Chapter M (14)

Two days after, the Governor, who happened to be a Spaniard, came to a point of land near the ship, and sent a letter written in Spanish, French, and Dutch, demanding in the name of the King his Master, who we were, whither we were bound, and from whence we came? Our answer was written in French, that we were employed by some gentlemen in France upon the discovery of the unknown parts of the world. On the return of the messenger, the Governor sent a letter of invitation to the Captain to come on shore, with which he instantly complied, and was received under a triple discharge of cannon from the fort, which was answered by the same number of guns from the ship. They soon came to a good understanding. Our Captain made an apology for killing some of the Indians in his own defence; and the Governor gave for answer, that, if he had killed them all, he should have esteemed the favour the greater. We were afterwards told, that the Indians on the small island were in rebellion.

On Wednesday, about 12 o’clock, a Spanish Captain came on board, and continued with us till 12 the next day. He brought as a present from the Governor 10 hogs, a large quantity of potatoes, plantains, oranges, papas, and red pepper; in return for which our Commander sent the Governor a diamond-ring, and presented the Officer with a rich sword.

The next day the Governor sent on board a captain, a jesuit, and a friar, with a request to our Commander to spare him some powder, of which he was in want. This request was readily complied with; we sent him four barrels, and offered him four great guns. The first he thankfully received, and sent a box in which were 1600 pieces of eight in gold and silver for the Captain to pay himself for the powder; but the guns he politely declined accepting. Our Captain returned the box with the money untouched, and afterwards received from the Governor a valuable present.

While mutual civilities were passing between the Governor and our Captain, our people went out every day chasing the Indians, whom they had full license to kill and destroy wherever they met with them; but they, finding us not to be Spaniards, became very tractable, and offered to assist in supplying us with fish and fruit, which they exchanged with us for old nails and old iron. After having tarried here sometime, and a free intercourse had been established between the Indians on shore and our people on board the ship, the Indians made signs for as many of our men as chose it, to come and see them haul the seine. Our men, not suspecting any design, manned the boat, and went to look at them; but, while the men were amusing themselves with the sport, the Indians had very artfully brought their seine round the boat, with a design to draw it on shore, and thereby entangle both boat and crew; but the sailors, discovering the plot, gave the Indians no time to carry it into execution; for, being provided with fire-arms, which they never went ashore without, they fired amongst the thickest of them, killed a great many, and drove the rest away.

These Indians are large in stature, some of them being seven feet and a half high; they go stark-naked; never bury their dead, but let them lie in the sun to rot. They have no arms but slings and lances; the sharp ends of the latter are pointed with dead mens bones, which, being cut like scoops, and jagged at the edges like unto saws, if a man happens to be wounded by them, and is not cured in nine days, he certainly dies. Our people took four of these treacherous savages prisoners, bound them, and brought them on board; but they had not been long among us, before three of them leapt into the sea, and with their hands tied behind them swam away like fishes. However, we sent the boat after them, and found that a strong man at the first blow could not penetrate their skins with a cutlass. One of them, in my judgment, had received 40 bullets in his body before he died; and the last of the three that was killed, swam a good English mile, not only with his hands tied behind him, but with his arms pinioned, before he expired.

The Spanish Governor’s kindness increased in proportion to the mischief done to the Indians. He sent us, the succeeding day, by one of his captains, thirty hogs, some melons, pumpkins, potatoes, fruits, and rice; and received in return six small patararoes.

Having now new rigged our ship, and supplied ourselves with wood and water, we began to prepare for our departure. On the first of April, we weighed anchor, and next day came a-breast of the fort, which we saluted with three guns, and were complimented with the same number; and on the 3d the Governor sent his last present to our Captain. On the 4th we set sail, and steered W. by S. till we arrived at the height of St. Bartholomew, when we shaped our course W. N. W. till we came into the latitude of 20 deg. 30 min. N. where we fell in with a cluster of islands lying to the north of Luconia, distant from Guam 560 leagues. They seemed to be uninhabited; but the men who went ashore in the boat, found abundance of nutmegs on one of them, and saw some goats.

From these islands we steered S. W. for the island of Luconia, and on the 26th of April Cape Bajadore bore from us east; after which we came up with Cape Mindato, where the S. W. monsoon overtaking us, we were obliged to bear away for Canton, in China, where we lay and refitted our ship, and where we might have laden ourselves with plunder from thirteen Tartar ships, who came thither full of the richest goods of China: but our men, being under no government, refused to attack them; saying, They came for gold and silver, not to be made pedlars to carry packs. But, alas! had reason prevailed, we might have all made our fortunes, without injuring any prince or subject in christendom; for these goods the Tartars had taken from the Chinese about two years before, and had stored them at Macao, an island near Canton, to be taken away when they judged it convenient.

