Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	continual_a	year_n	young_a	19	3	6.5003	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40503	A relation of a voyage made in the years 1695, 1696, 1697, on the coasts of Africa, Streights of Magellan, Brasil, Cayenna, and the Antilles, by a squadron of French men of war, under the command of M. de Gennes by the Sieur Froger ... ; illustrated with divers strange figures, drawn to the life.; Relation d'un voyage fait en 1695, 1696, & 1697, aux côtes d'Afrique, d'etroit de Magellan, Brezil, Cayenne, & Isles Antilles, par une escadre des vaisseaux du roi, commandée par m. de Gennes. English	Froger, François, b. 1676.	1698 (1698)	Wing F2233; ESTC R38897	67,625	174

Branch of a Tree with which they thrash them at Pleasure and this they repeat so often that they put them almost out of Condition to follow their Work But if it so happen that after this sort of Chastisement they relapse again into the same Fault they without any more ado cut off one of their Legs nay and sometimes hang them for an Example of Terrour unto others and tho' all this is bad enough yet the Spaniards and the English treat them still in a more cruel manner I knew one living in Martinico who being of a compassionate Nature could not find in his heart to cut off his Slave's Leg who had run away four or five times but to the end he might not again run the risque of losing him altogether he bethought himself of fastening a Chain to his Neck which trailing down backwards catches up his Leg behind as may be seen by the Cut And this in the space of two or three Years does so contract the Nerves that it will be impossible for this Slave to make use of his Leg. And thus without running the Hazard of this unhappy Wretch's Death and without doing him any Mischief he thereby deprived him of the means to make his Escape P 120 How y e Portuguese Whip their Slaves when they run away A Slave that has his leg cut off for running away An invention of a French Man in Marlinico On the 27th by break of Day as our Pilots allow'd us to be yet above sixty Leagues from the Shoar we observ'd the Water to be of a yellowish Colour and muddy and those of the Company who were so curious as to taste them told us they did not want much of being sweet and this made us believe that we were come to the Mouth of the famous River of the Amazons that is so rapid as to preserve the Sweetness of its Waters for near twenty Leagues within the Sea we ran upon the Coast till three in the Afternoon when we discovered a flat even and woody Coast where we anchored about six in the Evening and on the 28th and 29th we followed the said Coast at three or four Leagues distance from the Shoar and never found above five or six Fathom Water On the 30th about seven in the Morning we descry'd the Cape of Orange where we began to see the Foot of the Mountains About three in the Afternoon we doubled a great Rock called the Constable three Leagues out in the Sea and five from Cayenne we drew up at about half a Cannon shot 's distance and about six in the Evening came to an Anchor three Leagues to the North of Cayenne before five little Islands lying near to that place When next Day was come Monsieur de Gennes sent an Officer to complement the Governour and to desire him to send us a Pilot to conduct us to a sase Anchorage but our Arrival had already allarm'd the whole Island and they fired off their Cannon all Night long to give the Inhabitants Notice to come together and they would not trust to our Colours because the Dutch in their Passage to Surinam and Barbicha have often cast Anchor within a League of the Town under white Colours and as they had not been used to see four French Ships at one time they were apprehensive of some Design upon them Our Shallop could not return before next Day which happened to be the first of September the same being oblig'd to take a Course round the Island for avoiding the Currents which are very violent on that Coast but she brought a Pilot along tho' the Sea was so shallow that we were forced to tarry where we were till the Day following And then on the second and third we made as much use of the Tide as possibly we could in order to get in because there was so very little Water and that we could not make ready before it had half flowed But about four in the Evening we cast Anchor under the Cannon of the Town within Pistol-shot of Land there were two Merchants Ships already in Cayenne that had waited seven or eight Months for their Cargo besides another Vessel that came in the Day before us laden with Wine and Brandy As our Men had just about this time received a Month's Pay and that it was now a long time since they had met with so good an Opportunity they not only drank up the Ship 's whole Cargo in eight Days time but also all the Wine they had in the Island Cayenne is a French Island scituated on the Coast of Guiana four Degrees and forty five Minutes North Latitude and 332 Longitude it 's formed by the two Arms of a River and may be reckoned to be about