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hand_n	call_v	great_a	king_n	4,654	5	3.5737	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36106	A new voyage round the world describing particularly the isthmus of America, several coasts and islands in the West Indies, the isles of Cape Verd, the passage by Terra del Fuego, the South Sea coasts of Chili, Peru and Mexico, the isle of Guam one of the Ladrones, Mindanao, and other Philippine and East-India islands near Cambodia, China, Formosa, Luconia, Celebes, &c., New Holland, Sumatra, Nicobar Isles, the Cape of Good Hope, and Santa Hellena : their soil, rivers, harbours, plants, fruits, animals, and inhabitants : their customs, religion, government, trade, &c. / by William Dampier ; illustrated with particular maps and draughts.	Dampier, William, 1652-1715.	1697 (1697)	Wing D161; Wing D165; ESTC R9942	710,236	1,112

Ladder The sides of it are 2 large Bamboes of about 10 or 12 foot long with several such rounds or sticks as Ladders have to keep the sides asunder but much shorter for the 2 side Bamboes are no farther asunder than to admit of a narrow room for the Neck and the 2 rounds in the middle are much at the same distance from each other on each side the Neck forming a little Square thro which the man looks as if he were carrying a Ladder on his Shoulders with his head through the rounds If either of these Yoke's were to be taken off in a short time as in 6 9 or 12 hours it would be no great matter but to wear one of them a month 2 3 or longer as I have been informed they sometimes do seems to be a very severe punishment Yet 't is some comfort to some that they have the Liberty to walk abroad where they will but others are both yoak'd and imprison'd and the Prisoners in publick Prisons are used worse than a man would use a Dog they being half starved and soundly beaten to boot They have a particular punishment for such as are suspected to fire Houses or who are thought to have occasioned the Fire through their neglect The master of the House where the Fire first breaks out will hardly clear himself from suspicion and the severity of the Law The punishment in this case is to sit in a Chair of 12 or 14 foot high bare-heade d3 whole days successively in the hot scorching Sun this Chair is set for his greater disgrace before the place where his House stood Other smaller Crimes are punished with blows which we call Bambooing The Criminal is laid flat on his belly on the ground with his britches pluckt down over his hams in which posture a lusty fellow bangs his bare britch with a split Bambo about 4 fingers broad and 5 foot long The number of his blows are more or less according to the nature of the crime or the pleasure of the Magistrate yet Money will buy favour of the Executioner who knows how to moderate his strokes for a fee before-hand Otherwise his blows usually fall so heavy that the poor offender may be lamed a month or two After a man has suffered any of these punishments he can never obtain any publick favour or employment They have no Courts of Judicature but any single Magistrate issues out his Warrants for the apprehending of Malefactors and upon taking them immediately tries them and as the Sentence is final and without appeal so 't is no sooner past but 't is executed also without more ado Their punishment in capital crimes is usually beheading The Criminal is carried immediately from the Magistrates house to his own for there is no common place of Execution but the Malefactor suffers near his own house or where the fact was committed There he is placed sitting on the ground with his body upright and his legs stretched out and the Executioner being provided with a large Curtane or Backsword and striking a full back-blow on the neck at one stroke he severs the head from the body the head commonly tumbling down into the owners lap and the trunk falling backward on the ground Theft is not thought worthy of Death but is punished with cutting off some member or part of a member according to the degree of the offence For sometimes only one joynt of a Finger is chopt off for other crimes a whole finger or more and for some the whole hand The Magistrates and other great men of this Kingdom are called Mandarins Most of them in office about the King are Eunuchs and not only gelded but also their members cut quite off quite flat to their Bellies These as I have been informed are all very learned men after their way especially in the Laws of the Country They rise gradually by their merit or favour from one degree to another as well they who are employ'd in Civil as in Military affairs and scarce place of trust or profit goes beside them No man is permitted to walk familiarly about the Kings Palace without the leave of the Eunuch Mandarins and for this reason having such free access to the King themselves and excluding whom they will they engross his favour This is taken so much to heart by some that through envy and discontent they often pine away as is commonly said even to death and I heard of such an one who was called Ungee Thuan Ding Ungee seems a title of honour among them He was a man of great Learning in the Laws extremely politick and mighty high spirited This man sought all the means imaginable to be preferred but could not for want of being an Eunuch He fretted to see his inferiours raised but plainly seeing that there was no rising without removing that objection he one day in a rage took up a sharp Knife and qualify'd himself effectually He had a Wife and 6 or 8 Children who were all in great fear of his life but he was not at all dismayed tho in that condition and the King advanced him He was living when I was there and was a great Mandarin He had the care of the Armory and Artillery being great Master of the King's Ordnance There was another Mandarin also one Vngee Hane who finding himself baffled by the Eunuchs was forced to make himself one to be upon the level with them This Gentleman it seems was Lord of a Village or two where both he and his Tenants were often plagued with the domineering Eunuchs and having born their malice for some time and seeing no end of it he agreed with an expert Gelder to castrate him for here are many in this Country who profess this Art and are so expert at it that they will undertake to cut a man of any Age for so many thousand Cash as the man is years old 'T is reported that they first put the Patient into a Sleep but how long they are curing him after the Operation is over I know not I heard of but 3 Mandarins of any grandeur in the Government who were not Eunuchs One was the Governor of the East Province whose Daughter was married to a Prince of the Royal Family The other two who were Governors of Cachao were also married men and had Children and one of these married the Kings Daughter All the Mandarins rule with absolute power and authority in their several precincts yet in great obedience to the King who is as absolute over them as they are over the Common people These Eunuch Mandarins especially live in great state Many of these have command of the Souldiery and have Guards attending them at their own Houses there being a certain number of Soldiers allowed to attend on each Mandarin according to his Quality They are generally covetous beyond measure and very malicious Some of them are Governors of Provinces but all are raised to places of trust and profit Once every year the Mandarins

China root Galingame Rhubarb Ginger c. Neither do I know whether any of these grow in this Country for they are mostly imported from their Neighbours tho as to the Ginger I think it grows there Here is also a sort of Fruit or Berry said to grow on small Bushes called by the Dutch Annise because its scent and taste is strong like that of the Anniseed This Commodity is only exported hence by the Dutch who carry it to Batavia and there distil it among their Arack to give it an Anniseed flavour This sort of Arack is not fit to make Punch with neither is it used that way but for want of plain Arack It is only used to take a Dram of by itself by the Dutch chiefly who instead of Brandy will swallow large Doses of it tho it be strong but 't is also much used and esteemed all over the East Indies There is one sort of Dying wood in this Country much like the Campeachy Log-wood tho whether the same or Wood of greater value I know not I have heard that 't is called Sappan Wood and that it comes from Siam It was smaller than what we usually cut in the Bay of Campeachy for the biggest stick that I saw here was no bigger than my Leg and most of it much smaller and crooked They have other sorts of Dyes but I can give no account of them They dye several colours here but I have been told they are not lasting They have many sorts of good tall Timber-trees in this Country fit for any sorts of building but by relation none very durable For Masting the Fir and Pone Trees are the best Here is much Wormseed but it grows not in this Kingdom It is brought from within the Land from the Kingdom of Boutan or from the Province of Yunam bordering on this Kingdom yet belonging to China From thence comes the Musk and Rhubarb and these 3 Commodities are said to be peculiar to Boutan and Yunam The Musk grows in the Cods of Goats The same Countries yield Gold also and supply this Country with it for whatever Gold Mines the Tonquinese are said to have in their own Mountains yet they don't work upon them With all these rich Commodities one would expect the people to be rich but the generality are very poor considering what a Trade is driven here For they have little or no Trade by Sea themselves except for eatables as Rice and Fish which is spent in the Country but the main Trade of the Country is maintained by the Chinese English Dutch and other Merchant Strangers who either reside here constantly or make their annual