From Canton we sailed for Manilla, to wait for the Tartar ship that annually goes thither, and which, we were informed, was laden one half with silver; but, though we were fortunate enough to come in sight of her, yet she out-sailed us, and escaped. We then bore away for an island that lies to the north of Luconia, intending there to stay till the wind came fair to carry us to Bantam, not then knowing that Bantam had been taken from the English by the Dutch.

At this island we stored ourselves with fruit, goats, and guanos; which last are here good meat: and here we found an Indian who directed us to an island, where there was plenty of great cattle; but the wind soon coming fair, we made sail to the southward, steering our course S. S. W. till we came into lat. 10 deg. N. where we were so entangled among the islands of Paragoa, that none of us ever expected to escape with life. After three days, however, we very providentially got clear; and stood in for an island at the north end of Borneo, where we hauled our ship ashore, and erected a tent, planting a battery of ten guns for our defence, in case of an attack from the natives. Here we unloaded our ship, and, having provided sufficiently for our security, we ranged the country for natives to trade with us; but they, having never seen any white men before, were very shy; and when, by chance, our men fell in with one of their canoes that was full of women, (among whom was the queen of the country and her retinue) on the approach of our ship’s boat, they all leapt over-board; but, after taking them up, and treating them kindly, they laid aside their fears, and grew familiar; and, upon our offering them civility, instead of avoiding, they soon became fond of us. They brought us fish in great plenty, with oranges, lemons, mangoes, plantains, and pine-apples; and, besides these, we exchanged some trifles for bezoar, musk, and civet, with which the island is well stored.

The year was now drawing to a close, when we set sail from this little island, directing our course for Timor, where, finding the ship’s company begin to grow mutinous, and not under command of their Captain, myself, Mr. Hill, and eighteen more, joined our forces together, and purchased a large boat, in which we sailed to the island of Java, distant from Timor 300 leagues. The wind being contrary to carry us to Batavia, we bore away for Cheribon, a factory belonging to the Dutch, lying eastward of Batavia, where we were kindly received by the Governor. There we heard that King Charles was dead, and that his brother James was proclaimed king; we heard also that Bantam had been taken from the English; and that the Dutch had erected a new factory in that island.

After refreshing at Cheribon, we agreed to divide our twenty men into three parties; two of which chose to sail for the bay of Bengal, and the third to stay with me; but knowing that Batavia was the Hollander’s magazine for India, we proposed first to sail thither, and there to provide for ourselves as well as we could. Being all arrived, we were courteously received by the General; and I, with Mr. Hill and another friend, who were all my party, were promised our passage to Europe in their East-India fleet. About this time the General was sending four or five ships of war, with soldiers, to procure satisfaction from the King of the island for an outrage that had been committed on a party of Hollanders, who, to the number of 80, had been slaughtered by the Javanese. These ships, it seems, were originally designed against Sillebar, an English settlement on the west coast of Sumatra; but this act of hostility happening to intervene, it had diverted their purpose, and saved the factory for this time. There were now in Batavia twenty of us, who, on hearing this news, would willingly have repaired to Sillebar; but the Dutch would by no means permit us, though we had bought a sloop for that purpose. When we were just ready to sail, the General ordered our sloop to be seized; and when we remonstrated against this incivility, they produced an old law, by which the subjects of the republic in India are forbidden to sell any vessel to any foreigner; and they even went so far as to imprison those who had transgressed it. To us, indeed, they gave the prime cost of the sloop, but paid us nothing for fitting her up.

This project failing, Mr. Hill, another friend, and I, embarked on board the _Solida_ Indiaman, bound to Holland; and, as we were putting out of the road, we saw our ship Captain John Eaton coming in; however, we held our course; but, finding the wind unfavourable, we turned down to Bantam to take in provisions, and from thence steered to Prince’s Island, where we lay for a fair wind three weeks. About the end of March, we set sail from thence, with the wind at N. W. and shaped our course to the Cape of Good Hope. On the 11th of May, after a pleasant passage, we made the land called Point Primicra, bearing from us N. W. distant 12 leagues. We had the wind at N. E. being distant from the cape 560 miles, the land trending away S. W. by W. The fish which came about the ship near the island of Mona, the 30th of March, left us now, when we judged ourselves in latitude 32 deg. 47 min. S. From the 15th of May to the 29th we had sailed only 96 miles; but observing next day, we found by our latitude that we had a very strong current, that had driven our ship to the southward 34 miles farther than we judged ourselves to be; for we thought we had been in the latitude of 33 deg. 41 min. S. whereas we found ourselves in lat. 34 deg. 15 min. S. our course having been S. W. 40 miles. I argued the reason with the chief mate of the ship, and he told me it once happened in this place, that they lay a-trie with three main-sails, and the wind at W. S. W. three days; and when they took their observation, they found the ship driven to windward 200 English miles; and likewise in lat. 36 deg. 37 min. they say, they often find the like.

