Falls and the Ground is Frozen 3 Fathom deep at which time the Sun is not absent above 3 hours and an half during which it was so very light that we could see to read There are no Rivers or Running Springs but what the Sun causes to come from the Snow They Row in their Leather Boats faster with one Oar than we can ours with all our Oars They seem to have commerce with other Nations from whom they have a small quantity of Iron III. In 1585. Mr. John Davis made his first Voyage for the Northwest Discovery and in 54 Degrees they went on Shore on an Island where they saw divers Savages who seem'd to Worship the Sun pointing up to it with their Hands and therewith striking their Breasts the English answering them with the same Actions they took it for a confirmed League and Agreement between them they then leaped and danced with a kind of Timbrel which they struck with a stick their Garments were the Skins of Birds and Beasts they killed white Bears one of whose Forefeet was fourteen Inches broad and the Flesh so fat they were forc't to throw it away by their dung they seem'd to feed on Grass which was like Horse-dung they heard tame Dogs howl on the Shore for killing one he had a Collar about his Neck he had a Bone in his Pizel and seem'd inured to the Sled two of which they found Next year Captain Davis made a second Voyage and found the Savage People very tractable they are great Idolaters and Witches having many Images which they carried about them and in their Boats they found a Grave wherein many were buried and covered with Seals Skins with a Cross laid over them they are very Thievish eat raw Fish Grass and Ice and drink Salt Water here they saw a Whirlwind â—ake up a great quantity of Water which mounted vioâ—ently into the Air three hours together with little inâ—ermission In 63 Degrees they met with a vast Mass of â—ce in one piece so very large that it appeared like an Island with Bays and Capes like a high Cliff Land whereupon they sent their Pinnace to discover it who found it to be only Ice this was July 17. 1586. and they Coasted it till the 30th following In 66 Degrees they found it very hot and were much troubled with Musket to Flies all the Coasts hereabout seemed broken Islands then returning Southward they Coasted Greenland but were hindred from Harbour by the Ice their Houses near the Seaside were made with pieces of Wood crossed over with Poles and covered with Earth our Men plaid at Football with the Islanders upon the Ice Captain Davis his third Voyage was performed the next year 1587. wherein he discovered to 73 Degrees finding the Sea all open and forty Leagues between the Shore on each side having Greenland on the East and America on the West near which was another Island which for its dreadful aspect being covered with Snow without Wood Earth or Grass to be seen and the terrible noise of the Ice he named the Isle of Desolation but the untimely death of Sir Francis Walsingham hindred the further Prosecution of these Discoveries IV. In 1602. Captain George Weymouth set forth with two Flyboats at the charge of the Muscovy Company to find out the Northwest Passage he saw the South part of Greenland the Water in an 120 Fathom was black as puddle and suddenly clear again the breach of the Ice made a noise like Thunder and indangered the overturning both their Vessels they had thick Fogs and Mists which Froze as they fell in 68 Degrees they met with an inlet Forty Leagues broad and sailed therein an hundred Leagues West and by South V. In 1605. Captain James Hall Sailed to Greenland and had the like Encounters of Ice which made as much noise as five Cannons discharged at once the People were like those mentioned by Frobisher they make Sails of Guts sowed together and deceive the Seals by raking them with their Seals Skin Garments â— the Countrey is high Mountainous and full of broken Islands along the Coasts the Rivers are Navigable and full of Fish between the Mountains are such pleasant Plains and Valleys as is hardly to be imagined in that cold Countrey He saw store of Fowl no Beasts but black Foxes and Deer The Natives wander in Companies in Summer for Hunting and Fishing removing from one place to another with their Families Tents and Baggage they are of a reasonable Stature Brown Active and Warlike eat their Meat either raw or parboil'd with Blood Oil or a little Water which they drink their Arrows have two Feathers and a Bone Head they have no Wood but what the Sea drives ashore In 1606. He made a second Voyage thither and found their Winter Houses Built with Whalebones and covered with Earth with Vaults two yards deep and square underground The next year he sailed thither a third time and in a fourth Voyage 1612. was Slain by a Savage in revenge as was thought of some of theirs formerly carried away from thence They have Hares as white as Snow Dogs that live on Fish their Pizles as of their Foxes being Bone their work in Summer is to dry their Fish on the Rocks Every Man and Woman hath a Boat made of long pieces of Fir covered with Seals Skins and sowed with Sinews and Guts about 20 Foot long and two and an half broad like a Weavers Shuttle so light and swift that no Ship with any Wind is able to hold way with them and yet use but one Oar which they hold by the middle in the midst of their Boar wherewith they Row forward and backward at pleasurâ— they generally Worship the Sun to which they pointed at the approach of the English striking their Breasts and crying Ilyout not coming near till they had done the same they bury their dead in their cloths on the tops of Hills in the midst of heaps of Stones to preserve them from the Foxes making another grave hard by wherein they place his Bow Arrows Darts and other Utensils The next year Mr. John Knight made a North-west Voyage Iosing his Ship which was sunk in the Ice and was with three more of his company surprized by the Savages VI. About this time three of our Countrymen named Stephen Burrough Mr. Pet. and Mr. Jackman went toward the North-West touching upon the Northerly parts of Greenland and sailed from 80 degrees to Nova Zembla in one place they saw red Geese and in another blue Ice but at length loosing their Ship by the Ice they were forced to set up an House to winter in the Isle of Desolation they began their bulding about the 10 of September the cold even then kissing his Newcome Tenants so eagerly that when the Carpenter did but put a nail into his mouth the Ice would hang thereon and the bloud followed in plucking it out In December their Fire could not heat them their Sack was frozen they were
their mantles and after a while renued â—heir former Songs and nakedness When a maid is â—ourteen or fifteen years old she hath many Lovers â—nd uses her pleasure with as many of them as she â—leases for five or six years and then takes whom â—he likes for a Husband provided he be a good Hunâ—er living chastly with him all her life after except for barrenness he forsake her When any dies they make a Pit and therein put â—ll his goods with the Corps covering it with Earth and setting many peices of wood over it and a stake painted red They believe the Immortality of the Soul and that the dead go into a far Countrey to make merry with their Friends If any fell sick they â—ent to one Sagamor Memberton a great Conjurer who made Prayers to the Devil and blowed upon the party and cutting him sucks the bloud if it be a wound â—he heals it after the same manner applying a round slice of Bever Stones for which they make him a Present of Venison or skins If they desire news of things absent the Spirit answers doubtfully and sometimes false when the Savages are hungry they consult with this Oracle and he tells them the place where they shall go if they find no game the excuse is the Beast hath wandered and changed his place but most times they speed which makes them believe the Devil to be God though they do not Worship him when these Conjurers consult with the Devil they fix a staff in a Pit to which they tye a Cord and putting their Head into the Pit make Invocations in an unknown Language with so much stirring and pains that they sweat again when the Devil is come the Wizard persuades them he holds him fast with his Cord forcing him to answer before he lets him go Then he begins to sing something in praise of the Spirit who hath discovered where there are some Deer and the other Savages answer in the same Tune they then dance and sing in a strange Tongue after which they make a Fire and leap over it putting an half Pole out of the top of the Cabbin wherein they are with something tyed thereto which the Devil carrieth away Memberton wore about his Neck the mark of his Profession which was a triangle Purse with somewhat within it like a Nut which he said was his Spirit This Office is Hereditary they teaching this Mystery of Iniquity to their Sons by Tradition In 1613 fifty four Englishmen six women and two Children wintred there they killed Bears Otters and Sables sowed wheat Rie Turneps and Coleworts their winter was dry and clear with some Frost and Snow divers had the Scurvy whereto the Turneps there Sown were a Soveraign Remedy There are Musk Cats and Musk Rats and near the Coasts is great killing of Morses or Sea Oxen a small Ship in a short time slew fifteen hundred of them they are bigger than an Oxe the Hide dressed is as thick again as a Bulls they have teeth like Elephants about a foot long growing downward out of the upper Jaw and therefore less dangerous it is sold dearer than Ivory and by some thought as great an Antidote as the Unicorns Horn The young ones eat like Veal which the old will defend to the utmost holding them in their Arms or Forefeet Out of the Bellies of five of these Fishes which live both on the Land and water they make an Hogshead of Train-Oyle Thomas James says these Morses sleep in great Companys and have one Centinel or watchman to wake the rest upon occasion Their skins are short-haired like Seals their face resembles a Lion and may therefore more justly be called Sea Lions than Sea Oxen or Horses About the great Bank aforementioned which is covered with Water when the Sea is high uncovered and dry on the Ebb on all sides whereof the Sea is 200 Fathom deep is the great Fishing for Cod and here the Ships do for the most part stop and make their Freight It is almost incredible how many Nations and of each how many Sail of ships go yearly to fish for these Cods with the prodigious quantity they take 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 shipboard where they lay him on a Plank one cuts off his head another guts him 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 yea throughout most other parts of the world They fish only in the day the Cod not biting in the night nor doth this fishing last all seasons but begins toward 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 they call Dried as the other Green Fish The Ships retire into some Harbour every morning send forth 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 hath layn some days in Salt they take it out and dry it in the wind laying it again in heaps and exposing it dayly to the open Air till it be dry which ought to be good and Temperate to make the Fish saleable for Mists moisten 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 Cods Liver 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 catched In 1623. Sir George Calvert after Lord Baltimore had a Patent for part of New-found-land which was erected into the Province of Avalon where he setled a Plantation and erected a stately house and Fort at Ferriland where he dwelt for some time which after his death descended to his Son the present Lord Baltimore whâ— is also Proprietor of Maryland CHAP IV. A Prospect of New-England with thâ— Discovery Plantation and Produâ— thereof THis Countrey was first discovered as well as thâ— other Northern Coasts of America by Sebastian Câ—bot aforementioned in 1497. And in 1584. Mr. Pliâ— Amadas and Mr. Arthur Barlow were the first of a Christians who took possession thereof for Q. Elizabeth The next year Sir Richard Greenvile conveyed an Enâ—lish Colony thither under the Government of Mr. Raâ— Lane who continued there till the next year and thâ— upon some urgent occasions returned with Sir Fraâ— Drake into England who is by some accounted the fâ— discoverer thereof It hath New France on the Nortâ— and Virginia on the South lying between 40. and 4â—