eighteen Leagues in Circumference it stands high upon the Brink of the Sea and is so marshy in the middle that you cannot travel by Land from one end to the other the Fens of it are covered with a sort of large Trees called Mangles which above all other have the peculiar Quality of growing in Sea-Water these Trees are so thick and their Roots for the most part springing out of the Earth rise up and are so well interlaced one with another that in some places a Man may walk upon them above fifteen or twenty Leagues together without setting his Foot upon the Ground amongst them also divers Indians retire with their Canoes and there they make their Carbets The Town stands on the West-part of the Island and is very advantageously scituated Nature and Art having both equally contributed to the fortifying of it It 's of an irregular Hexagone-Figure has near sixty pieces of Cannon planted upon Batteries for the Security of it and on the Sea-side upon an Eminence there is a Fort built that commands every way The Garrison of the place consists of two Hundred Regular Troops but there are above four Hundred Inhabitants living either upon or round about the Island that upon the least Alarm are oblig'd to stand to their Arms. Monsieur de Feroles the Governour is a Person that has great Insight into the Affairs of a Colony the Power of distributing Justice is vested in him and he is much beloved by the Inhabitants The Jesuits have a Church in the Town and a Chappel at the other end of the Island for the Conveniency of those that live remote This Island was formerly very unhealthy as well for the continual Rains that fell there for nine Months in the Year as because the Ground was covered with Wood and withal very marshy Diseases were very rife amongst them and Infants usually died almost as soon as they were born but since the Island has been grubbed up they have begun to grow more healthy the Women have good Lyings-in and their Children are lusty The chief Commodity of the Country is Sugar and Rocou but they make no great Quantity because the Inhabitants want Slaves to work for them and that is the

a Shelf from whence it would have been very difficult to get off if we had not timely discover'd our Error by sounding Therefore we immediately chang'd our Course and lengthen'd the Coast bearing but little Sail. On the 11th Instant we discover'd another Cape very like the former and altho' we had scarce reason to doubt it to be that of the Virgins yet we could not be well satisfy'd till we found it by experience We tack'd about for some time till the Foggs were dispers'd and at Noon we enter'd the Straight where we cast Anchor at four a-clock in the Afternoon at the Entrance of the Bay of Possession with a favourable Wind and Current On the 12th at break of Day we prepar'd to set sail but there was so little Wind that we were not able to make three Leagues during the whole Day On the 13th at break of Day we set out again and made as much sail as the Tides wou'd permit us At four a-clock in the Afternoon we doubled the Cape Entrana and cast Anchor at the Entrance of the Bay of Boucaut We there saw several Whales and a great number of Porpoises all over white except their Head and Tail On the 14th we weigh'd Anchor and tack'd about till Noon when the Tide being contrary to us we were oblig'd to cast Anchor within two Leagues of the Land in the middle of Boucaut Bay The Coast is flat barren and destitute both of fresh Water and Wood. We there met with Snipes and many Flocks of Sea-Pies and some of our Mariners told us that a League up the Land they had seen Buffles and Goats There is also as everywhere throughout the Streights a prodigious quantity of Cockles and Muscles which are not at all inferiour to those of Charonne We found some the Shells of which were of an admirable Beauty and weigh'd half a pound On the 16th we weather'd Cape Gregory and at Noon cast Anchor within a small League of St. George's Island to which we could not come nearer by reason that we were becalm'd and the Tides began to run contrary This Island being about a League in Compass is high and barren yet we found there some Mushrooms many Sea-Pies and several Hutts of Savages abandon'd We also took some Penguins from which the Island derives its Name which was impos'd by the English by reason of a great quantity of this sort of Birds which they found therein They are somewhat larger than Geese have short Legs with Grey and very thick Feathers Their Wings are bare without any Feathers and serve only instead of Finns They live for the most part in the Water retire to Land to sleep and make Holes in the Ground like Foxes The most part of our Company spent the Night there to have the pleasure of viewing the Sea-Wolves These Animals climb up steep Rocks sit on their Tails like Monkeys and make a dreadful noise to call their Mates When they bring forth Young they carry them into the Woods supply them with Fish and tend them as carefully as an indulgent Mother does her Children On the 18th a blustering Wind arose