Book III. Travels in India. 203 



board. After that they brought great itore of Tortoife-Shells, and Oftrichcs 

 Eggs, and other Eggs as big as Goofe Eggs f which though they had no Yolk 

 raited very well. The Birds that, lay thefe Eggs are a fort of Geefe, and (b fat 

 that they are hardly to be eaten, tafting rather like Fifti than Flcfh. The wo- 

 men feeing our Cook throw away the Guts of two or three Fowl which he was 

 dreiling, took them up, and fqueezing out the Ordure, eat them as they were ; 

 being hugely pleas'd with the Aqua Vit& which the Captain gave them. Nei- 

 ther men nor women are afham'd to fhew their nakednefs, for° indeed they are 

 but a lbrt of human B rafts. 



So ibon as the Ship arrives, they bring their Beeves to the fhore, with what 

 other Commodities they have, to' barter for ftrong Water and Tobacco, Cry- 

 ftal or Agat Beads ; or any lbrt of old Iron work. If they are not fatisft'd with 

 what you oirer them, away they fly ; and then giving a whittle all their Cat- 

 tel tollow 'em ; nor fhall you ever fee 'em again. Some, when they faw 'em 

 fly, would (hoot and kill their Cattel ; but after that for fome years they would 

 never bring any more. 'Tis a very great convenience for the Veffels that touch 

 there, to take in frefh Viduals ; and the Hollanders did well to build a Fort 

 there. It is now a good handfome Town, inhabited by all forts, that live with 

 the Hollanders ; and all forts of Grain, which are brought out of Europe or Afia 

 and fow'd there, come to better perfection there then in other parts. The Coun- 

 try lies in thirty-five Degrees, and fome few Minutes over, fo that it cannot be 

 faid that either the heat or fcituation of the Climate makes thefe Cafres Co black. 

 Being defirous to know the reafbn,and why they ftunk Co terribly, I learnt it from a 

 Girl that was bred up in the Fort, who was tak'n from her Mother, -as foon as 

 ihe was bom, and was white like our women in Europe; fhe told me, that the 

 reafon why the Cafres are fo black is, becaufe they rub themfelves with a Greaie 

 or Ointment compos'd of feveral forts of Drugs ; wherewith fhould they not 

 anoint themfelves very often, and as fbon as they were born, they fhould be- 

 come Hydropfical, as the Blacks of Africa, and the Abjffi-is are ; or like the 

 people ot Saba, that never live above forty years, and are always troubl'd with 

 one Leg twice as big as the other, Thele Cafres, as brutifh as they are, have 

 yet fome knowledg of Simples, which they know to apply to feveral Difeafes; 

 which the HolUnders have le vera 1 times experiene'd. Of nineteen fick perfons 

 that we had in our Ship, fifteen were committed to the care of thefe Cafres, 

 being troubl'd with Ulcers in- their Legs, and old wounds which they had re- 

 ceived in the wars ; and in left then fifteen days they were all perfe&ly cur'd. 

 Every one of thefe had two Cafres to look after him? and according to the con- 

 dition of the wound or Ulcer, they went and fetch'd Simples, which they bruis'd 

 between two Stones, and apply'd to the lore. As for the other four, they werefb 

 far gone with the Pox, that they would not trulr. the Cafres with them, having 

 been given over at Batavia, and fo they all dy'd, between the Cape and St. He- 

 leas. 



In the year i66i } a Gentleman of Britanny being at Batavia, was fo bit by 

 the Gnats in the night, that his Leg exulcerated prefently in fuch a manner, as- 

 to puzzle all the art and skill of the Chirurgeons in that Town. When he came 

 to the Cape of £ood Hope, the Captain of the Ship fending himafhore, the Cafres 

 came about him, and after they had beheld him, they told him if he would 

 truft to them they would cure him. The Captain thereupon committed him to 

 their care,- who cur'd him and made him a found man in lefs then fifteen days. 



When a Ship comes to an Anchor in the Cape, it is the fafhion for him that 

 commands the Ship, to give leave to fome part of the Mariners and Souldiers to 

 go afhore to refrefh themfelves. The fickly have firft leave by turns, and go to 

 the Town, where they aredyetedand lodg'd forfevenor eight Sous a day, and 

 are very well us'd. 



It is the cuftom of the Hollanders, when they ftay here, to fend out parties of 

 Souldiers upon the difcovery of the up-land Country, and they that go fartheft 

 are beft rewarded. With this defignaparty of Souldiers, under the Command 

 of a Serjeant, far advane'd' in the Country; and night coming on, they 

 made a great fire, as well to keep themfelves from the Lions, as to warm them- ^* 

 reives/and fo lay down to fleep round about it. Being afleep, a Lion came and feiz'd 



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