Chap. I. Captain Woodes Rogers. 197 
fome Kids ; and, to divert himfelf, would, now-and-then, 
fing and dance with them, and his Cats : So that, by the 
Favour of Providence, and Vigour of his Youth, being pow 
but thirty Years old, he came, at Jaft, to conquer all the 
Inconveniencies of his Solitude, and to be very eafy. When 
his Cloaths were out, he made himfelf a Coat and a Cap of 
Goat-fkins, which he Hitched together, with little Thongs 
of the fame, that he cut with his Knife. He had no other 
Needle, but a Nail •, and, when his Knife was worn to the 
Back, he made others, as well as he could, of fome Iron 
Hoops, that were left afhore, which he beat thin, and ground 
upon Stones. Having fome Linen-cloth by him, he fewed 
him fome Shirts with a Nail, and Hitched them with the 
Worffed of his old Stockings, which he pulled out on pur- 
pofe. He had his laH Shirt on, when we found him in the 
Ifland. At his HrH coming on board us, he had fo much 
forgot his Language, for want of Ufe, that we could fcarce 
underHand him ; for he feemed to fpeak his Words by 
halves. We offered him a Dram •, but he would not touch 
it, having drank nothing but Water fince his being there ; 
and it was fome time before he could relifh our Victuals. 
He could give us an Account of no other Product of the 
Hand, than what we have mentioned, except fome black 
Plums, which are very good, but hard to come at, the 
Trees, which bear them, growing on high Mountains and 
Rocks. Pimento- trees are plenty here, and we faw fome 
of fixty Feet high, and about two Yards thick ; and Cot- 
ton-trees higher, and near four Fathom round in the Stock. 
The Climate is fo good, that the Trees and Grafs are ver- 
dant all the Year round. The Winter laHs no longer than 
June and July , and is not then fevere, there being only a 
fmall Frofi, and a little Hail •, but fometimes great Rains. 
The Heat of the Summer is equally moderate ; and there 
is not much Thunder, or tempeHuous Weather of any fort. 
He faw no venomous or favage Creature on the Hand, nor 
any other fort of Beafls, but Goats, the HrH of which had 
been put aHiore here, on purpofe for a Breed, by Juan Fer- 
nandez a Spaniard, who fettled there, with fome Families, till 
the Continent of Chili began to fubmit .to the Spaniards *, 
which, being more profitable, tempted them to quit this 
Hand, capable, however, of maintaining a good Number 
of People, and being made fo Hrong, that they could not 
be eafily diflodged from thence. February 3. we got our 
Smith’s Forge on fhore, fet our Coopers to work, and 
made a little Tent for me to have the Benefit of the Air. 
The Duchefs had alfo a Tent for their Hck Men ; fo that 
We had a fmall Town of our own here j and every-body 
employed, a few Men fupplied us all with Fifh of feveral 
forts, all very good, in fuch abundance, that, in a few 
Hours we could take as many, as would ferve 200. There 
were Sea-fowls in the Bay, as large as Geefe ; but eat fifhy. 
The Governor never failed of procuring us two or three 
Goats a Day for our Hck Men ; by which, with the Help 
of the Greens, and the wholfome Air, they recovered very 
foon of the Scurvy ; fo that Captain Dover and I both thought 
it a very agreeable Seat, the Weather being neither too 
hot, nor too cold. We fpent our Time, till the 10th, in 
refitting our Ships, taking Wood on board, and laying in 
Water, that which we brought from England and St. Vin- 
cent , being fpoiled by the Badnefs of the Calks. We like- 
wife boiled up about eighty Gallons of Sea-lions Oil, as we 
might have done feveral Tons, had we been provided with 
Veffels. We refined it for our Lamps, and to fave Candles. 
The Sailors fometimes ufe it to fry their Meat, for want of 
Butter, and find it agreeable enough. The Men, who 
worked on our Rigging, eat young Seels, which they pre- 
ferred to our Ship’s Victuals, and faid, it was as good as 
Englijh Lamb, though I fhould have been glad of fuch an 
Exchange. We made what Haffe we could to get all the 
Neceffaries on board, being willing to lofe no Time*, for 
we were informed at the Canaries , that five Hout French 
Ships were coming together to thefe Seas. 
14. The Hand of Juan Fernandez lies in the Latitude of 
33 ° 49 ; South, Longitude from St. Marys 5 0 38 , meri- 
dian Diffance from the fame 4 0 43' Weft, the Variation of 
theCompafs here 6° EaH. This Hand is high ragged Land, 
in Length about fix Leagues, and about three in Breadth. 
I know of nothing about it that may endanger a Ship, but 
what may be feen, We anchored in the great Bay, our befi 
Numb, 11. 