which oblig'd us to stand in again for Boucaut-Bay where we cast Anchor in the Evening under shelter of Cape Gregory The Pink follow'd us and the other Vessels were not long in coming up On the 19th and 20th it was excessive cold and the Winds grew more boisterous We saw great Fires on the Island of Fuogo and the Savages seem'd to be desirous to converse with us but the Sea ran so high th●● we could not come near them On the 21th we set sail again doubled Cape Gregory and having cross'd St. George's Island along which we coasted with Plummet in hand we suddenly found our selves fallen upon the Point of a Shelf We cast Anchor to sound and continu'd our Course again an hour after At 5 a-Clock in the Evening we cast Anchor within six Leagues of St. George's Island in a Creek where the Coast arises delightfully and begins to be beset with Woods There are divers small Rivers where very good Water may be taken in and on the Banks of which we met with Salery Gooseberries Foxes Bustards Thrushes Ducks and Cormorants and abundance of other Sea-Fowl On the 22th and 23th the Winds were contrary P. 74 Mountaines Coverd with Snow dureing y e whole year the Hutts of y e Savages Peng●●●●s M. Vander Gucht Scul These Savages are robust and of a tall Stature their Complexion being of an Olive-Colour Their Hair is black long and cut above their Head in form of a Crown They usually paint their Faces Arms and several other parts of their Body with a white Tincture Notwithstanding the excessive Cold they always go naked except that their Shoulders are cover'd with the Skins of Sea-Dogs and Sea-Wolves They are destitute of Religion and free from all manner of Care They have no settled Habitation but rove up and down sometimes in one place sometimes in another Their Hutts are made only of a Semi-Circle of Branches which they set up and let one into another to shelter themselves from the Wind. These are the famous Patagons whom some Authors avouch to be eight or ten Foot high and of whom they tell so many strange Tales even making them swallow whole Pails full of Wine However they appear'd to us to be very sober and the tallest among them was not above six Foot high On the 25th we prepar'd to set Sail but had scarce pass'd Cape Froward when we found the Winds variable and contrary insomuch that not being able to cast Anchor we were oblig'd to pass the Cape in the Night The French Bay with the Mouth of the River Gennes in the Straight of Magellan Pag. 77 On the 3d. of March we put out to Sea with a favourable Gale but we had scarce doubl'd Cape Froward when the Winds veer'd after their usual manner with Blasts that came by Fits and fell foul on our Vessel when we were least aware of it We pass'd the Cape in the Night the Winds blew f●●h and we were oblig'd to stand in two Leagues above the French Bay which we were not able to make On the 5th we discover'd Famine-Bay so call'd because the Inhabitants of a new Colony of Spaniards were there miserably starv'd to death which Colony was settl'd by Philip II. King of Spain who endeavour'd by that means to hinder the Passage of Foreigners to the Southern Sea This Bay is large having a firm bottom so that 40 Ships may conveniently ride at Anchor therein There are spacious Plains round about which may be sown with divers sorts of Grains There is also great plenty of Game and 't is probable that the Spaniards might find more in those Parts if it were not destroy'd by the Savages On the 6th we weigh'd Anchor and doubl'd the Capes Froward and Holland where we felt as at other times very furious Blasts of Wind but the

Reason that Ships wait sometimes for near a Year's time for their lading Those Negro's which we had sent thither by the Ship called the Fertill were almost all dead before they got to the Place for being taken with a Calm they wanted both Water and Victuals But we having still about forty on board we sold them for five hundred Livres a Man The Commodities they have from France are Wine Brandy Meal and powdered Meats for Beefs are very rare to be found there besides they are not allowed to kill any of them without Leave as being desirous to let them multiply They carry Iron Tools and small Wares also thither for to traffick with the Indians Four or five Years since Money was very scarce amongst them but the Free-booters who returned from the Southern-Seas and the meanest of which had at least two or three thousand Crowns for his Share bought them Habitations here increased the Colony and thereby made Money current amongst them They drive a considerable Trade in Slaves dry'd Fish and Amacks with the Indians living upon the River of the Amazons and by this Commerce the Colony is very much enriched but the Portuguese who for some Years past have a mind to settle there have massacred in a most cruel manner those Persons who before went thither unmolested and in all manner of Security Monsieur de Feroles hath begun a Road which is to go by Land to this River and pretends he 'll drive the Portuguese from thence The same belongs to France