trusty than his own People With these he often discourses concerning the Affairs of their Countreys and promotes them to places far above their Ability and sometimes their Degree or Desert And indeed all over the Land they do bear as it were a natural respect and reverence to White Men in as much as Black they hold to be inferior to White And they say the Gods are White and that the Souls of the Blessed after the Resurrection shall be White and therefore that Black is a rejected and accursed colour And as further signs of the King's favour to them there are many Privileges which White Men have and enjoy as tolerated or allowed them from the King which I suppose may proceed from the aforesaid Consideration as to wear any manner of Apparel either Gold Silver or Silk Shoes and Stockings a shoulder Belt and Sword their Houses may be whitened with Lime and many such like things all which the Chingulayes are not permitted to do He will also sometimes send â—or them into his Presence and discourse familiarly with them and entertain them with great Civilities especially white Ambassadors They are greatly chargeable unto his Countrey but he regards it not in the least So that the People are more like Slaves unto us than we unto the King In as much as they are inforced by his Command to bring us maintenance Whose Poverty is so great oftentimes that for want of what they supply us with themselves their Wives and Children are forced to suffer hunger this being as a due Tax imposed upon them to pay unto us Neither can they by any Power or Authority refuse the Payment hereof to us For in my own hearing the People once complaining of their Poverty and Inability to give us any longer our Allowance the Magistrate or Governor replied It was the King's special Command and who durst disannul it And if otherwise they could not supply us with our maintenance he bad them sell their Wives and Children rather than we should want of our due Such is the favour that Almighty God hath given Christian People in the sight of this Heathen King whose entertainment and usage of them is thus favourable If any enquire into the Religious exercise and Worship practised among the Christians here I am sorry I must say it I can give but a slender account For they have no Churches nor no Priests and so no meetings together on the Lord's Dayes for Divine Worship but each one Reads or Prays at his own House as he is disposed They Sanctifie the Day chiefly by refraining work and meeting together at Drinking-houses They continue the practice of Baptism and there being no Priests they Baptize their Children themselves with Water and use the words In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and give them Christian Names They have their Friends about them at such a time and make a small Feast according to their Ability and some teach their Children to say their Prayers and to Read and some do not Indeed their Religion at the best is but Negative that is they are not Heathen they do not comply with the Idolatry here practised and they profess themselves Christians in a general manner which appears by their Names and by their Beads and Crosses that some of them wear about their Necks Nor indeed can I wholly clear them from complyance with the Religion of the Countrey For some of them when they are Sick do use the Ceremonies which the Heathen do in the like case as in making Idols of clay and setting them up in their Houses and Offering Rice to them and having Weavers to Dance before them But they are ashamed to be known to do this and I have known none to do it but such as are Indians born Yet I never knew any of them that do inwardly in Heart and Conscience incline to the ways of the Heathen but perfectly abhor them nor have there been any I ever heard of that came to their Temples upon any Religious account but only would stand by and look on without it were one old Priest named Padre Vergonce a Genoez born and of the Iesuits Order who would go to the Temples and eat with the Weavers and other ordinary People of the Sacrifices offered to the Idols but with this Apology for himself that he eat it as common Meat and as God's Creature and that it was never the worse for their Superstition that had past upon it But however this may reflect upon the Father another thing may be related for his Honour There happened two Priests to fall into the hands of the King on whom he conferred great Honours for having laid aside their Habits they kept about his Person and were the greatest Favourites at Court The King one day sent for Vergonse and asked him if it would not be better for him to lay aside his old Coat and Cap and to do as the other two Priests had done and receive Honour from him He replied to the King That he boasted more in that old habit and in the Name of Iesus than in all the honour that he could do him And so refused the King's Honour The King valued the Father for this saying He had a pretty Library about him and died in his Bed of old Age whereas the two other Priests in the King's Service died miserably one of a Canker and the other was slain The old Priest had about Thiâ—ty or Forty Books which the King they say seized on after his Death and keeps These Priests and more lived there but all deceased excepting Vergonse before my time The King allowed them to build a Church which they did and the Portugueze assembled there but they made no better than a Bawdy-house of it for which cause the King commanded to pull it down Although here be Protestants and Papists yet here are no differences kept up among them but they are as good Friends as if there were no such Parties And there is no