men that was left ashore I shall speak more of him hereafter He and the rest of them told me that after the Ship was out of sight the Natives began to be more kind to them than they had been before and perswaded them to cut their Hair short as theirs was offering to each of them if they would do it a young Woman to Wife and a small Hatchet and other Iron Utenfils fit for a Planter in Dowry and withal shewed them a piece of Land for them to manage They were courted thus by several of the Town where they then were but they took up their head-quarters at the house of him with whom they first went ashore When the Ship appeared in sight again then they importuned them for some Iron which is the chief thing that they covet even above their Ear-rings We might have bought all their Ear-rings or other Gold they had with our Iron-bars had we been assur'd of its goodness and yet when it was touch'd and compared with other Gold we could not discern any difference tho it look'd so pale in the lump but the seeing them polish it so often was a new discouragement This last Storm put our Men quite out of heart for although it was not altogether so fierce as that which we were in on the Coast of China which was still fresh in memory yet it wrought more powerfully and frighted them from their design of cruising before Manila fearing another Storm there Now every Man wisht himself at home as they had done an hundred times before but Captain Reed and Captain Teat the Master perswaded them to go towards Cape Comorin and then they would tell them more of their minds intending doubtless to cruize in the Red Sea and they easily prevailed with the Crew The Eastern Monsoon was now at hand and the best way had been to go through the Streights of Malacca but Captain Teat said it was dangerous by reason of many Islands and Shoals there with which none of us were acquainted Therefore he thought it best to go round on the East side of all the Philippine Islands and so keeping South toward the Spice Islands to pass out into the East Indian Ocean about the Island Timor This seemed to be a very tedious way about and as dangerous altogether for Sholes but not for meeting with English or Dutch Ships which was their greatest fear I was well enough satisfied knowing that the farther we went the more Knowledge and Experience I should get which was the main thing that I regarded and should also have the more variety of places to attempt an Escape from them being fully resolv'd to take the first opportunity of giving them the slip CHAP. XVI They depart from the Bashee Islands and passing by some others and the N. End of Luconia St. John's Isle and other of the Philippines they stop at the two Isles near Mindanao where they re-fit their Ship and make a Pump after the Spanish fashion By the young Prince of the Spice-Island they have News of Captain Swan and his men left at Mindanao The Author proposes to the Crew to return to him but in vain the story of his Murder at Mindanao The Clove-Islands Ternate Tidore c. The Island Celebes and Dutch Town of Macasser They Coast along the East side of Celebes and between it and other Islands and Sholes with great Difficulty Shy Turtle Vast Cookles A wild Vine of great Virtue for Sores Great Trees one excessively big Beacons instead of Buoys on the Sholes A Spout a Description of them with a story of one Uncertain Tornadoes Turtle The Island Bouton and its chief Town and Harbour Callasusung The Inhabitants Visits given and receiv'd by the Sultan His Device in the Flag of his Proe his Guards Habit and Children Their Commerce Their different esteem as they pretend of the English and Dutch Maritime Indians sell others for Slaves Their Reception in the Town A Boy with 4 Rows of Teeth Parakites Crockadores a sort of White Parrots They pass among other Inhabited Islands Omba Pentare Timor c. Sholes New-Holland laid down too much Northward It s Soil and Dragon trees The poor Winking Inhabitants their Features Habit Food Arms c. The way of fetching Fire out of Wood. The Inhabitants on the Islands Their Habitations Unfitness for Labour c. The great Tides here They design for the Island Cocos and Cape Comorin THE third day of October 1687. we sailed from these Islands standing to the Southward intending to sail through among the Spice Islands We had fair weather and the wind at West We first steered S. S. W. and passed close by certain small Islands that lye just by the North end of the Island Luconia We left them all on the West of us and past on the East side of it and the rest of the Philippine Islands coasting to rhe Southward The N. East end of the Island Luconia appears to be good Champion Land of an indifferent heighth plain and even for many leagues only it has some pretty high Hills standing upright by themselves in these Plains but no ridges of Hills or chains of Mountains joyning one to another The Land on this side seems to be most Savannah or Pasture The S. E. part is more Mountainous and Woody Leaving the Island Luconia and with it our Golden projects we sailed on the Southward passing on the East side of the rest of the Philippine Islands These appear to be more Mountainous and less Woody till we came in sight of the Island St. John the first of that name I mentioned the other I spake of on the Coast of China This I have already described to be a very woody Island Here the Wind coming Southerly forced us to keep farther from the Islands The 14th day of October we came close by a small low Woody Island that lyeth East from the S. E. end of Mindanao distant from it about 20 leagues I do not find it set down in any Sea-Chart The 15th day we had the Wind at N. E. and we steered West for the Island Mindanao and arrived at the S. E. end again on the 16th day There we went in and anchored between two small Islands which lye in about 5 d. 10 m. N. Lat. I mentioned them when we first came on this Coast. Here we found a fine small Cove on the N. W. end of the Eastermost Island fit to Careen in or hale ashore so we went in there and presently unrigged our Ship and provided to hale our Ship ashore to clean her bottom These Islands are about 3 or 4 leagues from the Island Mindanao they are about 4 or 5 miles in circumference and of a pretty good heighth The mold is black and deep and there are two small Brooks of fresh Water They are both plentifully stored with great high Trees therefore our Carpenters were sent ashore to cut down some of them for our use for here they made a new Boltsprit
down in Lat. 12 d. 16 m. It is about 20 leagues from the Main and 9 or 10 from Querisao and is accounted 16 or 17 leagues round The Road is on the S. W. side near the middle of the Island where there is a pretty deep Bay runs in Ships that come from the Eastward luff up close to the Eastern shore and let go their Anchor in 60 fathom water within half a Cables length of the shore But at the same time they must be ready with a Boat to carry a Hasar or Rope and make it fast ashore otherwise when the Land-wind comes in the night the Ship would drive off to Sea again for the ground is so steep that no Anchor can hold if once it starts About half a mile to the Westward of this Anchoring place there is a small low Island and a Channel between it and the main Island The Houses are about half a mile within Land right in the Road There is a Governour lives here a Deputy to the Governor of Querisao and 7 or 8 Soldiers with 5 or 6 Families of Indians There is no Fort and the Soldiers in peaceable times have little to do but to eat and sleep for they never watch but in time of War The Indians are Husband-men and plant Maiz and Guinea Corn and some Yames and Potatoes But their chiefest business is about Cattle for this Island is plentifully stocked with Goats and they send great quantities every year in Salt to Querisao There are some Horses and Bulls and Cows but I never saw any Sheep though I have been all over the Island The South side is plain low Land and there are several sorts of Trees but none very large There is a small Spring of water by the Houses which serves the Inhabitants though it is brackish At the West end of the Island there is a good Spring of Fresh water and 3 or 4 Indian Families live there but no Water nor Houses at any other place On the South side near the East-end is a good Salt-pond where Dutch Sloops come for Salt From Bon-Airy we went to the Isle of Aves or Birds so called from its great plenty of Birds as Men of War and Boobies but especially Boobies The Booby is a Water-fowl somewhat less than a Hen of a light greyish colour I observ'd the Boobies of this Island to be whiter than others This Bird hath a strong Bill longer and bigger than a Crows and broader at the end her Feet are flat like a Ducks Feet It is a very simple creature and will hardly go out of a mans way In other places they build their Nests on the ground but here they build on Trees which I never saw any where else tho I have seen of them in a great many places Their Flesh is black and eats Fishy but are often eaten by the Privateers Their numbers have been much lessen'd by the French Fleet which lay here till it was lost as I shall give an account The Man of War as it is called by the English is about the bigness of a Kite and in shape like it but black and the Neck is red It lives on Fish yet never lights on the Water but soars aloft like a Kite and when it sees its prey it flys down head foremost to the waters edge very swiftly takes his prey out of the Sea with his Bill and immediately mounts again as swiftly and never touching the Water but with his Bill His Wings are very long His Feet are like other Land-Fowl and he builds on Trees where he finds any but where they are wanting on the ground This Island Aves lies about 8 or 9 leagues to the Eastward of the Island Bon-airy about 14 or 15 leagues from the Main and about the lat of 11d 45m North. It is but small not above 4 mile in length and towards the East end not half a mile broad On the North side it is low Land commonly overflown with the Tide but on the Southside there is a great Rocky Bank of Coral thrown up by the Sea The West end is for near a mile space plain even Savanah Land without any Trees There are 2 or 3 Wells dug by Privateers who often frequent this Island because there is a good Harbor about the middle of it on the North side where they may conveniently careen The Riff or Bank of Rocks on which the French Fleet was lost as I mentioned above runs along from the East end to the Northward about 3 mile then tends away to the Westward making as it were a Half Moon This Riff breaks off all the Sea and there is good riding in even sandy ground to the Westward of it There are 2 or 3 small low sandy Keys or Islands within this Riff about 3 miles from the Main Island The Count de Estree lost his Fleet here in this manner Coming from the Eastward he fell in on the back of the Riff and fired Guns to give warning to the rest of his Fleet But they supposing their Admiral was engaged with Enemies hoised up their Topsails and crowded all the Sail they could make and ran full sail ashore after him all within half a mile of each other For his Light being in the Main Top was an unhappy Beacon for them to follow and there escaped but one Kings-ship and one Privateer The Ships continued whole all day and the Men had time enough most of them to get ashore yet many perished in the Wreck and many of those that got safe on the Island for want of being accustomed to such hardships died like rotten Sheep But the Privateers who had been used to such accidents lived merrily from whom I had this relation and they told me that if they had gone to Jamaica with 30 l. a Man in their Pockets they could not have enjoyed themselves more For they kept in a Gang by themselves and watched when the Ships broke to get the Goods that came from them and though much was staved against the Rocks yet abundance of Wine and Brandy floated over the Riff where these Privateers waited to take it up They lived here about 3 weeks waiting an opportunity to transport themselves back again to Hispaniola in all which time they were never without 2 or 3 Hogsheads of Wine and Brandy in their Tents and Barrels of Beef and Pork which they could live on without Bread well enough tho the new-comers out of France could not There were about 40 Frenchmen on board in one of the Ships where there was good store of Liquor till the after part of her broke away and floated over the Riff and was carry'd away to Sea with all the men drinking and singing who being in drink did not mind the danger but were never heard of afterwards In a short time after this great Shipwrack Captain Pain Commander of a Privateer of 6 Guns had a pleasant accident befel him at this Island He came hither to Careen intending to fit
never see one Pearl Oyster about them nor any Pearl Oyster Shells but on the other Oysters I have made many a Meal there The northermost Island of all this range is called Pacheca or Pacheque This is but a small Island distant from Panama 11 or 12 leagues The Southermost of them is called St. Pauls Besides these two I know no more that are called by any particular name though there are many that far exceed either of the two in bigness Some of these Islands are planted with Plantains and Bonanas and there are Fields of Rice on others of them The Gentlemen of Panama to whom they belong keep Negroes there to plant weed and husband the Plantations Many of them especially the largest are wholly untill'd yet very good fat Land full of large Trees These unplanted Islands shelter many Runaway Negroes who abscond in the Woods all day and in the night boldly pillage the Plantain Walks Betwixt these Islands and the Main is a Channel of 7 or 8 leagues wide there is good depth of Water and good anchoring all the way The Islands border thick on each other yet they make many small narrow deep Channels fit only for Boats to pass between most of them At the S. E. end about a league from St. Pauls Island there is a good place for Ships to careen or hale ashore It is surrounded with the Land and hath a good deep Channel on the North side to go in at The tide riseth here about 10 foot perpendicular We brought our Ships into this place the 25th day but were forced to tarry for a Spring Tide before we could have Water enough to clean them therefore we first cleaned our Barks that they might cruise before Panama while we lay here The 27th day our Barks being clean we sent them out with 20 Men in each The fourth day after they returned with a Prize laden with Maiz or Indian Corn Salt Beef and Fowls She came from Lavelia and was bound to Panama Lavelia is a Town we once designed to attempt It is pretty large and stands on the Banks of a River on the North side of the Bay of Panama 6 or 7 leagues from the Sea Nata is another such Town standing in a Plain near another branch of the same River In these Towns and some others on the same Coast they breed Hogs Fowls Bulls and Cows and plant Maize purposely for the support of Panama which is supplied with Provision mostly from other Towns and the neighbouring Islands The Beef and Fowl our Men took came to us in a good time for we had eaten but little Flesh since we left the Island Plata The Harbor where we careen'd was incompassed by three Islands and our Ships rode in the middle That on which we haled our Ships ashore was a little Island on the North side of the Harbor The was a fine small sandy Bay but all the rest of the Island was invironed with Rocks on which at low Water we did use to gather Oysters Clams Muscles and Limpits The Clam is a sort of Oyster which grows so fast to the Rock that there is no separating it from thence therefore we did open it where it grows and take out the Meat which is very large fat and sweet Here are a few common Oysters such as we have in England of which sort I have met with none in these Seas but here at Point Garachina at Puna and on the Mexican Coast in the lat of 23 d. North. I have a Manuscript of Mr. Teat Captain Swan's chief Mate which gives an account of Oysters plentifully found in Port St. Julian on the East side and somewhat to the North of the Streights of Magellan but there is no mention made of what Oysters they are Here are some Guanoes but we found no other sort of Land Animal Here are also some Pigeons and Turtle-Doves The rest of the Islands that incompass this Harbor had of all these sorts of Creatures Our Men therefore did every day go over in Canoas to them to fish fowl or hunt for Guanoes but having one Man surprized once by some Spaniards lying there in Ambush and carried off by them to Panama we were after that more cautious of straggling The 14th day of February 1685. we made an end of cleaning our Ship fill'd all our Water and stock'd our selves with Fire-wood The 15th day we went out from among the Islands and anchored in the Channel between them and the Main in 25 fathom Water fast oazy ground The Plate Fleet was not yet arrived therefore we intended to cruise before the City of Panama which is from this place about 25 leagues The next day we sailed towards Panama passing in the Channel between the Kings Islands and the Main It is very pleasant sailing here having the Main on one side which appears in divers forms It is beautified with many small Hills cloathed with Woods of divers sorts of Trees which are always green and flourishing There are some few small high Islands within a league of the Main scattering here and there one These are partly woody partly bare and they as well as the Main appear very pleasant The Kings Islands are on the other side of this Channel and make also a very lovely prospect as you sail by them These as I have already noted are low and flat appearing in several shapes according as they are naturally formed by many small Creeks and Branches of the Sea The 16th day we anchored at Pacheque in 17 fathom Water about a league from the Island and sailed from thence the next day with the Wind at N. N. E. directing our course towards Panama When we came abrest of Old Panama we anchored and sent our Canoa ashore with our Prisoner Don Diego de Pinas with a Letter to the Governor to treat about an Exchange for our Man they had spirited away as I said and another Captain Harris left in the River of St. Maria the year before coming over Land Don Diego was desirous to go on this Errand in the name and with the consent of the rest of our Spanish Prisoners but by some accident he was killed before he got ashore as we heard afterwards Old Panama was formerly a famous place but it was taken by Sir Henry Morgan about the year 1673. and at that time great part of it was burned to ashes and it was never re-edified since New Panama is a very fair City standing close by the Sea about 4 mile from the Ruines of the Old Town It gives name to a large Bay which is famous for a great many navigable Rivers some whereof are very rich in Gold it is also very pleasantly sprinkled with Islands that are not only profitable to their Owners but very delightful to the Passengers and Seamen that sail by them some of which I have already described It is incompassed on the backside with a pleasant Country which is full of small Hills and Valleys beautified with
aboard Captain Davis his Ship Captain Swan also sprung his Maintop Mast and got up another but while he was doing it and we were making the best of our way we lost sight of him and were now on the North side of the Bay for this way all Ships must pass from Panama whether bound towards the Coast of Mexico or Peru. The 10th day we passed by Moro de Porcos or the Mountain of Hogs Why so called I know not it is a high round Hill on the Coast of Lavelia This side of the Bay of Panama runs out westerly to the Islands of Quibo there are on this Coast many Rivers and Creeks but none so large as those on the South side of the Bay It is a Coast that is partly mountainous partly low land and very thick of Woods bordering on the Sea but a few leagues within land it consists mostly of Savannahs which are stock'd with Bulls and Cows The Rivers on this side are not wholly destitute of Gold though not so rich as the Rivers on the other side of the Bay The Coast is but thinly inhabited for except the Rivers that lead up to the Towns of Nata and Lavelia I know of no other Settlement between Panama and Puebla Nova The Spaniards may travel by land from Panama through all the Kingdom of Mexico as being full of Savannahs but towards the Coast of Peru they cannot pass further than the River Cheapo the Land there being so full of thick Woods and watered with so many great Rivers besides less Rivers and Creeks that the Indians themselves who inhabit there cannot travel far without much trouble We met with very wet weather in our Voyage to Quibo and with S. S. W. and sometimes S. W. Winds which retarded our course It was the 15th day of June when we arrived at Quibo and found there Captain Harris whom we sought The Island Quibo or Cabaya is in lat 7d 14m North of the Equator It is about 6 or 7 leagues long and 3 or 4 broad The Land is low except only near the N. E. end It is all over plentifully stored with great tall flourishing Trees of many sorts and there is good water on the East and North East sides of the Island Here are some Deer and plenty of pretty large black Monkies whose Flesh is sweet and wholsome besides a few Guanoes and some Snakes I know no other sort of Land Animal on the Island There is a shole runs out from the S. E. point of the Island half a mile into the Sea and a league to the North of this shole point on the East side there is a Rock about a mile from the shore which at the last quarter ebb appears above Water Besides these two places there is no danger on this side but Ships may run within a quarter of a mile of the shore and anchor in 6 8 10 or 12 fathom good clean Sand and Oaze There are many other Islands lying some on the S. W. side others on the N. and N. E. sides of this Island as the Island Quicaro which is a pretty large Island S. W. of Quibo and on the North of it is a small Island called the Ranoheria on which Island are plenty of Palma-Maria Trees The Palma-Maria is a tall straight-bodied Tree with a small Head but very unlike the Palm-tree notwithstanding the Name It is greatly esteemed for making Masts being very tough as well as of a good length for the grain of the Wood runs not straight along it but twisting gradually about it These Trees grow in many places of the West Indies and are frequently used both by the English and Spaniards there for that use The Islands Canales and Cantarras are small Islands lying on the N. E. of Rancheria These have all Channels to pass between and good anchoring about them and they are as well stored with Trees and Water as Quibo Sailing without them all they appear to be part of the Main The Island Quibo is the largest and most noted for although the rest have Names yet they are seldom used only for distinction sake these and the rest of this knot passing all under the common name of the Keys of Quibo Captain Swan gave to several of these Islands the Names of those English Merchants and Gentlemen who were Owners of his Ship June 16th Captain Swan came to an anchor by us and then our Captains consulted about new methods to advance their fortunes and because they were now out of hopes to get any thing at Sea they resolved to try what the Land would afford They demanded of our Pilots what Towns on the Coast of Mexico they could carry us to The City of Leon being the chiefest in the Country any thing near us though a pretty way within Land was pitcht on But now we wanted Canoas to land our Men and we had no other way but to cut down Trees and make as many as we had occasion for these Islands affording plenty of large Trees fit for our purpose While this was doing we sent 150 Men to take Puebla Nova a Town upon the Main near the innermost of these Islands to get Provision It was in going to take this Town that Captain Sawkins was killed in the year 1680 who was succeeded by Sharp Our Men took the Town with much ease although there was more strength of Men than when Captain Sawkins was kill'd They returned again the 24th day but got no Provision there They took an empty Bark in their way and brought her to us The 5th day of July Captain Knight mentioned in my last Chapter came to us He had been cruising a great way to the Westward but got nothing beside a good Ship At last he went to the South-ward as high as the Bay of Guiaquil where he took a Bark-log or pair of Bark-logs as we call it laden chiefly with Flower She had other Goods as Wine Oyl Brandy Sugar Soap and Leather of Goats-skins and he took out as much of each as he had occasion for and then turned her away again The Master of the Float told him that the Kings Ships were gone from Lima towards Panama that they carried but half the Kings Treasure with them for fear of us although they had all the strength that the Kingdom could afford that all the Merchant Ships which should have gone with them were laden and lying at Payta where they were to wait for further orders Captain Knight having but few Men did not dare to go to Payta where if he had been better provided he might have taken them all but he made the best of his way into the Bay of Panama in hopes to find us there inriched with the Spoils of the Lima Fleet but coming to the Kings Islands he had advice by a Prisoner that we had ingaged with their Fleet but were worsted and since that made our way to the Westward and therefore he came hither to seek us He presently
the Horse-men had each abrace of Pistols and some short Guns If the Foot had come in they had certainly destroy'd all our men When the skirmish was over our men plac'd the two wounded men on Horses and came to their Canoas There they kill'd one of the Horses and drest it being afraid to venture into the Savannah to kill a Bullock of which there was store When they had eaten and satisfy'd themselves they returned aboard The 25th day being Christmas we cruized in pretty near the Cape and sent in 3 Canoas with the Strikers to get Fish being desirous to have a Christmas dinner In the afternoon they returned aboard with 3 great Jew-fish which feasted us all and the next day we sent ashore our Canoas again and got 3 or 4 more Captain Townly who went from us at Chametly came aboard the 28th day and brought about 40 bushels of Maiz. He had landed to the Eastward of Cape Corrientes and march'd to an Indian Village that is 4 or 5 leagues in the Country The Indians seeing him coming set 2 houses on fire that were full of Maiz and run away Yet he and his men got in other houses as much as they could bring down on their backs which he brought aboard We cruized off the Cape till the first day of January 1686 and then made towards the Valley Valderas to hunt for Beef and before night we anchored in the bottom of the Bay in 60 fathom water a mile from the shore Here we stay'd hunting till the 7th day and Captain Swan and Captain Townly went ashore every morning with about 240 men and marched to a small hill where they remain'd with 50 or 60 men to watch the Spaniards who appear'd in great companies on other hills not far distant but did never attempt any thing against our men Here we kill'd and salted above 2 months meat besides what we spent fresh and might have kill'd as much more if we had been better stor'd with Salt Our hopes of meeting the Philippine Ship were now over for we did all conclude that while we were necessitated to hunt here for Provisions she was past by to the Eastward as indeed she was as we did understand afterwards by Prisoners So this design fail'd through Captain Townley's eagerness after the Lima Ship which he attempted in Acapulco Harbour as as I have related For though we took a little Flower hard by yet the same Guide which told us of that Ship would have conducted us where we might had store of Beef and Maiz but instead thereof we lost both our time and the opportunity of providing our selves and so were forced to be victualling when we should have been cruizing off Cape Corrientes in expectation of the Manila Ship Hitherto we had coasted along here with 2 different designs The one was to get the Manila Ship which would have enriched us beyond measure and this Captain Townly was most for Sir Tho. Cavendish formerly took the Manila Ship off Cape St. Lucas in California where we also would have waited for her had we been early enough stored with Provisions to have met her there and threw much rich Goods over-board The other design which Captain Swan and our Crew were most for was to search along the Coast for rich Towns and Mines chiefly of Gold and Silver which we were assured were in this Country and we hoped near the shore not knowing as we afterwards found that it was in effect an Inland Country its Wealth remote from the South Sea Coast and having little or no commerce with it its Trade being driven Eastward with Europe by La Vera Cruz. Yet we had still some expectation of Mines and so resolved to steer on farther Northward But Captain Townly who had no other design in coming on this Coast but to meet this Ship resolved to return again towards the Coast of Peru. In all this Voyage on the Mexican Coast we had with us a Captain and 2 or 3 of his Men of our friendly Inaians of the Isthmus of Darien who having conducted over some Parties of our Privateers and expressing a desire to go along with us were received and kindly entertained aboard our Ships and we were pleas'd in having by this means Guides ready provided should we be for returning over Land as several of us thought to do rather than sail round about But at this time we of Captain Swan's Ship designing farther to the North West and Captain Townly going back we committed these our Indian Friends to his care to carry them home So here we parted he to the East-ward and we to the Westward intending to search as far to the Westward as the Spaniards were settled It was the 7th day of January in the morning when we sailed from this pleasant Valley The Wind was at N. E. and the weather fair At 11 a clock the Sea-wind came at N. W. Before night we passed by Point Pontique this is the West point of the Bay of the Valley of Valderas and is distant from Cape Corrientes 10 leagues This point is in lat 20 d. 50 m. North it is high round rocky and barren At a distance it appears like an Island A league to the West of this point are two small barren Islands called the Islands of Pontique There are several high sharp white Rocks that lye scattering about them we past between these rocky Islands on the left and the Main on the right for there is no danger The Sea-coast beyond this point runs Northward for about 18 leagues making many ragged points with small sandy Bays between them The Land by the Sea side is low and pretty woody but in the Country full of high sharp barren rugged unpleasant Hills The 14th day we had sight of a small white Rock which appears very much like a Ship under sail This Rock is in lat 21 d. 15 m. it is 3 leagues from the Main There is a good Channel between it and the Main where you will have 12 or 14 fathom water near the Island but running nearer the Main you will have gradual soundings till you come in with the shore At night we anchored in 6 fathom water near a league from the Main in good oazy ground We caught a great many Cat-fish here and at several places on this Coast both before and after this From this Island the Land runs more Northerly making a fair sandy Bay But the Sea falls in with such violence on the Shore that there is no landing but very good anchoring on all the Coast and gradual soundings About a league off shore you will have 6 fathom and 4 mile off shore you will have 7 fathom water We came to an anchor every evening and in the mornings we sailed off with the Land-wind which we found at N. E. and the Sea-breezes at N. W. The 20th day we anchored about 3 miles on the East side of the Islands Chametly different from those of that name before-mentioned for
Trade-wind which we made use of with all our Sails and we made many good Observations of the Sun At our first setting out we steer'd into the lat of 13 degrees which is near the lat of Guam then we steered West keeping in that lat By that time we had sailed 20 days our men seeing we made such great runs and the Wind like to continue repined because they were kept at such short allowance Captain Swan endeavoured to perswade them to have a little patience yet nothing but an augmentation of their daily allowance would appease them Captain Swan though with much reluctance gave way to a small enlargement of our commons for now we had not above 10 spoonfuls of boil'd Maiz a man once a day whereas before we had 8 I do believe that this short allowance did me a great deal of good though others were weakened by it for I found that my strength increased and my Dropsy wore off Yet I drank 3 times every 24 hours but many of our men did not drink in 9 or 10 days time and some not in 12 days one of our men did not drink in 17 days time and said he was not adry when he did drink yet he made water every day more or less One of our men in the midst of these hardships was found guilty of theft and condemned for the same to have 3 blows from each man in the Ship with a 2 inch and a half rope on his bare back Captain Swan began first and struck with a good will whose example was followed by all of us It was very strange that in all this Voyage we did not see one Fish not so much as a Flying-fish nor any sort of Fowl but at one time when we were by my account 4975 miles West from Cape Corrientes then we saw a great number of Boobies which we supposed came from some Rocks not far from us which were mentioned in some of our Sea-carts but we did not see them After we had run the 1900 leagues by our reckoning which made the English account to Guam the men began to murmur against Captain Swan for perswading them to come this Voyage but he gave them fair words and told them that the Spanish account might probably be the truest and seeing the gale was likely to continue a short time longer would end our troubles A Map of the EAST INDIES As we drew nigh the Island we met with some small Rain and the Clouds settling in the West were an apparent token that we were not far from Land for in these Climates between or near the Tropicks where the Trade-wind blows constantly the Clouds which fly swift over head yet seem near the Limb of the Horizon to hang without much motion or alteration where the Land is near I have often taken notice of it especially if it is high Land for you shall then have the Clouds hang about it without any visible motion The 20th day of May our Bark being about 3 leagues a head of our Ship sailed over a rocky shole on which there was but 4 fathom water and abundance of Fish swimming about the Rocks They imagin d by this that the Land was not far off so they clapt on a Wind with the Barks head to the North and being past the Shole lay by for us When we came up with them Captain Teat came aboard us and related what he had seen We were then in lat 12 d. 55 m. steering West The Island Guam is laid down in Lat. 13 d. N. by the Spaniards who are Masters of it keeping it as a baiting place as they go to the Philippine Islands Therefore we clapt on a Wind and stood to North-ward being somewhat troubled and doubtful whither we were right because there is no Shole laid down in the Spanish drafts about the Island Guam At 4 a clock to our great joy we saw the Island Guam at about 8 leagues distance It was well for Captain Swan that we got sight of it before our Provision was spent of which we had but enough for 3 days more for as I was afterwards informed the men had contrived first to kill Captain Swan and eat him when the victuals was gone and after him all of us who were accessary in promoting the undertaking this Voyage This made Captain Swan say to me after our arrival at Guam Ah! Dampier you would have made them but a poor Meal for I was as lean as the Captain was lusty and fleshy The Wind was at E. N. E. and the Land bore at N. N. E. therefore we stood to the Northward till we brought the Island to bear East and then we turned to get in to an anchor The account I have given hitherto of our course from Cape Corrientes in the Kingdom of Mexico for I have mentioned another Cape of that name in Peru South of the Bay of Panama to Guam one of the Ladrone Islands hath been in the gross But for the satisfaction of those who may think it serviceable to the fixing the Longitudes of these parts or to any other use in Geography or Navigation I have here subjoined a particular Table of every days run which was as follows A Table of every days Run to Guam Day Course Dist. S. W. Lat. Winds March 31 S W 5 d W 27 17 20 20 11 W N W Ap 1 S W 5 W 106 68 81 R. 19 3 N W N N W 2 S W 1 W 142 98 101 R. 17 25 N b W 3 W by S 102 19 100 Ob. 17 6 N 4 W 12 S 140 29 136 Ob. 16 37 N N N E 5 W 20 S 160 54 150 Ob. 15 43 N 6 W 10 S 108 18 106 Ob. 15 25 N E 7 W 15 S 89 23 86 Ob. 15 2 N E E N E 8 W 2 S 64 5 63 R. 14 57 E N E 9 W 4 S 94 6 93 Ob. 14 51 E N E 10 W 5 S 138 12 137 Ob. 14 39 E N E 11 W 5 S 124 10 123 Ob. 14 29 E N E 12 W 5 S 170 14 169 R. 14 15 E N E 13 W 5 S 170 14 169 R. 14 1 E N E 14 W 5 S 180 15 177 R. 13 46 E N E 15 W 6 S 174 18 172 R. 13 28 E N E cloudy 16 W 6 S 182 19 180 R. 13 9 E N E misty 17 W 6 S 216 22 214 R. 12 47 E N E Rain The Summ of the Westings hitherto is 2283 which make Deg. of Longitude 39d 5m From hence my Course is most West sometimes Southerly sometimes Northerly Day Course Dist. N or S W. Lat. Winds 18 W 192 0 192 R. 12 47 E by N 19 W 180 0 180 R. 12 47 E cloudy 20 W 177 0 170 R. 12 47 E N E 21 W 171 0 171 R. 12 47 E N E 22 W 18 0 180 R. 12 47 E by N 23 R. W. Ob. W 4 N 170 11 N 168 R. 12 47 ob 12 58 E by N 24
which washes a part of this Kingdom As to the particular bounds or extent of it I cannot be a competent judge coming to it by Sea and going up directly to Cachao but it is reasonable to believe it to be a pretty large Kingdom by the many great Provinces which are said to be contained in it That part of the Kingdom that borders on the Sea is all very low Land neither is there any Hill to be seen but the Elephant Mountain and a Ridge of a much less heighth continued from thence to the mouth of the River of Domea The Land for about 60 miles up in the Country is still very low even and plain nor is it much higher for about 40 miles farther quite to Cachao and beyond it being without any sensible Hill tho generally of a tolerable good heighth and with some gentle risings here and there that make it a fine pleasant Champian and the further side of this also is more level than the Champian Country it self about Hean or Cachao Farther still to the North beyond all this I have been inform'd that there is a chain of high Mountains running cross the Country from East to West but I could get no intimation of what is beyond them The Soil of this Country is generally very rich That very low Land I speak of towards the Sea is most black Earth and the mould pretty deep In some places there 's very strong Clay The Champian Land is generally yellowish or greyish earth of a looser and more friable substance then the former yet in some places it has a touch of the Clay too In the plain Country near the Mountains last mentioned there are said to be some high steep rocks of Marble scattered up and down at unequal distances which standing in that large plain Savannah appear like so many great Towers or Castles and they are the more visible because the Land about them is not burdened with Wood as in some places in its neighbourhood I have said somewhat already of the great River and its 2 branches Rokbo and Domea wherewith this Country is chiefly water'd tho it is not distitute of many other pleasant streams that are lost in these in their course towards the Sea and probably there are many others that run immediately into the Sea through their own channels tho not so navigable as the other The Country in general is very well watered and by means of the great Navigable River and its Branches it has the opportunity of Foreign Trade This rises about the Mountains in the North or from beyond them whence running Southerly toward the Sea it passes thro the before-mention'd plain of Marble Rocks and by that time it comes to Cachao which is about 40 or 50 miles to the South of the Mountains 't is about as broad as the Thames at Lambeth vet so shallow in the dry Season as that it may be forded on Horseback At Hean 20 miles lower us rather broader than the Thames at Gravesend and so below Hean to the place where it divides it self The Kingdom of Tonquin is said to be divided into 8 large Provinces viz. the East and West Provinces the North and South Provinces and the Province of Cachao in the middle between those 4 which 5 I take to be the principal Provinces making the heart of the Country The other 3 which are Tenan Tenehoa and Ngeam lie more upon the Borders The Province of Tenan is the most Easterly having China on the S. E. the Island Aynam and the Sea on the S. and S. W. and the East Province on the N. W. This is but a small Province its chiefest product is Rice The East Province stretches away from Tenan to the North Province having also China on its East side part of the South Province and the Province of Cachao on the West and the Sea on the South This is a very large Province 't is chiefly low Land and much of it Islands especially the S. E. part of it bordering on the Sea towards Tenan and here the Sea makes the Cod of a Bay It has abundance of Fishermen inhabiting near the Sea but its chief produce is Rice here is also good pasturage and much Cattle c. Hean is the chief place of this Pro vince and the Seat of the Mandarin its Governor The S. Province is the triangular Island made by Sea the River of Domea is on it's E. side dividing it from the East Province and Rokbo on the West dividing it from Tenan having the Sea to its South This Province is very low plain even Land producing Rice in great abundance here are large pastures and abundance of Fishermen near the Sea Tenehoa to the West of Rokbo has the West Province on its North Aynam on its West and the Sea on its South this Province is also low Land chiefly abounds in Rice and Cattle and hath a great Trade in Fishing as all the Sea Coast has in general The Province of Ngeam hath Tenehoa on the East and on the South and West it borders on Cochinchina and has the West Province on its North. This is a pretty large Province abounding with Rice and Cattle and here are always Soldiers kept to guard the Frontiers from the Cochinchineses The West Provinces hath Ngeam on the South the Kingdom of Laos on the West the Province of Cachao on the East and on the North the North Province This is a large Province and good Champion Land rich in Soyl partly woody partly pasture The product of this Province is chiefly in Lack and here are bred a great abundance of Silk worms for making Silk The North Province is a large tract of Land making the North side of this whole Kingdom It hath the Kingdom of Laos on the West and China on the East and North the Kingdom of Bao Oi Baotan on the North West and on the South it ders on 3 of the principal Provinces of Tonquin viz. the West Province that of Cachao and the East Province This North Province as it is large so it has variety of Land and Soyl a great deal of plain Champion Land and many high Mountains which yield Gold c. the wild Elephants of this Country are found most on these Mountains The other parts of this Province produce Lack and Silk c. The Province of Cachao in the heart of the Kingdom lies between the East West North and South Provinces 't is a Champion pleasant Country the Soil is yellow or grey earth and 't is pretty woody with some Savannahs It abounds with the two principal Commodities of their Trade viz. Lack and Silk and has some Rice Nor are any of the Provinces destitute of these Commodities tho in different proportions each according to the respective Soil This Country has of its own growth all necessaries for the Life os Man They have little occasion for eatable Roots having such plenty of Rice yet they have Yams and Potatoes for variety
