burn in their Lamps This Isle is exceeding fertil It s Fertility bearing Crops all the year long and its Trees being always cloathed in their Summer-Livery and the Fields and Woods in their verdure renders it very delightful to the Inhabitants But the two principal seasons of the year for planting are in May and November but the Sugar-Canes are planted all the year round the making of which is not only very chargeable but also as dangerous and subject to casualties either in the Boyling-house with the Coppers and Furnaces in the Filling-Room in the Still-House or in the Curing-House The Commodities this Island produceth Its Commodities are Sugars which though not so white as those of Brazile yet better when refined being of a fairer grain Indico Cotton-wool Ginger Logwood Fustick and Lignum vitae and these Commodities especially Sugar Indico Cotton and Ginger here are in such great abundance that about two hundred Sail of Ships and Vessels both great and small have yearly their loading which after imported in the several Ports of England and Ireland is again in great quantities exported to foreign parts to our great enrichment and the rather for that they are not permitted to trade with any other Nation but the English and such of His Majesties Subjects in New-England Virginia and Bermudas and in exchange of those Commodities they take such as are necessary for the use of man as well for the Back and Belly as for their Houses and Plantations with many of which they are supplied from New-England Virginia and the Bermudas together with Servants and Slaves with several sorts of Commodities and Provisions as Horses Camels Assinegroes Cattel also salted Flesh and Fish of several sorts Butter and Cheese but by reason of the great heat of the weather it will soon stink and become unfit to eat so that instead of Butter they make great use of Oyl for their Sauces The Dayes and Nights are almost throughout the year of an equal length the Sun rising and setting at six except about October and then there is some small difference The Ayr The Ayr. though hot is very moist which causeth all Iron-Tools as Knives Swords Locks Keys c. to rust so that without constant usage they will soon become eaten up with Rust And this great heat and moisture doth cause the Plants and Trees to grow so large and high Here are abundance of Fruits of all sorts as Dates The Fruits Oranges two sorts the one sweet and the other sharp Pomgranates Citrons Limes Limons Macows Grapes Juniper-Apples Papayers Momins Mombains Acajous Icacos Cherries Raisins Indian-Figs Cocoes Plantins Bononoes Guavars Prickle-Apples Prickle-Pears Custard-Apples Melons both Land and Water and Pine-Apples the rarest Fruit in the Indies Here are great store of Fish in the Sea as Snappers Crabs Their Fish Lobsters Terbums Macquerels Mullets Cavalloes Parrot-Fish Cony-Fish and Green Turtles which of all others are the most delicious with several other sorts appropriated to this and the rest of the Caribby-Isles but the Rivulets or Ponds have few or no Fish in them Here are no Beasts or Cattel but what are tame Their Cattel and brought them as Camels Horses Assinegroes Oxen Bulls Cows Sheep Goats and Hogs which are here in great plenty in every Plantation it being their common Food whose Flesh is esteemed very good and delicious but as for Beef and Mutton it is very dear as having but a small stock but might be soon increased would they spare ground enough for Pasturage for them from their other occasions Here groweth divers sorts of English Herbs and Roots Their Herbs as Rosemary Lavender Lavender-Cotton Marjoram Winter-Savoury Time Parsley Tanscy Sage Purslan c. And for Roots Cabbages Coleworts Colliflowers Turnips Potatoes Onions Garlick Radishes Lettice Taragon Marigolds c. Here are several sorts of Fowls as Their Fowls Turkeys Hens Muscovy-Ducks Pigeons Turtle-Doves c. And for small Birds great variety as Thrushes Black-Birds Sparrows c. Here are several Animals Animals and Insects as Snakes a yard and half long Scorpions as big as Rats but no way hurtful to Man or Beast Lizards which are exceeding harmless much frequenting the Houses and loving the company of Men Musketoes Cockroches and Merriwings which are very troublesom in the Night in stinging also there are Land-Crabs which are found good to eat Here are great variety of Trees Trees fit for several Uses as the Locust Mastick Red-wood the Iron-wood-tree and Cedar which are fit for Building Also the Cassia-Fistula Coloquintida Tamarind Cassary of which is made their Bread the Poyson-Tree and the Physick-Nut these have a Physical and some a Poysonous Vertue in them Also here are these trees following the Calibash the shell of whose fruit serveth to carry liquid things in being of the nature of Gourds the Mangrass-tree which is of an exceeding greatness the Roucou of whose Bark is made Ropes as also Flax which being spun is employed to several uses the Lignum Vitae the Palmeto which is very large and beautiful to behold with several others In this Island are divers Caves some of which are very deep and large enough to hold five hundred men and these Caves are often the Sanctuary of such Negro-Slaves that run away in which they lie a good while before they are found out seldom stirring in the day-time although they are such unwholsome places by reason of the great damps that are found in them And it is supposed that these Caves were the Habitation of the Natives They have a Drink call'd Mobby Their Drink made of Potatoes soaked in water another named Prino made of Cassavy-Root and Water which though it is not so pleasant yet is reckoned much better made by the Indians for their own drinking which in it self is a strong Poyson and this they cause their old Women whose Breath and Teeth have been tainted with divers Poxes to chew and spit out in the water for the better breaking and macerating the Root and in a few hours this Juice will purge itself of its poysonous qualities for their poysonous Breath and the poyson of the Cassary being opposites work with such vehemency that they spend their poysonous qualities in the conflict they likewise drink Crippo Kill-Devil Punch Plum-Drink Plantane-Drink a strong Drink made of the skimming of Sugar Beveridge made of Spring-water Sugar and the Juice of Oranges and Wine of Pines which is only made of the Juice of the Fruit which is the best of all Their Meat Their Meats is generally Hogs-Flesh salted Flesh or Fish and when any of the Cattel die by any distemper or by accident it is given to the Negroes who feed like Princes on it but they are commonly contented from weeks end to weeks end with Potatoes Loblolly made of Maize mixt with water Cassader-Bread common in all the Indies Bonariff and such like Food that the Plantation affords as Pompions as sweet as Melons Plantanes
and feeds on other Birds yet to shew his Generosity never sets upon the weaker sort but those that are armed with crooked Beaks and sharp Talons like himself nay it is observable he never seizes his Prey on the Ground or a Tree but stays till it has taken its slight that he may engage it in the open Air with equal advantage upon whom he furiously fastens his Talons and having mastered them tears them in pieces and devours them There is also a large Bird in this Isle called a Craw-Fowl about the bigness of a great Duck the Feathers Ash colour and hideous to the Eye it hath a long slâ—t back a great head small eyes deep set in his head and a short neck under which hangs a Bag or Craw so big that it will contain two Gallons of Water they are commonly found on Trees by the Sea-side where assoon as they perceive a Fish at advantage they seize it and swallow it whole they are so attentive on their Fishing fixing their Eye constantly on the Sea that they are easily shot and become a prey to others They have such an an admirable Sight that they will discover a Fish in the Sea at a very great distance and under Water above a fathom yet they will not seize until they come almost even with it their Flesh is not to be eaten Here are likewise found a kind of Pheasants which are called Pintadoes because they are as it were painted with colours and have about them small points like so many Eyes on a dark Ground To conclude with these Fowls we shall give an account of the Colibry or Humming-Bird which is admirable for its Beauty Bulk sweet Sent and manner of Life for being the least of all Birds he gloriously confirms the Saying of Pliny That Nature is ever greatest in its least productions Some of these Birds are no bigger bodied than the greater sorts of Flies yet of such beautiful Feathers that the Neck Wings and Back represent the Rainbow there are others that have such a bright red under their Neck that at a distance one would imagine it to be a Carbuncle the Belly and under the Wings as yellow as Gold the Thighs green like an Emerald the Feet and Beak as black as polish'd Ebony the two little Eyes like two Diamonds set in an Oval of the colour of burnish'd Steel the Head is grass-green which gives it such a lustre that it looks as if gilt the Male hath a little Tuft on the Head in which may be seen all the Colours which enamel this little Body the Miracle of this feathered Commonwealth is one of the rarest productions of Nature he moves that little Crown of Feathers at pleasure and is more beautiful than the Female as his Bulk and Plumage is miraculous so is the activity of his flight making a noise with his wings as if a little whirlwind were raised in the Air of a sudden which surprizes them that hear him before they see him he lives only on the dew which he sucks from the flowers of Trees with his Tongue which is longer than his Beak hollow as a Reed and about the bigness of a small Needle 't is pleasant to look on him in that posture for spreading abroad his little Crest one would think he had on his head a Crown of Rubies and all sorts of precious stones animated and flying in the Air The Female commonly lays but two Eggs which are oval about the bigness of a Pea or small Pearl and though he lose much of his Beauty when dead yet there is so much left that some Ladies have worn them for Pendants and imagined they became them better than any other its Smell is so odoriferous that it is like the finest Musk and Amber A DESCRIPTION OF THE Island of MEVIS THE Island of Nevis or Mevis lieth not far from St. Christophers It s Situation as I have before noted and in the Latitude of 17 degrees and 19 minutes north of the Line It is but small being not above 18 Miles in Circuit It s Circuit and in the midst of the Isle there is but one only Mountain which is of a great heighth but of an easie access and cloathed with Trees up to the very top about which Mountains are the Plantations which reach to the Sea-shoar Here are divers Springs of fresh-water whereof some are strong enough to make their way into the Sea and one Spring is of a hot and mineral Water not far from whose Spring-head are Baths made found very beneficial for several Diseases The English planted themselves in this Isle in 1628. Inhabitants and are still possessors thereof being now about three or four thousand Inhabitants who live well and drive a very handsom Trade for such things as they have occasion for by exchanging such Commodities Commodities as the Isle produceth as Sugar Cotton Ginger Tobacco c. which they exchange for other Conveniencies Of all the Caribby-Islands none is so well governed as this Their Government Justice being administred with that impartiality and all Debauchery and Immorality severely punished by a Council of the most eminent and ancient Inhabitants For the Service of God there are three Churches Their Churches erected and for its further security and safety it hath a Fort whereon are mounted several great Guns that command at a great distance for the security of the Ships in the Road or Harbour which likewise secure their Store-houses into which all the Commodities imported for the use of the Inhabitants are disposed and so distributed to them that have occasion for them It is indifferent fruitful and it hath great store of Deer It s Fertility with with several other sorts of Game for hunting This Isle as the rest of the Charibbies is troubled with Muschetoes Chigoes Murigoins and there are Lizards five foot in length and a foot about their Skins of divers colours according to the different Soil they are bred in several of them have such glittering Scales and Skins that at a distance off look like Cloth of Gold and Silver they have four feet each with five Claws and very sharp Nails they run exceeding fast and climb trees dexterously and whether they love men or are stupid they stand still looking on the Huntsmen suffering them to put a Ginn with a running knot about their necks which is fastened to the end of a Pole whereby they get them off the trees where they rest themselves they have wide Jaws with exceeding sharp Teeth their Tongues thick and whatsoever they catch with their Teeth they hold very fast which are not at all venomous the Females lay Eggs about the bigness of Woodcocks the shell being soft which they lay deep in the Sands of the Sea-shoar to be hatched by the Sun they are sometimes eaten though not very well liked by many The Annolis is another Creature very common in all the Plantations about the bigness of a Lizard
