[Footnote 272: Astley, I. 336.--In Astley's Collection, this person is named captain; but it does not appear wherefore he had this title.--E.]
During five days that we remained here, some of the Spaniards came on board every day, and eat and drank with us in an insatiable manner. The general also made a present to the governor of two cheeses, a gammon of bacon, and five or six barrels of pickled oysters, which he accepted very thankfully, and sent in return two or three goats and sheep, and plenty of onions. We there took in fresh water, Canary wine, marmalade of quinces at twelve-pence a pound, little barrels of suckets, or sweetmeats, at three shillings a barrel, oranges, lemons, pame citrons, and excellent white bread baked with aniseeds, called nuns-bread.
We set sail on the 18th April in the morning, with a fair wind, which fell calm in three hours, which obliged us to hover till the 21st, when a brisk gale sprung up, with which we reached Mayo, one of the Cape Verd islands, in the afternoon of the 27th, 300 leagues from the Canaries, where we came to anchor, determining to take in water at Bonavista; but finding the water not clear, and two or three miles inland, we took the less, but had other good commodities. At our arrival we were told by two negroes, that we might have as many goats as we pleased for nothing; and accordingly we got about 200 for both ships. They told us also, that there were only twelve men on the island, and that there was plenty of white salt growing out of the ground,[273] so that we might have loaded both ships. It was excellent white salt, as clear as any that I ever saw in England. Eight leagues from Mayo is the island of St Jago.
[Footnote 273: This must be understood as formed naturally by evaporation, owing to the heat of the sun, in some places where the sea-water stagnates after storms or high tide.--E.]
We left Mayo on the 4th May at six in the morning, and passed the equinoctial line at the same hour on the 20th.[274] The 14th July, we came to Saldanha bay, having all our men in health except two, who were a little touched, with the scurvy, but soon recovered on shore. That day we had sight of the Cape of Good Hope, 15 or 16 leagues from hence. We refreshed ourselves excellently at Saldanha bay, where we took in about 400 cattle, as oxen, steers, sheep, and lambs; with fowls, plenty of fish of various kinds, and fresh water. At Penguin island, five or six leagues from the land, there are abundance of the birds of that name, and infinite numbers of seals. With these latter animals we filled our boat twice, and made train-oil for our lamps. From this island we took off six fat sheep, left there by the Hollanders for a pinnace which we met 200 leagues from the Cape, and left six bullocks in their stead. On our first arrival at Saldanha bay, we set up our pinnace, which we launched on the 5th September, and in six or eight days after she was rigged and fit for sea.
[Footnote 274: Jones observes, that after passing the line, they fell in with the trade-wind, which blows continually between S.E. and S.E. by E. the farther one goes to the southwards, finding it still more easterly, all the way between the line and the tropic of Capricorn. This almost intolerable obstacle to the outward-bound India voyage, was afterwards found easy to be avoided, by keeping a course to the westward, near the coast of Brazil.
Jones likewise mentions, that on the 11th June, when in lat. 26° S. they overtook a carak, called the Nave Palma, bound for India; which was afterwards lost on the coast of Sofala, within twelve leagues of Mozambique.--E.]
The natives of the country about Saldanha bay are a very beastly people, especially in their feeding; for I have seen them eat the guts and garbage, dung and all. They even eat the seals which we had cast into the river, after they had lain fourteen days, being then full of maggots, and stinking most intolerably. We saw here several signs of wild beasts, some so fierce, that when we found their dens, we durst neither enter nor come near them. The natives brought down to us ostrich eggs, some of the shells being empty, with a small hole at one end; also feathers of the same bird, and porcupine quills, which they bartered for our commodities, being especially desirous of iron, esteeming old pieces of that metal far beyond gold or silver.
Early on the 20th September,[275] we came out of the bay and set sail; and that night, being very dark and windy, we lost sight of the Union and our pinnace, called the Good Hope. The Union put out her ensign about five o'clock p.m. for what reason we never knew, and lay too all that night. We proceeded next day, and having various changes of wind, with frequent calms, we came on the 27th October to the latitude of 26° S. nearly in the parallel of St Lawrence. Continuing our course with similar weather, we descried two or three small islands on the 22d November in the morning, and that afternoon came to another off a very high land, called Comoro.[276] Sending our boat ashore on the 24th, the people met five or six of the natives, from whom they bought plantains. The 25th, by the aid of our boat towing the ship between two islands, as the wind would not serve, we came to anchor in the evening near the shore of Comoro, in between 17 and 20 fathoms water.
[Footnote 275: Jones says the 25th, and that the subsequent storm, on the 26th, in which they lost sight of the Union and the pinnace, was so violent as to split their fore-course.--E.]
[Footnote 276: According to Jones, they wished to have passed to the south of Madagascar, making what is now called the outer and usual passage, but could not, and were forced to take the channel of Mozambique.--E.]