Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	day_n	league_n	sail_v	1,421	5	10.3085	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64941	A relation of the coasts of Africk called Guinee with a description of the countreys, manners and customs of the inhabitants, of the productions of the earth, and the merchandise and commodities it affords : with some historical observations upon the coasts : being collected in a voyage made by the Sieur Villault ... in the years 1666, and 1667 / written in French, and faithfully Englished.; Relation des costes d'Afrique appellées Guinée. English	Villault, Nicolas, sieur de Bellefond, 17th cent.	1670 (1670)	Wing V388; ESTC R3207	80,121	290

of the wind weigh anchor and sayle towards the shore They entered then and told us it was a full year since they had seen any Whites that the next day they would bring good store of Ivory to the Sea side for us and that they might perform what they had promised after we had made them some small presents they took their leaves We came up within half a league of the land to the mouth of a little river they call Duro at the foot of the Cape where we found six fathom deep at low water This Cape is called Miserado by the Portugais either because it is incompass'd by rocks that lye under water and would inevitably destroy any Vessel which should come nearer then half a league or because the French which were formerly massacred there cryed out Misericorde Misericorde Besides the Natives of this place being very cruel they have denominated the river and called it Duro as being hard and fatal to the Whites Upon which score we fortifyed our shollop with a great Gun to fright them and keep them in order They set up a little house against we came in order to our negotiations but not another to be seen within less then half a league and those too in the woods The River Duro casts it self into the Sea on that side towards the Cape but is so small and inconsiderable it carrys nothing but Canoes At our coming on shore we found the Captain who governs those parts with several of his Officers sitting under a tree we presented them with two Bottles of Brandy which they drank freely and then conducted us to the house they had prepared and stay'd with us till night came on and we returned to our Ship The Captain was a very lusty man of a severe aspect in a Robe like that of the Alcair de Rio-Fresca saving that his was red with a bonnet of the same colour he was attended by 50 or 60 Negroes with great darts bows arrows and swords and with some few women which they sent back again to the Woods not above fifty paces from our lodge from whence we never durst trust our selves above ten They ask'd us whether we came as enemies or friends observing it seems the Canon in our shallop We told them that we could not but take notice that they came with their armes contrary to the custom of all other places we had traded in and that we did was but to secure our selves and our Merchandises which we should bring on shore by degrees and according as we sold what we had brought Some of the Captains Women lugging their children along with them came to see us at our lodge and we were forc'd to present them though the Captain was so refractory what Ivory soever he expos'd to truck or to sale he ask'd with that unreasonable confidence there was no reason to give it They all of them spake Portugais and were all of them clothed Whilst we were at dinner the Captain demanded some one of us to stay with him and I very couragiously proffered to be the man which he took so kindly he took me by the hand and put it into the hand of one of his daughters with this complement that he gave her me for my Wife after which we grew very intimate and great He took me and shew'd me to the rest of the Mores who called me their kinsman and friend promised me S●aves carryed me along with them and setting me in the midst of them they made me drink of their Palm-wine One of the Officers that din'd with us I observ'd to throw Wine upon the ground before he drank I ask'd him the reason and he told me that if his dead Father should be dry he would come thither to drink We had a sight too of some of their Priests but their habits being the same with what we saw afterwards upon the Golden Coast I shall pass them by in this place with this animadversion only that they carry themselves towards them with great deference and respect believing every word they spake an Oracle The Captain shew'd me one of them and told me if I had lost any thing he could tell me where it was and cry'd him up as he had been a Prophet But above all things their greatest superstition is of their Fetiches Their Traffick is principally Ivory which indeed is excellent and Rice in great abundance The English have a ware house beyond the Cape and are in great favour with the Mores who used us ill in no respect but as they thought us enemies to them When we returned to our Vessel we promised to be with them again the next morning but observing they had brought us good quantity of Ivory at first which was not afterwards to be seen we had a suspicion might be a design of the English to amuse us with their Trade whilst they could get more men together out of the Countrey Upon which grounds that very night though one of our Officers left a golden ring with the Captain as a gage for his word we weigh'd