great pain ever since his Knee was burned with powder was resolved to stay with them The tenth day we got up betimes resolving to march but the Indians opposed it as much as they could but seeing they could not perswade us to stay they came with us and having taken leave of our friends we set out Here therefore we left the Chirurgeon and two more as we said and marched away to the East-ward following our Guides But we often look d on our Pocket-Compasses and shewed them to the Guides pointing at the way that we would go which made them shake their heads and say they were pretty things but not convenient for us After we had descended the Hill on which the Town stood we came down into a Valley and guided our selves by a River which we crossed 32 times and having marched 9 miles we built Hutts and lay there all night This Evening I kill'd a Quaum a large Bird as
times sought after by the Spaniards who knew he was left on the Island yet they could never find him He was in the Woods hunting for Goats when Captain Watlin drew off his men and the Ship was under sail before he came back to shore He had with him his Gun and a Knife with a small Horn of Powder and a few Shot which being spent he contrived a way by notching his Knife to saw the barrel of his Gun into small pieces wherewith he made Harpoons Lances Hooks and a long Knife heating the pieces first in the fire which he struck with his Gunflint and a piece of the barrel of his Gun which he hardened having learnt to do that among the English The hot pieces of Iron he would hammer out and bend as he pleased with Stones and saw them with his jagged Knife or grind them to an edge by long labour and harden them to a good temper as there was occasion All this may seem strange to those that are not acquainted with the sagacity of the Indians but it is no more than these Moskito men are accustomed to in their own Country where they make their own Fishing and Striking Instruments without either Forge or Anvil tho they spend a great deal of time about them Other Wild Indians who have not the use of Iron which the Moskito men have from the English make Hatchets of a very hard stone with which they will cut down Trees the Cotton Tree especially which is a soft tender Wood to build their Houses or make Canoas and though in working their Canoas hollow they cannot dig them so neat and thin yet they will make them fit for their service This their digging or hatchet-work they help out by fire whether for the felling of the Trees or for the making the inside of their Canoa hollow These contrivances are used particularly by the Savage Indians of Blewfield s River described in the 3d Chapter whose Canoas and Stone-hatchets I have seen These Stone-hatchets are about 10 inches long 4 broad and 3 inches thick in the middle They are grownd away flat and sharp at both ends right in the midst and clear round it they make a notch so wide and deep that a man might place his Finger along it and taking a stick or withe about 4 foot long they bind it round the Hatchet-head in that notch and so twisting it hard use it as an handle or helve the head being held by it very fast Nor are other Wild Indians less ingenious Those of Patagonia particularly head their Arrows with Flint cut or grownd which I have seen and admired But to return to our Moskito man on the Isle of John Fernando With such Instruments as he made in that manner he got such Provision as the Island afforded either Goats or Fish He told us that at first he was forced to eat Seal which is very ordinary meat before he had made Hooks but afterwards he never kill'd any Seals but to make lines cutting their skins into thongs He had a little House or Hut half a mile from the Sea which was lined with Goats skin his Couch or Barbecu of sticks lying along about 2 foot distant from the ground was spread with the same and was all his Bedding He had no Cloaths left having worn out those he brought from Watlin's Ship but only a Skin about his Waste He saw our Ship the day before we came to an Anchor and did believe we were English and therefore kill'd 3 Goats in the morning before we came to an anchor and drest them with Cabbage to treat us when we came ashore He came then to the Sea side to congratulate our safe arrival And when we landed a Moskito Indian named Robin first leapt ashore and running to his brother Moskito man threw himself flat on his face at his feet who helping him up and embracing him fell flat with his face on the ground at Robins feet and was by him taken up also We stood with pleasure to behold the surprize and tenderness and solemnity of this interview which was exceedingly affectionate on both sides and when their ceremonies of civility were over we also that stood gazing at them drew near each of us embracing him we had found here who was overjoyed to see so many of his old friends come hither as he thought purposely to fetch him He was named Will as the other was Robin These were names given them by the English for they have no names among themselves and they take it as a great favour to be named by any of us and will complain for want of it if we do not appoint them some name when they are with us saying of themselves they are poor Men and have no name This Island is in lat 34 d. 15 m. and about 120 leagues from the Main It is about 12 leagues round full of high Hills and small pleasant Valleys which if manured would probably produce any thing proper for the Climate The sides of the Mountains are part Savanahs part Wood-land Savanahs are clear pieces of Land without Woods not because more barren than the Wood-land for they are frequently spots of as good Land as any and often are intermixt with Wood-land In the Bay of Campeachy are very large Savanahs which I have seen full of Cattle but about the River of Plate are the largest that ever I heard of 50 60 or 100 miles in length and Jamaica Cuba and Hispaniola have many Savanahs intermixt with Woods Places cleared of Wood by Art and Labour do not go by this name but those only which are found so in the uninhabited parts of America such as this Isle of John Fernandoes or which were originally clear in other parts The Grass in these Savanahs at John Fernando's is not a long flaggy Grass such as is usually in the Savanahs in the West-Indies but a sort of kindly Grass both thick and flourishing the biggest part of the year The Woods afford divers sorts of Trees some large and good Timber for Building but none fit for Masts The Cabbage Trees of this Isle are but small and low yet afford a good head and the Cabbage very sweet This Tree I shall describe in the Appendix in the Bay of Campeachy The Savanahs are stocked with Goats in great Herds but those that live on the East end of the Island are not so fat as those on the West end for though there is much more Grass and plenty of Water in every Valley nevertheless they thrive not so well here as on the West end where there is less food and yet there are found greater Flocks and those too fatter and sweeter That West end of the Island is all high Champion ground without any Vally and but one place to land there is neither Wood nor any fresh Water and the Grass short and dry Goats were first put on the Island by John Fernando who first discovered it in his Voyage from Lima to Baldivia
about them This is a very sickly place and I believe hath need enough of an Hospital for it is seated so nigh the Creeks and Swamps that it is never free from a noisom smell The Land about it is a strong yellow Clay yet where the Town stands it seems to be Sand. Here are several sorts of Fruits as Guavo's Pine-apples Melons and Prickle Pears The Pine-apple and Melon are well known The Guava Fruit grows on a hard scrubbed Shrub whose Bark is smooth and whitish the branches pretty long and small the leaf somewhat like the leaf of a Hazel the fruit much like a Pear with a thin rind it is full of small hard seeds and it may be eaten while it is green which is a thing very rare in the Indies for most Fruit both in the East or West Indies is full of clammy white unsavory juice before it is ripe though pleasant enough afterwards When this Fruit is ripe it is yellow soft and very pleasant It bakes as well as a Pear and it may be coddled and it makes goodPies There are of divers sorts different in shape taste and colour The inside of some is yellow of others red When this Fruit is eaten green it is binding when ripe it is loosening The Prickle-pear Bush or Shrub of about 4 or 5 foot high grows in many places of the West Indies as at Jamaica and most other Islands there and on the Main in several places This prickly Shrub delights most in barren sandy grounds and they thrive best in places that are near the Sea especially where the Sand is saltish The Tree or Shrub is 3 or 4 foot high spreading forth several branches and on each branch 2 or 3 leaves These leaves if I may call them so are round as broad every way as the palm of a man's hand and as thick their substance like Houseleek these leaves are fenced round with strong Prickles above an inch long The Fruit grows at the farther edge of the leaf it is as big as a large Plumb growing small near the leaf and big towards the top where it opens like a Medlar This Fruit at first is green like the leaf from whence it springs with small Prickles about it but when ripe it is of a deep red colour The inside is full of small black seeds mixt with a certain red Pulp like thick Syrup it is very pleasant in taste cooling and refreshing but if a Man eats 15 or 20 of them they will colour his Water making it look like blood This I have often experienced yet found no harm by it There are many Sugar-works in the Country and Estantions or Beef Farms There is also a great deal of Pitch Tar and Cordage made in the Country which is the chief of their Trade This Town we approached without any opposition and found nothing but empty Houses besides such things as they could not or would not carry away which were chiefly about 500 Packs of Flower brought hither in the great Ship that we left at Amapalla and some Pitch Tar and Cordage These things we wanted and therefore we sent them all aboard Here we received 150 Beefs promised by the Gentleman that was released coming from Leon besides we visited the Beef Farms every day and the Sugar-works going in small companies of 20 or 30 Men and brought away every Man his load for we found no Horses which if we had yet the ways were so wet and dirty that they would not have been serviceable to us We stay'd here from the 17th till the 24th day and then some of our destructive Crew set fire to the Houses I know not by whose order but we marched away and left them burning at the Brest-work we imbarked into our Canoas and returned aboard our Ships The 25th day Captain Davis and Captain Swan broke off Consortships for Captain Davis was minded to return again on the Coast of Peru but Captain Swan desired to go farther to the West-ward I had till this time been with Captain Davis but now left him and went aboard of Captain Swan It was not from any dislike to my old Captain but to get some knowledge of the Northern parts of this Continent of Mexico and I knew that Captain Swan determined to coast it as far North as he thought convenient and then pass over for the East Indies which was a way very agreeable to my inclination Captain Townly with his two Barks