other Distinctions of Religion there but only Heathens and Christians and we usually say We Christians FINIS Books printed for and sold by Richard Chiswel FOLIO SPEED's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland and of Foreign Parts Dr. Cave's Lives of the Primitive Fathers Dr. Cary's Chronological Account of Anciâ—â—t time Wanly's Wonders of the little World or History of Man Sir Tho. Herbert's Travels into Persia c. Holyoak's large Dictionary Latin and English Sir Richard Baker's Chronicle of England Causâ—n's Holy Court Wilson's compleat Christian Dictionary Bishop Wilkin's Real Character or Philosophical Language Pharmacopaeia Regalis Collegii Medicorum Londinensis reformata Iudge Ione's Reports in Common â—â—w Iudge Vauâ—han's Reports in Common Law Cave Tabulae Ecclesiasticorum Scriptorum Hobbe's Leviathan Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning Sir W. Dugdale's Baronage of England in 2 Vol. QUARTO DR Littleton's Dictionary Bishop Nicâ—olson on the Church
a small Profession as perceiving that there is a greater God than those that they thro long custom have and do Worship And therefore when an Impostor a Bastard Moor by Nation born in that Land came and publickly set up a new nameless God as he styled him and that he was sent to destroy the Temples of their Gods the King opposed it not for a good while as waiting to see which of these Gods would prevail until he saw that he aimed to make himself King then he allowed of him no longer as I shall shew more at large hereafter when I come to speak of the Religion of the Countrey The Christian Religion he doth not in the least persecute or dislike but rather as it seems to me esteems and honours it As a sign of which take this passage When his Sister died for whom he had a very dear Affection there was a very grievous Mourning and Lamentation made for her throughout the whole Nation all Mirth and Feasting laid aside and all possible signs of sorrow exprest and in all probability it was as much as their lives were worth who should at this time do any thing that might look like joy This was about Christmas The Dutch did notwithstanding adventure to keep their Christmas by Feasting The News of this was brought to the King And every body reckoned it would go hard with the Dutch for doing this But because it was done at a Festival of their Religion the King past it by and took no notice of it The Value also that he has for the Christian Religion will appear from the respect he gives the Professors of it as will be seen afterwards CHAP. III. Of the King's Tyrannical Reign WEE have all this while considered this King with respect unto his Person Temper and Inclinations now we will speak of him with more immediate respect unto his Office and Government as he is a King And here we will discourse of the manner of his Government of his Treasure and Revenues of his Great Officers and lastly of his Strength and Wars As to the manner of his Government it is Tyrannical and Arbitrary in the highest dâ—gree For he ruleth Absolute and after his own Will and Pleasure his own Head being his only Counsellor The Land all at his Disposal and all the People from the highest to the lowest Slaves or very lâ—kâ— Slaves both in Body and Goods wholly at his Command Neither wants He those three Virtues of a Tyrant Iealousie Dissimulation and Cruelty But because Policy is a necessary endowment of a Prince I will first shew in an instance or two that he is not devoid of it The Countrey being wholly His the King Farms out his Land not for Money but Service And the People enjoy Portions of Land from the King and instead of Rent they have their several appointmentsâ— some are to serve the King in his Wars some in their Trades somâ—â—erve him for Labourers and others are as Farmers to furnish his House with the Fruits of the Ground and so all things are done without Cost and every man paid for his pains that is they have Lands for it yet all have not watered Land enough for their needs that is such Land as good Rice requires to grow in so that such are fain to sow on dry Land and Till other mens Fields for a subsistence These Persons are free â—rom payment of Taxes only sometimes upon extraordinary occasions they must give an Hen or Mat or such like to the King's use for as much as they uâ—e the Wood and Water that is in his Countrey But if any find the Duty to be heavy or too much for them they may leaving their House and Land be free from the King's Service as there is a Multitude do And in my judgment they live far more at ease after they have relinquished the King's Land than when they had it Many Towns are in the King's hand the Inhabitants whereof are to Till and Manure a quantity of the Land according to their Ability and lay up the Corn for the King's use These Towns the King often bestows upon some of his Nobles for their Encouragement and Maintenance with all the fruits and benefits that before came to the King from them In each of these Towns there is a Smith to make and mend the Tools of them to whom the King hath granted them and a Potter to fit them with Earthen Ware and a Washer to wash their Cloaths and other men to supply what there is need of And each one of these haâ—h a piece of Land for this their Service whether it be to the King or the Lord but what they do for the other People they are paid for Thus all that have any Place or Employment under the King are paid without any Charge to the King His great Endeavour is to Secure himself from Plots and Conspiracies of his People who are sorely weary of his tyrannical Government over them and do oâ—ten Plot to make away with him but by his