returns hither These export their Commodities and import such as are vendible here The Goods imported hither besides Silver are Salt-peter Sulphur English Broad-cloath Cloathrashes some Callicoes Pepper and other Spices Lead great Guns c. but of Guns the long Saker is most esteemed For these Commodities you receive Money or Goods according to contract but the Country is so very poor that as I formerly observed the Merchant commonly stays 3 or 4 months for his Goods after he has paid for them because the poor are not employ'd till Ships arrive in the Country and then they are set to work by the Money that is brought thither in them The King buys great Guns and some pieces of Broad cloath but his pay is so bad that Merchants care not to deal with him could they avoid it But the trading people by all accounts are honest and just that I heard a man say who had traded there ten years in which time he dealt for many thousands of pounds that he did not in all that time lose 10 l. by them all CHAP IV. Of the Government of Tonquin The 2 Kings Boua and Choua the Revolt of the Cochinchinese and Original of the present constitution at Tonquin Of the Boua's confinement and the Choua 's or ruling Kings Person and Government and the Treasure Elephants and Artillery Their manner of making Gunpowder Of the Soldiers their Arms Employment c. Of the Naval Force their fine Gallies and Management of them The Watch kept in their Towns their Justice and punishing of Debtors and Criminals of all sorts Of the Eunuch Mandarins their promotion and Dispositions Of their swearing upon a draught of Hens Blood and the Trial by bitter Waters in Guinea Of the Mandarins Entertainments The Chop sticks used at Meals and their kindness to Strangers THis Kingdom is an absolute Monarchy but of such a kind as is not in the world again for it has two Kings and each supreme in his particular way The one is called Boua the other Choua which last name I have been told signifies Master The Boua and his Ancestors were the sole Monarchs of Tonquin tho I know not whether as independent Soveraigns or as Tributaries to China of which they have been thought to have been a Frontier Province if not a Colony for there is a great affinity between them in their Language Religion and Customs These a Kings they have at present are not any way related in their Descent or Families nor could I learn how long their Government has continued in the present form but it appears to have been for some successions The occasion is variously reported but some give this account of it The Boua's or antient Kings of Tonquin were formerly Masters of Cochinchina and kept that Nation in subjection by an Army of Tonquinese constantly kept there under a General or Deputy who ruled them When Cochinchina threw off the Tonquinese Yoak the King had two great Generals one in Cochinchina and another in Tonquin itself These two Generals differing he who was in Cochinchina revolted from his Soveraign of Tonquin and by his power over the Army there made himself King of Cochinchina since which these two Nations have always been at Wars yet each Nation of late is rather on the defensive part than on the offensive But when the General who Commanded in Cochinchina had been thus successful in his revolt from under the Boua the Tonquinese General took the Courage to do so too and having gained the affections of his Army deprived the King his Master of all the Regal power and kept it with all the Revenues of the Crown in his own hands yet leaving the other the Title of King probably because of the great zeal the people had for that Family And thus the Kingdom came wholly into the power of this Tonquinese General and his Heirs who carry the Title of Choua the Boua's of the antient Family having only the shadow of that Authority they were formerly Masters of The Boua lives the life of a kind of a Prisoner of State within the old Palace with his Women and Children and diverts himself in Boats among his Fish-ponds within the Palace Walls but never stirs without those bounds He is held in great veneration by all the Tonquinese and seemingly by the Choua also who never offers any

privilege But of all the Merchants that trade to this City the Chinese are the most remarkable There are some of them live here all the year long but others only make annual Voyages hither from China These latter come hither some time in June about 10 or 12 sail and bring abundance of Rice and several other Commodities They take up Houses all by one another at the end of the Town next the Sea and that end of the City is call'd the China Camp because there they always quarter and bring their goods ashore thither to sell. In this Fleet come several Mechanicks viz. Carpenters Joyners Painters c. These set themselves immediately to work making of Chests Drawers Cabinets and all sorts of Chinese Toys which are no sooner finish'd in their Working houses but they are presently set up in Shops and at the Doors to sale So that for two months or ten weeks this place is like a Fair full of Shops stufft with all sort of vendible commodities and people resorting hither to buy and as their goods sell off so they contract themselves into less compass and make use of fewer Houses But as their business decreases their Gaming among themselves increases for a Chinese if he is not at work had as lieve be without Victuals as without Gaming and they are very dexterous at it If before their goods are all sold they can light of Chapmen to buy their Ships they will gladly sell them also at least some of them if any Merchant will buy for a Chinese is for selling every thing and they who are so happy as to get Chapmen for their own Ships will return as passengers with their Neighbours leaving their Camp as t is called poor and naked like other parts of the City till the next year They commonly go away about the latter end of September and never fail to return again at the Season and while they are here they are so much followed that there is but little business stirring for the Merchants of any other Nations all the discourse then being of going down to the China Camp Even the Europeans go thither for their diversion the English Dutch and Danes will go to drink their Hoc-ciu at some China Merchants House who sells it for they have no tippling Houses The European Seamen return thence into the City drunk enough but the Chinese are very sober themselves The Achinese seem not to be extraordinary good at Accounts as the Banians or Guzurats are They instruct their youth in the knowledge of Letters Malayan principally and I suppose in somewhat of Arabick being all Mahometans They are here as at Mindanao very superstitious in washing and cleansing themselves from defilements and for that reason they delight to live near the Rivers or Streams of water The River of Achin near the City is always full of People of both Sexes and all Ages Some come in purposely to wash themselves for the pleasure of being in the Water which they so much delight in that they can scarce leave the River without going first into it if they have any business brings them near Even the sick are brought to the River to wash I know not whether it is accounted good to wash in all distempers but I am certain from my own Experience it is good for those that have Flux especially Mornings and Evenings for which reason you shall then see the Rivers fullest and more especially in the Morning But the most do it upon a Religious account for therein consists the chief part of their Religion There are but few of them resort daily to their Mosques yet they are all stiff in their Religion and so zealous for it that they greatly 〈◊〉 in making a Proselyte I was told that while I was at Tonquin a Chinese inhabiting here turn'd from his Paganism to Mahometanism and being circumcised he was thereupon carry'd in great state thro the City on an Elephant with one crying before him that he was turn'd Believer This man was call'd the Captain of the China Camp for as I was informed he was placed there by his Country-men as their chief Factor or Agent to negotiate their affairs with the people of the Country Whether he had dealt falsly or was only envied by others I know not but his Countrymen had so entangled him in Law that he had been ruined if he had not made use of this way to disingage himself and then his Religion protected him and they could not meddle with him On what score the two English Runagadoes turn d here I know not The Laws of this Country are very strict and offenders are punished with great severity Neither are there any delays of Justice here for as soon as the offender is taken he is immediately brought before the Magistrate who presently hears the matter and according as he finds it so he either acquits or orders punishment to be inflicted on the Party immediately Small offenders are only whipt on the back which sort of punishment they call Chaubuck A Thief for his first offence has his right hand chopt off at the wrist for the second offence off goes the other and sometimes instead of one of their hands one or both their feet are cut off and sometimes tho very rarely both hands and feet If after the loss of one or both hands or feet they still prove incorrigible for they are many of them such very Rogues and so arch that they will steal with their Toes then they are banish'd to Pulo Way during their Lives and if they get thence to the City as sometimes they do they are commonly sent back again tho sometimes they get a Licence to stay On Pulo VVay there are none but this sort of Cattle and tho they all of them want one or both hands yet they so order matters that they can row very well and do many things to admiration whereby they are able to get a livelihood for if they have no hands they will get somebody or other to fasten Ropes or Withes about their Oars so as to leave Loops wherein they may put the stumps of their Arms and therewith they will pull an Oar lustily They that have one hand can do well enough and of these you shall see a great many even in the City This sort of punishment is inflicted for greater Robberies but for small pilfering the first time Thieves are only whipt but after this a Petty Larceny is look'd on as a great crime Neither is this sort of punishment peculiar to the Archinese Government but probably used by the other Princes of this Island and on the Island Java also especially at Bantam They formerly when the King of Bantam was in his prosperity depriv'd men of the right hand for Theft and may still for ought I know I knew a Dutch-man so serv'd he was a Seaman belonging to one of the King of Bantam's Ships Being thus punished he was dismist from his service and when I was this time

