On the 27th, being in the latitude of 2 degrees 10 minutes south,
and in the longitude of 146 degrees 57 minutes, we fancied that we
had a sight of the island of Moa, but it proved to be that of Jama,
which lies a little to the east of Moa. We found here great plenty
of cocoa-nuts and other refreshments. The inhabitants were
absolutely black, and could easily repeat the words that they heard
others speak, which shows their own to be a very copious language.
It is, however, exceedingly difficult to pronounce, because they
make frequent use of the letter R, and sometimes to such a degree
that it occurs twice or thrice in the same word. The next day we
anchored on the coast of the island of Moa, where we likewise found
abundance of refreshments, and where we were obliged by bad weather
to stay till May 9th. We purchased there, by way of exchange, six
thousand cocoa-nuts, and a hundred bags of pysanghs or Indian figs.
When we first began to trade with these people, one of our seamen
was wounded by an arrow that one of the natives let fly, either
through malice or inadvertency. We were at that very juncture
endeavouring to bring our ships close to the shore, which so
terrified these islanders, that they brought of their own accord on
board us, the man who had shot the arrow and left him at our mercy.
We found them after this accident much more tractable than before in
every respect.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 56 of 180
Words from 15252 to 15521
of 50938