was resolved to keep us company but Captain Knight and Captain Harris followed Captain Davis The 27th day in the morning Captain Davis with his Ships went out of the Harbour having a fresh Land Wind. They were in company Captain Davis's Ship with Captain Harris in her Captain Davis's Bark and Fireship and Captain Knight in his own Ship in all 4 Sail. Captain Swan took his last farewel of him by firing 15 Guns and he fired 11 in return of the civility We stay'd here some time afterwards to fill our Water and cut Fire-wood but our Men who had been very healthy till now began to fall down apace in Fevers Whether it was the badness of the Water or the unhealthiness of the Town was the cause of it we did not know but of the two I rather believe it was a Distemper we got at Ria Lexa for it was reported that they had been visited with a Malignant Fever in that Town which had occasioned many people to abandon it and although this Visitation was over with them yet their Houses and Goods might still retain somewhat of the Infection and communicate the same to us I the rather believe this because it afterwards raged very much not only among us but also among Captain Davis and his Men as he told me himself since when I met him in England Himself had like to have died as did several of his and our Men. The 3d day of September we turned ashore all our Prisoners and Pilots they being unacquainted further to the West which was the Coast that we designed to visit for the Spaniards have very little Trade by Sea beyond the River Lempa a little to the North West of this place About 10 a clock in the morning the same day we went from hence steering Westward being in company 4 Sail as well as they who left us viz. Captain Swan and his Bark and Captain Townly and his Bark and about 340 Men. We met with very bad weather as we sailed along this Coast seldom a day past but we had one or two violent Tornadoes and with them very frightful Flashes of Lightning and Claps of Thunder I did never meet with the like before nor since These Tornadoes commonly came out of the N. E. the Wind did not last long but blew very fierce for the time When the Tornadoes were over we had the Wind at W. sometimes at W. S. W. and S. W. and sometimes to the North of the West as far as the N. W. We kept at a good distance off
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
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
Besides this present from the Governour there was a Captain of a Jonk sent two Jars of Arack and abundance of Pine-apples and Water-melons Captain Read sent ashore as a Present to the Governour a curious Spanish Silver-hilted Rapier an English Carbine and a Gold Chain and when the Officer went ashore three Guns were fired In the afternoon the Governour sent off the same Officer again to complement the Captain for his civility and promised to retaliate his kindness before we departed but we had such blustring weather afterward that no Boat could come aboard We stayed here till the 29th day and then sailed from hence with the wind at S. W. and pretty fair weather We now directed our course for some Islands we had chosen to go to that lye between Formosa and Luconia They are laid down in our plots without any name only with a figure of 5 denoting the number of them It was supposed by us that these Islands had no Inhabitants because they had not any name by our Hydographers Therefore we thought to lye there secure and be pretty near the Island Luconia which we did still intend to visit In going to them we sailed by the South West end of Formosa leaving it on our larboard side This is a large Island the South end is in lat 21 d. 20 m. and the North end in 25 d. 10 m. North lat the longitude of this Isle is laid down from 142 d. 5 m. to 143 d. 16 m. reckoning East from the pike of Tenariffe so that 't is but narrow and the Tropick of Cancer crosses it It is a high and woody Island and was formerly well inhabited by the Chinese and was then frequently visited by English Merchants there being a very good Harbour to secure their Ships But since the Tartars have conquered China they have spoiled the Harbour as I have been informed to hinder the Chinese that were then in Rebellion from fortifying themselves there and ordered the foreign Merchants to come and trade on the Main The 6th day of August we arrived at the five Islands that we were bound to and anchored on the East side of the Northermost Island in 15 fathom a Cables length from the shore Here contrary to our expectation we found abundance of Inhabitants in sight for there were 3 large Towns all within a league of the Sea and another larger Town than any of the three on the back side of a small hill close by also as we found afterwards These Islands lye in lat 20 d. 20 m. North lat by my observation for I took it there and I find their Longitude according to our Drafts to be 141 d. 50 m. These Islands having no particular Names in the Drafts some or other of us made use of the Seamens priviledge to give them what names we pleased Three of the Islands were pretty large the Westermost is the biggest This the Dutch men who were among us called the Prince of Orange's Island in honour of his present Majesty It is about 7 or 8 leagues long and about 2 leagues wide and it lies almost N. and S. The other two great Islands are about 4 or 5 leagues to the Eastward of this The Northermost of them where we first anchored I called the D. of Grafton's Isle as soon as we landed on it having married my Wife out of his Dutchess's Family and leaving her at Arlington house at my going aboard This Isle is about 4 leagues long and one league and a half wide stretching North and South The other great Isle our Seamen called the Duke of Monmouth's Island This is about a league to the Southward of Grafton Isle It is about 3 leagues long and a league wide lying as the other Between Monmouth and the South end of Orange Island there are two small Islands of a roundish form lying East and West The Eastermost Island of the two our men unanimously called Bashee Island from a Liquor which we drank there plentifully every day after we came to an anchor at it The other which is the smallest of all we called Goat Island from the great number of Goats there and to the Northward of them all are two high Rocks Orange Island which is the biggest of them all is not inhabited It is high Land flat and even on the top with steep cliffs against the Sea for which reason we could not go ashore there as we did on all the rest I have made it my general observation that where the Land is fenced with steep Rocks and Cliffs against the Sea there the Sea is very deep and seldom affords anchor ground and on the other side where the Land falls away with a declivity into the Sea altho the Land be exrraordinary high within yet there are commonly good soundings and consequently anchoring and as the visible declivity of the Land appears near or at the edge of the Water whether pretty steep or more sloping so we commonly find our anchor ground to be more or less deep or steep therefore we came nearer the shore or anchor farther off as we see convenient for there is no Coast in the World that I know or have heard of where the Land is of a continual heighth without some small Valleys or declivities which lye intermixt with the high Land They are these subsidings of Valleys or low Lands that make dents in the shore and Creeks small Bays and Harbours or little Coves c. which afford good anchoring the surface of the Earth being there lodged deep under Water Thus we find many good Harbours on such Coasts where the Land bounds the Sea with steep Clifs by reason of the Declivities or subsiding of the Land between these Cliffs But where the Declension from the Hills or Cliffs is not within Land between Hill and Hill but as on the Coast of Chili and Peru the Declivity is toward the Main Sea or into it the Coast being perpendicular or very steep from the neighbouring Hills as in those Countries from the Andes that run along the shore there is a deep Sea and few or no Harbours or Creeks All that Coast is too steep for anchoring and hath the fewest Roads fit for Ships of any Coast I know The Coasts of Gallicia Portugal Norway and Newfoundland c. are Coasts like the Peruvian and the high Islands of the Archipelago but yet not so scanty of good Harbours for where there are short Ridges of Land there are good Bays at the extremities of those Ridges where they plunge into the Sea as on the Coast of Caraccos c. The Island of John Fernando and the Island St. Helena c. are such high Land with deep shore and in general the plunging of any Land under Water seems to be in proportion to the rising of its continuous part above Water more or less steep and it must be a bottom almost level or very gently declining that affords good anchoring Ships being soon driven from their Moorings on
the Iron of which we had great store on board sent from England by the Merchants along with Captain Swan I durst nor barter it away These Rings when first polished look very gloriously but time makes them fade and turn to a pale yellow Then they make a soft paste of red earth and smearing it over their Rings they cast them into a quick fire where they remain till they be red hot then they take them out and cool them in water and rub off the paste and they look again of a glorious colour and lustre These people make but small low Houses The sides which are made of small posts watled with boughs are not above 4 foot and an half high the ridge pole is about 7 or 8 foot high They have a fire-place at one end of their Houses and boards placed on the ground to lye on They inhabit together in small Villages built on the sides and tops of rocky hills 3 or 4 rows of Houses one above another and on such steep praecipices that they go up to the first row with a wooden Ladder and so with a Ladder still from every story up to that above it there being no way to ascend The Plain on the first praecipice may be so wide as to have room both for a row of Houses that stand all along on the edge or brink of it and a very narrow street running along before their doors between the row of Houses and the foot of the next praecipice the plain of which is in a manner level to the tops of the Houses below and so for the rest The common Ladder to each row or street comes up at a narrow passage left purposely about the middle of 〈◊〉 and the street being bounded with a praecipice also at each end t is but drawing up the Ladder if they be assaulted and then there is no coming at them from below but by climbing up as against a perpendicular wall and that they may not be assaulted from above they take care to build on the side of such a hill whose backside hangs over the Sea or is some high steep perpendicular praecipice altogether inaccessible These praecipices are natural for the Rocks seem too hard to work on nor is there any sign that Art hath been employed about them On Bashee Island there is one such and built upon with its back next the Sea Grafton and Monmouth Isles are very thick set with these Hills and Towns and the Natives whether for fear of Pyrates or Foreign Enemies or Factions among their own Clans care not for building but in these Fastnesses which I take to be the reason that Orange Isle though the the largest and as fertile as any yet being level and exposed hath no