The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 09: Asia, Part IIHakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 09: Asia, Part II
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
of the sea that are on that shore, vntill that they carie them to the
ships: and in like maner they lade these Masadies at the shippes with
merchandise and men. When they come neere the shore, the Barke-men leap out
of the Barke into the Sea to keepe the Barke right that she cast not
athwart the shore, and being kept right, the Suffe of the Sea setteth her
lading dry on land without any hurt or danger, and sometimes there are some
of them that are ouerthrowen, but there can be no great losse, because they
lade but a litle at a time. All the marchandize they lade outwards, they
emball it well with Oxe hides, so that if it take wet, it can haue no great
harme.
[Sidenote: In the Iland of Banda they lade Nutmegs for there they grow.] In
my voyage, returning in the yeere of our Lord God one thousand, fiue
hundred, sixtie and sixe, I went from Goa vnto Malacca, in a shippe or
Gallion of the king of Portugal, which went vnto Banda for to lade Nutmegs
and Maces: from Goa to Malacca are one thousand eight hundred miles, we
passed without the Iland Zeilan, and went through the chanell of Nicubar,
or els through the chanell of Sombero, which is by the middle of the Iland
of Sumatra, called in olde time Taprobana: [Sidenote: In the Ilands of
Andemaon, they eate one another.] and from Necubar to Pegu is as it were a
rowe or chaine of an infinite number of Ilands, of which many are inhabited
with wilde people, and they call those Ilands the Ilands of Andemaon, and
they call their people sauage or wilde, because they eate one another: also
these Ilands haue warre one with another, for they haue small Barkes, and
with them they take one another, and so eate one another: and if by euil
chance any ship be lost on those Ilands, as many haue bene, there is not
one man of those ships lost there that escapeth vneaten or vnslaine. These
people haue not any acquaintance with any other people, neither haue they
trade with any, but liue onely of such fruites as those Ilands yeeld: and
if any ship come neere vnto that place or coast as they passe that way, as
in my voyage it happened as I came from Malacca through the chanell of
Sombrero, there came two of their Barkes neere vnto our ship laden with
fruite, as with Mouces which wee call Adam apples, with fresh Nuts, and
with a fruite called Inani, which fruite is like to our Turneps, but is
very sweete and good to eate: they would not come into the shippe for any
thing that wee could doe: neither would they take any money for their
fruite, but they would trucke for olde shirtes or pieces of olde linnen
breeches, these ragges they let downe with a rope into their Barke vnto
them, and looke what they thought those things to bee woorth, so much
fruite they would make fast to the rope and let vs hale it in: and it was
told me that at sometimes a man shall haue for an old shirt a good piece of
Amber.
Sumatra.
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