This Herb
Produces Berries, Resembling White Gooseberries, But Entirely Tasteless.
No One Knows How This Herb Grows, As There Is
No ground or land about
the place where it is found floating on the water, neither can it be
supposed
To come from the bottom, as the sea is very deep, and is in
many places quite unfathomable. This sea-weed begins to be seen in the
lat. of 34 deg. N. where it is so thick that it seems as if islands, but is
not to be met with in any other part of the ocean.
The Cape de Verd islands, when first discovered by the Portuguese in
1572, were all desert and uninhabited, but they now inhabit several of
them. They are ten in number, St Jago, St Lucia, St Vincent, St Antonio,
St Nicolas, Ilha Blanca, Ilha de Sal, Ilha de Maio, Ilha de Fogo, and
Bonavista. They now afford plenty of rice, flour, Tartarian wheat,
oranges, lemons, citrons, bananas, ananas or pine-apples, ignames,
batatas, melons, cucumbers, pompions, garden and wild figs, and several
other sorts of fruits. They have vineyards also, which produce ripe
grapes twice a year; and have abundance of cattle, both great and small,
but especially goats. The capital city is St Jago, in the island of that
name, in which resides the governor who commands over all these islands
under the King of Portugal. It is also the residence of an archbishop,
whose see extends over all these islands, and over all the conquests of
the Portuguese on this side of the Cape of Good Hope. These islands
afford good convenience for ships on long voyages procuring a supply of
fresh water. On the east side of Maio there is a little river, and as
the island is uninhabited, there is nobody to hinder one from taking it:
There is also water to be had on St Antonio, where also good
refreshments may be had, of oranges, lemons, and other fruits; and the
Portuguese on this island are so few in number, that they cannot prevent
one from taking what they please.
May the 29th having an observation, Clipperton found his latitude to be
52 deg. 15' S. being then off Cape Virgin Mary, the northern point at the
eastern entrance into the straits of Magellan, distant from Fuego, one
of the Cape de Verd islands, 1580 leagues, the meridional distance being
36 deg. 4' W.[236] Next day they entered the straits. Proceeding onwards to
Queen Elizabeth's island, the pinnace was sent off to a fresh-water
river on the main, which was found frozen up. They saw large flocks of
geese and ducks at this place, but they were very shy. By some accident
the surgeon's mate was left ashore at this place by the boat, and when
brought on board next morning he was almost dead with the cold. They
remained some time at Queen Elizabeth's island, which is dry and mostly
barren, yet they found plenty of sallad herbs, which were of infinite
service, the crew being much afflicted by the scurvy. The principal herb
was smallage of extraordinary size, which they eat raw, or boiled in
their broth, and of which they brought away a considerable quantity of
juice in bottles. On the 14th June, the empty water casks were sent
ashore to be filled, and the carpenters went to look out for a proper
piece of timber for a mizen-mast. They found abundance of wild fowl and
shell fish on shore, which were most welcome to all the company, as they
found their appetites to increase, while the necessity compelled the
enforcement of short allowance. They anchored on the 22d in a fine bay,
which they named No-bottom Bay, because of its great depth of water.
The trees here are lofty, and so loaded with snow as to be a most
astonishing sight. On the 29th there came to them a canoe in which were
two men, a woman, and a boy. These were of middle stature, with dark
complexions, broad, round faces, and low features, with low foreheads,
lank short black hair, and no clothing except a piece of skin to cover
their middles. The most extraordinary circumstance about them, was a
fine streak round their wrists of an azure colour. They seem to be very
jealous of their women, as they would on no account permit the woman who
was along with them to come on board. Clipperton ordered them bread and
cheese, and a dram of brandy, which last they refused to take, but they
eat the bread and cheese voraciously. They had a fire in the middle of
their canoe, which was made of the bark of trees sewed together, and
they brought with them some wild geese and ducks, which they exchanged
for knives. They had bows and arrows, together with some fishing tackle,
and went away after two hours stay, making signs that they would return.
[Footnote 236: The meridional distance between these two stations is 49 deg.
25' W. Mayo being in long. 28 deg. 15', and Cape Virgin Mary in long. 72 deg.
40' both W. from Greenwich. - E.]
Next day the pinnace went ashore, and returned in the evening with the
Indian canoe filled with large muscles, which our people bought from the
Indians, for knives, bread, and other trifles. In the beginning of July
the weather was very moderate. Clipperton found the savages in these
straits by no means so mischievous as they are usually represented, of
which they had two remarkable instances: As, on one occasion, one of the
crew was on shore two nights and a day, and was well used by the
natives; and, on another occasion, one of the natives being left
accidentally all night in the ship, the natives came for him next day
without fear; so that, if well treated, they do not seem to be
treacherous. In another canoe which came to the ship there were several
women, each having a necklace of five or six rows of small shining
shells, very nicely strung, resembling mother-of-pearl.
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