A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 760 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 760 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12.

This day two canoes came on board, with four men and three young children in each.  The men were somewhat more decently dressed than those that we had seen before, but the children were stark naked.  They were somewhat fairer than the men, who seemed to pay a very tender attention to them, especially in lifting them in and out of the canoes.  To these young visitors I gave necklaces and bracelets, with which they seemed mightily pleased.  It happened that while some of these people were on board, and the rest waiting in their canoes by the ship’s side, the boat was sent on shore for wood and water.  The Indians who were in the canoes, kept their eyes fixed upon the boat while she was manning, and the moment she put off from the ship, they called out with great vociferation to those that were on board, who seemed to be much alarmed, and hastily handing down the children, leaped into their canoes, without uttering a word.  None of us could guess at the cause of this sudden emotion, but we saw the men in the canoes pull after the boat with all their might, hallooing and shouting with great appearance of perturbation and distress.  The boat out-rowed them, and when she came near the shore, the people on board discovered some women gathering mussels among the rocks.  This at once explained the mystery; the poor Indians were afraid that the strangers, either by force or favour, should violate the prerogative of a husband, of which they seemed to be more jealous than the natives of some other countries, who in their appearance are less savage and sordid.  Our people, to make them easy, immediately lay upon their oars, and suffered the canoes to pass them.  The Indians, however, still continued to call out to their women, till they took the alarm and ran out of sight, and as soon as they got to land, drew their canoes upon the beach, and followed them with the utmost expedition.

We continued daily to gather mussels till the 5th, when several of the people being seized with fluxes, the surgeon desired that no more mussels might be brought into the ship.

The weather being still tempestuous and unsettled, we remained at anchor till ten o’clock in the morning of Friday, the 10th, and then, in company with the Swallow, we made sail.  At noon, Cape Providence bore N.N.W. distant four or five miles; at four in the afternoon Cape Tamar bore N.W. by W. 1/2 W. distant three leagues, Cape Upright E.S.E. 1/2 S., distant three leagues, and Cape Pillar W. distant ten leagues.  We steered about W. 1/2 N. all night, and at six o’clock in the morning, had run eight and thirty miles by the log.  At this time Cape Pillar bore S.W. distant half a mile, and the Swallow was about three miles a-stern of us.  At this time there being but little wind, we were obliged to make all the sail we could, to get without the streight’s mouth.  At eleven o’clock I would have shortened sail for the Swallow, but it was not in my power, for as a current set us strongly down upon the Isles

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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.