his men whilst they were fishing and that the same Portugals we had traded withall had assisted them whereupon he thought himself obliged to vindicate himself and did it so effectually that he beat the house down with his great Guns killed several of the Mores which defended it and rescued his nine men paying three thousand weight of Ivory for their Ransome which had not been done had not the Mores upon the approach of these two Ships carryed them all into the Woods we gave him a Collation and then he took his leave About midnight the Captain himself came aboard us to drink and be merry with our Officers but he told us no more then his Lieutenant only this that the Mores who were by us when we weigh'd anchor to meet him had come to him and told him in these words If you be English you must run for it but if Dutch you are safe enough After which they all clapt themselves down close in their Canoes to attend what would follow and in case we had fought and one of us been sunk to have had the benefit of the pillage At his departure we gave him three Guns for a farewell which he repayed exactly when he got aboard we gave him a Cheese two Barrels of Powder and four Bullets he told us he was bound for the Mine from thence to Ardres to Capolopo and Gonsalves and that if he met with no prize there he would go unto the Isles but we heard afterwards at the Isle of S. Thomas that he pass'd by there with 400 Negroes which he had taken about the Cap de Lopes out of 2 Vessels which had put in there for fresh first water the first yeilded without any resistance the other having lost his maine mast he sunk to the bottom The same day the Mores perceiving we were friends came aboard us again to finish their Markets which being done the next we set sayle for the Golden Coast This Countrey produces a great quantity of Rice Pease Beans Berrys Citrons Oranges Cochonuts c. Besides which the Natives brought us Suger-Canes aboard of a very considerable bigness 'T is one of the best Countreys in Guinee the Hills and the Valleys are admirable the great Rocks of Mountains which are red with the constant verdure of the Trees wherewith they are covered by the variation of Colours make delicious prospect But even of these places the Grand Drouin and the Rio S. Andre are the best The Grand Drouin is situate in the midst of a little River which winds about a little Island betwixt 2 Mountains it is encompass'd with excellent Meadows and is wash'd so gently by the water you would think it was affraid to come near it Rio S. Andre of all Africk t s the properest place for building the River of the same name runs up far into the Countrey and not far from the place where it falls into the Sea it divides its self into two branches one running North-West and the other East It is bordered on both sides with very fair Trees environed with fine Meadows and Fields and is deep enough to carry a Yacht an indifferent way up The Rock at the Sea side at the mouth of the River is three hundred paces in circumference the top which being flat commands all the Countrey about it without any contest 'T is very steep towards the Sea and on the East-side and indeed inaccessible unless by the River on the West which makes it so near being an Island that the cutting but of 15 paces of earth would make it one entirely On all other sides it is encompass'd with Rocks under water upon which even a shallop would be lost The fresh water which comes out of a Fountain at the foot of a large Mountain which covers this Rock on the North-side may be defended from thence with the shot of a Faucon and the Towns of Petit-Drouin Tao and Groua are at no greater distance then the Grand-Drouin which is only one league and no more From the top of this Rock Giron may be discerned on the East built upon the side of a delicate large Meadow and Tabo on the West at the end of a fair Campagnia planted up and down with curious Woods which run up a good way into the Countrey and terminate at the foot of several great Mountains which are visible from thence Saturday the 9th of February we came to an anchor and took in fresh water all the rest of the day as well as on the Sunday and Munday following which gave me opportunity of considering these following observations The water we took in at this place served us almost till we came at the Isle of S. Thomas The Fountain is very pure but being shadow'd by a large Tree at the fall of the leave when they fall into the Fountain they render it something black for a time Upon these Coasts they have great quantities of Bullocks Goats Kids Hoggs and Dear which are so cheep one may buy a good Beef of them for a douzain of knives of about twenty pence and a good Roe Buck for the same price The People are well made strong lusty their limbs large and fat but their looks austere and dreadfull and 't is reported they do eat the Whites I never heard of any house built by the Europeans in these parts where they land but very rarely and have as little to do with them as they can 'T is not above thirteen or fourteen years ago since fourteen Hollanders were killed and eaten at Rio S. Andre as they were taking in fresh water without any occasion of quarrel for which reason we went alwayes well armed and were alwayes upon our guard The common people wear only a linnen cloth before but the Grandees and Nobles of the Countrey are conspicuous by a kind of Mantle they wrap about them and a Ponyard by their sides They are great lovers of great heads of hair which they breid for one another very handsomly and then bind them up upon their heads but the Womens hair they usually cut The women of Giron and Petit-Drouin had the curiosity to come and look upon us as we were takeing in water and to bring their daughters along with them the liniaments and features of their faces were so just and regular that bate them the unhappiness of their complexion they were absolute beauties Amongst fifty of them which I saw there was not any fat or tall wheras on the contrary not one of a hundred amongst the men but are both The women have only a cloth before and the least covered I observed any where upon those Coasts if there be any thing besides their colour amiss in their faces it is that they threaten revenge and mischief a little too much When they come aboard any Ship the Captain of it must come to them and it is their custom whilst they have one foot upon their Canoe and the other upon the Ship holding by one hand upon the
