I shall not pester my account, or the reader, with descriptions of places, journals of our voyages, variations of the compass, latitudes, meridian distances, trade-winds, situation of ports, and the like; such as almost all the histories of long navigation are full of, and which make the reading tiresome enough, and are perfectly unprofitable to all that read, except only to those who are to go to those places themselves.

It is enough to name the ports and places which we touched at, and what occurred to us upon our passing from one to another.  We touched first at the island of Madagascar, where, though the people are fierce and treacherous, and, in particular, very well armed with lances and bows, which they use with inconceivable dexterity, yet we fared very well with them awhile; they treated us very civilly; and for some trifles which we gave them, such as knives, scissors, &c. they brought us eleven good fat bullocks, middling in size, but very good in flesh, which we took in, partly for fresh provisions for our present spending, and the rest to salt for the ship’s use.

We were obliged to stay here for some time after we had furnished ourselves with provisions; and I that was always too curious to look into every nook of the world wherever I came, was for going on shore as often as I could.  It was on the east side of the island that we went on shore one evening, and the people, who by the way are very numerous, came thronging about us, and stood gazing at us at a distance; as we had traded freely with them, and had been kindly used, we thought ourselves in no danger; but when we saw the people we cut three boughs out of a tree, and stuck them up at a distance from us, which, it seems, is a mark in the country not only of truce and friendship, but when it is accepted, the other side set up three poles or boughs also, which is a signal that they accept the truce too; but then this is a known condition of the truce, that you are not to pass beyond their three poles towards them, nor they come past your three poles or boughs towards you; so that you are perfectly secure within the three poles, and all the space between your poles and theirs is allowed like a market for free converse, traffic, and commerce.  When you go thither you must not carry your weapons with you; and if they come into that space they stick up their javelins and lances all at the first poles, and come on unarmed; but if any violence is offered them, and the truce thereby broken, away they run to the poles and lay hold of their weapons, and then the truce is at an end.

It happened one evening when we went on shore, that a greater number of their people came down than usual, but all was very friendly and civil.  They brought with them several kinds of provisions, for which we satisfied them with such toys as we had; their women also brought us milk and roots, and several things very acceptable to us, and all was quiet; and we made us a little tent or hut, of some boughs of trees, and lay on shore all that night.