Chap. I. William CoRNELispN Schovten. ^ 
the Wind in the -North, and made 58° ; but the Wind 
turning to the Weft and Weft South-weft, they paffed Cape 
Horn*. iofing all Sight of Land, and ftill meeting the Bil- 
lows working out of the Weft, which, together with the 
Bluenefs of the Water, made them quickly exped the mam 
South Sea. February 1. a Storm blowing out of the South- 
weft, they failed with their main Sails North-weft and Weft 
North-weft. The 2d, with a wefterly Wind they failed 
to the Southward, and made 57 0 58', the Variation being 
there 12 0 Northward. The 3d, they made 59 0 25', with 
a hard Weft Wind, but faw no Signs of any Land to the 
South ; and the next Day 56° 4 3 '» turning to and fro with 
very uncertain South-weft Winds, and finding ii° of 
North-eaft Variation. The 5th, by reafon of a ftrong 
wefterly Current, and a hollow Water, they could bear no 
Sail, but were forced to drive with the Wind. 
ii„ The 1 2th, they plainly difcerned the Magellanic 
Streights, lying Eaft of them ; and therefore, now being 
fecure of their happy new Difcovery, they rendered Thanks 
to good Fortune in a Cup of Wine, which went Three 
times round the Company. And now this new-found Paf- 
fage had a Name given it, which was that of Maine’s 
Streights , though that Honour (in Juftice) ought to have 
been done to William Schovten , by whofe happy Conduct 
the Streights were difcovered. And his obfervable, that 
all the Time of their Sailing through thefe Streights, and 
about the Southern new-found Land, they had a fettled Courfe 
of bad Weather, a thick and foggy Air, and ftrong Cur- 
rents, all which, put together, made their Sailing very 
tedious in thefe Streights. But the Joy of this Difcovery, 
and the Hopes of a farther Improvement of it, together 
with the auxiliary Comforts of the Bottle, helped to carry 
oft the Senfe of all that tedious Voyage, and the mortify- 
ing Dangers of it. The 27th, they made 40° South La- 
titude, having fair Weather, and held their Courfe North- 
ward. The 28th, they determined for the Bland of John 
Fernando , to give their fick and weary Company a due 
Refrelhment j and that Day they made 35 0 53'. In the 
Evening they made but fmall Sail, fearing to fall upon the 
Land, which, effectually to avoid, they failed North-eaft. 
March 1 . they faw the Blands of Fernando before them, to 
the North North-eaft, and about Noon got up to them 
under 33 0 48'. Both thefe Blands lie very high ; the 
fmalleft, to the Weftward, is a very barren and rocky 
Place, but greater to the Eaft ; though it be full of Hills, 
yet is well ihaded with Trees and fruitful. The Bland 
affords Plenty of Hogs and Goats, and all the Coaft about 
it fuch excellent Fifhing, that the Spaniards think it worth 
their while to come thither, from whence they tranfport 
vaft Quantities of Fifh to Peru. The Road lies on the 
Eaft Point of this Hand, and they fhaped their Courfe, 
not as they fhould, to the Eaftern, but to the Weftern 
Side of it, by which means they were reduced to the In- 
convenience of not being able to get near enough the 
Land to anchor. This made them difpatch their Boat to 
found the Depth, which gave them an Account of Thirty 
and Forty Fathom fandy Ground, clofe by the Land, which 
leffened ftill to Three Fathom, very proper to anchor in. 
They fpoke, too, of a very lovely Valley, full of Trees and 
Thickets, refrefhed with Streams of Water running down 
from the Hills, and Variety of Animals feeding on thofe 
pleafant Places, all which they faw in this greater Ifland. 
They brought good Store of Fifh along with them, moft 
of them Lobfters and Crabs ; and reported, that they 
faw a great many Sea-wolves. The Two next Days, 
fucceffively, they repeated their Attempt to come up and 
anchor clofe by the Land ; but were ftill fruftrated, what- 
ever -Endeavours they ufed to accomplilh it. But ftill their 
Men followed the Fifhing Trade, which they managed fo 
fuccefsfully, that they took almoft Two Ton of Filh only 
with Hooks, in the fmall time that fome of the Company 
went to fetch Water •, finding the Ifland thus inacceffible, 
they determined to purfue their Voyage. The nth, they 
palled the Tropic of Capricorn the Second time, holding 
their Courfe North-weft. Here they had the general Eaft 
and Eaft South-eaft Wind, and held their Courfe North 
North-weft to the 15th Day 3 and, when they made 18% 
then they changed their Courfe, and failed Weft. April 3. 