Rope they dip the other in the Sea and throw their handfull upon his head which is intended as a great instance of kindness and amity and in this they are so pertinatiously superstitious that without it they will never be forc'd nor perswaded to enter any Ship and when they would affirm any thing with more vehemence than ordinary they use the same ceremony They are so diffident and distrustfull they will never begot with all the art can be used either under deck or into any of the Cabains which the Mores of all other parts would do very freely They have a great fancy for bracelets of Iron with rings and bells upon them with which kind of Gallantry most of their arms and legs are plentifully furnish'd they have great store of Mulettoes among them We could not understand their language nor they speak one word of Portugais When they came first aboard us they cryed Qua Qua Qua which we found afterwards to be as much as you are welcome or good morrow for which reason the Hollanders have given the name of Quaqua to a good part of this Coast they made great use of that word especially if their Gutts had been filled The Commodities which this Countrey yeilds are Elephants teeth so large sometimes that they weigh 200 weight a piece and then they are worth 10000 livers If we may credit those that live on the Gold Coast which are their Neighbours they have so great number of Elephants that they are forc'd for their security against them to make their houses under ground They kill as many of them as they can but that which accommodates them with so many teeth is that the Elephants doe shed them every three year as the Staggs doe their Horns This Countrey affords likewise good store of Cotton of which they make a pritty sort of stuff strip'd with white and blew about three quarters broad and three or four ells long which is much valued amongst them and sold afterwards at a good rate upon the Gold Coast to cover their Pesantry there They have Gold amongst them likewise undoubtedly for without any Commerce or communication with their Neighbours they bind up their hair for the most part with hair laces of Gold very curiously made I made a sign to one of them to know which way they came by it and he show'd me the great Mountaines up the Countrey afar off and sign'd to me from thence for which reason he that should make further discovery of these parts would questionless encounter many rarities and without any great difficulties in regard the Countrey consists for the most part of Plaines The Inhabitants here are more afraid off fire armes then of all the inventions in Guinee The 26 of February we weigh'd anchor and continuing our course all Sunday about evening we made the Golden Coast and stood to it directly COSTE D' OR OR THE GOLD COAST With a Relation of our occurrences there MVnday the last of February we came to an anchor at sixteen fathom low water at Asbini the first place upon the Gold Coast The Countrey thereabouts is very low the Town is seate'd upon the mouth of a River of that name which runs up North-West amongst the Hills and South into the Sea we stay'd there 3 days bartring for Gold-Sand The 4th of March we past before Albiani Tabo and other Towns upon that Coast The Countrey there is but low likewise very full of Trees but no River at all Those Canoes which came aboard us having assured us they had no Gold we gave them the go by and past on We thought to have doubled the Cape of Apollonia that night but two of their Canoes coming up to us and promising fair we beleived them and cast anchor The next day some of their Canoes brought some Gold which we bought of them though it was not much This Cape throws it self a far into the Sea and raising it self by degrees into Hills and then into a Mountain makes no unpleasant prospect But it is of no good access the Sea beating so violently upon it there is great danger in approching We weigh'd anchor again that night but the weather being calme we could not reach Axime before Sunday in the afternoon at which time we came to an anchor Axime is a Fort belonging to the Hollanders some twelve leagues distant from the Cape Apollonia situate upon the side of a River which runs up Northward also into the Countrey and abounds with Gold-Sand which is esteem'd the best of all that Coast Its banks are higher than either Asbini or Cape Apollonia Before this place we stay'd all Sunday and Munday but perceiving the Dutch obstructed the Mores coming aboard us we weigh'd anchor on Tuesday and doubled the Cape de Tres-Puntas so called from three Mountains which appear so at a distance and by the convenience of their position do make two little but convenient Bayes In the afternoon we appear'd before Botrou which is another little Fort belonging to the Hollander situate beyond the Cape upon an eminence at whose foot runs a brook that is not unpleasant We stay'd here as long as we had any Trade and departed the 11th being Friday We weigh'd anchor at that time and came to anchor again betwixt Saconde and Takorai about six leagues distant from Botrou they are seated amongst the Mountains which lean as it were upon the banks of the River they lye so near it at which place we received Letters from the Governour of Frederisbourg not far from Cape Corse offring us his road if we pleased in consideration of the alliance betwixt France and Denmark desiring us also to secure some of his Merchandise for him We remained there Friday and Saturday and it was no small trouble to me to see an antient Fort which had been formerly ours in its ruines and rubbish it was at Takorai upon a Mountain which commanded the whole Countrey the sides of it spake it but barren being quite naked of either Trees or Grass and the stone of a reddish complexion On Sunday the 23th we weigh'd anchor and in two hours appear'd in the road de Comendo whose Inhabitants are greater lovers of the French than of any other Europeans The Town that may consist of about a hundred houses is built on the Sea-side and watered by a Rivulet which falling into the Sea likewise on the South forms a pritty Channel and Harbour for Canoes and Shallops The East-side lyes low but the West rises into a hill which being flat a top is very convenient to build upon The house appertaining formerly to the French stands upon the North-end of the Town which runs up into the Countrey and raises it self into little hills by degrees at whose feet there are very fair Fields and Meadows planted up and down with variety of fruit The Mores which came aboard us were in great anxiety and disorder to resolve which way they should signifie their joy Their King held