Bower in forty Fathom Water, and then carried the Stream- 
anchor in with the Shore, which we let go in about thirty 
Fathom Water, mooring on and off about a Mile from the 
Bottom of the Bay, where we found plenty of Fifh of fe- 
veral forts, as Silver-fifh, Snappers, Bonetoes, and a very 
large Cray-fifh. The Wind here commonly blows off the 
Shore, fometimes very hard Squalls, elfe generally calm ; 
and the Water we rode in very finooth, by reafon of the 
Winding of the Shore. The Man we found here, men- 
tioned at our coming to this Hand, told me, it had never 
blown in above four Hours all the time he was there. The 
Situation of the Hand is North-weft and South-eaff, and re- 
ceives its Name from its firfi Difcoverer John Fernandez a 
Spaniard. It is all Hills and Valleys, and, I queffion not, 
would produce moH Plants, if manured ; for the Soil, in 
moH Places, promifes well ; and there are fome T urneps, and 
other Roots, which, I fuppofe, were formerly fowed’; and 
there is great plenty of Wood and Water, as alfo of wild 
Goats, which we daily took with Dogs, or elfe fhot them. 
In every Bay, there are fuch Multitudes of great Sea-lions, 
and Seels of feveral forts, all with excellent Furs, that we 
could Icarcely walk along the Shore for them, as they lay 
about in Flocks, like Sheep, the Young-ones bleating like 
Lambs. Some of the Sea-lions are as big as our Englijh 
Oxen, and roar like Lions. They cut near a Foot in Fat, 
having fhort Flair, of a light Colour, which is Hill lighter 
in the young ones. I fuppofe they feed on Grafs and Fifh *, 
for they come afhore by the Help of their two Fore-feet, 
and draw their Hinder-part after them, and lie in great 
Numbers in the Sun. Thefe we kill chiefly to make Oil, 
which is very good ; but it is an hard Matter to kill them. 
Both the Seels and Lions are fo thick on the Shore, that 
we were forced to drive them away, before we could land, 
being fo numerous, that it is fcarce credible to thofe, who 
have not feen them ; and they make a moH prodigious 
Noife. Befides, we met with fuch plenty of Fifh, as Pol- 
loc, Cavallos, Hakes, Old-wives, and large Cray-fifh, as 
good as our LobHers, &c. that, in four Hours, two Men 
in a Boat near the Shore, in five or fix Fathom Water, 
might take enough to ferve 200 Men. There are but few 
Birds : One fort burrows in the Earth, like Rabbets, which 
the Spaniards call Pardelas , and fay, they are good to eat. 
One of them flew into the Fire at our fick Mens Tent. And 
here are alfo Humming-birds, about as big as Bees*, their 
Bill about the Bignefs of a Pin ; their Legs proportionable 
to the Body ; the Feathers mighty fmall, but of moH beau- 
tiful Colours. They are feldom taken, or feen, but in the 
Evening, when they fly about, and fometimes, when dark, 
into the Fire. I had almofi forgot the wild Cats here, 
which are of feveral Colours ; but, being of the European 
kind, no more need be faid of them. I believe there is no 
venomous Creature on the Hand. This Hand produces a 
fort of Cabbage-tree, which is in the nature of a Palm ; 
the Cabbage fmall, but very fweet. The Tree is flender 
and Hrait, with Knots about fourteen Inches above one an- 
other, and no Leaves, except at the Top. The Branches 
are about twelve Feet in Length ; and, about a Foot and 
an half from the Body of the Tree, fhoot out Leaves, which 
are four Feet long, and an Inch broad, growing fo regularly, 
that the whole Branch looks like one intire Leaf. The 
Cabbage, when cut out from the Bottom of the Branches, 
is about a Foot long, and very white ; and, at the Bottom 
of it, grow Cluflers of Berries, five or fix Pounds Weight, 
like Bunches of Grapes, as red as Cherries, bigger than our 
black Cherries, with a large Stone in the Middle, and tafie 
almofi like our Haws. The Trunk of the Tree is eighty 
or ninety Feet long, being always cut down to get the Cab- 
bage. We found here fome Guiney Pepper, and Silk Cot- 
ton-trees, with feveral other forts of Plants, whofe Names 
I am not acquainted with. Pimento is the befi Timber, 
and moH plentiful, on this Side the Hand ; but very apt 
to fplit, till a little dried. We cut the longeff and cleaneft 
to fplit for Fire- wood. The Cabbage-trees abound about 
three Miles in the Woods, and the Cabbage very good. 
MoH of them are on the Tops of the neareff Mountains. 
In the firfi Plain, we found ftore of Turnep-greens, and 
Water-creffes in the Brooks, which mightily refrefhed our 
Men, and cleanfed them from the Scurvy. The Turnips, 
Mr. Selkirk fays, are good in our Summer Months, which 
2 S IS 