subtilty and good fortune together he prevents them And for this purpose he is very Vigilant in the Night the noise of Trumpets and Drums which he appoints at every Watch hinders both himself and all others from sleeping In the Night also he commonly does most of his Business calling Embassadors before him and reading the Letters also displacing some of his Courtiers and promoting others and giving Sentence to execute those whom he would have to live no longer and many times Commands to lay hold on and carry away great and Noble men who until that instant knew not that they were out of his favour His Policy is to make his Countrey as intricate and difficult to Travel as may be and therefore forbids the Woods to be felled especially those that divide Province from Province and permits no Bridges to be made over his Rivers nor the Paths to be made wider He often employs his People in vast works and that will require years to finish that he may inure them to Slavery and prevent them from Plotting against him as haply they might do if they were at better leisure Therefore he approves not that his People should be idle but always finds one thing or other to be done tho the work be to little or no purpose According to the quantity of the work so he will appoint the People of one County or of two to come in and the Governor of the said County or Counties to be Overseer of the Work At such times the Soldiers must lay by their Swords and work among the People These works are either digging down Hills and carrying the Earth to fill up Valleys thus to enlarge his Court which standeth between two Hills a more uneven and unhandsom spot of ground he could not well have found in all his Kingdom or else making ways for the Water to run into the Pond and elsewhere for his use
they die naturally they are not The Farmers all in general besides their measures of Corn pay a certain Duty in Money with their Rents If they Sell or Alienate their Inheritances the Kings accustomed Duties must not be diminished whosoever buyeth or enjoyeth them Neither is here any Land which doth not either pay or do some Duty to the King Only one case expected and that is if they give or dedicate Land to a Priest as an Alms or Deed of Charity in God's Name On that there is never any more Tax or Duty to be imposed as being sacrilegâ—â—ns to take ought from one that belongs to the Temple Formerly the King had the Benefit of the trade of two Ports Cotiar and Portalone unto each of which used to come yearly some twenty or thirty Sail of small Vessel which brought considerable Customs in But now the Hollander has deprived him of both suffering no Vessels to come The King hath several Treasure houses and in several places in Cities and Towns where always are Guards of Soldiers to watch them both day and night I cannot certainly declare all that is contained in them There are Precious Stones such as his Land affords mony but not very much Cloth and what he hath got by Shipwrack Presents that have been sent him from other Nations Elephants-teeth Wax good store of Arms as Guns Bowes and Arrows Pikes Halberds Swords Ammunition store of Knives Iron Tallipat-Leaves whereof one will cover a large Tent Bedsteads Tables Boxes Mats of all sorts I will not adventure to declare further the Contents of his Treasuries lesâ— I may be guilty of a mistake But sure I am he hath plenty of all such things as his Land affords For he is very Provident and Careful to be well furnished with all things And what he does abound with he had rather it should lye and rot then be imbezelled and wasted that is distributed among his Servants or Slaves of which he hath great store He hath some hundreds oâ— Elephants which he keepeth tame and could have as many more as he pleaseth but altho not catched yet they are all his and at his Command when he pleaseth It is frequently reported and I suppose is true that both he and his Predecessors by the distress they have been driven to by the Portuguezes have cast some store of Riches into the great River Maâ—velagonga running by the City in deep holes among Rocks which is irrecoverable and into a made Pond by the Palace in the City of Cande or Hingodegulâ—neur Wherein are kept to this day two Alligators so that none dare go into the water for fear of being devoured by them And often times they do destroy Cows that go to drink there But this Pond by cutting the Bank might easily be drained To conclude the Land that is under his jurisdiction is all his with the People their Estates and whatsoever if affords or is therein But that which he doth chiefly value and esteem are Toys and Novelties as Hawks Horses Dogs strange Birds and Beasts and particularly a spotted Elephant and good Arms of which he hath no want CHAP. V. Of the Kings great Officers and the Governours of the Provincesâ— THere are two who are the greatest and highest Officers in the Land They are called Adigars I may term them Chief Iudges under whom is the Government oâ— the Cities and the Countries also in the Vacancy of other Governors All People have liberty in default of Iustice to appeal to these Adigaâ—s â— or if their causes and diffeâ—rences be not decided by their Governours according to their minds To these there are many Officers and Sergeants belonging All which to be known carry slaves in their hands like to Bandâ—eâ— the crooked end uppermost which none but they dare carry The sight of which slaves upon what message soever they be sent signifies as much as the Adigars Hand and Seal If the Adigar be ignorant in what belongâ— to his place and office these men do instruct him what and how to do The like is in all other