only two large Feathers on the Tail a little shorter and the Beak turned down like a Parrot and its Feet like Ducks it s only black under the Belly something white like our Swallows in short it is so very like them that it may be called the Swallow of America A DESCRIPTION OF THE Island of ANTEGO It s Situation THE Island of Antego is seated in the Latitude of 16 Degrees and 11 Minutes Extent It is in length about 6 or 7 Leagues and much of the same breadth in several places The Access to it is very dangerous for Shipping by reason of the Rocks which incompass it It was conceived heretofore that it was not to be inhabited upon presumption that there was no fresh Water in it but the English who have planted themselves in it have met with some few Springs of fresh Water besides which the Inhabitants which are about 8 or 900 persons have made several Ponds and Cisterns for the preserving of Rain-water The Commodities Its Commodities of this Isle are Sugar Indico Ginger and Tobacco c. This Isle doth abound with Fish of all sorts Their Fish amongst which the Shark-fish deserves remark it is a kind of Sea-Wolf or Sea-Dog the most devouring of all Fishes and the most greedy of Mans-flesh and therefore exceeding dangerous to those that swim he lives altogether by prey and generally follows Ships to feed on the filth cast out of them into the Sea These Monsters seem yellow in the water some of them are of a vast length and bigness insomuch that they are able to cut a man in two at one bite their Skin so rough that they pollish Wood with it instead of Files their Heads are flat and the opening of their Mouths is under their Snout so that they are forced to turn their Bellies almost upward when they seize their prey their Teeth are very sharp and broad jagged like a Saw some having three or four ranks in each Jaw-bone they lye within their Gums but sufficiently appear when there is occasion These cruel Sea-Dogs are attended by two or three small Fishes and sometimes more which go before them with such swiftness and exactness that they go either forward or stay as he doth The Meat of him is not good but the Brains are found to be good and profitable against the Stone and Gravel There is likewise found another ravenous Sea-Monster called the Becune a dreadful enemy to Man-kind in shape like a Pike being about seven or eight foot long he lives by prey and furiously fastens like a Blood-hound on the Men he perceives in the water He carries away whatsoever he once fastens on and his Teeth are so venomous that the least touch of them becomes mortal if some sovereign Antidote be not immediately applied to divert and abate the Poyson There are another sort of Becunes by some called Sea Wood-Cocks their Beaks being somewhat like a Wood-Cock's Bill only the upper part much longer than the lower and moves both Jaws with like facility some of them being four foot long and twelve inches broad near the Head which is somewhat like a Swines with two large Eyes extreamly shining he hath two Fins on the sides and under the Belly a large Plume rising higher like a Cock's Comb reaching from Head to Tail Besides a long solid Beak it hath two sorts of Horns hard and black and about a foot and a half in length which hang down under his Throat and are particular to this kind of Fish and these he can easily hide in a hollow place under his Belly which serves them for a sheath it hath no Scales but a rough black Skin on the Back and the Meat is eatable Another Fish found about these Islands is called the Sea Vrchin or Hedge-Hog and rightly deserves that Name it is round as a Ball and full of exceeding sharp Prickles which makes it to be feared and by several it is called the Armed Fish they are sent as Presents to those that are curious to hang in their Closets There is great plenty of most sorts of Wild Fowl and not wanting in Venison and Tame Cattel The Commodities this Island affords are Sugar Indico Ginger and Tobacco c. The Sea-Parrots are very admirable having extraordinary sparkling and beautiful Eyes the Ball whereof being as clear as Cristal inclosed within a circle as green as an Emerald of which colour are the Scales on their Backs they have no Teeth but Jaws above and below of a solid bone very strong of the same colour with their Scales and divided into little compartiments very beautiful to the Eye they live on Shell-fish and they crush as between two Milstones with their hard Jaws Oysters Muscles and other Shell-fish to get out the Meat They are an excellent sort of Fish to eat and so great that some of them have weighed upward of twenty pound The Dorado by some called the Sea-Bream by others the amber-Amber-fish is also common in these parts so called because in the water the Head seems to be of a green guilt and the rest of the Body as yellow as Gold It takes great pleasure and delight in following of Ships but being so swift is very hard to take being extraordinary well furnished for swimming having the fore-part of the Head sharp the Back bristles with prickles reaching to the Tail which is forked two Fins on each side the Head and as many under the Belly and the whole Body rather broad than big all which give him a strange command of the water he is as good Meat as a Trout or Salmon they are caught only with a piece of white Linnen tyed to the Hook This Island also abounds with divers sorts of Fowls and Birds Fowls and Birds those of more than an ordinary kind are the Canades which some count the most beautiful Bird in the World being under the Belly and Wings of a waving Aurora colour the Back and one half of the Wings of a very bright Sky-colour the Tail and greater Feathers of Wings are mixt with a sparkling Carnation diversified with a Sky upon the Back it is grass-green with shining black which very much addeth to the Gold and Azure of the other Plumage but the most beautiful part is the Head covered with a kind of Murrey-down chequered with green yellow and a pale blew which reaches waving down to his Back the Eye-lids being white and the Apple of the Eye of a most excellent yellow and red like a Ruby set in Gold it hath upon the Head a Tuft or Cap of Feathers of a Vermilion red sparkling like a lighted Coal which is incompassed by other smaller Feathers of a Pearl colour It is about the bigness of a Pheasant and exceeding kind and familiar with its friends but as severe to its enemies The Flamot is an exceeding large and beautiful Bird about the bigness of a wild Goose his Beak is like a Spoon his Legs and Neck very long
hath been here And in their Complaints to any of the French Governours this is commonly the first Thy Mariners for so they call all strangers have taken away a Knife or some such small trifle out of my Cottage They are a People linked in one common intrest and love each other extreamly so that very rarely any difference ariseth amongst them but if they are by chance offended though it be by one of their own People they seldom ever forget it but study all imaginable ways of revenge and when their Sorcerers tell them such an one hath done them the Mischief that happens to them they watch all opportunities to kill him crying out He hath bewitched me I will be revenged on him They bear great respect to ancient people the younger sort complying in all things with their sentiments and wills Their Youths have no conversation either with their Maids or married Women and are generally less amorous than those of the Female Sex though both are very chast a Vertue worthy admiration in a barbarous People that go naked But by the pernicious Examples the Christians have set them they are now grown somewhat more loose They are great lovers of Neatness which is not very usual among Savages for if a man should but ease himself in their Garden where their Potatoes grow they will forsake them A DESCRIPTION OF NEW-JERSEY NEW-JERSEY is part of the Province of New-Albion aforementioned and is subdivided into East and West-Jersey East-Jersey lies between 39 and 41 Degrees of North-Latitude It s Situation being about 12 Degrees more to the South than the City of London it is bounded on the South-East by the main Sea East by that vast Navigable Stream called Hudson's River West by a Line of Division which separates it from West-Jersey and North upon the main Land and extends itself in length on the Sea-Coasts and along Hudson's River One hundred English Miles and upward The Proprietors Proprietors of this Province who in 1682. were William Penn Robert West Thomas Rudyard Samuel Groom Thomas Hart Richard Mew Thomas Wilcox Ambrose Rigg John Heywood Hugh Hartshorn Clement Plumstead and Thomas Cooper have published the following Account for the information and incouragement of all Persons who are inclined to settle themselves Families and Servants in that Country which may give sufficient satisfaction of the Situation Conveniencies and Product thereof The conveniency of Situation temperature of Air and fertility of Soyl is such that there is no less then seven considerable Towns viz. Shrewsbury Chief Towns Middle-Town Burgin Newark Elizabeth-Town Woodbridge and Piscataway which are all inhabited by a sober and industrious People who have necessary Provisions for themselves and Families and for the comfortable Entertainment of Strangers and Travellers And this Colony is experimentally found generally to agree well with English Constitutions For Navigation it hath these advantages Its Advantanges for Navigation not only to be situate along the Navigable part of Hudson's River but lies also fifty Miles on the main Sea And near the midst of this Province is that noted Bay for Ships within Sand-Hook very well known not to be inferiour to any in America where Ships not only harbour in greatest storms but ride safe with all winds and sail in and out thence as well in Winter as Summer For Fishery the Sea-banks there are very well stored with variety of Fish not only such as are profitable for Transsportation but fit for Food there As Whales It s Fish Cod-fish Cole and hake-Hake-fish large