Inhabitants I never saw the like Praecipices and Towns These People are pretty ingenious also in building Boats Their small Boats are much like our Deal Yalls but not so big and they are built with very narrow Plank pinn'd with Wooden Pins and some Nails They have also some pretty large Boats which will carry 40 or 50 Men. These they row with 12 or 14 Oars of a side They are built much like the small ones and they row double banked that is two Men setting on one Bench but one rowing on one side the other on the other side of the Boat They understand the use of Iron and work it themselves Their Bellows are like those at Mindanao The common imployment for the Men is Fishing but I did never see them catch much whether it is more plenty at other times of the year I know not The Women do manage their Plantations I did never see them kill any of their Goats or Hogs for themselves yet they would beg the Paunches of the Goats that they themselues did sell to us and if any of our surly Seamen did heave them into the Sea they would take them up again and the Skins of the Goats also They would not meddle with Hogs-guts if our Men threw away any beside what they made Chitterlings and Sausages of The Goat-skins these people would carry ashore and making a fire they would singe off all the hair and afterwards let the skin lye and parch on the coals till they thought it eatable and then they would gnaw it and tear it in pieces with their teeth and at last swallow it The Paunches of the Goats would make them an excellent dish they drest it in this manner They would turn out all the chopt grass and crudities found in the Maw into their Pots and set it over the fire and stir it about often this would smoak and puff and heave up as it were boyling wind breaking out of the ferment and making a very savory stink While this was doing if they had any Fish as commonly they had 2 or 3 small Fish these they would make very clean as hating Nastiness belike and cut the flesh from the bone and then mince the flesh as small as possibly they could and when that in the Pot was well boil'd they would take it up and strewing a little Salt into it they would eat it mixt with their raw minc'd fish The dung in the Maw would look like so much boil'd Herbs minc'd very small and they took up their mess with their singers as the Moors do their Pilaw using no Spoons They had another dish made of a sort of Locusts whose bodies were about an inch and an half long and as thick as the top of one's little finger with large thin Wings and long and small Legs At this time of the year these creatures came in great swarms to devour their Potato-leaves and other Herbs and the Natives would go out with small Nets and take a quart at one sweep When they had enough they would carry them home and parch them over the fire in an earthen Pan and then their Wings and Legs would fall off and their Heads and Backs would turn red like boil'd Shrimps being before brownish Their bodies being full would eat very moist their heads would crackle in ones teeth I did once eat of this Dish and liked it well enough but their other Dish my stomach would not take Their common drink is Water as it is of all other Indians beside which they make a sort of drink with the juice of the Sugar-cane which they boyl and put some small black sort of Berries among it When it is well boyled they put it into great Jars and let it stand 3 or 4 days and work Then it settles and becomes clear and is presently fit to drink This is an excellent Liquor and very much like English Beer both in colour and taste It is very strong and I do believe very wholesome for our men who drank briskly of it all day for several weeks were frequently drunk with it and never sick after it The Natives brought a vast deal of it every day to those aboard and ashore for some of our men were ashore at
Mindanaian make for our own use which our Carpenters afterwards altered and made a delicate Boat fit for any service She was sharp at both ends but we saw'd off one and made that end flat fastening a Rudder to it and she rowed and sailed incomparably We stayed here but till the 12th day because it was a bad Harbour and foul ground and a bad time of the year too for the Tornadoes began to come in thick and strong When we went to weigh our Anchor it was hooked in a Rock and we broke our Cable and could not get our Anchor though we strove hard for it so we went away and left it there We had the Wind at N. N. E. and we steered towards the S. E. and fell in with 4 or 5 small Islands that lye in 5 d. 40 m. South lat and about 5 or 6 leagues from Callasusung Harbour These Islands appeared very green with Coco-nut Trees and we saw two or three Towns on them and heard a Drum all night for we were got in among shoals and could not get out again till the next day We know not whether the Drum were for fear of us or that they were making merry as 't is usual in these parts to do all the night singing and dancing till morning We found a pretty strong Tide here the flood setting to the Southward and the ebb to the Northward These shoals and many other that are not laid down in our Drafts lye on the South West side of the Islands where we heard the Drum about a league from them At last we past between the Islands and tried for a passage on the East side We met with divers shoals on this side also but found Channels to pass through so we steered away for the Island Timor intending to pass out by it We had the Winds commonly at W. S. W. and S. W. hard gales and rainy weather The 16th day we got clear of the shoals and steered S. by E. with the Wind at W. S. W. but veering every half hour sometimes at S. W. and then again at W. and sometimes at N. N. VV. bringing much Rain with Thunder and Lightening The 20th day we passed by the Island Omba which is a pretty high Island lying in lat 8 d. 20 m. and not above 5 or 6 leagues from the N. E. part of the Island Timor It is about 13 or 14 leagues long and five or six leagues wide About 7 or 8 leagues to the VVest of Omba is another pretty large Island but it had no name in our plats yet by the situation it should be that which in some Maps is called Pentare We saw on it abundance of smoaks by day and fires by night and a large Town on the North side of it nor far from the Sea but it was such bad weather that we did not go ashore Between Omba and Pentare and in the mid Channel there is a small low sandy Island with great shoals on either side but there is a very good Channel close by Pentare between that and the shoals about the small Isle We were three days beating off and on not having a wind for it was at South South West The 23d day in the evening having a small gale at North we got through keeping close by Pentare The Tide of ebb here set out to the Southward by which we were helped through for we had but little wind But this Tide which did us a kindness in setting us through had like to have ruined us afterwards for there are two small Islands lying at the South end of the Channel we came through and towards these Islands the Tide hurried us so swiftly that we very narrowly escaped being driven ashore for the little wind we had before at North dying away we had not one breath of wind when we came there neither was there an anchor ground But we got out our Oars and rowed yet all in vain for the Tide set wholly on one of the small Islands that we were forced with might and main strength to bear off the Ship by thrusting with our Oars against the shore which was a steep bank and by this means we presently drove away clear of Danger and having a little wind in the night at North we steered away S. S. W. In the morning again we had the wind at W. S. W. and steered S. and the wind coming to the W. N. W. we steered S. W. to get clear of the S. W. end of the Island Timor The 26th day we saw the N. W. point of Timor S. E. by E. distant about 8 leagues Timor is a long high mountainous Island stretching N. E. and S. VV. It is about 70 leagues long and 15 or 16 wide the middle of the Island is in Lat. about 9 d. South I have been informed that the Portuguese do trade to this Island but I know nothing of its produce besides Coire for making Cables of which there is mention Chap. X. The 27th day we saw two small Islands which lye near the S. W. end of Timor They bear from us S. E. We had very hard gales of wind and still with a great deal of Rain the wind at W. and W. S. W. Being now clear of all the Islands we stood off South intending to touch at New Holland a part of Terra Australis Incognita to see what that Country would afford us Indeed as the Winds were we could not now keep our intended course which was first Westerly and then Northerly without going to New Holland unless we had gone back again among the Islands but this was not a good time of the year to be among any Islands to the South of the Equator unless in a good Harbour The 31st day we were in lat 13 d. 20 m. still standing to the Southward the wind bearing commonly very hard at W. and we keeping upon it under 2 courses and our Mizen and sometimes a Main-top-sail rift About 10 a clock at night we tackt and stood to the Northward for fear of running on a shoal which is laid down in our Drafts in lat 13 d. 50 m. or thereabouts it bearing S. by W. from the East end of Timor and so the Island bore from us by our judgments and reckoning At 3 a clock we tackt again and stood S. by W. and S. S. W. In the morning assoon as it was day we saw the shoal right ahead it lies in 13 d. 50 m. by all our reckonings It is a small spit of hand just appearing above the waters edge with several Rocks about it 8 or 10 foot high above water It lies in a triangular form each side being about a league and half We stemm'd right with the middle of it and stood within half a mile of the Rocks and sounded but found no ground Then we went about and stood to the North 2 hours and then tackt and stood to the Southward again thinking to weather it but could not So
