% 4 6 The VOYAGES of Book I 
ending ill OUober ; but the We flier ly Monfoon is called 
the bad Monfoon, being rainy and bluftering Weather, with 
much Thunder and Lightning, efpeciaily in December , 
January , and February. This bad Monfoon begins in No- 
vember^ and ends in March ; or the Beginning of April. In 
it the Land-winds are at Weft South-weft., and South-weft •, 
and the Sea-winds at North-weft, and Weft North-weft. 
The Anchor-ground, all along the North Side of Java , 
from the Illand Madura to Batavia , is fine oufy Ground, 
and clear of Rocks. The principal Places on this Side of 
the Ifland are Batavia , Bantam , Japura , Samar ang, Su- 
rabon , Faggalf the Quale ^ and Rambang ; all thefe Places 
are fettled by the Dutch : They afford Rice, with which 
they fupply all their Out- factories hereabouts, as alfo very 
good Plank for building Ships with; The chief Place for 
building is Rambang., whither the Freemen go to build their 
fmall Yeffels, as Sloops and Brigantines •, alio feveral Ships 
of five, fix, or feven hundred Tons, lade with Timber at 
Rambang , the Rhtale, Japara^ &c. and each Ship, when 
full, take th a great Raft of ' the largeft of the Timber in 
a Tow to Batavia : Some of thefe Rafts are faid to be 
thirty Feet fquare, and to draw twenty-two Feet Water : 
There are commonly fix of thefe Ships, which are thus 
laden with Timber ; and they commonly make four V oyages 
in the good Monfoon •, for in the bad they cannot do any 
thing. All this Timber is commonly landed upon a fmall 
Ifland, between four and five Leagues from Batavia , where 
the Ship-carpenters are ufually kept at Work; nay, they 
are faid to be never out of Employ ; they are about 200 in 
Number ; and the Ifland is called Unreft , or Onruft. The 
Dutch careen their Ships here •, and it is very well fortified, 
being (to ufe a Sea Phrafe) all round a Bed of Guns. 
36. We had Notice given us on September 2. that all 
of us who defined to return to England , fhould go imme- 
diately on board the Dutch Eajl India Fleet ; which accord- 
ingly we did, and failed the next Day. This Fleet con- 
fifted of twelve Sail, as well provided in every refpeCt as 
any Ships I ever faw; and we made the Voyage in as good 
Order, arriving on February 3. 1706. at the Cape of Good 
Hope. The Dutch have here a ftrong Fortrefs ; and, about 
half a Mile Diftance from thence, a very fine Town, con- 
fifting of a fmall Church, and 150 Houfes. The Land 
in the Neighbourhood is very high, and moft of the Moun- 
tains are barren, producing only a few Shrubs. The Coun- 
try within is full of Lions, Tygers, Elephants, and other 
wild Beafts, which give the People, who are fettled here, 
great Difturbance. It is for this Reafion, that the Govern- 
ment has found it neceffary to promife to any one who kills 
a Lion fifty-two Guilders, which amounts to four Pounds 
fix Shillings and Eight-pence •, and for killing a Tyger, he 
has a Reward of twenty-four Guilders, or forty Shillings : 
There was a Scotchman , while we were here, who killed four 
Lions, three Tygers, and three wild Elephants ; for which 
he had his Reward accordingly, to the aforefaid Propor- 
tion. This Country produces feveral forts of Fruits, com- 
mon, and not common, with us in Europe , as Pomgranates, 
Water-melons, Chefnuts, with fome Plantains and Bananas ; 
and great Plenty of very good Grapes, of which the Dutch 
make a very pretty pleafant Wine, called Cape Wine, in 
great Quantities, which, by Retale, is commonly fold at 
Eight-pence a Quart. It produces likewife plenty of Gar- 
den-fruit, which is very refrefhing to thofe that arrive here 
Tick of the Scurvy : Plere are alfo abundance of Sheep, 
very large, and, I think, as good Meat as ever I eat. Of 
Fowls here are feveral forts, but the moft remarkable is the 
Oftrich, which is a very large Fowl : The Bird itfelf is lit- 
tle valuable, but its Feathers are fent as Rarities to feveral 
Parts of the World ; Their Eggs are very good Meat, as 
I have experienced many times. That thefe Birds feed 
upon Iron, Stones, or any thing that chances to be near 
them, is fabulous ; but, like a great many other Fowls, 
they pick up fmall Stones, which only ferve to digeft their 
proper Food ; they are of feveral Colours, as black, white, 
GY. The moft remarkable amphibious Animal here is the 
Seal, or, as the Dutch call it, the Sea Hound : They are 
the fame as thofe before fpoken of at the Ifland Juan Fer- 
nandez ; only the Fur of thefe is not fo fine. In this Har- 
bour, on the South Side, are two high Mountains ; the 
©ne called the ST able Land , which is pretty plain and even 