From hence to the 27th nothing remarkable happened; but on that day we had the wind very furious, blowing a storm from W. S. W. We lay a-trie with our main-sails, and found we were in lat. 30 deg. 2 min. S. coming in with the land; and now the current went to the eastward, and we began to fear lest we should lose our passage by the cape. Our Captain, who had long been sick, was now judged to be past recovery, and in the middle of the night died: this occasioned a great deal of confusion; and, to add to our difficulties, our water began to fail, and we were reduced to a pint a day per man. Next day we heaved our Dutch Captain’s corpse overboard, when a council-of-war was called, wherein it was resolved, that Captain Tominall, Commander of the Critsman, should command the Solida, and that Captain Tominall’s chief-mate should command the Critsman. The pilot also of the Solida, whose name was Houdin, was ordered on board the Critsman; but he refused to go, and the men assembled tumultuously, and declared, they would not part with him. The Lord Van Heldine was in a great rage with the steersman; but the crew were resolute, and he was obliged to yield.

On the 1st of June we again came in sight of land. It appeared like a round hill flat at top, and bore from us N. N. E. with a smaller hill to the eastward of it. Next day we were before the harbour of the cape, with the wind at north, and fine fair weather. On the 3d, at night, we came to an anchor in the bay before the castle, in nine fathom water. Three days before we lost sight of the Critsman in the hard gale; but this day we saw a sail at sea, and concluded that it must be the Critsman. Here we heard, that the Francis Maria was lost, with 400 men on board; and here likewise we were told, that the King of England had taken the Duke of Monmouth, and that he was beheaded. Another piece of news we learned was, that a Portuguese carrack was cast away upon the reef, having on board four millions of guelders in gold, sent as a present from the King of Siam to the King of Portugal; and that four Dutch ships had likewise struck upon the same reef, but that they had fortunately escaped with very little damage.

This day four of the natives came down to the city, dancing naked, and offering their wives to the Hollanders for little bits of tobacco. They were the filthiest men I ever saw. Next day my two friends and I walked about the town, in which are about 100 houses, built very low to save them from the boisterous gales of wind that blow here in the months of December, January, and February: but the Dutch have here a strong castle, with 80 guns well mounted, and a spacious garden with pleasant walks, and planted with almost every kind of fruit, flowers, and herbs. This is the greatest rarity that we saw at the cape. We walked, moreover, without the town to the village inhabited by the Hodmandods (so called by the Hollanders), who are the natives of the country. These people are said to be born white, but make themselves black by anointing their bodies, and exposing their infants to the sun and smoke. Their houses, or huts, are built round, like the cabbins in Ireland of the wild Irish, with the fire-place in the middle, round which they all lie in common, covered only with the skins of some beast, and without any other bed than the ashes of the wood on which they dress their meat. They eat any thing that is foul, and will gather from the dunghills the offal that is thrown out by the Dutch to feed their dogs. Their men are not at all jealous of foreigners; but will beat their wives unmercifully for lying with their neighbours. When the women marry, they cut off a joint of the middle-finger; and if the husband dies, and the widow marries again, she cuts off another joint; and so many men as they marry, so many joints of their fingers they lose. They are supposed to worship the moon, because at the full and change they assemble in great numbers, dancing and rejoicing when she shines, but howling and lamenting when they are deprived of her light.

It happened while we were at the cape, that one of the Hodmandods drank himself dead at the fort; of which his countrymen getting intelligence, they assembled about him, and with oil and milk endeavoured to recover him; but, finding all their efforts vain, and that they could perceive no spark of life remaining, they began to make preparations for his funeral, which they performed in the following manner. They first brought knives, and shaved him from head to foot; then, digging a hole in the ground, they carefully placed him in a sitting posture, with his body and head erect, and his legs and thighs stretched out horizontally, and pressed down streight; this being performed, they propt him up in this attitude with stones and then came a company of their women to howl over him, who accompanied their lamentations with a hideous shrieking, as if death appeared before them in the shape of a monster, and was ready to devour them. After their time of mourning was over, they filled up the hole with earth, and covered it over with the green turf.

During the time of our stay at the cape, our people were chiefly employed in cleansing and scouring the ship, in fishing her masts, and in fitting and trimming her rigging. We also took in wood and water, supplied ourselves with fresh provisions; and, on the 15th of June, when the wind came fair, we were ready to sail.

We were now three ships in company, the Solida and Critsman, who came together from Batavia, and the Emeland who came from Bengal. On Tuesday the 16th, we pursued our course to the N. W. and N. W. by W. till Tuesday the 29th, without any material incident intervening. We had no observation; but I judged we were in lat. 19 deg. 54 min. S. This day it was that I spoke with an Englishman on board the Emeland, that had been some time in the Dutch service, who told me, that they came out in company with two English ships, one named the Resolution, the other the Defence, with both of whom they had parted in a storm on the coast of Coromandel; that the Resolution was leaky, and that there were little hopes of her crew’s being able to keep her above water. He told me likewise, that there were several Englishmen in the King of Siam’s service; that the English East-India Company was but little regarded by the Moors; but that the interlopers were very much encouraged; and that one Mr. Deane, being their Chief, lived in great splendor, never going out without 70 or 80 Moors to attend him.