about them This is a very sickly place and I believe hath need enough of an Hospital for it is seated so nigh the Creeks and Swamps that it is never free from a noisom smell The Land about it is a strong yellow Clay yet where the Town stands it seems to be Sand. Here are several sorts of Fruits as Guavo's Pine-apples Melons and Prickle Pears The Pine-apple and Melon are well known The Guava Fruit grows on a hard scrubbed Shrub whose Bark is smooth and whitish the branches pretty long and small the leaf somewhat like the leaf of a Hazel the fruit much like a Pear with a thin rind it is full of small hard seeds and it may be eaten while it is green which is a thing very rare in the Indies for most Fruit both in the East or West Indies is full of clammy white unsavory juice before it is ripe though pleasant enough afterwards When this Fruit is ripe it is yellow soft and very pleasant It bakes as well as a Pear and it may be coddled and it makes goodPies There are of divers sorts different in shape taste and colour The inside of some is yellow of others red When this Fruit is eaten green it is binding when ripe it is loosening The Prickle-pear Bush or Shrub of about 4 or 5 foot high grows in many places of the West Indies as at Jamaica and most other Islands there and on the Main in several places This prickly Shrub delights most in barren sandy grounds and they thrive best in places that are near the Sea especially where the Sand is saltish The Tree or Shrub is 3 or 4 foot high spreading forth several branches and on each branch 2 or 3 leaves These leaves if I may call them so are round as broad every way as the palm of a man's hand and as thick their substance like Houseleek these leaves are fenced round with strong Prickles above an inch long The Fruit grows at the farther edge of the leaf it is as big as a large Plumb growing small near the leaf and big towards the top where it opens like a Medlar This Fruit at first is green like the leaf from whence it springs with small Prickles about it but when ripe it is of a deep red colour The inside is full of small black seeds mixt with a certain red Pulp like thick Syrup it is very pleasant in taste cooling and refreshing but if a Man eats 15 or 20 of them they will colour his Water making it look like blood This I have often experienced yet found no harm by it There are many Sugar-works in the Country and Estantions or Beef Farms There is also a great deal of Pitch Tar and Cordage made in the Country which is the chief of their Trade This Town we approached without any opposition and found nothing but empty Houses besides such things as they could not or would not carry away which were chiefly about 500 Packs of Flower brought hither in the great Ship that we left at Amapalla and some Pitch Tar and Cordage These things we wanted and therefore we sent them all aboard Here we received 150 Beefs promised by the Gentleman that was released coming from Leon besides we visited the Beef Farms every day and the Sugar-works going in small companies of 20 or 30 Men and brought away every Man his load for we found no Horses which if we had yet the ways were so wet and dirty that they would not have been serviceable to us We stay'd here from the 17th till the 24th day and then some of our destructive Crew set fire to the Houses I know not by whose order but we marched away and left them burning at the Brest-work we imbarked into our Canoas and returned aboard our Ships The 25th day Captain Davis and Captain Swan broke off Consortships for Captain Davis was minded to return again on the Coast of Peru but Captain Swan desired to go farther to the West-ward I had till this time been with Captain Davis but now left him and went aboard of Captain Swan It was not from any dislike to my old Captain but to get some knowledge of the Northern parts of this Continent of Mexico and I knew that Captain Swan determined to coast it as far North as he thought convenient and then pass over for the East Indies which was a way very agreeable to my inclination Captain Townly with his two Barks was resolved to keep us company but Captain Knight and Captain Harris followed Captain Davis The 27th day in the morning Captain Davis with his Ships went out of the Harbour having a fresh Land Wind. They were in company Captain Davis's Ship with Captain Harris in her Captain Davis's Bark and Fireship and Captain Knight in his own Ship in all 4 Sail. Captain Swan took his last farewel of him by firing 15 Guns and he fired 11 in return of the civility We stay'd here some time afterwards to fill our Water and cut Fire-wood but our Men who had been very healthy till now began to fall down apace in Fevers Whether it was the badness of the Water or the unhealthiness of the Town was the cause of it we did not know but of the two I rather believe it was a Distemper we got at Ria Lexa for it was reported that they had been visited with a Malignant Fever in that Town which had occasioned many people to abandon it and although this Visitation was over with them yet their Houses and Goods might still retain somewhat of the Infection and communicate the same to us I the rather believe this because it afterwards raged very much not only among us but also among Captain Davis and his Men as he told me himself since when I met him in England Himself had like to have died as did several of his and our Men. The 3d day of September we turned ashore all our Prisoners and Pilots they being unacquainted further to the West which was the Coast that we designed to visit for the Spaniards have very little Trade by Sea beyond the River Lempa a little to the North West of this place About 10 a clock in the morning the same day we went from hence steering Westward being in company 4 Sail as well as they who left us viz. Captain Swan and his Bark and Captain Townly and his Bark and about 340 Men. We met with very bad weather as we sailed along this Coast seldom a day past but we had one or two violent Tornadoes and with them very frightful Flashes of Lightning and Claps of Thunder I did never meet with the like before nor since These Tornadoes commonly came out of the N. E. the Wind did not last long but blew very fierce for the time When the Tornadoes were over we had the Wind at W. sometimes at W. S. W. and S. W. and sometimes to the North of the West as far as the N. W. We kept at a good distance off

Esperance or of Good Hope finding that they might now proceed Eastward There is good Sounding off this Cape 50 or 60 leagues at Sea to the Southward and therefore our English Seamen standing over as they usually do from the Coast of Brazil content themselves with their Soundings concluding thereby that they are abrest of the Cape they often pass by without seeing it and begin to shape their course Northward They have several other signs whereby to know when they are near it as by the Sea-Fowl they meet at Sea especially the Algatrosses a very large long-winged Bird and the Mangovolucres a smaller Fowl But the greatest dependance of our English Seamen now is upon their observing the variation of the Compass which is very carefully minded when they come near the Cape by taking the Suns Amplitude mornings and evening This they are so exact in that by the help of the Azimuth Compass an Instrument more peculiar to the Seamen of our Nations they know when they are abrest of the Cape or are either to the East or the West of it and for that reason though they should be to Southward of all the Soundings or fathomable ground they can shape their course right without being obliged to make the Land But the Dutch on the contrary having settled themselves on this Promontory do always touch here in their East India Voyages both going and coming The most remarkable Land at Sea is a high Mountain steep to the Sea with a flat even top which is called the Table Land On the West side of the Cape a little to the Northward of it there is a spacious Harbour with a low flat Island lying off it which you may leave on either hand and pass in or out securely at either end Ships that anchor here ride near the Main Land leaving the Island at a farther distance without them The Land by the Sea against the Harbour is low but backt with high Mountains a little way in to the Southward of it The Soil of this Country is of a brown colour not deep yet indifferently productive of Grass Herbs and Trees The Grass is short like that which grows on our Wiltshire or Dorsetshire Downs The Trees hereabouts are but small and few the Country also farther from the Sea does not much abound in Trees as I have been informed The Mould or Soyl also is much like this near the Harbour which though it cannot be said to be very fat or rich Land yet it is very fit for cultivation and yields good Crops to the industrious Husbandman and the Country is pretty well settled with Farms Dutch Families and French Refugees for 20 or 30 leagues up the Country but there are but few Farms near the Harbour Here grows plenty of Wheat Barly Pease