and hath retained the name ever since It is of a small extent not above three Leagues or nine Miles in length and neer as much in bredth so that it seems almost round It lies in the Latitude of seventeen degrees on this side the Line full of mountains whereon grow plenty of Cedar and other Trees The Valleys and plains being very fertile It is chiefly inhabited by the Irish with some English in all about six or seaven hundred persons There is in it a very fair Church of a delightful structure built by the contributions of the Governor and Inhabitants The Pulpit Seats and all the Joyners and Carpenters work within it are of the most precious and sweet-scented wood growing in the Countrey On the Coasts of these Islands there is sometimes taken by the Fishers a Monster so dreadful that they call it the Sea-Devil about four foot long and proportionably big it hath on the back a great bunch full of Prickles like an Hedghog The Skin thereof is hard uneven and rugged like that of a Sea-dog and of a black colour the head is flat and on the upper part hath many little risings and among them two small very black eyes The mouth is extream wide with several very sharp Teeth two of them crooked like a Wild Boars it hath four Fins and a broad forked Tail but has the name of Sea-Devil because above the eyes there are two little sharp black Horns which turn toward his back like a Rams As this Monster is extream ugly the Meat of it which is soft and full of strings is absolute Poyson causing strange Vomitings and Swoonings which prove mortal if not prevented by a good Dose of Mithridate or some other Antidote this dangerous Creature is only desired by the curious to adorn their Closets whereby it happens that this Devil who was never profitable while alive gives a little satisfaction to their Eyes after death The Sea Vnicorn is a Fish no less Miraculous a Prodigious one being cast ashore about these Islands is thus described by an Ingenious occular Witness This Unicorn saith he was pursuing a smaller Fish with such earnestness and impetuosity that it stuck with half the body dry on a Sand-bank and before it could recover the deep was destroyed by the Inhabitants It was about eighteen Foot long and in compass as big as a Barrel having six great Fins like the ends of Galley Oars whereof two were placed near the Gills and the other four at the sides of the Belly at equal distances they were of a Vermillion red Colour All the upper part of the Body was covered with great Scales about the bigness of a Crown peice of a blew Colour intermixt with Spangles of Silver near the Neck the Scales were closer and of a dark Colour like a Collar The Scales under the Belly were yellow the Tail Forked the Head somewhat bigger than that of a Horse and near the same shape The lower part of the Body was covered with an hard dark Skin and as it is said the Land Vnicorn hath one Horn in his Forehead so this Sea Vnicorn had a very fair one issuing out of his Head about nine Foot and an half in length it was very streight and grew smaller to the very point which was sharp enough to peirce Wood Stone or any thing more hard Toward the Head it was sixteen Inches about and from thence almost to the end waved like a wreathed Pillar growing smaller till they gently ended in a point it was naturally polished of a shining black marked with certain small white and yellow strokes and of such solidity that a sharp File could hardly get a little small Powder from it It had no Ears standing up but two spacious Gills as the other Fishes The Eyes are about the bigness of an Hens Egg the Ball which was of a Skie Colour Enameld with yellow was of Vermillion Colour and beyond it another as clear as Chrystal The Mouth was wide â—â—ough with several extream sharp Teeth The Tongue proportionable covered with a rough red Skin Upon the Head was a Crown rising two Inches above the Skin made Oval and ending in a point Above three hundred Persons eat of the Meat of it and thought it exceeding delicate being Inter-larded with white fat and when Boiled came up in Fleaks like fresh Cod but of a more excellent tast Those who saw it alive and broke its back with Leavers affirmed that he made prodigious attempts to thrust them with his Horn using it with much nimbleness and dexterity and if he had not wanted Water would have been too hard for them all within him they found the scales of several Fishes a token that he lived by prey Of all the Sea-Monsters that are good to eat and kept for Provision as Salmon and Cod are in Europe the most esteemed in these Islands is a certain Fish by the French called Lamantine and Manaty It is a Monster that in time grows to that bulk that some of them are eighteen foot in length and seven in bigness the head is like a Cow and from thence termed by some the Sea-Cow with small Eyes and a thick Skin of a dark colour wrinkled and hairy which being dryed serves for a Buckler against the Arrows of the Indians They have no Fins but instead thereof two short feet under their Bellies each of which hath four fingers very weak to support the weight of so heavy a Body nor hath he any other defensive weapons It lives on the grass and Herbage about the Rocks in those Shallow places that have not much above a fathom of Sea-Water The Females are disburthened of their young like Cows and have two Teats wherewith they suckle them they bring forth two at a time who forsake not the old one till they no longer need Milk and can feed on Grass as she does Of all Fish none are so good meat as this two or three will load a great Canow and eat short like a Land creature of a Vermilion colour not cloying or fulsom and mixt with fat which being melted never grows musty It is much more wholsom salted a day or two than fresh Certain small stones found in his head are highly valued for the Stone and Gravel when dissolved to Powder There are often seen rising out of the Sea about these Islands great numbers of Fishes which fly fifteen or twenty foot above Water and neer an 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 which begin a little below the head and reach almost to the Tail In their flight they many times strike against the Sails of Ships and fall even in the day time upon the Decks some say they are very good meat the cause of their flying is to avoid danger from greater Fishes but they meet with Enemies in the Air as well as Water for
his Wings and Tail are yellow he hath a piercing sight and feeds on other Birds yet to shew his generosity he never sets upon the waeker sort but those that are armed with crooked beaks and sharp Tallons like himself nay it is observable he never seizes his prey on the ground or a Tree but stays till it has taken his flight that he may ingage it in the open air with equal advantage upon whom he furiously fastens his Tallons and having mastered them tears them in peices and devours them There is also a large Bird in these Islands called a Craw fowl about the bigness of a great Duck the feathers Ash colour and hiâ—eous to the eye it hath a long Flat beak a great head small eyes deep set in his heed 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 as soon as they perceive a Fish at advantage they seize it and swallow it whole they are so attentive on their Fishing having their Eye constantly on the Sea that they are easily shot and become a Prey to others their sight is so admirable that they will discover a Fish at a great distance in the Sea and above a fathom under Water yet stay till they come almost even with it before they seize Their Flesh is not to be eaten Here are likewise found a kind of Pheasants which are called Pintado's 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 scent and manner of life for being the least of all Birds he gloriously confirm 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 Rain-bow 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 are yellow as Gold the thighs Green like an Emerald the feet and beak as black as polished Ebony the two little eyes two diamonds set in an oval of the colour of burnished 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 that enamel this little Body the miralcle of the feathered Common wealth and 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 Whirl-Wind were suddenly raised in the Air which surprizes those who 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 〈◊〉 had on his head a Crown of Rubies and all sorts of â—â—ecions stones and the Sun adding to his Lustre makes him look like a composition 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 being also excellent even like the finest Musk and Amber CHAP. XXI A Prospect of the Island of Barbadoes BArbadoes is the most considerable Island the English have among the Carribees lies in thirteen degrees and twenty Minutes on this side the Equator and though not above Twenty four Miles long and fifteen broad yet was many years ago accounted to have above Twenty thousand Inhabitants besides Negro Slaves who are thought a far greater number In the reign of K. James the first a Ship of Sr. William Curteens returning from Fernambuck in Brasil being driven by soul weather upon this Coast chanced to fall upon this Island and anchoring before it staid some time to inform themselves of the nature thereof which was so exceedingly over-grown with Woods that they could find no Champion or Savana's for men to dwell in nor any Beasts but a multitude of Swine which the Portugals put ashoar long before for breed if they should at any time be cast on that shoar in foul weather and the fruits and roots that grew there afforded so great plenty of food as they multiplied abundantly so that the Natives of the other Islands use to come thither a hunting This discovery being made and advice given to their Friends in England other Ships were sent and having cut down the Woods and cleered the ground they planted Potatoes Plantines and Maiz which with the Hogsflesh they found served only to keep Life and Soul together and their supplies from England coming so slow and uncertain they were oft driven to great extremities but in the year 1627. when they had more hands and having Tobacco Indico Cotton Wool and Fustick Wood to trade with some Ships were invited with hope of gain to visit them bringing for exchange such things as they wanted as working Tools of Iron and Steel Cloaths Shirts Drawers Hose Shoes Hats and more Planters So that in a short time they grew very considerable especially when their Sugar Canes were grown and they had learned the Art of making Sugar The Inhabitants which consist of English Scotch Irish with some few Dutch French and Jews were lately calculated to be above fifty Thousand and the Negro's about an hundred Thousand So that they can in a short time arm Ten Thousand fighting men which with the natural advantage of the place is able to defy the most potent Enemy as the Spaniards have sound to their cost having in vain assaulted it several times It hath only one River or rather a Lake which runs not far into the Land yet the Country lying low and level they have divers Ponds and are supplyed with Rain Water by making Cisterns in their Houses The Air is very hot for eight months and would be more insupportable were it not for the cool breezes which rise with the Sun and blow still fresher as that grows higher but always from the Northeast except in the Turnado and then it chop about to the South an hour or two and after returns as before the other four months are not so hot but like the air of England about the middle of May and though they sweat yet find