We had, moreover, this day great feasting on board us, the Commanders of the other ships being invited to an entertainment. But while the men were loading the guns to pay the usual salute, they were alarmed by a strange voice from the sea, crying out, _Come help, come help, a man over-board!_ on which they forthwith brought the ship to, thinking to take him up; but they neither saw, nor heard any more of him. Enquiry was then made through all the ships, if any of them had lost a man; but upon the strictest examination, it appeared that every ship had her proper complement; so that they concluded it was the spirit of some man that had been drowned in that latitude by accident.

On the 11th of July another very wonderful incident very much astonished our company. When we left Batavia we took a she-goat on board, which had then two young kids about three weeks old. This creature was observed to grow bigger every day; and all that our people could conjecture was, that it proceeded from the unwholesomness of the water that made her swell; but, to the astonishment of all of us, she now brought forth four young ones, although no male had been on board.

On the 4th of July we threw one man overboard who died the night before, though no one knew of his being ill. He was an old Dane, who, having no body on board to take care of his effects, those who first perceived he was dead fell to rummaging his chest, to secure to themselves what he had saved; but, as in like cases, they could not agree about dividing the plunder, the matter came to the knowledge of the Captain, who made the thieves give up all they had stolen, which he took under his own care for the benefit of his family.

On the 12th of July we came up with the Island of Ascension, and next day took a new departure from thence. On the 20th we found we were in lat. 15 deg. N. And now a council-of-war was called upon our Captain. His accusation was, that he had formed a conspiracy with five men more, to murder a person of quality and his lady, with some other passengers on board, and that, when the murders were accomplished, they were to seize upon their riches, and run away with the ship. The purser was the chief accuser; but, upon examination, the whole charge seemed so improbable, and the man who broached the story denying upon the trial what he had confidently affirmed before to the purser, the Captain was honourably acquitted, and the villain punished.

Wednesday the 22d, we made out in longitude from the cape 11 deg. 56 min. judging ourselves to be in long. 355 deg. 56 min. And no wit was that I cut the same Line which I did when I departed from Virginia in the year 1683, having encompassed the globe; and cannot but note, that I have been farther southward than any man that I ever heard or read of before me in this voyage, having, as I have already said, reached as far as lat. 60 deg. 30 min. S. and so it happened, that, being bound to go north about Scotland to make Holland, I passed about 60 deg. north, though I mention this as no extraordinary thing.

We met with no extraordinary occurrence till the 2d of August, when our Captain, after three days illness, died of a pain in his bowels. His chief steersman was made Commander in his room; but, though his cause was warmly espoused by the men on a former occasion, yet it was not till after much opposition that they acquiesced in his present advancement.

On the 5th of September, about 10 at night, we had a violent storm, and we had like to have been on board the Critsman; and, by endeavouring to avoid it, had well-nigh overset our own ship.

On Sunday the 19th, when the weather began to clear up, I saw land, as did also two men more. I supposed it to be the island of Shetland; but our Captain would not believe it; however, about six in the evening, the Critsman’s people saw land also, and let go the flag, which nettled our Captain, who blamed his own incredulity.

We came up with the Isle of Farley by the 22d, steered on, and on the 25th had the wind all round the compass. About this time we came up with a Scotch ship, who steered so that we ran her on board on her quarter; and, had we not slackened sail, should certainly have sunk her. Two passengers leapt into our ship to save their lives; but they happened to be more afraid than hurt. The ship was called the Lion of Leith; and the crew told us, that the Turks lay at Plymouth and Dartmouth, where they had victualled and careened, and from whence they had occasionally slipt out, and had taken 100 sail of Hollanders, and among them a Dutch frigate of 36 guns, which gave occasion to many hard speeches against the English nation; though we found afterwards that the whole was an idle story, framed only to amuse the Dutchmen, and to flatter their humour by belying the English.

On sailing next day with the wind at E. S. E. we found ourselves in latitude 53 deg. 35 min. N. and I judged us to be on the West-bank. At the same time we came up with two ships, one a Dane, the other an Englishman from London, with whom I sent my quadrant, and with whom myself and my two friends would willingly have gone, if our Dutch lord would have given us leave; but he told us, he could not answer the letting us go, to his Masters the States-General.

On Tuesday the 28th, we came before the Maes, with the wind at E. N. E. When it was day we saw the Brill Church, and came to an anchor in 10 fathom water. On the 30th we got bread and beer on board. Next day we entered the harbour at Helvoetsluys, after we had been seven months in our passage from Batavia. Three days after our arrival, one of my two mates died, and I made no great stay here but went to Rotterdam, where I found the Anne yacht. In her I came passenger for England, and, through the infinite mercy of God, arrived at London, October 12 following.