c. Here are also Fruits of many kinds as Apples Pears Quinces and the largest Pomgranats that I did ever see The chief Fruits are Grapes These thrive very well and the Country is of late years so well stockt with Vineyards that they make abundance of Wine of which they have enough and to spare and do sell great quantities to Ships that touch here This Wine is like a French High Country White Wine but of a pale yellowish colour it is sweet very pleasant and strong The tame Animals of this Country are Sheep Goats Hogs Cows Horses c. The Sheep are very large and fat for they thrive very well here This being a dry Country and the short pasturage very agreeable to these Creatures but it is not so proper for great Cattle neither is the Beef in its kind so sweet as the Mutton Of wild Beasts 't is said here are several sorts but I saw none However it is very likely there are some wild Beasts that prey on the Sheep because they are commonly brought into the Houses in the night and penn'd up There is a very beautiful sort of wild Al 's in this Country whose body is curiously striped with equal lists of white and black the stripes coming from the ridge of his Back and ending under the Belly which is white These stripes are two or three Fingers broad running parallel with each other and curiously intermixt one white and one black over from the Shoulder to the Rump I saw two of the Skins of these Beasts dried and preserved to be sent to Halland as a rarity They seemed big enough to inclose the Body of a Beast as big as a large Colt of a twelvemonth old Here are a great many Ducks Dunghil Fowls c. and Ostriges are plentifully found in the dry Mountains and Plains I eat of their Eggs here and those of whom I bought them told me that these creatures lay their Eggs in the Sand or at least on dry ground and so leave them to be hatch'd by the Sun The meat of one of their Eggs will suffice two men very well The Inhabitants do preserve the Eggs that they find to sell to strangers They were pretty scarce when I was here it being the beginning of their Winter whereas I was told they lay their Eggs about Christmas which is their Summer The Sea hereabouts affords plenty of Fish of divers sorts especially a small sort of Fish not so big as a Herring whereof they have such great plenty that they pickle great quantities yearly and send them to Europe Seales are also in great numbers about the Cape which as I have still observed is a good sign of the plentifulness of Fish which is their food The Dutch have a strong Fort by the Sea side against the Harbour where the Governour lives At about 2 or 300 paces distance from thence on the West side of the Fort there is a small Dutch Town in which I told about 50 or 60 Houses low but well built with Stone-walls there being plenty of Stone drawn out of a Quarry close by On the backside of the Town as you go towards the Mountains the Dutch East-India Company have a large House and a stately Garden walled in with a high Stone Wall This Garden is full of divers sorts of Herbs Flowers Roots and Fruits with curious spacious Gravel-walks and Arbors and is watered with a Brook that descends out of the Mountains which being cut into many channels is conveyed into all parts of the Garden The Hedges which make the Walks are very thick and 9 or 10 foot high They are kept exceeding neat and even by continual pruning There are lower Hedges within these again which serve to separate the Fruit-trees from each other but without shading them and they keep each sort of Fruit by themselves as Apples Pears abundance of Quinces Pomgranats c. These all prosper very well and bear good Fruit especially the Pomgranat The Roots and Garden-herbs have also their distinct places hedged in apart by themselves and all in such order that it is exceeding pleasant and beautiful There are a great number of Negro Slaves brought from other parts of the

Amboyse Country Wit Country Wife Chances Circe Cheats City Politicks Cambyses Destruction of Jerusalem Duke and no Duke Devil of a Wife Distressed Innocent Dame Dobsan Dutch Lover Don Quixot 3 parts Double Dealer Empress of Morocco Earl of Essex English Monarch English Fryar Edward the Third Emperor of the Moon English Lawyer Fond Husband Feign'd Courtezans Forc'd Marriage Female Virtuoso Fortune Hunters Fatal Marriage Gentleman Dancing Master Greenwich Park Henry 5 Mustapha Heir of Morocco Hamlet Ibrahim Island Princess Ingratitude of Commonwealth Julius Caesat Injur'd Lovers Innocent Impostor Innocent Usurper King and no King 〈◊〉 FINIS Voyages and Descriptions Vol. II. In THREE Parts viz. 1. A Supplement of the Voyage round the World Describing the Countreys of Tonquin Achin Malacca c. their Product Inhabitants Manners Trade Policy c. 2. Two Voyages to Campeachy with a Description of the Coasts Product Inhabitants Logwood-Cutting Trade c. of Jucatan Campeachy New-Spain c. 3. A Discourse of Trade-Winds Breezes Storms Seasons of the Year Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone throughout the World With an Account of Natal in Africk its Product Negro's c. By Captain William Dampier Illustrated with Particular Maps and Draughts To which is Added A General INDEX to both Volumes LONDON Printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St Pauls Church-yard M DC XCIX To the Right Honourable EDWARD Earl of ORFORD Viscount Barfleur Baron of Shingey Principal Lord of the Admiralty Treasurer of his Majesty's Navy c. and one of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council My Lord 'T Is in Acknowledgement of the Favours your Lordship has conferr'd upon me that I presume to place your Name before these Papers The Honourable Person to whom I dedicated my former Volume could not have taken a more agreeable way to befriend me than by recommending me to your Patronage and I shall always retain a grateful sense of it and your Lordship has been pleas'd to prefer me in a way suitable to my Genius and Experience and wherein therefore if in any way I may be able to do something toward the preserving the good Opinion you have been pleased to entertain of me 'T is a further satisfaction to me that my Employment is of such a Nature as does not alienate me from your Lordships more peculiar Jurisdiction but places me more immediately under it and chiefly accountable to your self Whatever parts of the World I shall range into I shall carry this comfort along with me that next under the Providence of God and his Majesty's Protection I shall be so long as I am upon the Seas in the Province and under the Direction of your Lordship and the Honourable Board for whose favours to me in general I have no better way of Expressing my Gratitude than by doing it thus to your Lordship who Presides there And with these Sentiments I am bold to subscribe my self My Lord Your Lordships Most Faithful and Devoted Humble Servant William Dampier The PREFACE IN the Preface to my former Volume I have accounted for the Design Method and Stile of those Relations of my Travels what I have more to say of that kind is chiefly with reference to what I now offer the Reader Thus far I have thought fit to change my Method in this Volume as to divide it into distinct Parts because the Matters it treats of are so different from one another in point of Time or other Circumstances but still in each Part I have taken the same Course of making several Chapters that this Volume might retain some Uniformity with the other The First of these is that Account I promised of my Voyages from Achin in Sumatra to several places in the E. Indies of which I forbore to particularize in the former Volume for Reasons there mentioned I have now more than discharg'd my self of that Promise for I have improved my own Observations especially as to Tonquin by those of some English Gentlemen who made a considerable stay in that Kingdom I am abundantly satisfied my self of their Ability and Integrity the proper Qualifications in things of this Nature and could I have obtained their leave the Reader also should have had the satisfaction of knowing to whom he was to abscribe several of those Particulars However I have taken frequent Occasions to distinguish in general what I saw from what I was informed of This Part is the Supplement of what is contained in the former Volume and compleats the Voyage round the World The Second Part contains what relates to the time I spent in the Bay of Campeachy either as a Logwood-Cutter or a Trader to them This was before I made my Voyage round the World as the Reader will perceive and upon this occasion therefore I have gone so far back as to speak of my first Entrance upon this Rambling kind of Life For the Account it gives of Campeachy and the Neighbouring Parts of Jucatan and New Spain c. I refer the Reader to the work its self The Third Part is an Account of the Winds and Weather Storms Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone round the World which may be of use towards the Improvement of Navigation and that part of Natural History 'T is the substance of what I have remark'd or learnt about things of that kind in so long a Course of roving upon the Seas and tho I have not omitted to speak of these matters in the series of my Voyages as occasion offered yet I thought it might not be unacceptable to put them together in one View also by themselves in a Methodical Discourse ranging the several particulars under their proper Heads To render these things the more Intelligible I have prefixed peculiar Maps one to each of the foregoing Parts but two to this of the Winds c. that the Variety of Trade-Winds might some way be Pictured as it were to the Eye and the Reader might be the less liable to be confounded with the Multiplicity of Words denoting the several Points of the Compass or other Terms necessary to the Descriptional part of the Discourse These Maps contain the Torrid Zone and so much towards each Pole as was of use to my Design and the Projection differs in this only from the Common Maps that in order to shew the Atlantick and South Oceans each in one entire View the Division of the Hemisphaeres is made not at the first Meridian reckoning from Tenariffe nor at the 350th as is usual also and as 't is in the Globe-Map prefixed to my first Volume but at the 300th yet still retaining the common Graduation in the Equator from that customary Meridian of the Canaries or C. Verd. And upon this mention of the Atlantick Sea there is one thing I would observe to the Reader that I use that name not only for the North Sea as 't is call'd but for this whole Ocean on both sides of the Equator between Europe and Africk on one hand and