Mackarel and many other sorts of flat and small Fish The Bay also and Hudson's River are plentifully stored with Sturgeon Great Basse and other scale-Scale-fish Eels and Shell-fish as Oysters c. in great plenty and easie to take This Counrry is plentifully supplied with lovely Springs Waters Rivulets In-land Rivers and Creeks which fall into the Sea and Hudson's River in which is much plenty and variety of fresh-fresh-Fish and Water-Fowl There is also great plenty of Oak-Timber Trees fit for Shipping and Masts for Ships and other variety of Wood like the adjacent Colonies as Chesnut Walnut Poplar Cedar Ash Fir c. fit for building within the Countrey The Land or Soyl as in other places varies in goodness and richness It s Fertility but generally fertil and with much smaller labour than in England produceth plentiful Crops of all sorts of English Grain besides Indian Corn which English Planters find not only to be of vast encrease but very wholsome and good in use It also produceth good Flax and Hemp which they now spin and manufacture into Linnen Cloth There 's sufficient Meadow and Marish to their Up-lands and the very Barrens there as they are called are not like some in England but produce Grass fit for grazing Cattel in Summer season The Countrey is well stored with Wild Deer Fruits Fowls Conies and wild Fowl of several sorts as Turkeys Pigeons Partridges Plover Quails wild Swans Geese Ducks c. in great plenty It produceth variety of good delicious Fruits as Grapes Plums Mulberries Apricocks Peaches Pears Apples Quinces Water-Melons c. which are here in England planted in Orchards and Gardens These as also many other Fruits which come to perfection in England are the more natural product of this Country There are already great store of Horses Cows Hogs Cattel and some Sheep which may be bought at reasonable prices with English Money or English Commodities or Man's Labour where Moneys and Goods are wanting What sort of Mine or Minerals are in the Bowels of the Earth after-time must produce the Inhabitants not having yet employed themselves in search thereof But there is already a Melting-Furnace and Forge set up in this Colony where is made good Iron which is of great benefit to the Country It is exceedingly well furnished with safe and convenient Harbours Harbours for Shipping which is of great advantage to that Countrey and affords already for Exportation great plenty of Horses and also Beef Pork Pipe-staves Boards Bread Flower Wheat Barley Rie Indian Corn Butter and Cheese which they export for Barbadoes Jamaica Mevis and other adjacent Islands as also to Portugal Spain the Canaries c. Their Whale-Oyl and Whale-Fins Bever Monkey Racoon and Martin-Skins which this Countrey produceth they transport for England The Situation and Soyl of this Country may invite any who are inclined to transport themselves into those parts of America For 1. It being considerably peopled and situate on the Sea-coast with convenient Harbours and so near adjacent to the Province of New York and Long Island being also well peopled Colonies may be proper for Merchants Tradesmen and Navigators 2. It is likewise proper for such who are inclined to Fishery the whole Coast and very Harbours-mouths being fit for it which has been no small Rise to New-England People and may be here carried on also with great advantage 3. For its Soyl it is
Scurvey against which their Turnips proved a sovereign Remedy There are Musk-Cats and Musk-Rats and near the Coasts is great killing of Marses or Sea-Oxen a small Ship in a small time slew fifteen hundred of them They are bigger than an Ox the Hide dressed is as thick again as a Bull 's they have Teeth like Elephants about a foot longer growing downwards out of the upper Jaw and therefore less dangerous It is sold dearer than Ivory and by some thought ns great an Antidote as the Vnicorn's Horn. The young ones eat like Veal which the old will defend to the utmost holding them in their Arms or Fore-feet out of the Bellies of five of these Fishes which live both on the Land and Water they make an Hogshead of Train-Oyl They sleep in great Companies and have one Centinel or Watchman to wake the rest upon occasion Their Sâ—ins are short-haired like Seals theirfaces resembles a Lion's and may therefore more justly be called Sea-Lyons than Sea-Oxen or Horses East of New-found-land over against Cape-Ray at the distance of about 70 Miles from that Shore lies a Bank or Ridge of Ground extending about 300 Miles in length and not above 75 in breadth where broadest This great Bank is covered with Water when the Sea is high and uncovered and dry on the Ebb on all sides whereof the Sea is 200 fathom deep so that ships of a considerable Burthen may ride over it And about this Bank lies dispersed several small Isles called by St. Sebastian Cabot the first Discoverer Los Boocaloos or the Isles of Cod-Fish from that Prodigious quantities of Cod-fish there found which were said to obstruct the passage of his Vessels It is almost incredible how many Nations yearly Trade thither Their Trade amounting to between three or four hundred Sayl of Ships that are assured to find sufficient Freight of Cod and Poor John one man catching an hundred in an hour they Fish with Hooks which are no sooner thrown into the Sea but the greedy Fish snapping the Bait is taken and drawn on Ship-board where they lay him on a Plank one cutting off his Head another guts and takes out its biggest Bones another salts and barrels it which being thus ordered is hence transported by the European Nations to all parts of Christendom and through most other parts of the World They fish only in the Day the Cod not biting in the Night nor doth the Fish last all Seasons but begins towards Spring and ends in September for in Winter they retire to the bottom of the Sea where Storms and Tempests have no power Near these Coasts is another kind of Fishing for Cod which the call Dried as the other Green-Fish The Fishermen retire into some Harbour and every Morning send out their Shallops two or three Leagues into the Sea who fail not of their Load by Noon or soon after which they bring to Land and order as the other After this Fish has lain some days in Salt they take it out and dry it in the Wind laying it again in heaps and exposing it daily to the open Ayr till it be dry which ought to be good and temperate to make the Fish saleable for Mists moisten it and make it rot and the Sun causes yellowness At this their Fishing the Mariners have likewise the pleasure of taking Fowl without going out of their Vessels for baiting their Hook with the Cod's Livers these Fowls are so greedy that they come by Flocks and fight who shall get the Bait first which soon proves its Death and one being taken the Hook is no sooner thrown out but another is instantly catcht And were the English diligent to inspect the advantage that might accrue to this Nation by setling Plantations on the Island and raise Fortifications for the security of the Place we might give Laws to all Foreigners that come to Fish there and in few years engross the whole Fishery to our selves the greatest Ballance perchance of Foreign Trade In the Year 1623. Sir George Calvert Knight and Principal Secretary of State and afterwards Lord Baltemore obtained a Patent of part of New-found-Land which was erected into a Province and called Avalon where he caused a Plantation to be setled and a stately House and Fort to be built at Ferryland and afterwards transported himself and Family thither and continued the Plantation by his Deputy till by Descent after his Lordships Decease it came to his Son and Heir the right Honourable Caecilius now Lord Baltemore who by Deputies from time to time was no less careful to preserve his interest there which tho' during the last Troubles in England was by Sir David Kirk's means for some years discontinued he was soon re-invested in the same by His Majesties most happy Restauration A DESCRIPTION OF THE Island of TOBAGO THis Island of Tobago is situaated in 11 degrees Iss Situation 30 minutes North Latitude and in 53 degrees 6 minutes Longitude West from the Lizard and about 40 League distance from Barbados its extent not exceeding 32 Miles in Length and about 11 in Breadth It is a Countrey blest with a temperate and wholesom Air It s Temperature by reason of a warm and temperate heat being moderated by a continual Brieze of Wind so that here is no Summer spent on purpose for Winter-provisions because all the year long both Herbage and Fruit bud up by a perpetual Spring And the Island is so well stored with Materials for Building that provided you bring dextrous Hands and good Artificers you may in a short time with little Charge build both Houses Towns and Fortifications The Soyl doth naturally produce Indian-Corn Corn Grain such as grows at Virginia New-York Carolina c. But no English Grain grows here however there are English Pease of divers sorts and Beans and Pulse enough likewise there is Guinea-Corn Bonevis the French-Pea the Kidney-Pea the Pigeon-Pea the French-Bean c. Here are excellent Fruits in great abundance Its Fruits as the Cushen-Apple which are both Meat and Drink only made distinguishable by the Art of Boyling whose Nut if preserved you may eat and of the Rinds while green make an excellent Lamp-Oyl which by small Labour is easily obtained Here is a Fruit called a Bonano which may be eaten raw or bettered by an easie decoction of Fire Here is also the Fig-tree such as is that in Spain and Portugal and several parts in America Then there is the Prickle-Apple the Pomegranate the Pine-Apple Pome Citrons Oranges of three sorts the sower for Sawce and the Flowers for Essences the sweet ones are eaten for Recreation But the China-Orange that grows here in America super-excels those in Europe beyond expression Of Limons here are two sorts the sower one for Limonadoes and the sweet one for Delectation So of Limes also here are sweet and sower with the last of which they make Limeads and Punch Guavers is a Fruit that is exceeding stony there is the
