On the 27th, being in the latitude of 2 degrees 10 minutes south, and in
the longitude of 146 degrees 57 minutes, we fancied that we had a sight
of the island of Moa, but it proved to be that of Jama, which lies a
little to the east of Moa. We found here great plenty of cocoa-nuts and
other refreshments. The inhabitants were absolutely black, and could
easily repeat the words that they heard others speak, which shows their
own to be a very copious language. It is, however, exceedingly difficult
to pronounce, because they make frequent use of the letter R, and
sometimes to such a degree that it occurs twice or thrice in the same
word. The next day we anchored on the coast of the island of Moa, where
we likewise found abundance of refreshments, and where we were obliged by
bad weather to stay till May 9th. We purchased there, by way of
exchange, six thousand cocoa-nuts, and a hundred bags of pysanghs or
Indian figs. When we first began to trade with these people, one of our
seamen was wounded by an arrow that one of the natives let fly, either
through malice or inadvertency. We were at that very juncture
endeavouring to bring our ships close to the shore, which so terrified
these islanders, that they brought of their own accord on board us, the
man who had shot the arrow and left him at our mercy. We found them
after this accident much more tractable than before in every respect. Our
sailors, therefore, pulled off the iron hoops from some of the old water-
casks, stuck them into wooden handles, and filing them to an edge, sold
these awkward knives to the inhabitants for their fruits.
In all probability they had not forgot what happened to our people on
July 16th, 1616, in the days of William Schovten: these people, it seems,
treated him very ill; upon which James le Maire brought his ship close to
the shore, and fired a broadside through the woods; the bullets, flying
through the trees, struck the negroes with such a panic, that they fled
in an instant up into the country, and durst not show their heads again
till they had made full satisfaction for what was past, and thereby
secured their safety for the time to come; and he traded with them
afterwards very peaceably, and with mutual satisfaction.
This account of our author's seems to have been taken upon memory, and is
not very exact. Schovten's seamen, or rather the petty officer who
commanded his long boat, insulted the natives grossly before they offered
any injury to his people; and then, notwithstanding they fired upon them
with small arms, the islanders obliged them to retreat; so that they were
forced to bring the great guns to bear upon the island before they could
reduce them. These people do not deserve to be treated as savages,
because Schovten acknowledges that they had been engaged in commerce with
the Spaniards; as appeared by their having iron pots, glass beads, and
pendants, with other European commodities, before he came thither. He
also tells us that they were a very civilised people, their country well
cultivated and very fruitful; that they had a great many boats, and other
small craft, which they navigated with great dexterity. He adds also,
that they gave him a very distinct account of the neighbouring islands,
and that they solicited him to fire upon the Arimoans, with whom it seems
they are always at war; which, however, he refused to do, unless provoked
to it by some injury offered by those people. It is therefore very
apparent that the inhabitants of Moa are a people with whom any
Europeans, settled in their neighbourhood, might without any difficulty
settle a commerce, and receive considerable assistance from them in
making discoveries. But perhaps some nations are fitter for these kind
of expeditions than others, as being less apt to make use of their
artillery and small arms upon every little dispute; for as the
inhabitants of Moa are well enough acquainted with the superiority which
the Europeans have over them, it cannot be supposed that they will ever
hazard their total destruction by committing any gross act of cruelty
upon strangers who visit their coast; and it is certainly very unfair to
treat people as savages and barbarians, merely for defending themselves
when insulted or attacked without cause. The instance Captain Tasman
gives us of their delivering up the man who wounded his sailor is a plain
proof of this; and as to the diffidence and suspicion which some later
voyagers have complained of with respect to the inhabitants of this
island, they must certainly be the effects of the bad behaviour of such
Europeans as this nation have hitherto dealt with, and would be
effectually removed, if ever they had a settled experience of a contrary
conduct. The surest method of teaching people to behave honestly towards
us is to behave friendly and honestly towards them, and then there is no
great reason to fear, that such as give evident proofs of capacity and
civility in the common affairs of life should be guilty of treachery that
must turn to their own disadvantage.