violence to him but treats him with all imaginable respect The people say they have no King but Boua and seem to have sad apprehensions of the loss they should have if he should dye without an Heir and whenever the Choua comes into his presence which is 2 or 3 times in the year he useth abundance of Compliments to him and tells him that his very life is at his service and that he governs and rules wholly to do him a kindness and always gives him the upper hand So also when any Ambassadors are sent from the Emperor of China they will deliver their Message to none but the Boua and have their Audience of him Yet after all this pageantry the Boua has only a few Servants to attend him none of the Mandarins make their Court to him nor is he allow'd any Guards All the Magistracy and Soldiery Treasure and the ordering of all matters of Peace and War are entirely at the Choua's disposal all preferment is from him and the very Servants who attend the Boua are such only as the Choua places about him Besides these Servants none are ever suffer'd to see the Boua much less Strangers so that I could learn nothing as to his person But as to the Choua I have been informed that he is an angry ill-natured leprous person He lives in the second Palace where he has ten or twelve Wives but what Children I know not He governs with absolute authority over the Subjects and with great tyranny for their Lives Goods and Estates are at his command The Province of Tenehoa is said to have belonged properly to his Ancestors who were great Mandarins before the usurpation So that he now seems to have a particular value for it and keeps his Treasure there which by report is very great This Treasure is buried in great Cisterns full of Water made purposely for that use and to secure it he keeps a great many Soldiers there and commits the charge both of them and the Treasure to the Governour of the Province who is one of his principal Eunuchs The Choua has always a strong guard of Soldiers about his Palace and many large Stables for his Horses and Elephants The Horses are about 13 or 14 hands high and are kept very fat there are 2 or 300 of them The Elephants are kept in long Stables by themselves each having a peculiar room or partition with a Keeper to dress and feed him The number of the Kings Elephants are about 150 or 200. They are watered and washed every day in the River Some of the Elephants are very gentle and governable others are more indocil and unruly When these rude ones are to pass through the Streets tho only to be watered the Rider or Dresser orders a Gong or Drum to be beaten before him to warn People that an unruly Elephant is coming and they presently clear the Streets and give a passage for the Beast who will do mischief to any that are in the way and their Riders or Keepers cannot restrain him Before the Choua's Palace there is a large parade or square place for the Soldiers to be drawn up On one side there is a place for the Mandarins to sit and see the Soldiers exercise on the other side there is a shed wherein all the Cannon and heavy Guns are lodged There may be 50 or 60 Iron Guns from Falcon to Demy-Culverin 2 or 3 whole Culverin or Demi-Cannon and some old Iron Mortars lying on logs The Guns are mounted on their Carriages but the Carriages of these Guns are old and very ill made There is one great Brass Gun much bigger than the rest supposed to be 8 or 9000 pound weight It is of a taper bore of a foot diameter at the mouth but much smaller at the britch It is an ill shaped thing yet much estemeed by them probably because it was cast here and the biggest that ever they made It was cast about 12 or 13 years ago and it being so heavy they cou'd not contrive to mount it but were beholding to the English to put it into the Carriage where it now stands more for a show than service But tho this is but an ordinary piece of workmanship yet the Tonquinese understand how to run Metals and are very expert in tempering the Earth where with they make their mould These are all the great Guns that I saw or heard of in this Kingdom neither are here any Forts yet the King keeps always a great many Soldiers 'T is said that he has always 70 or 80000 constantly in pay These are most Foot they are arm'd with Curtans or Sword and Hand Guns of 3 foot and an half or 4 foot in the Barrel The bore is about the bigness of our Horse Pistols they are all Matchlocks and they are very thick and heavy The Soldiers do all make their own Powder They have little Engins for mixing the ingredients and make as small a quantity as they please They know not how to corn it and therefore it is in unequal lumps some as big as the top of a mans Thumb and some no bigger than a white Pea neither have I seen any Powder well corn'd that has been made in any of these Eastern Nations The Soldiers have each a Cartage Box covered with leather after the manner of the West Indian Privateers but instead of Paper Cartages these are filled with small hollow Canes each containing a load or charge of Powder which they empty out of the Cane into the Gun so that each Box has in it as it were so many Bandeleers Their Arms are kept very bright and clean for which purpose every one of them has a hollow Bambo to lay over the Barrel of his Gun and to keep the dust from it as it lies over the rack in his House When they march also in rainy weather they have another Bambo to cover their Guns This is large enough to cover the whole Barrel and very well lacker'd so that it is not only handsome but also preserves the Gun dry The Soldiers when they march are led by an Officer who is leader of the File and every File consists of 10 men but as I have been informed by one who has seen them march they don't keep their ranks in marching The Soldiers are most of them lusty strong well made men for 't is that chiefly recommends them to the Kings service They must also have good Stomachs for that is a greater recommendation then the former neither can any man be entertain'd as a Soldier that has not a greater stroke than ordinary at eating for by this they judge of his strength and constitution For which reason when a Soldier comes to be listed his Stomach is first proved with Rice the common subsistence of the ordinary People in this Kingdom and according as he acquits himself in this first tryal of his manhood so he is either discharged or entertain'd in the service 'T is reported that at these

the Queen of Achin I think Mr Hackluit or Purchas makes mention of a King here in our King James I. time But at least of later years there has always been a Queen only and the English who reside there have been of the opinion that these people have been governed by a Queen ab Origine and from the antiquity of the present constitution have formed notions that the Queen of Sheba who came to Soloman was the Queen of this Country and the Author of an old Map of the World which I have seen was it seems of this opinion when writing the old Hebrew names of Nations up and down the several parts anciently known of Europe Asia and Africa he puts no other name in the Isle of Sumatra but that of Sheba But be that as it will 't is at present part of it under a Queen tho she has little power or authority for tho there is seemingly abundance of respect and reverence shewn her yet she has little more than the title of a Soveraign all the Government being wholly in the hands of the Oronkeys While I was on my Voyage to Tonquin the old Queen died and there was another Queen chosen in her room but all the Oronkeys were not for that Election many of them were for choosing a King Four of the Oronkeys who lived more remote from the Court took up Arms to oppose the new Queen and the rest of the Oronkeys and brought 5 or 6000 men against the City and thus stood the state of affairs even when we arrived here and a good while after This Army was on the East side of the River and had all the Country on that side and so much of the City also as is on that side the River under their power But the Queen's Palace and the main part of the City which stands on the West side held out stoutly The River is wider shallower and more sandy at the City than any where else near it yet not fordable at low water Therefore for the better communication from one side to the other there are Ferry-boats to carry Passengers to and fro In other places the Banks are steep the River more rapid and in most places very muddy so that this place just at the City itself is the most convenient to transport Men or Goods from one side to the other It was not far from this place the Army lay as if they designed to force their passage here The Queens party to oppose them kept a small Guard of Souldiers just at the Landing-place The Shabander of Achin had a Tent set up there he being the chief manager of her Affairs and for the more security he had 2 or 3 small brass Guns of a Minion bore planted by his Tent all the day with their Muzzels against the River In the Evening there were 2 or 3 great Trees drawn by an Elephant and placed by the side of the River for a barricado