not only a thing groweth best where it naturally grows but will hardly be equalled by another Species of the same kind that doth not naturally grow there But to resolve the doubt I intend if God give me Life to try both and hope the consequence will be as good Wine as any European Countries of the same Latitude do yield The Artificial Produce of the Country is Wheat Barley Oats Rye Pease Beanes Squashes Pumkins Water-Melons Musk-Melons and all Herbs and Roots that our Gardens in England usually bring forth Of living Creatures Fish Fowl and the Beasts 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 Squirrels and some eat young Bear and commend it Of Fowl of the Land there is the Turkey Forty and Fifty Pound weight which is very great Pheasants Heath-Birds Pidgeons and Partridges in abundance Of the Water the Swan Goose white and gray Brandâ— 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 Sheepshead Ele Smelt Pearch Roch and in Inland Rivers Trout some say Salmon above the falls Of Shel fish we have Oysters Crabs Cockles Concks and Musctas some Oysters six Inches long and one sort of Cockles as big as the Stewing Oysters they make a rich Broth. The Creatures for Profit only by Skin or Fur and that are natural to these 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 say nothing of our reasonable Hopes of good Cod in the Bay We have no want of Horses and some are very good and shapely enough two Ships have been freighted 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 that not only the Indians tell us but we have had occasion to prove by Swellings Burnings 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 Aborigines The NATIVES I shall consider in their Persons Language Manners Religion and Government with my sense of their Original For 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 Bears fat clarified and using no defence against Son or Weather their skins must needs be swarthy Their Eye is little and black not unlike a straight-look't Jew The thick Lip and flat Nose so frequent with 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 is lofty yet narrow but like the Hebrew in Signification full like Short-hand in writing one word serveth in the place of three and the rest are supplied by the understanding of the Hearer Imperfect in their Tenses wanting in their Moods Participles Adverbs Conjunctions Interjections I have made it my business to understand it that I might not want an Interpreter on any occasion And I must say that I know not a Language spoken in Europe that hath words of more sweetness or greatness in Accent and Emphasis than theirs for Instance Octorockon Rancocas Oricton Shakamazon Poquesin all which are names of Places and have Grandeur in them Of words of Sweetness Anna is Mother Issimus a Brother Netap Friend usque oret very good ponc Bread metse eat matta no hatta to have payo to come Sepassen Passejon the Names of Places Tamane Secane Menanse Secatereus are the Names of Persons If one ask them for any thing they have not they will answer matta ne hotta which to translate is not I have instead of I have not Of their Customs and Manners there is much to be said I will begin with Children So soon as they are born they wash them in Water and while very young and in cold Weather to chuse they Plunge them in the Rivers to harden and embolden them Having wrapt them in a Clout they lay them on a straight thin Board a little more than the length and breadth of the Child and swaddle it fast upon the Board to make it straight wherefore all Indians have flat Heads and thus they carry them at their Backs The Children will go very young at nine Moneths commonly they wear only a small Clout round their Waste till they are big if Boys they go a Fishing till ripe for the Woods which is about Fifteen then they Hunt and after having given some Proofs of their Manhood by a good return of Skins they may Marry else it is a shame to think of a Wife The Girls stay with their Mothers and help to hoe the Ground plant Corn and carry Burthens and they do well to use them to that Young they must do when they are Old for the Wives are the true Servants of their Husbands otherwise the Men are very affectionate to them When the Young Women are fit for Marraige they wear something upon their Heads for an Advertisement but so as their Faces are hardly to be seen but when they please The Age they Marry at if Women is about thirteen and fourteen if Men seventeen and eighteen they are rarely elder Their Houses are Mats or Barks of Trees set on Poles in the fashion of an English Barn but out of the Power of the Winds for they are hardly higher than a Man they lie on Reeds or Grass In Travel they lodge in the Woods about a great Fire with the Mantle of Duffils they wear by day wrapt about them and a few Boughs stuck round them Their Diet is Maze or Indian Corn divers ways prepared sometimes Roasted in the Ashes sometimes beaten and Boyled with Water which they call Homine they also make Cakes not unpleasant to eat They have likewise several sorts of Beans and Pease that are good Nourishment and the
There are another kind of Becunes by some call Sea Wood-Cocks their beaks being somewhat like a Wood-cocks bill only the upper part is much longer than the lower and it moves both Jaws with like facility Some of them are four foot long and twelve Inches broad neer 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 great plume rising higher like a Cocks comb reaching from head to Tail Besides the long solid beak it hath two sorts of Horns hard black and about a foot and an 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 neer these Islands is called the Sea Vrchin or Hedghog and well deserves that name it is round as a Ball and full of Sharp prickles for which it is feared some call it the armed Fish they are sent as Presents to the curious to hang in their closets The Sea Parrots are likewise admirable which have beautiful sparkling eyes the Balls cleer as Chrystal inclosed within a circle as green as an Emerald of which colour are the Scales of 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 shel fish and with those hard Jaw-bones they crush as between two Milstones Oysters Muscles and other shell fish to get out the meat They are an excellent kind of Fish to eat and so big that some of them have weighed above Twenty pound The Dorado by some called the Sea Bream by others the amber-Amber-Fish is also common in these patts so called because in the Water the head seems to be of a green gilt and the rest of the Body as yellow as gold It has pleasure in following Ships but is so swift that it is very hard to take being extreamly well furnished for swimming having the forepart of the head sharp the back bristled 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 Trout or Salmon they are caught only with a peice of White Linnen tyed to the Hook This Island likewise abounds in several sorts of Fowls and Birds those of an extraordinary kind are first the Canades which are the most beautiful Birds in the World saith my Author under the belly and Wings it is 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 the Wings are mixt with a Sparkling Carnation diversifyed with a Sky upon the back it was grass green and shining black which very much added to the Gold and Azure of the other Plumage but the most beautiful part was the head covered with a murrey down chequered with green yellow and a pale blew which reach'd down wavingly to his back the eye-lids were white and the apple of the eye yellow and red like a Ruby set in Gold it had upon the head a tuft or Câ—p of Feathers of a Vermillion Red sparkling like a lighted Coal which was incompassed by o◠〈◊〉 lesser Feathers of a Pearl colour It was aboâ—◠〈◊〉 â—ess of a Pheasant and very kind and familiar withâ—â—â—â—ends but severe to its Enemies This that our Aâ—â—â— saw spoke the Dutch Spanish and Indian Language and in the last he sung Airs as a natural Indian He also imitated the cries of all sorts of Poultry and other creatures about the House he called his Friends by their Names and Sirnames and flew to them when he saw them especially when he was hungry and if they had been long absent exprest his Joy at their return In a word he was a present for a Prince if he could have been brought over the Sea The Flamant is a great and beautiful bird about the bigness of a Wild goose his beak is like a Spoon his Neck and Legs very long so that his Body is three foot from the ground when they are young their feathers are white then murrey and when old of a bright Carnation they are seldom seen but in great Companies their hearing smelling is so perfect that they smell the Huntsmen and fire-arms at a great distance and therefore for fear of surprize they live in open places in the midst of the Fens one of them being always on the Guard while the rest are searching the Waters for a livelihood as soon as he hears the least noise or perceives a man he takes his flight and gives a great cry for a signal to the rest to follow him when the Huntsmen take them they get the wind of them that they may not smell the Powder and covering themselves with an Oxhide creep on their hands and feet till they come to a place whence they may be sure to kill them CHAP VIII A Prospect of the Island of Mevis THe Island of Mevis or Nevis lies in seventeen degrees and nineteen Minutes North of the Line It is not above eighteen Miles round and in the midst there is but one only Mountain which is very high and covered with great Trees up to the very top about which all the Plantations are setled beginning from the Sea-side to the very highest part of it It hath within it divers Springs of Fresh-water whereof some are strong enough to make their way into the Sea one Spring hath the waters so hot and Mineral that from the force of it there are Baths made found very beneficial in several Diseases The English who planted themselves there in 1628. and are still Possessors thereof being now about three or four Thousand Inhabitants drive a very handsome Trade with Sugar Ginger Tobacco and Cotton which they exchange for other conveniencies it is the best governed of any of the Caribee Islands impartial justice being administred and all debauchery and immorality severely punished by a Council of the most Eminent and Ancient Inhabitants There are three Churches erected for the Service of God And for the security of Vessels in the Road there is a Fort wherein are planted several great Guns that command at a great distance which likewise secure their Storehouses into which all the Commodities imported for the use of the Inhabitants are disposed and from thence distributed to those that have occasion for them It is indifferent Fruitful and hath store of Deer and other Game for Hunting Strange Creatures in America There is an Insect in these Islands called a Souldier somewhat like a Snail but have no Shells proper to themselves and
