The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation — Volume 12: America, Part IHakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation — Volume 12: America, Part I
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
[Sidenote: Gentle and louing Sauages.] The ships being within the sounds
wee sent our boates to search for shole water, where wee might anker, which
in this place is very hard to finde: and as the boat went sounding and
searching, the people of the countrey hauing espied them, came in their
Canoas towards them with many shoutes and cries: but after they had espied
in the boat some of our company that were the yeere before here with vs,
they presently rowed to the boate, and tooke hold on the oare, and hung
about the boate with such comfortable ioy, as would require a long
discourse to be uttered: they came with the boates to our ships, making
signes that they knewe all those that the yeere before had bene with them.
After I perceiued their ioy and small feare of vs, myselfe with the
Merchants and others of the company went a shoare, bearing with me twentie
kniues: I had no sooner landed, but they lept out of their Canoas and came
running to mee and the rest, and embraced vs with many signes of heartie
welcome: at this present there were eighteene of them, and to eche of them
I gaue a knife: they offered skinnes to me for reward, but I made signes
that they were not solde, but giuen them of courtesie: and so dismissed
them for that time, with signes that they should returne againe after
certaine houres.
[Sidenote: An 100 Canoas with diuers commodities.] The next day with all
possible speed the pinnesse was landed vpon an Isle there to be finished to
serue our purpose for the discouerie, which Isle was so conuenient for that
purpose, as that we were very wel able to defend ourselues against many
enemies. During the time that the pinesse was there setting vp, the people
came continually vnto vs sometime an hundred Canoas at a time, sometime
fortie, fiftie, more and lesse, as occasion serued. They brought with them
seale skinnes, stagge skinnes, white hares, Seale fish, salmon peale, smal
cod, dry caplin, with other fish, and birds such as the countrey did yeeld.
My selfe still desirous to haue a further search of this place, sent one of
the shipboates to one part of the land, and my selfe went to another part
to search for the habitation of this people, with straight commandement
that there should be no iniurie offered to any of the people, neither any
gunne shot.
[Sidenote: Images, trane oyle, and Seale skins in tan tubs.] The boates
that went from me found the tents of the people made with seale skinnes set
vp vpon timber, wherein they found great store of dried Caplin, being a
little fish no bigger than a pilchard: they found bags of Trane oyle, many
litle images cut in wood, Seale skinnes in tan-tubs, with many other such
trifles, whereof they diminished nothing.
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