This Place Has A Most Wholesome Air, And Has Plenty Of
Water Both To Serve Navigators, And For Travellers In The Country, As
Numerous Small Streams Descend Every Where From The Mountains.
This being the spring season at this place, it repented me that I had
not brought out many kinds of garden seeds, which might have been useful
afterwards for the relief of many Christians coming here for
refreshments.
Also planting acorns might in time be useful, as trees
grow here more quickly than in our cold country.
Having finished our business of laying in a stock of water, and somewhat
relieved those of our men who were sick and weak, with what fresh
provisions we could procure, which indeed consisted principally of
muscles, we prepared to set sail, which we did at four in the morning of
the 13th of August. We descried the island of Madagascar on the 6th
September, in lat. 23 deg. 38' S. and anchored that evening in the bay of St
Augustine in twelve fathoms. We here found the Union of London,
vice-admiral of the fourth voyage, her people being much distressed
for provisions to carry them home. They related to our general their
having unfortunately lost company of their admiral and pinnace, between
Saldanha and the Cape of Good Hope, of which they had never heard since,
and various other unfortunate circumstances of their outward-bound
voyage.[349] Our general supplied them plentifully with provisions, and
also restored union among the ship's company, Mr Samuel Bradshaw being
much disliked by the factious master and his adherents, for his sober,
discreet, and provident management of the company's business.
[Footnote 349: It is unnecessary to repeat these circumstances, having
been already related; and need only be mentioned, that the bay in
Madagascar, where the captain and others were betrayed, is here called
Jungomar, or Vinganora, and is said to have been at the north-west
corner of Madagascar. In modern maps, the bay of Vingora is placed on
the west side of Madagascar, its mouth being in lat. 13 deg. 41' S. and E.
long. 49 deg. 28'. - E.]
At this place I particularly remarked two singular kinds of trees. One
of these yields from its leaves and boughs a yellow sap of so fat a
nature, that when fire is put to it standing quite green, the fire
blazes up immediately over all the leaves and branches. Its wood is
white and soft. The other kind has white wood with a small brown heart,
but nearly as hard as lignum vitae. The trees which we of the
Pepper-corn cut for fire-wood, hung all full of green fruit called
Tamerim, [tamarinds,] as large as an English bean-cod, having a very
sour taste, and reckoned good against the scurvy. The men of our
admiral, having more leisure than ours, gathered some of this fruit for
their own use. We saw likewise here abundance of a plant, hardly to be
distinguished from the sempervivum of Socotora, whence the Socotrine
aloes is made; but I know not if the savage natives of this island have
any knowledge of its use. The natives, for what reason I know not, came
not near us, so that we got not here any beef or mutton, though oxen
used to be had here for a dollar a-piece. But we were told the
disorderly fellows of the Union had improvidently given whatever the
savages asked, so that scarcely any are now to be had even for ten
shillings each. Though savage, the people of this island are not
ignorant in ordering their men in battle array, as was experienced by
the Union at Jungomar: But in all parts of the island, it is necessary
for the Christians to be very much on their guard, for the natives are
very treacherous.
We left St Augustine bay on the 9th September, leaving the Union still
there. The 29th, the wind being E.S.E. and the current, as I judged,
setting S.W. we were entangled with a lee-shore, which we called the
Carribas,[350] being several small islands with sundry ledges of rocks
among them, only to be discovered by the breaking of the waves upon
them. These are between 10 deg. and 11 deg. S. lat. and we spent six days before
we could get disengaged from among them, the wind all that time being
E.N.E. or E.S.E. still forcing us to leewards, though using every effort
by towing and otherwise to get off. The great danger arose from the
strength of the current, and the want of any place where we could
anchor; as, although we had ground near the rocks, it was very deep and
foul. There are several of these islands, mostly full of trees. Every
night after dark, we could see fires on shore made by the natives, but
we had no inclination to go ashore to speak with them. When it pleased
God that we got clear of this danger, we found the current to our
amazement carry us to the northwards, as much more in our estimation as
we made our ship's way; so that when we judged by the log we had gone
fifteen leagues, we had actually made thirty leagues.
[Footnote 350: The Karribas islands on the coast of Zanjibar, between
Cape Del Gada and Quiloa bay. - E.]
The 9th October we lost the current, except it might then set to the
eastwards, but which we could not ascertain. The 10th, 11th, and 12th,
we lost ground daily, caused by the current. The 17th at sunrise, we
descried two islands, which we judged to be the Duas Hermanas, or Two
Sisters, bearing from each other W. by S. and E. by N. about seven and a
half leagues from the west point of Socotora. Having the west point of
that island from us N.N.E. three and a half leagues distant, we had
twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-six fathoms.
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