have formerly been Fields of Indian Maiz or Wheat but the Spaniards when they made themselves Masters of the Isle and had destroyed all the Natives to the number of about sixty thousand Persons converted them to Pasture for the feeding of Horses Cows Hogs and other Cattel which they brought with them for Breed which they did so fast that there are now great Heards of Horses and other Cattel running wild in the Woods These Savanaes are accounted the most barren parts of the Island in regard they have lain so long without Tillage which notwithstanding doth produce such vast quantities of Grass that the Planters are oftentimes constrained to burn it up The Air is there very serene and clear It s Temperature and more temperate than in any other Islands in those parts and in reference to Heat is as mild as in any place that lieth between the Tropicks in regard it is continually fann'd and cool'd by fresh Breezes which continually blow Eastwardly beside which 't is refreshed with frequent Showers of Rain and great Dews which fall in the night and conduce very much to the quickning the growth of what is planted so that it may truly be called temperate and healthful and its continual Verdure commends it as one of the most delightful Places in the World to live in especially the South part of the Isle the East and West parts being somewhat more subject to Rains and Winds and in regard the Mountainous and Woody renders the Air less wholsom and agreeable than it is in the North but especially the Southern which gave the occasion to the English to build Port-Royal there it being thought convenient that the chief Port and Capital City be upon the best Spot they could find out in the Island However no part of this Island is in the least subject to those violent and injurious Storms called Hurricans wherewith the Caribbies and some other places in those parts are sometimes pestered which with a sudden fury drive their Ships from Harbour cast them on shore blow down their Houses tear up their Canes and hurry all into confusion And had not this Island afforded Relief to many of the wracked Inhabitants when they had been thus distressed they must in all probability have perished Nor doth any part of this Island unavoidably necessitate any of its new Inhabitants to any particular Distemper as Virginia and other places do but if those who go thither will upon their Arrival but forbear excess of eating and drinking use moderate exercise and make choice of such places for their settlement as lie not too low in Vallies where there comes but little Air or too near Rivers where they may peradventure be incommoded with too much moisture or at the Foot of Mountains or Morasses where probably you may have more Rain than you 'l desire nor by the Sea side or upon Bays where besides the inconvenience of its Sandiness it will occasion your want of good Water you will be mightily afflicted with the violent Reflections of the Sun's Beams which are much fiercer here than in other parts of the Isle It hath been observed by some who have lived in the Island that the Mountains which run along through the midst of the Isle from one extream point to the other are much cooler than the other parts insomuch that sometimes in the Morning early there are small white Frosts As for the Weather it is less certain in Jamaica than in the rest of the Caribby Islands The Air. but wet Seasons are most expected in May and November The Winds blow constantly from the East without the least variation which they call Briezes They usually rise about Nine in the Morning and blow fresher as the Sun mounts higher so that Travel and Labour are tolerable at Mid-day These Easterly Winds commonly blow till about six or seven in the Afternoon and then they change to the West which the Islanders call Land-Briezes because they blow off the Shoar and carry their Ships and Vessels out of their Harbors There is no apparent Winter only they have somewhat more Rain and Thunder in the Winter-Months than at other times nor doth the length of the Days and Nights vary much but they continue almost all the year round of an equal length viz. about fifteen hours day And that which seems much stranger is the Seas having seldom been observed to ebb or flow above a foot or thereabouts nor hath any Pilot ever yet been able to give a certain account of the Currents of those Seas in regard they are so various and uncertain nor could any ever give a reason why the Hurricans and Earthquakes should never reach Jamaica although they have so grievously afflicted the adjacent Islands The Rivers of this Island are none of them fair or navigable up into the Country It s Road and Harbors in regard the Island is very mountainous and their original is for the most part in those Hills that run through its Center which running East and West the Rivers that rise in them disembogue themselves North and South and falling out of those high Mountains are very fierce and rapid in their motion being likewise in regard of the great Rains subject to great and sudden Inundations at which times they fall with such fury that great Stone-Rocks and large pieces of Timber are born down and carried along by the violence of the Torrent which makes their usual passage so foul and troublesom that they are thereby rendred altogether unpassable by Boats and other small Vessels Besides which there are divers of them which at some times have not one drop of Water in them but are wholly dried up which renders them likewise useless for Navigation as particularly that of Minoa that runs through Clarendon which sometimes hath not a drop of Water and yet at other Seasons hath as much as the River of Thames at high-high-water But although the Rivers are thus useless yet towards the Sea the Island abounds with great plenty of very good Bays Roads and Harbours the principal whereof are 1. Port-Royal Port-Royal which at it first setling by the English soon after they took the Island from the Spaniards received the Name of Cagway but when the Town began to encrease and draw towards its perfection it obtained in Sir Charles Littleton's time the Name of Port-Royal in regard of the excellency of its Harbour It is situated on the extream end of that long point of Land that makes the Harbour running about twelve Miles from the Main Westerly having the Sea on its South and the Harbour on the North which Harbour is so exceeding safe and commodious for Shipping that they are secure in all Weathers and can unlade themselves afloat at the Merchants-Key being likewise during their Riding there secured from any Attempts that might be made on them by an Enemy by one of the strongest and most considerable Castles that His Majesty hath in all Amemerica which is well
more Clothes than in England The reason of this cold is given from the great Lakes that are fed by the Fountains of Canada The Winter before was as mild scarce any Ice at all while this for a few days froze up our great River Delaware From that Month to the Month called June we enjoyed a sweet Spring no Gusts but gentle Showers and a fine Sky Yet this I observe that the Winds here as there are most inconstant Spring and Fall upon that turn of Nature than in Summer or Winter From thence to this present Month which ended the Summer commonly speaking we have had extraordinary heats yet mitigated sometimes by cold Breezes The Wind that rules the Summer-season is the South-West but Spring Fall and Winter 't is rare to want the wholesom North-Western seven days together and whatever Mists Fogs or Vapours foul the Heavens by Easterly or Southerly Winds in two hours time are blown away the one is always followed by the other A Remedy that seems to be a peculiar Providence in it to the Inhabitants the multitude of Trees yet standing being liable to retain Mists and Vapours and yet not one quarter so thick as I expected The natural product of the Country of Vegetables Vegetables is Trees Fruits Plants Flowers the Trees of most Note are the Black Walnut Cedar Cyprus Chesnut Poplar Gum-wood Hickery Sassafras Ash Beech and Oak of divers sorts as Red White and Black Spanish Chesnut and Swamp the most durable of all of all which there is plenty for use of Man The Fruits Fruits that I find in the Woods are the white and black Mulberry Chesnuts Walnut Plums Strawberries Cranberries Hurtleberries and Grapes of divers sorts the great red Grape now Ripe called by ignorance the Fox-Grape because of the relish it hath with unskilful palates is in it self an extraordinary Grape and by art doubtless may be cultivated to an excellent Wine if not so sweet yet little inferiour to the Frontiniack as it is not much unlike in taste ruddiness set aside which in such things as well as Mankind differs the case much There is a white kind of Muskadel and a little black Grape like the cluster of Grapes in England not yet so ripe as the other but they tell me when ripe sweeter and that they only want skilful Vinerons to make good use of them I intend to venture on it with my French Man this Season who shews some knowledge in those things Here are also Peaches very good and in great quantities not an Indian Plantation without them but whether naturally here at first I know not however one may have them by Bushels for little they make a pleasant Drink and I think not inferiour to any Peach you have in England except the true Newington 'T is disputable with me whether it be best to fall to Fining the Fruits of the Country especially the Grapes by the care and skill of Art or send for Forreign Stems and Sets already good and approved it seems most reasonable to believe that not only a thing groweth best where it naturally grows but will hardly be equall'd by another's Species of the same kind that doth not naturally grow there But to resolve this doubt I intend if God give me life to try both and hope the Consequences will be as good Wine as any European Countries of the same Latitude do yield The artificial Product It s Product of the Country is Wheat Barley Oats Rye Pease Beans Squashes Pumkins Water-Melons Musk-Melons and all Herbs and Roots that our Gardens in England usually bring forth Of Living Creatures Living Creatures as Fish Fowl and the Beast of the Woods here are divers sorts some for Food and Profit and some for Profit only for food as well as profit the Elk as big as a small Ox Deer bigger than ours Beaver Racoon Rabbits Squirrils and some eat young Bear and commend it Of Fowls of the Land there is the Turkey forty or fifty pound weight which is very great Pheasants Heath-Birds Pidgeons and Patridges in abundance Of the Water the Swan Goose white and gray Ducks Teal also the Snipe and Curloe and that in great numbers but the Duck and Teal excel nor so good have I ever eat in other Countries Of Fish there is the Sturgeon Herring Rock Shad Catshead Eel Smelt Pearch Roch and in Inland Rivers Trout some say Salmon above the Falls Of Shell-fish we have Oysters Crabs Cockles Concks Museta's some Oysters six Inches long and one sort of Cockles as big as the stewing Oyster they make a rich Broth. The Creatures for profit only by Skin or Furr and that are natural to those Parts are the Wild-Cat Panther Otter Wolf Fox Fisher Minx Musk-Rat And of the Water the Whale for Oyl of which we have good store and two companies of Whalers whose Boats are built will soon begin their work which hath the appearance of a considerable improvement to nothing of our reasonable hopes of good Cod in the Bay We have no want of Horses and some are very good shapely enough two Ships have been fraighted to Barbadoes with Horses and Pipe-staves since my coming in here is also plenty of Cow-Cattel and some Sheep the People Plow mostly with Oxen. There are divers Plants Plants that not only the Indians tell us but we have had occasion to prove by Swellings Burns Cuts c. that they are of great virtue suddenly curing the Patient and for smell I have observed several especially one the wild Mirtle the other I know not what to call but are most fragrant the Woods are adorned with lovely Flowers for colour greatness figure and variety I have seen the Gardens of London best stored with that sort of beauty but think they may be improved by our Woods I have sent a few to a Person of Quality this year for a Tryal Thus much of the Country next of the Natives or Origines The Natives I shall consider in their Persons Language Manners Religion and Government with my sense of their Original For their Persons Their Persons they are generally tall streight well built and of singular proportion they tread strong and clever and mostly walk with a lofty Chin of Complexion black but by design as the Gypsies in England they grease themselves with Bear 's Fat clarifi'd and using no defence against Sun or Weather there Skins must needs be swarthy their Eye is little and black not unlike a streightlook'd Jew the thick Lip and flat Nose so frequent to the East-Indians and Blacks are not common to them for I have seen as comely European-like Faces among them of both as on your side the Sea and truly an Italian Complexion hath not much more of the White and the Noses of several of them have as much of the Roman Their Language Their Language is lofty yet narrow but like the Hebrew in Signification full like Short-hand in Writing one word serveth in the place