big indeed as that of the King of Fetu but yet full as big as a Peck The gold of Acanis and Fetu is found in the earth by digging sometimes more and sometimes less he which discovers a Mine has one half the King the other it is never above twenty or one twenty Carrets it is melted down at neither place but brought to us aboard as it is taken out of the ground The Danish General has an ingot of gold taken out of the Mountain of Tafou which weighs seventeen Marks and about the seventh part of an Ounce It was a present sent him by the King of Acara when his Army was beaten by the Seigneur of Acara and he protected him in his Fort. When the French and the Portugais frequented these Coasts the Natives knew not the value of their gold but since other Nations have been admitted and the Hollanders especially they have learn'd by their earnest desire to have it that 't is of more price and do now hold it so dear and stand so high in their demands 't is almost insupportable Besides that they have found out new ways of increasing their quantities by adulterating it and mingling it with little pieces of Copper which they call Quaquara or otherwise with Brass the chief place for this Artifice is Commendo where I may say boldly there are the best cheats in the world Yet these practices are only amongst the lesser sort of Merchants of whom great care is to be taken for they are so ingenious in this kind there is not a cheat or forgery that can fall under the invention of mankind which they do not use for the circumvention of strangers They pretend very much to imitate the Europeans in their working of their Gold to speak truth they are so happy as to surpass all the workmen I ever saw their files are much â—iner than ours and will make their work as fine as our Filigranne The King of Fetu has a Casque and a suit of Arms of beaten Gold admirably well done Amongst other things they make great quantities of Bracelets of polish'd Gold and of those Fetiches which they wear upon their heads as thin as paper But above all things they transcend in their hatbands which they make of threads as fine as any hair Their Kings have their Vessels in Gold still their working Goldsmiths making every thing they fancy and every thing that comes into their heads The Wives and Daughters of their Kings Merchants and Nobility of that Country are so well laden with Rings Bracelets Fetiches of Gold especially when they go to their Balls that they have sometimes in such trifles to the weight of 20 or 25 Marks of Gold and the men to thirty or forty It is so incredibly plentiful in those parts that a King upon an ordinary Festival will distribute two hundred Marks of Gold amongst his Courtiers and sometimes more for which reason the Negroes delight to have liberal Kings that their largesses may be more frequent and the Gold not being lockt up in their private Coffers may expend and circulate through the whole Kingdome Nor is the dearness of their provisions a small argument of the plenty aforesaid a Fricassee of Pullets bought of the Mores will cost two Crowns at least a Pot of their Palm-wine as it comes intirely from the tree a Crown and is no more than three of our Chopines at Paris 'T is true amongst themselves things are not altogether so dear but having taken up an opinion that the Whites make treble advantage of whatever they buy of them they sell every thing they can possibly at that rate to them their fish is somewhat cheaper indeed for ten pence one may have as much as will suffice ten men Notwithstanding all the pains I did take I could never inform my self further concerning their Gold or their manner of taking it out of the Mines talk to a thousand persons of it and they will all tell you several stories not that they are ignorant themselves but their diffidence of the Whites is so invincibly great they will never be perswaded to impart it to them Of the return of our Vessel for Europe THe immense profits that are made upon these Coasts being obvious to all people it would be superfluous to speak any more of them by the universal consent of the whole world it is agreed that these Voyages are more certain and advantageous than any other which appears by the extraordinary attempts have been made by all Nations of Europe to make themselves absolute Masters there and evinceth the truth of what I have said to any one that imagines the contrary so that it remains now that I speak only one word of our return Having finish'd our trading designs we weigh'd Anchor from before Frederisbourg the twentieth of April sail'd directly for the Port of Saint Thomas which is an Island belonging to the Portugais scituated directly under the Line to supply our selves with victuals for so long a Voyage The first two dayes we steer'd our course East and by South the two next East South-East and the two next full East after which we discover'd the Island of Saint Thomas and came to an Anchor before the Castle on the sixth of May seven dayes after our departure from Frederisbourg having made in all twenty six leagues and upwards The Description of the Isle of St. Thomas which lies under the Line ON the 8th of May we made a visit to the Governour of the Castle who received us with great civility but would not be perswaded to permit us to go into the Town he gave Orders to his Lieutenant to treat us with all respect which he was not able to perform himself by reason of an indisposition that was upon him at that time He is a little man well proportion'd about 40 or 50 years of age his name is Acosta a fierce quick man but very civil That night a Captain of the Fort came aboard us to whom we gave an account of what provisions we wanted and the Governour order'd us to be supplyed the last day in Rogation week Every day whilst we lay there at Anchor our men went to a little River which runs hard by into the Sea to provide our selves with fresh water which is indeed the best in all Africk for we kept it a year afterwards and it was as good and as sweet as at the first day During all the time we were there not one person of our Crew was permitted to go on shore but my self who had that priviledge by being a Frenchman I lay on shore three nights but desiring the Governours leave that our Notary might do the same for the benefit of his health he told me for my self all places were free I might go whether and buy what I pleased but for the Notary he could not permit it he being a Flemming that if our whole Equipage had been French they should all have had
