Having Repaired Our Ships And Taken Every Thing Belonging To Them On Board,
We Put To Sea, And Sailed Seven
Days with the wind at E.N.E. beating to
windward, after which we fell in with several islands, some
Of which were
inhabited and others not, near one of which we came to anchor, called
Ity[11] by the natives, on which we saw a great crowd of people. Arming
our boats with a good number of picked men and three pieces of ordnance,
we approached the shore at a place where there were at least 400 men and
many women. All of these, as noticed in formerly visited places, went
entirely naked, of strong bodies, and warlike appearance, and were all
armed with bows, arrows, and lances, many of them having round or square
shields for their defence, which did not at all impede them in discharging
their arrows. All of them had their bodies painted of many colours, and
were adorned with the feather's of various birds; and the friendly Indians
who had accompanied us from the continent assured us that their painting
and adornment were sure indications that they were prepared for battle.
Accordingly, when we had reached to within an arrow-flight of the beach,
they all advanced into the sea towards us, and began to let fly a vast
number of arrows, using their utmost efforts to prevent our landing,
insomuch that we were constrained to make several discharges from our
artillery against them.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 574 of 789
Words from 160029 to 160278
of 219607