pierce through the hardest Bodies it s Fesh is delicate Meat and its Body so large that three Hundred Persons are reported to have fed upon one taken in those Parts But none of those Sea Monsters that are eatable are so much in esteem as a certain Fish called by the French Lamantine or Manaty some whereof are eighteen Foot long having a Head like a Cow and is therefore called the Sea-Cow it hath a thick dark coloured Skin somewhat hairy which when dried serves for a defence against the Arrows of the Indians instead of Finns they have two short Feet which seem much too weak for the supporting so heavy a Body he lives upon what grows on the Rocks and in shallow places where there is not much Water Upon this Coast likewise are often seen great numbers of Fishes which Fly fifteen or twenty Foot above Water Flying Fish and near one Hundred Paces in length but no more in regard their Wings are dried by the Sun they are somewhat like Herrings but of a rounder Head and broader Back their Wings like a Bats in their flight they often strike against the Sails of Ships and fall even in the day time upon the Decks and some report them to be very good Meat the occasion of their flying is to avoid danger from greater Fishes but they meet with Enemies in the Air as well as Water having open hostility with certain Sea-Fowl which living only upon prey seize them as they fly The Sword-Fish The Sword-Fish is worth observing as well as the Flying-Fish it hath at the end of the upper Jaw a defensive weapon about the breadth of a great broad Sword which hath sharp hard Teeth on both sides several of these Swords are five Foot long and about six Inches broad towards the lower end with seven and twenty white solid Teeth in each rank and the bulk of their Bodies answering thereto the Head of this Monster is flat and hideous to behold being in form of a Heart having near their Eyes two vents at which they cast out the Water they have swallowed they have no Scales but a grayish Skin on the Back and white under the Belly which is rough like a File they have seven Finns two on each Side two on the back and one which serves them for a Tail Some call them Saw-Fishes and others Emperours because there is always open War between them and the Whale which is very often wounded to death by their terrible weapon A DESCRIPTION OF THE Island of ANGVILLA THhis Isle of Anguilla sometimes called Snake-Island from its shape seated in the Latitude of 18 deg and 21 min. on this side the Equinoctial Situation is a long Tract of Land and extendeth itself length about ten Leagues and in breadth about three The Inhabitants Inhabitants are English which are computed to amount unto two or three Hundred which Plant Tobacco which is highly esteemed by those who are good Judges in that Commadity Before the discovery of America there were not found in these Parts any Horses Kine Oxen Sheep Goats Swine or Dogs but for the better conveniency of their Navigations and supply of their Ships in case of necessity they left some of these Creatures in several Parts of this New-found World where they have since multiplied and become so numerous that they are more common than in any Part of Europe But besides these Forreign kind of Cattel there were before in these Islands certain sorts of strange four footed Beats Their Beasts and Cattel as the Opassum about the bigness of a Cat with a sharp Snout the neither Jaw being shorter than the upper like a Pigs it hath very sharp Claws and climbs Trees easily feeding upon Birds and in want thereof upon Fruit it is remarkable for a purse or bag of its own Skin folded together under its Belly wherein it carries its Young which he lays upon the ground at pleasure by opening that natural purse and when he would depart he opens it again and the Young ones get in and he carries them with him where-ever he goes the Female suckles them without setting them on the ground for her Teates lie within that purse they commonly bring six Young ones but the Male who hath such another natural purse under his Belly takes his turn to carry them to ease the Female There is also in some of these Islands a kind of wild Swine with short Ears almost no Tail and their Navels on their Backs some of them are all black others have certain white spots their strange grunting is more hideous than that of Swine they are called Javaris the flesh is of taste good enough but very hardly taken in regard the Boar is in a manner unwearied by reason of a vent or hole he hath on his Back by which his Lungs are mightily refreshed and if he be forced when he is pursued by Dogs to stop he is armed with such sharp and cutting Tushes that he tearts to pieces all that set upon him The Tatous is another strange Creature armed with a hard scaly coat wherewith they cover and secure themselves as with armour having a Head and Snout like a Pig wherewith they turn up the ground they have also in each Paw five very sharp Claws which help them to thrust out the Earth with the more ease and pull up the Roots whereupon they feed in the night time they have in their Tail a small bone which is reported to help deafness and noise and pains in the Ears they are about the bigness of a Fox and their flesh is accounted delicate Meat when they are pursued or sleep which is usually in the day time they close themselves close up together like a Bowl and get in their Feet Head and Ears with so much dexterity under their hard Scales that their whole Body is by that natural armour secured against all the attempts of Huntsmen and Dogs and when at any time they come near any precipiece or steep hill they roul down without getting any harm There is likewise the Agouty another Creature of a dark colour with a little Tail without Hair having two Teeth only in each Jaw it holds its meat in the two fore-Claws like a Squirrel and its usual cry is as if it distinctly pronounced the word Covey when it is hunted it gets into hollow Trees out of which it is not to be forced but by smoak making a hideous cry before they will leave the holes in which they are gotten if taken while young they are easily tamed but if old with exceeding difficulty when they are angry they strike the ground with their hind-feet like a Rabbet being about the same bigness and shape only their Ears are short and round 't is a fierce Creature and its hair when angry stands perfectly upright There is likewise Musk-Rats which live in holes and boroughs like Rabbets there comes from them a scent like Musk which causes melancholly and so
White and the Red but they differ in virtue and if baked or boyled green if you pick out the stones you have then a Basis for Marmalade to equalize Quinces Tamarinds grow here naturally but the Plantin of all Fruit the Negroes love best which is a nourishing sovereign wholsom Food Here are Grapes great store but are eaten off the Cluster for the Planter has another Prospect more profitable than Wine Then there 's the Custard-Apple the Sowr-Soap the Papaw-Apple the Mamme-Apple the Yellow-Plum There are Cherries also which bear the year about whose Fruit is somewhat of a sharpish taste but the Coco-Nut-Tree and the Fruit that hangs upon it the Indians idolize and call it Gods-Tree because it produces both Meat Drink and Cloaths it is true beyond dispute that the Nut of it self is a Sweet beyond the sweetest Almond the Shell serves for Cups Spoons and Dishes c. Of the Maccaw-Nut shell the Indians make the Bowls of their Tobacco-Pipes the Kernel is eatable the Nut makes an excellent Lamp-Oyl Then there is the Physick-Nut also two sorts of Melons the one is called Musk the other Water-Melon Also there are Penguins Cucumbers Pumpkins Then there 's two sorts of Gourds the sweet are those which the Planter boyls to make Broth Medicinal and the Wild Gourd for Instruments and Vessels to contain Liquors They have several sorts of Roots as Potatoes Eddies Yanis Their Roots These and Potatoes are their natural Bread if not improper to call it so however it is Food if not Bread of another fashion Then there are Carrots Turnips Parsnips Onions Cassado-Root Likewise Tea grows naturally Tobago-Cinamon Long-Pepper Cod-Pepper Bell-Pepper and Round Pepper some red and some green that grows naturally without Cultivation also Jamaica-Pepper with great plenty of other Fruits and Roots They have great store of Wild Beasts as the Wild-Hog Wild Beasts of which sort of Cattel their Numbers are innumerable when yearly the People cut off at least twenty Thousand and yet they increase at such a prodigious rate that neither Gun nor any other Artifice can be found to destroy them The Pickery is a Beast much resembling a Hog save only he draws his Breath at his Ventricle which for the most part concentrates on the middle of his Back Then here is great quantities of the Armadillaes which the Hollanders call Tattoos Likewise here is two sorts of Guanoes the one of a green but the other of a grey colour which is shaped like a Lizard somewhat resembling the Allegator some of them being four or five foot in length they live upon Herbs Insects and Fruits and burrough like a Coney in the hollow Pits in Sand. The Indian Coney is much taller and larger than ours and their Skins smell of Musk. Then there is the Apostum much like our English Badger but his Legs are equal and most of all assimilates the Racoon and naturally because so affected with Mankind in general that he follows him comes to him and delights to gaze on him Then there are Horses Cows Ass-Negroes Sheep Deer Hogs Goats Rabbets c. Likewise there is the Land-Tortoise also Land-Crabs viz. the red the black and white Crab and there is the Land-Shell-Souldier whose Claws resemble the Claws of a Crab but is of himself a very little Creature some say they are eatable their Fat is a sovereign Oyl and of that singular virtue and excellency as to blunt the venom of a poysoned Dart. Here is great plenty of excellent Fish as the Groper the grey Porgo the red Porgo the Cavallus the green and the grey the last we call Horse-Eye of the size of a Salmon and scaled much alike of the Mullet here are plenty from the size of a Makarel to the extent of a Pickerel The Manatee or Sea-Cow is of an amphibious nature it eats Grass like an Oxe and swims like an Otter that swims sometimes under water and grows to a prodigious greatness for some of them have weighed ten and twelve hundred pound weight they are struck with harping-Irons or other Engines and so taken whose Flesh of Fish necessity only extols it There are various sorts of Turtles the Hawks-Bill the Vandorus the Loggerhead and the green Turtle which last the Natives think sacred for they call its gods-Gods-fish by reason of that extraordinary virtue that is found therein it being found a very great Antidote against Poyson and for the Gonorhaea the Yaws and the French Pox there is not in nature a Food more effectual she lives in the Water and without it it swims like a Fish and yet in the Sand lays Eggs like a Fowl whose Fish is Flesh and admits of various tastes as of Veal of Beef but the Fat is green and eats like Marrow and their Eggs undistinguishable from those of a Hen c. And also there is Barracooto and they are of two sorts and some about two foot in length they have a long Beak or Snout filled full of Teeth The white-mouth'd Barracooto is the wholsomest Fish but the black-mouth'd Fish his Teeth are venomous Likewise there is the Great Garr which the Spaniards call Needle-fish the Pilchard the Anchovy much smaller than a Pilchard the Hedg-hog-fish the Coney-fish the Dolphin the Indian Sturgeon the Flying-fish the Parrot-fish the Amber-fish the Albacore the Boneto the Lobster or Craw-fish the Sea-Souldier the Crunk the Horn-fish the Orney the Shallop-fish Cockles the Sea-Snail the Rock-Oyster the Mangrove-Oyster the Sea-Egg is of two sorts some black and some grey but the grey Eggs are the Oysters because resembling them in taste and are eaten raw with Vinegar and Pepper but better stewed with Wine and Shellots c. Here is great plenty of Fowl Their Fowl as the Bill-bird whose Bill or Beak shews as big as his Body the Black-bird about the bigness of a Crow whose flesh is nothing inferior to a Pigeon but the smaller Black-bird resembles ours in England save only it hath a longer Bill Then there is the Booby-bird the blew-headed Parrot the Macaw the Flamingo Ducks the Sea-gull the Sea-mew the Plover the Turtle-Dove the Man of War-bird the Bird of Paradise or the King-fisher the Pelican the Cockerrico the Indians Name for the Tobago-Pleasants the Carlew the Wood-Pigeon c. Here are sundry sorts of Trees Their Trees as the Cedar Green-Hart Locust of two several sorts the one white and the other red Mastick Mohogony Man-grove White-wood yellow Sanders Bay Box Brazil Bully Crocus Cassia Callabosh Lignum vitae Ebony with several others Commodities Commodities which the Country doth or may produce are Cacao-Nut Sugar Tobacco Indico Ginger Sarsaparilia Semper-vivum Bees-Was Vinillioes Natural Balsam Balm Silk-Grass Green Tar Soap-Earth c. with many curious Shells Stones Markasites and Minerals found up and down the Island of Tobago whose Virtue and Worth is yet unknown DIRECTIONS For Improvement of the Island of TOBAGO SUppose a man that has an Hundred Pound Sterling is minded to transport
