Leaving Pulo Condore for Manila to the Coast Of China

Having filled our water, cut our wood, and got our ship in a sailing posture while the blustering hard winds lasted, we took the first opportunity of a settled gale to sail towards Manila.

On June 4, 1687, we left Pulo Condore with the wind at south-west fair weather at a brisk gale.

The pepper-junk bound to Thailand remained there, waiting for an easterly wind. But one of his men, a kind of a bastard Portuguese, came aboard our ship and was entertained for his knowledge in the several languages of these countries.

The wind continued in the south-west but 24 hours or a little more, and then came about to the north, and then to the north-east.

The sky became exceeding clear. Then the wind came at east and lasted betwixt east and south-east for eight or ten days. Yet we continued plying to windward, expecting every day a shift of wind because these winds were not according to the season of the year.

We were now afraid lest the currents might deceive us and carry us on the shoals of Pracel, which were near us a little to the north-west, but we passed on to the eastward without seeing any sign of them; yet we were kept much to the northward of our intended course.

The easterly winds still continuing, we despaired of getting to Manila. So we projected some new design – to visit the island Pratas about the latitude of 20 degrees 40 minutes north; and not far from us at this time.

It is a small low island with rocks around. It lies between Manila and Canton, the head of a province, and a town of great trade in China, that the Chinese do dread the rocks about it more than the Spaniards did formerly dread Bermuda; for many of their junks coming from Manila have been lost there, and with abundance of treasure in them; as we were informed by all the Spaniards that ever we conversed with in these parts.

They told us also that in these wrecks most of the men were drowned, and that the Chinese did never go thither to take up any of the treasure that was lost there for fear of being lost themselves.

But the danger of the place did not daunt us; for we were resolved to try our fortunes there if the winds would permit. We did beat for it 5 or 6 days. But at last were forced to leave that design also for want of winds; for the south-east winds continuing forced us on the coast of China.

ISLE OF ST. JOHN, ON THE COAST OF THE PROVINCE OF CANTON; ITS SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS, CHINA HOGS, ETC.

We landed on June 25.

This island is in latitude about 22 degrees 30 minutes north, lying on the south coast of the province of Quantung or Canton in China. It is of an indifferent height and pretty plain, and the soil fertile enough. It is partly woody, partly savannahs or pasturage for cattle; and there is some moist arable land for rice.

The skirts or outer part of the island, especially that part of it which borders on the main sea, is woody: the middle part of it is good thick grassy pasture, with some groves of trees; and that which is cultivated land is low wet land, yielding plentiful crops of rice; the only grain that I did see here.

The tame cattle which this island affords are china-hogs, goats, buffaloes, and some bullocks. The hogs of this island are all black; they have but small heads, very short necks, great bellies, commonly touching the ground, and short legs. They eat but little food yet they are most of them very fat; probably because they sleep much. The tame fowls are ducks and cocks and hens. I saw no wild fowl but a few small birds.

THE INHABITANTS; AND OF THE TARTARS FORCING THE CHINESE TO CUT OFF THEIR HAIR.

The natives of this island are Chinese.

They are subject to the crown of China, and consequently at this time to the tartars. The Chinese in general are tall, straight-bodied, raw-boned men. They are long-visaged, and their foreheads are high; but they have little eyes. Their noses are pretty large with a rising in the middle. Their mouths are of a mean size, pretty thin lips. They are of an ashy complexion; their hair is black, and their beards thin and long, for they pluck the hair out by the roots, suffering only some few very long straggling hairs to grow about their chin, in which they take great pride, often combing them and sometimes tying them up in a knot, and they have such hairs too growing down from each side of their upper lip like whiskers. The ancient Chinese were very proud of the hair of their heads, letting it grow very long and stroking it back with their hands curiously, and then winding the plaits all together round a bodkin thrust through it at the hinder part of the head; and both men and women did thus. But when the Tartars conquered them they broke them of this custom they were so fond of by main force; insomuch that they resented this imposition worse than their subjection and rebelled upon it but, being still worsted, were forced to acquiesce; and to this day they follow the fashion of their masters the tartars, and shave all their heads, only reserving one lock, which some tie up, others let it hang down a great or small length as they please. The Chinese in other countries still keep their old custom, but if any of the Chinese is found wearing long hair in China he forfeits his head; and many of them have abandoned their country to preserve their liberty of wearing their hair, as I have been told by themselves.

The Chinese have no hats, caps, or turbans; but when they walk abroad they carry a small umbrella in their hands wherewith they fence their head from the sun or the rain by holding it over their heads. If they walk but a little way they carry only a large fan made of paper, or silk, of the same fashion as those our ladies have, and many of them are brought over hither; one of these every man carried in his hand if he do but cross the street, screening his head with it if he has not an umbrella with him.

THEIR HABITS, AND THE LITTLE FEET OF THEIR WOMEN, CHINA-WARE, CHINA-ROOTS, TEA, ETC.

