Chap. I. Captain W illi 
Some few Land-birds they have, but none bigger than a 
Black-bird, and fcarce any Water- fowl: Neither does the 
Sea afford any Fifh, except Tortoifes and Manatees, of 
both which they have vaft Plenty. The Inhabitants are 
the moft miferable Wretches in the Univerfe, having no 
Houfes or Covering but the Heavens ; no Garments, ex- 
cept a Piece of the Bark of a Tree, tyed like a Girdle 
round the Waift ; no Sheep, Poultry, or Fruits, but feed 
upon a few Fifh, Cockles, Muffels, and Periwinkles ; 
without Religion or Government, but cohabit promif- 
cuoufly : For the reft, their Bodies are ftrait, thin, and 
ftrong-limbed, with great Heads and Eye-brows, and round 
Foreheads: Their Eye-lids are conftantly half clofed, to 
keep the Flies out, which are exceffive troublefome here : 
They have large Bottle Nofes, thick Lips, and wide 
Mouths. Both Men and W omen, old and young, want 
the two Fore-teeth of the upper Jaw •, but whether they 
draw them, I am not able to tell. They have no Beards, 
but black fhort curled Hair like the African Negroes, and 
are as black as thofe. Their Weapons are a fort of wooden 
Cutlafles ; inftead of a Lance, they have a ftrait Pole, 
fharpened and hardened at the End. Of their Language 
I can fay nothing, but that they fpeak pretty much in the 
Throat. We landed feveral times, and at laft brought them 
to fomething of a Familiarity with us, by giving them fome 
old Cloaths •, but could never prevail with them to give us 
the leaft Affiftance in carrying Water, or otherwife, they 
being very averfe to working. 
55. March 12. we failed hence, taking our Courfe 
North. The 26th, we were in the Latitude of Cocoa 
Ifland, which lies in 12 0 12'. The 28th, we fell in with 
a fmall Ifle, at io° 30': We failed from hence the fame 
Afternoon, the Wind at Weft and North-weft, which con- 
tinued with tempeftuous Weather till April 7. when we 
got Sight, of the Ifle of Sumatra , bearing North, being 
then at 7 0 South Latitude ; and, the 8th, faw the Weft 
End of that Ifle, being at 6° South Latitude. We failed 
along the Weft Side of Sumatra ; and, the 12th, came 
firft to an Ifle, fcarce a Mile in Circumference, fo low, that 
the Tide overflows it : It has a fandy Soil, and Store of 
Cocoa-nuts : Its Situation is 4 0 South, fifteen Leagues 
Weft of Sumatra. The 19th, being in 3 0 25 South La- 
titude, we faw the South- weft Point of the Ifle of Naf- 
faco , bearing North five Miles Diftance. The 25th, we 
crofted the Line, coafting to the North, on die Weft Side 
of Sumatra. May 1. we ran down by the North-weft 
End of Sumatra , diredting our Courfe to the Nicobar 
Blands ; we got Sight of them the 4th, a Clufter of Elands 
lying South of the Audeman Ifles ; but the moft Southerly 
of them is properly called the Nicobar , lying four Leagues 
North North-weft from the North-weft End of Sumatra. 
The Inhabitants trade promifcuoufly with all the European 
Nations •, their chief Commodities being Ambergrife and 
Fruits. May 5. we anchored in a fmall Bay, at the North- 
weft End of the Ifle of Nicobar , properly fo called, in 
eight Fathom Water •, its Length is twelve Leagues, the 
Breadth three or four, in 7 0 30' North Latitude. It pro- 
duces Plenty of Cocoas and Mallories, a Fruit of the Big- 
nefs of the Bread-fruit at Guam (before-mentioned) which 
the Natives boil in Water in covered Jars. The Inhabit- 
ants here are ftrait-limbed, long-vifaged, with black Eyes, 
and well-proportioned Nofes ;. their Hair is lank and black, 
their Complexion of a Copper-colour ; the Women have 
no Eye-brows % I fuppofe they pulled them out becaufe the 
Men did not like them : The Men wear only a kind of 
Shafh round their Middle, and the Women nothing but a 
Petticoat from the Waift to the Knees : Their Language 
had fome Words of Malayan and Portuguefe in it ; their 
Habitations were built upon Pofts near the Seaside, but I 
could find no fettled Government among them. Their 
Canoes were flat on one Side, with Gutlayers like thofe of 
Guam , Mr. Hall , Mr. Ambrofe , and I, being defirous to 
leave this unruly Crew, were fet afhore on this Ifle, with 
an Intent to go hence to Achin. 
