On the 23d of January, Candish summoned all the caçiques of this island, and an hundred more, who had paid him tribute, and then revealed to them all, when assembled, that he and his men were Englishmen, and the greatest enemies the Spaniards had in the world. At the same time he generously restored them, in money, the value of all the tribute they had paid to him, in hogs, cocoa-nuts, potatoes, and the like. This unexpected generosity astonished the whole assembly, who applauded his bounty, and offered to join him with all the forces of their respective districts, if he would go to war with the Spaniards. They seemed much pleased with finding that Candish and his people were English, and thankful for the kindness with which they had been treated. On taking leave, they rowed round the ship awhile in their canoes, as if in compliment to the English; and Candish caused a gun to be fired at their departure.
Setting sail on the 24th, Candish ran along the coast of Luzon, steering N.W. between that island and Masbate. In the islands thereabout, the Spaniards were observed to keep a strict watch, making great fires, and discharging their pieces all night, having been much alarmed by the arrival of the English. The island of Panama is in many places plain and level, affording many large, tall, and straight trees, fit for masts, and has several mines of very fine gold, which are possessed by the natives. To the south of this is the island of the Negroes, which is very large, almost as big as England, and is in lat. 9° N.[57] It appeared to consist mostly of low land, and to be very fertile.
[Footnote 57: Negro island reaches from lat. 9° 15' to 11° 45' N. and is consequently two and a half degrees from N. to S. about 174 English miles, but does not any where exceed thirty miles from E. to W.--E.]
At six in the morning of the 29th of January, they began to pass through the straits between Panama and Negro islands, and, after proceeding sixteen leagues, they found a fair opening in these straits, trending S.W. by S. About this time, being rejoined by their boat, which had been sent before them in the morning, Candish sent a Spanish prisoner on shore, with a message to his captain, who commanded a ship which lay at Panama the night before, desiring him to provide an abundant supply of gold against the return of the Desire, as he meant to pay him a visit at Manilla, and as that was a long voyage, it merited good entertainment. He said farther, that he would have come now, to weigh some of his Spanish gold in English scales, if he had possessed a larger boat for landing his men on the island.
Proceeding on the voyage, they saw Batochina on the 8th of February, an island near Gilolo, in the lat. of 1° N. The 14th of that month they fell in with eleven or twelve small flat low islands, almost level with the sea, in lat. 3° 10' S. near the Moluccas. March 1st, having passed the straits between Java Major and Java Minor, they anchored under the S.W. part of Java Major, where they saw some people fishing in a bay under the island. The admiral sent a boat to them, in which was a negro who could speak the Moresco[58] language, which is much used in Java. But, being frightened at the approach of the boat, they all got on shore and ran away into the woods. One of them, however, came back to the shore, on being called to by the negro, and directed where to find fresh water; besides which, he undertook to carry a message to the king of that part of the island from the admiral, certifying that he had come to purchase victuals, or any commodities the country afforded. In consequence of this message, nine or ten canoes belonging to the king came off, on the 12th March, loaded with all sorts of provisions as deep as they could swim; bringing oxen, hogs, hens, geese, eggs, sugar, cocoa-nuts, plantains, oranges, lemons, wine, and arrack.
[Footnote 58: Probably the Malay is here meant, and called Moresco or Moors, an ordinary term for Mahometans.--E.]
At the same time two Portuguese came off to visit Candish, and to enquire about their king, Don Antonio, then residing in England. These persons gave him a full account of the manners and customs of the people of this island. The king of this part was held in prodigious awe by his subjects, over whom he exercised absolute power, insomuch that no man was permitted to make a bargain without his leave, on pain of death. He had an hundred wives, and his son fifty; who may possibly be happy enough while he lives; but when he dies, and his body is burnt, and the ashes collected into an urn, the tragedy of his wives begins five days afterwards. They are then all conducted to an appointed place, where the favourite wife throws a ball from her hand, and where it stops marks the place of their deaths. Being come there, and turning their faces to the east, they all draw their daggers and stab themselves to the heart; after which they smear themselves with their own blood, and thus die.
The men of this island are excellent soldiers, being hardy, valiant, and desperate to the last degree, sticking at nothing commanded by their king, however dangerous; and, should he even command them to plunge a dagger into their own breast, or to leap from a precipice, or into a den of wild beasts, they instantly obey: For the displeasure of their sovereign is as certain death as the point of a sword, or the fangs of a beast of prey. Their complexion is tawny, like the other natives of India, and they go entirely naked; but their women are of a fairer hue, and are more modestly cloathed than the men.
After this relation of the Portuguese, having satisfied the Javans for the provisions they had supplied, and received a promise of good entertainment to the English when they might return to their island, Candish took leave of them, making a present to their king of three large cannon. Next day, being the 16th of March, he made sail for the Cape of Good Hope, spending all the rest of that month, all April, and a part of May, in traversing the vast ocean between the island of Java and the southern extremity of Africa, making many observations on the appearances of the stars, the weather, winds, tides, currents, soundings, and bearings and positions of lands.
On the 11th of May, land was espied bearing N. and N. by W. and towards noon more land was seen bearing W. which was believed to be the Cape of Good Hope, being then about forty or fifty leagues from that southern promontory of Africa.[59] The wind being scanty, they stood off to the southwards till midnight; and, the wind being then fair, stood their course directly west. On the 12th and 13th they were becalmed, with a thick and hazy atmosphere. The weather cleared upon the 14th, when they again saw land, which proved to be Cape Falso, forty or fifty leagues short, or to the eastwards of the Cape of Good Hope.[60] This Cape Falso is easily known, having three hills directly over it, the highest in the middle, and only a little distance from each other; the ground being much lower by the sea-side. Besides which, the Cape of Good Hope bears W. by S. from this cape. They discovered the Cape of Good Hope on the 16th of May, observing the head-land to be considerably high, having two hummocks at the westerly point, a little off the main, and three others a little farther into the sea, yet low-land still between these and the sea. By the Portuguese the Cape of Good Hope is said to be 2000 leagues from Java; but by their reckoning they made it only 1850 leagues, which took them just nine weeks in the run.