© 
232, The V O Y 
them to look upon us : They then made Signs to us all to 
fit down j which done, one of them put himfelf into ftrange 
Poftures, and ran from one to the other of us, talking to 
us with great Vehemence, and feemed to be in a perfedfc 
Tranfport of Ecftafy, continually finging or fpeaking, and 
running about fo faft, till he was quite out of Breath. The 
Night coming on, they were for departing* and we gave 
them a Knife or two, an old Coat, and fome other Trifles, 
which pleafed them very well ; and they, by Signs, gave 
us repeated Invitations to go afhore with them. On the 
1 3 th, at Day-break, we found ourfelves near Puerto Se- 
guro *, fome of the Natives came out on Bark-logs to meet 
us, whilft others got upon the Tops of the Hills and Rocks 
near the Sea-fide, making Fires for us : There was an uni- 
verfal Joy fpread through them ; thofe that were near the 
Rocks to fee us, came in running up-and-down to one an- 
other •, and thofe that came out to fee us on Bark-logs, 
paddled with all their Strength, impatient to have a nearer 
View of us. Our Anchor was no fooner down, than they 
came off to us in Crouds, fome few on their Bark-logs, 
but moft of them fwimming, talking and calling out to one 
another in a confufed Manner ; our Ship was in an inftant 
full of thefe fwarthy Gentry, quite naked ; amongft the 
reft was their King, or chief Man, whom we could not 
diftinguifh by any particular Ornament, nor by any Defer- 
ence that was paid to him ; the only Enfign of Sovereignty 
which he bore about him, was a black round Stick, made 
of an hard Wood, of about two Feet and an half in Length *, 
this being obferved by fome of my People, they brought 
him to me ; upon which, he concluding that I was the 
Chief in the Ship, in a Very handfome manner delivered his 
black Sceptre to me, which I immediately returned to him. 
This Man, notwithftanding his fa vage Appearance, had a 
good Countenance, and his Behaviour had fomething noble. 
I foon found a way to regale them ; for we had a great 
Quantity of Sweetmeats : I therefore ordered what deep 
Difties 1 had to be brought upon the Deck ; the Jars were 
broached, and the Difties filled with the choiceft of Pe 
ruvian Conferves ; they were every one accommodated 
with Spoons, and, though they could not fit regularly to 
their Entertainment, becaufe of their Numbers, who had 
all an equal Welcome to the good Chear, yet, as we kept 
continually replenifhing their empty Difties, they were all 
fatisfied with as much as they cared to eat : Their Food 
they liked extremely well ; and the Spoons, which were 
moftly Silver, they returned with great Honefty, which 
they would doubtlefs have done, had they been Gold, the 
Value of thofe Metals being unknown to them. Having 
thus commenced a Friendfhip with them, I fent an Officer 
afhore to view the Watering-place ; and, to make him the 
more Welcome, I fent with him fome coarfe blue Baife, 
and fome Sugar, as a Prefent to the Women, amongft 
whom it was to be equally diftributed. The King, feeing 
our Boat ready to put off, was for waiting on her with his 
Bark-log, but I intreated him to take a Paffage in our 
Boat ; which he feemed to be mightily pleafed with. The 
Remainder of the Day was fpent in an Interview between 
us and our wild Vifitors, who behaved themfelves in ge- 
neral very quietly and peaceably. The Officer returning 
with an Account of his civil Reception, we prepared our 
Calks to fend afhore the next Morning. Indeed, from 
fome Accounts which I had read concerning thefe People, 
I apprehended no Moleftation from them in wooding and 
watering ; though, at the firft View, the Country and 
Inhabitants would diffuade me from venturing freely 
amongft them ; they even appeared fo terrible amongft 
our Negroes who had been born in Guiney , that one of 
them, who had been fent with the Officer on fhore, was 
afraid to ftir from the Boat, and all the while kept an Ax 
in his Hand to defend himfelf from any that might attack 
him ; But this Dread proceeded from the Contempt which 
the two firft that came off to us had expreffed towards our 
Negroes, in feparating them from the Whites. As foon as 
the Night approached, all the Indians fwam afhore again, 
fo that we had the Pleafure of a clear Ship to reft ourfelves 
In after the Fatigues of the Day. 