this means is at least 3 months within 4 degrees of the Zenith so that they have the Sun in a manner over their heads from the beginning of May till the latter end of July Whereas when the Sun comes under the Line in March or September it immediately posts away to the North or the South and is not 20 days in passing from 3 degrees on one side to 3 degrees on the other side the Line So that by his small stay there the heat cannot be answerable to what it is near the Tropick where he so long continues in a manner Vertical at Noon and is so much longer above the Horizon each paaticular day with the intervening of a shorter night But to return to Tonquin During the wet months there 't is excessive hot especially whenever the Sun breaks out of the Clouds and there is then but little Wind stirring And I have been told by a Gentleman who liv'd there many years that he thought it was the hottest place that ever he was in tho he had been in many other parts of India And as to the Rains it has not the least share of them tho neither altogether the greatest of what I have met with in the Torrid Zone and even in the same Latitude and on the same side of the Equator The wet season begins here the latter end of April or the beginning of May and holds till the latter end of August in which time are very violent Rains some of many hours others of 2 or 3 days continuance Yet are not these Rains without some considerable intervals of fair weather especially toward the beginning or end of the season By these Rains are caus'd those Land-floods which never fail in these Countries between the Tropicks at their annual periods all the Rivers then overflowing their Banks This is a thing so well known to all who are any way acquainted with the Torrid Zone that the cause of the overflowing of the Nile to find out which the Ancients set their wits so much upon the rack and fancied melting of Snows and blowing of Etesiae and I know not what is now no longer a secret For these floods must needs discharge themselves upon such low Lands as lie in their way as the Land of Egypt does with respect to the Nile coming a great way from within the Torrid Zone and falling down from the higher Ethiopia And any one who will be at the pains to compare the time of the Land flood in Egypt with that of the Torrid Zone in any of the parts of it along which the Nile runs will find that of Egypt so much later than the other as 't will be thought reasenable to allow for the daily progress of the Waters along so vast a tract of Ground They might have made the same wonderment of any other Rivers which run any long course from out the Torrid Zone but they knowing only the North Temperate Zone and the Nile being the only great River known to come thither a great way from a Country near the Line they made that only the subject of their enquiry but the same effect must also follow from any great River that should run from out of the Torrid Zone into the South Temperate Zone And as to the Torrid Zone the yearly floods and their cause are every where as well known by people there as the Rivers themselves In America particularly in Campeachy Rivers in Rio Grande and others 't is a vast havock is made by these floods bringing down sometimes Trees of an incredible bigness and these floods always come at the stated season of the year In the dry part of Peru along the coasts of Pacifick Sea where it never rains as it seldom does in Egypt they have not only Floods but Rivers themselves made by the annual falling of Rain on the Mountains within Land the Channels of which are dry all the rest of the year This I have observ'd concerning the River Ylo on the Coast of Peru in my former Volume p. 95. But it has this difference from the Floods of Egypt that besides its being a River in the Torrid Zone 't is also in South Latitude and so overflows at a contrary season of the year to wit at such time as the Sun being in Southern Signs causes the Rains and Floods on that side the Line But to return from this digression in August the weather at Tonquin is more moderate as to heat or wet yet not without some showers and September and October are more temperate still yet the worst weather in all the year for Seamen is in one of the 3 months last mentioned for then the violent Storms called Tuffoons Typhones are expected These winds are so very fierce that for fear of them the Chinese that Trade thither will not stir out of Harbour till the end of October after which month there is no more danger of any violent Storms till the next year Tuffoons are a particular kind of violent Storms blowing on the Coast of Tonquin and the neighboring Coasts in the months of July August and September They commonly happen near the full or change of the Moon and are usually preceded by very fair weather small winds and a clear Sky Those small winds veer from the common Trade of that time of the year which is here at S. W. and shuffles about to the N. and N. E. Before the Storm comes there appears a boding Cloud in the N. E. which is very black near the Horizon but towards the upper edge it looks of a dark copper colour and higher still it is brighter and afterwards it fades to a whitish glaring colour at the very edge of the Cloud This appears very amazing and ghastly and is sometimes seen 12 hours before the Storm comes When that Cloud begins to move apace you may expect the Wind presently It comes on fierce and blows very violent at N. E. 12 hours more or less It is also commonly accompanied with terrible claps of Thunder large and frequent flashes of Lightning and excessive hard rain When the Wind begins to abate it dyes away suddenly and falling flat calm it continues so an hour more or less then the wind comes about to the S. W. and it blows and rains as fierce from thence as it did before at N. E. and as long November and December are 2 very dry wholesom warm and pleasant months January February and March are pretty dry but then you have thick fogs in the morning and sometimes drisling cold rains the Air also in these 3 months particularly in January and February is very sharp especially when the wind is at North East or North North East whether because of the Quarter it blows from or the Land it blows over I know not for I have elsewhere observ'd such Winds to be Colder where they have come from over Land April is counted a moderate month either as to heat or cold driness or moisture This is ordinarily the
Yams Potatoes c. to carry aboard with us on which we fed commonly all our Voyage But after six or seven Months I left that employ also and shipt my self aboard one Capt. Hudsel who was bound to the Bay of Campeachy to load Logwood We sailed from Port-Royal about the beginning of August in 1675. in Company with Capt. Wren in a small Jamaica Bark and Capt. Johnson Commander of a Ketch belonging to New-England This Voyage is all the way before the Wind and therefore Ships commonly sail it in 12 or 14 Days Neither were we longer in our Passage for we had very fair Weather and touch'd no where till we came to Trist Island in the Bay of Campeachy which is the only place they go to In our way thither we first sailed by little Caimanes leaving it on our Larboard side and Key Monbrack which are two small Islands lying South of Cuba The next Land we saw was the Isle of Pines and steering still Westerly we made Cape Corienes And sailing on the South side of Cuba till we came to Cape Antonio which is the West end of it we stretched over towards the Peninsula of Jucatan and fell in with Cape Catoch which is in the Extream part of that Promontory towards the East The Land trends from this Cape one way South about 40 Leagues till you come to the Island Cozumel and from thence it runs S. W. down into the Bay of Honduras About 10 Leagues from Cape Catoch between it and Cozumel lies a small Island called by the Spaniards Key-Muger or Womens-Island because 't is reported that when they went first to settle in these parts they left their Wives there while they went over on the main to find some better Habitation Tho' now they have no settlement near it whatever they have had formerly About 3 Leagues from Cape Catoch and just against it is a small Island called Loggerhead-Key probably because it is frequently visited by a sort of Turtle so called near this Island we always find a great ripling which Seamen call the Rip-raps This Cape tho' it appears to be part of the Main yet is divided from it by a small Creek scarce wide enough for a Canoa to pass through though by it 't is made an Island This I have been credibly informed of by some who yet told me that they made a shift to pass it in a Canoa The Cape is very low Land by the Sea but somewhat higher as you go further from the shore It is all over-grown with Trees of divers sorts especially Logwood and therefore was formerly much frequented by the Jamaica Men who came thither in Sloops to load with it till all the Logwoodtrees near the Sea were cut down but now 't is wholly abandoned because the Carriage of it to the shore requires more labour than the cutting logging and chipping Besides they find better Wood now in the Bays of Campeachy and Honduras and have but little way to carry it not above 300 Paces when I was there whereas at Cape Catoch they were forc'd to carry it 1500 Paces before they left that Place From Cape Catoch we coasted along by the shore on the North side of Jucatan towards Cape Condecedo The Coast lies nearest West The distance between these two Capes is about 80 Leagues The shore lies pretty level without any visible Points or Bendings in the Land It is woody by the shore and full of sandy Bays and lofty Mangroves The first place of Note to the West of Cape Catoch is a small Hill by the Sea call'd the Mount and is distant from it about 14 Leagues It is very remarkable because there is no other High-Land on all this Coast. I was never ashore here but have met with some well acquainted with the Place who are all of opinion that this Mount was not natural but the Work of Men And indeed it is very probable this Place has been inhabited for here are a great many large Cisterns supposed to have been made for the receiving of Rain-water for there are no fresh Springs to be found here the Soil being all sandy and very salt So that as I have been credibly informed by an intelligent Person the Spaniards do fetch of it to make Salt-Petre He also told me that being once there in a Privateer and landing some Men on the Bay they found about 100 Packs of this Earth bound up in Palmeto-leaves and a Spanish Mulatto to guard it The Privateers at first sight of the Packs were in hopes there had been Maiz or Indian Corn in them which they then wanted but opening them they found nothing but Earth and examining the Mulatto for what use it was he said to make Powder and that he expected a Bark from Campeachy to fetch it away He further told me that tasting of it he found it very salt as all the Earth thereabouts was So that 't is not improbable that those Cisterns were made for the carrying on a Salt-Petre-Work But whatever was the design at first it is now wholly laid aside for there is no use made of them neither are there any Inhabitants near this Place Between the Mount and Cape Condecedo close by the Sea are many little Spots of Mangrove-trees which at a distance appear-like Islands but coming nearer when other lower Trees appear it shews like ragged and broken Ground but at last all the Land presents it self to your view very even The next Place of Note on this Coast is Rio de la Gartos almost in the Mid-way between Cape Catoch and Cape Condecedo This also is a very remarkable Place for here are 2 Groves of High Magnroves one on each side the River by which it may be known very well The River is but small yet deep enough for Canoas The Water is good and I know not any other Brook or fresh River on all the Coast from Cape Catoch till within 3 or 4 Leagues of Campeachy Town A little to the East of this River is a Fish-Range and a small Indian Hutt or two within the Woods where the Indian Fishers who are subject to the Spaniards lye in the Fishing-Seasons their Habitations and Familes being farther up in the Country Here are Poles to hang their Nets on and Barbecues to dry their Fish When they go off to Sea they fish with Hook and Line about 4 or 5 Leagues from the shore for Snappers and Gropers which I have already described in my Voyage round the VVorld Chap. 4. Pag. 91. Since the Privateers and Logwood-ships have sailed this way these Fisher-men are very shy having been often snap'd by them So that now when they are out at Sea if they see a Sail they presently sink their Canoas even with the edge of the Water for the Canoas when they are full of Water will sink no lower and they themselves lye just with their heads above Water till the Ship which they saw is pass'd by or comes Night I have seen them under
great goggle Eyes and is very quick sighted It has a thick Neck and strong Legs but weak Footlocks The Hoofs of his Feet are Cloven in the middle And it has two small Hoofs above the Footlock which bending to the Ground when it goes make an Impression on the Sand like four Claws His Tail is short and tapering like a Swines without any Bob at the end This Beast is commonly fat and very good Meat It graseth ashore in wet swampy Ground near Rivers or Ponds but retires to the Water if pursued When they are in the Water they will sink down to the bottom and there walk as on dry Ground They will run almost as fast as a Man but if chased hard they will turn about and look very fierce like a Boar and fight if put to it The Natives of the Country have no Wars with these Creatures but we had many Conflicts with them both on Shore and in the Rivers and though we commonly got the better by killing some and routing the rest yet in the Water we durst not molest them after one Bout which had like to have proved fatal to 3 Men that went in a small Canoa to kill a single Sea-Horse in a River where was 8 or 10 Foot Water The Horse according to his Custom was marching in the bottom of the River and being espied by these Men they wounded him with a long Lance which so enraged the Beast that he rose up immediately and giving a fierce look he opened his Jaws and bit a great piece of the Gunnal or upper edge of the Canoa and was like to over-set it but presently sunk down again to the bottom and the Men made away as fast as they could for fear he should come again The West Branch of the River St. Peter St. Paul after it has run 8 or 9 Leagues N. W loseth it self in Tobasco River about 4 Leagues from the Sea and so makes the Island Tobasco which is 12 Leagues long and 4 broad at the North end for from the River St. Peter St. Paul to the mouth of Tobasco River is accounted 4 Leagues and the Shore lies East and West The first League on the East is mangrove-Mangrove-Land with some Sandy Bay where Turtle come ashore to lay their Eggs. The West part of it is Sandy Bay quite to the River Tobasco But because here is constantly a great Sea you have no good Landing till within the River The N. W. part of it is full of Guaver Trees of the greatest variety and their fruit the largest and best tasted I have met with and 't is really a very delicious place There are also some Coco-Plums and Grapes but not many The Savannahs here are naturally fenced with Groves of Guavers and produce good Grass for Pasture and are pretty well stock'd with fat Bullocks and I do believe it is from their eating the Guaver Fruit that these Trees are so thick For this fruit is full of small seeds which being swallowed whole by the Cattle are voided whole by them again and then taking root in their Dung spring up abundantly Here are also Deer in great numbers these we constantly find feeding in the Savannahs Mornings and Evenings And I remember an unlucky Accident whilst I was there Two or three Men went out one Evening purposely to hunt when they were in the spots of Savannahs they separated to find their Game and at last it so happened that one of them fired at a Deer and killed it and while he was skinning it he was shot stark dead by one of his Consorts who fired at him mistaking him for a Deer The poor Man was very sorry for so sad a mischance and for fear of the dead Man's Friends durst never go back again to Jamaica The River of Tobasco is the most noted in all the Bay of Campeachy and springs also from the high Mountains of Chiapo but much more to the Westward than that of St. Peter St. Paul From thence it runs N. E. till within 4 Leagues of the Sea where it receives the fore-mentioned Branch of St. Peter St. Paul and then runs North till it falls into the Sea Its Mouth is about two Miles wide and there is a Bar of Sand lying off it with not above 11 or 12 foot Water but a Mile or two within the Mouth at a nook or bending of the River on the East-side there is three Fathom and good Riding without any danger from the strength of the Current The Tide flows up about four Leagues in the dry Season but in the Rains not so far for then the Freshes make the Ebb run very strong During the Norths it over-flows all the low Land for 14 or 15 Leagues up the River and you may then take up fresh Water without the Bar. This River near its Mouth abounds with Cat-fish with some Snooks and Manatee in great plenty there being good feeding for them in many of its Creeks especially in one place on the Starbord side about 2 Leagues from the Sea which runs into the Land 2 or 300 paces and then opens very wide and is so shoal that you may see their backs above Water as they feed a thing so rare that I have heard our Musketo-men say they never saw it any where else On the least noise they will all scamper out into the River yet the Musketo-men seldom miss of striking them These are a sort of Fresh-water Manatee not altogether so big as the Sea kind but otherwise exactly alike in shape and tast and I think rather fatter The Land by the Rivers especially on tne Starbord side is swampy and over-grown with Trees Here are also abundance of Land-Turtle the largest that I ever saw till I came to the Gallapagos Islands in the S. Seas viz. Mangroves Macaws and other sorts that I know not In some places near the River side further up the Country are Ridges of dry Land full of lofty Cabbage and Cotton Trees which make a very pleasant Landskip There is no Settlement within 8 Leagues of the River's Mouth and then you come to a small Breast-work where there is commonly a Spaniard with 8 or 9 Indians posted on each side the River to watch for Boats coming that way And because there are divers Greeks running in from the Savannahs some of these Sentinels are so placed in the Woods that they may look into the Savannahs for fear of being surprized on the back side Yet for all their caution these Sentinels were snap'd by Captain Nevil Commander of a small Brigantine in a second Expedition that he made to take the Town called Villa de Mose His first Attempt miscarried by his being discovered But the second time he got into a Creek a League below these Sentinels and there dragging his Canoas over some Trees that were laid cross it purposely to hinder his passage he came in the night upon their backs in their several Posts so that the Town having no notice of his coming
in danger to be over-set by them or at least lose Masts or Yards or have the Sails split besides the Consternation that all Men must needs be in at such a time especially if the Ship by any unforeseen accident should prove unruly as by the mistake of the Man at Helm or he that Conns or by her broaching too against all endeavours which often happens when a fierce gust comes which though it does not last long yet would do much damage in a short time and tho' all things should fall out well yet the benefit of it would not compensate the danger For 't is much if a Ship sails a Mile before either the VVind dyes wholly away or at least shifts about again to the South Nor are we sure that these VVinds will continue 3 Minutes before they shift and sometimes they fly round faster than the Ship will tho' the Helm lies for it and all Seamen know the danger of being taken a back in such VVeather But what has been spoken of the Southerly VVinds Calms and Tornadoes is to be understood of the East side of the Atlantick to as far VVest as the Longitude of 359 d. or thereabouts for farther VVesterly we find the VVinds commonly at S. E. even in crossing the Line and a very brisk gale 't is for that reason our experienced Guinea Commanders do keep to the Southward of the Line till they are about that Longitude Some run over nearer the American Shore before they cross the Line Our East India Commanders do also cross the Line coming from India near the American Coast and find brisk Gales at S. E. all the times of the Year but going to the Indies they steer away South from the Island St. Jago where they commonly VVater and meet the Winds in that Longitude But of this enough The Winds near the Line in the Indian Ocean and South Sea are different from this yet there the Winds are also Southerly and therefore different from what they are farther off for 2 d. or 3 d. on each side the Line the Winds are commonly very uncertain and oftentimes there are perfect Calms or at least very small Winds and some Tornadoes in the East Indian Sea In the South Seas near and under the Line the Winds are at South 130 Leagues off from the Shoar but how farther off I know not there the Winds are but small yet constant and the Weather clear from March till September but about Christmas there are Tornadoes yet in both the East Indian Sea and the South Sea the VVinds near or under the Line are often at South yet these Winds do not blow above 2 or 3 d. to the North or South of the Line except near some Land but in the Atlantick Sea as I have said before the South and South West Winds do sometimes blow even to 10 or 12 d. North of the Line And for the South Winds to blow constantly near the Line in the Atlantick between Cape Verd in Africa and C. Blunco in Brazil is no wonderful thing if a Man will but consider those Promontories that shoot out from the Continents on each side the Sea one on the North the other on the South side of the Equafor leaving but a small space clear for the VVinds to blow in where there is always a pretty brisk Gale especially on the American side And as within 2 or 3 d. of the Equator it is most subject to Calms and Tornadoes and small faint Breezes in other Seas not pend up as this is So this Sea except just in the very opening between both Promontories is much more subject to it than any other especially on the East side that is from the Bite or the Inland corner of the Coast of Guinea to 28 or 30 d. distance VVest But this seems not to be altogether the effects of the Line but owing partly to the nearness of the Land to the Line which shoots out from the Bite of Guinea even to Cape St. Anns almost in a parrallel with the Equator allowing for the Bays a bendings and this is 23 or 24 d. of Longitude and not above 80 Leagues from the Line in some Places So that this part of the Sea between the Coast of Guinea and the Line or 2 d. South of it lying as it were between the Land and the Line is seldom free from bad VVeather especially from April to September but when the Sun is withdrawn towards the Tropick of Capricorn then there is something better VVeather there And in the Sea under the Line between the African Promontory and the American it is freer from Tornadoes and Calms and more subject to fair VVeather and fresh Breezes Therefore both our English and Dutch East India Ships when outward-bound endeavour to Cross the Line as near as they can in the mid Channel between both Promontories and although they meet the VVinds sometimes at S. S. E. or at S. S. W. or farther Easterly or Westerly yet will they not run above a degree to the East or a degree to the West of the mid Channel before they tack again for fear of meeting with the soaking Current on the West or Calms on the East side either of which would be alike prejudicial to their Course The Portuguise in their Voyages to Brazil take the same method and get to the South of the Line before they fall in with the Land for fear of falling to leward of Cape St. Augustine for there are so many things which make that a difficult Cape to pass that hardly any Man would try to do it but at a distance But our Guinea Ships do generally pass on to their Ports on the Coast of Guinea at any time of the Year without using such methods because their Business lyes mostly on the North of the Line where they always find a fair Westerly Wind. But in their returns from thence they cross the Line and run 3 or 4 d. to the Southward of it where they meet the Wind between the S. S. E. and the S. S. W. and a brisk gale with this Wind they run away in the same parrallel 35 or 36 d. before they cross the Line again to the Northward which is about mid-way between the Extreams of both Promontories there they find a brisk gale which carries them to the West Indies or where they please Some run West 40 d. before they cross the Line and find strong Gales whereas should they come from Old Callabar or any other Place in the Bite on the North of the Line and steer away West thinking to gain their Passage the sooner because it is the nearest way they would doubtless be mistaken as many Men have been For if they keep near the Line they meet with great Calms and if they keep near the Land they meet with Westerly Winds and if they keep in the middle between both they must of necessity meet with both Inconveniencies as also with Tornadoes especially in May June July and
of Hispaniola or Jamaica troubled with these fierce VVinds any nearer than half Channel over as was said before It has not been my fortune to have been on this Coast when these VVinds have blown yet I have had the Relation of it so often and from so many Persons that I am very well satisfied of the truth of it Nay it is so generally known among the Jamaica Seamen and Privateers that they call a Talkative Person in derision a Carthagena-Breeze I remember 2 or 3 Men that went by that Name and I knew them by no other tho' I was in the same Ship with them several Months Some of our English Frigots that have been sent to Jamaica have experienced these Breezes when the Governour has sent them upon business to that Coast For plying between Portobello and Carthagena when they have been within 10 Leagues of Carthagena they have met with the Sea Breez so strong that they have been forced to riff their Topsail which even then they could not maintain but have been obliged to furle it quite up and so with only their lower Sails which sometimes they have been forced to riff too have been beating 8 or 10 Days to get only so many Leagues which tho' at last they have done yet has it been with much trouble and not without damage to their Sails and Rigging Neither can I forget a Squadron of French Frigots Commanded by the Count de Estrees that came to Jamaica and demanded leave of the Governour to VVood and VVater there which because it seemed strange that they should want in coming only from Petit Guavas it was demanded of them why they came from thence so ill provided They said they went from Petit Guavas over to the Coast of Carthagena with a design to have plyed to VVind-ward under that shore but met the Breezes so hard on the Coast that they were not able to hold up their sides against it and for that Reason stood back again towards Petit Guavas but not being able to setch it therefore they came to VVood and VVater at Jamaica designing to go from thence thro' the Gulph And tho' the Pilots of Jamaica did all conclude that the Breezetime was past by more than a Month yet the Governour gave them leave to VVood and VVater at Blewfields Bay and sent one Mr. Stone to be their Pilot thither This was in 1679. and in one of our Summer Months but I can't tell which tho' I was there In the South Seas on the Mexican Coast between Cape Blanco in the Lat. of 9D 56M North and Realeja in Lat. 11 North which two Places are about 80 Leagues distance there are VVinds which blow only in the Months of May June and July call'd by the Spaniards Popogaios They blow Night and Day without intermission sometimes 3 or 4 Days or a VVeek together They are very brisk VVinds but not violent I have been in one of them when we went from Caldera Bay bound to Realeja mentioned in my Voyage round the VVorld Chap. 5. Pag. 118. which blew at North. In the East Indies on the Coast of Coromandel there are VVinds call'd by the Portuguise Terrenos because they blow from the Land These are not those Land-Winds that I have already treated of for these blow only in June July and Aug. and are in several respects quite contrary to them For whereas the true Land-Winds blow only in the Night including Evenings and Mornings on the contrary these blow 3 or 4 Days without intermission nay sometimes a VVeek or 10 Days together and as the true Nocturnal Land-winds are very cold on the contrary these are the hottest of all VVinds I ever heard of They come with hot Blooms such as I have mentioned in my Voyage round the Word Chap. 20. Pag. 530. These Winds are at West and they blow only in the Months of June July and August which is the West Monsoon-Season tho' the proper Monsoon then on this Coast is S. VV. When these hot VVinds come the better sort of People at Fort St. George keep close They also shut up their VVindows and Doors to keep them out and I have heard Gentlemen that lived there say that when they have been thus shut up within Doors they have been sensible when the VVind shifted by the Change they have felt in their Bodies And notwithstanding that these VVinds are so hot yet the Inhabitants don't sweat while they last for their Skins are hard and rough as if they had been parched by the Fire especially their Faces and Hands yet does it not make them sick The Sands which are raised by these VVinds are a great annoyance to those whose business lyes abroad and who can't keep their Houses For many times they wheel about and raise the Sands so thick that it flies like smoak in Peoples Eyes and the Ships also that lie in the road at that time have their Decks covered with this Sand. On the Coast of Malabar they have of these sorts of VVinds also but not at the same time of the Year For as these on the Coast of Coromandel blow in the Months of June July and August when the West Monsoon Reigns on the contrary on the Malabar Coast they blow in the Months of December January and February when the East or North East Monsoon blows for then the Easterly VVind which is then the true Monsoon comes over from the Land of this Coast This being the West-side as the Coast of Coromandel is the East-side of this long East Indian Promontory The Persian Gulph is as remarkable for these hot VVinds as either of the former they come there in the Months of June July and August in the West Monsoon time and the heat there by all Accounts does by far exceed that on the other two Coasts The European Merchants that are employed in the Ports within the King of Persia his Dominions do leave their Coast Habitations and Business there during these hot Months and spend their time at Ispahan till the Air is more agreeable to their Bodies but their Servants must indure it And if any Ships are there then the Seamen also must do as well as they can 'T is reported the Commanders do keep Bathing-Troughs full of VVater to lye and wallow in and hide their Bodies from the noisom hot Blooms I was never in any of these hot Winds for I went from Fort St. George before they came on the Coast. On the Coast of Guinea there are a particular sort of Land-winds which are very remarkable not for their Heat as those last-mentioned but for their exceeding Cold and Searching Nature They are called Harmatans I have had an Acceâ—… of them from several who have Traded to Guinea but more especially from a very Sensible and Experienced Gentleman Mr. Greenhill Commissioner of His Majesties Navy at Portsmouth who upon my Request was pleased to send me the following 〈◊〉 count which the Reader cannot have better than in his own Words
is a Pond of brackish Water which sometimes Privateers use instead of better there is likewise good riding by it About a league from this are two other Islands not 200 yards distant from each other yet a deep Channel for Ships to pass through They are both overgrown with red Mangrove Trees which Trees above any of the Mangroves do flourish best in wet drowned Land such as these two Islands are only the East point of the Westernmost Island is dry Sand without Tree or Bush On this point we careened lying on the South side of it The other Islands are low and have red Mangroves and other Trees on them Here also Ships may ride but no such place for careening as where we lay because at that place Ships may hale close to the shore and if they have but four Guns on the point may secure the Channel and hinder any Enemy from coming near them I observ'd that within among the Islands was good riding in many places but not without the Islands except to the West-ward or S. West of them For on the East or N. E. of these Islands the common Trade-Wind blows and makes a great Sea and to the South-ward of them there is no ground under 70 80 or 100 fathom close by the Land After we had filled what Water we could from hence we set out again in April 1682. and came to Salt-Tortuga so called to distinguish it from the shoals of Dry Tortugas near Cape Florida and from the Isle of Tortugas by Hispaniola which was called formerly French Tortugas though not having heard any mention of that name a great while I am apt to think it is swallow'd up in that of Petit-Guavres the chief Garrison the French have in those parts This Island we arrived at is pretty large uninhabited and abounds with Salt It is in Lat. 11 degrees North and lyeth West and a little Northerly from Margarita an Island inhabited by the Spaniards strong and wealthy it is distant from it about 14 leagues and 17 or 18 from Cape Blanco on the Main A Ship being within these Islands a little to the South-ward may see at once the Main Margarita and Tortuga when it is clear weather The East end of Tortuga is full of rugged bare broken Rocks which stretch themselves a little way out to Sea At the S. E. part is an indifferent good Road for Ships much frequented in peaceable times by Merchant-ships that come hither to lade Salt in the months of May June July and August For at the East end is a large Salt-pond within 200 paces of the Sea The Salt begins to kern or grain in April except it is a dry season for it is observed that rain makes the Salt kern I have seen above 20 Sail at a time in this road come to lade Salt and these Ships coming from some of the Caribbe Islands are always well stored with Rum Sugar and Lime-juice to make Punch to hearten their Men when they are at work getting and bringing aboard the Salt and they commonly provide the more in hopes to meet with Privateers who resort hither in the aforesaid months purposely to keep a Christmas as they call it being sure to meet with Liquor enough to be merry with and are very liberal to those that treat them Near the West end of the Island on the South side there is a small Harbour and some fresh Water That end of the Island is full of shrubby Trees but the East end is rocky and barren as to Trees producing only course Grass There are some Goats on it but not many and Turtle or Tortise come upon the sandy Bays to lay their Eggs and from them the Island hath its Name There is no riding any where but in the Road where the Salt-Ponds are or in the Harbour At this Isle we thought to have sold our Sugar among the English Ships that come hither for Salt but failing there we design'd for Trinidada an Island near the Main inhabited by the Spaniards tolerably strong and wealthy but the Current and Easterly Winds hindering us we passed through between Margarita and the Main and went to Blanco a pretty large Island almost North of Margarita about 30 leagues from the Main and in 11 d. 50 m. North Lat. It is a flat even low uninhabited Island dry and healthy most Savanah of long Grass and hath some Trees of Lignum Vitae growing in Spots with shrubby Bushes of other Wood about them It is plentifully stored with Guano s which are an Animal like a Lizard but much bigger The body is as big as the small of a mans leg and from the hind quarter the tail grows tapering to the end which is very small If a Man takes hold of the tail except very near the hind quarter it will part and breakoff in one of the joints and the Guano will get away They lay Eggs as most of those amphibious creatures do and are very good to eat Their flesh is much esteemed by Privateers who commonly dress them for their sick men for they make very good Broath They are of divers colours as almost black dark brown light brown dark green light green yellow and speckled They all live as well in the Water as on Land and some of them are constantly in the Water and among Rocks These are commonly black Others that live in swampy wet ground are commonly on Bushes and Trees these are green But such as live in dry ground as here at Blanco are commonly yellow yet these also will live in the Water and are sometimes on Trees The Road is on the N. W. end against a small Cove or little sandy Bay There is no riding any where else for it is deep water and steep close to the Land There is one small Spring on the West side and there are sandy Bays round the Island where Turtle or Tortoise come up in great abundance going ashore in the night These that frequent this Island are called green Turtle and they are the best of that sort both for largeness and sweetness of any in all the West Indies I would here give a particular description of these and other sorts of Turtle in these Seas but because I shall have occasion to mention some other sorts of Turtle when I come again into the South Seas that are very different from all these I shall there give a general account of all these several sorts at once that the difference between them may be the better discerned Some of our modern Descriptions speak of Goats on this Island I know not what there may have been formerly but there are none now to my certain knowledge for my self and many more of our Crew have been all over it Indeed these parts have undergone great changes in this last age as well in places themselves as in their Owners and Commodities of them particularly Nombre de Dios a City once famous and which still retains a considerable name in some late