they made 15 0 12', and had then no Variation of the 
4 
Compafs, but a confiderable Variation of the Temper 1 of 
their Bodies from a good State of Health, by reafon of 
the Flux, which had feized the bell part of their Company* 
They faw a little low Ifland, 3 Leagues Di fiance, which 
they got up to at Noon ; here they heaved the Lead, 
but could find no Bottom, and therefore put out their Shal- 
lop; the Men that went afhore found nothing for Re- v . 
frefhment, but fome Herbs that tailed like Scurvy-gafs ; 
but gave an Account of a very filent fort of Dogs they 
had feen there, that would neither bark nor fnarl, nor make 
any Noife at all ; for this Rea fop they called it Hog Ifland i 
It lies in 1 5 0 12', and they judged 925 Leagues diftant 
from the Coaft of Peru. The Ground is fo low, that, at 
High-water, it fee ms fqr the moft part to be overflowed, 
and has nothing round about it but a fort of Ditch, 
befet with Trees, between which the fait Water breaks in 
in feveral Places. 
12. The 14th, they failed Weft and Weft by North 3 
and the fame Afternoon, they faw a large but low Ifland, 
reaching North-eaft and South-weft a confiderable Way : 
At Sun-fet, being about a League from it, an Indian 
Canoe advanced to meet them ; the Men naked, with 
Jong black Hair, and their Bodies of a reddilh Colour ; 
they made Signs to the Hutch to come afhore, and call- 
ed to them in their Language ; and though they anfwer- 
ed them in their own, the Spanijh , Moluccan , and Javan 
Tongues, yet the Indians underftood them not ; fo that 
both Sides were in the Dark as to each others Mind : 
When they got up to the Ifland, and founded, they found 
no Bottom, neither was there any Change of Water, tho* 
they were within a Musket-fhot of the Shore : Here the 
Indians and they had another unintelligible Conference ; but 
they would not be perfuaded to come on board the Ship, 
by any Signs the Hutch could make to invite them to it ; 
neither would the Hutch go afhore to them, though ftill 
they kept talking and pointing to one another, while nei- 
ther Side underftood what was fpoke by the other. Leav- 
ing thefe People, therefore, to thofe that could underftand 
them, they failed away South South- weft, to get above the 
Land ; and, having made that Night Ten Leagues in a 
South South- weft Courfe, the 15th in the Morning, they 
failed clofe along by the Shore, on which flood feveral of 
thofe naked People calling to them (as they gueffed) to 
land ; prefently after, one of their Canoes came towards 
the Ship, but would not come near it, yet ventured to the 
Shallop, where the Hutch and thefe Indians fell to their 
Conferences again. The Hutch gave them Beads, ancR 
Knives, and feveral Things that pleafed them, which Kind- 
nefs emboldened them at 1 t ft to come a little nearer the 
Ship ; but ftill they would not go aboard her, but got back 
into the Shallop ; neither had they any great Reafon to be 
fond of their Company there, for they are a Parcel of light- 
fingered Fellows, and have much the fame Degree of Con- 
ference and Honefty as the People of the Ladrones : They 
love Iron, as the Inhabitants of thofe Iflands do, and they 
love to fteal it like them. The very Nails in the Cabin- 
windows, and the Bolts upon the Doors, could not keep 
their Places for them, but they would have them off : This 
they found to be true, by one of them who had cunningly 
flipt into the Ship, and pulled out all the Window-nails, 
which, for Security’s Sake, he had ftuck into his Hair : 
Nay, they are fo very impudent, that whatever they lay 
Hands on is their own, if the Owner does not recover his 
Right by Force. When the Hutch gave them fome Wine, 
they drank the Liquor, and kept the Cup ; fo, when they 
threw out a Rope to bring them to the Ship, they would 
neither ufe the Rope, nor return it ; and their Qualities are 
not more odd than the Figure they make ; for, befides 
that they are all naked, ( except the Pudenda, which is 
covered with a fmall Mat ) their Skin is all over pictured 
with Snakes and Dragons, and fuch-like Reptiles, which 
are very fignificant Emblems of their own fubtle and 
mifehievous Nature. The Hutch , having a mind to try if 
any thing were to be done with them, or to be gotten in 
the Ifland, fent their Shallop, with Eight Musketeers, 
Six Soldiers, befides other of the Ship’s Company : 
They were no fooner landed* but Thirty of thofe People 
rulhed out of a Wood upon them, and with great Clubs 
and Slings, and long Staves, they would have feized the 
Shallop,, 