places which the King bestows if they know not what belongs to their places there are Inferiour Officers under them that do teach and direct them how to Act. Next under the Adigars are the Dissauva's who are Governours over Provinces and Counties of the Land Each Province and County has its Governour but all Governours are not Dissauva's nor other great Officers known by other names of Titles as Râ—terautâ— and â—â—â—anies â— But all these Generals or Chief Commanders who have a certain number of Soldiers under them These great men are to provide that good orders be kept in the Countries over which they are placed and that the Kings accustomed dutie be brought in due season to the Count. They have Power also to decide controversies between the People of their Iurisdiction and to punish contentions and disorderly personsâ— which they do chiefly by amercing a Fine from them which is for their Proâ—fit for it is there own and also by committing them Prison Into which when they are once fallen no means without mony can get them out again But be the â—acâ— never so hainous Murther it â—ell they can put none to death The sentence of death being pronounced only by the King They also are sent upon expeditions in War with their Soldiers and give Attendance and watch at Court in their appointed Stations These Dissauva's are also to see that the Soldiers in their Countries do come in due season and order for that purpose They are appointed by the King himself not for life but during his good pleasure And when they are dead or removed oftentimes their places lay void somtimes for months somtimes peâ—haps for yearsâ— during which time the Adigar rules and governs those Countries and for his labour receiveth all such Incoms and Profits as are accustomed and of right do belong to the Governour The King when he advances any to be Dissauva's or to any other great Office regards not their ability or sufficiency to perform the same only they must be persons of good rank and gentile extracâ—ion and they are all naturally discreet and very solid and so the siâ—ter for the Kings employment When he firsâ— promotes them he shews them great testimonies of his Love and â—avour especially to those that are Christians in whose service he imposeth greater confidence than in his own people concluding that they will make more conâ—â—â—ence of their ways and be more â—aithful in their Office and giveâ— them a Sword the hilâ— all carved and inlaid with Silver and Brass very handsomly the Scabberd also covered with Silver a Knife and Hâ—lbeâ—d and lastly a Town or Towns for their maintenance The benefit of which iâ— that all the Profitâ— which before the King received from those Townsâ— now accrues unâ—o the Kings Officer These Towns are composed of all And in the discharge of this his Office
is full time now that we relate what course of life the People take and what means they use for a livelihood This has been in part already related As for Commerce and Merchandize with Foreign Nations there is little or nothing of that now exercised Indeed in the times when the Portugueze were on this Island and Peace between them and the King he permitted his People to go and Trade with them The which he would never permit them to do with the Hollander tho they have much sought â—or it They have a small Traffic among themselves occasioned from the Nature of the Island For that which one part of the Countrey aâ—â—ords will not grow in the other But in one part or other of this Land they have enough to sustain themselves I think without the help of Commodities brought from any other Countrey exchanging one Commodity for another and carrying what they have to other parts to supply themselves with what they want But Husbandry is the great Employment of the Countrey which is spoken of at large before In this the best men labour Nor is it held any disgrace for Men of the greatest Quality to do any work either at home or in the Field if it be for themselves but to work for hire with them is reckoned for a great shame and very few are here to be â—ound that will work so But he that goes under the Notion of a Gentleman may dispence with all works except carrying that he must get a man to do when there is occasion For carrying is accounted the most Slave-like work of all Under their Husbandry it may not be amiss to relate how they geld their Cattel They let them be two or three years old before they go about this work then casting them and tying their Legs together they bruise their Cods with two sticks tied together at one end nipping them with the other and beating them with Mallets all to pieces Then they rub over their Cods with fresh Butter and Soot and so turn them loose but not suffer them to lye down all that day By this way they are secured from breeding Maggots And I never knew any die upon this Whensoever they have occasion to use Glew they make it aâ—ter this fashion They take the Curd of milk and strain the water from it through a cloth Then tying it up in a cloth like a Pudding they put it into boyling water and let it boyl a good while Which done it will be hard like Cheese-curd then mixing it with Lime use it If it be not for present use they will roul up these Curds into a Ball which becomes hard and as they have occasion will scrape some of it off with a Knife and so temper it with Lime This Lime with them is as soft as Butter Their Manufactures are few some Callicoes not so fine as good strong Cloth for their own use all manner of Iron Tools for Smiths and Carpenters and Husbandmen all sorts of earthen ware to boil stew fry and fetch water in Goldsmith's work Painter's work carved work