without any Tree only some Dildo-bushes growing on them and I do believe there is no Water on any one of them for there was no appearance of any Water The two Northernmost we could not come near but the Southermost we came close by but could not strike ground till within two Cables length of the shore and there found it to be foul rocky ground From the time that we were in 10 degrees South till we came to these Islands we had the Wind between E. N. E. and the N. N. E. fair weather and a brisk gale The day that we made these Islands we saw great sholes of small Lobsters which coloured the Sea Red in spots for a mile in compass and we drew some of them out of the Sea in our Water-Buckets They were no bigger than the top of a Mans little finger yet all their Claws both great and small like a Lobster I never saw any of this sort of Fish naturally red but here for ours on the English Coast which are black naturally are not red till they are boil'd neither did I ever any where else meet with any Fish of the Lobster shape so small as these unless it may be Shrimps or Prawns Captain Swan and Captain Eaton met also with shoals of this Fish in much the same Latitude and Longitude Leaving therefore the Sible de Ward Islands as having neither good Anchorage nor Water we sailed on directing our course for the Streights of Magellan But the Winds hanging in the westerbord and blowing hard oft put us by our Topsails so that we could not fetch it The 6th day of February we fell in with the Streights Le Mair which is very high Land on both sides and the Streights very narrow We had the Wind at N. N. W. a fresh gale and seeing the opening of the Streights we ran in with it till within four mile of the mouth and then it fell calm and we found a strong tide setting out of the Streights to the Northward and like to founder our Ship but whether flood or ebb I know not only it made such a short cockling Sea as if we had been in a race or place where two tides meet For it ran every way sometimes breaking in over our Waste sometimes over our Poop sometimes over our Bow and the Ship tossed like an Egg-shell so that I never felt such uncertain jerks in a Ship At 8 a clock in the evening we had a small Breez at W. N. W. and steered away to the Eastward intending to go round the States Island the East end of which we reached the next day by noon having a fresh breez all night The 7th day at noon being off the East End of States Island I had a good observation of the Sun and found my self in lat 54 deg 52 min. South At the East end of States Island are three small Islands or rather Rocks pretty high and white with the Dung of Fowls Wherefore having observed the Sun we haled up South designing to pass round to the Southward of Cape Horne which is the Southermost Land of Terra del Fuego The Winds hung in the western quarter betwixt the N. W. and the West so that we could not get much to the Westward and we never saw Terra del Fuego after that evening that we made the Streight Le Mair I have heard that there have been Smokes and Fires on Terra del Fuego not on the tops of Hills but in Plains and Valleys seen by those who have sailed through the Streights of Magellan supposed to be made by the Natives We did not see the Sun at rising or setting in order to take an amplitude after we left the Sibble de Wards till we got into the South Seas therefore I know not whether the variation increased any more or no. Indeed I had an observation of the Sun at noon in lat 59 deg 30 min. and we were then standing to the Southward with the Wind at W. by N. and that night the Wind came about more to the Southward of the West and we tackt I was then in lat 60 by reckning which was the farthest South latitude that ever I was in The 14th day of February being in lat 57. and to the West of Cape Horne we had a violent Storm which held us till the third day of March blowing commonly at S. W. and S. W. by W. and W. S. W. thick weather all the time with small drizling Rain but not hard We made a shift however to save 23 Barrels of Rain-water besides what we drest our Victuals withal March the third the Wind shifted at once and came about at South blowing a fierce gale of Wind soon after it came about to the Eastward and we stood into the South Seas The 9th day having an observation of the Sun not having seen it of late we found ourselves in lat 47 d. 10 m. and the variation to be but 15 d. 30 m. East The Wind stood at S. E. we had fair weather and a moderate gale and the 17th day we were in lat 36 by observation and then found the variation to be but 8 degrees East The 19th day when we looked out in the morning we saw a Ship to the Southward of us coming with all the Sail she could make after us we lay muzled to let her come up with us for we supposed her to be a Spanish Ship come from Baldivia bound to Lima we being now to the Northward of Baldivia and this being the time of the year when Ships that trade thence to Baldivia return home They had the same opinion of us and therefore made sure to take us but coming nearer we both found our mistakes This proved to be one Captain Eaton in a Ship sent purposely from London for the South Seas We hailed each other and the Captain came on board and told us of his actions on the Coast of Brazil and in the River of Plate He met Captain Swan one that came from England to trade here at the East Entrance into the Streights of Magellan and they accompanied each other through the Streights and were separated after they were through by the Storm before mentioned Both we and Captain Eaton being bound for John Fernando's Isle we kept company and we spared him Bread and Beef and he spared us Water which he took in as he passed through the Streights March the 22d 1684. we came in sight of the Island and the next day got in and anchored in a Bay at the South end of the Island in 25 fathom water not two Cables lengths from the shore We presently got out our Canoa and went ashore to see for a Moskito Indian whom we left here when we were chaced hence by three Spanish Ships in the year 1681. a little before we went to Arica Captain Watlin being then our Commander after Captain Sharp was turned out This Indian lived here alone above 3 years and altho he was several
or where they gather Vinelloes and in such places where they gather Gold In such places as these the Friers do get a great deal of wealth There was but one of all the Indians on both these Islands that could speak Spanish he could write Spanish also being bred up purposely to keep their Registers and Books of Account he was Secretary to both Islands They had a Casica too a small sort of Magistrate the Indians have amongst themselves but he could neither write nor speak Spanish There are a great many more Islands in this Bay but none inhabited as these There is one pretty large Island belonging to a Nunnery as the Indians told us this was stocked with Bulls and Cows there were 3 or 4 Indians lived there to look after the Cattle for the sake of which we often frequented this Island while we lay in the Bay they are all low Islands except Amapalla and Mangera There are 2 Channels to come into this Gulf one between Point Casivina and Mangera the other between Mangera and Amapalla the latter is the best The Riding place is on the East side of Amapalla right against a spot of low ground for all the Island except this one place is high Land Running in farther Ships may Anchor near the Main on the N. E. side of the Island Amapalla This is the place most frequented by Spaniards it is called the Port of Martin Lopez This Gulf or Lake runs in some leagues beyond all the Islands but it is shole water and not capable of Ships It was into this Gulf that Captain Davis was gone with the two Canoas to endeavour for a Prisoner to gain intelligence if possible before our Ships came in He came the first night to Mangera but for want of a Pilot did not know where to look for the Town In the morning he found a great many Canoas haled up on the Bay and from that Bay found a path which led him and his company to the Town The Indians saw our Ships in the evening coming towards the Island and being before informed of Enemies in the Sea they kept Scouts out all night for fear who seeing Captain Davis coming run into the Town and alarmed all the people When Captain Davis came thither they all run into the Woods The Fryer hapned to be there at this time who being unable to ramble into the Woods fell into Captain Davis's hands There were two Indian Boys with him who were likewise taken Captain Davis went only to get a Prisoner therefore was well satisfy'd with the Fryer and immediately came down to the Sea side He went from thence to the Island Amapalla carrying the Fryer and the two Indian Boys with him These were his Pilots to conduct him to the Landing place where they arrived about noon They made no stay here but left 3 or 4 men to look after the Canoas and Captain Davis with the rest marched to the Town taking the Fryer with them The Town as is before noted is about a mile from the Landing place standing in a plain on the top of the hill having a very steep ascent to go to it All the Indians stood on the top of the hill waiting Captain Davis's coming The Secretary mention'd before had no great kindness for the Spaniards It was he that perswaded the Indians to wait Captain Davis his coming for they were all running into the Woods but he told them that if any of the Spaniards Enemies came thither it was not to hurt them but the Spaniards whose Slaves they were and that their Poverty would protect them This man with the Casica stood more forward than the rest at the bank of the Hill when Captain Davis with his Company appear'd beneath They called out therefore in Spanish demanding of our Men what they were and from whence they came to whom Captain Davis and his Men reply'd they were Biscayers and that they were sent thither by the King of Spain to clear those Seas from Enemies that their Ships were coming into the Gulf to Careen and that they came thither before the Ships to seek a convenient place for it as also to desire the Indians assistance The Secretary who as I said before was the only man that could speak Spanish told them that they were welcome for he had a great respect for any Old Spain Men especially for the Biscayers of whom he had heard a very honourable report therefore he desired them to come up to their Town Captain Davis and his Men immediately ascended the Hill the Frier going before and they were received with a great deal of affection by the Indians The Casica and Secretary embraced Captain Davis and the other Indians received his Men with the like Ceremony These Salutations being ended they all marched towards the Church for that is the place of all publick Meetings and all Plays and Pastimes are acted there also therefore in the Churches belonging to Indian Towns they have all sorts of Vizards and strange antick Dresses both for Men and Women and abundance of Musical Hautboys and Strumstrums The Strumstrum is made somewhat like a Cittern most of those that the Indians use are made of a large Goad cut in the midst and a thin board laid over the hollow and which is fastned to the sides this serves for the belly over which the strings are placed The nights before any Holidays or the nights ensuing are the times when they all meet to make merry Their Mirth consists in singing dancing and sporting in those antick Habits and using as many antick gestures If the Moon shine they use but few Torches if not the Church is full of light They meet at these times all sorts of both Sexes All the Indians that I have been acquainted with who are under the Spaniards seem to be more melancholy than other Indians that are free and at these publick Meetings when they are in the greatest of their jollity their mirth seems to be rather forced than real Their Songs are very melancholy and doleful so is their Musick but whether it be natural to the Indians to be thus melancholy or the effect of their Slavery I am not certain But I have always been prone to believe that they are then only condoling their misfortunes the loss of their Country and Liberties which altho these that are now living do not know nor remember what it was to be free yet there seems to be a deep impression in their thoughts of the Slavery which the Spaniards have brought them under increas'd probably by some Traditions of their ancient freedom Captain Davis intended when they were all in the Church to shut the Doors and then make a bargain with them letting them know what he was and so draw them afterwards by fair means to our assistance the Frier being with him who had also promis'd to engage them to it but before they were all in the Church one of Captain Davis his Men pusht one of
the Indians to hasten him into the Church The Indian immediately ran away and all the rest taking the alarm sprang out of the Church like Deer it was hard to say which was first and Captain Davis who knew nothing of what hapned was left in the Church only with the Fryer When they were all fled Captain Davis his Men fired and kill'd the Secretary and thus our hopes perished by the indiscretion of one foolish fellow In the afternoon the Ships came into the Gulf between Point Casivina and Mangera and anchored near the Island Amapalla on the East side in 10 fathom water clean hard Sand. In the evening Captain Davis and his company came aboard and brought the Fryer with them who told Captain Davis that if the Secretary had not been kill d he could have sent him a Letter by one of the Indians that was taken at Mangera and perswaded him to come to us but now the only way was to send one of those Indians to seek the Casica and that himself would instruct him what to say and did not question but the Casica would come in on his word The next day we sent ashore one of the Indians who before night returned with the Casica and 6 other Indians who remained with us all the time that we staid here These Indians did us good service especially in piloting us to an Island where we kill'd Beef whenever we wanted and for this their service we satisfied them to their hearts content It was at this Island Amapalla that a party of Englishmen and Frenchmen came afterwards and stay'd a great while and at last landed on the Main and marched over Land to the Cape River which disembogues into the North Seas near Cape Gratia Dios and is therefore called the Cape River Near the Head of this River they made Bark-logs which I shall describe in the next Chapter and so went into the North Seas This was the way that Captain Sharp had proposed to go if he had been put to it for this way was partly known to Privateers by the discovery that was made into the Country about 30 years since by a party of Englishmen that went up that River in Canoas about as far as the place where these Frenchmen made their Bark-logs there they landed and marched to a Town called Segevia in the Country They were near a month getting up the River for there are many Cataracts where they were often forced to leave the River and hale their Canoas ashore over the Land till they were past the Cataracts and then launch their Canoas again into the River I have discoursed several Men that were in that Expedition and if I mistake not Captain Sharp was one of them But to return to our Voyage in hand when both our Ships were clean and our Water fill'd Captain Davis and Captain Eaton broke off Consortships Captain Eaton took aboard of his Ships 400 Packs of Flower and sailed out of the Gulf the second day of September CHAP. VI. They depart from Amapalla Tornadoes Cape St. Francisco They meet Captain Eaton and part again Isle of Plata described Another meeting with Capt. Eaton and their final parting Point Sancta Hellena Algatrane a sort of Tar. A Spanish VVreck Cruisings Manta near Cape St. Lorenzo Monte Christo. Cruisings Cape Blanco Payta The Buildings in Peru. The Soil of Peru. Colan Bark-logs described Piura The Road of Payta Lobos de Terra They come again to Lobos de la Mar. The Bay of Guiaquil Isle of Sancta Clara. A rich Spanish Wreck there Cat-fish Point Arena in the Isle Puna The Island described The Palmeto tree Town and Harbour of Puna River of Guiaquil Guiaquil Town Its Commodities Cacao Sarsaparilla Quito cloth Of the City and Gold and Air of Quito They enter the Bay in order to make an attempt on the Town of Guiaquil A great advantage slipt that might have been made of a company of Negroes taken in Guiaquil River They go to Plata again Isle Plata THE third day of September 1684. we sent the Frier ashore and left the Indians in possession of the Prize which we brought in hither though she was still half laden with Flower and we sailed out with the Land Wind passing between Amapalla and Mangera When we were a league out we saw a Canoa coming with Sail and Oars after us therefore we shortened Sail and staid for her She was a Canoa sent by the Governor of St. Michaels Town to our Captain desiring him not to carry away the Frier The Messenger being told that the Frier was set ashore again at Amapalla he returned with joy and we made Sail again having the Wind at W. N. W. We steered towards the Coast of Peru we had Tornadoes every day till we made Cape St. Francisco which from June to November are very common on these Coasts and we had with the Tornadoes very much Thunder Lightning and Rain When the Tornadoes were over the Wind which while they lasted was most from the South East came about again to the West and never failed us till we were in sight of Cape St. Francisco where we found the Wind at South with fair weather This Cape is in lat 01 d. 00 North. It is a high bluff or full point of Land cloathed with tall great Trees Passing by this Point coming from the North you will see a small low Point which you might suppose to be the Cape but you are then past it and presently afterwards it appears with three points The Land in the Country within this Cape is very high and the Mountains commonly appear very black When we came in with this Cape we overtook Captain Eaton plying under the shore he in his passage from Amapalla while he was on that Coast met with such terrible Tornadoes of Thunder and Lightning that as he and all his Men related they had never met with the like in any place They were very much affrighted by them the Air smelling very much of Sulphur and they apprehending themselves in great danger of being burnt by the Lightning He touch'd at the Island Cocos and put ashore 200 Packs of Flower there and loaded his Boat with Coco Nuts and took in fresh water In the evening we separated again from Captain Eaton for he stood off to Sea and we plied up under the shore making our best advantage both of Sea and Land Winds The Sea Winds are here at South the Land Winds at S. S. E. but sometimes when we came abreast of a River we should have the Wind at S. E. The 20th day of September we came to the Island Plata and anchored in 16 fathom We had very good weather from the time that we fell in with Cape St. Francisco and were now fallen in again with the same places from whence I begin the account of this Voyage in the first Chapter having now compast in the whole Continent of the South America The Island Plata as some report
was so named by the Spaniards after Sir Francis Drake took the Caoafoga a Ship chiefly laden with Plate which they say he brought hither and divided it here with his Men. It is about 4 mile long and a mile and half broad and of a good heighth It is bounded with high steep Cliffs clear round only at one place on the East side The top of it is flat and even the Soil sandy and dry the Trees it produceth are but small bodied low and grow thin and there are only 3 or 4 sorts of Trees all unknown to us I observed they were much overgrown with long Moss There is good Grass especially in the beginning of the year There is no Water on this Island but at one place on the East side close by the Sea there it drills slowly down from the Rocks where it may be received into Vessels There was plenty of Goats but they are now all destroyed There is no other sort of Land Animal that I did ever see here are plenty of Boobies and Men of War Birds The anchoring place is on the East side near the middle of the Island close by the shore within two Cables lengths of the sandy Bay there is about 18 or 20 fathom good fast oazy ground and smooth Water for the S. E. point of the Island shelters from the South Winds which constantly blow here From the S. E. point there strikes out a small shole a quarter of a mile into the Sea where there is commonly a great Riplin or working of short Waves during all the Flood The Tide runs pretty strong the Flood to the South and the Ebb to the North. There is good landing on the Sandy Bay against the anchoring place from whence you may go up into the Island and at no place besides There are 2 or 3 high steep small Rocks at the S. E. point not a Cables length from the Island and another much bigger at the N. E. end it is deep Water all round but at the anchoring place and at the shole at the S. E point This Island lieth in lat 01d 10 m. South It is distant from Cape St. Lorenzo 4 or 5 leagues bearing from it W. S. W. and half a point westerly At this Island are plenty of those small Sea Turtle spoken of in my last Chapter The 21st day Captain Eaton came to an anchor by us he was very willing to have consorted with us again but Captain Davis's Men were so unreasonable that they would not allow Captain Eaton's Men an equal share with them in what they got therefore Captain Eaton staid here but one night and the next day sailed from hence steering away to the Southward We staid no longer than the day ensuing and then we sailed toward Point St. Hellena intending there to land some Men purposely to get Prisoners for intelligence Point Santa Hellena bears South from the Island Plata It lies in lat 2d 15 m. South The Point is pretty high flat and even at top overgrown with many great Thistles but no sort of Tree at a distance it appears like an Island because the Land within it is very low This Point strikes out West into the Sea making a pretty large Bay on the North side A mile within the Point on the Sandy Bay close by the Sea there is a poor small Indian Village called Sancta Hellena the Land about it is low sandy and barren there are no Trees nor Grass growing near it neither do the Indians produce any Fruit Grain or Plant but Water-Melons only which are large and very sweet There is no fresh Water at this place nor near it therefore the Inhabitants are obliged to fetch all their Water from the River Colanche which is in the bottom of the Bay about 4 leagues from it Not far from this Town on the Bay close by the Sea about 5 paces from high-water mark there is a sort of bitumenous matter boils out of a little hole in the earth It is like thin Tar the Spaniards call it Algatrane By much boiling it becomes hard like Pitch It is frequently used by the Spaniards instead of Pitch and the Indians that inhabit here save it in Jars It boils up most at high water and. then the Indians are ready to receive it These Indians are Fishermen and go out to Sea on Bark-logs Their chief subsistence is Maiz most of which they get from Ships that come hither for Algatrane There is good anchoring to leeward of the Point right against the Village but on the West side of the Point it is deep Water and no anchoring The Spaniards do report that there was once a very rich Ship driven ashore here in calm for want of Wind to work her Assoon as ever she struck she heel'd off to Sea and fill'd with Water presently and then slid off to 7 or 8 fathom Water where she lies to this day none having attempted to fish for her because she lies deep and there falls in here a great high Sea When we were abreast of this Point we sent away our Canoas in the night to take the Indian Village They landed in the morning betimes close by the Town and took some Prisoners They took likewise a small Bark which the Indians had set on fire but our Men quenched it and took the Indian that did it who being asked wherefore he set the Bark on fire said That there was an Order from the Vice-Roy lately set out commanding all Sea-men to burn their Vessels if attacked by us and betake themselves to their Boats There was another Bark in a small Cove a mile from the Village thither our men went thinking to take her but the Sea-men that were aboard set her in flames and fled In the evening our men came aboard and brought the small Bark with them the fire of which they had quenched and then we returned again towards Plata where we arriv'd the 26th day of September In the evening we sent out some men in our Bark lately taken and Canoas to an Indian Village called Manta 2 or 3 leagues to the Westward of Cape St. Lorenzo hoping there to get other Prisoners for we could not learn from those we took at Point St. Hellena the reason why the Vice-Roy should give such orders to burn the Ships They had a fresh Sea-breeze till 12 a clock at night and then it proved Calm wherefore they rowed away with their Canoas as near to the Town as they thought convenient and lay still till day Manta is a small Indian Village on the Main distant from the Island Plata 7 or 8 leagues It slands so advantageously to be seen being built on a small ascent that it makes a very fair prospect to the Sea yet but a few poor scattering Indian houses There is a very fine Church adorned with a great deal of Carved work It was formerly a habitation of Spaniards but they are all removed from hence now The Land about it is dry and
always go before the Wind being unable to ply against it and therefore are fit only for these Seas where the Wind is always in a manner the same not varying above a point or two all the way from Lima till such time as they come into the Bay of Panama and even there they meet with no great Sea but sometimes Northerly winds and then they lower their Sails and drive before it waiting a change All their care then is only to keep off from Shore for they are so made that they cannot sink at Sea These Rafts carry 60 or 70 Tuns of Goods and upwards their Cargo is chiefly Wine Oyl Flower Sugar Quito-cloath Soap Goat-skins drest c. The Float is manag'd usually by 3 or 4 Men who being unable to return with it against the Trade-wind when they come to Panama dispose of the goods and bottom together getting a passage back again for themselves in some Ship or Boat bound to the Port they came from and there they make a new Bark-log for their next Cargo The smaller sort of Bark-logs described before which lye flat on the Water and are used for Fishing or carrying Water to Ships or the like half a Tun or a Tun at a time are more governable than the other tho they have Masts and Sails too With these they go out at night by the help of the Land-wind which is seldom wanting on this Coast and return back in the day time with the Sea-wind This sort of Floats are used in many places both in the East and West Indies On the Coast of Coromandel in the East Indies they call them Catamarans These are but one Log or two sometimes of a sort of light Wood and are made without Sail or Rud der and so small that they carry but one Man whose legs and breech are always in the Water and he manages his Log with a Paddle appearing at a distance like a Man sitting on a Fish's back The Country about Payta is mountainous and barren like all the rest of the Kingdom of Peru. There is no Towns of consequence nearer it than Piura which is a large Town in the Country 40 miles distant It lieth by report of our Spanish Prisoners in a Valley which is watered with a small River that disembogues it self into the Bay of Chirapce in about 7d of North latitude This Bay is nearer to Piura than Payta yet all Goods imported by Sea for Piura are landed at Payta for the Bay of Chirapee is full of dangerous sholes and therefore not frequented by shipping The Road of Payta is one of the best on the Coast of Peru. It is sheltered from the South-west by a point of Land which makes a large Bay and smooth Water for Ships to ride in There is room enough for a good Fleet of Ships and good anchoring in any depth from 6 fathom water to 20 fathom Right against the Town the nearer the Town the shallower the water and the smoother the riding it is clean Sand all over the Bay Most Ships passing either to the North or the South touch at this place for water for tho here is none at the Town yet those Indian Fishermen of Colan will and do supply all Ships very reasonably and good water is much prized on all this Coast through the scarcity of it November the 3d at 6 a clock in the morning our Men landed about 4 miles to the South of the Town and took some Prisoners that were sent thither to watch for fear of us and these Prisoners said that the Governor of Piura came with 100 armed Men to Payta the night before purposely to oppose our landing there if we should attempt it Our Men marched directly to the Fort on the Hill and took it without the loss of one Man Hereupon the Governor of Piura with all his Men and the Inhabitants of the Town ran away as fast as they could Then our Men entered the Town and found it emptied both of Money and Goods there was not so much as a Meal of Victuals left for them The Prisoners told us a Ship had been here a little before and burnt a great Ship in the Road but did not land their Men and that here they put ashore all their Prisoners and Pilots We knew this must be Captain Eaton's Ship which had done this and by these circumstances we supposed he was gone to the East Indies it being always designed by him The Prisoners told us also that since Captain Eaton was here a small Bark had been off the Harbor and taken a pair of Bark-logs a fishing and made the Fishermen bring aboard 20 or 30 Jars of fresh water This we supposed was our Bark that was sent to the Lobos to seek Captain Eaton In the evening we came in with our Ships and anchored before the Town in 10 fathom water near a mile from the shore Here we staid till the sixth day in hopes to get a Ransom for the Town Our Captains demanded 300 Packs of Flower 3000 pound of Sugar 25 Jars of Wine and 1000 Jars of Water to be brought off to us but we got nothing of it Therefore Captain Swan ordered the Town to be fir'd which was presently done Then all our Men came aboard and Captain Swan ordered the Bark which Captain Harris commanded to be burnt because she did not sail well At night when the Land Wind came off we sailed from hence towards Lobos The 10th day in the evening we saw a Sail bearing N. W. by N. as far as we could well discern her on our Deck We immediately chased separating our selves the better to meet her in the night but we mist her Therefore the next morning we again trimb'd sharp and made the best of our way to the Lobos de la Mar. The 14th day we had sight of the Island Lobos de Terra it bore East from us we stood in towards it and betwixt 7 and 8 a clock in the night came to an anchor at the N. E. end of the Island in 14 fathom water This Island at Sea is of an indifferent height and appears like Lobos de la Mar. About a quarter of a mile from the North end there is a great hollow Rock and a good Channel between where there is 7 fathom water The 15th day we went ashore and found abundance of Penguins and Boobies and Seal in great quanties We sent aboard of all these to be drest for we had not tasted any flesh in a great while before therefore some of us did eat very heartily Captain Swan to encourage his Men to eat this course flesh would commend it for extraordinary good food comparing the Seal to roasting Pig the Boobies to Hens and the Penguins to Ducks this he did to train them to live contentedly on course Meat not knowing but we might be forced to make use of such food before we departed out of these Seas for it is generally seen among Privateers that nothing imboldens them
Fluxes I know no place where Gold is found but what is very unhealthy as I shall more particularly relate when I come to speak of Achin in the Isle of Sumatra in the East Indies Guiaquil is not so sickly as Quito and other Towns farther within Land yet in comparison with the Towns that are on the Coast of Mare Pacifico South of Cape Blanco it is very sickly It was to this Town of Guiaquil that we were bound therefore we left our Ships off Cape Blanco and ran into the Bay of Guiaquil with our Bark and Canoas steering in for the Island Santa Clara where we arrived the next day after we left our Ships and from thence we sent away two Canoas the next evening to Point Arena At this Point there are abundance of Oysters and other Shell-fish as Cockles and Muscles therefore the Indians of Puna often come hither to get these Fish Our Canoas got over before day and absconded in a Creek to wait for the coming of the Puna Indians The next morning some of them according to their custom came thither on Bark-logs at the latter part of the Ebb and were all taken by our Men. The next day by their advice the two Watchmen of the Indian Town Puna were taken by our Men and all its Inhabitants not one escaping The next Ebb they took a small Bark laden with Quito-cloath She came from Guiaquil that Tide and was bound to Lima they having advice that we were gone off the Coast by the Bark which I said we saw while we lay at the Island Lobos The Master of this Cloath-bark informed our Men that there were three Barks coming from Guiaquil laden with Negroes He said they would come from thence the next Tide The same Tide of Ebb that they took the Cloath-bark they sent a Canoa to our Bark where the biggest part of the Men were to hasten them away with speed to the Indian Town The Bark was now riding at Point Arena and the next Flood she came with all the Men and the rest of the Canoas to Puna The Tide of Flood being now far spent we lay at this Town till the last of the Ebb and then rowed away leaving 5 Men aboard our Bark who were ordered to lye still till 8 a clock the next morning and not to fire at any Boat or Bark but after that time they might fire at any object for it was supposed that before that time we should be Masters of Guiaquil We had not rowed above two mile before we met and took one of the three Barks laden with Negroes the Master of her said that the other two would come from Guiaquil the next Tide of Ebb. We cut her Main-Mast down and left her at an Anchor It was now strong Flood and therefore we rowed with all speed towards the Town in hopes to get thither before the Flood was down but we found it farther than we did expect it to be or else our Canoas being very full of Men did not row so fast as we would have them The day broke when we were two leagues from the Town and then we had not above an hours Flood more therefore our Captains desired the Indian Pilot to direct us to some Creek where we might abscond all day which was immediately done and one Canoa was sent towards Puna to our Bark to order them not to move nor fire till the next day But she came too late to countermand the first orders for the two Barks before mentioned laden with Negroes came from the Town the last quarter of the evening Tide and lay in the River close by the shore on one side and we rowed up on the other side and mist them neither did they see nor hear us Assoon as the Flood was spent the two Barks weighed and went down with the Ebb towards Puna Our Bark seeing them coming directly towards them and both full of Men supposed that we by some accident had been destroyed and that the two Barks were mann'd with Spanish Soldiers and sent to take our Ships and therefore they fired three Guns at them a league before they came near The two Spanish Barks immediately came to an anchor and the Masters got into their Boats and rowed for the shore but our Canoa that was sent from us took them both The firing of these 3 Guns made a great disorder among our advanced Men for most of them did believe they were heard at Guiaquil and that therefore it could be no profit to lye still in the Creek but either row away to the Town or back again to our Ships It was now quarter Ebb therefore we could not move upwards if we had been dispos d so to do At length Captain Davis said he would immediately land in the Creek where they lay and march directly to the Town if but 40 Men would accompany him and without saying more words he landed among the Mangroves in the Marshes Those that were so minded followed him to the number of 40 or 50. Captain Swan lay still with the rest of the Party in the Creek for they thought it impossible to do any good that way Captain Davis and his Men were absent about 4 hours and then returned all wet and quite tired and could not find any passage out into the firm Land He had been so far that he almost dispair'd of getting back again for a Man cannot pass thro those Red Mangroves but with very much labour When C. Davis was return d we concluded to be going towards the Town the beginning of the next Flood and if we found that the Town was alarm'd we purposed to return again without attempting any thing there Assoon as it was Flood we rowed away and passed by the Island through the N. E. Channel which is the narrowest There are so many Stumps in the River that it is very dangerous passing in the night and that is the time we always take for such attempts for the River runs very swift and one of our Canoas stuck on a Stump and had certainly overset if she had not been immediately rescued by others When we were come almost to the end of the Island there was a Musquet fired at us out of the Bushes on the Main We then had the Town open before us and presently saw lighted Torches or Candles all the Town over whereas before the Gun was fired there was but one Light therefore we now concluded we were discovered Yet many of our Men said that it was a Holiday the next day as it was indeed and that therefore the Spaniards were making Fireworks which they often do in the night against such times We rowed therefore a little farther and found firm Land and Captain Davis pitched his Canoa ashore and landed with his Men. Captain Swan and most of his Men did not think it convenient to attempt any thing seeing the Town was alarm d but at last being upbraided with Cowardize Captain Swan and his Men landed
Provision because he was not so forward to go thither as Captain Davis However at last these differences were made up and we concluded to go into the Bay of Panama to a Town called La Velia but because we had not Canoas enough to land our Men we were resolved to search some Rivers where the Spaniards have no commerce there to get Indian Canoas CHAP. VII They leave the Isle of Plata Cape Passao The Coast between that and Cape St. Francisco and from thence on to Panama The River of St. Jago The Red and the White Cotton tree The Cabbage tree The Indians of St. Jago River and its Neighbourhood The Isle of Gallo The River and Village of Tomaco Isle of Gorgona The Pearl-Oysters there and in other parts The Land on the Main Cape Corrientes Point Garachina Island Gallera The Kings or Pearl Islands Pacheque St. Paul 's Island Lavelia Nata The Clamfish Oysters The pleasant Prospects in the Bay of Panama Old Panama The New City The great Concourse there from Lima and Portobel c. upon the Arrival of the Spanish Armada in the West Indies The Course the Armada takes with an incidental Account of the first Inducements that made the Privateers undertake the passage over the Isthmus of Darien into the South Seas and of the particular beginning of their Correspondence with the Indians that inhabit that Isthmus Of the Air and Weather at Panama The Isles of Perico Tabago apleasant Island The Mammee tree The Village Tabago A Spanish Stratagem or two of Capt. Bond their Engineer The Ignorance of the Spaniards of these parts in Sea Affairs A Party of French Privateers arrive from over Land Of the Commissions that are given out by the French Governour of Petit-Guavres Of the Gulf of St. Michael and the Rivers of Congos Sambo and Sta Maria and an Error of the common Maps in the placing Point Garachina and Cape St. Lorenzo corrected Of the Town and Gold Mines of Sta Maria and the Town of Scuchadero Capt. Townley 's Arrival with some more English Privateers over Land Jars of Pisco wine A Bark of Capt. Knight 's joins them Point Garachina again Porto de Pinas Isle of Otoque The Pacquet from Lima taken Other English and French Privateers arrive Chepelio one of the sweetest Islands in the World The Sapadillo Avogato pear Mammee Sappota Wild Mammee and Star apple Cheapo River and Town Some Traversings in the Bay of Panama and an account of the Strength of the Spanish Fleet and of the Privateers and the Engagement between them THE 23d day of December 1684 we sailed from the Island Plata towards the Bay of Panama The Wind at S. S. E. a fine brisk gale and fair weather The next morning we past by Cape Passao This Cape is in lat 00 d. 08 m. South of the Equator It runs out into the Sea with a high round point which seems to be divided in the midst It is bald against the Sea but within land and on both sides it is full of short Trees The Land in the Country is very high and mountainous and it appears to be very woody Between Cape Passao and Cape Saint Francisco the Land by the Sea is full of small Points making as many little Sandy Bays between them and is of an indifferent heighth cover'd with Trees of divers sorts So that sailing by this Coast you see nothing but a vast Grove or Wood which is so much the more pleasant because the Trees are of several forms both in respect to their growth and colour Our design was as I said in my last Chapter to search for Canoas in some River where the Spaniards have neither Settlement nor Trade with the native Indians We had Spanish Pilots and Indians bred under the Spaniards who were able to carry us into any Harbour or River belonging to the Spaniards but were wholly unacquainted with those Rivers which are not frequented by the Spaniards There are many such unfrequented Rivers between Plata and Panama indeed all the way from the Line to the Gulf of St. Michaels or even to Panama it self the Coast is not inhabited by any Spaniards nor are the Indians that inhabit there any way under their subjection except only near the Isle Gallo where on the banks of a Gold River or two there are some Spaniards who work there to find Gold Now our Pilots being at a loss on these less frequented Coasts we supply'd that defect out of the Spanish Pilot books which we took in their Ships These we found by experience to be very good Guides Yet nevertheless the Country in many places by the Sea being low and full of openings Creeks and Rivers it is somewhat difficult to find any particular River that a man designs to go to where he is not well acquainted This however could be no discouragement to us for one River might probably he as well furnished with Indian Canoas as another and if we found them it was to us indifferent where yet we pitcht on the River Saint Jago not because there were not other Rivers as large and as likely to be inhabited with Indians as it but because that River was not far from Gallo an Island where our Ships could anchor safely and ride securely We past by Cape St. Francisco meeting with great and continued Rains The Land by the Sea to the North of the Cape is low and extraordinary woody the Trees are very thick and seem to be of a prodigious height and bigness From Cape Saint Francisco the Land runs more Easterly into the Bay of Panama I take this Cape to be its bounds on the South side and the Isles of Cobaya or Quibo to bound it on the North side Between this Cape and the Isle Gallo there are many large and navigable Rivers We passed by them all till we came to the River St. Jago This River is near 2 d. North of the Equator It is large and navigable some leagues up and 7 leagues from the Sea it divides it self into two parts making an Island that is 4 leagues wide against the Sea The widest branch is that on the S. W. side of the Island Both branches are very deep but the mouth of the narrower is so choakt with sholes that at low water even Canoas cannot enter Above the Island it is a league wide and the Stream runs pretty streight and very swift The Tide flows about 3 leagues up the River but to what height I know not Probably the River hath its original from some of the rich Mountains near the City of Quito and it runs thro a Country as rich in soil as perhaps any in the world especially when it draws within 10 or 12 leagues of the Sea The Land there both on the Island and on both sides of the River is of a black deep Mold producing extraordinary great tall Trees of many sorts such as usually grow in these hot Climates I shall only give an account of the
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