anchor and away for Rio-Sextos Being on the other side of Cap-Miserado we discovered fires which the Mores had made along the shores which is the ordinary signe they use to signifie to such Ships as pass by that they have Merchandise for them upon which accompt we resolved to cast anchor RIO DE JVNCO ABout 9 or 10 a clock we came to an anchor directly over against the fires upon the shore we shot of 2 great Guns to invite them aboard but seeing none of them come we mann'd out our shallop after dinner and sayl'd towards them with some few Merchandises but we could not reach the shore within fifty paces without inevitable danger of bulging Seeing some Mores upon the banks we made signes to them to come to us and they came swimming half way and went back again nor could all our alurements win them aboard till at last two of them ventured in a Canoe and were kindly received which they on the shore observing three of them threw themselves immediately into the Sea ond swam to us we presented them with a bottle of Srong-waters which they carryed on shore to their infinite satisfaction we shew'd them our Kettles and what other Commodities we had at the sight of which they made a thousand expressions of joy and could have done no more if Paradise it self had been shown them they ask'd us if we had any large white Rasade Those which were upon land held up great and great quantity of Elephants teeth to hasten us them but having used our utmost endeavour to no purpose and finding it impossible to come at them without manifest danger we sent back the 2 Mores which came to us to them Who by their aspect and Mine seem'd to be persons of more then ordinary quality Rio de Junco is a River which lyes five degrees and fifty minutes of Northern latitude and of Eastern longitude 9 degrees

making to our men with their weapons in their hands but the man I left behind me having his musquet with him stopt their proceedings and the rest defended themselves so well with their Axes that there was none wounded or kil'd of the whole company only one antient man received a scratch in one of his arms We sail'd immediately towards them but as soon as we came within musquet shot and they perceived our Guns in our hands they run strait into the woods where they lay close all day long but at night we could hear them making great noise about the fountain aforesaid The next day being the 29 December the Clerk the Pilots Mate several servants and about 20 of our Seamen went a shore in our shallop for fresh water and wood At their landing the Mores abandoned the fountain and betook themselves to the Woods where they made a great noise likewise but without any attempt for our men having run towards them and fired 5 or 6 musquets at a venture into the woods they took their heels and from that time we heard no more of Mounsieur Thomas nor any of his crew After dinner our Embassadors returned from the King of Boure's Court having stayed there with his most August Majesty but one night but they brought most of the Canoes thereabout along with them laden with Ivory which was bought off indifferent cheap The next day the King of Boure's Brother came aboard us and brought with him a Portugais which we had seen before and is imployed in the affaires of that Prince we know it was some person of quality as soon as we discerned his Canoe which we distinguished by the sound of his Trumpets and immediately sent out our boat to receive him into which he entred with his Trumpet and Drum and at his coming aboard our Ship was saluted with a volley from the great Guns The Brother of the King of Sierra-Leone is a person of about fifty or threescore years of age and begins now to grow gray his stature is but indifferent but grave and intelligent enough in his affairs His habit was not much unlike that of the Alcair of Rio-Fresca unless it be that the Alcair's habit was of white cloth and this of cloth strip'd with black and blew he had a gray hat upon his head a stick like a musquet rest in his hand his Attendants had all of them Robes of Cotton cloth only the Portugal was drest ala Portugaise Whilest we were treating him we gave him an accompt of the story of John Thomas to which he answered that he was a mutineer and a rebel and that in case wee should catch him we should not only have his pardon but thanks After he had dined he pulled out about twenty little stones out of a little purse which he threw upon the Table demanding so many Barres as they call them in discharge of their Kings duties as well for the business they had negotiated with him as for their fresh water and wood Though these people can neither read nor write yet they make use of this way of gathering their Rights and the frequency of their Commerce with the Portugals has brought them to talk altogether by Barres which is the word they do most ordinarily use According to their demand the 20 Barres were payed him that is to say in Iron 12 Barres a little Barrel of Strong-waters at 4 Barrs a Kettle at 2 Barres a Hat at 2 Barres and so on He was himself upon his own score presented with 2 Bottles of Brandy and his Retinue with Knives at the close of the evening he returned well stuft and well satisfied as the greatest part of his Attendants were also at his departure he had several Guns given him and was dismist with all possible civility He is in great respect among