In The Morning Of The 16th, They Sailed In Between The Two Low Islands,
And Anchored In A Safe Place In Nine Fathoms.
They landed that day on
the smaller island, where they burnt some huts of the natives, and
brought away as many cocoa-nuts as gave three to each man of the
company.
The barbarous natives became now more tractable; as on the 17th
they came to make their peace-offerings of cocoas, bananas, ginger, and
certain yellow roots [turmeric] used instead of saffron. They even
trusted the Dutch so far as to come on board, when peace was entirely
restored, and their hearts won by a few nails and beads. They continued
bartering on the 18th, for cocoas and bananas, procuring fifty nuts and
two bunches of bananas for each man of the company, with a smaller
quantity of cassava and papade. These cassavas and papades are East
India commodities, the former being also to be had particularly good in
the West Indies, and far preferable to what they got here. The people
make all their bread of this substance, baking it in large round cakes.
This smaller island, which is the more easterly, the natives named
Mosa; the other over against it they call Jusan, and the farthest
off Arimea, which, is very high, and about five or six leagues from
the coast of New Guinea.[129] These places had probably been visited
before by Europeans, as they had among them some Spanish pots and jars.
They were not nearly so much surprised at the report of the great guns
as the others had been, neither were they so curious in looking at the
ship.
[Footnote 129: These names are not to be found in our modern general
maps, though certainly infinitely better for all the uses of geography
than the absurd appellations so much in use among voyagers. - E.]
On the 21st at noon, sailing along the land as before N.W. they were in
lat. 1 deg. 13' S. The current drove them to a cluster of islands, where
they anchored in thirteen fathoms, and were detained all day of the 22d
by storms of thunder and rain. Setting sail in the morning of the 23d,
six large canoes overtook them, bringing dried fish, cocoas, bananas,
tobacco, and a small sort of fruit resembling plums. Some Indians also
from another island brought provisions to barter, and some vessels of
China porcelain. Like other Savages, they were excessively fond of beads
and iron; but they were remarkably distinguished from the natives in the
last islands, by their larger size, and more orange-coloured
complexions. Their arms were bows and arrows, and they wore glass
earrings of several colours, by which latter circumstance it appeared
that they had been previously visited by other Europeans, and
consequently that this was not to be considered as a discovery.
The 24th, steering N.W. and W.N.W. and being in lat. 0 deg. 30' S. they
sailed along a very pleasant island, which they named Schouten's Island,
after their master,[130] and called its western point Cape of Good Hope.
The 25th they passed an extensive tract of uneven land on their larboard
hand, stretching from E.S.E. to W.N.W. The 26th they saw three other
islands, the coast stretching N.W. by W. The 27th they were in lat.
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