going so that all the company perisht by famine or other extremities except the Pilot and three or four Mariners who all likewise died soon after their arrival leaving to Columbus their Landlord their Papers with some account of their Discoveries the time place Countrey and name of this Pilot is uncertain and therefore other Authors affirm it to be a fable or Spanish contrivance as envying that an Italian and Forreigner should have the glory of being the first discoverer of the Indies and the more judicious Spaniards account it a Tale and give a more probable Relation thereof and of the cause which moved Columbus to this mighty undertaking and not the Pilots Papers or reports For they write that Christopher Colon or Columbus was born at Nervi in the Territories of Genoa and bred a Mariner from his Child-hood trading into Syria and other Eastern Countries after which he learnt the art of making Sea Cards and went to Portugal to acquaint himself with the Coasts of Africa and there married In sayling about these Seas he observed that at certain seasons of the year the winds blew from the West for a great while together and judging they came from some Coasts beyond the Sea he was so concerned that he resolved to make a Trial thereof He was now forty years old and propounding to the State of Genoa that if they would furnish him with Ships he would find a way by the West to the Islands of Spices they rejected it as a dream or idle fancy Being thus frustrate of his hopes he goes to Portugal and communicates his design to King Alphonsus but with the same success upon which he sent his Brother Bartholomew Columbus to King Henry the Seventh of England to sollicit his assistance while himself went into Spain to impiore aid of the Castilians Bartholomew was unhappily taken by Pirates in his voyage to England who robbing him and his company of all they had he at length arrived and was forced to get a mean livelyhood by making Sea Cards and in a short time presents a Map of the World to King Henry with his Brothers offer of discovery which the King gladly accepted and sent for him into England But he had sped in his suit before in Spain for coming thither and conferring with two able Spanish Pilots they advised him to apply himself to the Dukes of Medina Sidonia and Medina Caeli who giving him recommendation to the Queens Confessor he arrived at the Court of Castile in 1486. but Ferdinando and Isabella then King and Queen of Spain being ingaged hotly in the Wars of Granada against the Moors he at first found but cold entertainment Thus he continued for some time in a mean and contemptible Condition till at length the Archbishop of Toledo procured him audience where he was favourably received and promised dispatch upon concluding the Wars in Granada and accordingly he was furnished with three Caravels at the Kings charges and sixteen thousand Duckets in money In 1492. August 3. Columbus accompanied with about one hundred and Twenty Persons set sail for Gomera one of the Canary Islands where having refresht after many days they encountred the Sea called Sargasso from an Herb like Sampire wherewith it is so covered that it appears like a green Field with empty berries like a Gooseberry and is so thick that the Water cannot be seen hindring the passage of the Ship without a strong wind these weeds are thought to reach to the bottom of the Sea though there exceeding deep and above four hundred miles distant from the Coast of Africa This strange accident much surprized the Spaniards and had occasioned their return had not the sight of some birds incouraged them with hopes of Land not far off After thirty three days sayling despairing of success the company mutined threatning to throw Columbus into the Sea disdaining that a Genouse stranger should thus abuse them but at length by soft words and strong promises he qualified their anger Oct. 11. following one Roderigo di Triana cried out Land Land the best musick that Columbus could desire who to pacify the Spaniards had ingaged that if no Land appeared in three days he would then return one of the company the night before had descried Fire which raised his expectation of having some great reward from the King of Spain of which being frustrate at his return he in a rage renounced his Christianity and turned Moor. With Tears of Joy the late mutinous Mariners behold the desired Land and they that Yesterday were ready to destroy now as far distracted with contrary passions imbrace and almost adore their dear Columbus for so happily bringing them to this Land of Promise On shore they go and felling a Tree make a Cross thereof which they there erected and took possession of this New World in the name of the Catholick King They first landed in an Island called Guanahâ—ni one of the Lucai which Columbus named St. Salvadore from whence he sayled to Baracoa an Haven on the North side of the Isle of Cuba and landing inquired of the Inhabitants for Cipango or Japan which they understanding to be Cibao in Hispaniola where are the richest Mines they made signs to them that they were in Haiti which name they gave to Hispaniola and some of them went with him thither but no earthly joy is without some disaster for here their Admiral split upon a Rock but the men were saved by the help of other Ships This happened on the North part of Hispaniola where they saw some Inhabitants who for fear of strangers instantly fled into the Mountains One woman they got whom they used kindly giving her meat drink and clothes and so dismissing her who declaring their civility to the rest they soon came in Troops to the Ships judging the Spaniards to be some Divine Nation sent from Heaven Though before they thought them Canibals or Man-eaters and such indeed they afterward proved in some sense not leaving in some few years after their arrival above two hundred Indians alive of four Millions that before inhabited these Countries Before the discovery of this Island by Columbus the People were informed thereof by an Oracle for one of their Kings being very importunate with their Zemes or Gods to know future events fasted five days together spending his time in continual mourning After which the Zemes declared That some years after there would arrive a strange Nation clothed bearded and armed with shining Swords which would out a man asunder in the middle who should destroy the ancient Images of their Gods abolish their Ceremonies and slay their Children In remembrance of which Oracle they composed a solemn Elegy which upon Holy days they used mournfully to sing Nothing more pleased the Spaniards than the Gold which the Innocent Inhabitants exchanged with them for Bells Glasses Points and other Trifles Columbus got leave of the King of Hispaniola to build a Fort and leaving 38 Spaniards therein taking with him six
or Olive which neither Sun nor Wind but nature it self imprinted on them as appeared by their Infants and seems to be the complexion of all the Americans their clothing was Seals Skins the women were painted on the Cheeks and about the Eyes with blew streaks These Savages intercepted 5 Englishmen and their Boat they took also one of them whom they brought into England where they arrived Oct. 2. 1576. having taken possession of the Country in right of the Queen of England every man of the company being commanded to bring home somewhat in witness thereof one brought a piece of black stone like Sea-coal which was found to hold Gold in a good quantity Whereupon the next year a second voyage was made to bring home more of this Ore and coming into these Streights in July 1577. they found them in a manner shut up with a long wall of Ice which very much indangered their Ships They found a Fish as big as a Porpice dead upon the Shoar twelve foot long having a Horn of two yards growing out of the Snout wreathed and streight like a wax tapor was thought to be a Sea Unicorn It was broken on the top wherein the Sailers affirmed they put Spiders which presently died It was presented to the Queen at their return and sent to Winsor to be reserved in the Wardrope for a curiosity They went on Shoar and had some skirmishes with the Inhabitants who were so fierce and resolute that finding themselves wounded they leapt off the Rocks into the Sea rather than fall into the hands of the English the rest fled only one Woman and her Child they brought away and another man who seeing the Picture of his Countrey-man in the Ship that was taken the year before thought him to be alive and was very angry that he would not speak to him wondring how our People could make men live or die at their pleasure It was very pleasant to observe the behaviour of the man and woman when they were brought together who though put into the same Cabbin shewed such signs of Chastity and Modesty as might justly shame Christians who come so far short of them when these Savages would trade their manner was to lay down somewhat of theirs and go their ways expecting the English should lay down something in exchange if they like the value when they come again they take it otherwise they take away only their own they made signs that their Catchoe or King was higher of stature than any of ours and carried upon mens Shoulders They could not hear what became of their five men taken the year before only they found some of their Apparel which made them judge the Savages had eaten them Having laden their Ship with Oar they returned The next year 1578. with fifteen sail another Voyage was made by Captain Frobisher for further discovery He went on shoar June 20 on Frizeland which is in length about 25 Leagues in 57 degrees of Latitude which he named West England where they espied certain Tents and People like the former who upon their approach fled in the Tents they found a Box of small Nails red Herrings and boards of Fir-tree with other things wrought very Artificially so that they were either ingenious workmen themselves or traded with others some think this to be Friesland and joined to Greenland In going from hence one Ship called the Salamander sailing with a strong gale struck with such violence upon the back of a Whale with her full stem that she stood still without motion whereat the Whale made a hideous roaring and lifting up his body and tail above water sunk instantly to the bottom Two days after they found a dead Whale which was supposed the same July 2. they entred the Strieghts the mouth whereof was barr'd with Mountains of Ice wherewith a Bark was sunk with part of a house they designed to erect there the men were all saved and the other Ships in much danger by the severity of the Ice Fogs and Snow These Islands of Ice seem to be congealed in the winter further North in some Bays or Rivers the waters thereof being fresh and the Sun melting the tops of the Ice rills of fresh water run down which meeting together make an indifferent Stream these Rocks being by the summers Sun loosed and broken from their natural Scituation are carried whither the swift Current and the outragions Winds drive them Some of these Icy Rocks or Islands are half a mile about and fourscore fathoms above water besides the unknown depth beneath the usual rule being that only one part of seven is seen above water strange is their multitude more strange their deformed Shapes but most strange that instead of destroying they sometimes save both men and Ships suffering the mooring of Anchors entertaining them with sports as walking leaping shooting forty miles from Land without any Vessel or Ship under them presenting them with running Streams of fresh water sufficient to drive a Mill. The People represent the Tartars in apparel and living It is colder here in 62 than in ten degrees farther North which happens from the cold North East Winds which brings this sharp Air off the Ice The Natives are excellent Archers they wear the Skins of Deer Bears Foxes Hares and of Fowls sowed together in the Summer the hary side outward in the Winter inward yet many go naked they shoot Fish with their Darts and kindle Fire by rubbing two sticks together The Beasts Fowls and Fishes they kill are their Houses Bedding Meat Drink Hose Shoes Apparel Sails Boats and indeed all their riches they eat all things raw yea Grass and Shrubs and suck Ice to satisfy their thirst there is no flesh or fish which they find dead though never so filthy but they will take it up and eat it yet somtimes they parboil their meats in little kettles made of Beasts Skins the bloud and water they drink and lick the bloody Knife with their Tongues and use the same remedy for curing their wounds that is licking them only with their Tongues They have great plenty of Fowl our men killing 15 hundred in one day they have thicker Skins and more Feathers than ours which requires them to be flea'd before eaten They have no hurtful creeping things but Spiders and a Gnat which is very troublesom nor any Timber but what the undermining water brings from other places They are great Magicians and when their heads ake they tie a great Stone with a string into a stick and using certain Charms the Stone cannot be moved with all the force of a man yet at other times seems as light as a Feather they lie grovelling with their Faces on the Ground making a noise as if they Worshiped the Devil under the Earth they use great black Dogs like Wolves to draw their Sleds and some of a lesser kind they feed upon In the midst of Summer they have Hail and Snow sometimes a Foot thick which Freezeth as it
