3i8 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



on another " a ragged shirt," and on a third " a jacket 

 that was scarce worth owning, which yet would have been 

 very acceptable at some places where we had been. Then 

 we brought these new servants to the wells, and put a 

 barrel on each of their shoulders for them to carry them 

 to the canoe. But all the signs we could make were to 

 no purpose, for they stood like statues, without motion, but 

 grinned like so many monkeys, staring one upon another ; for 

 these poor creatures seem not accustomed to carry burdens ; 

 and I believe that one of our shipboys of ten years old 

 would carry as much as one of them. So we were forced 

 to carry our water ourselves, and they very fairly put 

 the clothes off again, and laid them down, as if clothes 

 were only to work in. I did not perceive that they had 

 any great liking to them at first, neither did they seem 

 to admire anything that we had." 



Dampier The pirates had touched at New Holland to see " what 

 ay ' the country would afford them." It had afforded them 

 exceedingly little ; though Dampier had satisfied his 

 desire, for " more knowledge and experience " by vision 

 and study of the miserablest and most ungentlemanly 

 people in the world. The pirates made a stay of nine weeks, 

 till the 1 2th of March, 1688 ; and it seems surprising 

 that they stayed so long. Dampier had been trying 

 to persuade them to go to some English factory, but " was 

 threatened to be turned ashore and left here for it." How- 

 ever, at the Nicobar Islands, he and two others managed 

 to make their slip away. They bought for an axe a canoe 

 " about the burden of one of our London wherries," and, 

 in company with four Malays and " a mongrel Portuguese," 

 sailed for Achin in Sumatra. They met a storm so fero- 

 cious that " our little ark was in danger to be swallowed 

 by every wave ; and, what was worst of all, none of us 

 thought ourselves prepared for another world " ; and 

 Dampier describes his reflections in a passage that might 

 have been written by Robinson Crusoe. On the twentieth 

 day, however, they came to shore, in desperate condition. 

 A walking f o recover his health he took a trip to Tonquin. Here, 

 Tonquin. having two dollars in pocket, he determined to have 