We were 2 Ships and 3 Barks in Company viz. Captain Davis Captain Swan a Fireship and 2 small Barks as Tenders one on Captain Davis his Ship the other on Captain Swan's We weighed before day and got out all but Captain Swan's Tender which never budged for the men were all asleep when we went out and the Tide of flood coming on before they waked we were forced to stay for them till the next day The 8th day in the morning we descried a sail to the West of us the Wind was at South and we chased her and before noon took her She was a Ship of about 90 Tun laden with Flower she came from Truxillio and was bound to Panama This Ship came very opportunely to us for Flower began to grow scarce and Captain Davis his men grudg'd at what was given to Captain Swan who as I said before had none but what he had from Captain Davis We jogged on after this with a gentle gale towards Gorgonia an Island lying about 25 leagues from the Island Gallo The 9th day we anchored at Gorgonia on the West side of the Island in 38 fathom clean ground not 2 Cables length from the shore Gorgonia is an uninhabited Island in lat about 3 degrees North It is a pretty high Island and very remarkable by reason of 2 saddles or risings and fallings on the top It is about 2 leagues long and a league broad and it is 4 leagues from the Main At the West-end is another small Island The Land against the Anchoring place is low there is a small sandy Bay and good landing The Soil or Mold of it is black and deep in the low ground but on the side of the high Land it is a kind of a red clay This Island is very well cloathed with large Trees of several sorts that are flourishing and green all the year It 's very well watered with small Brooks that issue from the high Land Here are a great many little black Monkeys some Indian Conies and a few Snakes which are all the Land Animals that I know there It is reported of this Island that it rains on every day in the year more or less but that I can disprove however it is a very wet Coast and it rains abundantly here all the year long There are but few fair days for there is little difference in the seasons of the year between the wet and dry only in that season which should be the dry time the rains are less frequent and more moderate than in the wet season for then it pours as out of a Sieve It is deep water and no anchoring any where about this Island only at that West side The Tyde riseth and falleth 7 or 8 foot up and down Here are a great many Perewincles and Muscles to be had at low water Then the Monkeys come down by the Sea side and catch them digging them out of their Shells with their Claws Here are Pearl-Oysters in great plenty They grow to the loose Rocks in 4 5 or 6 fathom water by beards or little small roots as a Muscle These Oysters are commonly flatter and thinner than other Oysters otherwise much alike in shape The fish is not sweet nor very wholsome it is as slimy as a Shell-Snail they taste very copperish if eaten raw and are best boyl'd The Indians who gather them for the Spaniards hang the meat of them on strings like Jews-ears and dry them before they eat them The Pearl is found at the head of the Oyster lying between the meat and the shell Some will have 20 or 30 small Seed-Pearl some none at all and some will have 1 or 2 pretty large ones The inside of the shell is more glorious than the Pearl itfelf I did never see any in the South Seas but here It is reported there are some at the South end of Callifornia In the West Indies the Rancho Rejs or Rancheria spoken of in Chap. 3. is the place where they are found most plentifully 'T is said there are some at the Island Margarita near St. Augustin a Town in the Gulf of Florida c. In the East Indies The Island Ainam near the South end of China is said to have plenty of these Oysters more productive of large round Pearl than those in other other places They are found also in other parts of the East Indies on the Persian Coast. At this Island Gorgona we rummaged our Prize and found a few Boxes of Marmalade and 3 or 4 Jars of Brandy which were equally shared between Captain Davis Captain Swan and their Men. Here we fill'd all our Water and Captain Swan furnished himself with Flower afterward we turned ashore a great many Prisoners but kept the chiefest to put them ashore in a better place The 13th day we sailed from hence toward the Kings Islands We were now 6 Sail 2 Men of War 2 Tenders a Fireship and the Prize We had but little Wind but what we had was the common Trade at South The Land we sailed by on the Main is very low towards the Sea side but in the Country there are very high Mountains The 16th day we passed by Cape Corrientes This Cape is in lat 5 d. 10 m. it is high bluff Land with 3 or 4 small Hillocks on the top It appears at a distance like an Island Here we found a strong current running to the North but whether it be always so I know not The day after we passed by the Cape we saw a small white Island which we chased supposing it had been a Sail till coming near we found our error The 21st day we saw Point Garrachina This Point is in lat 7 d. 20 m. North it is pretty high Land rocky and destitute of Trees yet within Land it is Woody It is fenced with Rocks against the Sea Within the Point by the Sea at low Water you may find store of Oysters and Muscles The Kings Islands or Pearl Keys are about 12 leagues distant from this Point Between Point Garqchina and them there is a small low flat barren Island called Gallera at which Captain Harris was sharing with his Men the Gold he took in his pillaging Sancta Maria which I spake of a little before when on a sudden 5 Spanish Barks fitted out on purpose at Panama came upon him but he fought them so stoutly with one small Bark he had and some few Canoas boarding their Admiral particularly that they were all glad to leave him By this Island we anchored and sent our Boats to the Kings Islands for a a good careening place The Kings Islands are a great many low woody Islands lying N. W. by N. and S. E. by S. They are about 7 leagues from the Main and 14 leagues in length and from Panama about 12 leagues Why they are called the Kings Islands I know not they are sometimes and mostly in Maps called the Pearl Islands I cannot imagin wherefore they are called so for I did
consorted with us and set his Men to work to make Canoas Every Ships company made for themselves but we all helped each other to launch them for some were made a mile from the Sea The manner of making a Canoa is after cutting down a large long Tree and squaring the upper-most side and then turning it upon the flat side to shape the opposite side for the bottom Then again they turn her and dig the inside boring also three holes in the bottom one before one in the middle and one aloft thereby to gage the thickest of the bottom for otherwise we might cut the bottom thinner than is convenient We left the bottoms commonly about 3 inches thick and the sides 2 inches thick below and one and an half at the top One or both of the ends we sharpen to a point Captain Davis made two very large Canoas one was 36 foot long and 5 or 6 feet wide the other 32 foot long and near as wide as the other In a months time we finished our business and were ready to sail Here Captain Harris went to lay his Ship aground to clean her but she being old and rotten fell in pieces and therefore he and all his Men went aboard of Captain Davis and Captain Swan While we lay here we struck Turtle every day for they were now very plentiful but from August to March here are not many The 18th day of July John Rose a Frenchman and 14 Men more belonging to Captain Gronet having made a new Canoa came in her to Captain Davis and desired to serve under him and Captain Davis accepted of them because they had a Canoa of their own The 20th day of July we sailed from Quibo bending our course for Ria Lexa which is the Port for Leon the City that we now designed to attempt We were now 640 men in 8 sail of Ships Commanded by Captain Davis Captain Swan Captain Townly and Captain Knight with a Fireship and 3 Tenders which last had not a constant crew We past out between the River Quibo and the Rancheria leaving Quibo and Quicaro on our Larboard side and the Rancheria with the rest of the Islands and the Main on our Starboard side The Wind at first was at South South West We coasted along shore passing by the Gulf of Nicoya the Gulf of Dulce and by the Island Caneo All this Coast is low Land overgrown with thick Woods and there are but few inhabitants near the shore As we sailed to the Westward we had variable winds sometimes S. W. and at W. S. W. and sometimes at E. N. E. but we had them most commonly at S. W. we had a Tornado or two every day and in the evening or in the night we had land winds at N. N. E. The 8th day of August being in the lat of 11 d. 20 m. by observation we saw a high Hill in the Country towring up like a Sugar-loaf which bore N. E. by N. We supposed it to be Volcan Vejo by the smoak which ascended from its top therefore we steered in North and made it plainer and then knew it to be that Volcan which is the Sea-mark for the harbour for Ria Lexo for as I said before in Chapter the 5th it is a very remarkable Mountain When we had brought this Mountain to bear N. E. we got out all our Canoas and provided to embark into them the next day The 9th day in the morning being about 8 leagues from the shore we left our Ships under the charge of a few men and 520 of us went away in 31 Canoas rowing towards the Harbour of Ria Lexa We had fair Weather and little Wind till 2 a clock in the afternoon then we had a Tornado from the shore with much Thunder Lightning and Rain and such a gust of Wind that we were all like to be founder d. In this extremity we put right afore the Wind every Canoas crew making what shift they could to avoid the threatning danger The small Canoas being most light and buoyant mounted nimbly over the Surges but the great heavy Canoas lay like logs in the Sea ready to be swallowed by every foaming billow Some of our Canoas were half full of water yet kept two men constantly heaving it out The fierceness of the Wind continued about half an hour and abated by degrees and as the Wind died away so the fury of the Sea abated For in all hot Countries as I have observed the Sea is soon raised by the Wind and as soon down again when the Wind is gone and therefore it is a proverb among the Sea-men Up Wind up Sea Down Wind down Sea At 7 a clock in the evening it was quite calm and the Sea as smooth as a Mill-pond Then we tugg'd to get into the shore but finding we could not do it before day we rowed off again to keep our selves out of sight By that time it was day we were 5 leagues from the Land which we thought was far enough off shore Here we intended to lye till the evening but at 3 a clock in the afternoon we had another Tornado more fierce than that which we had the day before This put us in greater peril of our lives but did not last so long As soon as the violence of the Tornado was over we rowed in for the shore and entered the Harbour in the night The Creek which leads towards Leon lieth on the S. E. side of the Harbour Our Pilot being very well acquainted here carried us into the mouth of it but could carry us no farther till day because it is but a small Creek and there are other Creeks like it The next morning as soon as it was light we rowed into the Creek which is very narrow the Land on both sides lying so low that every tide it is overflown with the Sea This sort of Land produceth red Mangrove-trees which are here so plentiful and thick that there is no passing thro them Beyond these Mangroves on the firm Land close by the side of the River the Spaniards have built a Brestwork purposely to hinder an Enemy from landing When we came in sight of the Brestwork we rowed as fast as we could to get ashore The noise of our Oars allarmed the Indians who were set to watch and presently they ran away towards the City of Leon to give notice of our approach We landed as soon as we could and marched after them 470 men were drawn out to march to the Town and I was left with 59 men more to stay and guard the Canoas till their return The City of Leon is 20 mile up in the Country The way to it plain and even through a champion Country of long grassy Savannahs and spots of high Woods About 5 mile from the landing place there is a Sugar work 3 mile farther there is another and 2 mile beyond that there is a fine River to ford which is not very deep besides which there is
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
up their mother Fruit did not the Indians who plant large fields of these Trees when once they perceive the Fruit open take care to drive them out for they spread under the branches of the Tree a large Linnen cloth and then with sticks they shake the branches and so disturb the poor insects that they take wing to be gone yet hovering still over the head of their native Tree but the heat of the Sun so disorders them that they presently fall down dead on the cloth spread for that purpose where the Indians let them remain 2 or 3 days longer till they are throughly dry When they fly up they are red when they fall down they are black and when first they are quite dry they are white as the sheet wherein they lye though the colour change a little after These yield the much esteemed Scarlet The Cochineel-trees are called by the Spaniards Toona's They are planted in the Country about Guatimala and about Cheape and Guaxaca all 3 in the Kingdom of Mexico The Silvester is a red grain growing in a Fruit much resembling the Cochineel-fruit as doth also the Tree that bears it There first shoots forth a yellow Flower then comes the Fruit which is longer than the Cochineel-fruit The Fruit being ripe opens also very wide The inside being full of these small Seeds or Grains they fall out with the least touch or shake The Indians that gather them hold a dish under to receive the Seed and then shake it down These Trees grow wild and 8 or 10 of these Fruits will yield an ounce of Seed but of the Cochineel-fruits 3 or 4 will yield an ounce of insects The Silvester gives a colour almost as fair as the Cochineel and so like it as to be often mistaken for it but it is not near so valuable I often made enquiry how the Silvester grows and of the Cochineel but was never fully satisfied till I met a Spanish Gentleman that had lived 30 years in the West Indies and some years where these grow and from him I had these relations He was a very intelligent person and pretended to be well acquainted in the Bay of Campechy therefore I examined him in many particulars concerning that Bay where I was well acquainted my self living there 3 years He gave very true and pertinent answers to all my demands so that I could have no distrust of what he related When we first saw the Mountain of Guatimala we were by judgment 25 leagues distance from it As we came nearer the Land it appeared higher and plainer yet we saw no fire but a little smoak proceeding from it The Land by the Sea was of a good height yet but low in comparison with that in the Country The Sea for about 8 or 10 leagues from the shore was full of floating Trees or Drift Wood as it is called of which I have seen a great deal but no where so much as here and Pumice-stones floating which probably are thrown out of the burning Mountains and washed down to the shore by the Rains which are very violent and frequent in this Country and on the side of Honduras it is excessively wet The 24th day we were in lat 14 d. 30 m. North and the weather more settled Then Captain Townly took with him 106 men in 9 Canoas and went away to the Westward where he intended to Land and romage in the Country for some refreshment for our sick men we having at this time near half our men sick and many were dead since we left Ria Lexa We in the Ships lay still with our Topsails furled and our Corses or lower Sails hal'd up this day and the next that Captain Townly might get the start of us The 26th day we made sail again coasting to the Westward having the Wind at North and fair weather We ran along by a tract of very high Land which came from the Eastward more within Land than we could see after we fell in with it it bare us company for about 10 leagues and ended with a pretty gentle descent towards the West There we had a perfect view of a pleasant low Country which seemed to be rich in Pasturage for Cattle It was plentifully furnished with groves of green Trees mixt among the grassy Savannahs Here the Land was fenced from the Sea with high sandy Hills for the Waves all along this Coast run high and beat against the shore very boisterously making the Land wholly unapproachable in Boats or Canoas So we Coasted still along by this low Land 8 or 9 leagues farther keeping close to the shore for fear of missing Captain Townly We lay by in the night and in the day made an easie sail The 2d day of October Captain Townly came aboard he had coasted along shore in his Canoas seeking for an entrance but found none At last being out of hopes to find any Bay Creek or River into which he might safely enter he put ashore on a sandy Bay but overset all his Canoas he had one man drowned and several lost their Arms and some of them that had not waxt up their Cartrage or Catouche Boxes wet all their Powder Captain Townly with much ado got ashore and dragged the Canoas up dry on the Bay then every man searched his Catouche-box and drew the wet Powder out of his Gun and provided to march into the Country but finding it full of great Creeks which they could not ford they were forced to return again to their Canoas In the night they made good fires to keep themselves warm the next morning 200 Spaniards and Indians fell on them but were immediately repulsed and made greater speed back than they had done forward Captain Townly followed them but not far for fear of his Canoas These men came from Teguantapeque a Town that Captain Townly went chiefly to seek because the Spanish Books make mention of a large River there but whether it was run away at this time or rather Captain Townly and his men were short sighted I know not but they could not find it Upon his return we presently made sail coasting still Westward having the Wind at E. N. E. fair weather and a fresh gale We kept within 2 mile of the shore sounding all the way and found at 6 miles distance from Land 19 fathom at 8 miles distance 21 fathom gross Sand. We saw no opening nor sign of any place to land at so we sailed about 20 leagues farther and came to a small high Island called Tangola where there is good anchoring The Island is indifferently well furnished with Wood and Water and lieth about a league from the shore The Main against the Island is pretty high champion Savannah Land by the Sea but 2 or 3 leagues within land it is higher and very woody We coasted a league farther and came to Guatulco This Port is in lat 15 d. 30 m. it is one of the best in all this Kingdom of Mexico Near a mile
and small The Hill Petaplan A poor Indian Village Jew fish Chequetan a good Harbour Estapa Muscles there A Caravan of Mules taken A Hill near Thelupan The Coast here abouts The Volcan Town Valley and Bay of Colima Sallagua Port. Oarrha Ragged Hills Coronada or the Crown-Land Cape Corrientes Isles of Chametly The City Purification Valderas or the Valley of Flags They miss their design on this Coast. Captain Townly leaves them with the Darien Indians The Point and Isles of Pontique Other Isles of Chametly The Penguin fruit the yellow and the red Seals here Of the River of Cullacan and the Trade of a Town there with California Massaclan River and Town of Rosario Caput Cavalli and another Hill The difficulty of Intelligence on this Coast. The River of Oleta River of St. Jago Maxentelba Rock and Zelisco Hill Sancta Pechaque Town in the River of St. Jago Of Compostella Many of them cut off at Sancta Pecaque Of California whether an Island or not and of the North West and North East Passage A Method proposed for Discovery of the North West and North East Passages Isle of Santa Maria. A prickly Plant. Captain Swan proposes a Voyage to the East Indies Valley of Balderas again and Cape Corrientes The reason of their ill Success on the Mexican Coast and Departure thence for the East Indies IT was the 12th of October 1685 when we set out of the Harbour of Guatulco with our Ships The Land here lies along West and a little Southerly for about 20 or 30 leagues and the Sea Winds are commonly at W. S. W. sometimes at S. W. the Land Winds at N. We had now fair weather and but little Wind. We coasted along to the Westward keeping as near the shore as we could for the benefit of the Land Winds for the Sea Winds were right against us and we found a current setting to the Eastward which kept us back and obliged us to anchor at the Island Sacrificio which is a small green Island about half a mile long It lieth about a league to the West of Guatulco and about half a mile from the Main There seems to be a fine Bay to the West of the Island but it is full of Rocks The best riding is between the Island and the Main there you will have 5 or 6 fathom Water Here runs a pretty strong tide the Sea riseth and falleth 5 or 6 foot up and down The 18th day we sailed from hence coasting to the Westward after our Canoas We kept near the shore which was all sandy Bays the Country pretty high and woody and a great Sea tumbling in upon the shore The 22d day 2 of our Canoas came aboard and told us they had been a great way to the Westward but could not find Port Angels They had attempted to land the day before at a place where they saw a great many Bulls and Cows feeding in hopes to get some of them but the Sea run so high that they over-set both Canoas and wet all their Arms and lost 4 Guns and had one Man drown'd and with much ado got off again They could give no account of the other 2 Canoas for they lost company the first night that they went from Guatulco and had not seen them since We were now abrest of Port Angels though our men in the Canoas did not know it therefore we went in and anchored there This is a broad open Bay with 2 or 3 Rocks at the West side Here is good anchoring all over the Bay in 30 or 20 or 12 fathom Water but you must ride open to all Winds except the Land Winds till you come into 12 or 13 fathom Water then you are sheltered from the W. S. W. which are the common Trade Winds The Tide riseth here about 5 foot the Flood sets to the N. E. and the Ebb to the S. W. The landing in this Bay is bad the place of landing is close by the West side behind a few Rocks here always goes a great swell The Spaniards compare this Harbour for goodness to Guatulco but there is a great difference between them For Guatulco is almost Landlocked and this is an open road and no one would easily know it by their Character of it but by its marks and its latitude which is 15 d. North. For this reason our Canoas which were sent from Guatulco and ordered to tarry here for us did not know it not thinking this to be that fine Harbour and therefore went farther 2 of them as I said before returned again but the other 2 were not yet come to us The Land that bounds this Harbour is pretty high the Earth sandy and yellow in some places red it is partly Woodland partly Savannahs The Trees in the Woods are large and tall and the Savannahs are plentifully stored with very kindly Grass Two leagues to the East of this place is a Beef Farm belonging to Don Diego de la Rosa. The 23 day we landed about 100 men and marched thither where we found plenty of fat Bulls and Cows feeding in the Savannahs and in the House good store of Salt and Maiz and some Hogs and Cocks and Hens but the owners or overseers were gone We lay here 2 or 3 days feasting on fresh provision but could not contrive to carry any quantity aboard because the way was so long and our men but weak and a great wide River to ford Therefore we return'd again from thence the 26th day and brought every one a little Beef or Pork for the men that stay'd aboard The two nights that we stay'd ashore at this place we heard great droves of Jaccals as we suppos'd them to be barking all night long not far from us None of us saw these but I do verily believe they were Jaccals tho I did never see those Creatures in America nor hear any but at this time We could not think that there were less than 30 or 40 in a company We got aboard in the evening but did not yet hear any news of our two Canoas The 27th day in the morning we sailed from hence with the Land Wind at N. by W. The Sea Wind came about noon at W. S. W. and in the evening we anchored in 16 fathom water by a small rocky Island which lieth about half a mile from the Main and 6 leagues Westward from Port Angels The Spaniards give no account of this Island in their Pilot-book The 28th day we sailed again with the Land Wind in the afternoon the Sea breez blew hard and we sprung our Main Topmast This Coast is full of small Hills and Valleys and a great Sea falls in upon the shore In the night we met with the other 2 of our Canoas that went from us at Guatulco They had been as far as Acapulco to seek Port Angells Coming back from thence they went into a River to get Water and were encounterd by 150 Spaniards yet they fill'd their Water in spight of them but
Corrientes to wait for the Phillippine Ship So the 6th day of December we set sail coasting to the Westwards towards Cape Corrientes We had fair weather and but little Wind the Sea breezes at N. W. and the Land-wind at N. The Land is of an indifferent heighth full of ragged points which at a distance appear like Islands the Country is very woody but the Trees are not high nor very big Here I was taken sick of a Fever and Ague that afterwards turned to a Dropsy which I laboured under a long time after and many of our Men died of this distemper though our Surgeons used their greatest skill to preserve their lives The Dropsy is a general distemper on this Coast and the Natives say that the best remedy they can find for it is the Stone or Cod of an Allegator of which they have 4 one near each Leg within the Flesh pulverized and drunk in Water this Receipt we also found mentioned in an Almanack made at Mexico I would have tried it but we found no Allegators here though there are several There are many good Harbours between Sallagua and Cape Corrientes but we passed by them all As we drew near the Cape the Land by the Sea appeared of an indifferent heighth full of white Cliffs but in the Country the Land is high and barren and full of sharp peeked Hills unpleasant to the sight To the West of this ragged Land is a chain of Mountains running parallel with the shore they end on the West with a gentle descent but on the East side they keep their heighth ending with a high steep Mountain which hath 3 small sharp peeked tops somewhat resembling a Crown and therefore called by the Spaniards Coronada the Crown Land The 11th day we were fair in sight of Cape Corrientes it bore N. by W. and the Crown Land bore North. The Cape is of an indifferent heighth with steep Rocks to the Sea It is flat and even on the top cloathed with Woods the Land in the Country is high and doubled This Cape lieth in 20 d. 28 m. North. I find its longitude from Tenariff to be 230 d. 56 m. but I keep my longitude Westward according to our course and according to this reckoning I find it is from the Lizard in England 121 d. 41 m. so that the difference of time is 8 hours and almost 6 minutes Here we had resolved to cruize for the Phillippine Ship because she always makes this Cape in her Voyage homeward We were as I have said 4 Ships in company Captain Swan and his Tender Captain Townly and his Tender It was so ordered that Captain Swan should lye 8 or 10 leagues off shore and the rest about a league distant each from other between him and the Cape that so we might not miss the Philippine Ship but we wanted Provision and therefore we sent Captain Townly's Bark with 50 or 60 men to the West of the Cape to search about for some Town or Plantations where we might get Provision of any sort The rest of us in the mean time cruizing in our stations The 17th day the Bark came to us again but had got nothing for they could not get about the Cape because the wind on this Coast is commonly between the N. W. and the S. W. which makes it very difficult getting to the Westward but they left 4 Canoas with 46 men at the Cape who resolved to row to the Westward The 18th day we sailed to the Keys of Chametly to fill our Water These Keys or Islands of Chametly are about 16 or 18 leagues to the Eastward of Cape Corrientes They are small low and woody invironed with Rocks there are 5 of them lying in the form of a half Moon not a mile from the shore and between them and the Main is very good Riding secure from any Wind. The Spaniards do report that here live Fishermen to fish for the Inhabitants of the City of Purification This is said to be a large Town the best hereabouts but is 14 leagues up in the Country The 20th instant we entered within these Islands passing in on the S. E. side and anchored between the Islands and the Main in 5 fathom clean Sand. Here we found good fresh Water and Wood and caught plenty of Rock-fish with Hook and Line a sort of Fish I describ'd at the Isle of John Fernando but we saw no sign of Inhabitants besides 3 or 4 old Hutts therefore I do believe that the Spanish or Indian Fishermen come hither only at Lent or some other such season but that they do not live here constantly The 21st day Captain Townly went away with about 60 men to take an Indian Village 7 or 8 leagues from hence to the Westward more towards the Cape and the next day we went to cruize off the Cape where Captain Townly was to meet us The 24th day as we were cruizing off the Cape the 4 Canoas before mentioned which Captain Townly's Bark left at the Cape came off to us They after the Bark left them past to the West of the Cape and rowed into the Valley Valderas or perhaps Val d' Iris for it signifies the Valley of Flags This Valley lies in the bottom of a pretty deep Bay that runs in between Cape Corrientes on the S. E. and the point of Pontique on the N. W. which two places are about 10 leagues asunder The Valley is about 3 leagues wide there is a level sandy Bay against the Sea and good smooth landing In the midst of the Bay is a fine River whereinto Boats may enter but it is brackish at the latter end of the dry Season which is in February March and part of April I shall speak more of the Seasons in my Chapter of Winds in the Appendix This Valley is bounded within Land with a small green Hill that makes a very gentle descent into the Valley and affords a very pleasant prospect to Sea-ward It is inriched with fruitful Savannahs mixt with Groves of Trees fit for any uses beside Fruit Trees in abundance as Guava's Oranges and Limes which here grow wild in such plenty as if Nature had designed it only for a Garden The Savannahs are full of fat Bulls and Cows and some Horses but no House in sight When our Canoas came to this pleasant Valley they landed 37 men and marched into the Country seeking for some Houses They had not gone past 3 mile before they were attackt by 150 Spaniards Horse and Foot There was a small thin Wood close by them into which our men retreated to secure themselves from the fury of the Horse Yet the Spaniards rode in among them and attackt them very furiously till the Spnnish Captain and 17 more tumbled dead off their Horses then the rest retreated being many of them wounded We lost 4 men and had 2 desperately wounded In this action the Foot who were armed with Lances and Swords and were the greatest number never made any attack
the S. E. end of the Island Mindanao we saw two small Islands about 3 leagues distant from it We might have passed between them and the main Island as we learnt since but not knowing them nor what dangers we might encounter there we chose rather to sail to the Eastward of them But meeting very strong Westerly Winds we got nothing forward in many days In this time we first saw the Islands Meangis which are about 16 leagues distant from the Mindanao bearing S. E. I shall have occasion to speak more of them hereafter The 4th day of July we got into a deep Bay 4 leagues N. W. from the two small Islands before mentioned But the night before in a violent Tornado our Bark being unable to beat any longer bore away which put us in some pain for fear she was overset as we had like to have been our selves We anchored on the South West side of the Bay in 15 fathom Water about a Cables length from the shore Here we were forced to shelter our selves from the violence of the Weather which was so boisterous with Rains and Tornadoes and a strong Westerly Wind that we were very glad to find this place to anchor in being the only shelter on this side from the West Winds This Bay is not above two mile wide at the mouth but farther in it is 3 leagues wide and 7 leagues deep running in N. N. W. There is a good depth of Water about 4 or 5 leagues in but rocky foul ground for above 2 leagues in from the mouth on both sides of the Bay except only in that place where we lay About 3 leagues in from the mouth on the Eastern side there are fair sandy Bays and very good anchoring in 4 5 and 6 fathom The Land on the East side is high mountainous and woody yet very well watered with small Brooks and there is one River large enough for Canoas to enter On the West side of the Bay the Land is of a mean heighth with a large Savannah bordering on the Sea and stretching from the mouth of the Bay a great way to the Westward This Savannah abounds with long Grass and it is plentifully stock'd with Deer The adjacent Woods are a covert for them in the heat of the day but mornings and evenings they feed in the open Plains as thick as in our Parks in England I never saw any where such plenty of wild Deer tho I have met with them in several parts of America both in the North and South Seas The Deer live here pretty peaceably and unmolested for there are no Inhabitants on that side of the Bay We visited this Savannah every morning and killed as many Deer as we pleased sometimes 16 or 18 in a day and we did eat nothing but Venison all the time we staid here We saw a great many Plantations by the sides of the Mountains on the East side of the Bay and we went to one of them in hopes to learn of the Inhabitants whereabouts the City was that we might not over-sail it in the night but they fled from us We lay here till the 12th day before the Winds abated of their fury and then we sailed from hence directing our course to the Westward In the morning we had a Land Wind at North. At 11 a clock the Sea breeze came at West just in our Teeth but it being fair weather we kept on our way turning and taking the advantage of the Land breezes by night and the Sea breezes by day Being now past the S. E. part of the Island we coasted down on the South side and we saw abundance of Canoas a fishing and now and then a small Village Neither were these Inhabitants afraid of us as the former but came aboard yet we could not understand them nor they us but by signs and when we mentioned the word Mindanao they would point towards it The 18th day of July we arrived before the River of Mindanao the mouth of which lies in lat 6 d. 22 m. No. and is laid in 231 d. 12 m. Longitude West from the Lizard in England We anchored right against the River in 15 fathom water clear hard Sand about 2 miles from the shore and 3 or 4 miles from a small Island that lay without us to the Southward We fired 7 or 9 Guns I remember not well which and were answered again with 3 from the shore for which we gave one again Immediately after our coming to an anchor Raja Laut and one of the Sultans Sons came off in a Canoa being rowed with 10 Oars and demanded in Spanish what we were and from whence we came Mr. Smith he who was taken Prisoner at Leon in Mexico answered in the same Language that we were English and that we had been a great while out of England They told us that we were welcom and asked us a great many questions about England especially concerning our East India Merchants and whether we were sent by them to settle a Factory here Mr. Smith told them that we came hither only to buy provision They seemed a little discontented when they understood that we were not come to settle among them for they had heard of our arrival on the East side of the Island a great while before and entertained hopes that we were sent purposely out of England hither to settle a trade with them which it should seem they are very desirous of For Captain Goodlud had been here not long before to treat with them about it and when he went away told them as they said that in a short time they might expect an Ambassadour from England to make a full bargain with them Indeed upon mature thoughts I should think we could not have done better than to have complied with the desire they seemed to have of our settling here and to have taken up our quarters among them For as thereby we might better have consulted our own profit and satisfaction than by the other loose roving way of life so it might probably have proved of publick benefit to our Nation and been a means of introducing an English Settlement and Trade not only here but through several of the Spice-Islands which lye in its neighbourhood For the Islands Meangis which I mentioned in the beginning of this Chapter lye within 20 leagues of Mindanao These are 3 small Islands that abound with Gold and Cloves if I may credit my Author Prince Jeoly who was born on one of them and was at this time a Slave in the City of Mindanao He might have been purchased by us of his Master for a small matter as he was afterwards by Mr. Moody who came hither to Trade and laded a Ship with Clove Bark and by transporting him home to his own Country we might have gotten a Trade there But of Prince Jeoly I shall speak more hereafter These Islands are as yet probably unknown to the Dutch who as I said before indeavour to ingross all
a steep bank Therefore we never strive to anchor where we see the Land high and bounding the Sea with steep Cliffs and for this reason when we came in sight of States Island near Terra del Fuego before we entered into the South Seas we did not so much as think of anchoring after we saw what Land it was because of the steep Cliffs which appear'd against the Sea Yet there might be little Harbours or Coves for Shallops or the like to anchor in which we did not see nor search after As high steep Cliffs bounding on the Sea have this ill consequence that they seldom afford anchoring so they have this benefit that we can see them far off and sail close to them without danger for which reason we call them Bold Shores Whereas low Land on the contrary is seen but a little way and in many places we dare not come near it for fear of running aground before we see it Besides there are in many places shoals thrown out by the course of great Rivers that from the low Land fall into the Sea This which I have said that there is usually good anchoring near low Lands may be illustrated by several instances Thus on the South side of the Bay of Campeachy there is mostly low Land and there also is good anchoring all along shore and in some places to the Eastward of the Town of Campeachy we shall have so many fathom as we are leagues off from Land that is from 9 or 10 leagues distance till you come within 4 leagues and from thence to Land it grows but shallower The Bay of Honduras also is low Land and continues mostly so as we past along from thence to the Coasts of Portobel and Cartagena till we came as high as Santa Martha afterwards the Land is low again till you come towards the Coast of Caraccus which is a high Coast and bold shore The Land about Surinam on the same Coast is low and good anchoring and that over on the Coast of Guinea is such also And such too is the Bay of Panama where the Pilot-book orders the Pilot always to sound and not to come within such a depth be it by night or day In the same Seas from the high Land of Guatimala in Mexico to California there is mostly low Land and good anchoring In the Main of Asia the Coast of China the Bays of Siam and Bengal and all the Coast of Coromandel and the Coast about Malacca and against it the Island Sumatra on that side are mostly low anchoring shores But on the West side of Sumatra the shore is high and bold so most of the Islands lying to the Eastward of Sumatra as the Islands Borneo Celebes Gilolo and abundance of Island of less note lying scattering up and down those Seas are low Land and have good anchoring about them with many shoals scattered to and fro among them but the Islands lying against the East Indian Ocean especially the West sides of them are high Land and steep particularly the West parts not only of Sumatra but also of Java Timor c. Particulars are endless but in general 't is seldom but high Shores and deep Waters and on the other side low Land and shallow Seas are found together But to return from this digression to speak of the rest of these Islands Monmouth and Grafton Isles are very hilly with many of those steep inhabited Precipices on them that I shall describe particularly The two small Islands are flat and even only the Bashee Island hath one steep scraggy Hill but Goat-Island is all flat and very even The mold of these Islands in the Valleys is blackish in some places but in most red The Hills are very rocky The Valleys are well watered with Brooks of fresh water which run into the Sea in many different places The Soil is indifferent fruitful especially in the Valleys producing pretty great plenty of Trees tho not very big and thick Grass The sides of the Mountains have also short Grass and some of the Mountains have Mines within them for the Natives told us that the yellow Metal they shew'd us as I shall speak more particularly came from these Mountains for when they held it up they would point towards them The fruit of the Islands are a few Plantains Bonanoes Pine-apples Pumkins Sugar-canes c. and there might be more if the Natives would for the ground seems fertile enough Here are great plenty of Potatoes and Yames which is the common food for the Natives for bread kind for those few Plantains they have are only used as Fruit. They have some Cotton growing here of the small plants Here are plenty of Goats and abundance of Hogs but few Fowls either wild or tame For this I have always observed in my Travels both in the East and West Indies that in those places where there is plenty of Grain that is of Rice in the one and Maiz in the other there are also found great abundance of Fowls but on the contrary few Fowls in those Countries where the Inhabitants feed on Fruits and Roots only The few wild Fowls that are here are Parakites and some other small Birds Their tame Fowl are only a few Cocks and Hens Monmouth and Grafton Islands are very thick inhabited and Bashee Island hath one Town on it The Natives of these Islands are short squat people they are generally round visaged with low Foreheads and thick Eye-brows their Eyes of a hazel colour and small yet bigger than the Chinese short low Noses and their Lips and Mouths middle proportioned Their Teeth are white their Hair is black and thick and lank which they wear but short it will just cover their Ears and so it is cut round very even Their Skins are of a very dark copper colour They wear no Hat Cap nor Turbat nor any thing to keep off the Sun The men for the biggest part have only a small clout to cover their Nakedness some of them have Jackets made of Plantain leaves which were as rough as any Bears skin I never saw such rugged things The Women have a short Petticoat made of Cotton which comes a little below their Knees It is a thick sort of stubborn cloath which they make themselves of their Cotton Both Men and Women do wear large Ear-rings made of that yellow Metal before mention'd Whether it were Gold or no I cannot positively say I took it to be so it was heavy and of the colour of our paler Gold I would fain have brought away some to have satisfied my curiosity but I had nothing wherewith to buy any Captain Read bought 2 of these Rings with some Iron of which the people are very greedy and he would have bought more thinking he was come to a very fair Market but that the paleness of the Metal made him and his Crew distrust its being right Gold For my part I should have ventur'd on the purchase of some but having no property in
