In this Island are also many sorts of Beasts, both wild and tame; as Horses, Bulls, and Cows, Buffaloes, Goats, Wild Hogs, Deer, Monkies, Guano’s, Lizards, Snakes, &c. I never saw or heard of any Beasts of Prey here, as in many other places. The Hogs are ugly Creatures; they have all great Knobs growing over their Eyes, and there are multitudes of them in the Woods. They are commonly very poor, yet sweet. Deer are here very plentiful in some places, where they are not disturbed.
Of the venemous kind of Creatures here are Scorpions, whose sting is in their Tail; and Centapees, call’d by the English 40 Legs, both which are also common in the West-Indies, in Jamaica, and elsewhere. These Centapees are 4 or 5 Inches long, as big as a Goose-Quill, but flattish; of a Dun or reddish colour on the Back, but Belly whitish and full of Legs on each side the Belly. Their Sting or bite is more raging than the Scorpion. They lie in old Houses, and dry Timber. There are several sorts of Snakes, some very Poisonous. There is another sort of Creature like a Guano both in colour and shape, but four times as big, whose Tongue is like a small Harpoon, having two beards like the Beards of a Fishook. They are said to be very venemous, but I know not their Names. I have seen them in other places also, as at Pulo Condore, or the Island Condore, and at Achin, and have been told that they are in the Bay of Bengal.
The Fowls of this Country are Ducks and Hens: Other tame Fowl I have not seen nor heard of any. The wild Fowl are Pidgeons, Parrots, Parakits, Turtle Doves, and abundance of small Fowls. There are Bats as big as a Kite.
There are a great many Harbours, Creeks, and good Bays for Ships to ride in; and Rivers navigable for Canoas, Proes or Barks, which are all plentifully stored with Fish of divers sorts, so is also the adjacent Sea. The chiefest Fish are Bonetas, Snooks, Cavally’s Bremes, Mullets, 10 Pounders, &c. Here are also plenty of Sea Turtle, and small Manatee, which are not near so big as those in the West-Indies. The biggest that I saw would not weigh above 600 Pound, but the flesh both of the Turtle and Manatee are very sweet.
The Weather at Mindanao is temperate enough as to heat, for all it lies so near the Equator; and especially on the borders near the Sea. There they commonly enjoy the breezes by day, and cooling Land Winds at Night. The Winds are Easterly one part of the Year, and Westerly the other. The Easterly Winds begin to blow in October, and it is the middle of November before they are settled. These Winds bring fair Weather. The Westerly Winds begin to blow in May, but are not settled till a Month afterwards. The West Winds always bring Rain, Tornadoes, and very Tempestuous Weather. At the first coming in of these Winds they blow but faintly; but then the Tornadoes rise one in a Day, sometimes two. These are Thunder-showers which commonly come against the Wind, bringing with them a contrary Wind to what did blow before. After the Tornadoes are over, the Wind shifts about again, and the Sky becomes clear, yet then in the Valleys and the sides of the Mountains, there riseth a thick fog, which covers the Land. The Tornadoes continue thus for a Week or more; then they come thicker, two or three in a Day, bringing violent gusts of Wind, and terrible claps of Thunder. At last they come so fast, that the Wind remains in the quarter from whence these Tornadoes do rise, which is out of the West, and there it settles till October or November. When these Westward Winds are thus settled, the Sky is all in mourning, being covered with black Clouds, pouring down excessive Rains sometimes mixt with Thunder and Lightning, that nothing can be more dismal. The Winds raging to that degree, that the biggest Trees are torn up by the Roots, and the Rivers swell and overflow their Banks, and drown the low Land, carrying great Trees into the Sea. Thus it continues sometimes a week together, before the Sun or Stars appear. The fiercest of this Weather is in the latter end of July and in August, for then the Towns seem to stand in a great Pond, and they go from one House to another in Canoas. At this time the Water carries away all the filth and nastiness from under their Houses. Whilst this tempestuous season lasts, the Weather is Cold and Chilly. In September the Weather is more moderate, and the Winds are not so fierce, nor the Rain so violent. The Air thenceforward begins to be more clear and delightsome; but then in the Morning there are thick Fogs, continuing till 10 or 11 a Clock before the Sun shines out, especially when it has rained in the Night. In October the Easterly Winds begin to blow again, and bring fair Weather till April. Thus much concerning the natural state of Mindanao.
[1] William Dampier, one of the most noted of English navigators and freebooters, was born of an old Somersetshire family in 1652. He received an education that would fit him for some trade, but, his parents dying while he was young, he was allowed to follow his roving bent; he was bound to the master of a ship in 1669, and made voyages to France and Newfoundland. In 1670 he sailed as a common sailor to Java, returning to England in 1672. The next year he served against the Dutch, and in 1674 went to Jamaica, where he lived for more than a year as a planter. In August of the following year (1675), he became a logwood-cutter at Campeachy, where he first met with the freebooters. The year 1678 found him in England, but in 1679 he was once more in Jamaica; and shortly after began his life as a privateer, part of his adventures being given in detail in the present text. After his return to England in 1691, not much is known of him until 1697, when he published his travels. Two years later he was deputed by the government to conduct a voyage of discovery to the South Seas, during which voyage he explored the west and northwest coasts of Australia, New Guinea, and New Britain, and named the Dampier Archipelago and Strait. He made two other circumnavigations (1703–07, and 1708–11), the last as pilot of the privateer “Duke.” His death occurred in London in 1715. Dampier also left various other writings. The seventh edition of his voyages, published in 1729, is a composite work, and contains much that is not Dampier’s own. Consequently, that edition is not used in the present instance, as we prefer to present Dampier’s own work. See Knox’s New Col. of Voyages (London, 1767), iii, pp. 28–121; and New International Encyclopædia. [↑]
[2] The title-page of this book reads as follows: “A new Voyage round the World. Describing particularly, The Isthmus of America, several Coasts and Islands in the West Indies, the Isles of Cape Verd, the Passage by Terra del Fuego, the South Sea Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico; the Isle of Guam one of the Ladrones, Mindanao, and other Philippine and East India Islands near Cambodia, China, Formosa, Luconia, Celebes, &c., New Holland, Sumatra, Nicobar, Isles; the Cape of Good Hope, and Santa Helena. Their Soil, Rivers, Harbours, Plants, Fruits, Animals, and Inhabitants. Their Customs, Religion, Government, Trade, &c. Vol. I. By Captain William Dampier. Illustrated with Particular Maps and Draughts. The fifth edition corrected. London: Printed for James Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul’s Church-yard. 1703.” [↑]
[3] Of the Jew-fish, Dampier says (i, p. 249): “The Jew-fish is a very good Fish, and I judge so called by the English, because it hath Scales and Fins, therefore a clean Fish, according to the Levitical Law, and the Jews at Jamaica buy them, and eat them very freely. It is a very large Fish, shaped much like a Cod, but a great deal bigger; one will weigh 3, or 4, or 5 hundred weight. It hath a large Head, with great Fins and Scales, as big as an Half-Crown, answerable to the bigness of his Body. It is very sweet Meat, and commonly fat. This Fish lives among Rocks; there are plenty of them in the West-Indies, about Jamaica, and the Coast of Caraccos; but chiefly in these Seas, especially more Westward.” [↑]