often to strip and sit in the Sun two or three hours together in the heat of the day to destroy them Indeed most Indians that live remote from the Equator are molested with Lice though their Garments afford less shelter for Lice than these Hottantots Sheep-skins do For all those Indians who live in cold Countries as in the North and South parts of America have some sort of Skin or other to cover their Bodies as Deer Otter Beaver or Seals Skins all which they as constantly wear without shifting themselves as these Hottantots do their Sheep-Skins And hence they are lowsy too and strong scented though they do not daub themselves at all or but very little for even by reason of their Skins they smell strong The Hottantots Houses are the meanest that I did ever see They are about 9 or 10 foot high and 10 or 12 from side to side They are in a manner round made with small poles stuck into the ground and brought together at the top where they are fastned The sides and top of the House are filled up with Boughs coursely watled between the poles and all is covered over with long Grass Rushes and pieces of Hides and the House appears at a distance just like a Hay-cock They leave only a small hole on one side about three or four foot high for a door to creep in and out at but when the wind comes in at this door they stop it up and make another hole in the opposite side They make the Fire in the middle of the House and the smoak ascends out of the crannies from all parts of the House They have no Beds to lye on but tumble down at night round the fire Their Houshold furniture is commonly an earthen pot or two to boyl Victuals and they live very miserably and hard it is reported that they will fast two or three days together when they travel about the Country Their common food is either Herbs Flesh or Shell-fish which they get among the Rocks or other places at low water for they have no Boats Barklogs nor Canoas to go a fishing in so that their chiefest subsistance is on Land Animals or on such Herbs as the Land naturally produceth I was told by my Dutch Landlord that they kept Sheep and Bullocks here before the Dutch settled among them and that the Inland Hottantots have still great stocks of Cattle and sell them to the Dutch for Rolls of Tobacco and that the price for which they sell a Cow or Sheep was as much twisted Tobacco as will reach from the Horns or Head to the Tail for they are great lovers of Tobacco and will do any thing for it This their way of trucking was confirmed to me by many others who yet said that they could not buy their Beef this cheap way for they had not the liberty to deal with the Hottantots that being a priviledge which the Dutch East India Company reserve to themselves My Landlord having a great many Lodgers fed us most with Mutton some of which he bought of the Butcher and there is but one in the Town but most of it he kill'd in the night the Sheep being brought privately by the Hottantots who assisted in Skinning and Dressing and had the Skin and Guts for their pains I judge these Sheep were fetched out of the Country a good way off for he himself would be absent a day or two to procure them and two or three Hottantots with him These of the Hottantots that live by the Dutch Town have their greatest subsistance from the Dutch for there is one or more of them belonging to every house These do all sorts of servile work and there take their Food and Grease Three or four more of their nearest Relations sit at the doors or near the Dutch House waiting for the scraps and fragments that come from the Table and if between meals the Dutch people have any occasion for them to go on Errands or the like they are ready at command expecting little for their pains but for a stranger they will not budge under a Stiver Their Religion if they have any is wholly unknown to me for they have no Temple nor Idol nor any place of worship that I did see or hear of Yet their mirth and nocturnal pastimes at the New and Full of the Moon lookt as if they had some Superstition about it For at the Full especially they sing and dance all night making a great noise I walked out to their Huts twice at these times in the evening when the Moon arose above the Horizon and viewed them for an hour or more They seem all very busie both Men Women and Children dancing very oddly on the green Grass by their Houses They traced to and fro promiscuously often clapping their hands and singing aloud Their Faces were sometimes to the East sometimes to the West neither did I see any motion or gesture that they used when their Faces were toward the Moon more than when their backs were towards it After I had thus observed them for a while I returned to my Lodging which was not above 2 or 300 paces from their Huts and I heard them Singing in the same manner all night In the grey of the morning I walked out again and found many of the men and women still Singing and Dancing who continued their mirth till the Moon went down and then they left off Some of them going into their Huts to sleep and others to their attendance in their Dutch houses Other Negroes are less circumspect in their Night-Dances as to the precise time of the Full Moon they being more general in these Nocturnal pastimes and use them oftener as do many people also in the East and West Indies Yet there is a difference between colder and warmer Countries as to their Divertisements The warmer Climates being generally very preductive of delicate Fruits c. and these uncivilized people caring for little else than what is barely necessary they spend the greatest part of their time in diverting themselves after their several fashions but the Indians of colder Climates are not so much at leisure the Fruits of the Earth being scarce with them and they necessitated to be continually Fishing Hunting or Fowling for their subsistance not as with us for Recreation As for these Hottantots they are a very lazy sort of people and tho they live in a delicate Country very fit to be manured and where there is Land enough for them yet they choose rather to live as their Fore-fathers poor and miserable than be at pains for plenty And so much for the Hottantots I shall now return to our own affairs Upon our arrival at the Cape Captain Heath took an House to live in in order to recover his health Such of his Men as were able did so too for the rest he provided Lodgings and paid their expences Three or four of our men who came ashore very sick died but the rest by the
very shy since the English and Dutch settled here for now the Natives as well as they shoot them but before their arrival the Tonquinese took them only with Nets neither is this custom left off yet The Net that is us'd for this Game is made square and either bigger or less according as they have occasion They fix two Poles about 10 or 11 foot high upright in the ground near the Pond where the Ducks haunt and the Net has a head-cord which is stretched out streight made from the top of one Pole to the other from whence the lower part of the Net hangs down loose towards the ground and when in the evening they fly towards the Pond many of them strike against the Net and are there entangled There is a kind of Locust in Tonquin in great abundance This Creature is about the bigness of the top of a mans Finger and as long as the first joynt It breeds in the earth especially in the banks of Rivers and Ditches in the low Country In the months of January and February which is the season of taking them being then only seen this creature first comes out of the Earth in huge swarms It is then of a whitish colour and having 2 small wings like the wings of a Bee at its first coming out of the Earth it takes its flight but for want of strength or use falls down again in a short time Such as strive to fly over the River do commonly fall down into the water and are drowned or become a prey to the Fish of the River or are carried out into the Sea to be devoured there but the Natives in these months watch the Rivers and take up thence multitudes skimming them from off the Water with little Nets They eat them fresh broiled on the Coals or pickle them to keep They are plump and fat and are much esteemed both by rich and poor as good wholesome food either fresh or pickled The Rivers and Ponds are stored with divers sorts of excellent Fish besides abundance of Frogs which they Angle for being highly esteemed by the Tonquinese The Sea too contributes much towards the support of the poor People by yielding plentiful stores of Fish that swarm on this Coast in their seasons and which are commonly preferr'd before the River Fish Of these here are divers sorts besides Sea Turtle which frequently come ashore on the Sandy Bays in their seasons to lay their Eggs. Here are also both Land crabs and Sea-crabs good store and other Shell-fish viz. Craw-fish Shrimps and Prawns Here is one sort of small Fish much like an Anchovy both in shape and size which is very good pickled There are other sorts of small Fish which I know not the names of One sort of them comes in great shoals near the shore and these the Fishermen with their Nets take so plentifully as to load their Boats with them Among these they generally take a great many Shrimps in their nets which they carry ashore mixt together as they take them and make Balachaun with them Balachaun is a composition of a strong savor yet a very delightsom dish to the Natives of this Country To make it they throw the Mixture of Shrimps and small Fish into a sort of weak pickle made with Salt and Water and put into a tight earthen Vessel or Jar. The Pickle being thus weak it keeps not the Fish firm and hard neither is it probably so designed for the Fish are never gutted Therefore in a short time they turn all to a mash in the Vessel and when they have lain thus a good while so that the Fish is reduced to a pap they then draw off the liquor into fresh Jars and preserve it for use The masht Fish that remains behind is called Balachaun and the liquor pour'd off is call'd Nuke-Mum The poor people eat the Balachaun with their Rice 'T is rank scented yet the taste is not altogether unpleasant but rather savory after one is a little used to it The Nuke-Mum is of a paie brown colour inclining to grey and pretty clear It is also very savory and used as a good sauce for Fowls not only by the Natives but also by many Europeans who esteem it equal with Soy I have been told that Soy is made partly with a Fishy composition and it seems most likely by the taste tho a Gentleman of my acquaintance who was very intimate with one that sailed often from Tonquin to Japan from whence the true Soy comes told me that it was made only with Wheat and a sort of Beans mixt with Water and Salt Their way of Fishing differs little from ours in the Rivers they take some of their Fish with Hook and Line others with Nets of several sorts At the mouths of the Rivers they set nets against the Stream or Tide These have two long wings opening on each side the mouth of the Net to guide the Fish into it where passing through a narrow neck they are caught in a bag at the farther end Where the Rivers mouth is so wide that the wings of the Net will not reach from side to side as at Batsha particularly it will not there they supply that defect with long slender Canes which they stick upright near one another in a row for on both sides of the River when the tide runs strong which is the time that the Fish are moving the limber Canes make such a ratling by striking against each other that thereby the Fish are scared from thence towards the Mouth of the Net in the middle of the Stream Farther up the River they have Nets made square like a great sheet This sort hath two long Poles laid across each other At this crossing of the Poles a long Rope is fastned and the Net hangs down in a bag by its corners from them To manage it there is a substantial post set upright and firm in the River and the top of it may be 8 or 10 foot above the water On the top of this post there is a Mortice made to receive a long pole that lies athwart like the Beam of a Ballance to the heavier end of which they tie the Rope which holds the Net and to the other end another Rope to pull up the Net on occasion The Fishermen sink it with Stones to the Rivers bottom and when they see any Fish come over it one suddenly pulls the Rope at the opposite end of the beam and heaves Net and Fish out of the Water They take a great deal of Fish this way and sometimes they use Drag-Nets which go quite across and sweep the River In the stagnant Ponds such as the Mandarins have commonly about their Houses they go in and trouble the water with their feet till 't is all muddy and thick and as the Fish rise to the surface they take what they please with small Nets fastned to a hoop at the end of a pole For all these sorts of provision there