Sugar-Canes c. They have also Turkeys Pullets Muscovy Ducks Their Fowls Turtle-Doves Pigeons and Rabbits with excellent Fish of divers kinds Their Fish not known to us as the Green Turtle who come in with the Tide lie upon the Sand till the next return and are easily taken in Lucaick Islands though not in this but sent hither for it is but turning them on their backs with staves and there they lie till they are fetched away A large Turtle as we have mentioned will have in her Body half a Bushel of Eggs which she lays in the Sands where they hatch by the Sun When you are to kill one of the Fishes you lay him on his Back on a Table and when he sees you come with a knife in you hand to kill him he sends forth the most grievous sighs that ever were heard and sheds Tears in abundance after he is opened and his Heart taken out if you lay it in a Dish it will stir and pant ten hours after the Fish is dead there is none more delicious in taste nor more nourishing than he But as for the Master-planters Merchants Factors and Strangers their Fare is far otherwise having their curious made Dishes as Custards Cheese-Cakes Tansics also Sturgeon Anchovies Caveare Botardo Neats Tongues besides Poultrey Fish Fowl Mutton Beef Kid Pork Beans Pease several Roots and other good Dishes And besides the several sorts of Liquors already named Wines Strong Waters Brandy and English Beer so that they find no want and do not consider the condition of those poor wretches their Servants and Slaves who are constrained to so hard a Labour This Island may be divided into Masters Servants and Slaves The Division of the Island the Masters live in all affluence of Pleasure and Delight The Apparel they allow their Servants yearly for the Men are six pair of Drawers twelve pair of Shoes three Monmouth-Caps six Shirts and for the Women four Smocks three Petticoats four Coifs and twelve pair of Shoes besides a Rug-Gown to each to keep them warm in the night and to put on them when they come sweating from their labour To the Negro-Men they allow but three pair of Canvas Drawers and to the Women but three Petticoats But for themselves especially the better sort they are exceeding profuse and costly The Lodging of these poor Wretches is worst of all for having laboured all the day in so hot a Country without any nourishing Diet at night they must be content to lie hard on nothing but a Board without any Coverlet in their Huts or rather Hog-sties but Christian Servants are something better treated being allowed Hamocks Every Sunday which is the only day of Rest and should be set apart for the Service of God they employ either in the getting of the Bark of Trees and making Ropes with it which they truck away for Shirts Drawers and the like or else spend the Day in Recreation as Dancing and Wrestling which they much delight in though they are no great Proficients in either for in their Dancing they use Antick Actions their hands having more of motion than their feet and their head than either nor do the men and women dance together but apart the Musick to which they dance being a sort of Kettle-Drums one bigger than another which makes a strange and various noise but whether harmonious I leave to the Judgment of the Reader The Servants after five years become Freemen of the Island and then employ their time as may be most to their Advantage but the Negro-Slaves and their Children being in bondage for ever are preserved with greater care and used with such severity as occasioned a great conspiracy against their Masters some years since which was so closely carried as no discovery was made till the day before it was to be acted and then one of them either failing of his Courage or out of Love to his Master discovered and prevented it for which many of them were put to death as a Terror to the rest who being so numerous might prove dangerous but that they are kept in such strict aw and not suffered to touch or handle a Weapon so that nothing is more terrible to them than Gun-shot and besides being of different Countries do not understand one anothers Language for in some of those places in Africa where petty Kingdoms are who go to War against one another the Prisoners that are taken on each side they sell unto and other European Nations that come to traffick with them yea they sell their Subjects and some poor men their Servants and sometimes their Wives for such Traffick as our Merchants bring them when they are brought hither the Planters buy them out of the Ship where they find them stark naked and therefore cannot be deceived in any outward infirmity chusing them as men do Horses in a Fair and according as they are handsom lusty well shapen and young the youthfullest and most beautiful yield the greatest price the general rate for the better sort of Negro-Men is thirty pound sterling and five and twenty for a Woman is usual if they buy any that have no Wives they will come to their Masters and complain they cannot live without and he provides them one by the next Ships Religion they have none yet seem to acknowledge a God by looking up to Heaven for Revenge when they are wronged One Negro-Woman being brought abed of two Children her Husband provided a Cord to hang her as false to him but the Overseer prevented it by telling him it was common with the English Women and they liked them the better yet if he were resolved to hang her he should be hang'd himself by her the fear of which hindered him The Chief Towns Chief Towns of this Isle are St. Michael's formerly call'd the Bridg-Town or Indian Bridg Little Bristol St. Jame's and Charles-Town with other Parishes of less Note 1. St. Michael's St. Michaels is scituate at the bottom of Carlisle-Bay in the Leeward or Southern part of the Isle which Bay is very capacious deep and secure for Ships being large enough to entertain 500 Vessels at one time The Town is long containing several Streets and graced with abundance of well built Houses It is very populous being the residence of the Governour or his Deputy the place of Judicature and the Scale of Trade where most of the Merchants and Factors in the Isle have their Store-Houses for the negotiation of their Affairs and from these Store-houses or Shops the Inhabitants are supplied with such Commodities as they have occasion for in exchange of theirs which are the product of the Isle The Town is ill seated the Ground being lower than the Banks of the Sea by which means the Spring-Tides do slow over and there remaining do make a kind of a moorish Bogg which doth occasion it to be more unhealthful than the other parts of the Isle This Town for its Defence and security of the Ships
but the Head longer the Skin yellowish and they are green on their backs gray and blew streaks drawn from the very top of the Head to the end of the Tail they live in holes under ground whence in the night they make a very loud and important noise in the day they are continually wandring about Cottages for subsistance A Land-Pike is another strange Reptile so called from its likeness to that Fish but instead of Fins it hath four Feet which are so weak that they only crawl on the ground and wind their Bodies like Pikes newly taken out of the water some of the longest are about fifteen inches and proportionably big their Skin being covered with small scales which shine extreamly and are of a silver gray colour they make a very hideous noise in the night from under the Rocks and from the bottoms of hollow places where they are lodged it is more sharp and grating to the Ear than Frogs or Toads and they change their Notes according to the variety of the place where they lurk they are seldom seen but a little before night and when met in the day their strange motion on a sudden is apt to affright the Spectator There are in this Isle several Insects Insects as the flying Tyger is very observable whose body is chequered with spots of several colours as the Tyger's is about the bigness of a horned Beetle the head sharp with two great eyes as sparkling and green as an Emerald his mouth being armed with two extreamly hard and sharp hooks by which he holds fast his prey while he gets the substance the whole body being covered with a hard and swarthy crustiness serves him for Armour Under his Wings which are also of solid matter are four less wings as soft as silk it hath six Legs each whereof hath three joynts and they are bristled with certain little prickles He is continually catching Flies in the day with other small Animals and sits singing on the trees in the night The Horn-fly is another which hath two Snouts like an Elephant one turning upward and the other down about three Inches long the Head is blew like a Grashopper the Eyes green the upper side of the Wings of a bright Violet damaskt with Carnation heightned by a small natural thred of Silver the Colours drawn with such curiosity that the most curious painting cannot reach it insomuch as some at first sight have thought it to be Artificial because of its lively Carnation colour and string of Silver but having taken it into their hand they have thought Nature to be in a gay kind of humour and had a mind to divert herself when she bestowed such sumptuous Robes on this small Queen of Insects There is likewise in this Island an Insect somewhat like a Snail called a Soldier but have no shells proper to themselves therefore to secure their weak bodies against the Air and the assaults of other Creatures they get shelter in such shells as they find most convenient which for the most part is that of Perriwinkles but as they grow bigger they shift their shells and go into bigger their Foot or Instrument is like a Crab's-claw wherewith they close the entrance of their shells for the security of their bodies if they be set neer the fire they forsake their Quarters but if it be presented to them to get it again they go in backward when they design to change quarters which they are very subject to do there happens a furious Ingagement managed with their clasping Instrument 'till the strongest gets possession which he enjoys very peaceably during his pleasure There is likewise found