making Steel and good Guns and the like But their Art in ordering the Iron-Stone and making Iron may deserve to be a little insisted on For the Countrey affords plenty of Iron which they make of Stones that are in several places of the Land they lay not very deep in the ground it may be about four or five or six â—oot deep First They take these Stones and lay them in an heap and burn them with wood which makes them more soft and fitter for the Furnace When they have so done they have a kind of Furnace made with a white sort of Clay wherein they put a quantity of Charcoal and then these Stones on them and on the top more Charcoal There is a back to the Furnace like as there is to a Smith's Forge behind which the man stands that blows the use of which back is to keep the heat of the fire from him Behind the Furnace they have two logs of Wood placed fast in the ground hollow at the top like two pots Upon the mouths of these two pieces of hollow wood they tie a piece of a Deers Skin on each pot a piece with a small hole as big as a man's finger in each skin In the middle of each skin a little beside the holes are two strings tied â—ast to as many sticks stuck in the ground like a Spring bending like a bow This pulls the skin upwards The man that blows stand with his feet one on each pot covering each hole with the soles of his feet And as he treads on one pot and presseth the skin down he takes his foot off the other which presently by the help of the Spring riseth and the doing so alternately conveys a great quantity of wind thro the Pipes into the Furnace For there are also two Pipes made of hollow reed let in to the sides of the Pots that are to conduct the wind like the nose of a Bellows into the Furnace For the ease of the Blower there is a strap that is fastned to two posts and comes round behind him on which he leans his back and he has a slick laid cross-ways before him on which he lays both his hands and so he blows with greater ease As the Stones are thus burning the dross that is in them melts and runs out at the bottom where there is a slanting hole made for the purpose so big as the lump of Iron may pass thro out of this hole I say runs out the dross like streams of fire and the Iron remains behind Which when it is purified as they think enough so that there comes no more dross away they drive this lump of Iron thro the same sloping hole Then they give it a chop with an Ax half thro and so sling it into the water They so chop it that it may be seen that it is good Iron for the Satisfaction of those that are minded to buy For a â—arewel of their labours let it not be unacceptable to relate here a piece of their Housewifry and tell you how they make Butter First They boil the Milk then they turn it into a Curd the next morning they skim off the Cream and drill it in an earthen Vessel with a stick having a cross at the bottom of it somewhat like a Chocolate stick When the Butter is come they put it in a pan and fry it to get all the water dry out of it and so put it into an earthen pot for use There are no Markets on the Island Some few Shops they have in the Cities which sell Cloth Rice Salt Tobacco Limes Druggs Fruits Swords Steel Brass Copper c. As to the Prices of Commodities they are sold after this rate Rice in the City where it is dearest is aâ—ter six quarts for fourpence half-peny English or a small Tango or half a Tango six
to reside in The Countrey being hot and their Houses dark and dirty my Father chose an open House having only a Roof but no Walls Wherein they placed a Cot or Bedstead only with a Mat upon it for him which in their Account is an extraordinary Lodging and for me a Mat upon the Ground Moneys at that time were very low with us For although we wanted not for opportunity to send for what we would have brought unto unto us from the Ship yet fearing we should be plundered of it sent not for any thing only a Pillow for my Father For we held it a point without dispute that they that made Prisoners of our Bodies would not spare to take our Goods my Father also alledging that he had rather his Children at home should enjoy them But to make amends for that we had our Provisions brought us without money and that twice a Day so much as we could eat and as good as their Countrey yielded to wit a Pot of good Rice and three Dishes of such things as with them is accounted good Cheer one always either Flesh Fish or Eggs but not over much of this Dish the other Dishes Herbs Pumkins or such like one of which is always made sower The first year that we were brought into this Town this part of the Land was extraordinary Sickly by Agues and Feavours whereof many People dyed insomuch that many times we were forced to remain an hungry there being none well enough either to boil or bring Victuals unto us We had with us a Practice of Piety and Mr. Rogers seven Treatises called the Practice of Christianity With which companions we did frequently discourse and in the cool of the Evening walk abroad in the Fields for a refreshing tyred with being all day in our House or Prison This Course lasted until God was pleased to visit us both with the Countrey Sickness Ague and Feavour The sight of my Fathers misery was farmore grievous unto me than the sence of my own that I must be a Spectator of his Affliction and not any ways able to help him And the sight of me so far augmented his grief that he would often say What have I done when I charged you to come ashore to me again your dutifulness to me hath brought you to be a Captive I am old and cannot long hold out but you may live to see many days of Sorrow if the mercy of God do not prevent it But my prayers