so very populous many of them are extreme poor for want of employment and tho the Country is full of Silk and other materials to work on yet little is done but when strange Ships arrive For 't is the Money and Goods that are brought hither especially by the English and Dutch that puts life into them for the Handicrafts men have not Money to set themselves to work and the Foreign Merchants are therefore forc'd to trust them with advance-money to the value of at least a third or half their goods and this for 2 or 3 months or more before they have made their goods and brought them in So that they having no Goods ready by them till they have Money from the Merchant strangers the Ships that trade hither must of necessity stay here all the time that their Goods are making which are commonly 5 or 6 months The Tonquinese make very good Servants I think the best in India For as they are generally apprehensive and docil so are they faithful when hired diligent and obedient Yet they are low spirited probably by reason of their living under an Arbitrary Government They are patient in labour but in sickness they are mightily dejected They have one great fault extreme common among them which is gaming To this they are so universally addicted Servants and all that neither the awe of their Masters nor any thing else is sufficient to restrain them till they have lost all they have even their very Cloaths This is a reigning Vice amongst the Eastern Nations especially the Chinese as I said in the 15th Chapter of my former Volume And I may add that the Chinese I found settled at Tonqnin were no less given to it than those I met with elsewhere For after they have lost their Money Goods and Cloaths they will stake down their Wives and Children and lastly as the dearest thing they have will play upon tick and mortgage their Hair upon honour And whatever it cost 'em they will be sure to redeem it For a free Chinese as these are who have fled from the Tartars would be as much asham'd of short Hair as a Tonquinese of white Teeth The Cloaths of the Tonquinese are made either of Silk or Cotton The poor people and Soldiers do chiefly wear Cotton cloath died to a dark tawny colour The rich men and Mandarins commonly wear English Broad-cloath the chief colours are red or green When they appear before the King they wear long Gowns which reach down to their heels neither may any man appear in his presence but in such a garb The great men have also long Caps made of the same that their Gowns are made of but the middle sort of men and the poor commonly go bare-headed Yet the Fishermen and such Labourers as are by their employments more exposed to the weather have broad brim'd Hats made of Reeds Straw or Palmeto-leaves These Hats are as stiff as boards and sit not plyant to their heads for which reason they have Bandstrings or Necklaces fastened to their Hats which coming under their chins are there tyed to keep their Hats fast to their heads These Hats are very ordinary things they seldom wear them but in rainy weather Their other Cloaths are very few and mean a ragged pair of Britches commonly sussiceth them Some have bad Jackets but neither Shirt Stockings nor Shooes The Tonquinese buildings are but mean Their Houses are small and low the Walls are either Mud or Watle bedawbed over and the Roofs are thatched and that very ill especially in the Country The Houses are too low to admit of Chambers yet they have here 2 or 3 partitions on the ground floor made with a watling of Canes or Sticks for their several uses In each of which there is a Window to let in the light The Windows are only small square holes in the Walls which they shut up at night with a Board fitted for that purpose The Rooms are but meanly furnished with a poor Bed or two or more according to the bigness of the family in the inner Room The outer Rooms are furnish'd with Stools Benches or Chairs to sit on There is also a Table and on one side a little Altar with two Incense-pots on it nor is any House without its Altar One of these Incense-pots has a small bundle of Rushes in it the ends of which I always took notice had been burnt and the sire put out This outer Room is the place where they commonly dress their food yet in fair weather they do it as frequently in the open air at their doors or in their yards as being thereby the less incommoded by heat or smoak They dwell not in lone houses but together in Villages 't is rare to see a single house by itself The Country Villages commonly consist of 20 30 or 40 houses and are thick seated over all the Country yet hardly to be seen till you come to their very doors by reason of the Trees and Groves they are surrounded with And 't is as rare to see a Grove without a Village in the low Country near the Sea as to see a Village without a Grove but the high Lands are full of Woods and the Villages there stand all as in one great Forest. The Villages and Land about them do most belong to great men and the Inhabitants are Tenants that manure and cultivate the ground The Villages in the low Land are also surrounded with great banks and deep ditches These incompass the whole Grove in which each Village stands The banks are to keep the water from overflowing their gardens and from coming into their houses in the wet time when all the Land about them is under water 2 or 3 foot deep The ditches or trenches are to preserve the water in the dry time with which they water their gardens when need requires Every man lets water at pleasure by little drains that run inward from the Town-ditch into his own garden and usually each mans yard or garden is parted from his neighbours by one of these little drains on each side The houses lie scattering up and down in the Grove no where joyning to one another but each apart and fenced in with a small hedge Every house hath a small gate or stile to enter into the garden first for the house stands in the middle of it and the garden runs also from the backside of the house to the Town-Ditch with its drain and hedge on each side In the gardens every man has his own Fruit-trees as Oranges Limes Betle his Pumpkins Melons Pine-apples and a great many Herbs In the dry season these Grovy dwellings are very pleasant but in the wet season they are altogether uncomfortable for tho fenced in thus with banks yet are they like so many Duck houses all wet and dirty neither can they pass from one Village to another but mid-leg or to their knees in water unless sometimes in Boats which they keep for this purpose but
notwithstanding these they are seldom out of mire and wet even in the midst of the Village or Garden so long as that season lasts The Inhabitants of the higher part of the Kingdom are not troubled with such inconveniencies but live more cleanly and comfortably forasmuch as their Land is never overflown with water and tho they live also in Villages or Towns as the former yet they have no occasion to surround them with banks or trenches but lie open to the Forest. The Capital City Cachao which stands in the high Country about 80 miles from the Sea on the West side of the River and on a pretty level yet rising ground lies open in the same manner without wall bank or ditch There may be in Cachao about 20000 Houses The Houses are generally low the walls of the Houses are of mud and the covering thatch yet some are built with brick and the covering with pantile Most of these Houses have a yard or backside belonging to them In each yard you shall see a small arched building made somewhat like an Oven about 6 foot high with the mouth on the ground It is built from top to bottom with brick all over daub'd thick with mud and dirt If any house wants a yard they have nevertheless such a kind of Oven as this but smaller set up in the middle of the House it self and there is scarce a house in the City without one The use of it is to thrust their chiefest goods into when a Fire happens for these low thatch'd Houses are very subject to take fire especially in the dry times to the destruction of many Houses in an instant that often they have scarce time to secure their goods in the arched Ovens tho so near them As every private person hath this contrivance to secure his own goods when a Fire happens so the Government hath carefully ordered necessary means to be used for the preventing of Fire or extinguishing it before it gets too great a head For in the beginning of the dry season every man must keep a great Jar of water on the top of his House to be ready to pour down as occasion shall serve Besides this he is to keep a long pole with a basket or bowl at the end of it to throw water out of the Kennels upon the houses But if the Fire gets to such a head that both these expedients fail then they cut the straps that hold the Thatch of the Houses and let it drop from the rafters to the ground This is done with little trouble for the Thatch is not laid on as ours neither is it tyed on by single leaves as in the West Indies and many parts of the East Indies where they Thatch with Palmeto or Palm tree leaves but this is made up in Panes of 7 or 8 foot square before it is laid on so that 4 or 6 Panes more or less according to the bigness of the House will cover one side of it and these Panes being only fastned in a few places to the rafters with Rattans they are easily cut and down drops half the covering at once These panes are also better than loose thatch as being more managable in case any of them should fall on or near near the Oven where the Goods are for they are easily dragg'd off to another place The Neighbouring Houses may this way be soon uncovered before the flame comes to them and the Thatch either carried away or at least laid where it may burn by itself And for this purpose every man is ordered to keep a long Pole or Bambo at his door with a Cutting-hook at the end of it purposely for uncovering the houses and if any man is found without his Jar upon the house and his Bucket-pole and long Hook at his door he will be punish'd severely for his neglect They are rigorous in exacting this for even with all this caution they are much and often damaged by Fire The principal streets in this City are very wide tho some are but narrow They are most of them pav'd or pitch'd rather with small Stones but after a very ill manner In the wet season they are very dirty and in the dry time there are many stagnant ponds and some ditches full of black stinking mud in and about the City This makes it unpleasant and a man would think unwholesome too yet it is healthy enough as far as I perceiv'd or could ever learn The Kings of Tonquin who make this City their constant Residence have two or three Palaces in it such as they be Two of them are very mean they are built with timber yet have they many great Guns planted in Houses near them Stables for the Kings Elephants and Horses and pretty large square spots of ground for the Soldiers to draw themselves up regularly before him The third Palace is call'd the Palace Royal It is more magnificently built than the other two yet built also with timber but all open as the Divans in Turky are said to be The wall that incompasseth it is most remarkable It is said to be 3 leagues in circumference The heighth of this Wall is about 15 or 16 foot and almost as many broad or thick It is faced up on both sides with Brick there are several small Gates to go in and out at but the main Gate faceth to the City This they say is never opened but when the Boua or Emperor goes in or comes out There are two smaller Gates adjoyning to it one on each side which are opened on all occasions for any concern'd there to pass in and out but strangers are not permitted this liberty Yet they may ascend to the top of the Wall and walk round it there being stairs at the Gate to go up by and in some places the Walls are fallen down Within this Wall there are large Fish-ponds where also there are Pleasure-Boats for the Emperors diversion I shall defer speaking of him whose Prison this is rather than Court till the next Chapter where I shall discourse of the Government The house of the English Factory who are very few is pleasantly seated on the North end of the City fronting to the River 'T is a pretty handsome low built House the best that I saw in the City There is a handsome Dining-room in the middle and at each end convenient apartments for the Merchants Factors and Servants belonging to the Company to live in with other conveniences This House stands parallel with the River and at each end of it there are smaller Houses for other uses as Kitchin Store-Houses c. runing in a line from the great House towards the River making two Wings and a square Court open to the River In this square space near the banks of the River there stands a Flag-staff purposely for the hoysing up the English Colours on all occasions for it is the custom of our Countrymen aboard to let fly their Colours on Sundays and all other remarkable