at the T op, and the other called the Sugar-loaf from its 
Shape ; at the Top of this Sugar-loaf the Dutch have a 
finall Houfe, and four Guns mounted : Here they always 
keep a good Look-out ; and at the Approach of any Ship 
or Ships, hoift a Flag, and fire as many Guns as they fee 
Ships, to give notice to thofe at the Town. It is not 
eafy to guefs what the Reafons were, which induced the 
Englifo to part with their Property in this Place, which is 
of fuch mighty Confequence to the Dutch , and which 
might have been made fo advantageous to themfelves : To 
fpeak the Truth, the Dutch are very civil and complaifant 
here ; and, except their not permitting us to travel up into 
the Country, which might have produced more Knowledge 
of it, than perhaps Would have been convenient for them, 
they indulged us in every thing we could ask, and furniflied 
us with Provifions of all kinds, extremely good, and at 
very reafonable Rates. It is impoffible to leave this Place, 
without making a- few Reflections on the ConduCt of the 
EnglifO' and the Dutch , with refpecl to their Policy, in 
providing Places of Refrefhment for their Ships in their 
Paffage to the Indies. Both have found the Necefilty of 
having fuch Places, and, by an unaccountable Accident, 
have exchanged the Places of which they are poffeffed : 
The Englijh have the Ifland of St. Helena , lying in the La- 
titude of 1 6° South, arid 22 0 Longitude Weft from the 
Cape of Good Hope. This Ifland was firft difcovered by 
the Portuguefe , who put fome Goats and Swine on Shore 
there, the Breed of which ftill continues, and the Place is 
very plentifully flocked with them. The Dutch inhabited 
here firft, but afterwards thought fit to quit it ; and then 
we took Poffeffion of it, from whom the Dutch took it 
again, but were foon difpoffeffed of it, and we have enjoyed 
it peaceably ever fince. This Ifland is about nine or ten 
Leagues in Length, not quite fo much in Breadth, arid 
above 300 Leagues from the Continent of Africa : Next 
the Sea it is almoft every- where encompaffed with high 
Rocks, which hinder the Approach, there being but one 
Place for landing; and with in there are many Mountains, 
but moft of them covered with wholfomeHerts andPlants; 
and the Valleys are fo fruitful, that they produce whatfio- 
ever is brought from other Parts, and planted in great Per- 
fection. It would be certainly one of the moft delightful 
Spots upon the Globe, and afford the pleafanteft Living, 
if it was fomewhat larger, nearer fome Continent, or more 
frequented, than it is at prefent. The Air is wonder- 
fully wholforne, the frefh Water excellent, the Fruits in 
the higheft Perfection, and the Sea abounding with Fifh. 
The only Misfortune there is, flows from the want of In- 
duftry in cultivating thefe Advantages, and correcting fuch 
Inconveniences as fall within the Power of Man to remedy. 
The Dutch , when they took Poffeffion of the Cape of 
Good Hope, found it the moft barren defpicable Spot that 
was ever feen, or indeed could be well imagined; yet, per- 
ceiving the Importance of it, they refolved to fettle there, 
and improve it, ccft what it would : In this they met with 
many Difficulties ; but they were refolved not to be dif- 
couraged ; and, by perfevering, they have rendered it, in 
all refpeCts, the fineft Settlement in the World, arid have 
proved many fettled Points in Planting-policy to be abfo- 
lutely faife ; of which I ffiall inftance one, and that is, the 
making Wine, which has been over and over declared a 
thing impracticable in that Climate ; but they have now 
great Plenty both of Red and White, but efpeciaily of the 
latter, which, after two Years keeping, is very juftiy 
efteemed preferable to the fineft Canary. The Induftry of 
the Dutch , and their great Succefs in their Improvements, 
invites our Ships, as well as theirs, to the Cape of Good 
Hope ; and this is the principal Reafon why we do not 
make all thofe Advantage s of St. Helena , of which the Place 
is capable. This, at the fame time, fhews the different 
Genius of the two Nations ; for, if the Cape had been ever 
fo long in our Poffeffion, there is great Reafon to doubt, 
whether we fhould have made any fuch Improvements; 
as, on the other hand, if the Dutch could have kept St, 
Helena , after they took it from us in 1 673, it is probable 
they would have made it another fort of Place than it now 
is; and not have buffered the Inhabitants to want Breach, 
merely from their not having Power to deftroy the Rats 
that breed in the Rocks, and from thence fally out in fuch 
$ Numbers,: 
