In The Middle Of The Island,
There Is A Prodigiously High Peaked Mountain, Shaped Like A Diamond,
Which Is Always Burning.
I received this account from some Christians,
who had been prisoners in the island, who affirmed that it was fifteen
Portuguese leagues, or sixty Italian miles, from the bottom of the
mountain to the top of the peak.
They have nine lords on this island, who are called dukes, and who do not
succeed by inheritance or descent, but by force; on which account they
have perpetual civil wars among themselves, in which they commit great
slaughter. Their only weapons are stones, maces or clubs, and darts or
lances, some of which are pointed with horn, and others have their points
hardened in the fire. They all go naked, except a few who wear goat skins
before and behind. They anoint their skins with goats tallow, mixed up
with the juice of certain herbs, which thickens the skin, and defends
them against the cold, of which they complain much, although their
country is so far to the south. They have neither walled, nor thatched
houses, but dwell in grottos and caverns of the mountains. They feed on
barley, flesh, and goats milk, of which they have abundance, and some
fruits, particularly figs. As the country is very hot, they reap their
corn in April and May.
We learnt all these things from the Christians of the four settled
islands, who sometimes go over by night to the three other islands, and
make prisoners of the natives, whom they send into Spain to be sold as
slaves.
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