forced to melt it their Beer when thawed drunk like water They endeavoured to remedy it with Sea-coal fire as being hotter than wood and stopped the Chimney and Doors to keep in the heat when they instantly swounded away for want of Air Their Shoes froze as hard as horns to their feet and when they sate at the fire while they were almost burnt on the forepart they were frozen white on their backs The Snow rose higher than the House which in clear weather they endeavoured to remove cutting out steps and ascending up as out of a Vault or Cellar when neither Cloths nor great fires would keep out the cold they were forced to heat Stones and apply them burning hot to their feet and bodys in one night a barrel of water was turned into Ice They saw no Sun from November 3. to Jan. 24. a long night of fifty two days When the Sun had left them they saw the Moon continually day and night never going down the twilight likewise remaining several days and they saw some daylight sixteen days before the return of the Sun The Bears who had held them beseiged and often endangered them forsook them with the returning Sun these Bears are very large and cruel some of their Skins being thirteen foot long and yeilding and hundred pound of fat which served them for Oyl in their Lamps the flesh they durst not eat some of them losing all their own skin by eating a Bears Liver they devour any thing even their own kind for having killed one with a Gun another Bear carried it a great way over the Ice in his mouth and then fell to eating it whereupon making to him with their weapons he fled leaving his purchase half eaten and four men could hardly carry the other half when the whole body seemed to be very lightly carried by his fellow The white Foxes continually visited them of which they took many whose flesh was good Venison to them and their Skins in the linings of their Caps a comfortable remedy against the extream cold they used Pattens of wood with Sheepskins above and many Socks and Soles under their feet with shoes of Rug or Felt Their Diet was very mean but at length despairing of relief they made them two open Scutes wherein they sailed above a Thousand miles after ten months continuance in this disolate Habitation and though incompassed with a thousand dangers from the Ice which surrounded them like Tents Towns and Fortifications yet at length happily returned to their own Country However no further progress was made till the English several years after made more profitable Discoveries and found in Greenland not far off a very beneficial Trade of Whale-fishing which continues to this time Now though this Countrey is reckoned to be in Europe and therefore out of our present survey yet being so near adjacent it may not be unpleasant to give a brief relation of an hunting spectacle of the greatest chase which nature hath created I mean the killing of Whales when they spy him on the top of the water â—o which he is often forced to get breath they row toward him in a Shallop wherein the Harponier stands ready to dart his harping Iron with both his hands to which â—s fastened a line of such length that the Whale finding himself wounded and sinking to the bottom may carry it down with him it being contrived the Shallop shall incur no danger thereby when he rises they strike him again with Lances about twelve foot long the Iron being eight therof and the blade eighteen inches the harping Iron being chiefly intended only to fasten him to the Shallop and thus they hold him in hot persuit till after having cast up first Rivers of Water and then of bloud as being angry with both Elements for suffering such weak hands to destroy him he at length yields his slain Carcass a prey to the Conquerors The Tragedy is thus exprest by the Poet. When the Whale felt his side so rudely goar'd Loud as the Sea that nourisht him he roar'd As a broad Bream to please some curious taste While yet alive in boyling water cast Vext with unwonted heat boyls flings about The Scorching brass and hurls the liquor out So with the barbed Javeling stung he raves And â—courges with his tail the suffering waves His fury doth the Seas with Billows fill And makes a Tempest though the winds be still He Swims in bloud and bloud do's spouting throw To Heav'n that Heav'n mens Cruelties might know Roaring he tears the Air with such a noise As well resembles the conspiring voice Of routed Armies when the Field is won c. Being dead they tow him to the Ship with two or three Shallops joined together and then floating at the stern of the Ship they cut the blubber or fat from the flesh in pieces three or four foot long which are cut smaller ashore and boiled in Coppers which done they take them out and put them into wicker Baskets which are set in Shallops half full of water into which the Oil runneth and is thence put into Buts The ordinary length of a Whale is sixty Foot his brains are said to be the Sperma Caeti his head is the third part of him his mouth sixteen foot wide the Whalebones or Finns are no other than the rough and inward part of the mouth of which he hath five hundred which close in the shutting thereof like the fingers of both hands within each other he hath a Trunk or breathing hole in his head he hath no teeth but sucks his meat his Tongue is monstrous great and deformed like a Woolsack about eight Tun in Weight part of which yeildeth eleven Hogsheads of Oyl His food that nature might teach the greatest to be content with little and that greatness may be maintained without rapine as in the Elephant and Whale the greatest of Land and Sea Monsters is grass and weeds of the Sea and a kind of water-worm like a Beetle whereof the Finns in his mouth hang full and sometimes little birds all which striking the Water with his Tail and making a small Tide he gapes and receives into his Mouth neither is any thing else found in his Belly as is affirmed by Eye-witnesses this great Head hath little Eyes not much unlike an Ox and a little Throat not greater than for a Mans Fist to enter with such huge Bones on each side as suffer it not to stretch wider his body is round fourteen or fixteen Foot thick his Genitals hang from him as in Beasts in Generation they go into shallow Waters near the Shore and in the Act join Bellies as is said of the Elephant at which time much of their Sperm Floats on the Water their Tail is like a Swallows at least twenty Foot broad at the end they have but one young one at a time which is brought forth as in Beasts about the bigness but longer than an Hogshead the Female Whale hath two Breasts
and Teats no bigger than a Mans Head wherewith she Suckleth her young of which she is very tender one being killed they could not get the young one from the Dam there hath been made twenty seven Tun of Oil out of one Whale VII But to return from this diversion Captain Henry Hudson in 1607. discovered farther North toward the Pole than perhaps any before him he found himself in 80 Degrees where they felt it hot and drank Water to cool their Thirst they judg'd they saw Land to 82 Degrees and farther on the Shore they found Snow Morses Teeth Deers Horns Bones and Whalebones and the footing of other Beasts with a stream of fresh Water the next year 1608. he set forth on a Discovery to the North-east at which time as several of the Company solemnly affirmed they saw a Mermaid in the Sea he made another Voyage in 1609. and Coasted New-found land and thence along to Cape Cod his last and fatal Voyage was in 1610. being imployed by several Merchants to try if through any of those Inlets which Captain Davis saw but durst not enter there might be a passage found to the South Sea Their Ship was called the Discovery they passed by Iseland and saw Mount Hecla cast out Fire a certain Presage of foul Weather they gave the name of Lousy Bay to one Harbour in Iseland and found a Bath there hot enough to scald a Fowl June 4. They saw Greenland and after that Desolation Isle and then plied North-west among the Islands of Ice they ran plaid and filled sweet Water out of the Ponds that were upon them some of them were a-ground in six or seven score Fathom Water and on divers they saw Bears and Patridges they gave names to certain Islands as Gods Mercy Prince Henrys Foreland King James Cape Queen Anns Cape One Morning in a Fog they were carryed by a strong Tide into one of those Inlets the depth whereof and the plying forward of the Ice gave Hudson great hope it would prove a thorough-fair After they had Sailed herein near 300 Leagues West he came to a small Streight of two Leagues over and very deep Water through which he passed between the two Capes one of which he called Digges Island in 62 Degrees into a spacious Sea wherein he sailed above an hundred Leagues South being now over-confident that he had found the Passage but perceiving by the Shoal Water that it was only a Bay he was much surprized committing many errors especially in resolving to Winter in that desolate place in such want of necessary Provisions November 3. He moored his Ship in a small Cove where they had all undoubtedly perished but that it pleased God to send them several kinds of Fowl they killed of white Patridges above an hundred and twenty Dozen these left them in the Spring and others succeeded as Swans Geese Teal Ducks all easy to take besides the blessing of a Tree which in December blossomed with green yellow Leaves of a smell like Spice which being boiled yielded an Oily substance that proved an excellent Salve and the Decoction being drunk an wholesom Potion for curing the Scurvy Sciatica Cramps Convulsions and other Diseases bred by the coldness of the Climate At the opening of the year there came to the side of his Ship such a multitude of fish of all sorts that they might easily have fraught themselves for their return if Hudson had not too desperately pursued his Voyage neglecting this opportunity of storing themselves which he committed to the care of certain careless dissolute Villains who in his absence conspired against him in few days all the fish forsook them one time a Savage visited them who for a Knife Glass and Beads gave them Bever and Deers Skin with a Sled At Hudsons return they set Sail for England but in few dayes their Victuals being almost spent and he in despair letting fall some words of setting some on shore the Conspirators entred his Cabin in the night and forced Hudson his Son and six more to go out of the ship into the Shallop and seek their Fortune after which they were never heard of but certainly perished in the Sea In a few days the Victuals in the Ship being spent they took 2 or 300 tame Fowls and traded with the Savages for Deer skins Morse teeth and Furrs One of their men went a shore and found they lived in Tents Men Women and Children together they were big-boned broad faced flat noosed and small feet like the Tartars their Garments Gloves and Shoes were of Skins handsomly wrought next morning Green one of the principal Conspirators would needs go on shore with divers others unarmed the Savages lay in ambush and at the first onset shot this mutinous Ringleader to the heart and another as bad who dyed swearing and cursing the rest of these Traytors dyed a few days after of their wounds Divine Justice finding executioners by these barbarous people The Ship escaped narrowly for one Abraham Prichard a servant to Sir Dudley Diggs whom the Mutineers had saved in hope he would procure their pardon from his Master was left to keep the Vessel where he sate at the Stern in his Gown sick and lame when the Leader of the Savages suddenly leapt from a Rock and with a strange kind of weapon of Steel wounded him desperately before he could draw out a small Stotch Dagger from under his Gown wherewith at one thrust into the side of the Savage he killed him and brought off the Ship and some of the wounded company Swimming to him they hastned homeward without ever striking Sail being so distrest for food that they were forced to fry the weeds of the Sea with Candles ends to sustain their lives Sept. 6. 