Cap. XIV. The Caribby-lllands. 



of Beads about his Neck, yet he liv'd like a Savage, went na- 

 ked among his own people, and rerain'd nothing of what he 

 had feen and been taught atSevil, lave that he- put on an old 

 Spamfi Habit, the more to ingratiate himfelf when he came to 

 vifit theGovernour. 



They have a very ancient Tradition among them,, which 

 mews that their Anceftors had fome knowiedg of a Superior 

 Power which took a care of their Perfons, and whofe favou- 

 rable affiftance they were fenfible of , but this Light their bru- 

 tifh Children have fuffer'd to be extinguifh'd, and through their 

 ignorance never reflected on it .• They fay then, That their 

 Anceftors were poor Savages, living like Beafts in the midftof 

 the Woods, without Houfes or places where they might re- 

 treat, living on the Herbs and Fruits which the Earth produe'd 

 of it felf without manuring 5 whilft they were in this mifera- 

 ble condition, an old man among them, extreamly weary of 

 that brutifh kind of life, wept moft bitterly, and, orewhelm'd 

 with df.tpair, deplor'd his wretched condition } whereupon a 

 Man aii in white appear'd to him defending from Heaven, and 

 coming neer, he comforted the difconfolate old man, telling 

 him, That he was come to affifthim and his Countrymen, and 

 to {hew them the way to lead a more fleafant life for the fu- 

 ture } That if any one of them had fooner made his complaints 

 to Heaven, they had been fooner relieved 3 That on the Sea- 

 ftiore there was abundance of fharp Stones , wherewith they 

 might fell down Trees to make Houfes for themfelves 5 And, 

 That the Palm and Plantine Trees bore Leaves fit to cover the 

 Roofs of them, and to fecurethern againft the injuries of the 

 Weather 5 That to aflure them of the particular care he had 

 of them, and the great affection he bore their fpecies, beyond 

 thofeof other Creatures, he had brought them an excellent 

 Root;, wherewith they might make Bread , and that no Beaft 

 ftiould dare to touch it when it was once plantedi and that he 

 wen* j have them thence-forward make that their ordinary R\t 

 [tenance The Caribhians add further. That thereupon the 

 charitable unknown perfon broke a ftick he had in his hand in- 

 to three or four pieces, and that giving to the old man, he com- 

 manded him to put them into the ground, alluring him that 

 when he fhould come a while after to dig there, he ftiould find 

 a glib* Root ; and that any pfrt of what grew above-ground, 

 mold have the virtue of producing the fame Plant .* he after- 

 wards taught him how it was to beufed, telling him the Roqj: 

 was to be fcraped with a rough and fpotted Stone, which was 

 to be had at the Sea-fide j that the juice ifluing by means of 

 that fcraping, was to be laid afide as a moft dangerous poifon s 

 and then with the help of fire a kind of favor y Bread might be 

 made of it, on which they might live pleafantly enough. The 

 oid man did what had been enjoin'd him, and at the end of nine 



Moons 



