Chap. I. Captain Woodes Rogers. I $ f 
did not quite free us From ill Humours ; for, on the 25th, 
in the Afternoon, two Irijh Land-men dole into the 
Woods, thinking to get away from us, though two fuch 
Sparks ran away the 23d from the Duchefs, and in the 
Night were fo frightened with Tygers, as they thought, but 
really by Monkeys and Baboons, that they plunged into the 
Water, hollowing to the Ship, till they were fetched aboard 
again. About four next Morning, the Watch on the 
Quarter-deck fpied a Canoe, and called her to come on 
board ; but they not anfwering, and driving to get away, 
made our People fufped they had either got our Men 
that ran away, or were coming, by Agreement, to fetch 
them off the Hand which was uninhabited. We imme- 
diately fent the Pinnace and Yawl after them ; the Pinnace, 
coming up near the Canoe, fired, to day them, but to 
no Purpofe ; at lad, they wounded one of the Indians that 
rowed in the Canoe : He that owned and deered her was 
a Frier, and had a Quantity of Gold, which he got at the 
Mines, I fuppofe by his Trade of confefiing the Ignorant. 
The Frier had juft run the Canoe alhore on a little Hand, 
full of Wood, as our Boats landed ; and afterwards told 
11s he had fome Gold there. A Portuguefe , that would 
not run away with the Father, becaufe he had no Gold to 
hide, knew our People to be Englijh , and called the Fa- 
ther back. The Man that was wounded could not move, 
and was brought by our Men, with the Father and feveral 
Slaves, that rowed the large Canoe, on board our Ship, 
where our Surgeon dreffed the wounded Indian , who died 
in two Hours time. I made the Father as welcome as I 
could ; but he was very uneafy at the Lofs of his Gold, 
and the Death of his Slave ; and faid, he would feek for 
juftice in Portugal or England. The next Day, both our 
Men were taken and put in Irons *, and the laid Day of this 
Month we left this Place, of which I fhall give the Reader 
a fhort Defcription. 
12. The Hand Grande is remarkably high Land, with 
a fmall Cliff and a Tip Handing up on one Side, in the 
Middle of the higheft Land, eafy to be feen, if clear. And 
there is a fmall Hand to the Southward without it, which 
rifes in three little Hummocks : The neareft Hummock to 
the Iiland is the leaft ; as we came in-and-out we law it, and 
it appears alike on both Sides. There is alfo a fingularly 
round white Rock, that lies on the Larboard Side neareft 
to Grande , between it and the Main at the Entrance going 
in. On the Starboard Side there are feveral Hands, and 
the Main is much like Hands, till you get well in. The 
beft Way, when you open the Coves that are inhabited on 
the Starboard Side going in, is to get a Pilot to carry you 
to the .Watering-cove within Grande ; otherwifefend in a Boat 
to the frefh-water Cove, which lies round the inner wefter- 
moft Point of the Hand, and near a League in the Paffage 
is between fmall Hands, but room enough, and bold : It is 
the fecond Cove under the firft high Mount, and round 
behind the firft Point you fee when you are in between the 
two Hands. This is the Cove where we watered ; there 
are two other Coves very good, with fome Shole-banks 
between them, but no Shole-ground before we come to 
this Cove. We founded all the Paffage in, and feldom 
found lefs than ten Fathom Water, but had not Time to 
know or found the reft of the Coves. The Town bears 
North-eaft about three Leagues diftant from this Cove. 
The bland of Grande is near about nine Leagues long, high 
Land, and fo is the Main within ; All you fee near the 
Water-fide is thick, covered with Wood. The Hand 
abounds with Monkeys, and other wild Beafts ; has Plenty 
of good Timber, Fire-wood, and excellent Water, with 
Oranges and Lemons, with Guavas growing wild in the 
Woods. The Neceffaries we got from the Town were 
Rum, Sugar, and Tobacco, which they fell very dean, 
tho’ not good to fmoke, ’tis fo very ftrong. We had alfo 
Fowls and Hog», but the latter are fcarce ; Beef and Mut- 
ton are cheap, but no great Quantity to be had ; Indian 
Corn, Bananas, and Plantains, Guavas, Lemons, Oranges, 
and Pine-apples, they abound with, but have no Bread, 
except Caflado, (the fame Sort as is eaten in our lEefi In • 
dies) which they call Faranada Pan, , Bread of Wood; they 
have no kind of Salading. We had fine pleafant Weather 
moft of the Lime we were here, but hot like an Oven, the 
Sun being right over us, The Winds we did not much 
obferve, becaufe they were little and variable, but com- 
monly between the North and the Eaft. We cleared ah 
ordinary Portuguefe here, called Emanuel de Santo , and 
flipped another, whofe Name was Emanuel Gonfalves . I 
had Newboff’s Account of Brafd on board ; and, by all 
the Inquiry and Obfervation I could make, found his De- 
fcription of the Country, its Product, and Animals, to be 
juft, particularly of that Monfter called Liboya, or the 
Roebuck Serpent ; which I inquired after, thinking it in- 
credible, till the Portuguefe Governor told me, there are 
fome thirty Feet long, as big as a Barrel, and that de- 
vour a Roebuck at once, from whence they had their Name. 
