the man said nothing, but went down to the brink of the river, and,
putting his hand into a hole, he brought out three little lumps of gold,
and a great many smaller, some of them about as big as a large pin's
head; all which he had laid up there, in the hollow of a stone. Our man
thought it was too much, to take all that for the hatchet; and therefore
pulled out some beads, and pieces of glass, and such toys; and, in
short, bought all this cargo of gold, which in the whole weighed near
five ounces, for about the value of two shillings.
Though these bargains were very agreeable to us, yet the discovery of
such a place, and of such a fund of treasure, in a part of the world,
which it is very probable, was never before seen by any European eyes,
nor so much as inquired after, was the greatest satisfaction imaginable
to me; knowing the adventurous temper of the gentleman who was our
principal employer. Upon this account, while my men busied themselves in
their daily search after gold, and in finding out the rivers from whence
it came, or rather where it was found, I employed myself to be fully
informed where this place was; whether it was an island or a continent;
and having found a tolerable good road for our ships to ride in, I
caused my two shallops, well manned, to run along the coast, both east
and west, to find which way it lay, and whether they could find any end
of it; as also to see what rivers, what people, and what provisions they
could meet with.
By my observation, I found that we were in the latitude of 27 deg. 13' south
meridian; distance from the Ladrones about 16 deg. east. While my shallops
were gone, I went on shore, and some of my men set up tents, as well for
the convenience of their traffick, as for their resting on shore all
night; keeping, however, a good guard, and having two of our ship's dogs
with them, who never failed giving them notice, whenever any of the
natives came near them; for what ailed the dogs I know not, but neither
of them could bear the sight of the Indians, and we had much to do to
keep them from flying at them.
While we rode here, we had the most violent storm of wind with rain, and
with great claps of thunder, that we had yet sustained since we came out
of England. It was our comfort that the wind came off shore, for it blew
at south, and shifting between the south, south-east, and south-west,
with such excessive gusts, and so furious, and withal, not only by
squalls and sudden flaws, but a settled terrible tempest, that had it
been from off sea, as it was off shore, we must have perished, there had
been no remedy, and even as it was, we rode in great danger. My
boatswain called out twice to me to cut my masts by the board,
protesting we should either bring our anchors home, or founder as we
rode; and indeed the sea broke over us many times in a terrible manner.
As I said before, we had an indifferent good road, and so we had, but
not a very good one, for the land was low; and on the east we lay a
little open. However, our ground-tackle was good, and our ship very
tight, and I told the boatswain I would rather slip the cable and go off
to sea than cut the masts. However, in about four hours' time more we
found the wind abate, though it blew very hard for three days after.
I was in great pain for my two shallops in this tempest, but they had
both the good luck to lie close under the shore; and one indeed had
hauled quite upon the land, where the men lay on shore under their sail,
so that they got no damage; and about three days after, one of them
returned, and brought me word they had been to the west, where they had
made very little discovery, as to the situation of the country, or
whether it was an island or a continent, but they had conversed with the
natives very often, and found several who had pieces of gold hanging,
some in their hair, some about their necks; and they made a shift to
bring as many with them as weighed, all put together, seventeen or
eighteen ounces, for which they had bartered toys and trifles, as we
did; but they found no rivers, where they could discover any gold in
the sands, as We had done, so that they believed it all came from the
side where we were.
But our other shallop had much better luck; she went away to the east,
and by the time she had gone about sixteen leagues she found the shore
break off a little, and soon after a little more, until at length they
came as it were to the land's end; when, the shore running due south,
they followed, according to their account, near thirteen leagues more.
In this interval they went several times on shore, entered three rivers,
indifferently large, and one of them very large at the mouth, but grew
narrow again in three or four leagues; but a deep channel, with
two-and-twenty to eight-and-twenty fathom water in it all the way, as
far as they went.
Here they went on shore and trafficked with the natives, whom they found
rude and unpolished, but a very mild inoffensive people; nor did they
find them anything thievish, much less treacherous, as in some countries
is the case. They had the good luck to find out the place where, as they
supposed, the king of the country resided; which was a kind of a city,
encompassed all round, the river making a kind of double horse-shoe. The
manner of their living is too long to describe; neither could our men
give any account of their government, or of the customs of the place;
but what they sought for was gold and provisions, and of those they got
pretty considerable quantities.
They found the Indians terribly surprised at the first sight of them;
but after some time they found means to let them know they desired a
truce, and to make them understand what they meant by it.
At length a truce being established, the king came, and with him near
three hundred men; and soon after the queen, with half as many women.
They were not stark naked, neither men nor women, but wearing a loose
piece of cloth about their middles; what it was made of we could not
imagine, for it was neither linen or woollen, cotton or silk; nor was it
woven, but twisted and braided by hand, as our women make bone lace with
bobbins. It seems it was the stalk of an herb, which this was made with;
and was so strong that I doubt not it would have made cables for our
ships, if we had wanted to make such an experiment.
