We Were In Muster Giants, With Great Armed Bodies; But
In Action Babes With Wrens' Hearts.
Mr Tomkins and I undertook to order
these fellows, according to that excellent way which we had seen in your
lordship's most honourable actions.
Some consented to go with us, though
unwillingly; but most of them ran to the pottage pot, swearing it was
dinner time. We went all on board this night, except our great mastiff
dog, which we could not induce to follow us, for I think he was ashamed
of our cowardly behaviour. The land here is of an excellent soil, and
the climate is quite healthy; the soil being full of good herbs, as
mints, calamint, plantain, ribwort, trefoil, scabious, and such like. We
set sail from Saldanha bay on the 27th of December, and doubled the Cape
of Good Hope on the last day of the year.
The 6th of January, 1599, we doubled Cape Aguillas, the most southern
point of Africa, in lat. 35 deg. S. [34 deg. 45'] where the compass has no
variation.[35] The 6th of February we fell in with Madagascar, short of
St Romano, [or Cape St Mary, at its southern end;] and not being able to
double it, we bore room with [bore away to leeward for] the bay of St
Augustine on the south-west side of that island, in lat. 23 deg. 50' S. [23 deg.
30'.] The 3d of March we anchored in that bay, where we saw many people
on the shore, but they all fled when we landed; for when, our baas was
in this bay on the former voyage, he greatly abused the people, and
having taken one of them, he had him tied to a post and shot to death,
having besides used them otherwise most shamefully. After seven days, we
enticed some of them to come to us, from whom we bought some milk and
one cow; but they soon left us, and would not have any more connexion
with us. They are a strong well-shaped people, of a coal-black colour,
having a sweet and pleasing language. Their weapons are spears or half
pikes, headed with iron, which they keep very clear; and they go quite
naked. The soil appeared very fertile, and we saw a vast number of
tamarind trees. We found another high tree producing beans very good to
eat, in pods two feet long, and the beans of a proportional size. We saw
here many cameleons. We English suffered no small misery, especially in
this bay: but God, the ever living commander, was our only succour.
[Footnote 35: This, it must be noticed, was in the year 1599. The
variation alters progressively, increasing to a maximum in one
deflexion; it then retrogrades till it points true north, which it
progressively overpasses in the opposite deflexion to a maximum again.
But these changes do not proceed with sufficient regularity to admit of
being predicted with any certainty. - E.]
This 8th of March we came on board hungry and meatless, and on the 14th
we set sail from this place, which we called Hungry bay, shaping our
coarse to the northward along the west side of the island.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 41 of 424
Words from 20961 to 21497
of 221842