Of Cowley’s history, as we can know nothing but from this relation of his voyage, so it is not easy either to form a judgment of his capacity or of his acquirements. He seems to have been an excellent navigator, as we do not find, in the whole course of his pursuits, either that he was ever at a loss in finding the ports he sought, or that the ships of which he had the direction were ever in danger of being cast away. The nature of his employment in a subordinate station, led him rather to a habit of obedience than of opposition; and therefore his quitting the ship in which it was his choice to sail, is more to be wondered at, than that he should steal away from his company at Batavia with only two friends. Perhaps his conduct on this occasion might be owing to principle; for of the enormities committed by the buccaneers, with whom he was engaged, Cowley must be acquitted, because he was drawn into their service by stratagem; and a strong proof of his honesty is, his embracing the first fair opportunity of deserting them.

We know there are writers, and those of no mean credit, who have taken pains to justify the practices of the buccaneers, and who have attributed to their discoveries and to their exploits the advancement of the art of navigation, and the emolument of their country: but it neither appears to us, that their discoveries were of any consequence in a national sense, or that the riches they brought home were a counter-balance for the lives that were sacrificed in the acquisition.

Their discoveries were chiefly of lurking-places to which they were forced to retire to escape the pursuit of the enemy; and, as to the treasures they acquired, they were generally purchased with the lives of many brave men, who, had they been employed in honest commerce, would have gained profit to themselves and honour to their country.

It is not from the temporary excursions of a banditti that a nation can hope to become rich; nor is it by a hasty race round the world that the art of navigation is to be improved. The improvements of art are slow in their progress; and the acquisition of national wealth can only be obtained by a steady perseverance in industry and commerce. It is, therefore, the true interest of every commercial nation to discountenance plunderers, and to applaud those only who are employed in cultivating the arts of peace.

*** Though the following relations may seem foreign to our design of
giving an account only of the discoveries of our English navigators,
yet we have judged them too curious to be here omitted.

_Extract from a_ Dutch _Relation of_ ROGGEWEIGN’_s_ _Discovery of_
Easter Island.

“Upon the 6th day of April, being in lat. 27 deg. S. and long. 268 deg. we discovered an island, hitherto unknown to any European; for which reason, according to the usual custom on the first discovery of any unknown land, we christened it by the name of EASTER ISLAND, it being the anniversary of our Saviour’s Resurrection on that very day that we arrived there. As soon as the anchors were ready to drop, we observed at a distance a neat boat, of a very remarkable construction, the whole patched together out of pieces of wood, which could hardly make up the largeness of half a foot. This boat was managed by a single man, a giant of twelve feet high, who exerted all his strength to escape us, but in vain, because he was surrounded and taken. His body was painted with a dark-brown colour. We tried with such signs and words as are used here and there among the islands in the South Sea, to get some intelligence from him, but could not perceive that he understood any thing, wherefore we permitted him to go into his boat again and depart. Two days afterwards the whole sea was covered with the savage inhabitants of this island, who came swimming round the ship in such multitudes, that we neither could, nor did we think it adviseable to land. They clambered like cats up the ship’s sides with the utmost assurance, and came aboard, where they did not appear to be in the least afraid of us, but they seemed very much surprized at the largeness and extent of our ships and rigging, and could not conceive the meaning of all that they saw; but their curiosity was chiefly engaged by the great guns, which they could not enough admire, and which they frequently struck their hands upon, to try if they could not lift them up, and carry them off; but when they saw that such logs by such an attempt were too heavy for them, and could not be moved, these overgrown fellows stood abashed, and were, in appearance, very much out of humour. They no sooner came aboard, than we immediately found that they were naturally as thievish and nimble-fingered as the inhabitants of those islands to which voyagers have affixed the name of the Islands of Thieves, from the great propensity of the people to rob and steal, if they were not beaten from it. Rusty nails, old iron, and whatever they could catch or lay hold on, was equal to them, with which they jumped overboard immediately. They attempted with their nails to scratch the bolts out of the ship, but these were too fast for them. These huge fellows came at last aboard in such numbers, that we were hardly capable to keep them in order, or keep a watchful eye upon their motions, and the quickness of their hands; so that fearing they would become too many for us, we used our best endeavours to get rid of them in a friendly way; but they not seeming inclinable to leave us, we were obliged to use harsher methods, and drive these savages out of the ships by force.

“On the 10th of April we made for the island in our boats, well armed, in order to land, and take a view of this country, where an innumerable company of savages stood on the sea side to guard the shore, and obstruct our landing; they threatened us mightily by their gestures, and shewed an inclination to await us, and turn us out of their country; but as soon as we, through necessity, gave them a discharge of our muskets, and here and there brought one of them to the ground, they lost their courage. They made the most surprizing motions and gestures in the world, and viewed their fallen companions with the utmost astonishment, wondering at the wounds which the bullets had made in their bodies; whereupon they hastily fled with a dreadful howling, dragging the dead bodies along with them; so the shore was cleared, and we landed in safety.

