2 .68 The V O Y 
but from America the beft Courfe would be North-eaft, 
or North-eaft and by North. In this wide Sea the Dutch 
Commodore failed upwards of 800 Leagues without dis- 
covering Land ; and, though he frequently Varied his 
Courfe, fleering now this Way, and then that, yet it was 
all to no Purpofe, till, arriving in the Height of 15 0 30^ 
South Latitude, they difcovered a Very low Hand, the 
Coafc of which was covered with a very yellow Sand. As 
they faw in the mid ft of it a kind of Fond or Lake, the 
principal Officers of the Squadron were unanimously of 
Opinion, that it was the fame Hand Schovten had difco- 
vered, and to which he had given the Name of the Hand 
of Dogs-, and, for that Reafon, they did not think fit either 
to go on fhore there, or to examine it more particularly. 
Our Author, however, is clearly of Opinion, that Schovten 
never faw this Hand, which is in the Latitude of 15 0 45' 
South, and in the Longitude of 280°. As he conceived 
this to be abfolutely a new Difcovery, he bellowed on the 
Hand the Name of Carlfhojf \ i. e. Charles' s-Court : He 
defcribes it to be a low flat Hand, about three Leagues in 
Extent, with a Lake in the Middle. After they left this 
Hand, the Wind began to come about to the South-weft ; 
which was a Sign, that they were near fome Coaft, that 
altered the Current of the Air. 
This fudden Change drove their Veffel in the Night 
amongft fome fmall Hands, where they found themfelves 
hot a little embarraffed. The African Galley then led the 
Squadron, as being the Ship that failed beft, and drew 
the leaft Water; but, notwithftanding all the Care her 
Crew could take, fhe foon found herfelf in fuch imminent 
Danger among the Rocks, that fhe began to fire Gun after 
Gun, as Signals of her Diftrefs. The Tienhoven , which 
was the fartheft from her, plied towards her with the ut- 
moft Diligence ; and fo did the Commodore, who found 
himfelf, fooner than he expected, along-fide with her, 
which alarmed his own Ship’s Company very much ; but, 
upon heaving the Lead, and finding no Bottom, they grew 
tolerably eafy, and thought of nothing but faving their 
Friends. In order to this, they immediately fent out their 
Shallop, to difcover the Situation the African Galley was in, 
which, at firfb Sight, difcovered no Hopes of difengaging 
her, fince fhe fluck faft between two Rocks ; fo that it was 
impoffible to get her off, or to do any further Service, than 
to fave the People that were in her. In this they fucceeded 
tolerably well, though many of the African Galley’s Crew 
were miferably bruifed by the Shocks the Veffel received be- 
fore fhe fettled on the Rocks. There was but one poor 
Man loft, and he was a Sailor on board the Dienhoven , who, 
being too eager in faving his Friends, dropped over-board, 
and was drowned. The Handers, roufed by the prodigious 
Noife that this Accident made, kindled a great many Fires 
iipon the Hills, and came down in Crouds to the Coafls. 
The Dutch , not knowing what their Defign might be, and 
confidering the Opportunities, which the Darknefs of the 
Night, and their own Confufion, might give to any who 
thought fit to attack them, fired upon them without Ce- 
remony, in order to have as few Dangers as poffible to 
deal with at one time. In the Morning, as foon as it was 
Light, they had a clear Profpefl of the mighty Danger all 
their Ships were in the Evening before ; for they found 
themfelves invironed on all Sides by four large Hands, 
facing towards the Sea, with a continued Chain of fleep 
Rocks, and fo clofe to each other, that they could hardly 
difcern the Chanel by which they entered : They had, 
therefore, all the Reafon in the World to be thankful to 
the Divine Providence, which had fo wonderfully preferved 
them in the midft of fo much Danger. It muft be ob- 
ferved, that the Commodore only entered this rocky Bay, 
at the Mouth of which the African Galley was fliip- 
wrecked, and where the Tienhoven remained to affift in 
faving her Crew. 
