We Took Two Of The Before-Mentioned Young Women, And Three Men, After
Which We Visited The Houses Of The Natives, Where We Only Found Two Old
Women And A Sick Man.
We returned to the ships, not choosing to burn the
town, and put the five prisoners in fetters; but the two girls and one of
the men made their escape from us next night.
Leaving this harbour on the day following, we sailed eighty leagues
farther along the coast, when we found another nation quite different from
the former, both in language and behaviour. We agreed to anchor at this
place and to go ashore in our boats, when we saw a crowd of near 4000
people, who all fled into the woods on our approach, leaving every thing
behind them. On landing we proceeded about a gun-shot along a road leading
into the woods, where we found many tents which the natives had erected
for a fishing station, and in which we found fires on which abundance of
victuals were boiling, and various kinds of wild beasts and fishes
roasting. Among these was a certain strange animal very like a serpent,
without wings, which seemed so wild and brutal that we greatly admired its
terrible fierceness. As we proceeded farther among the tents, we found
many more serpents of this description, having their feet bound, and their
mouths tied to hinder them from biting. They had so hideous and fierce an
aspect that none of us dared to touch them, from fear of being poisoned.
They were equal in size to a wild goat, and about a yard and a half long,
having long and strong feet, armed with strong claws.
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