“These people do not go naked, as many other savages do; every person is cloathed in different colours of cotton and worsted, curiously woven, or stitched; but nothing misbecomes them more than their ears, which are abominably long, and in most of them hang upon the shoulders; so that, though they themselves look upon this as the greatest ornament, they appeared very uncouth to us, who were not accustomed to such; the more so, as there were in them such extravagantly large holes and openings, that we could easily put our hands through them.

“Thus far my narrative will gain credit, because it contains nothing uncommon, yet I must declare, that all these savages are of a more than gigantic size, for the men are twice as tall and thick as the largest of our people; they measured, one with another, the height of twelve feet, so that we could easily, (who will not wonder at it!) without stooping, have passed betwixt the legs of these sons of Goliah. According to their height, so is their thickness, and are all, one with another, very well proportioned, so that each could have passed for a Hercules; but none of their wives came up to the height of the men, being commonly not above ten or eleven feet. The men had their bodies painted with a red or dark brown, and the women with a scarlet colour.

“I doubt not but most people who read this voyage will give no credit to what I now relate, and that this account of the height of these giants will probably pass with them for a mere fable or fiction; but this I declare, I have put down nothing but the real truth, and that this people, upon the nicest inspection, were in fact of such a surpassing height as I have here described.

“After the inhabitants of Easter Island had made trial of the strength of our weapons, as we have before related, they began to use us in a more civil manner, and brought us from their huts all kinds of vegetables, sugar canes, with yams, plantains, and a great quantity of fowls, which came very a-propos, and tended to refresh us greatly.

“What I have seen of the worship and idols of these savages is very wonderful. Two stones, of a largeness almost beyond belief, served them for gods; the one was broad beyond measure, and lay upon the ground; upon this stood the other stone, which was of such extent and height that seven of our people with outstretched arms would hardly have been able to encircle it; so that it appeared to me, and all others, impossible that this stone could have been lifted up and placed upon the other by the inhabitants of these islands, how large and strong soever they might be; for, besides the thickness, it was fully as high as three men. About the top of this stone there was cut or carved the shape of a man’s head, adorned with a garland, which was set together in the manner of inlaid work, made of small stones, in a manner not very improper. The name of the largest idol was called Taurico, and the other Dago; at least these were the words they called to them by, and wherewith they worshipped them.

“These savages had great respect for the two idols Taurico and Dago, and approached them with great reverence, namely, with dancing, shouting, jumping, and clapping of hands, in the same manner as we read in holy writ, that the children of Israel worshipped the golden-calf which Aaron set up; and when the cannon (of which they seemed to be in great terror) were discharged, and the heavy shot sounded in their ears, they made surprizing and wonderful gestures and leaps, and pointed with their finger, first to our people, and then to their gods, whom they appeared to supplicate for help against us, and to call upon with a frightful shout, and howling of Dago! Dago!

“While we lay before this Easter Island, a heavy tempest surprized us, which pressed so much on the ships, that I had no thought but that they would drive from their anchors, and we with them come to a miserable end on this coast, which God prevented, the storm being at last appeased, without having done any damage to the ships.

“On the 12th of April, leaving this island, we put to sea again, and shaped our course to the westward.

“On the 20th of May we came into the latitude of 14 deg. 41 min. S. where we fell in with a great number of sunken rocks, rocks above water, and small islands, all entangled together; so that we were of opinion, they had been joined together in former times, and composed one solid piece of land, but separated from one another afterwards by a pressure of the waters. Among these an island appeared above the rest, the most stately and eminent, intersected by many rivers and springs of water, which therefore was christened Water Island by Schouten and Le Maire, who discovered it in 1616, on their voyage to the Terra Australis. In this labyrinth of islands and rocks, we had the woeful misfortune to lose one of our ships, the African Galley, which struck upon the rocks, and beat to pieces. It may be accounted, however, a happy circumstance, that all the people aboard were saved and brought off; and being divided among the two remaining ships, were a reinforcement to their crews. It was impossible for the ships to approach very near the land, where no anchoring ground was to be found. It is a low, sandy, and rocky island, being in the inland parts almost all drowned land; but upon the borders it is full of trees, among which neither palmetto or cocoa-nut trees were to be found; which I believe is the reason of its not being inhabited; nevertheless, five of our men who went ashore willingly remained on the island, and would not return again to the ships, being wearied out with the hardships they had already suffered, and fearing many more unforeseen disasters were still awaiting them. The loss of the above-mentioned ship would be a happy circumstance for them, since from the wreck, and what would be drove ashore, they might be supplied with arms, and all other necessaries.