his leave of us and we fill'd him a great Gourd with strong water which he had brought full of Palm Wine which is the best in their Countrey I went on shore with him and interrogating him about those following things for several hours he inform'd me that Rio-Fresca is a Town of about 200 houses that it hath a convenient Harbour on the West-side of it and capable of a shallop That the houses are but small and according to my computation like our thatched houses in Normandy built only with mud and sticks layed a cross That there were not above 300 men in the Town besides women and children The East-side is covered with a Wood thorow which I past four or five hundred paces and discovered large fields beyond it which my eye could not compass This Wood consists of Palm-trees and other very lofty Trees which in Europe are unknown The aire though the place be fourteen degrees on this side the Line is as good and as warm as any on these coasts for which reason both women and men go naked only a little linnen before to cover their pudibunda which the men doe not scruple to laave off when they go to Sea Their Religion is so various and intermixt that besides the Portugal Catholicks which are there in great numbers they have other circumcized Catholicks that come near to the Jews as also Mahumetans and Idolaters These latter have little baggs of leather which they wear constantly about their necks and call them Fetiches which is as much as to say their Gods as I shall demonstrate more at large in my Chapter of the Superstition of thâ—â— which inhabit the Golden Coast in which likwise they have so great confidence they beleive that unless it be the Whites there is no body can doe them any harm They eat very little flesh though they have Oxen Cows Sheep Goats Kids Hens Pidgeons a kind of Phesants and small Birds in abundance Their chief diet is Fish as the Guilthead the Shadfish the Pilcher which they take day and night in great numbers besides many other unknown among us Their fishing is in little Canoes cut out of the Trunk of a Tree and made hollow with a stick instead of a Mast set up in the middle when the wind is down but otherwise when it is high they stand right up and row with a kind of oares some four or five foot long and as broad at the end as a good large plate The men of this place are very personable and well not many of them Camous and from hence it is they have the best slaves in Africk The women and daughters are for the most part very common courting and solliciting of Strangers by that time they are fourteen years old and that in the midst of the streets so great a kindness and inclination they have for them The men have as many wives as they can keep will prostitute them for a small matter and somtimes offer them for nothing They have their haire tied up upon their heads which are always uncovered to which they fasten certain little pieces of wood and think them great preservatives against the heat of the Sun All of them both men and women speak a kind of corrupt Portugais The commodities this Country affords are Skins Gums Feathers Ivory Indigo Civet and great quantity of a kind of Cotten cloth stript with white and with blew which is immediatly put off again at the Golden Coast Though they are naturally great lyars and not to be beleived yet it is certain the Alcair gave advertisement to the Inhabitants up the country as he promised us but we thought it not fit to trust him according to the advice of another Vessell of Amsterdam which made advantage thereby We bought that day some Hens Pullets and Kids and delayed our time so long on shore our camerades were forced to give us a signal by discharging a great Gun that we should come back as apprehending some mischief might befall us from the Hollander That night we set sayle for the Sierra-Leoane or Mountain of Lyons neither thinking it convenient to make up the other Rivers or to pass directly to Gambay And on the six and twentieth of December we came to an anchor within three leagues The Coasts of MALEGETA with the Kingdom of Sierra-Leone THe next day by the benefit of the Tyde we came to an anchor in the River of Sierra-Leone aboot noon the Mores came aboard us to conduct us into the Bay de France which is the 4th from Cap-Ledo at the mouth of the River At six fathom deep low water we came to an anchor within musquet shot of the fountain where we took in fresh water and having landed we went that night to supper upon the banks of it where we killed a Goat which came thither to drink and found the water more pleasant and delicious in respect of our thirst then the best of our Wines We put out the colours of Ostend and not of France because there was an Englishman living in one of those Isles a long time where he had a faire house and four pieces of Canon and was besides well beloved and protected by the Kings of that Country The next day we sent two of our Officers up the River about ten leagues to wait upon the King of Boure with our usual presents and to desire permission to trade and to furnish our selves with fresh water wood and in the mean time our people fell to work to cut down wood and carry water the Notary my self one of my servants going along with them as a guard During our absence there came aboard our ship five or six Canoes in one of which there was one John Thomas Captain of one of the Isles in that River who brought some quantity of Ivory along with him The Captain who was the only Officer aboard received him very civilly saluted him at his entrance with a volley of great shot and regaled him as much as was possible but he bought none of his Ivory being too dear which gave so much dissatisfaction to Mounsieur Thomas he went away in a huff about five a clock and landed with 15 or 16 Mores in his company near the bank of the Fountain I have spoke of before The Clerk and my self were returning in our great shallop laden with balast and advanc'd as much as the tide which was then coming in would give us leave in so much that our shallop was afloat which being observed by the Captain and his Mores they put themselves into their Canoes again and made with all speed to our men who were cutting down wood upon the banks of the Bay At the same time they gave us a signal from the Ship by furling our colours which made us double our speed in apprehension there might have been some mutiny or sedition aboard but when we arrived we found it was only to give notice of the design of the Mores who were seen