and 't is our Interest to preserve it not only upon the account of our Traffick but also because there are Silver Mines there The Earth besides Sugar and Rocou produces Cotton and Indigo and is withal very fertil in Maes and Magniot besides those Fruits we have seen in Brasil we find growing here the Cassia Papaye Acajou-Apples the Vanilla Peet and several others As for the Papaye it 's a thick Fruit and tastes somewhat like a Cucumber it grows round the stem of a tall but tender Tree that has large Leaves and cleft as your Vine Leaves are the Tree it self is hollow and grows above fifteen Foot in one Year's time The Acajou-Apple is thick long and of a yellow-red has a sharp Taste and is usually eaten baked At the end of this Apple you have a little green Nut that tastes like a Filbert and in form resembles a Sheeps-kidney This Fruit grows upon a tall and round sort of a Tree like unto a Chesnut-tree whose Leaves are of the same Form and Colour as those of the Laurel The Wood of it is very fine and proper to make Houshold Furniture of and Pirogues of forty and fifty Foot long if a Line or such a thing be once spotted with the Juice of this Acajou-Apple it 's impossible to take away the Stain till the Season of the Fruit be entirely gone The Vanilla is a Plant that creeps up along other Trees in the same manner as Ivy does its Leaves being of a bright green Colour thick long strait and pointed at the ends About seven Years after it is planted it begins to hear a sort of Husks that are full of an oyly Matter and Seed that is smaller than that of Poppy which they make use of in that Country to give a good Scent to Tobacco and Liquors they have amongst them The Peet is an Herb that can be peeled in the same manner as Hemp with us and whose threads are stronger and finer than Silk the Use whereof it would have long since put out of doors if so be it would have been allowed to be transported to France Ebony of a different sort Letter-wood as they call it and that of Violet with several others are very common in that Country To say nothing of the Fish and Fowl that we find there in great abundance as we do also Tygers Deer Pigs little Porcupines Camelions those Beasts they call Agontills and Sapaions and divers sorts of Animals more As for the Agontill it 's a Creature of the same Bigness with an Hare of a reddish Colour like unto a Deer sharp Muzzle small Ears and short as well as very small Legs but the Sapaion is a kind of a little Monkey of a yellowish Colour having large Eyes a white Face and black Chin It 's of a low Stature but of a lively and caressing Nature The Camelion doth somewhat resemble those small Lizards that creep up our Walls whose Colour cannot be agreed on because they receive it from every thing they touch They have here also very large Serpents but not very venomous and some of them have been observed to have swallowed a whole Deer at a time As for Birds they have very curious Parrots in that Country that will quickly learn to speak from which the Indians pluck Feathers of divers Colours by the help of the Blood of certain creeping Animals with which they rub them They have also other Birds called Flamands Ocos Toucans and many sorts besides The first whereof viz. the Flamands are Sea-birds about the Bigness of an Hen which flie in Bands as Ducks or rather Cranes do and whose Feathers being of a scarlet Colour the Indians make unto themselves Crowns of them The Ocos are as big as the Indian Poultry black on the Back but white breasted with a short yellow Bill a fierce Gate and have small frizled Feathers standing up like a Cop upon their Heads And for the Toucan that is a Bird that hath both black red and yellow Feathers being very near as big as a Pidgeon whose Bill is almost as thick as his Body and of a very singular make as being all over nothing but black and white welts or streaks like Ebony and Ivory interlaid neither is his Tongue less admirable being nought but a plain Feather and that very streight We shall say nothing of several Birds who have nothing remarkable in them besides their Feathers and therefore we shall now proceed to a short Description of the Government of Cayenne which some by reason of the Bigness of it and its Scituation under the Equator have called Equinoxial France The Government of Cayenne contains about an hundred Leagues in length upon the Ocean wherewith it 's bounded both on the East and North as it has to the West the River Marony which separates the same from Surinam now in the hands of the States of Holland and to the South the Northern Boundary of the Amazons where the Portuguese have already built three Forts upon the Rivers of Paron and Macaba One may see by the Map made of this Government which I have taken Care to correct according to the Memoirs of Monsieur de Feroles for to send it to Court the Road that has been made in order to drive them from thence This Road begins at the River of Peira which falls into that of Paron and by which they can afterwards go down in Canoes Here also Observations may