side of which are 4 small Islands close by it which are very well stored with Cloves The two chiefest are Ternate and Tidore and as the Isle of Ceylon is reckoned the only place for Cinnamon and that of Banda for Nutmegs so these are thought by some to be the only Clove Islands in the World but this is a great error as I have already shewn At the South end of the Island Celebes there is a Sea or Gulph of about 7 or 8 leagues wide and 40 or 50 long which runs up the Countrey almost directly to the North and this Gulph hath several small Islands along the middle of it On the West side of the Island almost at the South end of it the Town of Macasser is seated A Town of great Strength and Trade belonging to the Dutch There are great Inlets and Lakes on the East side of the Island as also abundance of small Islands and sholes lying scattered about it We saw a high peeked Hill at the N. end but the Land on the East side is low all along for we cruized almost the length of it The mold on this side is black and deep and extraordinary fat and rich and full of Trees and there are many Brooks of Water run out into the Sea Indeed all this East side of the Island seems to be but one large Grove of extraordinary great high Trees Having with much ado got on this East side coasting along to the Southward and yet having but little Wind and even that little against us at S. S. W. and sometimes Calm we were a long time going about the Island The 22d day we were in Lat. 1 d. 20 m. South and being about 3 leagues from the Island standing to the Southward with a very gentle Land wind about 2 or 3 a clock in the morning we heard a clashing in the Water like Boats rowing and fearing some sudden attack we got up all our Arms and stood ready to defend our selves As soon as it was day we saw a great Proe built like the Mindanayan Proe's with about 60 men in her and 6 smaller Proe's They lay still about a mile to Windward of us to view us and probably design'd to make a prey of us when they first came out but they were now afraid to venture on us At last we shewed them Dutch Colours thinking thereby to allure them to come to us for we could not go to them but they presently rowed in toward the Island and went into a large opening and we saw them no more nor did we ever see any other Boats or Men but only one fishing Canoa while we were about this Island neither did we see any House on all the Coast. About 5 or 6 leagues to the South of this place there is a great Range of both large and small Islands and many shoals also that are not laid down in our Drafts which made it extreamly troublesom for us to get through But we past between them all and the Island Celebes and anchored against a sandy Bay in 8 fathom sandy ground about half a mile from the main Island being then in lat 1 d. 50 m. South Here we stayed several days and sent out our Canoas a striking of Turtle every day for here is great plenty of them but they were very shy as they were generally where-ever we found them in the East India Seas I know not the reason of it unless the Natives go very much a striking here for even in the West Indies they are shy in places that are much disturbed and yet on New Holland we found them shy as I shall relate though the Natives there do not molest them On the sholes without us we went and gathered Shell-fish at low water There were a monstrous sort of Cockles the Meat of one of them would suffice 7 or 8 Men. It was very good wholsom Meat We did also beat about in the Woods on the Island but found no game One of our Men who was always troubled with sore Legs found a certain Vine that supported it self by climbing about other Trees The leaves reach'd 6 or 7 feet high but the strings or branches 11 or 12. It had a very green leaf pretty broad and roundish and of a thick substance These leaves pounded small and boiled with Hogs Lard make an excellent Salve Our Men knowing the vertues of it stockt themselves here there was scarce a Man in the Ship but got a pound or two of it especially such as were troubled with old Ulcers who found great benefit by it This Man that discovered these leaves here had his first knowledge of them in the Isthmus of Darien he having had this Receipt from one of the Indians there and he had been ashore in divers places since purposely to seek these leaves but did never find any but here Among the many vast Trees hereabouts there was one exceeded all the rest This Captain Read caused to be cut down in order to make a Canoa having lost our Boats all but one small one in the late Storms so 6 lusty Men who had been Logwood cutters in the Bays of Campeachy and Honduras as Captain Read himself and many more of us had and so were very expert at this work undertook to fell it taking their turns 3 always cutting together and they were one whole day and half the next before they got it down This Tree though it grew in a Wood was yet 18 foot in circumference and 44 foot of clean body without knot or branch and even there it had no more than one or two branches and then ran clean again 10 foot higher there it spread it self into many great limbs and branches like an Oak very green and flourishing yet it was perisht at the heart which marr'd it for the service intended So leaving it and having no more business here we weighed and went from hence the next day it being the 29th day of November While we lay here we had some Tornadoes one or two every day and pretty fresh Land Winds which were at West The Sea breezes were small and uncertain sometimes out of the N. E. and so veering about to the East and South East We had the Wind at North East when we weighed and we steered off S. S. W. In the afternoon we saw a shole a head of us and altered our course to the S. S. E. In the evening at 4 a clock we were close by another great shole therefore we tackt and stood in for the Island Celebes again for fear of running on some of the sholes in the night By day a Man might avoid them well enough for they had all Beacons on them like Huts built on tall Posts above high-water mark probably set up by the Natives of the Island Celebes or those of some other neighbouring Islands and I never saw any such elsewhere In the night we had a violent Tornado out of the S. W. which lasted about an hour The 30th day
Esperance or of Good Hope finding that they might now proceed Eastward There is good Sounding off this Cape 50 or 60 leagues at Sea to the Southward and therefore our English Seamen standing over as they usually do from the Coast of Brazil content themselves with their Soundings concluding thereby that they are abrest of the Cape they often pass by without seeing it and begin to shape their course Northward They have several other signs whereby to know when they are near it as by the Sea-Fowl they meet at Sea especially the Algatrosses a very large long-winged Bird and the Mangovolucres a smaller Fowl But the greatest dependance of our English Seamen now is upon their observing the variation of the Compass which is very carefully minded when they come near the Cape by taking the Suns Amplitude mornings and evening This they are so exact in that by the help of the Azimuth Compass an Instrument more peculiar to the Seamen of our Nations they know when they are abrest of the Cape or are either to the East or the West of it and for that reason though they should be to Southward of all the Soundings or fathomable ground they can shape their course right without being obliged to make the Land But the Dutch on the contrary having settled themselves on this Promontory do always touch here in their East India Voyages both going and coming The most remarkable Land at Sea is a high Mountain steep to the Sea with a flat even top which is called the Table Land On the West side of the Cape a little to the Northward of it there is a spacious Harbour with a low flat Island lying off it which you may leave on either hand and pass in or out securely at either end Ships that anchor here ride near the Main Land leaving the Island at a farther distance without them The Land by the Sea against the Harbour is low but backt with high Mountains a little way in to the Southward of it The Soil of this Country is of a brown colour not deep yet indifferently productive of Grass Herbs and Trees The Grass is short like that which grows on our Wiltshire or Dorsetshire Downs The Trees hereabouts are but small and few the Country also farther from the Sea does not much abound in Trees as I have been informed The Mould or Soyl also is much like this near the Harbour which though it cannot be said to be very fat or rich Land yet it is very fit for cultivation and yields good Crops to the industrious Husbandman and the Country is pretty well settled with Farms Dutch Families and French Refugees for 20 or 30 leagues up the Country but there are but few Farms near the Harbour Here grows plenty of Wheat Barly Pease c. Here are also Fruits of many kinds as Apples Pears Quinces and the largest Pomgranats that I did ever see The chief Fruits are Grapes These thrive very well and the Country is of late years so well stockt with Vineyards that they make abundance of Wine of which they have enough and to spare and do sell great quantities to Ships that touch here This Wine is like a French High Country White Wine but of a pale yellowish colour it is sweet very pleasant and strong The tame Animals of this Country are Sheep Goats Hogs Cows Horses c. The Sheep are very large and fat for they thrive very well here This being a dry Country and the short pasturage very agreeable to these Creatures but it is not so proper for great Cattle neither is the Beef in its kind so sweet as the Mutton Of wild Beasts 't is said here are several sorts but I saw none However it is very likely there are some wild Beasts that prey on the Sheep because they are commonly brought into the Houses in the night and penn'd up There is a very beautiful sort of wild Al 's in this Country whose body is curiously striped with equal lists of white and black the stripes coming from the ridge of his Back and ending under the Belly which is white These stripes are two or three Fingers broad running parallel with each other and curiously intermixt one white and one black over from the Shoulder to the Rump I saw two of the Skins of these Beasts dried and preserved to be sent to Halland as a rarity They seemed big enough to inclose the Body of a Beast as big as a large Colt of a twelvemonth old Here are a great many Ducks Dunghil Fowls c. and Ostriges are plentifully found in the dry Mountains and Plains I eat of their Eggs here and those of whom I bought them told me that these creatures lay their Eggs in the Sand or at least on dry ground and so leave them to be hatch'd by the Sun The meat of one of their Eggs will suffice two men very well The Inhabitants do preserve the Eggs that they find to sell to strangers They were pretty scarce when I was here it being the beginning of their Winter whereas I was told they lay their Eggs about Christmas which is their Summer The Sea hereabouts affords plenty of Fish of divers sorts especially a small sort of Fish not so big as a Herring whereof they have such great plenty that they pickle great quantities yearly and send them to Europe Seales are also in great numbers about the Cape which as I have still observed is a good sign of the plentifulness of Fish which is their food The Dutch have a strong Fort by the Sea side against the Harbour where the Governour lives At about 2 or 300 paces distance from thence on the West side of the Fort there is a small Dutch Town in which I told about 50 or 60 Houses low but well built with Stone-walls there being plenty of Stone drawn out of a Quarry close by On the backside of the Town as you go towards the Mountains the Dutch East-India Company have a large House and a stately Garden walled in with a high Stone Wall This Garden is full of divers sorts of Herbs Flowers Roots and Fruits with curious spacious Gravel-walks and Arbors and is watered with a Brook that descends out of the Mountains which being cut into many channels is conveyed into all parts of the Garden The Hedges which make the Walks are very thick and 9 or 10 foot high They are kept exceeding neat and even by continual pruning There are lower Hedges within these again which serve to separate the Fruit-trees from each other but without shading them and they keep each sort of Fruit by themselves as Apples Pears abundance of Quinces Pomgranats c. These all prosper very well and bear good Fruit especially the Pomgranat The Roots and Garden-herbs have also their distinct places hedged in apart by themselves and all in such order that it is exceeding pleasant and beautiful There are a great number of Negro Slaves brought from other parts of the
furniture is very mean The Governour hath a pretty tolerably handsome low House by the Fort where he commonly lives having a few Souldiers to attend him and to guard the Fort. But the Houses in the Town before mentioned stand empty save only when Ships arrive here for their Owners have all Plantations farther in the Island where they constantly employ themselves But when Ships arrive they all flock to the Town where they live all the time that the Ships lye here for then is their Fair or Market to buy such necessaries as they want and to sell off the produce of their Plantations Their Plantations afford Patatoes Yames and some Plantains and Bonanoes Their stock consists chiefly of Hogs Bullocks Cocks and Hens Ducks Geese and Turkeys of which they have great plenty and sell them at a low rate to the Sailors taking in exchange Shirts Drawers or any light Cloaths pieces of Callico Silks or Muzlins Arack Sugar and Lime-juice is also much esteemed and coveted by them But now they are in hopes to produce Wine and Brandy in a short time for they do already begin to plant Vihes for that end there being a few French men there to manage that affair This I was told but I saw nothing of it for it rained so hard when I was ashore that I had not the opportunity of seeing their Plantations I was also informed that they get Manatee or Sea-cows here which seemed very strange to me Therefore enquiring more strictly into the matter I found the Santa Hellena Manatee to be by their Shapes and manner of lying ashore on the Rocks those Creatures called Sea-lyons for the Manatee never come ashore neither are they found near any rocky Shores as this Island is there being no feeding for them in such places Besides in this Island there is no River for them to drink at tho there is a small Brook runs into the Sea out of the Valley by the Fort. We stayed here 5 or 6 days all which time the Islanders lived at the Town to entertain the Seamen who constantly flockt ashore to enjoy themselves among their Country people Our touching at the Cape had greatly drained the Seamen of their loose Corns at which these Islanders as greatly repined and some of the poorer sort openly complained against such doings saying it was fit that the East India Company should be acquainted with it that they might hinder their Ships from touching at the Cape Yet they were extreamly kind in hopes to get what was remaining They are most of them very poor but such as could get a little Liquor to sell to the Seamen at this time got what the Seamen could spare for the Punch Houses were never empty But had we all come directly hither and not touched at the Cape even the poorest people among them would have gotten something by entertaining sick men For commonly the Seamen coming home are troubled more or less with Scorbutick Distempers and their only hopes are to get Refreshment and Health at this Island and these hopes seldom or never fail them if once they get footing here For the Islands afford abundance of delicate Herbs wherewith the sick are first bathed to supple their Joints and then the Fruits and Herbs and fresh food soon after cure them of their Scorbutick Humours So that in a weeks time men that have been carried ashore in Hammocks and they who were wholly unable to go have soon been able to leap and dance Doubtless the serenity and wholesomeness of the Air contributes much to the carrying off of these Distempers for here is constantly a fresh breeze While we stayed here many of the Seamen got Sweet-hearts One young man belonging to the James and Mary was married and brought his Wife to England with him Another brought his Sweet-heart to England they being each engaged by Bonds to marry at their arrival in England and several others of our Men were over Head and Ears in love with the Santa Hellena Maids who tho they were born there yet very earnestly desired to be released from that Prison which they have no other way to compass but by marrying Seamen or Passengers that touch here The young Women born here are but one remove from English being the Daughters of such They are well shaped proper and comely were they in a Dress to set them off My stay ashore here was but two days to get Refreshments for my self and Jeoly whom I carried ashore with me and he was very diligent to pick up such things as the Island afforded carrying ashore with him a Bag which the people of the Isle filled with Roots for him They flockt about him and seemed to admire him much This was the last place where I had him at my own disposal for the Mate of the Ship who had Mr. Moodie's share in him left him entirely to my management I being to bring him to England But I was no sooner arrived in the Thames but he was sent ashore to be seen by some eminent persons and I being in want of Money was prevailed upon to sell first part of my share in him and by degrees all of it After this I heard he was carried about to be shown as a Sight and that he died of the Small-pox at Oxford But to proceed our Water being fill'd and the Ships all stocked with fresh Provision we sailed from hence in Company of the Princess Ann the James and Mary and the Josiah July the 2d 1691 directing our course towards England and designing to touch no where by the way We were now in the way of the Trade Winds which we commonly find at E. S. E. or S. E. by E. or S. E. till we draw near the Line and sometimes till we are 8 or 10 degrees to the North of the Line For which reason Ships might shape their course so as to keep on the African Shore and pass between Cape Verd and Cape Verd Islands for that seems to be the directest course to England But experience often shews us that the farthest way about is the nearest way home and so it is here For by striving to keep near the African Shore you meet with the Winds more uncertain and subject to calms whereas in keeping the mid way between Africa and America or rather nearer the American Continent till you are North of the Line you have a brisk constant gale This was the way that we took and in our passage before we got to the Line we saw three Ships and making towards them we found two of them to be Portuguese bound to Brazil The third kept on a Wind so that we could not speak with her but we found by the Portuguese it was an English Ship called the Dorothy Capt. Thwayt Commander bound to the East Indies After this we kept Company still with our 3 Consorts till we came near England and then were separated by bad weather but before we came within sight of Land we got together
state of their year yet are not these various Seasons so exact in the returns but that there may sometimes be the difference of a month or more Neither yet are the several Seasons when they do come altogether alike in all years For sometimes the Rains are more violent and lasting at other times more moderate and some years they are not sufficient to produce reasonable Crops or else they come so unseasonably as to injure and destroy the Rice or at least to advance it but little For the Husbandry of this Country and other Countries in the Torrid Zone depends on the Annual Floods to moysten and fatten the Land and if the wet season proves more dry than ordinary so as that the Rice Land is not well dranched with the overflowings of the Rivers the Crops will be but mean and Rice being their Bread the staff of Life with them if that failes such a populous Country as this cannot subsist without being beholding to its Neighbours But when it comes to that pass that they must be supplyed by Sea many of the poorer sort sell their Children to relieve their wants and so preserve their Lives whilst others that have not Children to sell may be famished and dye miserable in the Streets This manner of Parents dealing with their Children is not peculiar to this Kingdom alone but is customary in other places of the East Indies especialy on the Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel There a famine happens more frequently and rages sometimes to a degree beyond belief for those Countries are generally very dry and less productive of Rice then Tonquin Neither are there such large Rivers to fatten the Land but all their Crop depends on Seasons of Rains only to moisten the earth and when those seasons fail as they do very often then they can have no Crop at all Sometimes they have little or no rain in 3 or 4 years and then they perish at a lamentable rate Such a Famine as this happen'd 2 or 3 years before my going to Fort St. George which raged so sore that thousands of people perished for want and happy were they that cou'd hold out till they got to the Sea-port Towns where the Europeans lived to sell themselves to them tho they were sure to be transported from their own Country presently But the famine does never rage so much at Tonquin neither may their greatest scarcity be so truly called a Famine for in the worst of times there is Rice and 't is thro the poverty of the meaner people that so many perish or sell their Children for they might else have Rice enough had they money to buy it with and when their Rice is thus dear all other provisions are so proportionably There is a further difference between the Countries of Malabar and Coromandel and this of Tonquin that there the more Rain they have there the greater is their blessing but here they may have too much rain for the lower part of the Kingdom but that is rare When this happens they have Banks to keep in the Rivers and Ditches to drain the Land tho sometimes to little purpose when the floods are violent and especially if out of season For if the floods come in their seasons tho they are great and drown all the Land yet are they not hurtful but on the contrary very beneficial because the mud that they leave behind fattens the Land And after all if the low Land should be injured by the floods the dry Champion Land yields the better increase and helps out the other as that does them also in more kindly seasons In the dry seasons the low Lands have this advantage that Channels are easily cut out of the River to water them on each side So that let the Seasons be wet or dry this Country seldom suffers much Indeed considering the number of its inhabitants and the poverty of the major part it is sometimes here as in all populous Countries very hard with the poor especially the Trades people in the large Towns For the Trade is very uncertain and the people are imployed according to the number of Ships that come thither to fetch away their Goods and if but few Ships come hither as sometimes it happens then the poor are ready to famish for want of work whereby to get a subsistance And not only this but most Silk Countries are stockt with great multitudes of poor people who work cheap and live meanly on a little Rice which if it is not very cheap as it commonly is here the poor people are not able to maintain themselves CHAP III. Of the Natives of Tonquin Their Form Disposition Capacity Cloaths Buildings Villages Groves Banks Ditches and Gardens Of Cachao the Capital City Ovens to secure goods from Fire and other precautions against it The Streets of the City the Kings Palaces and English and Dutch Factories An Artificial Mole above the City to break the force of the Land floods Of their Wives and Common women Feasts at the Graves of the Dead and Annual Feasts their entertaining with Betle and Arek c. Their Religion Idols Pagods Priests Offerings and Prayers Their Language and Learning Their Mechanick Arts Trades Manufactures Commodities and Traffick TOnquin is very populous being thick set with Villages and the Natives in general are of a middle stature and clean limb'd They are of a Tawny Indian colour but I think the fairest and clearest that I ever saw of that Complexion for you may perceive a blush or change of colour in some of their faces on any sudden surprize of passion which I could never discern in any other Indians Their faces are generally flattish and of an oval form Their noses and lips are proportionable enough and altogether graceful Their hair is black long and lank and very thick and they wear it hanging down to their shoulders Their teeth are as black as they can make them for this being accounted a great ornament they dye them of that colour and are 3 or 4 days doing it They do this when they are about 12 or 14 years old both Boys and Girls and during all the time of the operation they dare not take any nourishment besides Water Chau or some liquid thing and not much of that neither for fear I judge of being poyson'd by the Dye or Pigment So that while this is doing they undergo very severe Penance but as both Sexes so all Qualities the poor as well as the rich must be in this fashion they say they should else be like Brutes and that 't would be a great shame to them to be like Elephants or Dogs which they compare those to that have white teeth They are generally dextrous nimble and active and ingenious in any Mechanick science they profess This may be seen by the multitude of fine Silks that are made here and the curious Lackerwork that is yearly transported from thence They are also laborious and diligent in their Callings but the Country being
whom I came acquainted with some time after this at Fort St. George and I had of him the following account the particulars of which I have also had confirmed by the Seamen who were with them These two Captains with many more English men had been for some time in the service of the King of Siam and each of them commanded a stout Frigot of his mann'd chiefly with English and some Portuguese born at Siam These the King of Siam sent against some Pyrates who made spoyl of his Subjects Trading in these Seas and nested themselves in an Island up the River of Cambodia Captain Howel told me that they found this River very large especially at its mouth that 't is deep and navigable for very great Vessels 60 or 70 Leagues up and that its depth and wideness extended much further up for ought he knew but so far they went up at this time with their Ships The Course of the River is generally from North to South and they found the Land low on each side with many large creeks and branches and in some places considerable Islands They bended their Course up that branch which seem'd most considerable having the Tyde of flood with them and the River commonly so wide as to give them room to turn or make Angles where the bending of the River was such as to receive a contrary East or South East Sea Wind. These reaches or bendings of the River East and West were very rare at least so as to make their Course be against the Sea wind which commonly blew in their Stern and fo fresh that with it they could stem the Tyde of Ebb. But in the night when the Land winds came they anchored and lay still till about 10 or 11 a Clock the next day at which time the Sea-breeze usually sprang up again and enabled them to continue their Course till they came to the Island where the Pirats inhabited They presently began to fire at them and landing their men routed them and burned their Houses and Fortifications and taking many prisoners returned again These Piratical People were by Nation Chinese who when the Tartars conquered their Country fled from thence in their own Ships as choosing rather to live any where free than to submit to the Tartars These it seems in their flight bent their Course towards this Country and finding the River of Cambodia open before them they made bold to enter and settle on the Island before mentioned There they built a Town and fenced it round about with a kind of Wood-pile or Wall of great Timber Trees laid along of the thickness of 3 or 4 of these Trees and of about as many in heighth They were provided with all sorts of Planters instruments and the Land hereabouts was excellent good as our English men told me so that 't is like they might have lived here happily enough had their inclinations led them to a quiet Life but they brought Arms along with them and chose to use them rather than their Instruments of Husbandry and they lived therefore mostly by rapin pillaging their Neighbours who were more addicted to traffick than fighting But the King of Siams Subjects having been long harrassed by them at Sea he first sent some Forces by Land to drive them out of their Fort till not succeeding that way he entirely Routed them by sending these 2 Ships up the River The 2 English Captains having thus effected their business returned out of the River with many Prisoners but the South West Monsoon being already set in they could not presently return to Siam and therefore went to Macao in China as well to wait for the N. East Monsoon as to ingratiate themselves with the Tartars who they thought would be pleased with the Conquest which they had made over these Chinese Pyrates They were well entertained there by the Tartarian Governor and gave him their Prisoners and upon the shifting of the Monsoon they returned to Siam There they were received with great applause Nor was this the first successful expedition the English have made in the K. of Siams service They once saved the Country by suppressing an insurrection made by the Buggasses The Buggasses are a sort of warlike Trading Malayans and mercenary Soldiers of India I know not well whence they come unless from Macasser in the Island Celebes Many of them had been entertained at Siam in the Kings service but at last being disgusted at some ill usuage they stood up in their own defence Some hundreds of them got together all well armed and these struck a dread into the hearts of the Siamites none of whom were able to stand before them till Constant Falcon the chief Minister Commanded the English that were then in the Kings service to march against them which they did with success tho with some considerable loss For these services the King gave every year to each of them a great Silk Coat on which were just 13 Buttons Those of the chief Commanders were of Massy Gold and those of the inferiour Officers were of Silver Plate This Expedition against the Chinese Pirats was about the year 1687 the other broyl with the Buggasses was as I take it some time before But to proceed with our Voyage we still kept our way Southward and in company together till we came about Pulo Condore but then Captain Pool parted from us standing more directly South for the Streights of Sundy and we steer'd more to the Westward to go thro the Streights of Malacca thro which we came before Captain Brewster and another of our Passengers began now to be in fear that the King of Siam would send Ships to lye at the Mouth of the Streights of Malacca and intercept our passage because there was a War broke out between the English East India Company and that Prince This seemed the more likely because the French at this time were imployed in that Kings service by the means of a French Bishop and other Ecclesiasticks who were striving to convert the King and people to Christianity thro the Interest they had got in Constant Falcon. Particularly they were afraid that the King of Siam would send the 2 Ships before mentioned which Captain Williams and Capt Howel had commanded a little before to lye at the west end of the Streights mouth but probably mann'd with French Men and French Commanders to take us Now tho this made but little impression on the minds of our Commanders and Officers yet it so happened that we had such thick dark weather when we came near the first Entrance of the Streights of Malacca which was that we came by and by which we meant to return that we thought it not safe to stand in at night and so lay by till morning The next day we saw a Jonk to the Southward and chased her and having spoke with her we made sail and stood to the Westward to pass the Streights and making the Land we found we were to the
great deal less The outside rind or shell is a little thicker than that of the Pomgranate but softer yet more brittle and and is of a dark red The inside of the shell is of a deep crimson colour Within this shell the Fruit appears in 3 or 4 Cloves about the bigness of the top of a man's thumb These will easily separate each from the other they are as white as Milk very soft and juicy inclosing a small black Stone or Kernel The outside rind is said to be binding and therefore many when they eat the Fruit which is very delicious do save the rind or shell drying it and preserving it to give to such as have Fluxes In a small Book entitled A new Voyage to the East Indies there is mention made of Mangastans among the Fruits of Java but the Author is mistaken in that he compares it to a Sloe in shape and taste Yet I remember there is such a sort of Fruit at Achin and believe by the description he gives of it it may probably be the same that he calls the Mangastan tho nothing like the true Mangastan The Pumple-nose is a large Fruit like a Citron with a very thick tender uneven rind The inside is full of Fruit it grows all in cloves as big as a small Barly-corn and these are all full of juice as an Orange or a Lemon tho not growing in such partitions 'T is of a pleasant taste and tho there are of them in other parts of the East Indies yet these at Achin are accounted the best They are ripe commonly about Christmas and they are so much esteemed that English men carry them from hence to Fort St George and make presents of them to their Friends there The other Fruits mentioned here are most of them described by me in my first Volume The eatable Roots of this Country are Yams and Potatoes c. but their chiefest bread kind is Rice The Natives have lately planted some quantities of this Grain and might produce much more were they so disposed the Land being so fruitful They have here a sort of Herb or Plant called Ganga or Bang I never saw any but once and that was at some distance from me It appeared to me like Hemp and I thought it had been Hemp till I was told to the contrary It is reported of this Plant that if it is infused in any Liquor it will stupify the brains of any person that drinks thereof but it operates diversly according to the constitution of the person Some it makes sleepy some merry putting them into a Laughing fit and others it makes mad but after 2 or 3 hours they come to themselves again I never saw the effects of it on any person but have heard much discourse of it What other use this Plant may serve for I know not but I know it is much esteemed here and in other places too whither it is transported This Country abounds also with Medicinal Drugs and Herbs and with variety of Herbs for the Pot. The chief of their Drugs is Camphire of which there are quantities found on this Island but most of it either on the borders of this Kingdom to the Southward or more remote still without the precincts of it This that is found on the Island Sumatra is commonly sent to Japan to be refined and then brought from thence pure and transported whither the Merchants please afterwards I know that here are several sorts of Medicinal Herbs made use of by the Natives who go often a simpling seeming to understand their Virtues much and making great use of them but this being wholly out of my sphere I can give no account of them and tho here are plenty of Pot Herbs yet I know the names of none but Onions of which they have great abundance and of a very good sort but small There are many other very profitable Commodities on this Island but some of them are more peculiar to other parts of it than Achin especially Pepper All the Island abounds with that Spice except only this North West end at least so much of it as is comprehended within the Kingdom of Achin Whether this defect is through the negligence or laziness of these people I know not Gold also is found by report in many parts of this Island but the Kingdom of Achin is at present most plentifully stored with it Neither does any place in the East Indies that I know of yield such quantities of it as this Kingdom I have never been at Japan and therefore can make no estimate of the great riches of that Kingdom but here I am certain there is abundance of it The Land Animals of this Country are Deer Hogs Elephants Goats Bullocks Buffaloes Horses Porcupines Monkeys Squirrils Guanoes Lizards Snakes c. Here are also abundance of Ants of several sorts and Woodlice called by the English in the East Indies White Ants. The Elephants that I saw here were all tame yet 't is reported there are some wild but I judge not many if any at all In some places there are plenty of Hogs they are all wild and commonly very poor At some times of the year when the wild Fruits fall from the Trees they are indifferent fat or at least fleshy and then they are sweet and good they are very numerous and whether for that reason or scarcity of food it is very rare to find them fat The Goats are not very many neither are there many Bullocks but the Savannahs swarm with Buffaloes belonging to some or other of the Inhabitants who milk them and eat them but don 't work them so far as I saw The Horses of this Country are but small yet sprightly and sometimes they are transported hence to the Coast of Coromandel The Porcupines and Squirrels are accounted good food by the English but how they are esteemed by the Natives I know not The Fowls of this Country are Dunghil Fowls and Ducks but I know of no other tame Fowls they have In the Woods there are many sorts of wild Fowls viz. Maccaws Parrots Parakites Pigeons and Doves of 3 or 4 sorts There are plenty of other small Birds but I can say nothing of them The Rivers of this Country afford plenty of Fish The Sea also supplys divers sorts of very good Fish viz. Snooks Mullets Mudfish Eels Stingrays which I shall describe in the Bay of Campeachy Ten pounders Old Wives Cavallies Craw-fish Shrimps c. The Natives of this Country are Malayans They are much the same people with those of Queda Jihore and other places on the Continent of Malacca speaking the same Malayan Language with very little difference and they are of the same Mahometan Religion and alike in their haughty humour and manner of living so that they seem to have been originally the same people They are people of a middle stature straight and well shaped and of a dark Indian copper colour Their Hair is black and lank their Faces generally pretty
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
