And As Sailors Rejoice When They
Discover Land, So Do These Wretches Much More When They Discover Any Ship;
Wherefore They Immediately Ran Down To The Shore To Speak With The People
Whom The Admiral Sent On Shore To Take In Water And Salt.
There are
likewise abundance of goats in that island.
Understanding that our people
were Spaniards, the Portuguese who had charge of this island for the owner
went on board to wait upon the admiral, and made offer of every assistance
in his power, for which the admiral thanked him and ordered him to be well
treated, and to have some provisions given him, for by reason of the
barrenness of the island the inhabitants live very miserably. Being
desirous to know what methods were used for curing the leprosy, this man
told the admiral that the excellent temperature of the air was one
principal cause, and the next the diet of the infected; for there came to
this island vast numbers of turtles, on which the sick chiefly feed, and
anoint themselves with the blood of these animals, and are by these means
speedily cured; but that such as are born with the distemper are longer of
being cured. The reason assigned for the great numbers of turtle was, that
the shores of the island being all sandy, these creatures resort thither
from the west coast of Africa in the months of June, July, and August, to
deposit their eggs. They are mostly as large as an ordinary target, and
come every night on shore to sleep and to lay their eggs in the sand. The
people go along the shore at night with lanterns and other lights, seeking
the tracks which the turtle leaves in the sand, which they follow till
they find the animal, which being tired with the exertion, sleeps so
soundly as not to waken on their approach. Having found a turtle it is
turned on its back, and without doing any more harm they go on to seek
more, which are treated in the same manner. Having got as many as they
think fit, they come back in the morning to choose those they like best,
as they cannot possibly recover their feet when once turned over. They
then carry off such as they think fit, turning up the smaller ones upon
their belly and allowing them to go away. The island being very dry and
barren, without either trees or springs, the wretched sick inhabitants
have no other sustenance, and are entirely without employment, and they
are necessitated to drink of the thick and brackish water of certain wells,
there being none else to be found.
Besides the sick, the only inhabitants of the island consisted of the man
who had the charge and four more, and their only employment was to kill
and salt goats to be sent to Portugal. There were such multitudes of goats
on the island, all derived from eight left there originally, that some
years they killed to the value of three or four thousand ducats. The
proprietor was Roderick Alfonzo, secretary of the customs to the king of
Portugal, by whom the original stock of goats had been carried to this
place. These goat-hunters are often four or five months without bread or
any thing to eat but goats flesh and fish; for which reason this man made
great account of the provisions which the admiral had given him. This man
and his companions, with some of the admirals men, went out to hunt goats
for the use of the ships, but finding that it would require much time to
kill all he had need of, and being anxious to proceed on his voyage, the
admiral would not protract his stay in this place.
On Saturday the 30th of June, he sailed for Santiago, the principal of the
Cape Verde islands, where he arrived the next evening, and cast anchor near
a church, sending on shore to purchase some bulls and cows, which he
wished to carry alive to Hispaniola. But finding it difficult to procure
them so soon as he wished, and considering how prejudicial delays might
prove to the safety and success of his voyage, he would not remain. He was
the more induced to get away with all expedition on account of the
unhealthiness of the country, lest his men might fall sick; as during all
the time he lay among these islands he never saw the sky or any star, in
consequence of a perpetual thick hot fog; insomuch that three fourths of
the inhabitants were sick, and all of them had a most unhealthy colour.
On Thursday the 5th of July, the admiral left the island of St Jago,
sailing S.W. with the intention of holding that course till he was under
the equinoctial, and then to steer due west, that he might discover some
other land before proceeding to Hispaniola. But the currents among these
islands set so strongly to the north and north-west, that he was unable to
keep his intended course, and was still in sight of Fogo, one of the Cape
Verde islands, on the 7th of July. This island is very high land on the
south side, and looks at a distance like a great church with a steeple at
the east end, which is an exceedingly high rock, whence there usually
breaks out much fire before the east winds blow, in the same manner as is
seen at Teneriffe, Vesuvius, and Etna. From this last country of the
Christians he held on his course S.W. till he came into only 5 deg. of north
latitude, where he was becalmed, having till then been continually
attended by the before-mentioned fog. The calms lasted eight days, with
such violent heat as almost to burn the ships, and it was impossible
during all that time for any of the people to remain below deck, and had
not the sun been clouded with occasional rains, the admiral thought they
would have been burnt up alive together with their ships.
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