The Last
Day Of January, Our General Went On Shore In The Bay To Some Houses,
Where He Found Twelve
Portuguese, the whole island not having more than
30 inhabitants, who were all banished men, some condemned to more years
Of exile and some to less, and among them was a simple man who was their
captain. They live on goat's flesh, cocks and hens, with fresh water,
having no other food except fish, which they do not care for, neither
indeed have they any boats wherewith to catch them. They told us that
this island had been granted by the king of Portugal to one of his
gentlemen, who had let it at 100 ducats of yearly rent, which was paid
by the profit on goats skins, of which 40,000 had been sent from that
island to Portugal in one year. These men made us very welcome,
entertaining us as well as they could, giving us the carcasses of as
many he-goats as we pleased, and even aided us in taking them, bringing
them down for us from the mountains on their asses. They have great
store of oil procured from tortoises, which are _fishes_ that swim in
the sea, having shells on their backs as large as targets. It only rains
in this island for three months in every year, from the middle of July
to the middle of October; and the climate is always very hot. Cows have
been brought here, but owing to the heat and drought they always died.
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