We Gave Them Bread, Which They Accepted And Eat
Readily.
About 4 P.M. our boats came off to us with fresh water; and at
night we anchored off the mouth of a river.
The 15th we weighed and
stood near the shore, sounding all the way, finding sometimes a rocky
bottom, at other times good ground, and never less than seven fathoms.
Finally, we cast anchor within an English mile of the shore, in seven
and a half fathoms, directly over against the mouth of the river, and
then sent our boats for water, which they got very good after rowing a
mile up the river. This river, called St Vincent in the chart, is by
estimation about eight leagues beyond the river Sestro, but is so hard
to find that a boat may be within half a mile of it without being able
to discover any river, as a ledge of rocks of greater extent than its
breadth lies directly before its mouth, so that the boats had to go a
considerable way between that ledge and the shore before coming to its
mouth. When once in, it is a great river, having several others that
fall into it. The entrance is somewhat difficult, as the surf is rather
high, but after getting in it is as smooth as the Thames.[231] Upon this
river, near the sea, the inhabitants are tall large men, going entirely
naked, except a clout about a quarter of a yard long before their
middle, made of the bark of trees, yet resembling cloth, as the bark
used for this purpose can be spun like flax.
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