The Inhabitants Of This Island Were Formerly Portuguese, Banished
Thither For Murders, Thefts, And Other Crimes; But Are Now Mostly All
Black, In Consequence Of These Men Having Issue By Their Female Slaves,
Which Were Guinea Negroes.
Yet they still retain the vices of their
progenitors, thieving being more common here than in any place I ever
visited, insomuch that they will take a man's hat from his head at noon
day and in the midst of company.
In trading with them, it is necessary
not to let them have your goods before theirs are delivered, or you are
sure to lose them. We here watered and refreshed ourselves; and here a
disagreement took place between Captain Dampier and his
first-lieutenant, who was turned ashore at midnight, with his chest and
servant. At four next morning, being the 13th October, we sailed from St
Jago, not fully resolved where next to touch at.
[Footnote 205: Lat. 32 deg. 33' N. long. 17 deg. 5' W. from Greenwich. - E.]
On the 22d October we caught four fish; a shark, a dolphin, a
jelly-fish, and an old-wife. The shark and dolphin are well known, and
need not be described in this place. The Jelly-fish was about fourteen
inches long and two inches deep, having sharp teeth, a sparkling eye,
and long extended mouth. It has a prodigiously high fin on its back, of
a slimy substance, except that its rays, which are thirty-two in number,
are firm and stiff.
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