making to our men with their weapons in their hands but the man I left behind me having his musquet with him stopt their proceedings and the rest defended themselves so well with their Axes that there was none wounded or kil'd of the whole company only one antient man received a scratch in one of his arms We sail'd immediately towards them but as soon as we came within musquet shot and they perceived our Guns in our hands they run strait into the woods where they lay close all day long but at night we could hear them making great noise about the fountain aforesaid The next day being the 29 December the Clerk the Pilots Mate several servants and about 20 of our Seamen went a shore in our shallop for fresh water and wood At their landing the Mores abandoned the fountain and betook themselves to the Woods where they made a great noise likewise but without any attempt for our men having run towards them and fired 5 or 6 musquets at a venture into the woods they took their heels and from that time we heard no more of Mounsieur Thomas nor any of his crew After dinner our Embassadors returned from the King of Boure's Court having stayed there with his most August Majesty but one night but they brought most of the Canoes thereabout along with them laden with Ivory which was bought off indifferent cheap The next day the King of Boure's Brother came aboard us and brought with him a Portugais which we had seen before and is imployed in the affaires of that Prince we know it was some person of quality as soon as we discerned his Canoe which we distinguished by the sound of his Trumpets and immediately sent out our boat to receive him into which he entred with his Trumpet and Drum and at his coming aboard our Ship was saluted with a volley from the great Guns The Brother of the King of Sierra-Leone is a person of about fifty or threescore years of age and begins now to grow gray his stature is but indifferent but grave and intelligent enough in his affairs His habit was not much unlike that of the Alcair of Rio-Fresca unless it be that the Alcair's habit was of white cloth and this of cloth strip'd with black and blew he had a gray hat upon his head a stick like a musquet rest in his hand his Attendants had all of them Robes of Cotton cloth only the Portugal was drest ala Portugaise Whilest we were treating him we gave him an accompt of the story of John Thomas to which he answered that he was a mutineer and a rebel and that in case wee should catch him we should not only have his pardon but thanks After he had dined he pulled out about twenty little stones out of a little purse which he threw upon the Table demanding so many Barres as they call them in discharge of their Kings duties as well for the business they had negotiated with him as for their fresh water and wood Though these people can neither read nor write yet they make use of this way of gathering their Rights and the frequency of their Commerce with the Portugals has brought them to talk altogether by Barres which is the word they do most ordinarily use According to their demand the 20 Barres were payed him that is to say in Iron 12 Barres a little Barrel of Strong-waters at 4 Barrs a Kettle at 2 Barres a Hat at 2 Barres and so on He was himself upon his own score presented with 2 Bottles of Brandy and his Retinue with Knives at the close of the evening he returned well stuft and well satisfied as the greatest part of his Attendants were also at his departure he had several Guns given him and was dismist with all possible civility He is in great respect among the people his Trumpet and Drum are always carryed along with him even when he goes about his most natural affairs During these three days we had several Portugals came aboard us with their Commodities of whom I endeavoured what I could to inform my self of the manners of that Country The Description of Sierra-Leone or the Mountain of the Lyons THe Countrey of Sierra-Leone is called Boulombel by the Mores which in their language is as much as the large Countrey In respect of the extraordinary height of the Mountaines towards the South which are much higher then either the Pyrenaean or Alps and the multitude of Lyons which are constantly to be seen there it was called Sierra Leone by the Portugals which in our Language amounts to no more then the Mountain of Lyons Their Countrey begins a great way up in the land Eastward and ends Northwest with the Cap-Ledo which throws it self into the Sea from the point of that Cape as on passes up the River there are several Bayes the fourth of which is the Bay de France either because the French were formerly possessed of this Coast or that they burn'd a Town there heretofore and this is the only Bay in that River where they can take in fresh water I had one day the curiosity to trace one of the three Fountaines which are there and having followed it a league to the foot of the Mountaines observing the tracks and Print of the wild beasts which are very strange and dreadful I returned as I went and have been since informed by one of the Portugals that it rises in the midst of the woods which are above 15 leagues over and that if I had pursued my design and traced it to its spring I must never have expected to come back as well for the vast number of Lyons as for the Tygars Elephants and Crocodiles which are there and would probably have devoured me Those Mountains are covered with Trees very full of Gumme always green and for the most part not unlike our Laurel The Northen parts of this Sierra-Leone lye very low and are in the possession of the King of Boulom as the Southern parts are of the King of Boure The Kingdom of Boulom is not overwell known either to the French or Hollander their affections being principally inclin'd to the English and Portugals of which last there are several that inhabit there The River which bears the name of Sierra-Leone likewise runs a great way Eastward up into the Countrey is about 3 leagues over at the mouth and one about 14 or 15 leagues higher The Harbour is not above two fathoms deep insomuch that in entring into it we were fain to come as neer the Mountains as we could where we found 10 12 and 16 fathoms water It has several little Islands in its channel the most of them inhabited and covered with green Trees especially Palm trees of which they make great quantities of Wine It is very full of Fish and breeds Crocodiles near the head of its Fountain The borders of these Islands are set with certain Trees whose branches do never extend themselves further out one then another but
