Funerals. 
Manners, 
etc. 
16 Relation [1669 
When any one of them dies who has the means, they 
proceed to bewail the dead & ask him wherefore he has 
quitted them, & if he needs anything for himself, & 
address to him an infinity of other similar discourses. 
After which they kill some oxen or cows of the dead man 
in proportion to the numbers he had of them & to his 
rank, to satisfy the hunger of his mourners, who make 
good cheer at the expense of the cattle of the dead. All 
sorts of persons are welcome to go to mourn ; they give 
food to all of them. 
They decorate the dead with their most beautiful gar¬ 
ments, & make a small hut, in which they place them, 
with their arms, & bring them eatables for a long time 
after their death. 
All the Cape Verdiens are lazy, at least those who are 
on the Sea coast; they do not cultivate the earth, except¬ 
ing some millet which they plant; & only attend to the 
quantity of fish which they catch for eating; they dry 
some which they sell to obtain other provisions; when 
the Sea is rough they are oblig’d to fast, not being able to 
go to fish. 
They are very filthy in their eating, & great thieves & 
liars. Those who wish to trade in anything of the place 
which is found there, whether Gold, Ambergris, Musk, or 
other merchandise, ought to make himself well acquainted 
with these things, otherwise they are in great danger of 
being cheated by these Cape Verdiens, who cheat as much 
as they can. 
The Dutch trade in this place, & have some settlements 
& a Fortress at one league from this Bay, named The 
Island of the Dutch. 
’Tis very hot in this country, which is situated in 15 
degrees North of the Equinoctial line. 
All the countries of Cape Verd are of great extent; ’tis 
the mainland. There are many Kings who, they say, are 