against the Enemy and then the Brass Guns were drawn from the Shabander's Tent which stood not far from it and planted just behind the Trees on the rising Bank So that they looked over the Trees and they might Fire over or into the River if the Enemy approached When the Barricado was thus made and the Guns planted the Ferry-boats passed no more from side to side till the next morning Then you should hear the Soldiers caling to each other not in menacing Language but as those who desired peace and quietness asking why they would not agree why they could not be of one mind and why they should desire to kill one another This was the Tone all night long in the morning as soon as Snn was risen the Guns were drawn again to the Shabanders Tent and the Trees were drawn aside to open the passage from one side to the other and every man then went freely about his business as if all had been as quiet as ever only the Shabander and his Guard staid still in their stations So that there was not any sign of Wars but in the Night only when all stood to their Arms and then the Towns people seemed to be in fear and sometimes we should have a Rumour that the Enemy would certainly make an attempt to come over While these stirs lasted the Shabander sent to all the Foreigners and desired them to keep in their own Houses in the night and told them that whatever might happen in the City by their own civil broyls yet no harm should come to them Yet some of the Portuguese fearing the worst would every Night put their richest Goods into a Boat ready to take their flight on the first Alarm There were at this time not above 2 or 3 English Families in the Town and 2 English Ships and one Dutch Ship besides 2 or 3 Moors Ships of the Moguls Subjects in the Road. One of the English Ships was called the Nellegree the name taken from Nellegree Hills in Bengal as I have heard She came from the Bay of Bengal laden with Rice Cotton c. the other was the Dorothy of London Captain Thwait Commander who came from Fort St George and was bound to Bencouli with Souldiers but touched here as well to sell some goods as to bring a present to the Queen from our East India Company Captain Thwait according to custom went with his present to the Queen which she accepted and complemented him with the usual Civilities of the Country for to honour him he was set upon an Elephant of the Queens to ride to his Lodgings drest in a Malayan habit which she gave him and she sent also two Dancing Girls to shew him some pastime there and I saw them at his Lodgings that Evening dancing the greatest part of the night much after the same manner as the Dancing Women of Mindanao rather writhing their Hands and Bodies with several Antick gestures than moving much out of the place they were in He had at this time about 20 great Jars of Bengal Butter made of Buffaloes Milk and this Butter is said also to have Lard or Hogs fat mixt with it and rank enough in these hot Countries tho much esteemed by all the Achinese who give a good price for it and our English also use it Each of the Jars this came in contained 20 or 30 Gallons and they were set in Mr. Driscal's yard at Achin what other goods the Captain brought I know not But not long after this he being informed that the Moors Merchants residing here had carryed off a great Treasure aboard their Ships in order to return with it to Surrat and our Company having now Wars with the Great Mogul Captain Thwait in the Evening drew off all his Seamen and seized on one of the Moors Ships where he thought the Treasure was The biggest he let alone she was a Ship that one Captain Constant took in the Road some time before and having plundered her he gave her to the Queen of whom the Moors bought

Then we weighed again having a small land Wind but the Tyde of flood was against us and drove us to the Eastward When the Ebb came we jogged on and got about 3 leagues anchoring when the Flood came because the Winds were against us Thus we continued plying with the Ebb and anchoring every flood till we came to Pulo Parsalore where the Captain told me he would not go out the same way we came in as I would have perswaded him but kept the Malacca Shore aboard and past within the Sholes But in a few Hours after we ran upon a Shole driven on it by the Tide of Flood which here set to the Eastward tho by our Reckoning it should have been half Ebb and the Flood should have set Westward as we had it all the rest of the way from Malacca but the Sholes probably caused some whirling about of the Tide However the Sand we were struck upon was not above an 100 yards in circumference and the flood being rising we waited the time of high water and then drove over it having sent our Boat to discover how the Sholes lay while our Ship was aground Mr Richards all the while being in great fear lest the Malayans should come off in their Boats and attack the Vessel We were now afloat again and soon got without all the Sholes yet we did not stand over towards Sumatra but coasted along nearest the Malacca shore it being now most proper for us so to do yet for having the winds Westerly we could not have beat under the other shore 2 or 3 days after this we had sight of some Islands called Pulo Sambilong which in the Malayan Language signifies nine Islands there being so many of them lying scattering at unequal distances from each other It was near one of these Islands that Captain Minchin in a former Voyage was like to lose his hand by a prick with a Cat fishes Fin as I have said in my former Vol. p. 149. and tho his hand was cured yet he has lost the use of it ever since and is never likely to regain it more We stood in pretty near the shore in hopes to gain a fresh Land Wind. About 10 a Clock the Land Wind came off a gentle breez and we coasted along shore But a small Tornado coming off from the shore about midnight we broke our Mizen yard and being near a Dutch Island called Pulo Dinding we made in for it and anchored there the night ensuing and found there a Dutch Sloop mann'd with about 30 Soldiers at an anchor This is a small Island lying so nigh the main that Ships passing by cannot know it to be an Island It is pretty high Land and well watered with Brooks The mold is blackish deep and fat in the lower ground but the Hills are somewhat Rocky yet in general very woody The Trees are of divers sorts many of which are good Timber and large enough for any use Here are also some good for Masts and Yards they being naturally light yet tough and serviceable There s good riding on the East side between the Island and the Main You may come in with the Sea breeze and go out with a Land wind there is water enough and a secure Harbour The Dutch who are the only Inhabitants have a Fort on the East side close by the Sea in a bending of the Island which makes a small Cove for Ships to anchor in The Fort is built 4 square without Flankers or Bastions like a house every square is about 10 or 12 yards The Walls are of a good thickness made of stone and carried up to a good heighth of about 30 foot and covered over head like a dwelling House There may be about 12 or 14 Gnns in it some looking out at every square These Guns are mounted on a strong Platform made within the Walls about 16 Foot high and there are steps on the outside to ascend to the Door that opens to the Platform there being no other way into the Fort. Here is a Governour and about 20 or 30 Souldiers who all lodge in the Fort. The Soldiers have their lodging in the Platform among the Guns but the Governour has a fair Chamber above it where he lies with some of the Officers About a hundred yards from the Fort on the Bay by the Sea there is a low timbered House where the Governour abides all the day time In this House there were two or three Rooms for their use but the chiefest was the Governours Dining Room This fronted to the Sea and the end of it looked towards the Fort. There were two large Windows of about 7 or 8 foot square the lower part of them about 4 or 5 foot from the ground These Windows were wont to be left open all the day to let in the refreshing breeze but in the night when the Governour withdrew to the Fort they were closed with strong shutters and the Doors made fast till the next day The Continent of Malacca opposite to the Island is pretty low champion Land cloathed with lofty Woods and right against the Bay where the Dutch Fort stands there is a navigable River for small craft The product of the Country thereabouts besides Rice and other eatables is Tutaneg a sort of Tin I think courser than ours The Natives are Malayans who as I have always observed are bold and treacherous yet the trading people are affable and courteous to Merchants These are in all respects as to their Religion Custom and manner of Living like other Malayans Whether they are governed by a King or Raja or what other manner of Government they live under I know not They have Canoas and Boats of their own and with these they fish and traffick among themselves but the Tin Trade is that which has formerly drawn Merchant Strangers thither But tho the Country might probably yield great quantities of this metal and the Natives are not only inclinable but very desirous to trade with Strangers yet are they now restrained by the Dutch who have monopoliz'd that Trade to themselves It was probably for the lucre of this Trade that the Dutch built the Fort on the Island but this not wholly answering their ends by reason of the distance between it and the Rivers mouth which is about 4 or 5 miles they have also a Guardship commonly lying here and a Sloop with 20 or 30 armed men to hinder other Nations from this Trade For this Tutaneg or Tin is a valuable Commodity in the Bay of Bengal and here purchased reasonably by giving other Commodities in exchange neither is this Commodity peculiarly found hereabouts but farther Northerly also on the Coast and particularly in the Kingdom of Queda there is much of it The Dutch also commonly keep a Guardship and have made some fruitless essays to bring that Prince and his Subjects to trade only with them but here over against P. Dinding no strangers dare approach to trade neither may any Ship