When the king first came to our men they were a little shy of his
company, he had so many with him, and they began to retire; which the
king perceiving, he caused all his men to stop, and keep at a distance;
and advanced himself with about ten or twelve of his men, and no more.
When he was come quite up, our men, to show their breeding, pulled off
their hats, but that he did not understand, for his men had no hats on.
But the officer making a bow to him, he understood that presently, and
bowed again; at which all his men fell down flat upon their faces, as
flat to the ground as if they had been shot to death with a volley of
our shot; and they did not fall so quick but they were up again as
nimbly, and then down flat on the ground again; and this they did three
times, their king bowing himself to our men at the same time.
This ceremony being over, our men made signs to them that they wanted
victuals to eat, and something to drink: and pulled out several things,
to let the people see they would give something for what they might
bring them.
The king understood them presently, and turning to some of his men he
talked awhile to them; and our men observed, that while he spoke they
seemed to be terrified, as if he had been threatening them with death.
However, as soon as he had done, three of them went away, and our men
supposed they went to fetch something that the king would give them;
upon which, that they might be beforehand with them, our men presented
his majesty with two pair of bracelets of fine glass beads of several
colours, and put them upon his arms, which he took most kindly; and then
they gave him a knife, with a good plain ivory handle, and some other
odd things. Upon receiving these _noble_ presents, he sends away another
of his men, and a little after two more.
Our men observed that two of the men went a great way off toward the
hill, but the other man that he sent away first went to his queen, who,
with her retinue of tawny ladies, stood but a little way off, and soon
after her majesty came with four women only attending her.
The officer who commanded our men, finding he should have another kind
of compliment to pay the ladies, retired a little; and, being an
ingenious handy sort of a man, in less than half-an-hour, he and another
of his men made a nice garland, or rather a coronet, of sundry strings
of beads, and with glass bobs and pendants, all hanging about it, most
wonderful gay; and when the queen was come, he went up to the king, and
showing it to him, made signs that he would give it to the queen.
The king took it, and was so pleased with the present, that truly he
desired our officer to put it upon his own head, which he did; but, when
he had got it so placed, he let our men see he was king over his wife,
as well as over the rest of the country, and that he would wear it
himself.
Our men then pulled out a little pocket looking-glass, and, holding it
up, let his majesty see his own face, which we might reasonably suppose
he had never seen before, especially with a crown on his head too.
Before he saw his own face in the glass he was grave and majestic, and
carried it something like a king; but he was so delighted with the
novelty that he was quite beside himself, and jumped and capered and
danced about like a madman.
All this while our men saw nothing coming, but that all was given on
their side; whereupon they made signs again, that they wanted
provisions.
The king then made signs, pointing to a hill a good way off, as if it
would come from thence very quickly; and then looked to see if his
people were coming, as if he was impatient till they came, as well as
our men.
During this time, one of our men observed that the queen had several
pieces of gold, as they thought them to be, hanging about her,
particularly in her hair, and large flat plates of gold upon the hinder
part of her head, something in the place of a roll, such as our women
wear; that her hair was wound about it in rolls, braided together very
curiously; and having informed our officer, he made signs to the king
for leave to give the queen something, which he consented to. So he went
to her majesty, making a bow as before; but this complaisance surprised
her, for, upon his bowing, on a sudden falls the queen and all her four
ladies flat on the ground, but were up again in a moment; and our people
wondered how they could throw themselves so flat on their faces, and not
hurt themselves; nor was it less to be wondered at, how they could so
suddenly jump up again, for they did not rise up gradually as we must
do, with the help of our hands and knees, if we were extended so flat on
our faces, but they, with a spring, whether with their hands or their
whole bodies, we knew not, sprang up at once, and were upon their feet
immediately.
This compliment over, our officer stepped up to the queen, and tied
about her neck a most delicate necklace of pearl; that is to say, of
large handsome white glass beads, which might in England cost about
fourpence halfpenny, and to every one of her ladies he gave another of
smaller beads, differing in colour from those which he gave the queen.
Then he presented her majesty with a long string of glass beads, which,
being put over her head, reached down to her waist before, and joined in
a kind of tassel, with a little knot of blue riband, which she was also
extremely pleased with; and very fine she was.
The queen made, it seems, the first return; for, stepping to one of her
women, our men observed that her attendant took something out of her
hair, and then the queen let her tie her hair up again; after which her
majesty brought it and gave it to our officer, making signs to know if
it was acceptable. It was a piece of gold that weighed about two ounces
and a half; it had been beaten as flat as they knew how to beat it. But
the metal was of much more beauty to our men than the shape.