to God for you shall not be wanting that for this cause he would visit you with his Mercy and bestow on you a Blessing My Father's Ague lasted not long but deep grief daily more and more increased upon him which so over-whelmed even his very heart that with many a bitter sigh he used to utter these words These many years even from my youth have I used the Seas in which time the Lord God hath deliverâ—d me from a multitude of Dangers rehearsing to me what great Dangers he had been in in the Straits by the Turks and by other Enemies and also in many other places too large here to insert and always how merciful God was to him in delivering him out of them all So that he never knew what it was to be in the hand of an Enemy But now in his old Age when his head was grown grey to be a Captive to the Heathen and to leave his Bones in the Eastern Parts of the World when it was his hopes and intention if God permitted him to finish this Voyage to spend and end the residue of his days at home with his Children in his Native Countrey and to settle me in the Ship in his stead the thoughts of these things did even break his heart Upwards of three Months my Father lay in this manner upon his Bed having only under him a Mat and the Carpet he sat upon in the Boat when he came ashore and a small Quilt I had to cover him withall And I had only a Mat upon the Ground and a Pillow to lay on and nothing to cover me but the Cloths on my back but when I was cold or that my Ague came upon me I used to make a Fire Wood costing nothing but the fetching We had a black Boy my Father brought from Porto Nova to attend upon him who seeing his Master to be a Prisoner in the hands of the People of his own Complexion would not now obey his Command further than what agreed unto his own humour neither was it then as we thought in our Power to compel or make him but it was our ignorance As for me my Ague now came to a settled course that is once in three days and so continued for Sixteen Months time There appearing now to us no probability whereupon to build any hopes of Liberty the sence of it struck my Father into such an Agony and strong Passion of Grief that once I well remember in Nine days time nothing came into his mouth but cold water neither did he in three Months together ever rise up out of his Bed but when the course of Nature required it always groaning and sighing in a most piteous manner which for me to hear and see come from my dear Father my self also in the same Condition did almost break my heart But then I felt that Doctrine most true which I had read out of Mr. Roger's Book That God is most sweet when the world is most bitter In this manner my Father lay until the Ninth of February 16 60 61. By which time he was consumed to an Anatomy having nothing left but Skin to cover his Bones yet he often would say That the very sound of Liberty would so revive him that it would put strength into his Limbs But it was not the will of him to whom we say Thy will be done to have it so The evening before his Death he called me to come near his Bed side and to sit down by him at which time also I had a strong Feavor upon me This done he told me That he sensibly felt his life departing from him and was assured that this Night God would deliver him out of this Captivity and that he never thought in all his life-Life-time that Death could be so easie and welcom to any Man as God had made it to be to him and the joyes he now felt in himself he wanted utterance to express to me He told me These were the last words that ever he should speak to me and bid me well regard and be sure to remember them and tell them to my Brother and Sister if it pleased God as he hoped it would to bring us together in England where I should find all things settled to my contentation relating to me after what manner he had settled his Estate by Letters which he sent from Cotiar In the first place and above all He charged me to serve God and with
to the rest of our Country-men and see how they do They reckoning themselves in for their Lives in order to their future settlement were generally disposed to Marry Concerning which we have had many and sundry disputes among our selves as particularly concerning the lawfulness of matching with Heathens and Idolaters and whether the Chingulays Marriages were any better than living in Whoredome there being no Christian Priests to join them together and it being allowed by their Laws to change their Wives and take others as often as they pleased But these caâ—es we solved for our own advantage after this manner That we were but Flesh and Blood and that it is said It is better to Marry than to burn and that as far as we could see we were cut off from all Marriages any where else even for our Life time and therefore that we must marry with these or with none at all And when the People in Scripture were forbidden to take Wives of Strangers it was then when they might intermarry with their own People and so no necessity lay upon them And that when they could not there are examples in the Old Testament upon Record that they took Wives of the Daughters of the Lands wherein they dwelt These reasons being urged there was none among us that could object ought against them especially if those that were minded to marry Women here did take them for their Wives during their lives as some of them say they do and most of the Women they marry are such as do profess themselves to be Christians As for mine own part however lawful these Marriages might be yet I judged it far more convenient for me to abstain and that it more redounded to my good having always a reviving hope in me that my