A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10: Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time.Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10: Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time.
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
On one occasion the Indians attacked a party of the English, who were on
shore to draw the sein, but were beaten off with much loss; yet they
afterwards endeavoured to prevail on Captain Eaton to join them in
driving out the Spaniards, which he positively refused. On the 1st
April, leaving the bay in which they had hitherto remained, the Nicholas
anchored before the Spanish fort; and after several civilities on both
sides, set sail in the afternoon of the 3d April with a fair wind.
This island of Guam is about fourteen leagues long by six broad, and
contains several very pleasant vallies, interspersed with fine fertile
meadows, watered by many rivulets from the hills. The soil in these
vallies is black and very rich, producing plenty of cocoas, potatoes,
yams, papaws, plantains, _monanoes_, sour-sops, oranges, and lemons,
together with some honey. The climate is naturally very hot, yet is
wholesome, as constantly refreshed by the trade-wind. The Indian
natives are large made, well proportioned, active and vigorous, some
being seven feet and a half high, and go mostly naked, both men and
women. They never bury their dead, but lay them in the sun to putrefy.
Their only arms are slings and lances, the heads of these being made of
human bones; and on the decease of any one his bones make eight lances,
four from his legs and thighs, and as many from his arms. These lance
heads are formed like a scoop, and jagged at the edges like a saw or
eel-spear; so that a person wounded by them dies, if not cured in seven
days.
The great annual ship between Manilla and Acapulco touches here for
refreshments, and the Spaniards said there were sometimes eight ships in
one year at this place from the East Indies. They said also, that they
had built a ship here, in 1684, of 160 tons, to trade with Manilla, and
pretended to have a garrison here of 600 men, most of the Indians being
in rebellion.
The Nicholas sailed from Guam W. by S. and on computing that they were
206 leagues from that island, they changed to due W. The 23d, when they
reckoned themselves 560 leagues west of Guam, they met with a very
strong current, resembling the race of Portland, and fell in with a
cluster of islands in lat. 20° 30' N. to the north of Luçonia, [the
_Bashee Islands_.] They sent their boat ashore on the northermost of
these islands, in order to get some fish, and to examine the island, on
which they found vast quantities of nutmegs growing, but saw no people,
and as night was drawing on they did not venture to go any distance from
the shore. To this island they gave the name of _Nutmeg Island_, and
called the bay in which they anchored _English Bay_. They observed many
rocks, shoals, and foul ground near the shore, and saw a great many
goats on the island, but brought off very few.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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