“On the 25th of May we passed by the island of Flies, also discovered by the foresaid Schouten in his above-mentioned voyage. The inland parts of it are likewise full of salt-water, and it abounds in great plenty of wild green trees. It is inhabited by savages of a large stature, armed with bows and arrows. The island was very properly named, from the incredible quantity of nasty flies wherewith it is covered, which also come aboard, and fall so thick on the face, and other parts of the body, that one is at a loss to conceal himself from them, and every thing one eats or drinks is full of them; they put us to great trouble for two or three days, when these uninvited guests departed.

“On the 29th of May we passed among a number of rocks, and islands, from whence we sometimes saw a smoak ascend, a sign that they were inhabited; but we had no opportunity of going ashore. This day we found ourselves in lat. 15 deg. 17 min. S. and long. 224 deg.

“On the 1st of June, in 15 deg. 47 min. and long. 224 deg. we came in sight of an island hitherto unknown to, and unlooked for by, any European. Thither we went in our boats, in order to take a view of it, and to procure refreshments; when the inhabitants, who saw us approach from afar, came down upon the shore to make us return back, and to prevent our landing. They are people of an excellent shape, well proportioned, and comely in person; and what is surprizing, their skin is as _clear and white as that of a native of Holland_. They seemed to shew a resolution to stay for us; for, as soon as we came near, they jumped like madmen into the water to meet us, and pushed with great cruelty with their weapons, which consisted of spears and lances, whose points were armed with a very sharp wood as hard as iron: wherefore, being obliged to free ourselves, and preserve our lives from this hostile attack, we fired upon them with our muskets, which made these savage warriors immediately take to their heels, and obliged them to look out for a place of safety; for as soon as they had tasted the deadly effects of these weapons, they turned their backs upon us, and fled to a high steep rock, which they scrambled up like monkies, with incredible swiftness.

“From thence, being convinced of our superior force, they gave us to understand, that all hostilities should cease on their part, and they would treat with us as friends; and on our side we used every means to allure them to us, being in the utmost want of all manner of refreshments. Every thing succeeded according to our wishes; they brought us their commodities, consisting of cocoa-nuts, and a certain bitter herb of the taste of Dutch cresses, which is found here in great plenty. For these we gave them in exchange several trifles and trinkets; such as small looking-glasses, glass beads of all colours, combs, bells, and a number of such toys of little value, with which they were as well, and even better pleased, than we were with the cocoa-nuts and bitter herbs, which, however, were much more agreeable and useful to us in our present condition than gold and silver, as we thereby enjoyed a remarkable benefit and amazing relief against the scurvy, which had already brought us into a most deplorable situation.

“Although it appeared by these mutual exchanges that these savages were got into good understanding and friendship with us, we soon discovered that this was no more than a feigned reconciliation, serving only to deceive us and make us the more easily fall into their snares, with which villainous inclination almost all the inhabitants of the islands lying in those seas are infected; for as some of our people, ordered to view and make a further discovery of the country, were passing betwixt the rocks and cliffs, along a strait and narrow path, to see the form and condition of the place, they were met by an old grey-headed man, who, although he neither understood them or they him, endeavoured by many signs and motions to make them sensible that they were not in safety, and that it would be best for them to return back; he pointed to the road that brought them thither; and the better to make them understand the secret ambush and the approaching danger, he took up a stone from the ground and threw it down before him. How well soever our people ought to have understood from this, that those barbarians would attack them from the tops of the rocks with stones, yet they paid no regard to the signs and admonitions of the good old savage, but marched forward, trusting to their arms. They had not gone far before a dreadful shower of stones came pouring upon them from all quarters, when they least thought of it, in such large quantities and with such violence, that many of our people were thereby lamed and wounded, without being able to make resistance in defending themselves or driving the savages from above them, who had made their assault from too secure a place; so that our people were constrained to slacken their pace, contrary to their inclinations, and return back with their wounded heads, being very well pleased however that they had escaped so well.

“What further regards these villains and traitors, I have already observed that they are comely and well-proportioned in their persons, and wear as an ornament pearls of a large size in their ears. About their necks and bodies they wear, as a singular ornament, the shells of pearl oysters. As we received great benefit and relief from our sickness by means of the bitter herb which is found here in great plenty, and was given us by the savages in exchange for our toys, so this new-discovered island was by us christened by the name of the Verkwikking’s island.

“After this adventure with these roguish savages no delay was made there, but we got again under sail; and because the provisions lessened gradually from day to day, and the disorders, notwithstanding the relief from the bitter herbs, continued to increase, to the great grief of us all, it was resolved, in a council of the principal officers, to return home by the East-Indies. We then lay up to lat. 15 deg. 47 min. S. and according to our reckoning 224 deg. 18 min. long. being then about 1200 leagues from the coast of Peru.

“On the 12th of June we found ourselves in latitude 15 deg. 16 min. S. and longitude 205 deg. 8 min.