lyes a small Island call'd by the Spaniards Isles des Arenas but the English Seamen as is usual with them corrupt the Name strangely and some call it the Desarts others the Desarcusses but of this Island having never seen it I can give no Account All this Coast from Cape Catoch to Cape Condecedo is Low-Land the Mount only excepted It is most sandy Bay by the Sea yet some of it is Mangrovy-Land within which you have some spots of dry Savanah and small scrubbed Trees with short thick Bushes among them The Sea deepens gradually from the shore and Ships may Anchor in sandy Ground in any depth from 7 or 8 Foot to 10 or 12 Fathom Water In some Places on this Coast we reckon our distance from the shore by the depth of the Sea allowing 4 Fathom for the first League and for every Fathom afterward a League more But having got thus to Cape Condecedo I shall defer the further description of these Parts from this Cape Southward and Westward to the High-Land of St. Martin which is properly the Bay of Campeachy and from thence also further Westward till my second coming on this Coast when I made so long a stay here To proceed therefore with my prefent Voyage having past Cape Catoch the Mount Rio de la Gartos Sisal and Cape Condecedo we stood Southward directly for Trist the Haven of our Logwood-Cutters at which Place being not above 60 Leagues distant we soon arrived Trist is the Road only for big Ships Smaller Vessels that draw but a little Water run 3 Leagues farther by crossing over a great Lagune that runs from the Island up into the main-Main-Land where they anchor at a Place called One Bush-Key We stayed at Trist 3 days to fill our Water and then with our 2 Consorts sailed thence with the Tide of Blood and the same Tide arrived there This Key is not above 40 Paces long and 5 or 6 broad having only a little crooked Tree growing on it and for that reason it is called One-Bush-Key It seems to be only a heap of Shells for the Island is covered with them The greatest part are Oyster-shells There are a great many Oyster-banks in this Lagune and the adjacent Creeks but none afford better either for largeness or taste than the Bank about this Island In the wet Season the Oysters as well of One-Bush-Key as other Places here are made fresh by the Freshes running out of the Country But in the dry Time they are salt enough In the Creeks they are smaller but more numerous and the Mangrove-Roots that grow by the sides of the Creeks are loaden with them and so are all the Branches that hang in the Water One-Bush-Key is about a Mile from the shore and just against the Island is a small Creek that runs a Mile farther and then opens into another wide Lagune and through this Creek the Logwood is brought to the Ships riding at the Key Between the Oyster-Banks that lye about the Island and the Main there is good Riding in about 12 Foot Water The bottom is very soft Oaz insomuch that we are forced to shoo our Anchors to make them hold The Main by it is all Low Mangrovy-Land which is over-flow'd every Tide and in the Wet Season is covered with Water Here we lay to take in our Lading Our Cargo to purchase Logwood was Rum and Sugar a very good Commodity for the Logwood-Cutters who were then about 250 Men most English that had settled themselves in several Places hereabouts Neither was it long before we had these Merchants came aboard to visit us we were but 6 Men and a Boy in the Ship and all little enough to entertain them for besides what Rum we sold by the Gallon or Ferkin we sold it made into Punch wherewith they grew Frolicksom We had none but small Arms to fire at their drinking Healths and therefore the noise was not very great at a distance but on Board the Vessels we were loud enough till all our Liquor was spent We took no Money for it nor expected any for Logwood was what we came hither for and we had of that in lieu of our Commodities after the rate of 5 Pound per Tun to be paid at the Place where they cut it and we went with our Long-boat to fetch small Quanties But because it would have taken up a long time to Load our Vessel with our own Boat only we hired a Periago of the Logwood-Cutters to bring it on Board and by that means made the quicker dispatch I made two or three Trips to their Huts where I and those with me were always very kindly entertained by them with Pork and Pease or Beef and Dough-Boys Their Beef they got by hunting in the Savanahs As long as the Liquor lasted which they bought of us we were treated with it either in Drams or Punch But for a more particular Account of the Logwood-Cutters I shall refer the Reader to my second Voyage hither which I made shortly after my return to Jamaica because I saw a great prospect of getting Money here if Men would be but diligent and frugal But let 's proceed with our Voyage It was the latter end of September 1675. when we sailed from One-Bush-Key with the Tide of Ebb and anchored again at Trist that same Tide where we watered our Vessel in order to sail This we accomplished in two Days and the third day sailed from Trist towards Jamaica A Voyage which proved very tedious and hazardous to us by reason of our ships being so sluggish a Sailer that She would not ply to Wind-ward whereby we were necessarily driven upon several Shoals that otherwise we might have avoided and forced to spend 13 Weeks in our Passage is usually accomplished in half that time We had now a Passenger with us one Will. Wooders a Jamaica Seaman that with three others that were taken by the Spaniards was sent to the City of Mexico where they remained Prisoners 6 or 8 Months but at last were remanded to La vera Cruz and from thence by Sea to Campeachy They were not imprisoned but only kept to Work on Board the Ship that brought them and soon found an opportunity to make their escapes in this manner They had been imployed ashore all the day and being sent aboard at Night they fell to contrive how to run away with the Boat but considering that they wanted Necessaries for their Voyage they resolved first to go back and supply themselves which they might then do the better because they knew there were none but a few Indians on Board Accordingly having seized and bound the Indians taking with them a Compass with some Bread and Water they put off to Sea and arrivd at Trist a Week before our departure And this Will. Wooders was the means under God of the Preservation of our Ship The third day after we left Trist about 8 in the Morning near 12 or 14 Leagues W. S. W. from Campeachy
anchored on the North side of one of the sandy Islands the most convenient Place for his design Having got ashore his Cask to put his Oyl in and set up a Tent for lodging himself and his Goods he began to kill the Seal and had not wrought above three or four Days before a fierce North-wind blew his Bark ashore By good fortune she was not damnified but his company being but small and so despairing of setting her afloat again they fell to contriving how to get away a very difficult Task to accomplish for it was 24 or 25 Leagues to the nearest Place of the Main and above 100 Leagues to Trist which was the next English settlement But contrary to their expectation instead of that Captain Long bid them follow their Work of Seal-killing and making Oyl assuring them that he would undertake at his own peril to carry them safe to Trist. This though it went much against the grain yet at last he so far prevailed by fair Words that they were contented to go on with their Seal-killing till they had filled all their Cask But their greatest work was yet to do viz. how they should get over to the Main and then Coast down before the Wind to Trist. Their Boat was not big enough to transport them so they concluded to cut down the Barks Masts and rip up her Deck to make a float for that purpose This being agreed on the next Morning betimes pursuant to their Resolution they were going to break up their Vessel but it happened that very Night that two New-England Ketches going down to Trist ran on the backside of the Riff where they struck on the Rocks and were bulged And Captain Long and his Crew seeing them in Distress presently took their Boat and went off to help them unlade their Goods and bring them ashore and in requital they furnished the Captain with such tackle and other Necessaries as he wanted and assisted him in the launching his Vessel and lading his Oyl and so they went merrily away for Trist This lucky accident was much talk'd of amongst the C's Crew and so exasperated the New-England Men when they heard the whole story that they were thinking if their Commanders would have suffered them to have thrown him into the Sea to prevent his doing more mischief For they were sure that he by his Art had caused them to run aground The whole of this Relation I had from Captain Long himself From the main to these Islands the Sea deepens gradually till you come to about 30 Fathom Water and when you are 25 or 26 Leagues off shore to the Eastward of them if you steer away West keeping in that depth you cannot miss them The same Rule is to be observed to find any other Island as the Triangles the Isles Des Arenas c. for the Bank runs all along the shore on which are Soundings of equal depth and the Sea appears of a muddy palish Colour but when past the Bank on the North side of it it resumes its natural greeness and is too deep for any Sounding till you are within 30 Leagues of the North side of the Bay of Mexico where by relation there is such another Bank abounding with Oysters running all along the shore But to return to our Voyage Having spent 2 or 3 days among the Alcranes Islands we set sail again and steering in Southerly for the Main having the Wind at E. N. E. we fell in with it a little to Leeward of Cape Catoch plying under the shore till we reach'd the Cape from thence we continued our Course Northerly the Wind at E. by S. The next Land we designed for was Cape Antonio which is the Westermost Point of the Island Cuba and distant from Cape Catoch about 40 Leagues Some when they sail out of the Bay keep along by the Land of Jucatan till they come as far as the Island Cozumel and from thence stretch over towards Cuba and if the Wind favours them any thing they will get as high as Cape Corientes before they fall in with Cuba for in their Passage from thence they are not in so much danger of being hurried away to the North by the Current between the two Capes or to the North of them as we were For taking our Course Northward till the Lat. of 22 d. 30 m. we tack'd again and the Wind at E. steered away S. S. E. 24 hours and having taken an Observation of the Sun as we did the day before found our selves in 23 d. being driven backwards in 24 hours 30 Miles We had then the Channel open between the two Capes but to the North of either Yet at last we got over to the Cuba shore and fell in with the North of the Island about 7 or 8 Leagues from Cape Antonio Now we both saw and ran thro' some of the Colorado Sholes but found a very good Channel among a great many Rocks that appeared above Water Being thus got within the Sholes between them and Cuba we found a pretty wide clear Channel and good Anchoring and advancing further within a League of the Cape we Anchored and went ashore to get Water but found none In the Evening when the Land-wind sprung up we weighed again and doubling the Cape coasted along on the South side of the Island taking the Advantages both of Sea and Land-winds For though we had now been about two Months from Trist and this the time of the Year for Norths yet to our great trouble they had hitherto failed us and besides as I said before our Ketch was such a Leewardly Vessel that we did not yet expect we could possibly reach Jamaica meerly by turning though sometimes assisted by Sea and Land-Winds In about a Week after this we got up with and coasted along the Isle of Pines for 7 or 8 Leagues and then stood off to Sea and the third Morning fell in with the West end of grand Caymanes This Island is about 40 Leagues South from Pines and about 15 to the West of little Caymanes we anchored at the West end about half a Mile from the shore We found no Water nor any Provision but saw many Crocodiles on the Bay some of which would scarce stir out of the way for us We kill'd none of them which we might easily have done though Food began to be short withus indeed had it been in the Months of June or July we might probably have gotten Turtle for they frequent this Island some Years as much as they do little Caymanes We stayed here but 3 or 4 hours and steered back for Pines intending there to hunt for Beef or Hog of both which there is in great plenty The second day in the Morning we fell in with the West end of Pines and running about 4 or 5 Miles Northward we anchored in 4 Fathom Water clean Sand about two Mile from the shore and right-against a small Creek through the Mangroves into a wide Lagune The Isle of
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-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
covered with Pantile There is a strong Citadel or Fort at one end planted with many Guns where the Governour resides with a small Garrison to defend it Though this Port Commands the Town and Harbour yet it hath been twice taken First by Sir Christopher Mims who about the Year 1659. having summoned the Governour and afterwards stayed 3 days for an Answer before he Landed his Men yet then took it by Storm and that only with small Arms. I have been told that when he was advised by the Jamaica Privateers to take it by Stratagem in the Night he replied that he scorned to steal a Victory therefore when he went against it he gave them warning of his Approach by his Drums and Trumpets yet he took the Fort at the first onset and immediately became Master of the Place It was taken a second time by English and French Privateers about the Year 1678. by surprize They Landed in the Night about 2 Leagues from the Town and marching into the Country lighted on a Path that brought them thither The next Morning near Sun-rising they entred the Town when many of the Inhabitants were now stirring in their Houses who hearing a noise in the Street look'd out to know the occasion and seeing Armed Men marching towards the Fort supposed them to be some Soldiers of their own Garrison that were returned out of the Country for about a Fortnight or 3 VVeeks before they had sent out a Party to suppress some Indians then in Rebellion a thing very Common in this Country Under favour of this Supposition the Privateers marched through the Streets even to the Fort without the least Opposition Nay the Towns-People bad them Good Morrow and Congratulated their safe return not discovering them to be Enemies till they fired at the Sentinels on the Fort-wall and presently after began a furious Attack and turning two small Guns which they found in the Parade against the Gates of the Fort they soon made themselves Masters of it The Town is not very rich though as I said before the only Sea-Port on all this Coast. The chiefest Manufacture of the Country is Cotton-Cloath this serves for cloathing the Indians and even the poorer sort of Spaniards wear nothing else It is used also for making Sails for Ships and remitted to other parts for the same purpose Besides Cotton-Cloath and Salt fetch'd from the Salinas I know of no other vendible Commodity exported hence Indeed formerly this place was the Scale of the whole Logwood-Trade which is therefore still called Palo i. e. VVood de Campeachy tho' it did not grow nearer than at 12 or 14 Leagues distance from the Town The place where the Spaniards did then cut it was at a River called Champeton about 10 or 12 Leagues to Leeward of Campeachy Town the Coast from thence South the Land pretty high and rocky The Native Indians that lived hereabouts were hired to cut it for a Ryal a Day it then being worth 90 100 01 110 l. per Tun. After the English had taken Jamaica and began to cruise in this Bay they found many Barks laden with it but not knowing its value then they either set them adrift or burned them saving only the Nails and Iron work a thing now usual among the Privateers taking no notice at all of the Cargo till Cap. James having taken a great Ship laden with it and brought her home to England to fit her for a Privateer beyond his Expectation sold his VVood at a great rate tho' before he valued it so little that he burned of it all his Passage home After his return to Jamaica the English visiting this Bay found out the Place where it grew and if they 〈◊〉 Prize at Sea they would go to Champeton 〈◊〉 where they were certain to find large Piles cut to their Hand and brought to the Sea-side ready to be ship'd off This was their Common Practice till at last the Spaniards sent Soldiers thither to prevent their Depredations But by this time the English knew the Trees as growing and understanding their value began to rummage other Coasts of the Main in search of it till according to their desire they found large Groves of it first at Cape Catoch which as I have said before was the first Place where they setled to Logwood-Cutting and loaded many Vessels from thence to Jamaica and other Places But it growing scarce there they found out the Lagune of Trist in the Bay of Campeachy where they followed the same Trade and have ever since continued it even to the time of my being here But to proceed From the River Champeton to Port-Royal is about 18 Leagues the Coast S. S. VV. or S. VV. by S. Low-land with a sandy Bay against the Sea and some Trees by the shore with small Savanahs mixt with small shrubby VVoods within Land all the way There is only one River between Champeton and Port-Royal called Port Escondedo Port-Royal is a broad Entrance into a Salt Lagune of 9 or 10 Leagues long and 3 or 4 wide with 2 Mouths one at each end This Mouth of Port-Royal hath a Barr whereon there is 9 or 10 Foot VVater VVithin the Bar it is deep enough and there is good Anchoring on either side The entrance is about a Mile over and two Miles in length it hath fair sandy Bays on each side with smooth Landing Ships commonly Anchor on the VVeather or East side next Champeton both for the convenience of some VVells there dug on the Bays by the Privateers and Logwood-Cutters as also to ride more out of the Tide which here runs very strong This Place is remarkable enough because from hence the Land trends away VVest and runs so for about 65 or 70 Leagues farther On the VVest side of this Harbour is a low Island called by Us Port-Royal-Island which makes one side of the Mouth as the Main does the other It is about 2 Miles wide and 3 Leagues long running East and VVest The East end of this Island is sandy and pretty clear of VVoods with some Grass bearing a small prickly Bur no bigger than a Grey Pea which renders it very troublesom to those that walk bare-foot as the Bay-Men often do There are some Bushes of Burton-wood And a little further to the VVest grow large Sapadillo-Trees whose Fruit is long and very pleasant The rest of the Island is more woody especially the North side which is full of white Mangrove close to the shore On the VVest side of this Island is another small low Island called Trist separated from the former by a small Salt Creek scarce broad enough for a Canoa to padle through The Island Trist is in some Places three Mile wide and about 4 Leagues in Length running E. and W. The East end is swampy and full of white Mangroves and the South side much the same The VVest part is dry and sandy bearing a sort of long Grass growing in Tufts very thin This is a sort of
the Sea or the Lagunes is Mangrovy and always wet but at a little distance from it it is fast and firm and never over-flowed but in the wet Season The Soil is a strong yellowish Clay But yet the upper Coat or surface is a black mould tho' not deep Here grow divers sorts of Trees of no great bulk nor height Among these the Logwood-Trees thrive best and are very plentiful this being the most proper Soil for them for they do not thrive in dry Ground neither shall you see any growing in rich black mould They are much like our white Thorns in England but generally a great deal bigger the Rind of the young growing Branches is white and smooth with some prickles shooting forth here and there So that an English-man not knowing the difference would take them for White-Thorns but the Body and the old Branches are blackish the Rind rougher with few or no prickles The Leaves are small and shaped like the Common White-Thorn-Leaf of a palish Green We always chuse to cut the old black-rinded Trees for these have less sap and require but little pains to chip or cut it The sap is white and the heart red The heart is used much for dying therefore we chip off all the white sap till we come to the heart and then it is fit to be transported to Europe After it has been chip'd a little while it turns black and if it lyes in the VVater it dyes it like Ink and sometimes it has been used to write with Some Trees are 5 or 6 Foot in Circumference and these we can scarce cut into Logs small enough for a Man's Burthen without great Labour and therefore are forced to blow them up It is a very ponderous sort of wood and burns very well making a clear strong fire and very lasting VVe always harden the Steels of our Fire-Arms when they are faulty in a Logwood-fire if we can get it but otherways as I said before with Burton-wood or the Grape-tree The true Logwood I think grows only in this Country of Jucatan and even there but only in some Places near the Sea The chiefest places for it are either here or at Cape Catoch and on the South side of Jucatan in the Bay of Honduras There are other sorts of VVood much like it in colour and used for dying also Some more esteemed others of lesser value Of these sorts Bloodwood and Stock-fish-wood are of the natural growth of America The Gulph of Nicaragua which opens against the Isle of Providence is the only Place that I know in the North Seas that produces the Blood-wood And the Land on the other side of the Country against it in the South Seas produceth the same sorts This Wood is of a brighter red than the Logwood It was sold for 30 l. per Tun when Logwood was but at 14 or 15 and at the same time Stock-Fish-Wood went at 7 or 8. This last sort grows in the Country near Rio la Hacha to the East of St. Martha by the sides of Rivers in the low-Low-Land It is a smaller sort of Wood than the former I have seen a Tree much like the Logwood in the River of Conception in the Sambaloes and I know it will dye but whether it be either of these two sorts I know not Besides here and in the places before-mentioned I have not met with any such Wood in America At Cherburg near Sierra-Leone in Africa there is Camwood which is much like Blood-wood if not the same And at Tunqueen in the East Indies there is also such another sort I have not heard of any more in any part of the World But to proceed The Land as you go farther from the Sea riseth still somewhat higher and becomes of a more plantable Mould There the Trees are generally of another sort growing higher and taller than the Logwood-trees or any near them Beyond this you still enter into large Savannahs of long Grass two or three Miles wide in some Places much more The Mould of the Savannahs is generally black and deep producing a course sort of sedgy Grass In the latter end of the dry time we set fire to it which runs like Wild-fire and keeps burning as long as there is any Fewel unless some good shower of Rain puts it out Then presently springs up a new green Crop which thrives beyond all belief The Savannahs are bounded on each side with Ridges of higher Land of a light-brown Colour deep and very fruitful producing extraordinary great high Trees The Land for 10 or 20 Miles from the Sea is generally compos'd of many Ridges of delicate Wood-land and large Furrows of pleasant grassy Savannahs alternately intermixed with each other The Animals of this Country are Horses Bullocks Deer Warree Pecary Squashes Possums Monkies Ant-Bears Sloths Armadilloes Porcupines Land-turtle Guanoes and Lizards of all kinds The Squash is a four-footed Beast bigger than a Cat It 's Head is much like a Foxes with short Ears and a long Nose It has pretty short Legs and sharp Claws by which it will run up Trees like a Cat. The Skin is coverd with short fine yellowish Hair The flesh of it is good sweet wholesom Meat We commonly skin and roast it and then we call it Pig and I think it eats as well It feeds on nothing but good Fruit therefore we find them most among the Sapadillo-Trees This Creature never rambles very far and being taken young will become as tame as a Dog and be as roguish as a Monkey The Monkies that are in these Parts are the ugliest I ever saw They are much bigger than a Hare and have great Tails about two foot and half long The under-side of their Tails is all bare with a black hard skin but the upper side and all the Body is covered with course long black staring Hair These Creatures keep together 20 or 30 in a Company and ramble over the Woods leaping from Tree to Tree If they meet with a single Person they will threaten to devour him When I have been alone I have been afraid to shoot them especially the first time I met them They were a great Company dancing from Tree to Tree over my Head chattering and making a terrible Noise and a great many grim Faces and shewing Antick Gestures Some broke down dry Sticks and threw at me others scattered their Urine and Dung about my Ears at last one bigger than the rest came to a small Limb just over my Head and leaping directly at me made me start back but the Monkey caught hold of the Bough with the tip of his Tail and there continued swinging to and fro and making Mouths at me At last I past on they still keeping me Company with the like menacing Postures till I came to our Huts The Tails of these Monkies are as good to them as one of their Hands and they will hold as fast by them If two or more of us were together they would hasten from us
and then Landing walk'd one Mile through the Woods before we came into the Savannah and marched about 2 Miles in it before we came up with any Game Here I gave my Companions the slip and wandred so far into the Woods that I lost my self neither could I find the way into the open Savannah but instead of that ran directly from it through small Spots of Savannahs and Skirts of Woods This was sometime in May and it was between ten a Clock and one when I began to find that I was as we call it 〈◊〉 suppose from the Spaniards Morooned or Lost and quite out of the Hearing of my Comrades Guns I was somewhat surprized at this but however 〈◊〉 knew I should find my way out as soon as the Suâ—… was a little lower So I sat down to rest my self resolving however to run no farther out of my way for the Sun being so near the Zenith I could not distinguish how to direct my Course Being wearâ—… and almost faint for want of Water I was forced to have recourse to the wild Pines and was by them supplied or else I must have perish'd with Thirst. About three a Clock I went due North aâ—… near as I could judge for the Savannah lay East and West and I was on the South side of it At Sun-set I got out into the clear open Savannah being about two Leagues wide in most Places but how long I know not It is well stored with Bullocks but by frequent Hunting they grow shy and remove farther up into the Country Here 〈◊〉 found my self four or five Mile to the West 〈◊〉 the Place where I stragled from my Companions I made homewards with all the speed I could but being overtaken by the Night I lay down on the Grass a good distance from the Woods for the benefit of the Wind to keep the Muskitoes from me but in vain for in less than an Hours time I was so persecuted that though I endeavoured to keep them off by Fanning my self with Boughs and shifting my Quarters 3 or 4 times yet still they haunted me so that I could get no sleep A Day break I got up and directed my Course to thâ—… Creek where we landed from which I was theâ—… about two Leagues I did not see one Beast of any sort whatever in all the way though the day before I saw several Young Calves that could not follow their Dams but even these were now gone away to my great Vexation and Disappointment for I was very hungry But about a Mile farther I spied ten or twelve Quams perching on the Boughs of a Cotton-Tree These were not shy therefore I got well enough under them and having a single Bullet but no Shot about me fired at one of them but miss'd it though I had before often kill'd them so Then I came up with and fired at 5 or 6 Turkies but with no better success So that I was forced to march forward still in the Savannah toward the Creek and when I came to the Path that led to it through the Woods I found to my great Joy a Hat stuck upon a Pole and when I came to the Creek I found another These were set up by my Consorts who were gone home in the Evening as Signals that they would come and fetch me Therefore I sat down and waited for them for although I had then not above three Leagues home by Water yet it would have been very difficult if not impossible for me to have got thither over Land by reason of those vast unpassable Thickets abounding every where along the Creeks side wherein I have known some puzzled for two or three days and have not advanced half a Mile though they laboured extreamly every day Neither was I disappointed of my hopes for within half an Hour after my arrival at the Creek my Consorts came bringing every Man his Bottle of Water and his Gun both to hunt for Game and to give me notice by Firing that I might hear them for I have known several Men lost in the like manner and never heard of afterwards Such an Accident befel one Captain Hall of New-England who came hither in a Boston Ship to take in Logwood and was fraighted by two Scotch-men and one Mr. W. Cane an Irish-man who designing to go with Goods from Jamaica to New-England for that reason when his Logwood was aboard tarried at Trist with the Ship and hunted once in 2 or three Days for Beef to lengthen out his Salt-Provision One Morning the Captain designing to Hunt took five of his Men with his Mate as also his Merchant Mr. Cane along with him They Landed at the East end of the Island which is low mangrove-Mangrove-land the Savannah is a considerable distance from the Sea and therefore troublesom to get to it However unless they would row four or five Leagues farther they could not find a more convenient place beside they doubted not of Mr. Canes skill to conduct them After they had followed him a Mile or two into the Woods the Captain seeing him to make a Halt as being in some doubt to consider of the way told him in derision that he was but a sorry Woodsman and that he would swing him but twice round and he should not guess the way out again and saying no more to him went forwards and bid his Seamen follow him which they did accordingly Mr. Cane after he had recollected himself struck off another way and desired them to go with him But instead of that they were all for following the Captain In a short time Mr. Cane got out of the Woods into the Savannah and there kill'd a good fat Cow and quartering it made it fit for Carriage supposing the Captain and Crew would soon be with him But after waiting 3 or 4 hours and firing his Gun several times without hearing any Answer took up his Burden and returned towards the Sea-side and upon giving a Signal a Boat came and brought him aboard In the mean time the Captain and his Men after 4 or 5 Hours ranging the Woods began to grow fired then his Mate hastily trusting more to his own Judgment left him and the four Seamen and about four or five a Clock being almost spent with Thirst got out of the Woods to the Sea shore and as weak as he was fired his Gun for the Boat to fetch him which was immediately done When he came Aboard he gave an Account whereabout and in what a condition he left the Captain and his Men but it being then too late to seek him the next Morning very early Mr. Cane and two Seamen taking Directions from the Mate who was so fatigued that he could not stir where he had left the Captain went ashore and at length came within call of him and at last found him layd down in a Thicket having just sense to call out sometimes but not strength enough to stand so they were forced to carry him to the Sea-side
observed his Method in curing the Horse which was this First he strok'd the sore Place then applying to it a little rough Powder which looked like Tobacco Leaves dryed and crumbled small mumbling some Words to himself he blew upon the part three times and waving his Hands as often over it said it would be well speedily His Fee for the Cure was a White Cock Then coming to me and looking on the Worm in my Ancle he promised to cure it in three Days demanding also a White Cock for his pains and using exactly the same Method with me as he did with the Horse He bad me not open it in three Days but I did not stay so long for the next Morning the Cloath being rubb'd off I unbound it and found the Worm broken off and the Hole quite healed up I was afraid the remaining part would have given some trouble but have not felt any pain there from that day to this To return I told you how I was interrupted in following my Work by the Worms breeding in my Leg. And to compleat my misfortune presently after we had the most violent Storm for above 24 Hours that ever was known in these Parts An Account of which I shall give more particularly in my Discourse of Winds and shall now only mention some Passages I have already said we were four of us in Company at this Place cutting Logwood and by this Storm were reduced to great Inconveniencies for while that lasted we could dress no Victuals nor even now it was over unless we had done it in the Canoa for the highest Land near us was almost 3 Foot under Water besides our Provision too was most of it spoiled except the Beef and Pork which was but little the worse We had a good Canoa large enough to carry us all and seeing it in vain to stay here any longer we all embarked and rowed away to One-Bush-Key about 4 Leagues from our Huts There were 4 Ships riding here when the Storm began but at our arrival we found only one and hoped to have got some Refreshment from it but found very cold entertainment For we could neither get Bread nor Punch nor so much as a Dram of Rum though we offered them Money for it The Reason was they were already over-charged with such as being distressed by the Storm had been forced to take Sanctuary with them seeing we could not be supplied here we asked which way the other three Ships were driven they told us that Capt. Prout of New-England was driven towards Trist and 't was probable he was carried out to Sea unless he stuck on a Sand called the Middle Ground that Capt. Skinner of New-England was driven towards Beef-Island and Captain Chandler of London drove away towards Man-of-War Lagune Beef-Island lies North from One-Bush-Key but the other two Places lie a little on each side One to the East the other to the West So away we went for Beef-Island and coming within a League of it we saw a Flag in the Woods made fast to a Pole and placed on the Top of a high Tree And coming still nearer we at last saw a Ship in the Woods about 200 Yards from the Sea We rowed directly towards her and when we came to the Woods side found a pretty clear Passage made by the Ship through the Woods the Trees being all broke down And about three Foot Water Home to the Ship We rowed in with our Canoa and went Aboard and were kindly Entertained by the Seamen but the Captain was gone Aboard Captain Prout who stuck fast on the middle Ground before-mentioned Captain Prout's Ship was afterwards got off again but the Stumps of the Trees ran clear through the bottom of Captain Skinner's therefore there was no hope of saving her Here we got Victuals and Punch and stayed about two Hours in which time the Captain came Aboard and invited us to stay all Night But hearing some Guns fired in Man-of-War Lagune we concluded that Captain Chandler was there and wanted assistance Therefore we presently rowed away thither for we could do no Service here and before Night found him also stuck fast on a Point of Sand. The Head of his Ketch was dry and at the Stern there was above 4 Foot Water Our coming was very seasonable to Captain Chandler with whom we stayed two Days in which time we got out all his Goods carried off his Anchor c. and so not being able as yet to do him more Service we left him for the present and went away to hunt at Beef-Island At Trist were four Vessels riding before this Storm one of them was driven off to Sea and never heard of afterwards Another was cast dry upon the shore where she lay and was never got off again But the third rode it out Another was riding without the Bar of Trist and she put to Sea and got to New-England but much shattered About three days before this Storm began a small Vessel Commanded by Captain Vally went hence bound to Jamaica This Vessel was given for lost by all the Logwood-Cutters but about 4 Months after she returned thither again and the Captain said he felt nothing of the Storm but when he was about 30 Leagues to Wind-ward of Trist he had a fresh Summasenta-Wind that carried him as high as Cape Condecedo but all the time he saw very black Clouds to the Westward Beef-Island is about 7 Leagues long and 3 or 4 broad It lies in length East and West The East end looks toward the Island Trist and is low drowned Land and near the Sea produceth nothing but white and black Mangrove-Trees The North side lies open to the Main Sea running straight from East to West The Eastermost part for about three Leagues from Trist is Low and Mangrovy at the end of which there is a small salt Creek deep enough at high Water for Boats to pass From this Creek to the West end is 4 Leagues all sandy Bay closed on the backside with a low Sand-bank abounding with thick prickly Bushes like a White-thorn bearing a whitish hard Shell-Fruit as big as a Sloe much like a Calla-bash The West end is washed with the River St. Peter St. Paul This end is over-grown with red Mangroves About 3 Leagues up from the Mouth of this River shoots forth a small Branch running to the Eastward and dividing Beef-Island form the Main on the South and afterwards makes a great Lake of fresh Water called Fresh Water Lagune This afterward falls into a Salt Lake called Man-of-War Lagune which emptys it self into Laguna Termina about 2 Leagues from the S. E. Point of the Island The inside or middle of this Island is a Savannah bordered all round with Trees most Mangrovy either black white or red with some Logwood The South side between the Savannahs and the Mangroves is very rich Sometimes this Land lyes in Ridges higher than the Savannahs The Savannahs produce plenty of long Grass and the Ridges
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
of Cattle belonging to an Indian Village In the Woods on each side this River there are plenty of Guanoes Land-Turtle and abundance of Quams and Corresos with some Parrots and there is no Settlement nearer than the Beef Estantion nor any thing else remarkable in this River that I know A League West from Checapeque there is another small River called Dos Boccas 't is only fit for Canoas to enter It has a Bar at its Mouth and therefore is somewhat dangerous Yet the Privateers make light of it for they will govern a Canoa very ingeniously However Captain Rives and Captain Hewet two Privateers lost several Men here in coming out for there had been a North which had raised the Bar and in going out most of their Canoas were over-set and some Men drowned This River wlll not float a Canoa above a League within its Mouth and so far is salt but there you meet with a fine clear Stream of fresh Water about a League up in the Country and beyond this are fair Savannahs of long Grass fenced in with Ridges of as rich Land as any in the World The Mold such as is formerly described all plain and level even to the Hills of Chiapo There are no Indian Towns within 4 or 5 Leagues of the Sea but further off they are pretty thick lying within a League 2 or 3 one of another Halpo is the chiefest The Indians make use of no more Land than serves to maintain their Families in Maiz and to pay their Taxes And therefore between the Towns it lies uncultivated In all this Country they rear abundance of Poultry Viz. Turkies Ducks and Dunghil Fowls but some of them have Cacao-Walks The Cacao of these Parts is most of it sent to Villa de Mose and ship'd off there Some of it is sold to Carriers that travail with Mules coming hither commonly in Nov. or Dec. and staying till Febr. or March They lye a Fortnight at a time in a Village to dispose of their Goods which are commonly Hatchets Macheats Axes Hoes Knives Cizars Needles Thread Silk for sowing Womens Frocks small Looking-glasses Beads Silver or Copper Rings wash'd with Gold set with Glass instead of Stones small Pictures of Saints and such like Toys for the Indians And for the Spaniards Linnen and Woollen Cloaths Silks Stockings and old Hats new dress'd which are here very valuable and worn by those of the best Quality so that an old English Beaver thus ordered would be worth 20 Dollars so much is Trade wanted here in this Country When he has sold off his Goods he is generally paid in Cacao which he carries to La Vera Cruz. From Dos Boccas to the River Palmas is 4 Leagues low Land and sandy Bay between From Palmas to the Halover is 2 Leagues The Halover is a small Neck of Land parting the Sea from a large Lagune It is so call'd by the Privateers because they use to drag their Canoas in and out there From the Halover to St. Anns is 6 Leagues St. Anns is a Mouth that opens the Lagune before mentioned there is not above 6 or 7 Foot Water yet Barks often go in there to Careen From St. Anns to Tondelo is 5 Leagues The Coast still West the Land low and sandy Bay against the Sea a little within which are pretty high Sand-Banks cloathed with prickly Bushes such as I have already described at Beef-Island Against the Sea near the West end within the Sand Bank the Land is lower again the Woods not very high and some spots of Savannahs with plenty of fat Bullocks In Hunting of which a Frenchman unhappily lost his Life For his Company being stragled from him to find Game he unluckily met a Drove of Cattle flying from them in the Woods which were so thick that there was no passing but in these very narrow Paths that the Cattle themselves had made so that not being able to get out of their way the foremost of the Drove thrust his Horns into his Back and carried him a 100 Paces into the Savannah where he fell down with his Guts trailing on the Ground The River Tondeloe is but narrow yet capable to receive Barks of 50 or 60 Tuns there is a Bar at the Entrance and the Channel crooked On the West side of the Bar there is a spit of Sand shoots out therefore to avoid it at your coming in you must keep the East side aboard but when once entred you may run up for two or three Leagues on the East side a quarter of a Mile within the Mouth you may lie secure but all this Coast and especially this River intolerably swarms with Musketoes that there is no sleeping for them About 4 or 5 Leagues from the Mouth this River is fordable and there the Road crosses it where two French Canoas that lay in this River intercepted the Caravan of Mules laden with Cacao that was returning to La Vera Cruz taking away as much as they could carry with them From Tondeloe River to the River of Guasickwalp is 8 Leagues more the Coast still West all along sandy Bay and sand-Hills as between St. Anns and Tondeloe only towards the West part the Bank is lower and the Trees higher This is one of the Principal Rivers of this Coast 't is not half the breadth of the Tobasco River but deeper It s Bar is less dangerous than any on this Coast having 14 foot Water on it and but little Sea Within the Bar there is much more and soft Oasie ground The Banks on both sides are low The East side is woody and the West side Savannah Here are some Cattle but since it has been frequented by Privateers the Spaniards have driven most of their Bullocks from hence farther into the Country This River hath its rise near the South Sea and is Navigable a great way into Land especially with Boats or small Barks The River Teguantapeque that falls into the South Seas hath its Origine near the Head of Guasickwalp and it is reported that the first Naval Stores for the Manila Ships were sent through the Country from the North to the South Seas by the conveniency of these two Rivers whose Heads are not above 10 or 12 Leagues asunder I heard this discoursed by the Privateers long before I visited the South Seas and they seemed sometimes minded to try their Fortunes this way supposing as many do still that the South Sea shore is nothing but Gold and Silver But how grosly they are mistaken I have satisfied the World already And for this part of the Country though it is rich in Land yet it has not the least appearance of any Mine neither is it thick inhabited with Spaniards And if I am not deceived the very Indians in the heart of the Country are scarce their Friends The Town of note on the S. Sea is Teguantapeque and on the N. Seas Keyhooca is the chiefest near this River Besides these two the Country is only inhabited by Indians