13. The Danger was not altogether over as foon as 
difcovered, fince it coft the Dutch Commodore no lefs than 
five Days to extricate himfelf out of this unfortunate Si- 
tuation ; during which time, his Ship’s Company were 
abfolutely ignorant of the Fate of the African Galley, and 
of her Crew : At laft, the Shallop of the I’einhoven , having 
failed quite round the. Hands, came to inform them, that 
5 
AGES of Book I. 
only one Man was loft \ that the Crew got fafe on fhore 5 
and that, after once firing upon them, the Inhabitants of 
the Hand had retired into the Heart of the Country as 
expeditioufly as they could. As foon as the Commodore 
was fafe, he fent his Shallop, with a Detachment of the 
Ship’s Company, to bring off the People that had been 
left on fhore. They accordingly brought the Crew of the 
African Galley on board the Commodore ; when, upon 
muftepng them, it appeared, that a Quarter-mafter, and 
four Seamen, were miffing. Upon Inquiry, it was found, 
that thefe Men made it their Choice to flay in the Hand ; 
for, having quarreled amongft themfelves, when they firft 
got on fhore, they mutinied againft their Officers, who 
had interpofed to prevent their killing one another with 
their Knives and, Captain Rojenthall having threatened 
them with Death whenever he got them on board the 
Commodore, they fled into the Country, in order to 
efcape Punifhment : The Commodore, however, was un- 
willing they fhould be loft; and therefore fent our Author, 
with a Detachment of Soldiers, to bring them away. The 
Deferters, having Sight of the Shallop, as it approached 
the Shore, fired from behind a Coppice, fo briskly, that 
they du r ft not land : Rowing, however, to an open Place, 
they got on fhore ; and, marching towards the Wood where 
the Deferters were, they called to them without firing, 
alluring them, that they had nothing to fear, that the 
Commodore had promifed them an Indemnity, and that 
they might fafely depend upon his Word. But the De- 
ferters Guilt made them deaf to all Intreaty, fo that our 
Author’s Eloquence was intirely thrown away, and he very 
wifely chofe to leave them where they were, rather than 
hazard his own, and the Lives of the People under his 
Command, in attempting to reduce defperate Men, who, 
by thus rejecting all Hope, fufficiently fhewed, that there 
was nothing they any longer feared. 
All thefe Hands are feated between 15 and 16 0 of South 
Latitude, and at the Diftance of twelve Leagues Weft 
from that of Carlfhoff, each of them being four or five 
Leagues in Compafs. That on which the African Galley 
was fhip wrecked, they called Mifchievous Hand ; the two 
next to it, the Brothers ; and the fourth Hand, the Sifter. 
All four Ifiands were covered with a Verdure inexpreffibly 
charming, and abounded with fine tall Trees, and efpeci- 
ally Cocoas. The Herbs that grew here were fo refrefh- 
lng and medicinal, that the Ship’s Crew, many of whom 
were ill of the Scurvy, were furprifingly recovered by 
them : They found there likewife a prodigious Plenty of 
Muffels, Cockles, Mother-of-pearls, and Pearl-oyfters, 
which gave Reafon to hope, that a very advantageous P.earl- 
fifhery might be fettled here. Thefe Ifiands are extremely 
low, fo that fome Parts of them muft be frequently over- 
flowed ; but the Inhabitants are well provided againft fuch 
Accidents, fince they have not only good Canoes, but 
flout Barks, with Cables and Sails. The Dutch likewife 
found upon the Shore Pieces of Ropes, that feemed to be 
made of Hemp. The Inhabitants of the Hand, upon 
which the African Galley was loft, were of an extraordi- 
nary Size, infomuch that the Dutch had never feen Men 
fo tall : One of the Seamen afferted, that he meafured the 
Print of one of their Feet in the Sand, and that he found 
it twenty Inches. All their Bodies were painted of all 
Sorts of Colours : They had fine long black Hair, for the 
moft part ; but fome of them had brown, inclined a little 
to red. They were armed with Pikes or Lances of 
eighteen or twenty Feet long. They had nothing foft or 
agreeable in their Countenances, but fairly fpoke their 
Temper in their Looks, which were fierce and cruel. They 
marched in fmall Bodies of fifty or an hundred, and made 
Signs to the Dutch , when they faw them, to come to 
them ; but io foon as they faw them advancing, they 
retired athwart the Hand, on purpofe to draw them into 
fome Ambufcade, which might give them an Opportunity 
of revenging the Lofs they fuftained by their firing upon 
them when they were fhipwrecked. As the Commodore faw 
there was no doing any good with them, and found the 
Coafls of all the Hands exceffively rocky and foul, he was 
refolved to leave them, in order to feek fome other Coun- 
try, where, with lefs Hazard, he might meet with fome 
RefrelhmentSa 