possible diligence but could not perswade them to come in till we fired 3 or 4 times into their boat They were two young Slaves belonging to a Portugal that was with the English Man but we could not make them confess any thing by all the interrogations we could use Those of the English party observing what was past fired at us with their Canon and 3 of their bullets fell within ten paces of our boat We put our selves out of the reach of their Guns for the present and came to an anchor attending the comming in of the tide to accommodate our return The weather being calme about half an hour after there appear'd two Mores belonging to one of the neighbouring Islands in a Canoe which made directly up to us and came within pistol shot but would by no means be perswaded on board whereupon we shot off 2 or 3 Guns not with intention of doing them harm but to instruct them of the truth They no sooner heard the noise of our Guns but they run away immediately plying their cars as fast as they could and stooping upon sight of our fire so low they seem'd to us no higher then Cats In the mean time the Canon of the English were not idle playing still upon us though they saw we were out of their reach which they did not so much to do any execution as to let the Natives see they had undertaken their defence and desired their friendship However the tide comming in we pass'd by several little Islands and made our retreat We found several Mores and Portugals aboard our Vessel and amongst the rest the King of Bouloms Son called Bombo who was a person of about 30 or 40 years old well proportioned and bating his complexion a very handsom man his aire was courteous and majestick he was an intimate friend of Abrahams but knew nothing till supper of his imprisonment He no sooner understood it but he interceded for his ransome and went immediately with the Portugal that manages the affairs of the King of Boure to procure it On Munday at noon they came aboard again with a 100 Elephants teeth weighing 900 pound weight and two live Civet Cats upon the delivery of which he was dismist and went home after dinner we giving him a little barrel of Strong-waters a rowl of Tobacco a Cheese and a Salvo of 3 Guns when he went off Some sew Portugals stay'd behind till they made up their Markets and having dispatch'd them the fisth they returned out of hand That day we intended to have been gone but happening upon a calm and to have a tide against us too we were forc'd to attend a little longer then we designed About noon there came a Canoe aboard us with two Mores which pretended to belong to Boulom who brought us fruit but having no Ivory we lookt upon them but as spies and sent them back again about five That night we set sail and having past Cap-Ledo we steer'd a South South-East course to avoid the the Banks of Saint Anne and the next morning discry'd a little Vessel of Holland coasting upon the shore as we did to make the Cap de Monte which is about 60 leagues distant from the Sierra-Leone On Friday the 7th of January we past by the mouth of the River of Madre-Bomba where the English have a house also and not inferior to that at Sierra-Leone In the afternoon we came within sight of the Rio de Gallines so called by the Portugals from the multitude of Hens there and the cheapness of them the people giving one two and somtimes three for a knife of a penny The Hollanders had a house there formerly The Natives gave us a sign to approach and put in but the neighbourhood of the English would not suffer us to hear on that ear but we continued our coast to the East till Saturday morning at which time by the assistance of a clear day we discover'd the Cap de Monte at about ten leagues distance CAP DE MONTE and its Description THe wind being but little we came not to an anchor till night and then about half a league from the shore at twelve fathom low water and upon a sand The Cap de Monte is so called from a point of ground which gives it that figure and rising just by the Sea formes its self into a round Mountain all the rest of that coast lying very low We could not descry either house or cabane all along yet on the 19th we went on shore and found 4 or 5 houses at some distance where the Blacks made their Salt They appeared very joyful at our arrival they told us their King lived three days journey up into the Countrey that they would give notice to their neighbours of our coming that night and that if we thought good to return the next morning we might find such store of Ivory as could be suddenly got That if we intended to keep our promise when we came on board we should give them two great Guns as a signal and they would make fires to confirm us on their side which was agreed and performed accordingly The tenth and the eleventh days were spent entirely in bartring I being on board the 12th I went on shore though with some difficulty the Sea breaking off so abruptly our shallop was left some 20 paces upon ground and the Seamen forc'd to go out of the boat and land the Officers upon their backs where we found the Mores had made a large Arbor covered over with leaves and branches of trees to keep our commodities dry and shelter us from the violence of the Sun Whilst we were Negotiating our affairs we heard a great noise on a sudden and saw the Mores in a great hurry running Pell-mell from their houses and merchandise both we apprehended we might be surprized and took up our arms immediately but being got out into the air we understood it was only their King was coming to us whereupon some of our men went to meet him and saluted him with a volley of five or six of our firelocks Before him marched his Drum and his Trumpet 8 or 10 of his kindred and friends and the rest were his Officers his Wives and his Daughters marched on his side behind him his Slaves followed and a certain number of women carrying his dinner in bowls of Wood and of Tyn which they held up as high as they could possibly By him he had four Slaves marching two of them covering him with two large Bucklers and the other carrying his bow and arrows and javelin As he approached the Mores divided themselves the Men on one side the Women on the other singing and dancing and leaping up and down and testifying their joy in a thousand different postures The King took a dart and pretended to throw it at them upon which they threw themselves immediately upon the ground and at the same time they which came along with his Majesty took their turn both
