After I Perceived Their Joy And Small Fear Of Us, Myself
With The Merchants And Others Of The Company Went Ashore, Bearing
With Me Twenty Knives.
I had no sooner landed, but they leapt out
of their canoes and came running to me and the rest, and embraced us
with many signs of hearty welcome.
At this present there were
eighteen of them, and to each of them I gave a knife; they offered
skins to me for reward, but I made signs that it was not sold, but
given them of courtesy, and so dismissed them for that time, with
signs that they should return again after certain hours.
The next day, with all possible speed, the pinnace was landed upon
an isle there to be finished to serve our purpose for the discovery,
which isle was so convenient for that purpose, as that we were very
well able to defend ourselves against many enemies. During the time
that the pinnace was there setting up, the people came continually
unto us, sometimes a hundred canoes at a time, sometimes forty,
fifty, more and less as occasion served. They brought with them
seal skins, stags' skins, white hares, seal fish, salmon peel, small
cod, dry caplin, with other fish and birds such as the country did
yield.
Myself, still desirous to have a farther search of this place, sent
one of the ship boats to one part of the land, and myself went to
another part to search for the habitation of this people, with
straight commandment that there should be no injury offered to any
of the people, neither any one shot.
The boats that went from me found the tents of the people made with
seal skins set up upon timber, wherein they found great store of
dried caplin, being a little fish no bigger than a pilchard. They
found bags of train oil, many little images cut in wood, seal skins
in tan tubs with many other such trifles, whereof they diminished
nothing.
They also found ten miles within the snowy mountains a plain
champion country, with earth and grass, such as our moory and waste
grounds of England are. They went up into a river (which in the
narrowest place is two leagues broad) about ten leagues, finding it
still to continue they knew not how far; but I with my company took
another river, which although at the first it offered a large inlet,
yet it proved but a deep bay, the end whereof in four hours I
attained, and there leaving the boat well manned, went with the rest
of my company three or four miles into the country, but found
nothing, nor saw anything, save only gripes, ravens, and small
birds, as lark and linnet.
The 3rd of July I manned my boat, and went with fifty canoes
attending upon me up into another sound, where the people by signs
willed me to go, hoping to find their habitation; at length they
made signs that I should go into a warm place to sleep, at which
place I went on shore, and ascended the top of high hill to see into
the country, but perceiving my labour vain, I returned again to my
boat, the people still following me and my company very diligent to
attend us, and to help us up the rocks, and likewise down; at length
I was desirous to have our men leap with them, which was done, but
our men did overleap them; from leaping they went to wrestling; we
found them strong and nimble, and to have skill in wrestling, for
they cast some of our men that were good wrestlers.
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