During This Voyage, We Suffered Prodigiously, Owing To The Tempestuous Weather Which We Encountered, Especially Near The Equator.

At that place it was winter in the month of June, the days and nights were of equal length,

And our shadows were always towards the south. At length it pleased the Almighty to conduct us to a new country on the 17th of August, where we came to anchor about a league and a half from the shore, to which we went in our boats to see whether it were inhabited. We accordingly found that it was full of inhabitants, who were worse than beasts; though at our first landing we could not see any of the natives, we yet saw by numerous traces on the shore that the country was very populous. We took possession of this land for the king of Castile[2], finding it in all appearance fertile and pleasant. This place is five degrees beyond the equator to the south. After the ceremony of taking possession, we returned to our ships; and as we required a supply of wood and water, we went on shore next day for that purpose. While employed on that service, we saw some natives on the top of a hill at some distance, who could not be prevailed on to come towards us. They were all naked, and of a similar colour and appearance with those we had seen in the former voyages. As we had not been able to have any intercourse with the natives, we left some bells, looking-glasses, and other trifles for them on the ground, when we returned to our ships in the evening. When they saw us at some distance from the shore, they came down from the hill to where we had been, and shewed many tokens of surprise at the things we had left.

As we had only provided ourselves with water at this first trip, we proposed going on shore next day, when we saw numbers of the natives making several fires and smokes along the shore, as if inviting us to land. Yet when we actually landed, though great numbers of people collected at some distance, they could not be induced to join us, yet made signals for us to go farther into the land along with them. On this account, two of our men who were prepared for exposing themselves to such dangers[3], on purpose to learn what kind of people these were, and whether they possessed any spices or rich commodities, asked permission from the commander of our ships to go with the natives, and took a number of trinkets along with them for the purpose of barter. They accordingly set off, engaging to return to the shore at the end of five days, and we returned to the ships. Eight days elapsed without seeing any thing of our men, during all which time many of the natives came down every day to the beach, but would never enter into any intercourse with us.

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