of the wind weigh anchor and sayle towards the shore They entered then and told us it was a full year since they had seen any Whites that the next day they would bring good store of Ivory to the Sea side for us and that they might perform what they had promised after we had made them some small presents they took their leaves We came up within half a league of the land to the mouth of a little river they call Duro at the foot of the Cape where we found six fathom deep at low water This Cape is called Miserado by the Portugais either because it is incompass'd by rocks that lye under water and would inevitably destroy any Vessel which should come nearer then half a league or because the French which were formerly massacred there cryed out Misericorde Misericorde Besides the Natives of this place being very cruel they have denominated the river and called it Duro as being hard and fatal to the Whites Upon which score we fortifyed our shollop with a great Gun to fright them and keep them in order They set up a little house against we came in order to our negotiations but not another to be seen within less then half a league and those too in the woods The River Duro casts it self into the Sea on that side towards the Cape but is so small and inconsiderable it carrys nothing but Canoes At our coming on shore we found the Captain who governs those parts with several of his Officers sitting under a tree we presented them with two Bottles of Brandy which they drank freely and then conducted us to the house they had prepared and stay'd with us till night came on and we returned to our Ship The Captain was a very lusty man of a severe aspect in a Robe like that of the Alcair de Rio-Fresca saving that his was red with a bonnet of the same colour he was attended by 50 or 60 Negroes with great darts bows arrows and swords and with some few women which they sent back again to the Woods not above fifty paces from our lodge from whence we never durst trust our selves above ten They ask'd us whether we came as enemies or friends observing it seems the Canon in our shallop We told them that we could not but take notice that they came with their armes contrary to the custom of all other places we had traded in and that we did was but to secure our selves and our Merchandises which we should bring on shore by degrees and according as we sold what we had brought Some of the Captains Women lugging their children along with them came to see us at our lodge and we were forc'd to present them though the Captain was so refractory what Ivory soever he expos'd to truck or to sale he ask'd with that unreasonable confidence there was no reason to give it They all of them spake Portugais and were all of them clothed Whilst we were at dinner the Captain demanded some one of us to stay with him and I very couragiously proffered to be the man which he took so kindly he took me by the hand and put it into the hand of one of his daughters with this complement that he gave her me for my Wife after which we grew very intimate and great He took me and shew'd me to the rest of the Mores who called me their kinsman and friend promised me Sâ—aves carryed me along with them and setting me in the midst of them they made me drink of their Palm-wine One of the Officers that din'd with us I observ'd to throw Wine upon the ground before he drank I ask'd him the reason and he told me that if his dead Father should be dry he would come thither to drink We had a sight too of some of their Priests but their habits being the same with what we saw afterwards upon the Golden Coast I shall pass them by in this place with this animadversion only that they carry themselves towards them with great deference and respect believing every word they spake an Oracle The Captain shew'd me one of them and told me if I had lost any thing he could tell me where it was and cry'd him up as he had been a Prophet But above all things their greatest superstition is of their Fetiches Their Traffick is principally Ivory which indeed is excellent and Rice in great abundance The English have a ware house beyond the Cape and are in great favour with the Mores who used us ill in no respect but as they thought us enemies to them When we returned to our Vessel we promised to be with them again the next morning but observing they had brought us good quantity of Ivory at first which was not afterwards to be seen we had a suspicion might be a design of the English to amuse us with their Trade whilst they could get more men together out of the Countrey Upon which grounds that very night though one of our Officers left a golden ring with the Captain as a gage for his word we weigh'd anchor and away for Rio-Sextos Being on the other side of Cap-Miserado we discovered fires which the Mores had made along the shores which is the ordinary signe they use to signifie to such Ships as pass by that they have Merchandise for them upon which accompt we resolved to cast anchor RIO DE JVNCO ABout 9 or 10 a clock we came to an anchor directly over against the fires upon the shore we shot of 2 great Guns to invite them aboard but seeing none of them come we mann'd out our shallop after dinner and sayl'd towards them with some few Merchandises but we could not reach the shore within fifty paces without inevitable danger of bulging Seeing some Mores upon the banks we made signes to them to come to us and they came swimming half way and went back again nor could all our alurements win them aboard till at last two of them ventured in a Canoe and were kindly received which they on the shore observing three of them threw themselves immediately into the Sea ond swam to us we presented them with a bottle of Srong-waters which they carryed on shore to their infinite satisfaction we shew'd them our Kettles and what other Commodities we had at the sight of which they made a thousand expressions of joy and could have done no more if Paradise it self had been shown them they ask'd us if we had any large white Rasade Those which were upon land held up great and great quantity of Elephants teeth to hasten us them but having used our utmost endeavour to no purpose and finding it impossible to come at them without manifest danger we sent back the 2 Mores which came to us to them Who by their aspect and Mine seem'd to be persons of more then ordinary quality Rio de Junco is a River which lyes five degrees and fifty minutes of Northern latitude and of Eastern longitude 9 degrees