the people his Trumpet and Drum are always carryed along with him even when he goes about his most natural affairs During these three days we had several Portugals came aboard us with their Commodities of whom I endeavoured what I could to inform my self of the manners of that Country The Description of Sierra-Leone or the Mountain of the Lyons THe Countrey of Sierra-Leone is called Boulombel by the Mores which in their language is as much as the large Countrey In respect of the extraordinary height of the Mountaines towards the South which are much higher then either the Pyrenaean or Alps and the multitude of Lyons which are constantly to be seen there it was called Sierra Leone by the Portugals which in our Language amounts to no more then the Mountain of Lyons Their Countrey begins a great way up in the land Eastward and ends Northwest with the Cap-Ledo which throws it self into the Sea from the point of that Cape as on passes up the River there are several Bayes the fourth of which is the Bay de France either because the French were formerly possessed of this Coast or that they burn'd a Town there heretofore and this is the only Bay in that River where they can take in fresh water I had one day the curiosity to trace one of the three Fountaines which are there and having followed it a league to the foot of the Mountaines observing the tracks and Print of the wild beasts which are very strange and dreadful I returned as I went and have been since informed by one of the Portugals that it rises in the midst of the woods which are above 15 leagues over and that if I had pursued my design and traced it to its spring I must never have expected to come back as well for the vast number of Lyons as for the Tygars Elephants and Crocodiles which are there and would probably have devoured me Those Mountains are covered with Trees very full of Gumme always green and for the most part not unlike our Laurel The Northen parts of this Sierra-Leone lye very low and are in the possession of the King of Boulom as the Southern parts are of the King of Boure The Kingdom of Boulom is not overwell known either to the French or Hollander their affections being principally inclin'd to the English and Portugals of which last there are several that inhabit there The River which bears the name of Sierra-Leone likewise runs a great way Eastward up into the Countrey is about 3 leagues over at the mouth and one about 14 or 15 leagues higher The Harbour is not above two fathoms deep insomuch that in entring into it we were fain to come as neer the Mountains as we could where we found 10 12 and 16 fathoms water It has several little Islands in its channel the most of them inhabited and covered with green Trees especially Palm trees of which they make great quantities of Wine It is very full of Fish and breeds Crocodiles near the head of its Fountain The borders of these Islands are set with certain Trees whose branches do never extend themselves further out one then another but

possible diligence but could not perswade them to come in till we fired 3 or 4 times into their boat They were two young Slaves belonging to a Portugal that was with the English Man but we could not make them confess any thing by all the interrogations we could use Those of the English party observing what was past fired at us with their Canon and 3 of their bullets fell within ten paces of our boat We put our selves out of the reach of their Guns for the present and came to an anchor attending the comming in of the tide to accommodate our return The weather being calme about half an hour after there appear'd two Mores belonging to one of the neighbouring Islands in a Canoe which made directly up to us and came within pistol shot but would by no means be perswaded on board whereupon we shot off 2 or 3 Guns not with intention of doing them harm but to instruct them of the truth They no sooner heard the noise of our Guns but they run away immediately plying their cars as fast as they could and stooping upon sight of our fire so low they seem'd to us no higher then Cats In the mean time the Canon of the English were not idle playing still upon us though they saw we were out of their reach which they did not so much to do any execution as to let the Natives see they had undertaken their defence and desired their friendship However the tide comming in we pass'd by several little Islands and made our retreat We found several Mores and Portugals aboard our Vessel and amongst the rest the King of Bouloms Son called Bombo who was a person of about 30 or 40 years old well proportioned and bating his complexion a very handsom man his aire was courteous and majestick he was an intimate friend of Abrahams but knew nothing till supper of his imprisonment He no sooner understood it but he interceded for his ransome and went immediately with the Portugal that manages the affairs of the King of Boure to procure it On Munday at noon they came aboard again with a 100 Elephants teeth weighing 900 pound weight and two live Civet Cats upon the delivery of which he was dismist and went home after dinner we giving him a little barrel of Strong-waters a rowl of Tobacco a Cheese and a Salvo of 3 Guns when he went off Some sew Portugals stay'd behind till they made up their Markets and having dispatch'd them the fisth they returned out of hand That day we