1611. they met with a Fisherman of Foy in Cornwal by whose means they came safe to England VIII But above all Sir Francis Drake whose memory is most deservedly honoured of all men ought to be recorded for his extraordinary Abilities Experience and happy Conduct at Sâ—a This brave Seaman in the beginning of his Actions was Captain of the Judith with Sir John Hawkins in the Voyage to Guiana 1567. where they received some considerable damage from the Spaniards in the Port of St. John de Vllua contrary to their promise and agreement and therefore to repair himself having first been assured by Divines that his Cause was just in 1572. be set out for America with two Ships and a Pinnace one called the Dragon wherein he himself was and at his first attempt surprized Nombre de Dios at that time one of the richest Towns in America but in the Action happening to receive a wound in one of his Feet which disabled him he was not able to command nor gather that rich Spoil that lay even in sight before him for his Company being too much discouraged with thiâ— disaster carried him back to the Ships even almost whether he would or no leaving the Town and an infinite
themselves reasonably loaden and that their Ships had endured the Sea a long time they resolve to return for England by the Moluccae and Philippine Islands Sailing in this South Sea to forty degrees of Northerly Latitude where he landed and named it Nova Albion The Inhabitants presented him Feathers and Kalls of Network which he requited with other things the men went naked the Women had loose Garments of Bulrushes tyed about their middles They came a second time and brought Feathers and bags of Tobacco and after a long oration by one that was Speaker for the rest they left their bows on an Hill and came down to our men the women in the mean time remaining on the Hill tormented themselves tearing their flesh from their cheeks whereby it appeared they were about some sacrifice the news being further spread brought the King thither who was a very proper man and had the like to attend him two Ambassadours with a Speech of half an hour long gave an account of his intended coming when he appeared one went before him with a Scepter or Mace whereon there hung two Crowns with 3 Chains the Crowns were of knitwork wrought artificially with feathers of divers colours the chains made of bone The King was clothed in Cony-skins his Followers had their faces painted with white black and other colours every one even the Children bringing their Presents He that carried the Scepter made a loud Speech of half an hour repeating it from another who whispered to him which being ended with a Solemn applause they all came orderly down the Hill without their weapons the Scepter-bearer beginning a Song and dance and all the rest following him The King and several others made many Orations or Supplications to Drake that he would be their King and the King with a Song set the Crown on his head and put the Chains about his neck honouring him by the name of Hioh The Common sort leaving the King and his Guard mingled themselves among the English viewing them severely and offering theiâ— Sacrifices to those they best liked which were commonly the youngest weeping and rending their flesh with much effusion of bloud Our men misliked their Devotions and directed them to worship the Living God Every third day they brought their Sacrificeâ— till they found them displeasing yet at the departure of the English they very much grieved and secretly provided a Sacrifice They found Herds of Deer feeding by thousands and strange Conies with heads like ours feet like a Mole and the tail of a Cat having under their chains a bag lnto which they put their meat when their Bellies are full Sailing from hence they went back by the Cape of Good Hope And Nov. 3. 1580. which was the third year of their Voyage they safely arrived at Plymouth In 1585. This Gallant Seaman having been Knighted and much Honoured by Queen Elizabeth made another Voyage to America with a greater number of Ships in which besides other places of note he took and burnt a good part of St. Domingo in Hispaniola forcing the Inhabitants to redeem the other part with twenty five Thousand Duckets in Money he took also Carâ—hagena a Town upon the Continent and in it Alonso Bravo the Governour and after burning some Houses had eleven Thousand Duckets paid him by the Inhabitants to spare the rest he took likewise the Towns of St. Anthâ—ny and St. Helena but at last the English in the Ships falling Sick of the Calenture and many dying he was forced to return for England with what he had already got which was valued at threescore Thousand Pound Sterling of cleer Prize besides two hundred Pieces of Brass Ordnance and Forty of Iron In 1595. Sir Francis Drake made his last Voyage which proved not altogether so successful to him as the former by reason as was thought of some misunderstanding between him and Sir John Hawkins who was the other General joined in Commission with him for the Expedition they both died in this Voyage Sir John Hawkins first as soon as ever the Ship came in sight of Porto Rico after which Drake being Sole General made an attempt upon that place but could only Fire some Ships in the Haven receiving some loss himself yet he proceeded and took Rio de la Hacha Raucheria at that time a Wealthy Town by the Trade of Pearl Fishing and lastly Nombre de dios but found nothing so much Treasure now as he saw the first time from hence marching by Land he designed to surprize Panama but Sir Thomas Baskervile who commanded a party of seven hundred and fifty Souldiers for that purpose found the Passages over the Mountains so difficult and the passes so well guarded that he was forced to retreat not without loss of Men whom the Spaniards being acquainted with the Countrey and lying in the woods through which they were to pass killed in their return Hereupon they were forced to put to Sea again and not long after Sir Francis Drake himself fell sick and partly of a Flux and grief for his ill success having hitherto been acquainted with nothing but good Fortune and Victory he died within few days before Porto bello and the Fleet under Sir Tho. Baskervile return'd to England IX Another renowned worthy among the English Adventurers of America and especially for a prosperous and compleat circumnavigation of the Ocean was Sir Thomas Cavendish of Trimley in Suffolk who in July 1586 with three Ships and 120 Men set out from Plymouth for the West Indies and Aug. 25 following fell with the Point of Sierra Liona on the Coast of Guiny and from thence Sept 7 with the Isle of Madrabamba about Cape Verde a place very convenient for taking in fresh water and other necessaries for men at Sea but otherwise much subject to sudden claps of Thunder Lightning and storms especially in winter Their design was for the Streights of Magellan and the South sea therefore steering directly South by the latter end of October they dicover Cape Frio on the Coasts of Brasil and put in at an Harbour between the Isle of St Sebastian and the Continent where they stayed some time building a New Pinnace and supplying their Ships with necessaries Then sailing toward the Streights Jan. 6. they came to an Anchor at the Streights mouth not far from the place where the Spaniards intended a Town and Fort for commanding the Streights and securing the Passage into the South-Sea against all Nations but themselves But as it appeared that project took no effect for of 400 Men left there three Years before by Don Pedro Sarmiento to that purpose by order of the King of Spain there were scarce 20 remaining alive when Sir Tho Cavâ—ndish sailed that way the rest were either starved for want of necessary Provisions or destroyed by the Natives They had begun their Town which they named St. Philip upon the narrowest Passage of the Streights about half a mile broad in a place very convenient for their
Darien where Sir Francis Drake formerly fell acquainted with the Symerons who put him upon surprizing the Treasure at Panama a Place and People which Captain Oxenham very well knew and intended now to make use of Nor was it long ere he met with some of them who inform him that the Mules now travel with a strong Guard of Souldiers which was somewhat contrary to his expectation and quite altered his design However being resolved to act some great thing it did not much disanimate him and therefore finding little hopes of success here they resolve to try their Fortunes on the South Sea To this purpose the Captain brings his own Ship on ground and covers her with boughs and rubbish as well as he could and burying his great Guns in the Earth he with his Company and 6 Negro's to conduct them march by land toward the Coast of Panama and Peru. Having gone about 14 Leagues they came to a River which the Symerons told them ran directly into the South Sea Here they cut down wood and built themselves a Pinnace about 45 foot long wherein they put to Sea making toward the Island of Pearls 25 Leagues South of Panama hoping some Ships from Peru or other places from the South would be sailing that way for Panama So that though Sir Francis Drake hath deservedly the honour of first discovering the South Sea to the English by the open and known way of the Streights yet Captain Oxenham was the first Englishman that ever sailed upon it with command He had not waited long but there came a Bark from Quito a Province of Peru laden with Goods and sixty Thousand Pezo's of fine Gold which he took and within six days after another from Lima wherein were no less than two hundred Thousand Pezo's of Silver in Bars the value of a Pezo both in Gold and Silver you have in Sir Tho. Cavendishes Voyage according to which account this Prize amounted to nine hundred and sixty Thousand Pound Sâ—erling in Gold and fourscore Thousand Pound in Silver which being enough to satisfy reasonable Men they retire with their Pinnâ—ce up the River intending to make all speed to their Ship but unhappily by the Covetousness and Dissention of some of the Company so much time was spent about sharing their Booty that the Spaniards at Panama had notice of it whereupon Ships were presently dispatcht to pursue them at Sea and Souldiers to intercept them at Land The Captain