Tryals they commonly eat 8 or 9 cups of Rice each containing a pint and they are ever afterwards esteem'd and advanced according to the first days service and the greatest eaters are chiefly imploy'd as guards to the King and commonly attend on his Person The Province of Ngean breeds the lustiest men and the best eaters for that reason those of that Province are generally imploy'd as Soldiers After 30 years service a Soldier may petition to be disbanded and then the Village where he was born must send another man to serve in his room The Horsemen are but few and armed with Bows and long Spears or Lances like the Moors and Turks Both these and the Foot Soldiers are very dexterous in using their weapons and shoot very well with either with Gun or Bow for they are often exercised by shooting at Marks The King orders a shooting match once a year and rewards the best marks-man with a fine Coat or about 1000 Cash as t is called which is a summ about the value of a Dollar The mark is a white earthen Cup placed against a Bank The distance they stand to fire at it is about 80 yards He who breaks the first Cup has the finest Coat for there are others also of less worth and finery for the rest that have the good fortune to break the other Cups or Cash in lieu of them This is all at the Kings charge who incourages this exercise very much as a means to make them good Marks-men and they generally prove such They will load and fire the quickest of any People They draw the Rammer at one motion and powring down the Powder and Bullet they ram all down at one motion more Then they withdraw the Rammer and put it into its place at 2 motions more All the 4 motions are performed very dexterously and quick and when they shoot at a mark they level and fire at first sight yet very successfully Tho the King of Tonquin has no Forts yet he keeps always a great many Souldiers in the Frontier Towns of his Kingdom especially on the S. W. part thereof to check the Cochinchinese his implacable Enemies and tho there seldom happens a pitch'd Battel between them yet there are often Skirmishings which keep the Souldiers on each side upon their guards and sometimes there are considerable excursions made by one or other party into the Enemies Territories where they kill spoyl and bring away what booty they can find The King also has always about 30000 near his person and quarter'd in or about Cachao ready on all occasions The Dry season is the time for his Armies to take the Field or go against an Enemy for in these Countries there is no marching in the Wet season When he sends an Army by Land on any expedition the General and other great Officers are mounted on Elephants These have neat little boarded Houses or Castles fastned on their backs where the great men sit in state secur'd from the Sun or Rain They have no Field-pieces in their Armies but instead thereof they carry on mens backs Guns that will carry a 4 ounce Shot The barrels of these Guns are about 6 or 7 foot long but tho one man carries one of them on his back yet he cannot hold it out to fire like small Guns but rests it on its Carriage which is another mans burden and they two manage it between them The Carriage is only a round piece of Wood about 4 inches thick and 6 or 7 foot long One end of the Carriage is supported with two Legs or a Fork of three foot high the other rests on the ground The Gun is placed on the top where there is an Iron Socket for the Gun to rest in and a Swivel to turn the Muzzel any way From the britch of the Gun there is a short stock for the man who fires the Gun to traverse it withal and to rest it against his shoulder The use of these Guns is to clear a Pass or to fire over the Rivers when the Enemy is so commodiously plac'd that there is no other way to move him and they are carry'd by these two men almost with as much ease as Muskets In these Land-expeditions they carry but little baggage besides their necessary Arms Ammunition and Provender So that if they are routed they lightly scamper away and generally in these Countries the Dispute is soon over for they will not long sustain a smart Onset Besides the Souldiers on the Frontiers and those who attend the King about Cachao he has many others that keep guards in several parts of his Kingdom especially in the great Roads and on the Rivers These search all exported goods to see that no prohibited goods are sent out of the Kingdom especially Arms and no prohibited goods brought in They also look after the Custome and see that all goods have paid before they may pass further All Travellers are also search'd by them and strictly examined and if any persons are taken only on suspicion they are used very severely till they can clear themselves So that no disaffected or rebellious person can stir without being presently known and this renders the King very safe in his Government The Kings Naval force consists only in a sort of flat bottom Gallies and these seemingly designed more for State than service except to transport Soldiers from one place to another These Vessels are 50 60 or 70 foot long and about 10 or 12 foot broad in the waste and the 2 ends near as many foot high out of the water especially the hinderpart orStern but the waste or middle of the Vessel is not above 2 foot and an half from the water that being the place by which all the men go in and out From thence towards each end it is gently and very artificially raised to a considerable heighth so that the whole fabrick appears very graceful and pleasant as it moves on the water The head or forepart is not altogether so high as the Stern neither is there so much cost bestowed on it for ornament for tho it wants neither carv'd work nor painting yet 't is not comparable to that of the Stern which has great variety of carving and is curiously lacker'd and gilded The place where the Captain sits is in the Stern and is neatly covered to keep off the Sun or the Rain and it being higher than any other part of the Vessel appears like a little throne especially that of the Generals Galley This is more magnificent than the rest tho all are built much of one form From the Stern to the waste it is covered over with a slight covering to shelter the Men and their Arms from the Rain in the wet season and the scorching Sun in the dry Before the waste there are places for the Oars on each side and a plain even Deck for the Rowers to stand by their tackling Each Galley carries a small brass Gun either Minion or Saker which is
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
Then we weighed again having a small land Wind but the Tyde of flood was against us and drove us to the Eastward When the Ebb came we jogged on and got about 3 leagues anchoring when the Flood came because the Winds were against us Thus we continued plying with the Ebb and anchoring every flood till we came to Pulo Parsalore where the Captain told me he would not go out the same way we came in as I would have perswaded him but kept the Malacca Shore aboard and past within the Sholes But in a few Hours after we ran upon a Shole driven on it by the Tide of Flood which here set to the Eastward tho by our Reckoning it should have been half Ebb and the Flood should have set Westward as we had it all the rest of the way from Malacca but the Sholes probably caused some whirling about of the Tide However the Sand we were struck upon was not above an 100 yards in circumference and the flood being rising we waited the time of high water and then drove over it having sent our Boat to discover how the Sholes lay while our Ship was aground Mr Richards all the while being in great fear lest the Malayans should come off in their Boats and attack the Vessel We were now afloat again and soon got without all the Sholes yet we did not stand over towards Sumatra but coasted along nearest the Malacca shore it being now most proper for us so to do yet for having the winds Westerly we could not have beat under the other shore 2 or 3 days after this we had sight of some Islands called Pulo Sambilong which in the Malayan Language signifies nine Islands there being so many of them lying scattering at unequal distances from each other It was near one of these Islands that Captain Minchin in a former Voyage was like to lose his hand by a prick with a Cat fishes Fin as I have said in my former Vol. p. 149. and tho his hand was cured yet he has lost the use of it ever since and is never likely to regain it more We stood in pretty near the shore in hopes to gain a fresh Land Wind. About 10 a Clock the Land Wind came off a gentle breez and we coasted along shore But a small Tornado coming off from the shore about midnight we broke our Mizen yard and being near a Dutch Island called Pulo Dinding we made in for it and anchored there the night ensuing and found there a Dutch Sloop mann'd with about 30 Soldiers at an anchor This is a small Island lying so nigh the main that Ships passing by cannot know it to be an Island It is pretty high Land and well watered with Brooks The mold is blackish deep and fat in the lower ground but the Hills are somewhat Rocky yet in general very woody The Trees are of divers sorts many of which are good Timber and large enough for any use Here are also some good for Masts and Yards they being naturally light yet tough and serviceable There s good riding on the East side between the Island and the Main You may come in with the Sea breeze and go out with a Land wind there is water enough and a secure Harbour The Dutch who are the only Inhabitants have a Fort on the East side close by the Sea in a bending of the Island which makes a small Cove for Ships to anchor in The Fort is built 4 square without Flankers or Bastions like a house every square is about 10 or 12 yards