Our officer soon let the queen and people see that he accepted the
present, by laying it to his mouth and to his breast, which he found was
the way when they liked anything. In short, our officer went to work
again, and in a little while he made a little coronet for the queen, as
he had done before for the king, though less; and, without asking leave
of his majesty, went up to her and put it upon her head; and then gave
her a little looking-glass, as he had done to the king, that she might
view her face in it.
She was so surprised at the sight, that she knew not how to contain
herself; but, to show her gratitude, she pulled out another plate of
gold out of her own hair, and gave it to our officer; and, not content
with that, she sent one of her women to the crowd of females who first
attended her, and whether she stripped them of all the gold they had, or
only a part, she brought so many pieces, that, when together, they
weighed almost two pounds.
When she was thus dressed she stepped forward very nimbly and gracefully
towards the king, to show him what she had got; and, finding he was
dressed as fine as herself, they had work enough for near two hours to
look at one another, and admire their new ornaments.
Our men reported, that the king was a tall, well-shaped man, of a very
majestic deportment, only that when he laughed he showed his teeth too
much, which, however, were as white as ivory: as for the queen, saving
that her skin was of a tawny colour, she was a very pretty woman; very
tall, a sweet countenance, admirable features, and, in a word, a
complete handsome lady.
She was very oddly dressed; she was quite naked from her head to below
her breasts; her breasts were plump and round, not flaggy and hanging
down, as it generally is with the Indian women, some of whose breasts
hang as low as their bellies, but projecting as beautifully as if they
had been laced up with stays round her body; and below her breast she
had a broad piece of a skin of some curious creature, spotted like a
leopard, probably of some fine spotted deer. This was wrapped round her
very tight, like a body-girt to a horse; and under this she had a kind
of petticoat, as before described, hanging down to her ankles. As for
shoes or stockings, they were only such as nature had furnished. Her
hair was black, and, as supposed, very long, being wreathed up and
twisted in long locks about the plate of gold she wore; for when she
pulled off the plate above mentioned, it hung down her back and upon her
shoulders very gracefully; but it seems she did not think so, for, as
soon as she found it so fallen down, she caused one of her women to roll
it up, and tie it in a great knot which hung down in her neck, and did
not look so well as when it was loose.
While the king and the queen were conversing together about their fine
things, as above, our men went back to the boat, where they left the
purchase they had got, and furnished themselves with other things fit to
traffick with as they saw occasion; and they were not quite come up to
the king again, when they perceived that the men the king had sent up
into the country were returned, and that they brought with them a great
quantity of such provisions as they had, which chiefly consisted of
roots and maize, or Indian corn, and several fruits which we had never
seen before. Some of them resembled the large European figs, but were
not really figs; with some great jars of water, having herbs steeped in
it, and roots, that made it look as white as milk, and drank like milk
sweetened with sugar, but more delicious, and exceeding cool and
refreshing. They brought also a great quantity of oranges, but they
were neither sweet nor sour, and our men believed they were not ripe;
but when they were dressed after the manner of the country, which they
showed our men, and which was to roast them before the fire, they had an
admirable flavour, and our men brought a great many away to us, and when
we roasted them they exceeded anything of the kind I had ever tasted.
After our men had received what was brought, and shown that the whole
was very acceptable, the king made signs that he would be gone, but
would come again to them the next morning; and, pointing to the queen's
head, where the plate of gold had been that she had given to our men,
intimated that he would bring some of the same with him the next day.
But while he was making these signs, one of his other messengers came
back, and gave the king something into his hand wrapped up, which our
men could not see. As soon as the king had it, as if he had been proud
to show our men that he could make himself and his queen as fine as they
could make him, he undid the parcel, and decked out his queen with a
short thing like a robe, which reached from her neck down to the spotted
skin which she wore before, and so it covered her shoulders and breast.
It was made of an infinite number and variety of feathers, oddly, and
yet very curiously put together; and was spangled all over with little
drops or lumps of gold; some no bigger than a pin's head, which had
holes made through them, and were strung six or seven together, and so
tied on to the feathers; some as big as a large pea, hanging single,
some as big as a horse-bean, and beaten flat, and all hanging
promiscuously among the feathers, without any order or shape, which,
notwithstanding, were very beautiful in the whole, and made the thing
look rich and handsome enough.
As soon as he had thus equipped his queen, he put another upon himself,
which was larger, and had this particular in its shape, that it covered
his arms almost to his elbows, and was so made that it came round under
the arm, and being fastened there with a string, made a kind of sleeve.
As the king's robe, or whatever it may be called, was longer, for it
came down to his waist, so it had a great deal more gold about it, and
larger pieces than that the queen wore. When their majesties had thus
put on their robes, it may be guessed how glorious they looked, but
especially the queen, who being a most charming beautiful creature, as
said before, was much more so when glistening thus with gold. Our men
looked very narrowly to observe whether there were any diamonds or
pearls among their finery, but they could not perceive any.