intended to have been gone but happening upon a calm and to have a tide against us too we were forc'd to attend a little longer then we designed About noon there came a Canoe aboard us with two Mores which pretended to belong to Boulom who brought us fruit but having no Ivory we lookt upon them but as spies and sent them back again about five That night we set sail and having past Cap-Ledo we steer'd a South South-East course to avoid the the Banks of Saint Anne and the next morning discry'd a little Vessel of Holland coasting upon the shore as we did to make the Cap de Monte which is about 60 leagues distant from the Sierra-Leone On Friday the 7th of January we past by the mouth of the River of Madre-Bomba where the English have a house also and not inferior to that at Sierra-Leone In the afternoon we came within sight of the Rio de Gallines so called by the Portugals from the multitude of Hens there and the cheapness of them the people giving one two and somtimes three for a knife of a penny The Hollanders had a house there formerly The Natives gave us a sign to approach and put in but the neighbourhood of the English would not suffer us to hear on that ear but we continued our coast to the East till Saturday morning at which time by the assistance of a clear day we discover'd the Cap de Monte at about ten leagues distance CAP DE MONTE and its Description THe wind being but little we came not to an anchor till night and then about half a league from the shore at twelve fathom low water and upon a sand The Cap de Monte is so called from a point of ground which gives it that figure and rising just by the Sea formes its self into a round Mountain all the rest of that coast lying very low We could not descry either house or cabane all along yet on the 19th we went on shore and found 4 or 5 houses at some distance where the Blacks made their Salt They appeared very joyful at our arrival they told us their King lived three days journey up into the Countrey that they would give notice to their neighbours of our coming that night and that if we thought good to return the next morning we might find such store of Ivory as could be suddenly got That if we intended to keep our promise when we came on board we should give them two great Guns as a signal and they would make fires to confirm us on their side which was agreed and performed accordingly The tenth and the eleventh days were spent entirely in bartring I being on board the 12th I went on shore though with some difficulty the Sea breaking off so abruptly our shallop was left some 20 paces upon ground and the Seamen forc'd to go out of the boat and land the Officers upon their backs where we found the Mores had made a large Arbor covered over with leaves and branches of trees to keep our commodities dry and shelter us from the violence of the Sun Whilst we were Negotiating our affairs we heard a great noise on a sudden and saw the Mores in a great hurry running Pell-mell from their houses and merchandise both we apprehended we might be surprized and took up our arms immediately but being got out into the air we understood it was only their King was coming to us whereupon some of our men went to meet him and saluted him with a volley of five or six of our firelocks Before him marched his Drum and his Trumpet 8 or 10 of his kindred and friends and the rest were his Officers his Wives and his Daughters marched on his side behind him his Slaves followed and a certain number of women carrying his dinner in bowls of Wood and of Tyn which they held up as high as they could possibly By him he had four Slaves marching two of them covering him with two large Bucklers and the other carrying his bow and arrows and javelin As he approached the Mores divided themselves the Men on one side the Women on the other singing and dancing and leaping up and down and testifying their joy in a thousand different postures The King took a dart and pretended to throw it at them upon which they threw themselves immediately upon the ground and at the same time they which came along with his Majesty took their turn both

to dance and to sing Presently the King took an arrow which he shot up into the aire and presently all run to the place where it fell and happy was he that could take it up first and bring it to him after this he made a show of shooting directly amongst them they throwing themselves down again with great acclamation continued this pastime for a quarter of an hour In this triumpth and grandour he was conducted to us we received him as honorably as we could saluting him with volleys of small shot He was a grave and venerable old man of about threescore years of age or upwards they called him Falam Boure he was very sensible and majestick his habit was the same with the rest of the Gentlemen saving that his was quite blew and the Robes of the Gentlemen Officers and Nobility of that Countrey are always strip'd like the Captains of Rio-Fresca with white and blew We payed him what respect vve could and after vve had made him such presents as vvere usual he retired into another Arbor the Mores had made for him and left us very graciously to our Negotiations I vvaited upon him to his Arbor vvhere he entertained me in Portugais and told me that it vvas four years since he had seen any Whites and vvith teares as it were of joy assured me that the French