234 The V O Y 
which ifti'ght haVe been , of Service to them : So ftfift was 
their Honefty in this particular, that fome of my Men, 
who had been cutting Wood all Day, and were coming 
on board in the Evening, forgetting that they had left their 
Axes in the Wood ; it being obferved by one of the 
Indians , he immediately fpoke to the King •, who fent him 
into the Woods to fetch the Axes ; which he did, and de- 
livered them to my People, with an apparent Satisfaction ^ 
that they did not go away without them*, 
In a Word, they pals their Lives in the pure Simplicity 
bf the earlieft Ages of the World, before Difcord and Con- 
tention were heard of amonglt Men. They, as yet, have 
never been tainted with the Converfation of other Nations, 
Which might have perverted their Morals ; and have never 
been irritated by the Oppreffions of a Conqueror, who, by 
exercifing Cruelties over them, might have taught them to 
delight in Barbarity, as happened to the Indians of Mexico 
and Peru, who doubtlefs had their Propenfity to Inhumanity 
greatly augmented by the Spaniards , who Ihewed them an 
horrid Example, by their continual Butcheries of the Indi- 
ans. Hitherto the Californians may be faid to aft accord- 
ing to the Diftates of Nature, whilft we aft contrary to 
Reafon. One of our late Navigators has reprefented them 
as idle and lazy, and jealous of their Women; alleging, 
that he could never have a Sight of any, but fuch as were 
old. I cannot tell how that Gentleman, and his People, 
treated them ; but we found, that they are not fo by Incli- 
nation, but rather from their being under no Neceffity of 
doing any thing laborious. And, as to their Women, we 
have had the Company of fome Hundreds of young and old 
every Day, who never made any Scruple of appearing 
amongft us ; nor did the Men fhew the lead: Difcontent at 
ft : And I may venture to fay, that we engaged them fo far 
by trifling Prefents and Entertainments, that nobody, upon 
thofe Terms, need want their Alfiftance for the future, tho’, 
perhaps, fcarce any may have fo much Provifions to fpare, 
as I had at that time, to regale them. 
I mull not omit one thing, in which they would always 
have the Maftery of us ; and that was in taking Snuff, which 
they would never permit any of us to ufe, but immediately, 
upon feeing us take a Pinch out of our Boxes, they 
would run to us, and, with great Earneftnefs, twill it from 
between our Fingers, and throw it away. What could be 
the Ground of this Averfion, I cannot conceive, except that 
fome of them had buffered Death or Sicknefs by taking 
fome particular Thing up their Nofes. They like wife 
would never buffer me to look through my Profpeftive, 
imagining, that there was fomething extraordinary in that 
Piece of Wood, that I had fo often recourfe to it to look on 
the Shore ; which I did to obferve how the Work went on 
on the Beach, they not apprehending, that it was poflible 
that my Eyes could receive any Alfiftance by it. Their 
Language is guttural and harlh ; they talk a great deal ; but 
we never could fo much as underftand one Word. I had 
once fome Thoughts of bringing fome of them away with 
me, efpecially the youngeft, that they might learn our Lan- 
guage, and give us fome Information of their Country ; 
but, as we could not make them underftand us, we muft 
have feemed to them to have taken them away by Force ; 
which perhaps would have exafperated them : And as this 
would have been of ill Confequence to fuch Ships as may 
have Occafion to go thither for the future, I therefore laid 
abide all Defigns of that kind. Their Manner of living in 
their Dwellings is very mean ; for they can fcarce Ihelter 
them. And, as to their Diet, I believe it is moftly Filh, 
which they frequently eat raw : They fometimes bake it in 
the Sand. They feldom want plenty of this, becaufe the Men, 
being expert Harponiers, go out to Sea on their Bark-logs. 
On thefe they venture out, rowing with a double Paddle, 
and, with their Harpoons, (which are made of a fort of hard 
Wood) ftrike the largeft Albicores, and bring them in. 
This was furpriflng to us, who had often experienced the 
Strength of that Filh ; for, tho’ we frequently got hold of 
them with very .large Hooks, made fall to Eight-ltrang-rope, 
we were obliged to bring the Ship to, in order to get them in, 
and that by the Help of nine or ten Men ; which is as much 
as they can fometimes do : So that one would imagine, that, 
as loon as the Indians had ftruck one of thofe on his light 
Embarkation, it would run away with him, and his Bark- 
AGE S of . Book I. 
log ; but they have fome Slight in their Way of ma- 
naging them, that their Refiftance and Struggling is in vain. 