The king and queen now withdrew for that evening, but their people did
not leave our men so, for they thronged about them; and some brought
them jars of the white liquor, some brought them roots, others fruits,
some one thing, some another; and our men gave every one of them some
small matter or other in proportion to what they brought. At last, there
came four particular tall lusty men, with bows and arrows; but before
they came close up to our men, they laid down their bows and arrows on
the ground, and came forward with all the tokens of friendship they were
able to make.
They had two youths with them, each of whom led a tame fawn of pretty
large growth, and when the men came up, they gave the two fawns to our
men; who, in return, gave each of them a knife, and some strings of
beads, and such toys as they had.
Our men observed, that all these men had little bits of gold, some of
one shape, and some of another, hanging at their ears; and when our men
came to be familiar, they asked them as well as they could, where they
found that stuff? and they made signs to the sand in the river, and then
pointed towards that part of the country where our ships lay, which
signified to our men that the gold was, most of it, where we lay, not
there where the king and queen resided. Nay, when our men pointed again
to the river where they were, and went and took up some of the sand, as
if they would look for gold in it, they made signs of laughing at it,
and that there was nothing to be found there, but that it lay all the
other way.
And yet two or three of the men, who, when the tide was out, went up the
bank of the river, two or three miles upon the sands, peeping and trying
the sands as they went, they found three or four little bits of pure
gold, though not bigger than pins heads; but no doubt farther up the
country they might have found more.
These four men seeing how fond our people were of the gold, made signs
they could fetch gold to them if they would give them such things as
they liked; and ours again told them they should have anything they
pleased; and, as earnest, gave them some pieces of iron and bits of
glass of small value, both which they were much delighted with.
Early in the morning their four customers came again, and brought
several men, who seemed to be servants, along with them, loaden with
refreshments, such as the white water, mentioned above, which they
brought in earthen pots, very hard, made so by the heat of the sun. They
brought also three small deer with them, and a kind of coney or rabbit,
but larger, which our men were very glad of. But that which was above
all the rest, they brought a good quantity of gold-dust, that is to say,
some in small lumps, some in bigger; and one of them had near a pound
weight wrapped up in a piece of coney-skin, which was all so very small
that it was like dust; which, as our men understood afterwards, was
reckoned little worth, because all the lumps had been picked out of it.
Our men, to be sure, were very willing to trade for this commodity, and
therefore they brought out great variety of things to truck with them,
making signs to them to pick out what they liked; but still keeping a
reserve for the king and queen, whom they expected. Above all they had
made a reserve for the king of some extraordinary hatchets, which they
had not yet suffered to be seen, with a hammer or two, and some
drinking-glasses, and the like, with some particular toys for the queen.
But they had variety enough left besides for the four men: who, in
short, bought so many trinkets and trifles, that our men not only got
all the gold they brought, but the very pieces of gold out of their
ears; in return for which our men gave them every one a pair of
ear-rings, to hang about their ears, with a fine drop; some of green
glass, some red, some blue; and they were wonderfully pleased with the
exchange, and went back, we may venture to say, much richer in opinion
than they came.
As soon as these people had done their market, and indeed a little
before, they perceived at a distance the king and queen coming with a
great retinue; so they made signs to our men that they must be gone, and
that they would not have the king know that they had been there.
I must confess, the relation of all this made me very much repent that
I had not happened to have put in there with the ships; though indeed,
as the road lay open to the east and south winds, it might have been
worse another way; I mean, when the storm blew. However, as it is, I
must report this part, from the account given us by my men.
When the king and queen came the second time, they were together, and
dressed up, as our men supposed, with the utmost magnificence, having
the fine feathered spangled things about their shoulders; and the king
had over all his habit, a fine spotted robe of deer skins, neatly joined
together; and which, as he managed it, covered him from head to foot;
and, in short, it was so very beautiful that he really looked like a
king with it.
When he came to our men, and the ceremony of their meeting was over, the
king, turning round, showed them, that he had brought them stores of
provisions; and indeed, so he had; for he had at least fifty men
attending him, loaden with roots, and oranges, and maize, and such
things; in short, he brought them above twenty thousand oranges; a great
parcel of that fruit like a fig, which I mentioned above, and other
fruits. After which another party followed, and brought twenty live
deer, and as many of their rabbits, dead; the latter are as big as our
hares.
As they came up, the king made signs to our men to take them; and our
officer making signs to thank his majesty, he ordered one of the queen's
attendants to give him one of the feathered robes, such an one as the
king himself had on; and made mighty fine with lumps and tassels of
gold, as the other. And a tawny lass advancing to him offered to put it
over his head, but he took it in his hand and put it on himself, and
looked as like a jack pudding in it, as any one could desire; for it
made no figure at all upon him, compared to what it did upon the
Indians.