God had not forsaken me but according to his gracious promise to the Iews in the xxx Chapter of Deuteronomy and the beginning would turn my Captivity and bring me into the Land of my Fathers These and such like meditations together with my Prayers to God kept me from that unequal Yoke of Unbeleivers which several of my Countrey men and fellow Prisoners put themselves under By this time our People having plyed their Business hard had almost knit themselves out of work and now Caps were become a very dead Commodity which was the chief stay they had heretofore to trust to So that now most of them betook themselves to other employments some to Husbandry Plowing Ground and sowing Rice and keeping Cattle others stilled Rack to sell others went about the Countrey a Trading For that which one part of the Land affords is a good Commodity to carry to another that wants it And thus with the help of a little allowance they make a shift to to subsist Most of their Wives spin Cotton yarn which is a great help to them for cloathing and at spare times also knit After this manner by the blessing of God our Nation hath lived and still doth in as good fashion as any other People or Nation whatsoever that are Strangers here or as any of the Natives themselves only the Grandees and Courtiers excepted This I speak to the Praise and Glory of our God who loves the Stranger in giving him Food and Raiment and that hath been pleased to give us Favour and a good Repute in the sight of our Enemies We cannot complain for want of justice in any wrongs we have sustained by the People or that our cause hath been discountenanced but rather we have been favoured above the Natives themselves One of our men happened to be beaten by his Neighbour At which we were all very much concerned taking it as a reproach to our Nation and fearing it might embolden others to do the like by the rest of us Therefore with joint consent we all concluded to go to the Court to complain and to desire satisfaction from the Adigar Which we did Upon this the man who had beat the English man was summoned in to appear before him Who seeing so many of us there and fearing the cause will go very hard with him to make the Iudg his friend gave him a bribe He having received it would have shifted off the Punishment of the Malefactor But we day after day followed him from house to Court and from place to place where-ever he went demanding Iustice and Satisfaction for the wrong we received shewing the black and blew blows upon the English mans shoulders to all the rest of the Noble men at Court He fearing therefore lest the King might be made acquainted herewith was forced tho much against his will to clap the Chingulay in Chains In which condition after he got him he released him not till besides the former fee he had given him another Lately was Richard Varnham taken into the Kings service and held as Honourable an employment as ever any Christian had in my time being Commander of Nine Hundred and Seventy Soldiers and â—et over all the great Guns and besides this several Towns were under him A place of no less Profit than Honour The King gave him an excellent Silver Sword and Halberd the like to which the King never gave to any White man in my time But he had the good luck to die a natural Death For had not that prevented in all probability he should have followed the two English men that served him spoken of before Some years since some of our Nation took up Arms under the King Which happened upon this occasion The Hollanders had a small Fort in the Kings Countrey called Bibligom Fort. This the King minded to take and demolish sent his Army to beseige it But being pretty strong for there were about Ninety Dutch men in it besides a good number of Black Soldiers and four Guns on each point one being in this condition it held out Some of the great men informed the King of several Dutch runnaways in his Land that might be trusted not daring to turn again for fear of the Gallows who might help to reduce the Fort. And that also there were white men of other Nations that had Wives and Children from whom they would not run and these might do him good service Unto this advice the King inclined Whereupon the King made a Declaration to invite the forrain Nations into his Service against Bibligom Fort that he would compel none but such as were willing of their own free accord the King would take it kindly and they should be well rewarded Now thâ—re entred into the Kings Service upon this Expedition some of all Nations both Portugueze Dutch and English about the number oâ— Thirty To all that took Arms he gave to the value of Twenty shillings in money and three pieces of Callico for Cloaths and commanded them to wear Breeches Hats and Doublets a great honour there The King intended a Dutch-man who had been an old Servant to him to be Captain over them all But the Portugueze