therefore it is wholly unfrequented by Shipping Keyhooca is a large rich Town of good Trade about 4 Leagues from the River Guasickwalp on the West side It is inhabited with some few Spaniards and abundance of Mulatoes These keep many Mules they being most Carriers and frequently visit the Cacao Coast for Nuts and travel the Country between Villa de Mose and La Vera Cruz. This Country is pleasant enough in the dry Season but when the furious North Winds rage on the Coast and violently drive in the Sea it suffers extreamly being so much overflown that there is no travelling It was in the wet Season when Capt. Rives and Capt. Hewet made an Expedition in Canoas from the Island Trist to the River Guasickwalp and there Landed their Men designing to attack Keyhooca but the Country was so wet that there was no Marching neither was the Water high enough for a Canoa Here are great plenty of Vinellos From the River Guasickwalp the Land runs West 2 or 3 Leagues all low Land with sandy Bay to the Sea and very woody in the Country About three Leagues to the West of it the Land trends away to the North for about 16 Leagues rising higher also even from the very shore as you go up within Land making a very high Promontory called St. Martins Land but ending in a pretty bluff Point which is the West Bounds of the Bay of Campeachy From this blunt Point to Alvarado is about 20 Leagues the first four of it a high rocky shore with steep Cliffs to the Sea and the Land somewhat woody Afterwards you pass by very high Sand-hills by the Sea and an extraordinary great Sea falls in on the shore which hinders any Boats from Landing Within the Sand-hills again the Land is lower pretty plain and fruitful enough in large Trees The River of Alvarado is above a Mile over at the Mouth yet the entrance is but shole there being Sands for near two Mile off the shore clear from side to side nevertheless there are two Channels through these Sands The best which is in the middle has 12 or 14 Foot Water The Land on each side of the Mouth is high Sand-banks above 200 Foot high This River comes out of the Country in three Branches meeting altogether just within the Mouth where it is very wide and deep One of these Branches comes from the Eastward Another from the Westward And the third which is the true River of Alvarado and the biggest comes directly out of the Country opposite to the Sand-hills about a Mile West of the Rivers Mouth This last springs a great way from the Sea passing through a very fertile Country thick settled with Towns of Spaniards and Indians On the West side and just against the Mouth of the River the Spaniards have a small Fort of 6 Guns on the declivity of the Sand-bank a great heighth above the River which commands a small Spanish Town on the Back of it built in a Plain close by the River It is a great Fishery chiefly for Snooks which they catch in the Lake and when they are salted and dryed drive a great Trade in Exchanging them for Salt and other Commodities Besides salt Fish they export from hence abundance of dry Cod-Pepper and some pickled and put in Jars This Pepper is known by the Name of Guinea Pepper Yet for all this Trade 't is but a poor Place and yet has been often taken by the Privateers chiefly to secure their Ships while they should go up in their Canoas to the rich Towns within Land which notwithstanding they never yet attempted by reason that La Vera Cruz bordering so near they were still afraid of being attacqued both by Sea and Land from thence and so never durst prosecute their designs on the Country Towns Six Leagues West from Alvarado there is another large Opening out into the Sea and it is reported to have a Communication by a small Creek with this River of Alvarado and that Canoas may pass through it from one River to the other And at this Opening is a small Fishing Village The Land by the Sea is a continued high Sand-bank and so violent a Sea that it is impossible to Land with Boat or Canoa From this River to La Vera Cruz is 6 Leagues more the Coast still West There is a Riff of Rocks runs along the shore from Alvarado to Vera Cruz yet a good Channel for small Vessels to pass between it and the shore And about two Leagues to the East of Vera Cruz are two Islands called Sacrifice Islands I have set down the distance between Alvarado and La Vera Cruz according to the Common Account of 12 Leagues which I take to be truer but our Draughts make it 24. The Land by the Sea is much the same La Vera Cruz is a fair Town seated in the very bottom of the Bay of Mexico at the S. W. Point or Corner of the Bay for so far the Land runs West and there it turns about to the North. There is a good Harbour before it made by a small Island or Rock rather just in its Mouth which makes it very Commodious Here the Spaniards have built a strong Fort which commands the Harbour and there are great Iron Rings fix'd in the Fort-Wall against the Harbour for Ships to fasten their Cables For the North Winds blow so violently here in their Seasons that Ships are not safe at Anchors This Fort is called St. John d'Ulloa and the Spaniards do frequently call the Town of Vera Cruz by this Name The Town is a Place of great Trade being the Sea-Port to the City of Mexico and most of the great Towns and Cities in this Kingdom So that all the European Commodities spent in these Parts are Landed here and their Goods brought hither and Exported from hence Add to this that all the Treasure brought from Manila in the East Indies comes hither through the Country from Accapulca The Flota comes hither every three Years from Old Spain and besides Goods of the Product of the Country and what is brought from the East Indies and ship'd aboard them The King's Plate that is gathered in this Kingdom together with what belongs to the Merchants amounts to a vast Summ. Here also comes every Year the Barralaventa Fleet in October or November and stays till March. This is a small Squadron consisting of 6 or 7 Sail of stout Ships from 20 to 50 Guns These are ordered to visit all the Spanish Sea-Port Towns once every Year chiefly to hinder Foreigners from Trading and to suppress Privateers From this Port they go to the Havana on the North side of Cuba to sell their Commodities From hence they pass through the Gulph of Florida standing so far to the North as to be out of the Trade-Winds which are commonly between 30 d. and 40 d. of Lat. and being in a variable Winds-way they stretch away to the Eastwards till they may fetch Portarica if
North of the Line and the Monsoons on the South of the Line is that in April when the West Monsoon sets in to the North of the Line the S. S. W. Winds sets in to the South of the Line and is called the S. S. W. Monsoon And in September when the East Monsoon sets in to the North of the Line the N. N. E. Wind blows in South Lat. and is called the N. N. E. Monsoon And whereas the West Monsoon is accompanied with Tornadoes and Rain in North Lat. the S. S. W. Monsoon which blows at the same time in South Lat. is accompanied with fair Weather And as the East Monsoon is attended with fair Weather in North Lat. the N. N. E. Monsoon which blows at the same time in South Lat. is attended with Tornadoes and very bad Weather And though these Winds do not shift exactly at one time in all Years yet Sept. and Apr. are always accounted the turning Months and do commonly participate of both sorts of Winds For these Monsoons do as constantly shift by turns as the Year comes about And by means of this change of Wind Ships have the benefit to sail from one part of India with one Wind and return with the contrary So that most of the Navigation in India depends on the Monsoons And Ships do constantly wait for these Changes and the Merchants fit out to any Place according as the Season of the Year draws on And wheresoever they go they certainly dispatch their business so as to return back again with the next or contrary Monsoon For here is no sailing to and from any Place but with the Monsoon One carries them out the other brings them back Neither do I know how it were possible for Merchants in these Parts to Trade by Sea from one Country to another were it not for these shifting Monsoons For as I have said before most of the Trading Kingdoms in India do lye between the Line and the Tropick of Cancer And the Land lies so to the North that Ships cannot go to the North of the Tropick and by that means get into a variable Winds way as they may and do in the West Indies when they are bound far to the Eastward Neither could it be any advantage to stand off to Sea as they may in the South Sea for that would be of little moment because they would then come so near the Line that they would be always lyable to Tornadoes and Calms And should they cross the Line and run to the Southward of it thinking that way to gain their Passage it is likely they might succeed no better there For that part of the Sea which lies to the Southward of the Line is open and free to the true Trade which seldom fails But indeed that VVind would carry them to the Southward quite beyond the Trade into a variable Winds-way But the Sea is not open there for Ships to pass so far to the Eastward as to gain their Ports For our East India Ships that are bound to Siam Tunqueen China c. cannot get thither but in the Season of the West Monsoon though they go directly from England and though after they are past the Cape they have the convenience to stretch to the Eastward as far as the Land will permit yet they cannot go so far as is convenient before they will be obliged to steer down within the Course of the Trade-Winds which would obstruct their Passage if they were as constant here as in other Places And therefore if these Anniversary Monsoons did not constantly succeed each other Ships could not pass but one way they might sail to the Westward but there they must lye up or be 3 or 4 Years in their return from a place which may be sailed in 6 Weeks yet I say that to Places near each other Ships may and do very often sail against the Monsoon and that with success For here are Sea and Land Breezes under the shore and in many Places good Anchoring by which means Ships may stop when they find the Current against them But Voyages of a great distance cannot be made only with Land and Sea-Winds without some other helps In the W. Indies we have these helps of Land-Winds and Sea-Breezes by which we sail from one place to another provided they are no great distance a sunder and perform our Voyages well enough but when we are to sail a great way to the Eastward against the Trade-Wind then we are forced as is said before either to pass thro' the Gulph of Florida if we are far to Leeward or else to pass between the Islands and so stretch away to the Northward till we are clear out of the Trade and so get our Longitude that way So in the South Seas also and on the Coasts of Guinea the Coast of Brazil and the Coast of Africa between the Cape of good Hope and the Red-Sea there are Sea and Land Breezes which may be made use of to sail against the Trade if the Voyages be short But when we are to sail a great way against the Trade-Wind we must not wholly depend on the Sea and Land Breezes for then we should be a long time in accomplishing such Voyages In such Cases we have recourse to other helps such as Providence has supplied these Seas with which seems to be wanting in the East Indies as for example in the South Seas on the Coast of Peru where the Southerly Winds blow constantly all the Year there Ships that are bound to the Southward stretch off to the Westward till they are out of the Coasting Trade-Wind and there meet with the true Trade at E. S. E. with which they sail as far as they please to the Southward and then steer in for their Port. So on the Coast of Mexico where the Coasting Trade is Westerly there they run off to Sea till they meet the true E. N. E. Trade and then stretch away to the Northward as far as their Port and Ships that come from the Philipines bound for the Coast of Mexico stretch away to the North as far as 40 degrees to get a Wind to bring them on the Coast. Thus also all Ships bound to the East Indies after they are past the Line in the Atlantick Ocean stretch away to the Southward beyond the Trade and then stand over to the Eastward towards the Cape so in returning home after they have crost the Line to the Northward they steer away North with the Wind at E. N. E. till they are to the Northward of the Trade-Wind and then direct their Course Easterly All Guinea Ships and West India Ships do the same in their returns And this is the Benefit of an open Sea But to return The Monsoones among the East India Islands that lye to the Southward of the Line as I said before are either at N. N. E. or S. S. W. These also keep time and shift as the Monsoones do to the North of
the Line in the Months of April and September but near the Line as a degree or two on each side the Winds are not so constant Indeed there they are so very uncertain that I cannot be particular so as to give any true Account of them Only this I know that Calms are very frequent there as also Tornadoes and sudden Gusts in which the Winds fly in a moment quite round the Compass CHAP. IV. Of Sea and Land-Breezes How Sea-Breezes differ from Common Trade-Winds The time and manner of their Rise And particularly at Jamaica Of the Land-Breezes The time and manner of their Rise As on the Isthmus of Darien and at Jamaica The places where these Winds blow strongest or slackest as at Gapes and Head Lands deep Bays Lagunes and Islands Seals-Skin Bladders used instead of Bark Loggs SEA-Breezes generally speaking are no other than the Common Trade-Wind of the Coasts on which they blow with this difference that whereas all Trade-Winds whether they are those that I call the general Trade-Winds at Sea or coasting Trade-Winds either constant or shifting do blow as well by Night as by Day with an equal briskness except when Tornadoes happen So contrarily Sea-Winds are only in the Day and cease in the Night and as all Trade-Winds blow constantly near to one Point of the Compass both where the constant Trade-Winds are or where they shift on the contrary these Sea-Winds do differ from them in this that in the Morning when they first spring up they blow commonly as the Trade-Winds on the Coast do at or near the same Point of the Compass but about Mid-Day they fly off 2 3 or 4 Points further from the Land and so blow almost right in on the Coast especially in fair Weather for then the Sea-Breezes are truest as for instance on the Coast of Angola the Land lies almost North and South there the Trade-Wind is from the S. S. W. to the S. W. the true Sea Breezes near the shore are at W. by S. or W. S. W. and so of any other Coast. These Sea-Breezes do commonly rise in the Morning about Nine a Clock sometimes sooner sometimes later they first approach the shore so gently as if they were afraid to come near it and oft-times they make some faint breathings and as if not willing to offend they make a halt and seem ready to retire I have waited many a time both ashore to receive the pleasure and at Sea to take the benefit of it It comes in a fine small black Curle upon the Water whenas all the Sea between it and the shore not yet reach'd by it is as smooth and even as Glass in Comparison in half an Hour's time after it has reached the shore it fans pretty briskly and so increaseth gradually till 12 a Clock then it is commonly strongest and lasts so till 2 or 3 a very brisk gale about 12 at Noon it also veres off to Sea 2 or 3 Points or more in very fair Weather After 3 a Clock it begins to dye away again and gradually withdraws its force till all is spent and about 5 a Clock sooner or later according as the Weather is it is lull'd asleep and comes no more till the next Morning These Winds are as constantly expected as the day in their proper Latitudes and seldom fail but in the wet Season On all Coasts of the main whether in the East or West Indies or Guinea they rise in the Morning and withdraw towards the Evening yet Capes and Head Lands have the greatest benefit of them where they are highest rise earlier and blow later Bays contrarily have the disadvantage for there they blow but faintly at best and their continuance is but short Islands that lye nearest East and West have the benefit of these Winds on both sides equally for if the Wind is at S. W. or S. W. by S. on the South side of any Island then on the North side it would be at N. W. or N. W. by N. i. e. in fair Weather but if turbulent Weather it would be E. S. E. on the Southside and E. N. E. on the other But this true Sea-Breeze does not veer so far out except only near the shore as about 3 or 4. Leagues distant for farther than that you will find only the right Coasting Trade-Wind This I have experienced in several Parts of the World particularly at Jamaica about which I have made many Voyages both on the North and the South side where I have experienced the Sea-Breezes very much to differ for on the South side I have found the true Sea-Wind after 12 a Clock and in very fair Weather at S. or S. S. E. though it sprung up in the Morning at E. S. E. or S. E. And on the North side I have found the Sea-Breez at N. or N. N. E. though it rose in the Morning at E. N. E. but whether there may be the like difference about smaller Islands as at Barbadoes c. I cannot determine tho' I am apt to believe there is not So much for the Sea-Winds next of the Land-Breezes Land-Breezes are as remarkable as any Winds that I have yet treated of they are quite contrary to the Sea-Breezes for those blow right from the shore but the Sea-Breez right in upon the shore And as the Sea-Breezes do blow in the Day and rest in the Night so on the contrary these do blow in the Night and rest in the Day and so they do alternately succeed each other For when the Sea-Breezes have performed their Offices of the Day by breathing on their respective Coasts they in the Evening do either withdraw from the Coast or lye down to rest Then the Land-Winds whose Office it is to breathe in the Night moved by the same order of Divine Impulse do rouze out of their private recesses and gently fan the Air till the next Morning and then their task ends and they leave the Stage There can be no proper time set when they do begin in the Evening or when they retire in the Morning for they do not keep to an hour but they commonly spring up between 6 and 12 in the Evening and last till 6 8 or 10 in the Morning They both come and go away again earlier or later according to the Weather the Season of the Year or some accidental Cause from the Land For on some Coasts they do rise earlier blow fresher and remain later than on other Coasts as I shall shew hereafter They are called Land-Winds because they blow off shore contrary to the Sea-Breez which way soever the Coast lies Yet I would not so be understood as if these Winds are only found to breathe near the shores of any Land and not in the Inland Parts of such Countries remote from the Sea for in my Travells I have found them in the very heart of the Countries that I have passed through as particularly on the Isthmus of Darien and the Island of Jamaica Both
which places I have travelled over from Sea to Sea yet because these are but small Tracts of Land in comparison with the two main Bodies of Land of Mexico and Peru and those vast Regions in Asia and Africa lying within the Tropicks I cannot determine whether the Land-Winds are there as I have found them in my small Travels therefore I shall only confine this particular Discourse to these and other Places within my own Observations I shall begin first with the Isthmus of Darien there I have found the Land-Winds in the middle of the Country blowing all Night and till 10 or 11 a Clock in the Morning before I could perceive the Sea-Breeze to arise and that not discernable many times but by the flying of the Clouds especially if I was in a Valley and it was in Vallies that I did chiefly perceive the Land-Winds which blew in some places one way in others contrary or side ways to that according as the Vallies lay pend up between the Mountains and that without any respect to either the North or the South Seas but indeed near either side of the Land they always bent their course towards the nearest Sea unless there was any Hill between them and the Sea and then they took their Course along in the Vallies but from both shores as well from the North as the South they blow right forth into the Sea In the Island of Jamaica these Land-Winds are in the middle of the Country also I have found them so as I travelled from one side of the Island to the other having lain 2 Nights by the way as I had before observed them when I liv'd at 16 Miles Walk where I continued about 6 Months but there and in other Islands the Land-Winds do blow towards the nearest shores and so from thence off to Sea whether the shore's lye East West North or South These Winds blow off to Sea a greater or less distance according as the Coast lies more or less exposed to the Sea-Winds For in some Places we find them brisk 3 or 4 Leagues off shore in other Places not so many Miles and in some Places they scarce peep without the Rocks or if they do sometimes in very fair Weather make a sally out a Mile or 2 they are not lasting but suddenly vanish away though yet there are every Night as fresh Land-Winds ashore at those Places as in any other part of the World Places most remarkable for the fewest or faintest Land-Winds are those that lye most open to the Common Trade-Winds as the East ends of any Islands where the Trade-Winds do blow in upon the Shore or the head-Head-Lands on Islands or Continents that are open to the Sea-Breez especially where the Trade-Wind blows down side-ways by the Coast for there such Head-Lands as stretch farthest out to Sea are most exposed to Winds from the Sea and have the less benefit of the Land-Breezes I shall give a few Instances of either And first of all begin with the N. E. and S. E. Points of the Island of Jamaica These Points are at the East end of the Island one is at the very Extreme of the North side towards the East the other on the South Extreme towards the same Point at these two Places we seldom light of a Land-Wind nor very often at the end of the Island between them except near the shore For that Reason the Sloop-men of Jamaica that Trade round the Island are commonly put to their Trumps when they come there in their Voyages For if they meet no Land-Wind they are obliged to beat about by turning to wind-ward against the Sea-Breez in the Day time they then curse these Points of Land and are foolishly apt to believe that some Daemon haunts there And if they are 2 or 3 Days in beating about as sometimes they are when they return to Port Royal they will talk as much of their Fatigues as if they had been beating a Month to double the Cape of good Hope though indeed the Men are brisk enough and manage their sloops very well which also are generally very good Boats to sail on a Wind. I think they are the best small Trading-Boats in the King's Dominions Point Pedro on the South-side of the Island is another very bad Point to double if a Ship come from the West-end of the Island This Point runs out far into the Sea and is not only destitute of the Common Land-Winds But if there is any Current setting to Leeward here the Sloop-men meet it Therefore they are many times longer beating about it then about the two former Points of the South East and the North East and not without bestowing some Curses upon it Nay some Captains of Privateers when they have been beating about it have stood close in to the Point and fired their Guns to kill the old Daemon that they say inhabits there to disturb poor Seamen I have related these odd Passages to shew how ignorant Men are that cannot see the Reason of it And because I am not willing to leave my Reader in the dark I shall give a few Instances more on this subject The North side of Jucatan at the entrance into the Bay of Campeachy gives us another Instance of bad Land-Winds and commonly where the Land-Winds are scanty the Sea-Breezes are but indifferent neither This will partly appear by what I have observed of them on this Coast between Cape Catoach and Cape Condeseado at the entrance of the Bay of Campeachey which two places are about Eighty Leagues distant for there the Land trends East and West It is a streight Coast and lies all of it equally exposed to the Trade-VVind which is commonly there at E. N. E. To the W. of these Places the Sea and Land-VVinds do as duly succeed each other as on any other Coast but here they are each of them of a Bastard kind for the Sea-Breezes are at N. E. by E. which is no better than a Coast Trade-VVind and the Land-VVind is at E. S. E. or S. E. by E. whereas if the VVinds were as true there as on other Coasts the Sea-Breez would be at N. N. E. sometimes at N. and the Land-VVinds would be at S. S. E. and S. as they are indeed close under the shore which if they do at any time come off from they are very faint The Land on this Coast is low and even and the Land-VVinds ashore are pretty brisk The Capes on the Peruvian Coast in the South Seas will more fully make it appear that Head-Lands do seldom afford any Land-VVinds I shall only Instance in Cape Passao in Lat. 8 Minutes South Cape St. Laurence in Lat. 1 d. South and Cape Blanco in 3 d. South I have pass'd by them all several times and at different Seasons yet did never find any Land-winds there though between these Places there are very good Land-winds Therefore Ships that sail to the Southward against the Breez must beat it about by hard Labour
Jamaica Sailers The time when they blow at Jamaica is about June July or August Months that Norths never blow in The greatest stress of Wind in these storms is at South from whence its probable they are named Souths In what they differ from the Hurricanes that rage among the Carribee Islands I know not unless in this that they are more Constant to one Point of the Compass or that they come sooner in the Year than Hurricanes do but those Storms call'd Hurricanes had never been known at Jamaica when I was there Yet since I have heard that they have felt the fury of them several times But I was at Jamaica when there happened a violent South It made great havock in the Woods and blew down many great Trees but there was no great damage done by it Port Royal was in great danger then of being washed away for the Sea made a breach clear through the Town and if the violence of the Weather had continued but a few hours longer many of the Houses had been washed away For the Point of Land on which that Town stands is Sand which began to wash away apace but the Storm ceasing there was no further damage This was in July or August in the Year 1674. I was afterwards in the Bay of Campeachy when we had a much more violent Storm than this called also by the Logwood-Cutters a South It happened some time in June 1676. I was then cutting Logwood in the Western Creek of the West Lagune Two days before this storm began the Wind whiffled about to the South and back again to the East and blew very faintly The Weather also was very fair and the Men-of-War-Birds came hovering over the Land in great numbers which is very unusual for them to do This made some of our Logwood-Cutters say that we should have some Ships come hither in a short time for they believed it was a certain token of the arrival of Ships when these Birds came thus hovering over the Land And some of them said they had lived at Barbadoes where it was generally taken notice of and that as many of these Birds as they saw hovering over the Town so many ships there were coming thither And according to that Rule they foolishly guest that here were a great many Ships coming hither at that time Though 't is impossible that they could imagine there could be the hundredth part of the Ships arrive that they saw Birds fly over their Heads But that which I did most admire was to see the Water keep ebbing for two Days together without any flood till the Creek where we lived was almost dry There was commonly at low Water 7 or 8 foot Water but now not above 3 even in the middle of the Creek About 4 a Clock the 2d day after this unusual Ebb the Sky looked very black the Wind sprung up fresh at S. E. and increasing In less than 2 hours time it blew down all our Huts but one and that with much labour we propt up with Posts and with Ropes cast over the Ridge and fastning both ends to stumps of Trees we secured the Roof from flying away In it we huddled altogether till the storm ceased It rained very hard the greatest part of the storm and about two hours after the Wind first sprang up the Waters flowed very fast in The next Morning it was as high as the Banks of the Creek which was higher than I had ever seen it before The Flood still inereased and run faster up the Creek than ever I saw it do in the greatest Spring-Tide which was somewhat strange because the Wind was at South which is right off the shore on this Coast. Neither did the Rain any thing abate and by 10 a Clock in the Morning the Banks of the Creek were all overflown About 12 at Noon we brought our Canoa to the side of our Hut and fastned it to the stump of a Tree that stood by it that being the only refuge that we could now expect for the Land a little way within the Banks of the Creek is much lower than where we were So that there was no walking through the Woods because of the Water Besides the Trees were torn up by the Roots and tumbled down so strangely a-cross each other that it was almost impossible to pass through them The storm continued all this Day and the Night following till 10 a Clock then it began to abate and by 2 in the Morning it was quite calm This storm made very strange work in the Woods by tearing up the Trees by the Roots The ships also riding at Trist and at One-Bush-Key felt the fury of it to their sorrow for of four that were riding at One-Bush-Key three were driven away from their Anchors one of which was blown into the Woods of Beef-Island And of the four ships that were at Trist three also were driven from their Anchors one of which was cast up about 20 Paces beyond high Water-Mark on the Island of Trist. The other two were driven off to Sea and one of them was never heard of since The poor Fish also suffered extreamly by this storm for we saw multitudes of them either cast on the shore or floating dead on the Lagunes Yet this storm did not reach 30 Leagues to Wind-ward of Trist for Captain Vally of Jamaica went hence but 3 days before the storm began and was not past 30 Leagues off when we had it so fierce yet he felt none of it But only saw very black dismal Clouds to the Westward as he reported at his return from Jamaica to Trist 4 Months after I shall speak next of Hurricanes These are violent storms raging chiefly among the Caribee Islands though by Relation Jamaica has of late been much annoyed by them but it has been since the time of my being there They are expected in July August or September These storms also as well as the Norths or Souths give some signs of their approach before they come on I have not been in any one of them my self but have made enquiry of many Men that have and they all agree that either they are preceded by flattering unusual small Winds and very fair Weather or by a great glut of Rain or else by both Rains and Calms together I shall give an Instance of one that gave such warning It happened at Antego in August 1681. I had the Relation of it from Mr. John Smallbone before mentioned who was Gunner of a Ship of 120 Tuns and 10 Guns Commanded by Capt. Gadbury Before this storm it rained two days excessively then it held up two or three days more but the Sky was clouded and appear'd to be much troubled yet but little Wind. The Planters by this were certain of a Hurricane and warned the Ship-Commanders to provide for it especially Capt. Gadbury who had careen'd his ship in Muskito Cove in St. John's Harbour but a little before and by this warning given him by
the Eastermost Land of the Continent of America The one has only an eddy Wind which seems to me to be the Effect of two contrary Winds The other Coast lies open to the Trade and never wants a Breez And the former is troubled with Tornadoes and violent Rains during the wet Season which is May June July August and September but the extreamest wet Months are July and August when it rains in a manner continually April and October also sometimes are wet Months The other Coast on the American Continent which lyes open to the E. and N. E. or S. E. and which enjoys the freer Trade-Wind is less subject to Rain only as it lyes near the Line it has its part but not to excess nor in any comparison with Guinea And as the Line is to the N. of it so its wet Months are from October till April and the dry Season from April to October And these Seasons reach even to 6 or 7 degrees North of the Line which I do not know to be so in any other part of the World again Indeed Cape Lopes in Guinea is in one degree South yet participates of the same Weather that the rest of Guinea has which lies to the North of the Line Now the Reason why Europeans do account the dry Season Summer and the wet Season Winter is because the dry Season is their Harvest time especially in our Plantations where we chiefly make Sugar for then the Canes are as yellow as Gold They have then indeed less juce but that little there is is very sweet Whereas in the wet Season tho' the Canes are ripe and come to their Maturity yet do they not yield such quantities of Sugar neither is it so good though the pains in boiling it be also greater Therefore in Northern Climates as all our Plantations are in they commonly begin to work about making of Sugar at Christmas after the dry Season has brought the Canes to a good perfection But in South Climates as on the Coast of Brazil they begin to work in July Some Places there are in North Latitudes also near the Line where the Weather bears time with the Seasons in South Lat. as at Suranam which tho' it is in North Latitude yet are the Seasons there the same as in South Latitudes but I know not such another instance any where And though the dry Season is the time to gather in the Canes and the wet Season to plant yet are they not so limited as to make use only of these Seasons for either but do it chiefly for their best convenience for they may plant at any time of the Year and that with good success especially after a moderate shower of Rain which often happens even in the dry Seasons But I must proceed I have said before that Bays have greater Quantities of Rain than Head-Lands The Bay of Campeachy is a good Instance of this for the Rains are very great there especially in the Months of July and August On the contrary the Coast from Cape Catoch to Cape Condecedo which lies more exposed to the Trade has not near the Rains as the Bay of Campeachy hath The Bay of Honduras also is very wet and all that bending Coast from Cape Gratia de Dios even to Carthagena But on the Coast of Carraccos and about Cape La Vela where the Breezes are more brisk the Weather is more moderate Whereas in those little Bays between there is still a difference For in the Bay of Mericaya which lies a little to the East of Cape La Vela there is much more Rain than at or near the Cape The Bay of Panama also will furnish us with a proof of this by its immoderate Rains especially the South side of it even from the Gulph of St. Michael to Cape St. Francis the Rains there are from April till November but in June July and August they are most violent There are many small Bays also West from the Bay of Panama which have their shares of these wet Seasons as the Gulph of Dulce Caldera Bay Amapala c. but to the West of that where the Coast runs more plain and even there are not such wet Seasons yet many times very violent Tornadoes The East Indies also has many Bays that are subject to very violent Rains as the Bay of Tonqueen that of Siam the bottom and the East side of the Bay of Bengall But on the Coast of Coromandel which is the West side of that Bay the Weather is more moderate that being an even plain low Coast. But on the Coast of Mallabar which is on the West side of that Promontory the Land is high and mountainous there are violent Rains Indeed the West sides of any Continents are wetter than the East sides the Coast of Peru and Africa only excepted in the former of which the dryness may be occasioned as is said before by the height of the Andes And 't is probable that the violence of the Rains near those Mountains falls chiefly on the East sides of them and seldom reaches to their Tops which yet if the Rains do they may there be broke in pieces and reach no further For among other Observations I have taken notice that Mountains are supplied with more Rains than low Lands I mean the low Land bordering on the Sea As for instance the South side of Jamaica beginning at Leganea and from thence away to the Westward as far as Black River including all the plain Land and Savannahs about St. Jago de la Vega Old Harbour and Withy wood Savannahs This is a plain level Country for many Miles lying near East and West having the Sea on the South and bounded with Mountains on the North. Those Mountains are commonly supplied with Rain before the low Lands I have known the Rains to have begun there three Weeks before any has fallen in the plain Country bordering on the Sea yet every day I have observed very black Clouds over the Mountains and have heard it thunder there And those very Clouds have seemed by their Motion to draw towards the Sea but have been check'd in their Course and have either returned towards the Mountains again or else have spent themselves before they came from thence and so have vanished away again to the great grief of the Planters whose Plantations and Cattle have sufferd for want of a little Moisture Nay these Tornadoes have been so nigh that the Sea Breez has dyed away and we have had the Wind fresh out of the Clouds yet they have vanished and yielded no Rain to the low parch'd Lands And I think that the want of seasonable Showrs is one of the greatest Inconveniencies that this part of the Country suffers for I have known in some very dry Years that the Grass in the Savannahs has been burned and withered for want of Rain and the Cattle have perished thereby for want of Food The Plantations also have suffered very much by it but such dry Seasons