should be alvvays vvelcome to him that indeed they were a little quick and capricious but otherwise honest men that he and his Country which he thought was not contemptible I would be eternally at their service And in truth were all the rest of Africk like this part of it it was indubitably to be preferred to any part of Europe No sooner is your foot upon the ground but you are presented with a faire plaine planted on this side and that with curious groves perpetually green and in their leaves not unlike to our Laurel The prospect is bounded to the South with the Mountain of the Cape and on the North by a large grove which gives a shade to a little Island in a little River which casts it self hard by into the Sea though it be navigable for a Canoe only or perhaps with some difficulty for a shallop Eastward there is no stop nor termination of the eye it may delight and lose it self in vast meadows and playnes beautifi'd and perfum'd with excellent verdures and water'd with several pritty Rivers which open and expan'd themselves to the Mores and seem to invite them to a communication with those that live higher up in the Countrey In this place their Rice their Millet and their Mais of which their bread is made is more plentifull and grows in greater quantity than in any other part of Guinee whatsoever They have Citrons Oranges Amants Berrys Melons Gourds and a sort of plums not much unlike our Brugnons but not so well tasted They have great variety of fowl as Hens and Pidgeons and Ducks and Mallard and Teal which must be very plentiful by the price they are sold for Goats and Hoggs are very common and Apes too but ugly ones They have great store of Fish both Sea-fish and in their Rivers which I have said they value much above flesh they have Tortoises likewise are excellent meat but their shels not worth a farthing They are very neat in their feeding they roast their meat upon wooden spits turning them with great care and observing very curiously least one side be more roasted then the other Whilst he was at dinner in his own appartment I took the confidence to begin a health to on of his Sons Wifes in their Palme-Wine and she answered me in French Monsierje vous remercie and told me afterwards in Portugais that her Husbands Father had lived always amongst the French when they were in those parts and that she could distinguish easily by our aire that my self and Lacquey were the only Frenchmen in our whole company The inhabitants are generally handsome good natured tractible and speak a kind of corrupt Portugais They go all naked both women and men only a little cloth before them but the women wear theirs from their stomack to their mid-legg they are more chast then the rest and their Husbands commonly more jealous For their Religion do what I could I could not inform my self only one of them told me the Whites pray'd to God and the Blacks to the Devil Yet I could perceive many of them were Circumcised and all of them had their Fetiches At our landing there was not above five or six houses to be seen and those belonging to such as made Salt there and carryed it afterwards into the Country But within two dayes time the plaine which was about a league in circumference was cover'd over with houses which the Mores from all parts had built in order to their traffick with us In the Kings houses or the houses of their Nobility they have a distinct appartment where their beds are made either upon plancks or mat about a yeard from the ground about which they hang a cloth in stead of curtains and vallence and so sleep all night upon them For their repose in the day time they have a sort of delicate neat mats exquisitely made of which the Hollander buys great store for their Chambers where laying themselves down with their heads in their Wives lapps they spend much of their time in combing and ordring their Husbands hair For four days together we had a very good Trade The commodities we bought were Mats Rice and Ivory which in those parts is plentiful and excellently good And in this place certainly if any where a man may live happily all things contributing to make his life pleasant the beauty and bounty of the Countrey the humour and disposition of the people the aboundance of all necessaries the considerableness of the gain and the aptness and convenience for building in all places wherever you come On the thirteenth we went a shore again but seeing they had no Ivory left though the King promis'd in three dayes time we should have ten times as much as we had bought aleady we set sayle that night for Cap-Miserado CAP-MISERADO THe next day being the 14th of January steering or course East-South-East and by South we discovered the Cap-Miserado but the weather being duskish and a thick fog interrupting our prospect we were glad to cast anchor at three leagues distance from the shore imagining notwithstanding we had been nearer then we were and afterward we shot off 2 Guns to give the Mores notice of our arrival The fifteenth we discovered our mistake yet by reason of calme we were forc'd to continue at anchor till noon at which time we perceived a Canoe making towards us with 2 Mores in it which coming up demanded who we were and of what Countrey we told them of Holland and they desired us to come nearer land but would by no means be perswaded on board us till they saw us take the advantage