A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed BeforeDefoe, Daniel
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A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before
Defoe, Daniel
Adventure stories; Voyages around the world -- Fiction
Where it was they were going to, or what it was they carried, our men
could not tell till they came nearer, when they found that they were all
loaded with provisions, cocoa-nuts, roots, cabbages, and a great variety
of things which the men knew little of; and all these were carrying
down to our ships, as we understood afterwards, in gratitude for our
kind usage of the two young women.
When these people saw our men and their three boats, they were at a full
stop, and once or twice they were ready to lay down all their loads, and
run for it; but ours made signs of peace, and held up a white flag to
them.
Some of them, it seems, having, as we found, conversed with our men, had
a little more courage than the rest, and came to the shore side, and
looked at the boats. One of our men thought of a stratagem to make known
our desire of peace with them. Taking a string of beads and some toys,
he held them up at the end of the boat-hook staff, and showed them to
the Indians, pointing to them with his hand, and then pointing with the
other hand to what the Indians carried, and to his mouth, intimating
that we wanted such things to eat, and would give him the beads for
them.
One of the Indians presently understood him, and threw himself into the
water, holding a bundle of plants, such as he had trussed up together,
upon his head, and swimming with the other hand, came so near the boat,
where our men held out the staff, as to reach the end of the staff, take
off the string of beads and toys, and hang his bunch of trash, for it
was not better, upon the hook, and then went back again, for he would
come no nearer.
When he was gotten on shore again, all his comrades came about him to
see what he had got; he hung the string of beads round his neck, and ran
dancing about with the other things in his hand, as if he had been mad.
What our men got was a trifle of less worth than a good bunch of carrots
in England, but yet it was useful, as it brought the people to converse
with us; for after this they brought us roots and fruits innumerable,
and began to be very well acquainted with us.
By that time our men had chaffered thus four or five times they first
heard, and in a little while after saw, their two great boats, with
their fellows, coming down the river, at about two miles' distance, with
their drums and trumpets, and making noise enough.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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