in these parts a monstrous Spider which when she spreads her legs is so large that she takes up above the breadth of a man's hand whose body consists of two parts one round and the other flat lesser at one end like a Pigeons Egg with a hole in the back which is as it were their Navel it is armed with two sharp Tushes which are very solid black and shining so that there are some that make use of them for Tooth-pickers being first set in Gold which are counted to have a power of preserving from corruption and pain rubbing the places therewith when they come to be old they are clothed with a swarthy Down which is as soft as Velvet they have about ten Feet each having four joynts and at the ends armed with a black hard Horn. They shift their old Skins every Year and also their Tushes they feed on Flies and such Vermin and in some places it hath been observed that their Webs are of such a strength that small Birds can hardly get themselves from it There is also a very lovely Animal Animals called the Fly-catcher it hath four Legs and is of a very small size some of them seeming to be covered with fine gold or silver Brocado and several with a mixture of Green Gold with other very delightful Colours they are so very familiar that they will come boldly into Rooms doing no mischief but on the contrary clear them of Flies and such kind of Vermin which they perform with such activity of flight that the cunning of Huntsmen is not to be compared to it for he generally lies down where he expects the Fly to come keeping his eye always fixed thereon putting his head into as many different postures as the Fly removes places and standing upon his fore-feet gapes after it his little mouth being half open as if he had swallowed it in hope and if one come near him and make never so great a noise it will not disturb him and at last having an opportunity he goes direct on his prey very rarely missing of it They are so extraordinary tame that they will come at Dinner time upon the very Table and endeavour to catch Flies upon their Hands or Clothes being extraordinary neat and clean things the Eggs they lay are as big as Pease which they leave to be hatched by the Sun covering of it first with Sand they are no sooner killed but all their beauty vanisheth and they become pale It may be counted a sort of Camelion partaking of the colour of those things on which it makes its ordinary residence for being about Palm-Trees it is green and about Orange-Trees yellow and the like The Palm-Worm is remarkable from its infinite number of Feet which are like Bristles under his Body which if pursued help him to creep with incredible swiftness It 's half a foot long the upper part covered with swarthy Scales which are hard and joynted one within another like the Tiles of a House but the most danger in this Creature is that he hath a kind of Claw both in Head and Tail wherewith he pierces so home and poysons the wound he makes therewith that for the space of 24 hours the party feels great pain There was several years since brought from thence a Bird about the bigness and shape of a Swallow
Grass would not grow next not enough to mow and lastly not firm enough to feed from the levity of the Mould 7. All sorts of English Fruits that have been tried take mighty well for the time the Peach excellent on Standers and in great quantities They Sun-dry them and lay them up in Lofts as we do Roots here and stew them with Meat in Winter-time Musk-Melons and Water-Melons are raised here with as little care as Pumpkins in England the Vine especially prevails which grows every where and upon Experience of some French People from Rochel and the Isle of Rhee Good Wine Wine may be made there especially when the Earth and Stem are fined and civilized by Culture We hope that good skill in our most Southern parts will yield us several of the Streights-Commodities especially Oyl Dates Figs Almonds Raisins and Currans Of the Product of our Waters 1. Mighty Whales rowl upon the Coast The Waters near the Mouth of the Bay of Delaware eleven caught and work'd into Oyl in one Season We justly hope a considerable Profit by a Whalery they being so numerous and the Shore so sutable 2. Sturgeons play continually in our Rivers in Summer and though the way of curing them be not generally known yet by a Receipt I had of one Collins that related to the Company of the Royal Fishery I did so well preserve some that I had of them good there three Months of the Summer and brought some of the same so for England 3. Alloes as they call them the Jews Alice and our Igrorants Shades are excellent Fish and of the bigness of our largest Carp they are so plentiful that Captain Smith's Overseer at the Skulkil drew six hundred and odd at one Draught three hundred is no wonder one hundred familiarly They are excellent pickled or smoked as well as boyled fresh they are caught by Nets only 4. Rocks are somewhat rounder and larger also a whiter Fish little inferior in relish to our Mallet we have them almost in the like plenty These are often Barrell'd like Cod and not much inferior for their spending Of both these the Inhabitants increase their Winter-Store These are caught by Nets Hooks and Spears 5. The Sheepshead so called from the resemblance of its Mouth and Nose to a Sheep is a Fish much preferred by some but they keep in Salt Water they are like a Roch in fashion but as thick as a Salmon not so long We have also the Drum a large and noble Fish commended equal to the Sheeps-head not unlike to a New-found-land Cod but larger of the two 'T is so called from a noise it makes in its Belly when it is taken resembling a Drum There are three sorts of them the Black Red and Gold-colour the Black is fat in the Spring the Red in the Fall and the Gold-colour believed to be the Black grown old because it is observed that young ones of that colour have not been taken They generally take them by Hook and line as they do Cod and they save like it where People are skilful There are abundance of lesser Fish to be caught at pleasure but they quit not cost as those I have mentioned neither in magnitude nor number except the Herring which swarms in such shoals that it is hardly credible in little Creeks they almost shovel them up in Tubs There is the Cat-fish or Flat-head Lamprey Eel Trout Perch black and white Smelt Sun-fish c. Also Oysters Cockles Conks Crabs Muscles Mananoses Of Provision in general 1. It has been often said we are starved for want of Food Provision some were apt to sugest their Fears others to insinuate their Prejudice and when this was contracted and they assured we had plenty both of Bread Fish and Flesh then 't was objected we were forced to fetch it from other places at great Charges But neither is all this true though all the World will think we must either bring Provision with us or get it of the Neighbourhood till we had gotten houses over our heads and a little Land in tillage We fetched none nor were we wholly kept by Neighbours the old Inhabitants supplied us with most of the Corn we wanted and a good share of Pork and Beef 'T is true New-York New-England and Road-Island did with their Provisions fetch our Goods and Money but at such Rates that some sold for almost what they gave and others carried their Provisions back expecting a better Market nearer which shewed no scarcity and that we were not totally destitute in our own River But if my Advice be of any value I would have them buy still and not weaken their Herds by killing up their young Stock too soon But the right measure of Information must be the proportion of value of Provision there to what they are in more planted and mature Colonies Beef is commonly sold at the rate of two pence per pound and Pork for two pence halfpeny Veal and Mutton at three pence or three pence halfpeny of that Countrey Money an English Shilling goes for Sixteen pence Grain sells by the Bushel Wheat at four shillings Rye and excellent good at three shillings Barley two shillings six pence Indian Corn two shillings six pence Oats two shillings in that Money still which in a new Countrey where Grain is so much wanted for Seed as well as Food cannot be called dear and especially if we consider the consumption of the many new Comers 3. There is so great an encrease of Grain by the diligent application of People to Husbandry that within three years some Plantations have got twenty Acres in Corn some forty 4. They are very careful to increase their Stock and get into Dairies as fast as they can They already make good Butter and Cheese A good Cow and a Calf by her side may be worth three pounds Sterling in Goods at first cost A pair of working Oxen eight pound a pair of fat ones little more and a plain breeding Mare about five pounds sterling 5. For Fish it is brought to the door both fresh and salt six Alloes or Rocks for twelve pence and salt-fish at three farthings per pound Oysters at two shillings per Bushel 6. Our Drink has been Beer and Punch made of Rum and Water Our Beer was mostly made of Molosses which well boyled with Sassafras or Pine infused into it makes very tolerable Drink but now they make Malt and Malt-Drink begins to be common especially at Ordinaries and the houses of the more substantial people In our great Town there is an able man that has set up a Brew-house in order to furnish the people with good Drink both there and up and down the River Having said this of the Country for the time I was there I shall add one of many Letters that have come to my hand because brief and full and that he is known to be a Person of an extraordinary Caution as well as Truth in what he is wont to
strongly perfumes their boroughs that it is easie to find them out But of all the Creatures which this Island produces the Alegator is the most remarkable it keeps near the Sea and in Rivers and Islands un-inhabited and sometimes likewise on shore among the Reeds it is a Creature very fearful to behold and grows to the very last day of its life so that many of them are eighteen Foot long and as big about as a Hogshead their lower Jaws are immoveable but their Mouth is so wide and their Teeth so exceeding sharp that they can with ease bite a Man in two Those that are bred in fresh Water smell of Musk and that so strongly that they perfume the very Air an hundred Paces round about them and scent the very Water in which they live those of them that live in the Sea have not so strong a scent however both kinds are exceeding dangerous to such as swim in those Parts they are always very sly and make use of a cunning slight for the seizing Horses and Cows it being their custom to lye lurking at the places where usually they come to drink watching his advantage and having half shut his eyes sloats upon the top of the Water like a piece of rotten Wood by which means he gets by small degrees still nearer to the poor Beast and while he is drinking without the least dread of such an Enemy suddenly seizes him by the lips dragging him under Water until he is drown'd after which he eats him He likewise sometimes surprizes Men by the same slight for one who was a Servant to the Consul of Alexandria going to take up one of them thinking it had been a piece of Wood was suddenly seized on and drawn by it to the bottom of the River and never seen more A DESCRIPTION Of the ISLAND of BARBADA or BARBVDA BArbada is situated in 17 degrees and a half of Northern Latitude Situation of no great extent not exceeding fifteen Miles in length and of no great account to the English who are the Possessors of it yet it is found to be of a fertile Soyl well stored with Cattel and Sheep and might produce several good Commodities were it well manag'd to the advantage of