They Have No Knowledge Of Our Arms, And Would Even Lay
Their Hands On The Edges Of The Dutchmen's Swords; Yet Are Exceedingly
Cunning, Faithless, And Cruel; Shewing Every Appearance Of Friendship At
One Time, And Instantly Afterwards Murdering Those With Whom They Have
Been Familiar.
The Dutch found it impossible to procure any kind of
refreshments from them, though such surely were among them, for
quantities of cow-dung were seen; and their bow-strings were made of ox
sinews:
Besides, a soldier who went ashore from the Greyhound yacht,
while she lay at anchor, reported to the vice-admiral, that he had seen
a large herd of cattle feeding in a meadow.[137]
[Footnote 137: This is not at all likely to have been true. The cattle,
the dung, and the sinews mentioned in the text, are more likely to have
been of some species of the seal tribe - E.]
On the 27th of February, 1624, the admiral made a signal for sailing,
the wind being then N. so that hopes were entertained of getting from
the bay of Nassau to the west; but a storm came on in the evening at W.
and blew hard all night. March 3d, they had an observation at noon, when
they were in lat, 59 deg. 45' S. with the wind at N.W. Hitherto it had been
the opinion of nautical men, that it was easy to get from the Straits of
Le Maire to Chili, but hardly possible to pass from Chili by that strait
into the Atlantic, as they imagined that the south wind blew constantly
in these seas:
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