“The person who takes this oath prays the vengeance of the supreme gods of the heavens and the chief magistrates of the country upon him, his family, his domestics, his friends and near relatives, in case he doth not sincerely fulfil and satisfy to all and every article, as they are read and specified to him after the form of the oath, which, together with these articles, must be signed by him, and sealed with his seal[139], dipped in black ink, pouring, for a still stronger confirmation, some drops of his own blood upon it, which he fetches by pricking one of his fingers behind the nail. This must be repeated twice a year, at least: first, about the beginning of the year, at the time when they perform the solemn act of theirs of trampling upon the image of our blessed Saviour, pendent from the cross, of the Virgin Mary, and of other holy persons, as a public and unquestionable proof that they forever renounce the Christian religion[140]; and again, after the arrival of our ships in the harbor, in order to remind them of the solemn obligation they lay under, and to renew their hatred towards us. The persons who are to attend us in our journey to court must, immediately after their departure, take a third oath, promising that they will have a strict hand and watchful eye over us and our conduct all along the road, and that they will not show us any particular acts of friendship, or enter into any kind of familiarity with us. “This oath, however, though never so terrible and binding, would be but little regarded by this nation, were it not for the severe punishment put by the civil magistrate upon the least transgression thereof,—a crime that is not to be expiated but by shedding the very same blood the oath hath been confirmed by. “Thus much I cannot forbear owning, in justice to the natives, that, even amidst all the troubles and hardships we are exposed to in this country, we have at least this comfort, that we are treated by our numerous guardians and overseers with apparent civility, with caresses, compliments, presents of victuals, and other marks of deference, so far as it is not inconsistent with their reasons of state. But this, their gentle and reasonable behavior on our behalf, is owing more to the custom of the country, and to the innate civility and good manners of the natives, than to any particular esteem they have for us, or any favor they are willing to show us.