himself through the obstinacy and wilfulness of some of the Company was forced to leave the Treasure with them and Travel some Leagues up into the Country to find Negro's that might help him to carry it his own Men refusing to do it but quarrelling with him for larger pay In the mean time the Spanish Ships came to the mouth of the River and by the Feathers of certain Hens which the English had taken and pluckt there they judged them to be gone up the River and putting in after them soon overtook them and their Prize together The Captain was absent but either the Negro's or some of the English having discovered that their Ship lay in the Sound neither he nor any of the rest escaped but were all in a short time met with by the Spaniards and having no Commission to shew he going only upon his own Account every Man of them were Executed save two Boys Thus ended the stout and resolute Captain Oxenham the Justice of whose Cause saith my Author I will not dispute with his Adversaries but could wish it had been as perfectly just in all respects as it was gallant and bravely managed on the Captains part insomuch that his very Enemies who put him to death do yet admire and extol it miscarrying only through Passion Covetousness and Self-will of some of his Company whose Lives paid for their folly XII That Valiant and Learned Knight Sir Walter Rawleigh having Intelligence of the Rich and Mighty Empire of Guiana in America which is bounded on the North with Orenoque River and the Sea on the East and South with the River of Amazones and on the West with the Mountains of Peru In March 1595. he set forth for discovery thereof and landed at Curiapan in Trinidado taking the City of St. Joseph and therein Antony Berreo the Spanish Governour leaving his Ships he went with an hundred Men in Boats and a little Galley with Indian Pilots into the famous River of Orenoque which runs from Quito in Peru on the West and hath nine Branches on the North side and seven on the South the Inhabitants on the Northern Branches are the Tivitivas a Valiant Nation and of the most manly and deliberate Speech that I have heard saith Sir Walter In Summer they Build Houses on the Ground in Winter upon Trees where they Build very Artificial Towns and Villages for between May and September the River rises thirty Foot upright and then are these Islands which the River makes overflown twenty five Foot high except in some raised Grounds the Natives never eat any thing that is set or sown using the tops of Palmettos for Bread and killing Deer Fish and Pork for Meat those that dwell on some other Branches are chiefly imployed in making Canoos which they sell into Guiana for Gold and to Trinidado for Tobacco in taking of which they exceed all Nations when their King dies they use great lamentation and when they think the flesh is putrified and fallen from the Bones they take up the Carcass again and hang it up in his House decking his Skull with Feathers of all Colours and hanging Plates of Gold about his Arms Thighs and Legs those who dwell on the South beat the Bones of their King to Powder which their Wives and Friends Drink As they passed along these Streams they were entertained with several curious Divertisements the Deer feeding by the Water-side the Birds of variety of colours and notes singing the Fields embroidered with Plants and Flowers the Fishes and Fowls of all kinds playing in the River only the Crocodile who preys both on the Land and Water had almost spoiled the Comedy by turning it into a Tragedy feasting himself with a Negro of their company before their Eyes Passing hence to Cumana 120 Leagues North they came to a People as black as Negro's but with smooth Hair whose Arrows are so mortally poisoned that they kill with unspeakable Torments especially if men drink after they are wounded At the Port of Morequito they anchored and the King who was an hundred and ten years old came fourteen miles on foot to see them returning the same day they brought them Fruits great store a sort of Pariquetro's no bigger than Wrens An Armadilla which seemed covered all over with small Plates somewhat like a Rhinoceros with a white Horn growing in his hinder parts which they use to wind instead of a Trumpet and the Snout of a Pig this Beast they afterward eat They passed forward till they came in sight of
being touched the branches and leaveâ— start up making a great noise and close together intâ— the Figure of a Globe There are very few venemous Creatures in the Caribees though there be many Snakes and Serpents oâ— several colours and Figures some nine or ten fooâ— long and as big as a mans Arm or Thigh nay one waâ— killed which had in her belly a whole Hen feathers anâ— all above a dozen Eggs being seized as she was sitting Another snake had devoured a Car whence â— guess may be given of their bignes Notwithstandinâ— which they are not poysonous but do the Inhabitants â— Curtesy in freeing their Houses from Rats which they devour Other Serpents are very delightful to the Eye being green all over about an ell and half long not above an inch about feeding on Frogs in Brooks and birds upon Trees These dangerous snakes are oâ— two kinds some grey on the back and feel like velvet others Yellow or red dreadful to look on their heads are flat and broad and their jaws extreamly wide and armed with eight or ten teeth extraordinary sharp and hollow within from whence they disperse their Poyson which lies in little Purses just at the roots of their Teeth they never chew any thing but swallow it down whole after they have crushed and made it flat some say if they chewed there food they would poyson themselves to prevent which they cover their Teeth with their Gums when they take their nourishment these Creatures are so venemous that when they sting any if present help be not had the wound in two hours is incurable their only commendation is that they never hurt any who do not either touch them or something whereon they repose CHAP. XIII A Prospect of the Island of Anguilla ANguilla sometimes called Snake Island from its Shape is a long Tract of Land of about Thirty mile and nine mile broad winding almost about neer St. Martins Island whence it is very plainly perceived There is not any Mountain in it the ground lying low and even Where it is broadest there is a Pond about which some English have setled themselves in number two or three hundred and where they plant Tobacco which is highly esteemed by those who are good Judges in that Commodity The Island lyes in Eighteen Degrees and Twenty Minutes on this side the Equinoctial Before the discovery of America there were not to be 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 multiplyed so exceedingly that now they are more common as well on the Continent as the Caribees than in any part of Europe But beside these Foreign kinds of Cattle there were before in these Islands certain sorts of strange fourfooted Beasts 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 it lays upon the ground at pleasure by opening that natural purse when he would leave that place he opens it again and the young ones get in and so he carries them with him wherever he goes The female suckles them without setting them on the ground for her Teats lye within that Purse which is much softer within that without The Female commonly brings six young ones but the Male who hath such another natural Purse under his Belly carries them in his turn to ease the Female Strange Creatures in America But of all the Caymaa Crocodile or Allegator is very remarkable it keeps neer the Sea and in Rivers and Islands uninhabited and sometimes among the Reeds on Land very hideous to look on It is thought to live very long and grows bigger to the very last day even to eighteen foot long and as big about as an Hogshead it hath four feet well armed with crooked Claws The skin which is covered all over with scales is so hard on the back that a Bullet from a Musket shot at him shall hardly make any Impression on it but if be hurt under the belly or in the eyes he is soon gone his lower Jaw is immoveable but hath so wide a mouth and so well set with sharp Teeth that he makes nothing to cut a man in two He runs fast enough on the Land but the weight of his body makes as deep a Track in the sand as a Coach-horse and having no joints in the backbone he goes streight forward not being able to turn his vast body without much difficulty so that to avoid him one need only turn aside several times Those that are bred in the fresh-water smell of Musk while they are alive and the Air is perfumed an hundred paces about them nay the water retains somewhat of the smell which is inclosed in certain Glandules under his Thighs and being taken thence retain their scent long It may be Providence hath bestowed it upon them that men and other Creatures may avoid being made a Prey to these cruel Monsters Those that live in the Sea have no such smell but both kinds are very dangerous to those that swim They have a cunning slight for seizing Oxen and Cows for one of them will lye lurking at the places where they come to Water and finding one at his advantage he half shuts his eyes and floats on the top of the Water like a peice of rotten wood and getting still nearer to the poor Beast which is drinking and unaware of him he immediately fastens on him by the lips forcing him under Water drowning and then eating him He likewise takes men by the same sleight for Vincent Le Blanc relates that the Servant of a Consul of Alexandria going to take up one of these cruel Creatures thinking it had been a peice of wood was drawn by it to the bottom of the River and never seen more There are abundance of these Monstrous Crocodiles in these Islands who come in great numbers in the night to the places where the Tortoises are killed of which hereafter to feed on the entrails and carcass of them that are left by Fishermen who are obliged to carry great wooden Leavers with them to keep off these Crocodiles and oftimes kill them by first breaking their back therewith Several parts of this Ravenous Monster are accounted good for many Diseases the wise Author of Nature having provided some advant ges from those Creatures which are otherwise most pernicious CHAP. XIV A Prospect of the Island of Montserrat THe Island of Montserrat received that Title of the Spaniards from the resemblance of a Mountain therein to that of Montserrat neer Barcelona in Spain