I was alfo told, that one of thefe Serpents was killed near 
this Place a little before our Arrival. Tygers are very 
common here on the Continent, but not fo ravenous as thofe 
of India. The Produdt of Brafil is well known to be Red- 
wood, Sugars, Gold, Tobacco, Whale-oil, Snuff, and 
feveral forts of Drugs. The Portuguefe build their beft 
Ships here. The Country is now become very populous, 
and the People delight much in Arms, efpecially about 
the Gold Mines, where thofe of all Sorts refort, but moftly 
Negroes and Mulattoes. ’Tis but four Yfears fince they 
would be under no Government, but now they have fub- 
mitted. Some Men of Repute here told me, the Mines 
increafe very faft, and that Gold is got much eafter at thofe 
Mines, than in any other Country. The Brafilian Women 
are very fruitful, have eafy Labour, retire to the Woods, 
where they bring forth alone, and return after wafhing 
themlelves and their Child ; the Hufbands lying a-bed the 
firft twenty-four Hours, and being treated as if they had 
endured the Pains. The Fapcyars , who inhabit the inland 
Country on the Weft, are the moft barbarous of the Na- 
tives, taller and ftronger than the reft, and indeed than moft 
Europeans. They wear little Sticks through their Cheeksand 
Under-lips, are faid to be Man-eaters, and ufe poifoned 
Darts and Arrows •, they change their Habitations according 
to theSeafon, and live chiefly by HuntingandFilhing. Their 
Kings, and great Men, are diftinguifhed by the manner of 
fhaving their Crowns, and their long Nails. Their Priefts 
are Sorcerers ; make them believe, that the Devils appear 
to them in Form of Infe&s; and perform their diabolical 
Worfhip in the Night, when the Women make a difmal 
Howli; g, which is their chief Devotion : They allow Po- 
lygamy, yet punifh Adultery by Death ; and when young 
Women are marriageable, but courted by nobody, their 
Mothers carried them to their Princes, who deflower them, 
and this they reckon a great Honour. Some of thefe Peo- 
ple were much civilized by the Dutch , and very fe.viceable 
to them, but ftill kept under Subjection to their own Kings. 
We continued our Voyage, coafting very far to the South, 
where we endured great Cold, which affedted our Men ex- 
tremely, infomuch that a third Part of both Ships Com- 
panies fell fick ; and this induced us to bear away for the 
Iiland of Juan Fernandez ; which we, however, did not 
find very eafily, on account of its being laid down dif- 
ferently in all the Charts ; and Captain Dumpier was like- 
wife a good deal at a Lofs, tho’ he had been here fo often, 
and tho’ he had a Map of the Hand in his Head, that 
agreed exadtly with the Country when we came to fee it : 
Which ought to induce Sea-officers to prefer what is properly 
their Bufinefs to idle Amufements ; fince, with all this 
Knowledge, we were forced to make Main-land of Chili 
in order to find this Iiland, and did not ftrike it without 
Difficulty at laft. 
13. On February 1. 1709. we came before that Hand, 
having had a good Obfervation the Day before, and found 
our Latitude to be 34 0 10' South. In the Afternoon, we 
hoifted out otir Pinnace •, and Captain Dover , with the 
Boat’s Crew, went in her to go alhore, though We could 
not be lefs than four Leagues off. As foon as the Pinnace 
was gone, I went on board the Duchefs , who admired our 
Boat attempting going alhore at that Diftance from Land. 
It was againft my Inclination *, but, to oblige Captain Do- 
ver , I let her go : As foon as it was dark, we faw a Light 
alhore. Our Boat was then about a League from the Hand, 
and bore away for the Ships as foon as Ihe faw the Lights : 
We put our Lights aboard for the Boat, tho’ fome were of 
Opinion, the Lights we faw were our Boat’s Lights : But, 
as Night came on, it appeared too large for that : We fired 
our 