have not been known on the North side of the Island where the Mountains are bordering on the Sea or at least but a little distance off it For there they are supplied with seasonable Showers almost all the Year and even in the dry time it self near the Full and Change of the Moon But in the wet Season the Rains are more violent which is their Inconvenience As for the Valleys in the Country they are not subject to such Droughts as the plain Land by the Sea at least I have not observed it my self nor have I heard it mentioned by others The Isle of Pines near Cuba is so noted a place for Rain that the Spaniards inhabiting near it on Cuba say that it rains more or less every day in the Year at one place or another It is generally spoken also believ'd by Privateers for it has been oft visited by them I have been there my self but cannot confirm that report However it is well known to be a very wet and rainy place It is but a small Island of about 9 or 10 Leagues long and 3 or 4 broad and in the midst is a high pecked Mountain which is commonly clouded and the Privateers say that this Hill draws all the Clouds to it for if there is not another Cloud to be seen any where else yet this Hill is seldom or never clear Gorgonia in the South Seas also has the same report It is much smaller than Pines I have mentioned it in my Voyage round the World Chap. VII Page 172. This Isle lies about 4 Leagues from the Main but the Isle of Pines not above 2 and is a great deal bigger than it The Main against Gorgonia is very low Land but Cuba near Pines is pretty high and the Mountain of Pines is much bigger and higher than the Hill of Gorgonia which yet is of a good height so that it may be seen 16 or 18 Leagues off And tho' I cannot say that it rains every day there yet I know that it rains very much and extraordinary hard I have been at this Isle three times and always found it very rainy and the Rains very violent I remember when we touch'd there in our return from Captain Sharp we boiled a Kettle of Chocolate before we clean'd our Bark and having every Man his Callabash full we began to sup it off standing all the time in the Rain but I am confident not a Man among us all did clear his Dish for it rained so fast and such great drops into our Callabashes that after we had sup'd off as much Chocolate and Rain-Water together as suffised us our Callabashes were still above half full and I heard some of the Men swear that they could not sup it up so fast as it rained in at last I grew tir'd with what I had left and threw it away and most of the rest did so likewise As Clouds do usually hover over Hills and Mountains so do they also keep near the Land I have mentioned something of this in my Voyage round the World Chap. X. Page 283. where I have said that in making Land we commonly find it Cloudy over the Land tho' 't is clear every where beside And this may still confirm what I have said in the foregoing Discourse that Hills are commonly clouded for High Land is the first discerned by us and that as I said before is commonly clouded But now I shall speak how we find the Clouds when we are but a little way from Land either coasting along the shore or at an Anchor by it I hope the Reader will not imagine that I am going to prove that it never Rains at Sea or but very little there for the contrary is known to every Body and I have already said in this Discourse of Winds in my first Chapter That there are very frequent Tornadoes in several Seas especially near the Equator and more particularly in the Atlantick Sea Other Seas are not so much troubled with them neither is the Atlantick so to the North or South of the Line especially at any considerable distance from the shore but yet 't is very probable however that the Sea has not so great a portion of Tornadoes as the Land hath For when we are near the shore within the torrid Zone we often see it rain on the Land and perceive it to be very cloudy there when it is fair at Sea and scarce a Cloud to be seen that way And though we have the Wind from the shore the Clouds seeming to be drawing off yet they often wheel about again to the Land as if they were Magnetically drawn that way Sometimes indeed they do come off a little but then they usually either return again or else insensibly vanish and that 's the Reason that Seamen when they are sailing near the shore and see a Tornado coming off they don't much mind it but cry the Land will devour it But however sometimes they fly off to Sea And 't is very rare that Tornadoes arise from thence for they generally rise first over the Land and that in a very strange manner for even from a very small Cloud arising over the top of a Hill I have often seen it increase to such a bulk that I have known it rain for 2 or 3 days successively This I have observed both in the East and VVest Indies and in the South and North Seas And 't is impossible for me to forget how oft I have been disturbed by such small Clouds that appeared in the Night 'T is usual with Seamen in those parts to sleep on the Deck especially for Privateers among whom I made these Observations In Privateers especially when we are at an Anchor the Deck is spread with Mats to lye on each Night Every Man has one some two and this with a Pillow for the Head and a Rug for a Covering is all the Bedding that is necessary for Men of that Employ I have many times spread my Lodging when the Evening has promised well yet have been forced to withdraw before Day and yet it was not a little Rain that would afright me then neither at its first coming could I have thought that such a small Cloud could afford so much Rain And oftentimes both my self and others have been so deceived by the appearance of so small a Cloud that thinking the Rain would soon be over we have lain till we were dropping wet and then have been forced to move at last But to proceed I have constantly observed that in the wet Season we had more Rain in the Night than in the day for though it was fair in the Day yet we seldom escaped having a Tornado or two in the Night If we had one in the Day it rose and came away presently and it may be we had an Hours Rain more or less but when it came in the Night though there was little appearance of Rain yet we should have it 3 or 4 Hours together but
it as I received it from my ingenious Friend Capt. Rogers who is lately gone to that Place and hath been there several times before THE Country of Natal takes up about 3 d. and half of Lat. from N. to S. lying between the lat of 31 d. 30 m. South and 28 S. 'T is bounded on the S. by a Country inhabited by a small Nation of Savage People called by our English Wild-bush-Men that live in Caves and in holes of Rocks and have no other Houses but such as are formed by Nature They are of a low stature tauny colour'd with crisped Hair They are accounted very cruel to their Enemies Their Weapons are Bows and poisoned Arrows These People have for their Neighbours on the S. the Hottantots Dellagoa is a Navigable River in Lat. 28 S. that bounds Natal on the N. The Inhabitants of this River have a Commerce with the Portuguese of Mozambique who oft visit them in small Barks and trade there for Elephants Teeth of which they have great plenty Some English too have lately been there to purchase Teeth particularly Capt. Freak just mentioned in my former Volume Ch. 23. P. 510. who after he had been in the River of Dellagoa and purchased 8 or 10 Tun of Teeth lost his Ship on a Rock near Madagascar The Country of Natal lies open to the Indian Sea on the East but how far back it runs to the Westward is not yet known That part of the Country which respects the Sea is plain Champion and Woody but within Land it appears more uneven by Reason of many Hills which rise in unequal Heights above each other Yet is it interlaced with pleasant Valleys and large Plains and 't is checker'd with Natural Groves and Savannahs Neither is there any want of Water for every Hill affords little Brooks which glide down several ways some of which after several turnings and windings meet by degrees and make up the River of Natal which dischargeth it self into the East Indian Ocean in the lat of 30 d. South There it opens pretty wide and is deep enough for small Vessels But at the Mouth of the River is a Bar which has not above 10 or 11 foot Water on it in a Spring-Tide Though within there is Water enough This River is the principal of the Country of Natal and has been lately frequented by some of our English Ships particularly by a small Vessel that Capt. Rogers formerly mentioned commanded There are also other Streams and Rivers which bend their Courses Northerly especially one of a considerable bigness about a â—…00 Mile within Land and which runs due North. The Woods are composed of divers sorts of Trees many of which are very good Timber and fit for any uses they being tall and large The Savannahs also are cloathed with kindly thick Grass The Land-Animals of this Country are Lyons Tigers Elephants Buffaloes Bullocks Deer Hogs Conies c. Here are also abundance of Sea-Horses Buffaloes and Bullocks only are kept tame but the rest are all wild Elephants are so plenty here that they feed together in great Troops 1000 or 1500 in a Company Mornings and Evenings they are seen grazing in the Savannahs but in the heat of the day they retire into the Woods and they are very peaceable if not molested Deer are very numerous here also They feed quietly in the Savannahs among the tame Cattle for they are seldom disturbed by the Natives Here are Fowls of divers sorts some such as we have in England viz. Duck and Teal both tame and wild and plenty of Cocks and Hens Besides abundance of will Birds wholly unknown to us Here are a sort of large Fowls as big as a Peacock which have many fine coloured Feathers They are very rare and shy There are other like Curlews but bigger The flesh of these is black yet sweet and wholesom Meat The Sea and Rivers also do abound in Fish of divers sorts yet the Natives do but seldom endeavour to take any except Tortoises and that is chiefly when they come ashore in the Night to lay their Eggs. Though they have also another very odd way which they sometimes make use of to catch Turtle or Tortoises They take a living sucking Fish or Remora and fastning a couple of strings to it one at the head and the other at the tail they let the sucking Fish down into the Water on the Turtle Ground among the half-grown or young Turtle and when they find that the Fish hath fastned himself to the back of a Turtle as he will soon do they then draw him and the Turtle up together This way of Fishing as I have heard is also used at Madagascar The Natives of this Covntry are but of a middle Stature yet have very good Limbs The Colour of their Skins is black their Hair crisped they are oval visaged their Noses neither flat nor high but very well proportioned their Teeth are white and their Aspect is altogether graceful They are nimble People but very lazy which probably is for want of Commerce Their chief Employment is Husbandry They have a great many Bulls and Cows which they carefully look after for every Man knows his own though they run all promisucously together in their Savannahs yet they have Pens near their own Houses where they make them gentle and bring them to the Pail They also plant Corn and fence in their Fields to keep out all Cattle as well tame as wild They have Guinea Corn which is their Bread and a small sort of Grain no bigger than Mustard-seed with which they make their drink Here are no Arts nor Trades profess'd among them but every one makes for himself such necessaries as Need or Ornament requires the Men keeping to their Employment and the Women to theirs The Men build Houses Hunt Plant and do what is to be done abroad And the Women milk the Cows dress the Victuals c. and manage all Matters within Doors Their Houses are not great nor richly furuished but they are made close and well thatched that neither Winds nor Weather can hurt them They wear but few Cloaths and those extraordinary mean The Men go in a manner naked their common Garb being only a square piece of Cloath made with Silk Grass or Moho Rind and wrought in form of a short Apron At the upper corners it has two straps to tye round their Wastes and the lower end being finely fringed with the same hangs down to their Knees They have Caps made with Beef Tallow of about 9 or 10 Inches high They are a great while a making these Caps for the Tallow must be made very pure before 't is fit for this use Besides they lay on but a little at a time and mixt it finely among the Hair and so it never afterwards comes off their heads When they go a Hunting which is but seldom they pare off 3 or 4 Inches from the top of it that so it may sit the snugger but the next
aim'd at by the Spaniards lay about a mile off with a Canoa at the Buoy of his Anchor as fearing some Treachery from our pretended Merchant and a little before the Bark blew up he saw a small Float on the Water and as it appeared a Man on it making towards his Ship but the Man dived and disappeared of a sudden as thinking probably that he was discovered This was supposed to be one coming with some combustible matter to have stuck about the Rudder For such a trick Captain Sharp was served at Coquimbo and his Ship had like to have been burnt by it if by meer accident it had not been discovered I was then aboard Captain Sharp's Ship Captain Swan seeing the Blaze by us cut his Cables as we did his Bark did the like so we kept under sail all the night being more scared than hurt The Bark that was on fire drove burning towards Tobago but after the first blast she did not burn clear only made a smother for she was not well made though Captain Bond had the framing and management of it This Captain Bond was he of whom I made mention in my 4th Chapter He after his being at the Isles of Cape Verd stood away for the South Seas at the instigation of one Richard Morton who had been with Captain Sharp in the South Seas In his way he met with Captain Eaton and they two consorted a day or two at last Morton went aboard of Captain Eaton and perswaded him to lose Captain Bond in the night which Captain Eaton did Morton continuing aboard of Captain Eaton as finding his the better Ship Captain Bond thus losing both his Consort Eaton and Morton his Pilot and his Ship being but an ordinary Sailer he despaired of getting into the South Seas and he had plaid such tricks among the Caribbee Isles as I have been informed that he did not dare to appear at any of the English Islands Therefore he perswaded his Men to go to the Spaniards and they consented to do any thing that he should propose so he presently steered away into the West Indies and the first place where he came to an anchor was at Portobel He presently declared to the Governour that there were English Ships coming into the South Seas and that if they questioned it he offered to be kept a Prisoner till time should discover the truth of what he said but they believed him and sent him away to Panama where he was in great esteem This several Prisoners told us The Spaniards of Panama could not have fitted out their Fireship without this Captain Bond 's assistance for it is strange to say how grossly ignorant the Spaniards in the West Indies but especially in the South Seas are of Sea-affairs They build indeed good Ships but this is a small matter for any Ship of a good bottom will serve for these Seas on the South Coast. They rig their Ships but untowardly have no Guns but in 3 or 4 of the Kings Ships and are as meanly furnished with Warlike Provisions and as much at a loss for the making any Fireships or other less usual Machines Nay they have not the sence to have their Guns run within the sides upon their discharge but have Platforms without for the Men to stand on to charge them so that when we come near we can fetch them down with small shot out of our Boats A main reason of this is that the Native Spaniards are too proud to be Seamen but use the Indians for all those Offices one Spaniard it may be going in the Ship to command it and himself of little more knowledge than those poor ignorant creatures nor can they gain much Experience seldom going far off to Sea but coasting along the shores But to proceed In the morning when it was light we came again to an anchor close by our Buoys and strove to get our Anchors again but our Buoy-Ropes being rotten broke While we were puzzling about our Anchors we saw a great many Canoas full of Men pass between Tabago and the other Island This put us into a new consternation we lay still some time till we saw that they came directly towards us then we weighed and stood towards them and when we came within hale we found that they were English and French Privateers come out of the North Seas through the Isthmus of Darien They were 280 Men in 28 Canoas 200 of them French the rest English They were commanded by Captain Gronet and Captain Lequie We presently came to an Anchor again and all the Canoas came aboard These Men told us that there were 180 English Men more under the Command of Captain Townley in the Country of Darien making Canoas as these Men had been to bring them into these Seas All the English Men that came over in this Party were immediately entertain'd by Captain Davis and Captain Swan in their own Ships and the French Men were ordered to have our Flower Prize to carry them and Captain Gronet being the eldest Commander was to command them there and thus they were all disposed of to their hearts content Captain Gronet to retalliate this kindness offered Captain Davis and Captain Swan each of them a new Commission from the Governor of Petit Guavres It has been usual for many years past for the Governor of Petit Guavres to send blank Commissions to Sea by many of his Captains with orders to dispose of them to whom they saw convenient Those of Petit-Guavres by this means making themselves the Sanctuary and Asylum of all People of desperate Fortunes and increasing their own Wealth and the Strength and Reputation of their Party thereby Captain Davis accepted of one having before only an old Commission which fell to him by Inheritance at the decease of Captain Cook who took it from Captain Thristian together with his Bark as is before mentioned But Captain Swan refused it saying he had an order from the Duke of York neither to give offence to the Spaniards nor to receive any affront from them and that he had been injured by them at Baldivia where they had kill'd some of his Men and wounded several more so that he thought he had a lawful Commission of his own to right himself I never read any of these French Commissions while I was in these Seas nor did I then know the import of them but I have learnt since that the Tenour of them is to give a Liberty to fish fowl and hunt The occasion of this is that the Island of Hispaniola where the Garrison of Petit-Guavres is belongs partly to the French and partly to the Spaniards and in time of Peace these Commissions are given as a Warrant to those of each side to protect them from the adverse Party but in effect the French do not restrain them to Hispaniola but make them a pretence for a general ravage in any part of America by Sea or Land Having thus disposed of our Associates
we intended to sail towards the Gulf of St. Michael to seek Captain Townley who by this time we thought might be entring into these Seas Accordingly the second day of March 1685. we sail'd from hence towards the Gulf of St. Michael This Gulf lyes near 30 leagues from Panama toward the S. E. The way thither from Panama is to pass between the Kings Islands and the Main It is a place where many great Rivers having finished their courses are swallowed up in the Sea It is bounded on the S. with Point Garachina which lyeth in North lat 6d 40 m. and on the North side with Cape St. Lorenzo Where by the way I must correct a gross error in our common Maps which giving no name at all to the South Cape which yet is the most considerable and is the true Point Garachina do give that name to the North Cape which is of small remark only for those whose business is into the Gulf and the name St. Lorenzo which is the true name of this Northern Point is by them wholly omitted the name of the other Point being substituted into its place The chief Rivers which run into this Gulf of St. Michael are Santa Maria Sambo and Congos The River Congos which is the River I would have perswaded our men to have gone up as their nearest way in our Journey over Land mentioned Chap. 1. comes directly out of the Country and swallows up many small Streams that fall into it from both sides and at last loseth itself on the North side of the Gulf a league within Cape St. Lorenzo It is not very wide but deep and navigable some leagues within land There are Sands without it but a Channel for Ships 'T is not made use of by the Spaniards because of the neighbourhood of Santa Maria River where they have most business on account of the Mines The River of Sambo seems to be a great River for there is a great tyde at its mouth but I can say nothing more of it having never been in it This River falls into the Sea on the South side of the Gulf near Point Garachina Beyond the mouth of these 2 Rivers on either side the Gulf runs in towards the Land somewhat narrower and makes 5 or 6 small Islands which are cloathed with great Trees green and flourishing all the year and good Channels between the Islands Beyond which further in still the shore on each side closes so near with 2 Points of low Mangrove Land as to make a narrow or streight scarce half a mile wide This serves as a mouth or entrance to the inner part of the Gulf which is a deep Bay 2 or 3 leagues over every way and about the East end thereof are the mouths of several Rivers the chief of which is that of Santa Maria. There are many outlets or Creeks besides this narrow place I have described but none navigable beside that For this reason the Spanish Guard-Ship mention'd in Chap. 1. chose to lye between these two Points as the only passage they could imagine we should attempt since this is the way that the Privateers have generally taken as the nearest between the North and South Seas The River of Santa Maria is the largest of all the Rivers of this Gulf It is navigable 8 or 9 leagues up for so high the tyde flows Beyond that place the River is divided into many Branches which are only fit for Canoas The tyde rises and falls in this River about 18 foot About 6 leagues from the Rivers mouth on the South side of it the Spaniards about 20 years ago upon their first discovery of the Gold Mines here built the Town Santa Maria of the same name with the River This Town was taken by Captain Coxon Captain Harris and Captain Sharp at their entrance into these Seas it being then but newly built Since that time it is grown considerable for when Captain Harris the Nephew of the former took it as is said in Chap. 6. he found in it all sorts of Tradesmen with a great deal of Flower and Wine and abundance of Iron Crows and Pickaxes These were Instruments for the Slaves to work in the Gold Mines for besides what Gold and Sand they take up together they often find great lumps wedg d between the Rocks as if it naturally grew there I have seen a lump as big as a Hens Egg brought by Captain Harris from thence who took 120 pound there and he told me that there were lumps a great deal bigger but these they were forc'd to beat in pieces that they might divide them These lumps are not so solid but that they have crevises and pores full of Earth and Dust. This Town is not far from the Mines where the Spaniards keep a great many Slaves to work in the dry time of the year but in the rainy season when the Rivers do overflow they cannot work so well Yet the Mines are so nigh the mountains that as the Rivers soon rise so they are soon down again and presently after the rain is the best searching for Gold in the Sands for the violent rains do wash down the Gold into the Rivers where much of it settles to the bottom and remains Then the Native Indians who live hereabouts get most and of them the Spaniards buy more Gold than their Slaves get by working I have been told that they get the value of 5 Shillings a day one with another The Spaniards withdraw most of them with their Slaves during the wet season to Panama At this Town of St. Maria Captain Townley was lying with his Party making Canoas when Captain Gronet came into the Seas for it was then abandoned by the Spaniards There is another small new Town at the mouth of the River called the Scuchaderoes It stands on the North side of the open place at the mouth of the River of St. Maria where there is more air than at the Mines or at Santa Maria Town where they are in a manner stifled with heat for want of air All about these Rivers especially near the Sea the Land is low it is deep black Earth and the Trees it produceth are extraordinary large and high Thus much concerning the Gulf of St. Michael whit'er we were bound The second day of March as is said before we weighed from Perico and the same night we anchored again at Pacheque The third day we sailed from thence steering towards the Gulf. Captain Swan undertook to fetch off Captain Townly and his Men therefore he kept near the Main but the rest of the Ships stood nearer the Kings Islands Captain Swan desired this office because he intended to send Letters over-land by the Indians to Jamaica which he did ordering the Indians to deliver his Letters to any English Vessel in the other Seas At 2 a clock we were again near the place where we clean'd our Ships There we saw two Ships coming out who proâ—…d to be Captain Townly and
Southward of the Streights first mouth and were gotten to the Southermost Entrance near the Sumatra shore but Captain Lacy who chose to go the old way made sail again to the Northward and so passed nearer the Malacca shore by the Sincapore the way we went before His was also the best and nearest way but Captain Weldon was willing to satisfie his curiosity and try a new passage which we got thro tho we had but little depth of water and this Entrance we past is called Brewers Streights Brewers Streights are sometimes passed by small Ships that sail from Batavia to Malacca because for them it is a nearer cut than to run so far as Pulo Timaon or the Streights of Sincapore In this Channel tho in some places we found but 14 or 15 foot water yet the bottom was soft Oaze and it lies so among Islands that there cannot go a great Sea Captain Weldon had also a Dutch man aboard who had been this way and he professing to know the Channel incouraged our Captain to try it which we effected very well tho sometimes we had but little more water than we drew This made us make but an easy Sail and therefore we were 7 or 8 days before we arrived at Malacca but Captain Lacy was there 2 or 3 days before us Here we first heard of the Death of Constant Falcon for whom Captain Brewster seemed to be much concerned There also we found besides several Dutch Sloops and our Companion Captain Lacy an English Vessel of 35 or 40 Tuns This Vessel was bought by one Captain Johnson who was sent by the Governor of Bencouli in a small Sloop to Trade about the Island of Sumatra for Pepper but Captain Johnson being killed the Sloop was brought hither by one Mr. Wells Being thus insensibly fallen into the mention of this Captain Johnson and intending to defer what little I have to say of Malacca till my coming thither again from Achin I shall bestow the rest of this Chapter in speaking of this mans Tragedy and other occurences relating to it which tho of no great moment in themselves yet the Circumstances I shall have occasion to relate with them may be of use to the giving some small light into the state of the opposite Coast of Sumatra which was the Scene of what I am going to speak of for tho I shall have other occasion to speak of Achin and Bencouli yet I shall not have opportunity to say any thing of this part oft hat Island opposite to Malacca unless I do it here To go on therefore with his Story it seems Captain Johnson was part owner of the small Bencooly Sloop but thinking it too small for his turn he came to Malacca intending to buy a larger Sloop of the Dutch if he could light on a bargain He had the best part of a thousand Dollars in Spanish money aboard for which one may purchase a good Sloop here for the Dutch as I have before observ'd do often buy Proe-bottoms for a small matter of the Malayans especially of the people of Jihore and convert them into Sloops either for their own use or to sell. Of these sort of Vessels therefore the Dutch men of Malacca have plenty and can afford good pennyworths and doubtless it was for this reason that Captain Johnson came hither to purchase a Sloop Here he met with a bargain not such a Proe-bottom reformed but an old ill shaped thing yet such a one as pleased him The Dutch man who sold him this Vessel told him withal that the Government did not allow any such dealings with the English tho they might wink at it and that therefore the safest way for them both to keep out of trouble would be to run over to the other side the Streights to a Town called Bancalis on Sumatra where they might safely buy and sell or exchange without any notice taken of them Captain Johnson accepting the offer they sailed both together over to Bancalis a Malayan Town on that Coast commanding the Country about it There they came to an anchor and Captain Johnson paying the price agreed on for the Vessel he had her delivered to him The Dutchman immediately returned over to Malacca again leaving Captain Johnson with 2 Vessels under his Command viz. the Sloop that he brought from Bencooly and this new bought Vessel The Bencooly Sloop he sent into a large River hard by to Trade with the Malayans for Pepper under the Command of Mr. Wells He was no Seaman but a pretty intelligent person that came first out of England as a Soldier to serve the East India Company in the Island Santa Helena He lived sometime very meanly in that Island but having an aspiring mind he left that poor but healthy place to serve the Company at Bencooly which tho 't is accounted the most unhealthy place of any that we Trade too yet the hopes of preferment engaged him to remove thither After some stay there he was sent with Captain Johnson to assist him in this Pepper expedition more because he could use his Pen than his Hands in Sea service He had 3 or 4 raw Seamen with him to work the Sloop up into the River Captain Johnson stayed near Bancalis to fit his new Vessel for with other necessaries she wanted a new Boltsprit which he intended to cut here having a Carpenter with him for that purpose as also to repair and fit her to his mind He had also a few other raw Seamen but such as would have made better Landmen they having served the King of Siam as Soldiers and they were but lately come from thence with the French who were forced to leave that Country But here in the Indies our English are forced for want of better to make use of any Seamen such as they can get and indeed our Merchants are often put hard to it for want of Seamen Here are indeed Lascars or Indian Seamen enough to be hired and these they often make use of yet they always covet an English man or 2 in a Vessel to assist them Not but that these Lascars are some of them indifferent good Sailers and might do well enough but an English man will be accounted more faithful to be employed on matters of moment beside the more free Conversation that may be expected from them during the term of the Voyage So that tho oft times their English men are but ordinary Sailers yet they are promoted to some charge of which they could not be so capable any where but in the East Indies These Seamen would be in a manner wholly useless in Europe where we meet with more frequent and hard storms but here they serve indifferent well especially to go and come with the Monsoons but enough of that Mr. Wells being gone to purchase Pepper Capt. Johnson went ashore about 5 or 6 leagues from Bancalis Town with his Carpenter to cut a Boltsprit there being there plenty of Timber Trees fit for his
Savannah with some large Palmeto-Trees growing in it The North side of the VVest end is full of Coco-Plum-Bushes and some Grapes The Coco-Plum-Bush is about 8 or 9 Foot high spreading out into many Branches It s Rind black and smooth the Leaves oval and pretty large and of a dark Green The Fruit is about the bigness of a Horse-Plum but round some are black some white others redish The Skin of the Plum is very thin and smooth the inside white soft and woolly rather fit to suck than bite inclosing in the middle a large soft Stone This Fruit grows commonly in tho Sand near the Sea and I have tasted some that have been saltish but they are commonly sweet and pleasant enough and accounted very wholsom The Body of the Grape-Tree is about two or three Foot in Circumference growing 7 or 8 Foot high then sends forth many Branches whose Twigs are thick and gross the Leaves are shaped much like an Ivy Leaf but broader and more hard the Fruit is as big as an ordinary Grape growing in Bunches or Clusters among the Twigs all over the Tree it is black when ripe and the inside redish with a large hard Stone in the middle This Fruit is very pleasant and wholsom but of little substance the Stones being so large The Body and Limbs of the Tree are good Fewel making a clear strong fire therefore often used by the Privateers to harden the Steels of their Guns when faulty The Animals of this Island are Lizards Guanoes Snakes and Dear Beside the Common small Lizard there is another sort of a large kind called a Lyon-Lizard This Creature is shaped much like the other but almost as big as a Man's Arm and it has a large Comb on its head when it is assaulted it sets its Comb up an end but otherways it lyes down flat Here are two or three sorts of Snakes some very large as I have been told At the West end of the Island close by the Sea you may dig in the Sand 5 or 6 Foot deep and find good fresh Water There are commonly VVells ready made by Seamen to water their Ships but they soon fill up if not cleared and if you dig too deep your VVater will be salt This Island was seldom clear of Inhabitants when the English visited the Bay for Logwood for the biggest Ships did always ride here in 6 or 7 Fathom Water close by the Shore but smaller Vessels ran up 3 Leagues farther to One-Bush-Key of which in my former Chapter The second Mouth or Entrance into this Lagune is between Trist and Beef-Island and is about 3 Mile wide It is shoal without and only two Channels to come in The deepest Channel on a Spring Tide has 12 Foot Water It lyes near the middle of the Mouth hard Sand on the Barr the West Channel is about 10 Foot Water and lies pretty near Beef-Island You run in with the Sea-Breez and sound all the way taking your Sounding from Beef-Island shore The bottom is soft Oaz and it shoots gradually Being shot in within Beef-Island Point you will have three fathom then you may stand over towards Trist till you come near the Shore and there Anchor as you please There is good Anchoring any where within the Bar between Trist and Beef-Island but the Tide is much stronger than at Port-Royal This is the other Mouth or opening to the Salt Lagune before-mentioned This Lagune is call'd by the Spaniards Laguna Termina or the Lagune of Tides because they run very strong here Small Vessels as Barks Periagoes or Canoas may sail thro' this Lagune from one Mouth to the other or into such Creeks Rivers or smaller Lagunes as empty themselves into this of which here are many The first of Note on the East part of this Lagune as you come in at Port-Royal is the River Summasenta This River though but small yet it is big enough for Pereagoes to enter It disembogues on the South side near the middle of the Lagune There was formerly an Indian Village named Summasenta near the Mouth of the River and another large Indian Town called Chucquebul 7 or 8 Leagues up in the Country This latter was once taken by the Privateers by whom I have been informed that there were about 2000 Families of Indians in it and two or three Churches and as many Spanish Friers though no white Men beside The Land near this River yields plenty of Logwood From Summasenta River to One-Bush-Key is 4 or 5 Leagues the shore running West I have described One-Bush-Key and the Creek against it which as I said is very narrow and not above a Mile long before it opens into another wide Lake lying nearest N. and S. called the East Lagune It is about a League and half wide and 3 Leagues long encompassed with Mangrove-Trees At the S. E. corner of it there is another Creek about a Mile wide at the Mouth running 6 or 7 Mile into the Country on both sides of it grows plenty of Logwood therefore it was inhabited by Englishmen who lived in small Companies from three to ten in a Company and settled themselves at their best Convenience for Cutting At the Head of the Creek they made a path leading into a large Savanah full of black Cattle Horses and Deer which was often visited by them upon occasion At the North end and about the middle of the East Lagune there is another small Creek like that which comes out against One-Bush-Key but less and shallower which dischargeth it self into Laguna Termina against a small sandy Key called by the English Serles's Key from one Captain Serles who first carried his Vessel here and was afterwards killed in the Western Lagune by one of his company as they were cutting Logwood together This Captain Serles was one of Sir Henry Morgans Commanders at the Sacking of Panama who being sent out to cruise in a small Vessel in the South Seas happened to surprize at Toboca the Boatswain and most of the Crew belonging to the Trinity a Spanish Ship on Board which were the Friers and Nuns with all the old Gentlemen and Matrons of the Town to the number of 1500 Souls besides an immense Treasure in Silver and Gold as I was informed by Captain Peralta who then Commanded her as he did afterwards when she was taken by Captain Sharp all which he might have taken in the Ship had he pursued her On the West side of the East Lagune there is a small Skirt of Mangroves that separates it from another running Parallel with it called the East Lagune which is about the bigness of the former Towards the North end of this Laguue runs a small Creek coming out of the East Lagune deep enough for small Barks to pass through At the South end of this Lagune there is a Creek about a Mile wide at its Mouth and half a Mile from thence it divides into two Branches one called the East the other the West Branch both deep
enough for small Barks 7 or 8 Mile up The Water is fresh 10 Months but in the midst of the dry Season 't is brackish Four Mile from the Mouth the Land on both sides these two Branches is wet and swampy affording only Mangroves by the Creeks sides only at the Heads of them there are many large Oaks besides which I did never see any growing within the Tropicks but 20 Paces within that grows plenty of Logwood therefore the Cutters settled themselves here also On the West side of the West Branch lyes a large Pasture for Cattle about 3 Miles from the Creek to which the Logwood-Cutters had made paths from their Huts to hunt Cattle which are always there in great numbers and commonly fatter than those in the Neighbouring Savannahs and therefore was called the fat Savannah and this West Creek was always most inhabited by Logwood-Cutters The Logwood-Trade was grown very common before I came hither here being as I said before about 260 or 270 Men living in all the Lagune and at Beef-Island of which Isle I shall speak hereafter This Trade had its Rise from the decay of Privateering for after Jamaica was well settled by the English and a Peace established with Spain the Privateers who had hitherto lived upon plundering the Spaniards were put to their shifts for they had prodigally spent whatever they got and now wanting subsistence were forced either to go to Petit Guavas where the Privateer-Trade still continued or into the Bay for Logwood The more Industrious sort of them came hither yet even these though they could work well enough if they pleased yet thought it a dry business to toil at Cutting Wood. They were good Marks-Men and so took more delight in Hunting but neither of those Employments affected them so much as Privateering therefore they often made Sallies out in small Parties among the nearest Indian Towns where they plundred and brought away the Indian Women to serve them at their Huts and sent their Husbands to be sold at Jamaica besides they had not their old Drinking-bouts forgot and would still spend 30 or 40 l. at a sitting aboard the Ships that came hither from Jamaica carousing and firing off Guns 3 or 4 days together And tho' afterwards many sober Men came into the Bay to cut Wood yet by degrees the old Standers so debauched them that they could never settle themselves under any Civil Government but continued in their Wickedness till the Spaniards encouraged by their careless Rioting fell upon them and took most of them singly at their own Huts and carried them away Prisoners to Campeachy or La Vera Cruz from whence they were sent to Mexico and sold to several Tradesmen in that City and from thence after two or three Years when they could speak Spanish many of them made their Escapes and marched in by-Paths back to La Vera Cruz and by the Flota conveyed to Spain and so to England I have spoke with many of them since who told me that none of them were sent to the Silver Mines to Work but kept in or near the City and never suffered to go with their Caravans to New Mexico or that way I relate this because it is generally suggested that the Spaniards commonly send their Prisoners thither and use them very barbarously but I could never learn that any European has been thus served whether for fear of discovering their Weakness or for any other Reason I know not But to proceed It is most certain that the Logwood-Cutters that were in the Bay when I was there were all routed or taken a thing I ever feared and that was the reason that moved me at last to come away although a Place where a Man might have gotten an Estate Having thus given an Account of the first settling of this Place by my Country-men I shall next say something concerning the Seasons of the Year some particulars of the Country its Animals of the Logwood-Trade and their manner of Hunting and several remarkable Passages that happened during my stay there This part of the Bay of Campeachy lyes in about 18d of North Lat. The Sea-Breezes here in fair weather are at N. N. E. or N. The Land-winds are at S. S. E. and S. but in bad Weather at E. S. E. a hard gale for two or three days together The dry Season begins in September and holds till April or May then comes in the wet Season which begins with Tornadoes first one in a day and by degrees increasing till June and then you have set Rains till the latter end of August This swells the Rivers so that they over-flow and the Savannahs begin to be covered with Water and although there may be some Intermissions of dry Weather yet there are still plentiful showers of Rain so that as the water does not increase neither does it decrease but continues thus till the North Winds are set in strong and then all the Savannahs for many Miles seems to be but part of the Sea The Norths do commonly set in about the beginning of October and continue by intervals till March But of these I shall speak more in my Chapter of Winds These Winds blowing right in on the Land drive in the Sea and keep the Tides from their constant Course as long as they last which is sometimes two or three Days by this means the Freshes are pent up and overflow much more than before tho' there be less Rain They blow most fiercely in December and January but afterwards they decrease in strength and are neither so frequent nor lasting and then the Freshes begin to drain from off the low Ground By the middle of Feb. the Land is all dry and in the next Month perhaps you will scarce get Water to drink even in those Savannahs that but 6 Weeks before were like a Sea By the beginning of April the Ponds also in the Savannahs are all dryed up and one that knows not how to get Water otherways may perish for thirst but those that are acquainted here in their Necessity make to the Woods and refresh themselves with Water that they find in wild Pines The wild Pine is a plant so called because it somewhat resembles the Bush that bears the Pine they are commonly supported or grow from some Bunch Knot or Excrescence of the Tree where they take root and grow upright The root is short and thick from whence the Leaves rise up in folds one within another spreading off at the top They are of a good thick Substance and about 10 or 12 Inches long The out side Leaves are so compact as to contain the Rain-water as it falls They will hold a Pint and a half or a Quart and this Water refreshes the Leaves and nourishes the Root When we find these Pines we stick our Knives into the Leaves just above the Root and that lets out the Water which we catch in our Hats as I have done many times to my great relief The Land near