Notable Voyagers, From Columbus to NordenskioldKingston, William Henry Giles
History
Notable Voyagers, From Columbus to Nordenskiold
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Explorers; Voyages and travels
afterwards sent ashore various articles, to purchase hogs, yams, and
other roots; but the natives, although they admired axes and hatchets,
would give only cocoa-nuts, and always made signs to their visitors to
begone.
During another visit the natives showed more confidence. The men wore
feathers in their heads, and had lances in their hands. The women had
no ornaments, but wore bunches of green branches before and behind, on a
string round their waists. They carried on their heads large baskets
full of yams. During the next visit the people were more shy than at
first. They had also carried off all the cocoa-nuts from the trees, and
driven away the hogs. The sailors made signs to them, to know what had
become of their hogs, when the natives, pointing to some houses at the
bottom of the bay, intimated by the noises they made that there were
hogs and goats up there, expressing by signs, such as holding out their
hands at different distances from the ground, the animals they meant.
Wood was abundant; but though the natives fully understood the word
cocoas, they did not bring any more. Dampier himself went on shore and
visited some of their huts, which were poor buildings. The doors were
made fast, as the inhabitants had fled. While he was thus employed, the
men in the yawl filled two hogsheads and the barricoes, or breakers,
with water. On his return on board, the officers and men requested
leave to go and obtain the hogs; but he was unwilling to yield to their
wishes, fearing that they would deal roughly with the natives. At last
he consented, ordering them to act cautiously for their own safety, and
to return at once should rain come on, to be exposed to which in that
climate was considered dangerous. The great guns were got ready to
cover them, should the natives appear hostile. As soon as the boat
approached, the savages crowded to the shore, shaking their lances, some
wading into the sea, holding up a shield in one hand and a lance in the
other.
The sailors held up such commodities as were likely to attract them, but
to no purpose, the natives still waved them off. The seamen at length,
resolved to have some provisions, fired their muskets to scare them
away. This had the desired effect, and all disappeared, with the
exception of two or three, who still stood in a menacing posture. One,
however, being shot in the arm, he dropped his target and ran off. None
were seriously hurt, the object of the seamen being to frighten rather
than injure the savages. They then landed, and found a number of tame
hogs running about the house. Nine were shot, and with these, as it had
begun to rain, they returned on board. In the evening, the rain having
ceased, another party went on shore, when eight more hogs and a little
live pig were captured. The natives by this time showed a disposition
to be friendly, and brought down a number of cocoa-nuts, which they left
on the shore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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