the Inhabitants But it is subject to one great inconveniency as well as some others of those Islands viz. the Caribeans of Dominica and other places make frequent Incursions and commit great Spoils in it the enmity and aversion which those Canibals have received against the English Nation in general be so great irreconcilable that there seldom passeth a Year wherein they do not make an Eruption into some one or other of these Islands and if not presently discovered and vigorously opposed at their first Landing do much mischief destroying all before them with Fire and Sword except the Women and Children which together with the Spoil and Plunder they carry off to their own Territories The Caribeans who Inhabit divers of those Islands are generally thought to have been formerly driven by their Enemies from the Continent of America and forced to take shelter here having amongst themselves various and very different Opinions Customs and Ceremonies such as live near and converse with the Christians have relinquish'd many of their ancient barbarous Usages and have very much civiliz'd their Conversations which gave occasion to two ancient Caribeans to entertain some of the European Christians with this or the like Discourse Our People are now quite degenerated from what they formerly were and in a manner become just like yours and so different are we now grown from what we were before that we find it a matter of some difficulty for us to know ourselves To which degeneracy of ours attribute those furious Hurricanes which happen now more frequently than they were wont to do in the Days of Old The Inhabitants are handsom well-proportioned of a smiling Countenance their Eyes and Hair are black their Foreheads and Noses flat being crushed down by their Mothers at the time of their Birth and all the time of their Sucking because they imagine that flatness to be a kind of beauty and perfection Their Feet are large and thick and so exceeding hard that although they go bare-foot neither shall you see any of them blind lame crook-back'd bald or having any other natural infirmity Such Scars and Deformities as they get in the Wars they glory in as evident demonstrations of their Valour Their Hair is strait and long the Women attributing the highest excellency to that which exceeds in blackness both Men and Women tye up their Hair behind which they bind so hard that it stands up upon their Heads like a horn but hangs loose upon the top it falls down again on each side of their Heads The Men so soon as their Beards begin to grow pluck them up by the roots accounting it a great deformity to the Europeans to wear any both Men and Women go naked and if any should so much as endeavour to touch their Privy-Parts all the rest will deride them and those who converse amongst the Christians though they are much civilized and have forsaken many of their odd and barbarous Customs yet no perswasion can prevail with them to relinquish this They generally say they came naked into the World and it will be a madness for them to hide the bodies nature has bestowed upon them notwithstanding which they change the natural colours of their skins by dying them with a red Composition which they make for that purpose and wherewith they always anoint themselves after washing and many times to make themselves appear the more gallant as they imagine they draw black Circles about their Eyes with the Juyce of Juniper-Apples and when they would appear more gallant than ordinary put on a Crown of Feathers of different colours and hang Fish-bones or Buck made of Gold Siver or Tin in their Ears and some of them make holes through their Lips or in the space between their Nostrils wherein they hang Rings Fish-bones or some such Toys to increase their gallantry and some of the better sort wear Necklaces of Amber Coral Cristal or some such kind of glittering stuff There grows in this Island great store of excellent Fruits Their Fruits viz. Oranges Pomegranates Citrons Raisins Indian-Figgs and Coco-Nuts that famous Fruit whereof some Historians tell such Miracles the Nut grows upon the very trunk or top of the Tree which is never found without Fruit for it bears new every Month when the Nut is broke which is very large many of them weighing above ten pound the Fruit appears as white as Snow extreamly nourishing and in taste much like an Almond in the middle whereof there lies a clear Liquor so exceeding pleasant and delicious in taste that many prefer it before the best Florence-Wine One of them affords Meat enough to fill a good large Dish withal Besides which there are divers excellent Trees and Woods Their Commodities
by his Mother at Casco in 1669. Their Apparel Their Apparel before the English came among them was the Skin of wild Beasts with the hair on Buskins of Deer Skins or Moose drest and drawn with lines into several works the lines being coloured with yellow blew or red Pumps too they have made of tough Skins without soles In the Winter when Snow will bear them they fasten to their Feet Snow-Shoes made like a large Racket for Tennis Play laced on before and behind they wear a square piece of Leather tied about their Middle with a string to hide their Secrets But since they have had to do with the English they buy of them a Cloth called Trading-Cloth of which they make Mantles Coats with short Sleeves and Caps for their Heads but the Men keep their old Fashion They are very proud as appears by decking themselves with white and blew Beads of their making and painting their Faces with variety of Colours and sometimes weave curious Coats with Turkey Feathers for their Children c. This Countrey is well watered with Rivers the chief among which are Agamentico Conecticut Kinebequy Merrimick Mishum Mistick Neragansat Pascataway Pemnaquid Tachobacco c. And in these Rivers together with the Sea are taken excellent Fish as Cod Thorn-back Sturgeon Porpusses Haddock Salmons Herrings Mackarel Oysters Crab-fish Tortoise Cockles Muscles Clams Smelts Eels Lamprons Alewives Basses Hallibuts Shacks Scales Grampus and Whales Here are great variety of Fowls as Pheasants Patridges Heath-Cocks Turkeys Geese Ducks Herons Cranes Cormorants Swans Widgeons Sheldrakes Snipes Doppers Black-birds the Humbird Loor c. The wild Beasts of chief note are Lions Bears Foxes Rackoons Mooses Musquashs Otters Beavers Deer Hares Coneys c. and for tame Beasts Cows Sheep Goats Swine and Horses Amongst the hurtful things in this Countrey the Rattle-Snake is most dangerous Here is also several sorts of stinging Flies which are found very troublesom to the Inhabitants Here are several sorts of Trees as the Oak Cyprus Pine Chesnut Cedar Walnut Firr Ash Asp Elm Alder Maple Birch Sassaphras Sumach several Fruit-Trees as Apples Pears Plums with several others that are growing in Virginia and Mary-Land which hath already been taken notice of This Countrey affordeth several sorts of rich Furrs Flax Linnen Amber Iron Pitch Tarr Cables Masts and Timber to build Ships also several sorts of Grain wherewith they drive a considerable Trade to Barbadoes and other English Plantations in America supplying them with Flower Bisket Salt Flesh and Fish c. and in return bring Sugars and other Commodities They also drive a considerable Trade with England for wearing Apparel Stuffs Cloth Iron Brass and other Utensils for their Houses and such like things that are useful to Man and not found amongst them As to the Coins Weights and Measures of New-England and the rest of the American Plantations belonging to his Majesty are the same with those of England but as to Coins they are not much made use of in Trade their way being Bartering of one Commodity for another c. The English now Inhabiting in New-England are very numerous and powerful possessing many Potent Colonies and are governed by Laws of their own making having having several Courts of Judicature where they assemble together once a Month as well for the making of new Laws abolishing of old hearing and determining of Causes As for the Electing of a Governor Deputy-Governor Assistants Burgesses and other Magistrates every Town having two Burgesses each County annually Electing such like Officers The Government both Civil and Ecclesiastical is in the hands of Independents or Presbyterians The Military part of their Government is by one Major-General and three Serjeant-Majors to whom belong the four Counties of Suffolk Middlesex Essex and Norfolk Here are several fine Towns as Boston the Metropolis of New-England commodiously seated for Traffick on the Sea-shore it is at present a very large and spacious Town or rather City composed of several well-ordered Streets and graced with several fair and beautiful Houses which are well Inhabited by Merchants and Tradesmen who drive a considerable Trade for such Commodities as the Country affordeth to Barbadoes and other Caribbee Isles as also to England and Ireland taking in exchange such Commodities as each place affordeth or are found useful to them It is a place of good strength having two or three Hills adjoyning on which are raised Fortifications with great Pieces mounted thereon which are well guarded Charles-Town seated on and between the Rivers Charles and Mistick it is beautified with a large and well-built Church and near the River-side is the Market-place from which runneth two Streets in which are several good Houses Dorchester situated near the Sea where there falls two Rivulets an indifferent Town Cambridge formerly New-Town seated on the River Merrimick This Town consists of several Streets and is beautified with two Colledges and divers fair and well-built Houses St. Georges Fort seated on the mouth of the River Sagadebock New-Plymouth seated on that large Bay of Patuxed Reading commodiously seated above a great Pond and well Watered and Inhabited In this Town are two Mills one for Corn and the other for Timber Salem pleasantly seated between two Rivers Other Towns placed Alphabetically Berwick Braintree Bristol Concord Dartmouth Dedham Dover Exeter Falmouth Glocester Greens-Harbour Hampton Hartford Haverhil Hingham Hull Ipswich Lin Mulden New-bury New-Haven Northam Norwich Oxford Rowley Roxbury Salisbury Sandwich Southampton Springfield Sudbury Wenham Weymouth Woburne and Tarmouth Most of these having their Names from some Towns in England many of them being of good account and commodiously seated either on the Sea Shore or on Navigable Rivers and are well Inhabited And most of these Towns are known to the Indians by other Names The present Governour for his Majesty is Henry Cranfield Esq A DESCRIPTION OF NEW-FOVND-LAND NEw-found-land is an Island in Extent It s Extent equal to England from whence it is distant little above six hundred Leagues lying near half way between Ireland and Virginia It is situated between 46 and 53 Degrees North Latitude It s Situation the North part being better Inhabited than the South though fitter for Habitation and it is only severed from the Continent of America by an Arm of the Sea like that which separates England from France Its Bays Rivers Fish Fowls Beasts c. It is famous for many spacious and excellent Bays and Harbours and within the Land for the variety of fresh Springs whose Waters are excellent delicious It is enriched by Nature with plenty of Fish Land and Water Fowl and sufficiently stocked with Deer Hares Otters Foxes Squirrels and other Beasts which yield good Furrs Cod-Fish Herrings Salmons Thorn-back Oysters Muscles c. And though not over-run generally with Woods it doth afford besides store of Fewel abundance of stately Trees fit for Timber Masts Planks and sundry other uses The Soyl in most places is reputed fertile It s Fertility the Climate