The Walls are of a good thickness made of stone and carried up to a good heighth of about 30 foot and covered over head like a dwelling House There may be about 12 or 14 Gnns in it some looking out at every square These Guns are mounted on a strong Platform made within the Walls about 16 Foot high and there are steps on the outside to ascend to the Door that opens to the Platform there being no other way into the Fort. Here is a Governour and about 20 or 30 Souldiers who all lodge in the Fort. The Soldiers have their lodging in the Platform among the Guns but the Governour has a fair Chamber above it where he lies with some of the Officers About a hundred yards from the Fort on the Bay by the Sea there is a low timbered House where the Governour abides all the day time In this House there were two or three Rooms for their use but the chiefest was the Governours Dining Room This fronted to the Sea and the end of it looked towards the Fort. There were two large Windows of about 7 or 8 foot square the lower part of them about 4 or 5 foot from the ground These Windows were wont to be left open all the day to let in the refreshing breeze but in the night when the Governour withdrew to the Fort they were closed with strong shutters and the Doors made fast till the next day The Continent of Malacca opposite to the Island is pretty low champion Land cloathed with lofty Woods and right against the Bay where the Dutch Fort stands there is a navigable River for small craft The product of the Country thereabouts besides Rice and other eatables is Tutaneg a sort of Tin I think courser than ours The Natives are Malayans who as I have always observed are bold and treacherous yet the trading people are affable and courteous to Merchants These are in all respects as to their Religion Custom and manner of Living like other Malayans Whether they are governed by a King or Raja or what other manner of Government they live under I know not They have Canoas and Boats of their own and with these they fish and traffick among themselves but the Tin Trade is that which has formerly drawn Merchant Strangers thither But tho the Country might probably yield great quantities of this metal and the Natives are not only inclinable but very desirous to trade with Strangers yet are they now restrained by the Dutch who have monopoliz'd that Trade to themselves It was probably for the lucre of this Trade that the Dutch built the Fort on the Island but this not wholly answering their ends by reason of the distance between it and the Rivers mouth which is about 4 or 5 miles they have also a Guardship commonly lying here and a Sloop with 20 or 30 armed men to hinder other Nations from this Trade For this Tutaneg or Tin is a valuable Commodity in the Bay of Bengal and here purchased reasonably by giving other Commodities in exchange neither is this Commodity peculiarly found hereabouts but farther Northerly also on the Coast and particularly in the Kingdom of Queda there is much of it The Dutch also commonly keep a Guardship and have made some fruitless essays to bring that Prince and his Subjects to trade only with them but here over against P. Dinding no strangers dare approach to trade neither may any Ship
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
Country and its Product with some particulars of the Logwood-Cutters their hunting for Beef and making Hides c. I have in my former Voyage described the Coast from Cape Catoch to Cape Cendecedo Therefore I shall now begin where I then left off and following the same Method proceed to give some Account of the Sea-Coast of the Bay of Campeachy being competently qualified for it by many little Excursions that I made from Trist during my abode in these Parts The Bay of Campeachy is a deep bending of the Land contained between Cape Condecedo on the East and a Point shooting forth from the High-Land of St. Martins on the West The distance between these two Places is about 120 Leagues in which are many Large and Navigable Rivers Wide Lagunes c. Of all which I shall treat in their order as also of the Land on the Coast its Soil Product c. Together with some Observations concerning the Trees Plants Vegetables Animals and Natives of the Country From Cape Condecedo to the Salinas is 14 or 15 Leagues the Coast runs in South It is all a Sandy Bay between and the Land also within is dry and sandy producing only some scrubbed Trees Half way between these two Places you may dig in the Sand above High-Water-Mark and find very good fresh Water The Salina is a fine small Harbour for Barks but there is not above 6 or 7 Foot Water and close by the Sea a little within the Land there is a large Salt Pond belonging to Campeachy-Town which yields abundance of Salt At the time when the Salt Kerns which is in May or June the Indians of the Country are ordered by the Spaniards to give their attendance to rake it ashore and gather it into a great Pyramidal Heap broad below and sharp at the top like the Ridg of a House then covering it all over with dry Grass and Reeds they set fire to it and this burns the out-side Salt to a hard black Crust The hard Crust is afterwards a defence against the Rains that are now settled in and preserves the Heap dry even in the wettest Season The Indians whose business I have told you is to gather the Salt thus into Heaps wait here by turns all the Kerning Season not less than 40 or 50 Families at a time yet here are no Houses for them to lie in neither do they at all regard it for they are relieved by a fresh supply of Indians every Week and they all sleep in the open Air some on the Ground but most in very poor Hammacks fastned to Trees or Posts stuck into the Ground for that purpose Their Fare is no better than their Lodging for they have no other Food while they are here but Tartilloes and Posole Tartilloes are small Cakes made of the Flower of Indian Corn and Posole is also Indian Corn boiled of which they make their Drink But of this more hereafter when I treat of the Natives and their Manner of Living When the Kerning Season is over the Indians march home to their settled Habitations taking no more care of the Salt But the Spaniards of Campeachy who are Owners of the Ponds do frequently send their Barks hither for Salt to load Ships that lye in Campeachy Road and afterwards transport it to all the Ports in the Bay of Mexico especially to Aluarado and Tompeck two great Fishing Towns and I think that all the Inland Towns thereabouts are supplied with it for I know of no other Salt Ponds on all the Coast besides this and those before-mentioned This Salina Harbour was often visited by the English Logwood-Cutters in their way from Jamaica to Trist. And if they found any Barks here either light or laden they made bold to take and sell both the Ships and the Indian Sailers that belonged to them This they would tell you was by way of reprizal for some former injuries received of the Spaniards though indeed 't was but a pretence for the Governours of Jamaica knew nothing of it neither durst the Spaniards complain for at that time they used to take all the English Ships they met with in these Parts not sparing even such as came laden with Sugar from Jamaica and were bound for England especially if they had Logwood aboard This was done openly for the Ships were carried into the Havanna there sold and the Men imprisoned without any Redress From the Salinas to Campeachy Town is about 20 Leagues the Coast runs S. by W. The first 4 Leagues of it along the Coast is drowned Mangrove-Land yet about two Mile South of the Salina about 200 Yards from the Sea there is a fresh Spring which is visited by all the Indians that pass this way either in Bark or Canoa there being no Water beside near it and there is a small dirty path leads to it thro' the Mangroves after you are past these Mangroves the Coast riseth higher with many sandy Bays where Boats may conveniently land but no fresh Water till you come to a River near Campeachy Town The Land further along the Coast is partly Mangrovy but most of it dry Ground and not very fruitful producing only a few scrubed Bushes And there is no Logwood growing on all this Coast even from Cape Catoch to Campeachy Town About six Leagues before you come to Campeachy there is a small Hill called Hina where Privateers do commonly Anchor and keep Sentinels on the Hill to look out for Ships bound to the Town There is plenty of good Fire-wood but no Water and in the surf of the Sea close by the shore you find abundance of Shell-fish called by the English Horse-hoofs because the under part or belly of the Fish is flat and somewhat resembling that Figure in Shape and Magnitude but the back is round like a Turtles the Shell is thin and brittle like a Lobsters with many small Claws and by report they are very good Meat but I never tasted any of them my self There are three small low sandy Islands about 25 or 26 Leagues from Hina bearing North from it and 30 Leagues from Campeachy On the South side of these Islands there is good Anchorage but neither Wood nor Water And as for Animals we saw none but only great numbers of large Rats and plenty of Boobies and Men-of-War-Birds These Islands are call'd the Triangles from the Figure they make in their Position There are no other at any distance from the shore but these and the Alcranies mentioned in the former Chapter in all this Coast that I have seen From Hina to Campeachy as I said before is about 6 Leagues Campeachy is a fair Town standing on the shore in a small bending of the Land and is the only Town on all this Coast even from Cape Catoch to La Vera Cruz that stands open to the Sea It makes a fine shew being built all with good Stone The Houses are not high but the Walls very strong the Roofs flatish after the Spanish Fashion and