The next Morning by Day-break our Boat went afhore 
with thofe defigned to cut Wood, and fill Water*, and, 
before the Sun was up, we were again crouded with our 
former Guefts* who feemed as if they were never tired 
with gazing at us, and our Ship. But, that nothing ftiould 
be wanting in us to keep up the Amity we had already 
con t rafted, I ordered a great Boiler to be carried afhore, 
with good Store of Flour and Sugar, and a Negro Cook, 
to be continually boiling Hafty-pudding for the numerous 
Spectators on the Beach *, and it really behoved us to keep 
in their Favour, fmce, whether in the Ship, or on the 
Strand, we were wholly in their Power *, thofe on fhore 
being perpetually furrounded by Multitudes, and we in the 
Ship were from Morning till Night fo incommoded by 
them, that we could hardly move fore and aft through the 
Crouds of them that were flaring at us. They at firft 
were idle Lookers on, till their natural Compaffion for the 
few Men, whom they faw roiling of great Casks of Water 
over the heavy Sand, in the fultry Heat of the Day, in- 
duced them to help us, together with the kind Treatment 
they met with from us, and the particular Readinefs of 
their Chief to ferve us, by fhewing his People a good Ex- 
ample *, for, after Mr. Randall y my Lieutenant, took up 
the firft, he took up the fecond Log of Wood, to carry 
to the Boat, and was immediately followed by two cr three 
hundred of them, fo that they eafed my Men of a great 
Fatigue, and fhortened the Time we had Occafion to flay 
at this Place : They likewife rolled our Cask down to the 
Boat, but always expected a white Face to aftift them, 
who, if he did but touch it with his Finger, was fufficient 
Encouragement for them to perfevere in their Labour. 
We even found Means to make them, who ufed to be all 
Day on board, ufeful to us ; for when we came to heel 
the Ship, we crouded them all over on one Side, which, 
together with other Shifts, gave us a very confiderable 
Heel, while we cleaned and paid our Bottom with Pitch 
and Tallow ; and fo tradable were they, that they would 
fit very quietly on the Side they were bid to go to, till we 
ordered them to difperle themfelves, that we might bring 
the Ship upright again. Thus they repaid our Civilities 
by their Services, and every Day they feemed more and 
more fond of us. When our Boat went on fhore in the 
Morning, there was a conftant Retinue waiting for our 
People on the Beach, and particularly thofe, who, by a 
better Drefs, they gueffed to be above the common Rank ; 
thefe they always received with fuch formal Ceremonies, as 
could not be expeded in fuch a Place ; for, as foon as they 
came out of the Boat, they were immediately laid hold oil 
by two Indians , who led them between them, and were 
followed by a great many Couples, Hand-in-Hand ; thus 
they led them up to the River, and then left them to their 
own Liberty, to proceed in the Diredion and Exe- 
cution of their Bufinefs. By this time the Rumour of our 
Arrival was fpread through all the neighbouring Parts; and 
fome of different Clans, from thofe who inhabited the Land 
about this Bay, came daily to view us ; thofe who came from 
any Diftance in the Country could not fwim ; and, that 
they were different from thofe we had firft feen, appeared 
by the Manner of painting themfelves, and other little Di- 
ftindions, which were vifible amongft them ; but they all 
united amicably to aftift us, and hardly any were idle but 
the Women, who ufed to fit in Circles, on the fcorching 
Sand, to give Attendance for their Share of what was going 
forwards, which they ufed to receive without any quarrel- 
ling amongft them about the Inequality of the Diftribution, 
although fome, who had no Spoons, fared but poorly; but, 
at laft, there were few of them that had not fomething to . 
ferve them to eat their Spoon-meat, encouraged thereto by 
our conftant Supplies of it, with which we fed feveral 
Hundreds every Day. Thus, by a mutual Exchange of 
good Offices one toward another, they thought them- ■ 
lelves happy in us, and we thought ourfelves fortunate iu t 
meeting fo timely and neceffary Affiftance ; for it is pro- ■ 
bable, that my Men might have contracted a dangerous i 
Sicknefs by working fo laborioufly in the Heat of the Day, , 
after being in a manner worn out by what they had already p 
undergone. Having already completed our Bufinefs in the : 
Space of five Days, we, on the 1 8th of dugujl y prepared I 
for our Departure, and employed the Morning in making ; 
a large Distribution of Sugar amongft the Women ; and i 
to the Men we gave a great many Knives, old Axes, and 1 
old Iron, which we had taken in our Prizes $ thefe were : 
6 chet 