my refuge was Prayer to God whose hand was not shortned that it could not save and would make all things work together for good to them that trust in him From him only did I expect help and deliverance in this time of need In this manner I lodged in an English mans house that dwelt in the City about ten days maintaining my self at my own charge waiting with a sorrowful heart and daily expecting to hear my Doom In the mean time my Countrey men and Acquaintance some of them blamed me for refusing so fair a Profer whereby I might not only have lived well my self but also have been helpful unto my Pooâ— Country-men and friends others of them pittying me expecting as I did nothing but a wrathful sentence from so cruel a Tyrant iâ— God did not prevent And Richard Varnham who was at this time a great man about the King was not a little scared to see me run the hazard of what might ensue rather than be Partaker with him in the felicities of the Court. It being chargable thus to lye at the City and hearing nothing more of my business I took leave without asking and went home to my House which was but a Days distance to get some Victuals to carry with me and to return again But soon after I came home I was sent for again So I took my load of Victuals with me and arrived at the City but went not to the Court but to my former Lodging where I staid as formerly until I had spent all my Provisions and by the good hand of my God upon me I never heard any more of that matter Neither came I any more into the Presence of the Great-men at Court but dwelt in my own Plantation upon what God provided for me by my Labour and Industry For now I returned to my former course of life dressing my Victuals daily with mine own hands fetching both Wood and Water upon mine own back And this for ought I could see to the contrary I was like to continue for my life time This I could do for the Present but I began to consider how helpless I should be if it should please God I should live till I grew old and feeble So I entred upon a Consultation with my self for the providing against this One way was the getting of me a Wife but that I was resolved never to do Then I began to enquire for some poor body to live with me to dress my Victuals for me that I might live at a little more ease but could not find any to my mind Whereupon I considered that there was no better way than to take one of my poor Country-mens Children whom I might bring up to learn both my own Language and Religion And this might be not only Charity to the Child but a kindness to my self also afterwards And several there were that would be glad so to be eased of their charge having more than they could well maintain a Child therefore I took by whose aptness ingenuity and company as I was much delighted at present so aâ—terwards I hoped to be served It was now about the year M DCL XXIII Altho I had now lived many years in this Land and God be praised I wanted for nothing the Land afforded yet could I not forget my native Countrey England and lamented under the Famine of Gods Word and Sacraments the want whereof I found greater than all earthly wants and my dayly and fervent Prayers to God were in his good time to restore me to the enjoyment of them I and my Companion were still meditating upon our escape and the means to compass it Which our pedling about the Countrey did greatly forward and promote For speaking well the Language and going with our Commodities from place to place we used often to entertain discourse with the Countrey people viz. concerning the ways and the Countreys and where there were most and fewest inhabitants and where and how the Watches laid from one Countrey to another and what Commodities were proper to carry from one part to the other pretending we would from time to time go from one place to another to furnish our selves with ware that the respective places afforded None doubted but we had made these inquiries for the sake of our Trade but our selves had other designs in them Neither was there the least suspition of us for these our questions all supposing I would never run away and leave such an estate as in their accounts and esteem I had By diligent inquiry I had come to understand that the easiest and most probable way to make an escape was by travailing to the Northward that part of the Land being least inhabited Therefore we furnished our selves with such wares as were vendible in those parts as Tobacco Pepper Garlick Combs all sorts of Iron Ware c. and being laden with these things we two set forth bending our course towards the Northern Parts of the Island knowing very little of the way and the ways of this Countrey generally are intricate and difficult here being no great High-ways that run thro the Land but a multitude of little Paths some from one Town to another some into the Fields and some into the Woods where they sow their Corn and the whole Countrey covered with Woods that a man cannot see any thing but just before him And that which makes them most difficult of all is that the ways shift and alter new ways often made and old ways stopped up For they cut down Woods and sow the ground and having got one Crop off from it they leave it and Wood soon grows over it again and in case a Road went thro those Woods they stop it and contrive another way neither do they regard tho it goes two or three miles about and to ask and inquire the way for us white men is very dangerous it occasioning the People to suspect us And the Chingulays themselves never Travail in Countreys where they are not experienced in the ways without a guide it being so difficult And there was no getting a guide to conduct us down to the Sea But we made a shift to travail from Cande Vda downwards towards the North from Town to Town happening at a place at last which I knew before having been brought up formerly from Cooswat that way to descend the Hill called Bocaul where there is no Watch but in time of great disturbance Thus by the Providence of God we passed all difficulties until we came into the County of Neurecalava which are the lowest parts that belong to this King and some three days journey from the place whence we came We were not a little glad that we were gotten so far onwards in our way but yet at this time we could go no farther for our ware was all sold and we could pretend no more excuses and also we had been out so long that it might cause our Towns-men to