ST. HELENA 159 



and melons and upon the said causeway is a frame erected whereon 

 hang two bells, wherewith they ring to mass, and near to it a cross 

 is set up, which is squared, framed, and made very artificially of 

 freestone, whereon is carved in cyphers what time it was built, 

 which was in the year of our Lord 1571. 



The valley is the fairest and largest low plot in all the island 

 and is exceedingly sweet and pleasant, and planted in every place 

 either with fruit or with herbs. There are fig trees which bear 

 fruit continually and very plentiful, for on every tree you may see 

 blossoms, green figs and ripe figs all at once, and it is so all the year 

 long. 



The reason is that the island standeth so near the sun. There 

 is also great store of lemon trees, orange trees, pomegranates, pome- 

 citron trees, and date trees, which bear fruit as the fig trees do, and 

 are planted carefully and very artificially with pleasant walks under 

 and between them, and the said walks are overshadowed with the 

 leaves of the trees, and in every void place is planted parsley, sorrel, 

 basil, fennel, aniseed, mustard seed, radishes and many very good 

 herbs. The fresh water brook runneth through divers places of 

 this orchard and may with very small pains be made to water any 

 tree in the valley. This fresh water stream cometh from the top 

 of the mountains and falleth from the cliff into the valley, the height 

 of a cable and hath many arms issuing out of it that refresh the 

 whole island and almost every tree in it. 



The island is altogether high mountains and steep valleys 

 except it be on the tops of some hills and down below in some of 

 the valleys, where great plenty of all those fruits before spoken of 

 do grow. There are much more growing on the tops of the moun- 

 tains than below in the valleys, but it is very toilsome and dangerous 

 travelling up unto them and down again, by reason of the height 

 and steepness of the hills. 



There are also upon this island great store of partridges which 

 are very tame, not making any great haste to fly away, though one 

 come very near them, but only run away and get up into the cliffs. 

 We killed some of them with a fowling-piece. They differ very 

 much from our partridges which are in England both in bigness and 

 also in colour, and live in coveys, twelve, sixteen and twenty to- 

 gether. You cannot go ten or twelve score paces but you shall 

 spring one or two coveys at least. 



There are likewise no less plenty of pheasants in the island 

 which are also very big and fat, surpassing those which are in our 

 country in bigness and numbers in a company ; they differ not very 

 much in colour from the partridges before spoken of. We found 

 moreover in this island plenty of guinea-cocks which we call turkeys, 

 of colour black and white with red heads ; they are much the same 

 in bigness with ours in England ; their eggs are white and as big 

 as a turkey's egg. 



There are in this island thousands of goats which the Spaniards 

 call oabutos, which are very wild. You shall see one or two hun- 

 dreds of them together, and sometimes you may see them go in a 



