The difficulty of his journey. An account of the
Galles, and of the author's reception at the king's tent; Their
manner of swearing, and of letting blood. The author returns to the
Indies, and finds the patriarch of Aethiopia.
On this coast we landed, with an intention of travelling on foot to
Jubo, a journey of much greater length and difficulty than we
imagined. We durst not go far from our bark, and therefore were
obliged to a toilsome march along the windings of the shore,
sometimes clambering up rocks, and sometimes wading through the
sands, so that we were every moment in the utmost danger of falling
from the one, or sinking in the other. Our lodging was either in
the rocks or on the sands, and even that incommoded by continual
apprehensions of being devoured by lions and tigers. Amidst all
these calamities our provisions failed us; we had little hopes of a
supply, for we found neither villages, houses, nor any trace of a
human creature; and had miserably perished by thirst and hunger had
we not met with some fishermen's boats, who exchanged their fish for
tobacco.
Through all these fatigues we at length came to Jubo, a kingdom of
considerable extent, situated almost under the line, and tributary
to the Portuguese, who carry on a trade here for ivory and other
commodities. This region so abounds with elephants, that though the
teeth of the male only are valuable, they load several ships with
ivory every year.
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