dried them wear them in our Hats for a perfume The Flesh is seldom eaten but in case of Necessity because of its strong scent Now the Crocodile hath none of these Kernels neither doth his Flesh taste at all Musky therefore esteemed better Food He is of a yellow colour neither hath he such long Teeth in his under Jaw The Crocodile's Legs also are longer and when it runs on Land it bears its Tail above the Ground and turns up the tip of it in a round bow and the Knots on the back are much thicker higher and firmer than those of the Alligator And differ also as to the Places where they are found For in some Parts as here in the Bay of Campeachy are abundance of Alligators where yet I never saw nor heard of any Crocodiles At the Isle Grand Caymanes there are Crocodiles but no Alligators At Pines by Cuba there are abundance of Crocodiles but I cannot say there are no Alligators tho' I never saw any there Both Kinds are called Caymanes by the Spaniards therefore probably they may reckon them for the same And I know of no other difference for they both lay Eggs alike which are not distinguishable to the Eye They are as big as a Goose-Egg but much longer and good Meat yet the Alligators Eggs taste very musky They prey both alike in either Element for they love Flesh as well as Fish and will live in either fresh or salt Water Beside these Creatures I know none that can live any where or upon any sort of Food like them 'T is reported that they love Dogs Flesh better than any other Flesh whatsoever This I have seen with my own Eyes that our Dogs were so much afraid of them that they would not very willingly drink at any great River or Creek where those Creatures might lurk and hide themselves unless they were through Necessity constrained to it and then they would stand five or six Foot from the brink of the Creek or River and bark a considerable time before they would Adventure nearer and then even at the sight of their own Shadows in the Water they would again retire to the Place from whence they came and bark vehemently a long time so that in the dry Season when there was no fresh Water but in Ponds and Creeks we used to fetch it our selves and give it our Dogs and many times in our Hunting when we came to a large Creek that we were to pass through our Dogs would not follow us so that we often took them in our Arms and carried them over Besides the fore-mentioned difference between the Alligator and Crocodile the latter is accounted more fierce and daring than the Alligator Therefore when we go to the Isles of Pines or Grand Caymanes to hunt we are often molested by them especially in the Night But in the Bay of Campeachy where there are only Alligators I did never know any Mischief done by them except by accident Men run themselves into their Jaws I remember one Instance of this Nature which is as follows In the very height of the dry time seven or eight Men English and Irish went to a Place called Pies Pond on Beef-Island to hunt This Pond was never dry so that the Cattle drew hither in swarms but after two or three days hunting they were shy and would not come to the Pong till Night and then if an Army of Men had lain to oppose them they would not have been debarr'd of Water The Hunters knowing their Custom lay still all Day and in the Night visited this Pond and killed as many Beefs as they could This Trade they had driven a Week and made great profit At length an Irish-man going to the Pond in the Night stumbled over an Alligator that lay in the Path The Alligator seized him by the Knee at which the Man cries out Help help His Consorts not knowing what the matter was ran all away from their Huts supposing that he was fallen into the clutches of some Spaniards of whom they were afraid every dry Season But poor Daniel not finding any assistance waited till the Beast opened his Jaw to take better hold because it is usual for the Alligator to do so and then snatch'd away his Knee and slipt the But-end of his Gun in the room of it which the Alligator griped so hard that he pull'd it out of his Hand and so went away The Man being near a small Tree climb'd up out of his reach and then cryed out to his Consorts to come and assist him who being still within Call and watching to hear the Issue of the Alarum made haste to him with Fire-brands in their Hands and brought him away in their Arms to his Hut for he was in a deplorable condition and not able to stand on his Feet his Knee was so torn with the Alligators Teeth His Gun was found the next day ten or twelve Paces from the Place where he was seized with two large Holes made in the But-end of it one on each side near an Inch deep for I saw the Gun afterwards This spoiled their sport for a time they being forc'd to carry the Man to the Island Trist where their Ships were which was six or seven Leagues distant This Irish-man went afterwards to New-England to be cured in a Ship belonging to Boston and nine or ten Months after returned to the Bay again being recovered of his wound but went limping ever after This was all the mischief that ever I heard was done in the Bay of Campeachy by the Creatures call'd Alligators CHAP. III. Logwood Mens way of Living Their Hunting for Beefs in Canoas Alligators The Author 's setling with Logwood-Men He is lost in Hunting Captain Hall and his Mens disaster The way of preserving Bullocks Hides Two hairy Worms growing in the Author 's Leg. Dangerous Leg-worms in the West Indies The Author strangely cured of one A violent Storm A Description of Beef-Island Its Fruits and Animals The Spaniards way of hocksing Cattle Their care of preserving their Cattle The wasteful destruction made of them by the English and French Privateers The Author 's narrow Escape from an Alligator THE Logwood-Cutters as I said before inhabit the Creeks of the East and West Lagunes in small Companies building their Huts close by the Creeks sides for the benefit of the Sea-Breezes as near the Logwood Groves as they can removing often to be near their Business Yet when they are settled in a good open Place they chuse rather to go half a Mile in their Canoas to Work than lose that convenience Tho' they build their Huts but slightly yet they take care to thatch them very well with Palm or Palmeto Leaves to prevent the Rains which are there very violent from soaking in For their Bedding they raise a Barbicue or wooden Frame 3 Foot and half above Ground on one side of the House and stick up four Stakes at each corner one to fasten their Pavillions out

curious high flourishing Trees of divers sorts The Fruits of this Island are Penguins both red and yellow Guavers Sapadilloes Limes Oranges c. These last but lately planted here by a Colony of Indians who revolted from the Spaniards and settled here It is no new thing for the Indians in these Woody Parts of America to fly away whole Towns at once and settle themselves in the unfrequented Woods to enjoy their Freedom and if they are accidentally discovered they will remove again which they can easily do their Houshold-Goods being little else but their Cotton Hammacks and their Callabashes They build every Man his own House and tye up their Hammacks between two Trees wherein they sleep till their Houses are made The Woods afford them some Subsistence as Pecary and Warree but they that are thus stroling or morooning as the Spaniards call it have Plantain-Walks that no Man knows but themselves and from thence they have their Food till they have raised Plantation-Provision near their New-built Town They clear no more Ground than what they actually employ for their Subsistence They make no Paths but when they go far from Home they break now and then a Bough letting it hang down which serves as a Mark to guide them in their return If they happen to be discovered by other Indians inhabiting still among the Spaniards or do but mistrust it they immediately shift their Quarters to another Place This large Country affording them good fat Land enough and very Woody and therefore a proper Sanctuary for them It was some of these fugitive Indians that came to live at Beef-Island where besides gaining their Freedom from the Spaniards they might see their Friends and Acquaintances that had been taken some time before by the Privateers and sold to the Logwood-Cutters with whom some of the Women lived still though others of them had been conducted by them to their own Habitations It was these Women after their return made known the kind Entertainment that they met with from the English and perswaded their Friends to leave their Dwellings near the Spaniards and settle on this Island and they had been here almost a Year before they were discovered by the English and even then were accidentally found out by the Hunters as they followed their Game They were not very shy all the time I lived there but I know that upon the least disgust they would have been gone The Animals of this Island are Squashes in abundance Porcupines Guanoes Possomes Pecary Deer Horses and Horn Cattle This Island does properly belong to John d'Acosta a Spaniard of Campeachy Town who possess'd it when the English first came hither to cut Logwood His Habitation was then at the Town of Campeachy but in the dry Season he used to come hither in a Bark with six or seven Servants and spend two or three Months in Hocksing and killing Cattle only for their Hides and Tallow The English Logwood-Cutters happened once to come hither whilst John d'Acosta was there and he hearing their Guns made towards them and desired them to forbear firing because it would