At This Time
Another Bark, Or Double Canoe Like The Former, Came Up To Them, Having A
Small Loose Single Canoe In Her, To Put Out Upon Occasion.
She sailed so
fast that few Dutch ships could have outstripped her.
She was steered
behind by two oars, one in each canoe, and when they have a mind to
tack they use oars forwards. Sending their boat to sound at one of these
islands, ground was found a cannon-shot from the shore, in twelve,
fourteen, and fifteen fathoms, but shelvy. The savages in the bark made
signs as if directing them to the other island, but they anchored at the
former in twenty-five fathoms on a sandy bottom, a cannon-shot from
shore.
This island, in lat. 16 deg. 10' S. is one entire mountain, looking like one
of the Molucca islands, and all covered with cocoa-nut trees, for which
reason they named it Cocoa island.[116] The other island is much lower
than this, but longer, and stretches east and west. While at anchor off
Cocoa island there came three ships,[117] and nine or ten canoes about
them, having three or four men in each. Some of these holding out white
flags in token of peace, the Dutch did so likewise. The canoes were flat
before and sharp behind, hewed each out of one piece of a red kind of
wood, and sailed very swiftly. On coming near the Unity, some of the
savages leapt into the sea and swam to the ship, having their hands full
of cocoa-nuts and ubes-roots,[118] which they bartered for nails and
beads, giving four or five cocoa-nuts for a nail or a small string of
beads, so that the Dutch that day procured 180 cocoa-nuts. This traffic
brought so many of the natives on board, that the Dutch could hardly
stir about the ship.
[Footnote 116: Cocas, or Boscawen island, is in 16 deg. 32' S. and long.
169 deg. 35' W. The other island mentioned in the text, Traitors, or Keppel
island, is a few leagues S.S.W. from Cocos. - E.]
[Footnote 117: These ships must have been large double canoes. - E.]
[Footnote 118: These ubes-roots were perhaps the same that are called
eddoes by modern navigators among the South Sea islands. - E.]
The boat was now sent to the other island to see for a more convenient
place in which to anchor; but she was presently beset by a vast number
of canoes filled with a mad sort of people, armed with clubs, who
boarded the boat and attacked the Dutchmen. On firing their muskets, the
savages laughed at them for making so much noise and doing so little
hurt; but, on the next discharge, one of them being shot through the
breast, they learnt to pay more respect to the muskets, and to keep
their due distance for the future. The savages were lusty,
well-proportioned men, and most expert swimmers, but naked and thievish,
and very fantastical in the fashion of their hair, some having it
short, others long, some curled, and others plaited or folded up in
various forms.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 144 of 431
Words from 74816 to 75346
of 224764
