Their Skins Were All Pictured Over With Snakes,
Dragons, And Such Like Reptiles, And They Were Entirely Naked, Except A
Piece Of Mat Before Them.
A boat was sent ashore well armed, and
immediately on landing, about thirty of the natives rushed from a
Wood,
armed with clubs, slings, and long staves or spears, and would have
seized the boat and taken away the arms from the soldiers; but on
receiving a discharge of musquetry they run off. Not being able to
anchor here, they called this the Island without ground. It is low,
and mostly composed of white sandy ground, on which are many trees,
which were supposed to be cocoas and palmitos. It is not broad, but of
considerable length, being in lat. 15 deg. S. and about 100 leagues from Dog
Island.[112]
[Footnote 112: Sondre-ground, or Without-ground, is in lat. 15 deg. 12' S.
and 143 deg. 25' W. long. - E.]
Finding nothing could be done here, they held on their course to the
west, and on the 16th came to another island, about fifteen leagues
north from the former. This seemed all drowned land, yet its skirts were
well clothed with trees. Here also they found no ground, and it yielded
nothing but a few herbs, with some crabs and other shell-fish, which
they found good eating. It afforded them also good fresh water, which
they found in a pit not far from the shore. The pottage or soup, which
they made of certain herbs gathered here, proved serviceable to those
who were afflicted with the flux.
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