Seeing That Nothing Could Be Done Here,
Zichmni Set Sail To The Eastwards With A Fair Wind; And After Six Days
Sail, We Came In Sight Of Land, Which We Found To Be A Very Good Country,
With An Excellent Harbour.
We descried a mountain at a considerable
distance, which emitted smoke, and Zichmni sent an hundred soldiers to
explore the country, and to inquire if it were inhabited.
In the meantime,
we took in wood and water, and caught vast quantities of fish and sea-fowl,
and procured immense numbers of eggs; so that our people, before almost
famished, had now more provisions than they could eat. To this harbour, we
gave the name of port Trin, and the point that stretched out into the sea
was named Cape Trin. The soldiers who had been sent out to examine the
country, returned at the end of eight days, and reported they had been all
through the island, quite to the smoking mountain, and that the smoke we
saw proceeded from a fire at its bottom, where there was a spring of liquid
pitch which ran into the sea. They said likewise, that the interior of the
island was inhabited by a wild people, who were very short in stature, and
timid, and hid themselves in, caves.
On receiving this piece of intelligence, and considering that the island
was blest with a pure and wholesome air, good soil, fine rivers, and many
other advantages, Ziehmni resolved to people it and to build a town at Port
Trin, and took, great pains to discover the whole of it, and to explore the
seas on both sides of Engroveland, or Greenland. But many of his people
began to murmur, being quite wearied with so tedious a voyage, alleging,
that as the winter was fast approaching, they should not be able to return
home before the ensuing summer, if they made any longer delay. On this
account, retaining only the row-boats, and as many men as were willing to
stay with him. Zichmni sent away all the rest of the people with the ships,
giving the command to me, Antonio Zeno, much against my will. Taking
therefore our departure, we sailed twenty days to the eastwards, without
seeing any land; on which we shifted our course to the south-east, and
after five days, we came in sight of the island of Neome[3], so that we
passed Iceland without seeing it. We here procured refreshments from the
inhabitants, who were subject to Zichmni, and sailed thence in three days
to Frisland, where we were received with great joy, as the people
thought, in consequence of our long absence, that their prince and the
whole armament had been lost.
As to the particulars concerning the people and their customs, the animate,
and the productions of these countries, I have written all these in a
separate book, in which I have described the country, and the wonderful
fishes of Frisland, Estland, Norway, Estoitland, Drogio, Icaria, and
Engroveland, on both its sides.
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