When they had a little refresh'd him with Brandy and Water he told them how his Company had fainted for Thirst and drop'd down one after another though he still incouraged them to be chearful and rest themselves a while till he got some supplies of Water for them that they were very patient and that two of his Men held out till five a Clock in the Afternoon and then they fainted also but he himself proceeded in quest of his way till Night and then fell down in the place where they then found him The two Seamen carried the Captain Aboard while Mr. Cane searched about for the rest but to no purpose for he returned without them and could neve hear of them afterwards This was a warning to me never to straggle from my Consorts in our Hunting But to proceed When my Months Service was up in which time we brought down all the Wood to the Creeks side I was presently pay'd my Tun of Logwood with which and some more that I borrow'd I bought a little Provision and was afterwards entertained as a Companion at Work with some of my former Masters for they presently broke up Consort-ships letting the Wood lye till either Mr. West came to fetch it according to his Contract or else till they should otherwise dispose of it Some of them immediately went to Beef-Island to kill Bullocks for their Hides which they preserve by pegging them out very tite on the Ground First they turn the fleshy side and after the hair upwards letting them lye so till they are very dry 32 strong Pegs as big as a Man's Arm are required to stretch the Flide as it ought to be When they are dry they fold them in the middle from Head to Tail with the Hair outward and then hang them cross a strong Pole so high that the ends may not touch the Ground 40 or 50 one upon another and once in 3 Weeks or a Month they beat them with great Sticks to strike off the Worms that breed in the Hair and eat it off which spoils the Hide When they are to be ship'd off they soak them in salt Water to kill the remaining Worms and while they are yet wet they fold them in 4 folds and afterwards spread them Abroad again to dry When they are fully dry they fold them up again and so send them Aboard I was yet a Stranger to this Work therefore remained with 3 of the old Crew to cut more Logwood My Consorts were all three Scotch-men one of them named Price Morrice had lived there some Years and was Master of a pretty large Periago for without some sort of Boat here is no stirring from one place to another The other two were young Men that had been bred Merchants viz. Mr. Duncan Campbell and Mr. George These two not liking either the Place or Employment waited an opportunity of going away by the first Ship that came hither to take in Logwood Accordingly not long after the above-mentioned Capt. Hall of Boston came hither on that design and was fraighted by them with 40 Tun. It was agreed that George should stay behind to cut Logwood but Campbell should go to New-England to sell this Cargo and bring back Flower and such other Commodities that were proper to purchase Hides and Logwood in the Bay This retarded our business for I did not find Price Morrice very intent at Work for 't is like he thought he had Logwood enough And I have particularly observed there and in other Places that such as had been well-bred were generally most careful to improve their Time and would be very industrious and frugal when there was any probability of considerable Gain But on the contrary such as had been inur'd to hard Labour and got their Living by the sweat of their Brows when they came to have plenty would extravagantly squander away their Time and Money in Drinking and making a Bluster To be short I kept to my Work by my self till I was hindred by a hard red and angry Swelling like a Boyl in my right Leg so painful that I was scarce able to stand on it but I was directed to roast and apply the Roots of White Lillies of which here is great plenty growing by the Creek sides to draw it to a head This I did three or four Days without any benefit At last I perceived two White Specks in the middle of the Boil and squeezing it two small white Worms spurted out I took them both up in my Hand and perceived each of them to be invested with three Rows of black short stiff Hair running clear round them one Row near each end the other in the middle each Row distinct from other and all very regular and uniform The Worms were about the bigness of a Hens Quill and about three fourths of an Inch long I never saw Worms of this sort breed in any Man's Flesh. Indeed Guinea Worms are very frequent in some Places of the West Indies especially at Curasao They breed as well in Whites as Negroes And because that Island was formerly a Magazin of Negroes while the Dutch drove that Trade with the Spaniards and the Negroes were most subject to them 't was therefore believed that other People took them by Infection from them I rather judge that they are generated by drinking bad Water and 't is as likely that the Water of the other Island of Aruba and Bonairy may produce the same Effects for many of those that went with me from thence to Virginia mentioned in my former Volume were troubled with them after our arrival there particularly I my self had one broke out in my Ancle after I had been there five or six Months These Worms are no bigger than a large brown Thread but as I have heard five or six Yards long and if it breaks in drawing out that part which remains in the Flesh will putrifie and be very painful and indanger the Patients Life or at least the use of that Limb and I have known some that have been scarified and cut strangely to take out the Worm I was in great torment before it came out my Leg and Ancle swell'd and look'd very red and angry and I kept a Plaister to it to bring it to a Head At last drawing off my Plaister out came about three Inches of the Worm and my pain abated presently Till then I was ignorant of my Malady and the Gentlewoman at whose House I was took it for a Nerve but I knew well enough what it was and presently roll'd it up on a small Stick After that I opened it every Morning and Evening and strained it out gently about two Inches at a time not without some pain till at length I had got out about two Foot Riding with one Mr. Richardson who was going to a Negro to have his Horse cured of a gall'd Back I ask'd the Negro if he could undertake my Leg which he did very readily and in the mean time I
care for Victuals till they come Home again This is called Posole And by the English Poorsoul It is so much esteemed by the Indians that they are never without some of it in their Houses Another way of Preparing their Drink is to parch the Maiz and then grind it to Powder on the Rubbing-stone putting a little Anatta to it which grows in their Plantations and is used by them for no other purpose They mix it all with Water and presently drink it off without straining In long Journeys they prefer this Drink before Posole They feed abundance of Turkies Ducks and Dunghill Fowls of which the Padre has an exact Account and is very strict in gathering his Tithe and they dare not kill any except they have his Leave for it They plant Cotton also for their Cloathing The Men wear only a short Jacket and Breeches These with a Palmeto Leaf Hat is their Sundays Dress for they have neither Stockings nor Shoes neither do they wear these Jackets on Week Days The Women have a Cotton-Peticoat and a large Frock down to their Knees the Sleeves to their Wrists but not gathered The Bosom is open to the Breast and Imbroidered with black or red Silk or Grogram Yarn two Inches broad on each side the Breast and clear round the Neck In this Garb with their Hair ty'd up in a Knot behind they think themselves extream fine The Men are obliged by the Padres as I have been inform'd to Marry when they are Fourteen Years old and the Women when Twelve And if at that Age they are not provided the Priest will chuse a Virgin for the Man or a Man for the Virgin of equal Birth and Fortune and joyn them together The Spaniards give several Reasons for this Imposition Viz. That it preserves them from Debauchery and makes them Industrious That it brings them to pay Taxes both to the King and Church for as soon as they are Married they pay to both And that it keeps them from rambling out of their own Parish and settling in another which would by so much lessen the Padres Profit They love each other very well and live comfortably by the sweat of their Brows They build good large Houses and inhabit altogether in Towns The side Walls are Mud or Watling plaister'd on the inside and thatch'd with Palm or Palmeto Leaves The Churches are large built much higher than the Common Houses and covered with Pantile and within adorned with Coarse Pictures and Images of Saints which are all painted tauny like the Indians themselves Besides these Ornaments there are kept in the Churches Pipes Hautboys Drums Vizards and Perruques for their Recreation at solemn Times for they have little or no Sport or Pastime but in Common and that only upon Saints Days and the Nights ensuing The Padres that serve here must learn the Indian Language before they can have a Benefice As for their Tithes and other Incoms Mr. Gage an English Man hath given a large Account of them in his Survey of the West Indies But however this I will add of my own knowledge that they are very dutiful to their Priests observing punctually their Orders and behave themselves very circumspectly and reverently in their Presence They are generally well shaped of a middle size streight and clean Limb'd The Men more spare the Women plump and fat their Faces are round and flat their Foreheads low their Eyes little their Noses of a mid'dle size somewhat flattish full Lips pretty full but little Mouths white Teeth and their Colour of a dark tauny like other Indians They sleep in Hammacks made with small Cords like a Net fastned at each end to a Post. Their Furniture is but mean Viz. Earthen Pots to boil their Maiz in and abundance of Callabashes They are a very harmless sort of People kind to any Strangers and even to the Spaniards by whom they are so much kept under that they are worse than Slaves nay the very Negroes will domineer over them and are countenanced to do so by the Spaniards This makes them very melancholly and thoughtful however they are very quiet and seem contented with their Condition if they can tolerably subsist But sometimes when they are imposed on beyond their Ability they will march off whole Towns Men Women and Children together as is before related CHAP. VI. The River of Checapeque The River of Dos Boccas The Towns up the Country Halpo Their Trade Old Hats a good Commodity A sad Accident in Hunting Tondelo River Musketos troublesom on this Coast. Guasickwalp River Teguantapeque River Few Gold Mines on all this part of the Sea-Coast Teguantapeque Town Keyhooca and its Cacao-Trade Vinellos Alvarado River and its Branches It s Fort Town and Trade Cod Pepper La Vera Cruz. The Fort of St. John d'Ulloa The Barra la Venta Fleet and their Navigation about the West India Coast. The Town of Tispo Panuk River and Town Lagune and Town of Tompeque Huniago Island It s Trade in Shrimps The Author's return to Logwood-Cutting at Trist. Captain Gibbs kill'd there by some Indians he brought from New-England The Author 's setting out to Jamaica and return for England HAving given the Reader an Account of the Indians inhabiting about the River of Tobasco I come next to describe the Western Coast of this Bay with its Rivers and other most remarkable Particulars From Tobasco River to the River Checapeque is 7 Leagues The Coast lies East and West all woody low Ground sandy Bay and good Anchoring but there falls in a pretty high Sea on the shore therefore but bad Landing yet Canoas may with care run in if the Men are ready to leap out as soon as she touches the Ground and then she must immediately be drag'd up out of the Surf And the same caution and dexterity is to be used when they go off again There is no fresh Water between Tobasco River and Checapeque This latter is rather a salt Creek than a River for the Mouth of it is not above 20 Paces wide and about 8 or 9 Foot Water on the Bar but within there is 12 or 13 Foot at low Water and good Riding for Barks half a Mile within the Mouth This Creek runs in E. S. E. about two Miles and then strikes away South up into the Country At its Mouth between it and the Sea is a bare sandy Point of Land Where on the side next the River close by the Brink of it and no where else you may scrape up the Sand which is course and brown with your Hands and get fresh Water but if you dig lower the Water will be salt Half a Mile within the Mouth when you are past the sandy Point the Land is wet and swampy bearing only Mangroves on each side for 4 or 5 Leagues up and after that firm Land where you will find a Run of fresh Water it being all salt till you come thither A League beyond this is a Beef Estantion or Farm