“On the 14th we discovered two islands, which we could not approach near enough to take a proper view of, by reason of the rough and stormy sea; but, on the other hand, we had this satisfaction, that the inhabitants came to take a view of us, and kept hovering about the ships in a number of boats of such neat and exquisite workmanship as is almost incredible that any thing of the kind should have been found among such savages, they being of such an artful construction, the furniture so pretty, and the form so neat, adorned with a number of the most curious carved figures, that it is impossible for the imagination to conceive any thing more elegant; and really their carved image work (which was the greatest ornament of these boats) was so exquisite, that I much doubt if there are many engravers in Europe capable of producing more curious workmanship. The people in these fine boats were armed with darts, and had their heads adorned with green leaves, and their bodies cloathed with reeds. This island got the name of Bowman’s island from a captain of that name. It was very pleasant and delightful to behold, fruitful, and surrounded with trees, among which the palmetto shewed itself.

“On the 15th we came in sight of an island about seven miles in length, lying in lat. 13 deg. 41 min. S. and 250 deg. long. Many of us felt a longing desire to touch at this island, in hopes of procuring some refreshment; but it was deferred, and we pursued our voyage without landing, in order to save time, because our miseries and inconveniences daily increased, and the disorders from many causes increased also.

“On the 18th of July we perceived many different islands, and among others New Zealand, computed to be in extent about 300 leagues, lying under 6 deg. of S. lat. and 166 deg. long.”

This relation is copied verbatim from Mr. Dalrymple’s valuable Collection of Spanish and Dutch Discoveries in the South Seas, as is likewise the following Relation of the Discovery of Davis’s Land; but neither the one nor the other of these discoveries have since been fully confirmed.

_An Account of the_ DISCOVERY _of the Land called_ DAVIS’S LAND.

“We went from Gallapagoes under the Line, for the southward; intending to touch nowhere till we came to the island of Juan Fernandez.

“In our way thither, about four o’clock in the morning, when we were in the latitude of 12 deg. 30 min. S. and about 150 leagues from the main of America, our ship and bark felt a terrible shock, which put our men into such a consternation, that they could hardly tell where they were, or what to think, but every one began to prepare for death. And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for granted the ship had struck upon a rock: but, when the amazement was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but found no ground; so that, after consultation, we concluded it must certainly be some earthquake. The suddenness of this shock made the guns of the ship leap in their carriages, and several of the men were shaken out of their hammocks. Captain Davis, who lay with his head over a gun, was thrown out of his cabin. The sea, which ordinarily looks green, seemed then of a whitish colour; and the water which we took up in our buckets for the ship’s use, we found to be a little mixed with sand. This at first made us think there was some spit of land; but when we had sounded, it confirmed our opinion of the earthquake. Some time after, we heard news, that at that very time there was an earthquake at Callao, which is the road for Lima, and that the sea ebbed so far from the shore, that on a sudden there was no water to be seen; and that after it had been away a considerable time, it returned in rolling mountains of water, which carried the ships in the road of Callao a league up into the country, overflowed the city of Callao, though it stood upon a hill, together with the fort, and drowned man and beast for 50 leagues along the shore, doing mischief even at Lima, though six miles within land from the town of Callao.

Having recovered our fright, we kept on to the southward. We steered S. and by E. half easterly, until we came to lat. of 27 deg. 20 min. S. when, about two hours before day, we fell in with a small, low, sandy island, and heard a great roaring noise, like that of the sea beating upon the shore, right-a-head of the ship: whereupon the sailors, fearing to fall foul upon the shore before day, desired the captain to put the ship about, and to stand off till day appeared; to which the captain gave his consent. So we plyed off till day, and then stood in again with the land; which proved to be a small flat island, without the guard of any rocks. We stood in within a quarter of a mile of the shore, and could see it plainly, for it was a clear morning, not foggy nor hazy. To the westward, about twelve leagues, by judgment, we saw a range of high land, which we took to be islands, for there were several partitions in the prospect. This land seemed to reach about fourteen or sixteen leagues in a range; and there came hence great flocks of fowls. I, and many more of our men, would have made this land, and have gone ashore at it, but the captain would not permit us. The small island bears from Copayapo almost due east 500 leagues, and from the Gallapagoes, under the Line, 600 leagues.

Dampier says, “Captain Davis told me lately, that after his departure from Ria Lexa, he went, after several traverses, to the Gallapagoes; and that standing thence southward for wind, to bring him about Terra del Fuego, in the latitude of 27 deg. S. about 500 leagues from Copayapo, on the coast of Chili, he saw a small sandy island just by him; and that they saw to the westward of it a long track of pretty high land, trending away to the N. W. out of sight.”

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Transcriber’s notes

New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.

The illustrations have been moved to appropriate paragraph breaks.

The original text used the long s. This has been changed to the regular s.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.