There are hardly any Birds there, except a few Pelicans. 
When they want to drink, they go up to their Middle in 
the River, and there take up the Water between their 
Hands, or ftoop down, and fuck it up. 
Thus, between Hunting, Fiffiing, Eating, and Sleeping, 
their Time is divided, which, between their Exercifes, and 
the Sparingnels of their Diet, is. prolonged to a great Ex- 
tent; and many of both SeXes live to a very old Age, as 
their grey Hairs, and extraordinary Wrinkles, teftify. 
Their Bows are about fix Feet in Length ; and their Arrows 
feem to be fomewhat too long for their Bows. Confidcring 
they have not Tools requifite to make fuch Things, it muft 
take them up a great deal of Time. Their BOw-ftrings 
are made of Deer-finews ; and their Arrows are compofed 
of an hollow Cane, Two-thirds of their Length; and the 
other, next the Point, is of an heavy kind of Wood, headed 
v/ith a Piece of Flint, and fometimes Agate, the Edges of 
which are cut in Teeth, like a Saw ; and the Point is very 
fharp. They made no manner of Shew with their Arms to 
us ; and it was rare to fee any in the Flands of the Men. 
The Women commonly go out with them in the Woods, 
in Search of Game ; which is their chief Employment. 
They have need of fome Arms to defend them againft the 
wild Beafts ; for I faw fome of the Men, who had received 
great Hurts from them, particularly one old Man, who had 
his Thigh almoft torn in Pieces by fome Tyger or Lion ; 
and his Thigh, tho’ quite healed., was frightfully fcarred. 
It is impoffible for me to fay any thing particular concern- 
ing their Government, except this, that it is not very ftrift 
or rigorous. When their King went abroad, he ufed to be 
attended by a Train of a great many Couples, Hand-im- 
Hand. In this Manner was he coming out of the Woods 
the firft Morning after our Arrival, when, perceiving one 
of my Officers cutting down a Tree, with Silver Lace on his 
Waiftcoat, he judged him to be better than ordinary, and 
immediately took an Opportunity of fhewing both his Au- 
thority, and his Civility, by ordering one of his Attendants 
to take the Ax from him, and work in his ftead. In ffiort, 
in every refpeft, they feemed to enjoy perfeft Tranquillity, 
to the Happinefs of which nothing could be added, but the 
true Knowledge of Qod, and the right Way of worffiip- 
ping him. 
As remarkable Accidents naturally ftrike the Speftator 
in fuch a manner, as to create deep Impreffions, I cannot 
conclude this Defcription of the Country and People of Ca- 
lifornia , without taking notice of a Circumftance in relation 
to their Fiffiing, which furprifed me very much ; and, as 
it is a remarkable Inftance of their Agility in the Water, 
and will convey a clearer Idea of their Manner of Fiffiing, 
than can be given any other way, I lay it before the Reader, 
to whom, I perfuade rnyfelf, it will be very agreeable : It 
happened one Day whilft I was there, that a monftrous kind 
of flat Fiffi was funning himfelf on the Surface of the Wa- 
ter, near the Shore. Some of the Indians , feeing it, went 
into the Water, to the Number of twelve, and furrounded 
him ; which, upon finding himfelf difturbed, dived ; and 
they went down after him ; and it was with much Difficulty 
that he got from them the firft time. In an Hour after- 
wards, he came again ; and fixteen or feventeen of the 
Indians fwam off, and encompaffed him, as before ; and, 
by tormenting him after their Manner, they, by their Art, 
infenfibly drove him affiore ; for all their Strength, put to- 
gether, was certainly inconfiderable to his, when in the 
Water. When his Belly touched the Ground, the Force, 
with which he ftruck the Beach with his Fins, is' not be ex- 
preffed, no more than their Agility about him, who were 
endeavouring to kill him, for fear the Surf ffiould fet him 
afloat again. They at length difpatched him by the Help 
of a Dagger, which my Lieutenant Randall lent them, who 
was Handing by. They foon cut him in Pieces, which 
were diftributed to all that came. The Fiffi, by the neareft 
Computation, was fourteen or fifteen Feet broad, but not 
fo much in Length. Notwithstanding he was of the flat 
Kind, he was very thick, and had an hideous large Mouth. 
But it is now time to return to our Voyage. 
29.. On Auguft 18. 1721, we failed from Puerto Seguro 
for Canton in China, as the Place where it was moft likely 