56. Accordingly we left this Ifle May 5. with four Ma- 
layans and a Portuguefe , in a Nicobar Canoe, not much 
bigger than our Below-bridge London Wherries ; we rowed 
to the South four at a time, by Turns. The 7th, we 
looked out for Sumatra , fuppofing we were within twenty 
AM DlMPIER. HI 
Leagues of it; but, inftead thereof, faw Nicobpr at eight 
Leagues Diftance ; at Noon we found 6° 55' Latitude., 
The 1 8th, the Wind increafing upon us, we were forced 
to run before the Wind and Sea ; the Tempeft was fo vio- 
lent, that we expedited every Moment to have been {wal- 
lowed by the Sea-waves. The 19th, to our great Joy, 
one of our Malayan Friends cried out Pulo Way , i. e. the 
Ifle of Way, fituated near the North-weft End of Sumatra , 
which, about Noon, we difcovered to be the very Ifle of 
Sumatra. The high Land they had miftaken for the Ifle 
of Way, proved the Golden Mountain of Sumatra. The 
20th, we fleered with a Weft Wind for the Shore ; and, 
in the Afternoon, anchored near the Mouth of the River 
Pajfange Ionca (in the Ifle of Sumatra ) thirty-fix Leagues 
to the Eaft of Achim , and fix Leagues to the Weft of 
Diamond Point. As we were half dead with the Fatigues 
of this V oyage, we were carried to a fmall Fifher-town near 
the River, where v/e were kindly treated by the Inhabit- 
ants, and ftaid till June , when we left this Place ; and, 
in three Days Sail, arrived at Achin. In July following, I 
went with Captain Wdden to Tonquin , and returned to 
Achin in April 1689. where I flayed till September ; when, 
making a Ihort Voyage to Manacca , I came thither againft 
Chrifimas 1690. Soon after, I went to Fort St. George ; 
whence, after a Stay of five Months, I came back to Ben- 
couli , an Englijh Factory on the Weft Coaft of Sumatra . 
But before I give you an Account of my Return to Eng- 
land , I muft not forget one Paffage concerning the painted 
Prince, who died at Oxford ; his Name was Ieoly, and was 
purchafed by one Mr. Moody at Mindanao , together with 
his Mother : Mr. Moody and I went together to Bencouli ; 
where, at parting, he gave me half the Share in this painted 
Prince, and his Mother, and left them in my Cuftody. 
They were bom in the Ifle of Meangis , abounding in 
Gold, Cloves, and Nutmegs, as himfelf told me : He 
was curioufly painted down the Breaft, betwixt his Shoulders 
behind, but moft of all on the Thighs before, after the 
Nature of Flower-work. By what I could underftand, 
this Painting was done by pricking the Skin, and rubbing 
in it a certain Gum of a Tree, called Damurer , ufed in- 
ftead of Pitch in fome Part of the Indies. He told m'G 
that they wore golden Ear-rings, and Bracelets about their 
Arms and Legs ; that their Food was Potatoes, Fowl, 
and Fifh. As to his Captivity, he faid, that, as one Day, 
he, his Father and Mother, were going in a Canoe to one 
of the two adjacent Ifles, they were taken by fome Min- 
danayan Fifhermen, who fold them all to the Interpreter 
of Raja Laut , with whom he and his Mother lived as 
Slaves five Years, and then were fold for fixty Dollars to 
Mr. Moody. Some time afterwards, Mr. Moody prefented 
me alfo with his Share in them, but the Mother died not 
long after, and I had much ado to fave the Son’s Life. 
57. During my Stay at Bencouli , I ferved in the Quality 
of a Gunner of the Fort ; but, my Time being expired, I 
got aboard Captain Heath , in the Defence , with my painted 
Prince, in order to my Return for England. Janu- 
ary 25. we failed in Company of three Ships more; but 
had not been long at Sea, before a fatal Diftemper raged 
aboard us, which we attributed to the Badnefs of the Wa- 
ter taken in at Bencouli during the Land-floods, which is 
often impregnated with the Tindlures of poifonous Roots 
or Herbs : The beft Remedy we had, was to mix fome 
Tamarinds with the Rice we eat, which I believe pre- 
ferved the Lives of many of our Men, having fcarce fo 
many Men left as were able, but with great Difficulty, 
to bring us to the Cape of Good Hope , where we came to 
an Anchor the Beginning of April , by the Affiftance of a 
Dutch Captain and his Men. The Cape of Good Hope is 
the Southermoft Point of the Continent of Africa , in 34 0 
30' South Latitude, in a very temperate Climate. It ap- 
pears, at Sea, in divers remarkable Points or Eminencies, 
affording an agreeable Profpedt ; the moft confiderable of 
which is, a Mountain on the Weft Side of the Cape, called 
the Dable Mountain, from its Flatnefs on the Top. To 
the North of it is a large Harbour, with a low flat Ifle ' 
lying off it, by which you may enter at either Side ; the 
beft Riding is near the Continent. The Country there- 
abouts produces good, but Ihort Grafs, and Trees, but 
-not in great Plenty ; and, when cultivated, produces large 
Quantities 