make the Cattle wild but told them that at any time when they wanted Beef if they sent to him he would hox as many as they pleased and bring the Meat to their Canoas The English thankfully accepted his Offer and did never after shoot his Cattle but sent to him when they wanted and he according to his Promise supplied them This created him so much Friendship that they intended when they returned to Jamaica to bring him a Present and Goods also to Trade with him which would have been very Advantagious to both Parties but some of his Servants acquainted the Townsmen of it at his return to Campeachy And they being jealous of the English and envying him complained to the Governour who presently cast him into Prison where he remained many Years This happened about the Year 71 or 72. Thus the Project of Trading with the English miscarried here and John d'Acosta was forced to relinquish his Right of this sant and profitable Island leaving it wholly to the English for neither he nor any other Spaniard ever came hither afterward to hocks Cattle This way of Hocksing Bullocks seems peculiar to the Spaniards especially to those that live hereabouts who are very dextrous at it For this Reason some of them are constantly employed in it all the Year and so become very expert The Hockser is mounted on a good Horse bred up to the Sport who knows so well when to advance or retreat upon occasion that the Rider has no trouble to manage him His Arms is a Hocksing Iron which is made in the shape of a Half Moon and from one corner to the other is about 6 or 7 Inches with a very sharp Edge This Iron is fastned by a Socket to a Pole about 14 or 15 Foot long When the Hockser is mounted he lays the Pole over the Head of his Horse with the Iron forward and then Rides after his Game and having overtaken it strikes his Iron just above the Hock and Hamstrings it The Horse presently wheels off to the left for the wounded Beast makes at him presently with all his force but he scampers away a good distance before he comes about again If the Hamstring is not quite cut asunder with the stroke yet the Bullocks by continual springing out his Leg certainly breaks it and then can go but on three Legs yet still limps forward to be revenged on his Enemy Then the Hockser Rides up softly to him and strikes his Iron into the Knee of one of his fore Legs and then he immediately tumbles down He gets off his Horse and taking a sharp-pointed strong Knife strikes it into his Pole a little behind the Horns so dextrously that at one blow he cuts the string of his Neck and down falls his Head This they call Poling Then the Hockser immediately Mounts and Rides after more Game leaving the other to the Skinners who are at hand and ready to take off his Hide The right Ear of the Hocksing-Horse by the weight of the Pole lay'd constantly over it when on Duty hangs down always by which you may know it from other Horses The Spaniards pick and chuse only the Bulls and old Cows and leave the young Cattle to breed by which means they always preserve their Stock entire On the contrary the English and French kill without distinction yea the young rather than the old without regard of keeping up their Stock Jamaica is a remarkable Instance of this our Folly in this Particular For when it was first taken by the English the Savannahs were well stock'd with Cattle but were soon all destroyed by our Soldiers who suffered great Hardships afterwards for it and it was never stock'd again till Sir Thomas Linch was Governour He sent to Cuba for a supply of Cattle which are now grown very plentiful because every Man knows his own proper Goods Whereas before when

also whiffle about to the South with fair flattering VVeather it never fails VVhile the VVind remains at S. S. W. or any thing to the South of the West it blows very faint but when once it comes to the North of the West it begins to be brisk and veers about presently to the North West where it blows hard yet does it not stay there long before it veers to the N. N. W. and there it blows strongest and longest Sometimes it continues 24 or even 48 hours and sometimes longer When the Wind first comes to the N. W. if the black Cloud rises and comes away it may chance to give but one flurry like that of a Tornado and then the Sky grows clear again and either the Wind continues at N. W. blowing only a brisk Gale which the Jamaica Seamen call a Chocolate North or else it veers about again to the East and settles there But if when the Wind comes to the N. W. the Cloud still remains settled the Wind then continues blowing very fierce even so long as the black Bank continues near the Horizon It is commonly pretty dry and clear but sometimes much Rain falls with a North and tho' the Clouds which bring Rain come from the N. W. N. N. W. yet the black Bank near the Horizon seems not to move till the Heart of the Storm is broke When the Wind starts from the N. N. VV. to the N. 't is a sign that the violence of the Storm is past especially if it veers to the East of the North for then it soon flys about to the East and there settles at its usual Point and brings fair VVeather But if it goes back from the N. to the N. VV. it will last a day or two longer as fierce as before and not without a great deal of Rain VVhen our Jamaica Logwood-ships are coming loaden out of the Bay of Campeachy in the North Season they are glad to have a North. For a good North will bring them almost to Jamaica neither have any of our Vessels miscarried in one of these Storms that I did ever hear of though sometimes much shattered but the Spaniards do commonly suffer by them and there is seldom a Year but one or more of them are cast away in the Bay of Campeachy in this Season for they don't work their ships as we do ours They always bring their ships too under a Foresail and Mizan but never under a Mainsail and Mizan nor yet under the Mizan alone but we generally bring to under Mainsail and Mizan and if the VVind grows too fierce we bring her under a Mizan only and if we cannot maintain that then we balast our Mizan which is by riffing and taking up great part of the Sail. If after all this the VVinds and Seas are too high for us then we put before it but not before we have tryed our utmost especially if we are near a Lee-shore On the contrary the Spaniards in the West Indies as I said before lye under a Foresail and Mizan But this must needs be an extraordinary strain to a Ship especially if she be long Indeed there is this convenience in it when they are minded to put away before it 't is but halling up the Mizan and the Foresail veers the Ship presently and I judge it is for that Reason they do it For when the Wind comes on so fierce that they can no longer keep on a Wind they put right afore it and so continue till the Storm ceaseth or the Land takes them up i. e. till they are run ashore I knew two Spaniards did so while I was in the Bay One was a Kings ship called the Piscadore She run ashore on a sandy Bay a Mile to the Westward of the River Tobasco The other was come within 4 or 5 Leagues of the shore and the storm ceasing she escaped shipwreck but was taken by Captain Hewet Commander of a Privateer who was then in the Bay Her Mainmast and Mizan were cut down in the storm Both these Ships came from La Vera Cruz and were in the North side of the Bay when first the storms took them And tho' we don't use this method yet we find means to wear our ships as well as they for if after the Mizan is hall'd up and furled if then the ship will not wear we must do it with some Headsail which yet sometimes puts us to our shifts As I was once in a very violent storm sailing from Virginia mentioned in my Voyage round the World we scudded before the Wind and Sea some time with only our bare Poles and the ship by the mistake of him that con'd broched too and lay in the Trough of the Sea which then went so high that every Wave threatned to overwhelm us And indeed if any one of them had broke in upon our Deck it might have foundred us The Master whose fault this was rav'd like a mad Man called for an Axe to cut the Mizan Shrouds turn the Mizan Mast over Board which indeed might have been an Expedient to bring her to her course again Cap. Davis was then Quarter-master and a more experienced Seaman than the Master He bid him hold his hand a little in hoes to bring her some other way to her course The Captain also was of his Mind Now our Main-yard and Fore-yard were lowered down a Port last as we call it that is down pretty nigh the Deck and the Wind blew so fierce that we did not dare to loose any Head-sail for they must have blown away if we had neither could all the Men in the ship have furled them again therefore we had no hopes of doing it that way I was at this time on the Deck with some others of our Men and among the rest one Mr. John Smallbone who was the main Instrument at that time of saving us all Come said he to me let us go a little way up the Fore-shrouds it may be that may make the Ship wear for I have been doing it before now He never tarried for an Answer but run forward presently and I followed him We went up the Shrouds Half-mast up and there we spread abroad the Flaps of our Coasts and presently the Ship wore I think we did not stay there above 3 Minutes before we grain'd our Point and came down gain but in this time the Wind was got into our Mainsail and had blown it loose and tho' the Main-yard was down a Port-last and our Men were got on the Yard as many as could lye one by another besides the Deck full of Men and all striving to furl that Sail yet could we not do it but were forced to cut it all along by the Head-rope and so let it fall down on the Deck Having largely treated of Norths I shall next give some account of Souths South Winds are also very violent Winds I have not heard any thing of these sorts of Storms but at Jamaica or by