generation of people they call Muletto's or Olive-couler'd and have by that means acquired such an interest amongst them as have been the cause we have made no farther discoveries there and that they doe to this day go away with the whole Island Trade he that should endeavour to share with them being certain to be destroyed by their great influence and authority with the Nigros So that they have ingross'd that whole commerce to them selves passing up and down every where as they please and running up the Niger as far as Benin which is more then 800 leagues They it is that have been the loss of Cantozi to the Danes which is a little Island upon the Niger two hvndred leagues above the mouth of the Gambie Their authority over the Mores upon the Coasts is so great they manage them as thy think good and we can never read that they have at any time rebelled against them as they have frequently done against the rest of the Europeans Nay so absolute is their Empire they are many times served at the table by the Sons of that King which is so superlative a command there can be nothing beyond it Yet if any other European does but quarrel or affront any of their Grandees there is nothing but they will attempt which may contribute to their revenge One of them who came to traffick with us at Sierra-Leone told me he did use every year to go to Senegal which is two hundred leagues from Sierra-Leone and that where he had not the conveniency of a river both himself and his Commodities were carryed up into the Countrey on the backs of the Mores They have all of them little Chappels built near their houses in which they use all possible means for the conversion of those people and when they have had any success and made a prosilite they hang Chappelets about his neck and have a particular care of them ever after THE COAST OF GRAIVES CALLED MALAGUETTE UPon the three and twentieth of January the same day we set sayle from Rio-Sextos we came to an anchor before Rio-Sanguin where the Coast of Malaguette or Manigette begins and extends it self sixty leagues to the Cape de Palmes about three degrees and forty minutes of Northern latitude comprehending all these places Riâ—-Sanguin Cestre-Crou Brova Bassou Zino Crou Crousestre Wapo Batou Grand-Sester Petit-Sester and Goiane all which places we visited in ninteen days which we dedicated to our traffick in those parts Rio-Sanguin runs into the Sea South South-East and will carry a Petach about twelve leagues and no more upon its bank it has a Town of about a hundred houses and large Trees on both sides of it but is not five hundred paces broad at the widest part of it That night there came a Canoe aboard us with three Mores one of them was the Kings Brother who having been three years in Holland spake very good Dutch he sent back his Company and his Canoe and supp'd and lodged with us that night At supper he told us that above a Month before there was a Flemish Ship put in at Rio-Sanguin for fresh water and wood but that discovering an English Vessel makeing towards them he weigh'd anchor 〈…〉 being a good sayler got off and that the Vessel that chaced them returned and steer'd his old course for Rio-Sextos He described the bulk of it so well we concluded it was the Ship we had seeing crusing up the Coast of Petit Dieppe He told us moreover that a while since the English had a house at Rio-Sanguin but for four years last past they had none and that a little Vessel going by lately had surprized about a douzen Mores near Crousester and carryed them away As we were hoisting sayle on the five and twentieth the King of Rio-Sanguin came aboard us attended with two other Canoes and about ten or twelve Mores He was an ancient man very grave and venerable his hair very white yet his person large and lusty his habit blew like their habits at Cap de Monte. That which was most remarkable was he drank neither Wine nor Strong-water nor Palme-Wine nothing but pure water he and his Brother both stayed with us till night and having received some presents they departed We had passed the place abovesaid as far as from Rio-Sanguin to Wapo where being at anchor the third of February about Sun-rising we discryed a Vessel at Sea making towords us with all the sayle she could make We thought at first it had been the English Piqueroon we had been told of for which reason we stood all that night to our armes but the next day the hopes we had of over-powring and takeing her vanished with the Vessel which we could never see more Till Saturday the fifth we spent our time wholly in traffick on which day having come to an anchor at Batou we discovered another Vessel coming towards us also with full sayles The number of Mores who were then aboard us hindered us from discovering them perfectly but coming nearer we could discry the Vessel to be as bigg as ours whereupon we dismist our Merchants weigh'd anchor and stood towards them directly resolved not only to defend our selves but to venture upon them When we were come within a league of him he hung out his Dutch colours and clapt his Cornette upon his Sprit-sayle and we hung out our French When we came nearer we knew the Ship to be a Frigat of Amsterdam of about 400 Tunn and 36 pieces of Ordnance set out by a private person and by the authority and consent of the East-Indy Company sent to Ardres The Captain called Wilere having boasted when we were in the Texel that if he found us upon these Coasts he would either sink or take us we took down our French colours and put up a red flagg endeavouring and tacking three hours together to get the wind of him he had all his sayles out and his caps up and yet sayled worse than we About Sun-setting he furled his sayles and having lost the wind and we within 20 paces of him he made signes with his hat to know if we were not the Europe he told us his name and calling for a glass of Wine began a good soup to our healths and we did him reason in our turn After which he took his leave continued his course to the Mine and we came that night to an anchor before Grand Sestre called formerly by the French Paris where the rest of our time we spent in our Negotiations and Trade This Coast is called the Coast of Malaguette in respect of the Pepper which I have mentioned before at Rio-Sextos which amongst the French is called Malaguette or Maniguette which commodity is more profitable than can be imagined especially if Pepper be dear and the Indy Fleet comes not unluckily in but if that falls out it sells not altogether so well This is the principal Commodity of this Coast and is sharper and hotter than the