them at a blow or two with a Club and afterward cut them into peices and having boyl'd to devour them They heretofore put them to several Torments before they gave them the mortal blow of which they themselves have given this deplorable relation to those who have been so curious to inform themselves from their own mouths The Prisoner of War who had been so unfortunate to fall into their hands and was not ignorant that he was designed to receive the most cruel Treatment which rage could suggest armed himself with constancy and to express how generous a People the Arovages were marched very cheerfully to the place of execution not being either bound or drag'd thereto and presented himself with a mild and steady countenance in the midst of the Assembly which he knew desired nothing so much as his death and not expecting their abuses and bitter discourses he prevented them in these Terms I know well enough upon what account you have brought me to this place I doubt not but you are desirous to fill yourselves with my bloud and that you are impatient to exercise your Teeth upon my Body But you have not so much reason to Triumph to see me in this Condition nor I much to be troubled thereat My Countreymen have put your Predecessors to greater miseries than you are now able to invent against me And I have done my part with them in mangling Massacring and devouring your People your Friends and your Fathers besides that I have Relations who will not fail to revenge my quarrel with advantage upon you and upon your Children for the most inhumane tortures you intend against me what Torments soever the most ingenious cruelty can dictate to you for the taking away of my life is nothing in comparison of those which my generous Nation prepares for you in exchange therefore delay not the utmost of your cruelty any longer and assure your selves I both slight and laugh at it Somewhat of this Nature is that brave and bloudy Bravado which we read of a Brasilean Prisoner ready to be devoured of his Enemies Come on boldly said he to them and feast your selves upon me for at the same time you will seed on your Fathers and Grand-Fathers who serv'd for nourishment to my Body These Muscles thiâ— flesh and these veins are yours blind Fools as you are â—ou do not observe that the substance of the Members of your Ancestors are yet to be seen in them tast them well and you will find the tast of your own flesh The Great Soul of our Arovagues was not only his lips but shewed it self also in the effects which followed this Bravado For after the company had a while endured his menaces and arrogant defiance without touching him one among them came and burnt his sides with a flaming brand another cut great Gobbets of flesh out of him and would cut bigger if the bones would have admitted it then they cast pepper into his wounds others diverted themselves in shooting Arrows at the poor Patient and every one took a pleasure in tormenting him but he suffered with the same unconcerned countenance and expressed not the least sence of pain After they had thus sported a long time with the poor wretch at last growing weary of insulting and out-braved by his constancy which seemed still the same one of them came and at one blow dispatched him with his Club. This is the usage wherewith the Caribeans heretofore treated their Prisoners of War but now they think it enough to put them to a speedy death As soon as this unfortunate Person is thus laid dead upon the place the young men take the Body and having washed it cut it in peices and then boyl some part and broil some upon wooden Frames made like a Gridiron for that purpose When this detestable dish is ready and seasoned according to their Palates they divide it into so many parts as there are persons present and joyfully devour it thinking that the World cannot afford any other repast equally delicious The Women lick the very sticks whereon the fat dropped not so much from the deliciousness they find in that kind of sustenance as from the excessive pleasure they conceive in being revenged in that manner of their cheifest enemies and to heighten this rage and hatred against the Arovages they save the fat that comes from it and keep it carefully in little Gourds to pour some few drops thereof into their sauces at their solemn entertainments so to perpetuate as much as lies in their power the motive of revenge CHAP. XIX A Prospect of the Island of Antego THe Island of Antego lies in the Latitude of sixteen degrees and eleven minutes between Barbadoes and Desiderado In length about Twenty Miles and much of the same bredth The access to it is 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 and make Ponds and Cisterns to supply that defect it being inhabited by eight or nine hundred Persons The Commodities this Island affords are Sugar Jndico Ginger and Tobacco It abounds in tame Cattel and all sorts of Fish among which the Shark-Fish deserves remark It is a kind of Sea-dog or Sea-Wolf the most devouring of all Fishes the most greedy of mans flesh therefore dangerous to those that swim he lives altogether by prey and commonly follows ships to feed on the filth cast out of them into the Sea These Monsters seem yellow in the Water some of them 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 files are made of it to polish Wood Their heads are flat and the opening of their mouth not just before the snout but under it so that they are forced to turn their Bellies almost upward when they seize their Prey Their Teeth are very sharp and broad jagged about like a Saw of which some have three or four ranks in each Jaw-Bone they lye within his 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 either go forward or stay as he does The Meat of him is not good but the brains are counted useful against the stone and Gravel Another Ravenous Sea-Monster found on these Coasts is called the Becune a dreadful enemy to Mankind in shape like a Pike but seven or eight foot long he lives by prey furiously fastens like a bloud-hound on the men he perceives in the Water He carries away whatever he once fastens on and his teeth are so venemous that the least touch of them becomes mortal if some Soveraign Antidote be not instantly applied to divert and abate the Poyson
their Division the French more of the plain Country fit for Tillage The English exceed the French in number but the French have four Forts and the English only two and to prevent differences between the two Nations each of them have a Guard upon the Frontiers of their Division which is renewed every day There is a fine Salt Pit in the Island and some conceive there is a Silver Mine but because the Salt Pits Woods Havens and Mines are common to both People it is not regarded besides the great stock and multitude of slaves which such an enterprize would require The true Silver Mine is Sugar This Island may be easily incompassed by Land but one cannot pass through the midst of it by reason of several great and steep Mountains between which are dreadful Rocks Precipices and springs of hot Water yea some springs of Sulphur which causeth one of them to be called the Sulphur Mountain The Island seems to descend gently toward the Sea and is divided into several Stages from the uppermost whereof a man may take a very pleasant Prospect of all the Plantations from thence downward There are many gallant Houses built both by the English and French and the English have also erected five fair Churches well furnished within with Pulpits and Seats of excellent Joyners work of precious wood The Ministers being sent thither by the Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury The French and English Colonies had their beginning at the same time for in 1625. Monsieur Desnambuck a French and St. Thomas Warner an English Gentleman jointly took possession of St. Christophers on the same day in the names of the Kings of Great Britain and France their Masters that they might have a place of safe retreat and a good Haven for the Ships of both Nations bound for America as being well furnished with Provisions and therefore often visited by the Spaniards who sometimes left the sick there to be look'd to by the Caribeans with whom they had made a peace upon those Terms These two Gentlemen having thus taken possession of the Island left some men therein to secure it and returned for the further establishment of these Colonies to their respective Countreys But before they parted hence suspecting some private Intelligence between the Indians and Spaniards for destroying all the English and French in their absence they in one night rid their hands of the most factious of that Nation and soon after forced all the rest who were got together in several Bodies and stood upon their Guard to retire to some other Islands and leave that to their disposal After this they both returned home where their Conquests and Proceedings being approved of by the Kings their Masters they returned with recruits of men in the quality of Governors and Lieutenants under the Kings of Great Britain and France and having divided the Island according to their first Agreement and the English having plentiful Provisions from London prospered much more than the French who wanted necessary assistance In 1629. a powerfull Fleet from Spain under Don Frederick de Toledo had received order from that King that before he fell down to the Havana he should touch at St. Christophers and force thence all the English and French who had planted themselves there for some years before This Navy consisted of twenty four great Ships of Burden and fifteen Frigots who first seized some English Ships lying at Anchor near the Isle of Mevis And then came and cast Anchor in the Road of St. Christophers in the French Division and the Forts of both Colonies being not in a condition to stand out a Siege unfurnished with Ammunition and Provisions nay all the Forces of the Nations in Conjunction not being able to have opposed so great an Army it was a great discouragement to them yet resolving the Enemy should not boast they had compassed their designs without blows they made a very Vigorous opposition but being over powered by number the French forsook the Island â—â—snamâ—uâ— Imbarquing all his Men in certain Ships which chanced to be in the Haven The Quarters of the English upon this Intelligence were in great disorder and in continual expectation that the Spaniards would fall upon them Some endeavouring to escape by Sea or shelter themselves in the Mountains while others somewhat more couragious sent Deputies to Don Frederick to propose an accommodation But all the answer they received was an express command immediately to depart the Island or to be treated with that Rigour which the Law of Arms permits to be used toward those who wrongfully possess what belongs not to them and to speed their departure he ordered those English Ships taken at Mevis should be restored to them wherein they should Imbarque Instantly for England and because it was impossible those Vessels should contain so great a number he permitted the rest to continue in the Isle till they had opportunity of Transportation These things dispatcht Don Frederick weighed Anchor but as soon as the Fleet was out of sight the English who were left behind began to rally and took a resolution couragiously to carry on the Settlement of their Colony During these Transactions at St. Christophers the French who went to Sea having suffered many inconveniences were forced to put in at the Islands of St. Martin and Montserrat but looked on them as Desarts in comparison of the place they had left and being desirous to be informed of the condition of the Spaniards there sent one of their Ships to St. Christophers who returning gave them an account the Enemy was gone and the English couragiously imployed in Re building Planting and repairing Desolations This unexpected good News revived their decayed hopes and persuaded them to a speedy return The English Colony with constant supplies from London from that time grew very powerful peopling not only this place but sending new Plantations from hence to Barbuda Montserrat â—ntego and Barbadoes which are grown very numerous and famous for the Trade of the rich commodities they are furnished with as well as this curious Island whose chiefest Trade is Sugar Tobaccâ— Cotton Ginger with several other sorts of Fruits and Provisions The Rocquet is a pretty Animal in this Isle their skin is of the colour of a withered leaf marked with little Yellow or blewish Points they go on four feet those before being highest their Eyes lively and sparkling their heads always lifted up and so active that they leap up and down perpetually like Birds when they make no use of their Wings their Tails are so turned up toward their back that they make a Circle and an half They love to look upon men and are constantly staring on them When they are pursued they open their Mouths and put out their Tongues like little Hounds There is a large Bird in the Carribees called the Eagle of Orinca much like an Eagle in shape All his Feathers are of light Gray marked with black Spots save that the ends of