The common apparel of the men is a loose frock and breeches. They seldom wear stockings but they have shoes, or a sort of slippers rather. The men’s shoes are made diversely. The women have very small feet and consequently but little shoes; for from their infancy their feet are kept swathed up with bands as hard as they can possibly endure them; and from the time they can go till they have done growing they bind them up every night. This they do purposely to hinder them from growing, esteeming little feet to be a great beauty. But by this unreasonable custom they do in a manner lose the use of their feet, and instead of going they only stumble about their houses, and presently squat down on their breeches again, being as it were confined to sitting all days of their lives. They seldom stir abroad and one would be apt to think that, as some have conjectured, their keeping up their fondness for this fashion were a stratagem of the men to keep them from gadding and gossiping about and confine them at home. They are kept constantly to their work, being fine needlewomen, and making many curious embroideries, and they make their own shoes; but if any stranger be desirous to bring away any for novelty’s sake he must be a great favourite to get a pair of shoes of them, though he give twice their value. The poorer sort of women trudge about streets and to the market without shoes or stockings; and these cannot afford to have little feet, being to get their living with them.

The Chinese both men and women are very ingenious; as may appear by the many curious things that are brought from thence, especially the porcelain or China earthenware.

The Spaniards of Manila that we took on the coast of Luzon told me that this commodity is made of conch-shells, the inside of which looks like mother-of-pearl.

But the Portuguese lately mentioned, who had lived in China and spoke that and the neighbouring languages very well, said that it was made of a fine sort of clay that was dug in the province of Canton. I have often made enquiry about it but could never be well satisfied in it: but while I was on the coast of Canton I forgot to enquire about it. They make very fine lacquer-ware also, and good silks; and they are curious at painting and carving.

China affords drugs in great abundance, especially China-root. But this is not peculiar to that country alone; for there is much of this root growing at Jamaica, particularly at 16-mile walk, and in the Bay of Honduras it is very plentiful. There is a great store of sugar made in this country; and tea in abundance is brought from thence; being much used there, and in Tonquin and Cochin-china as common drinking; women sitting in the streets and selling dishes of tea hot and ready made; they call it chau and even the poorest people sip it.

But the tea at Tonquin of Cochin-china seems not so good, or of so pleasant a bitter, or of so fine a colour, or such virtue as this in China.

I have drunk of it in these countries; unless the fault be in the way of making it, for I made none there myself; and by the high red colour it looks as if they made a decoction of it or kept it stale. Yet at Japan I was told there is a great deal of pure tea, very good.

The Chinese are very great gamesters and they will never be tired with it, playing night and day till they have lost all their estates; then it is usual with them to hang themselves.

This was frequently done by the Chinese factors at Manila, as I was told by Spaniards that lived there. The Spaniards themselves are much addicted to gaming and are very expert at it; but the Chinese are too subtle for them, being in general a very cunning people.

A VILLAGE AT ST. JOHN’S ISLAND, AND OF THEIR HUSBANDRY OF THEIR RICE.

But a particular account of them and their country would fill a volume; nor doth my short experience of them qualify me to say much of them. Wherefore I confine myself chiefly to what I observed at St. John’s Island, where we lay some time and visited the shore every day to buy provision, as hogs, fowls, and buffalo.

Here was a small town standing in a wet swampy ground, with many filthy ponds amongst the houses, which were built on the ground as ours are, not on posts as at Mindanao. In these ponds were plenty of ducks; the houses were small and low and covered with thatch, and the insides were but ill furnished, and kept nastily: and I have been told by one who was there that most of the houses in the city of Canton itself are but poor and irregular.

The inhabitants of this village seem to be most husbandmen: they were at this time very busy in sowing their rice, which is their chiefest commodity. The land in which they choose to sow the rice is low and wet, and when ploughed the earth was like a mass of mud. They plough their land with a small plough, drawn by one buffalo, and one man both holds the plough and drives the beast. When the rice is ripe and gathered in they tread it out of the ear with buffaloes in a large round place made with a hard floor fit for that purpose, where they chain three or four of these beasts, one at the tail of the other, and, driving them round in a ring as in a horse-mill, they so order it that the buffaloes may tread upon it all.

A STORY OF A CHINESE PAGODA, OR IDOL-TEMPLE, AND IMAGE.

I was once at this island with seven or eight Englishmen more and, having occasion to stay some time, we killed a shote, or young porker, and roasted it for our dinners. While we were busy dressing of our pork one of the natives came and sat down by us; and when the dinner was ready we cut a good piece and gave it him, which he willingly received.

But by signs he begged more, and withal pointed into the woods; yet we did not understand his meaning nor much mind him till our hunger was pretty well assuaged; although he did still make signs and, walking a little way from us, he beckoned to us to come to him; which at last I did, and two or three more. He going before led the way in a small blind path through a thicket into a small grove of trees, in which there was an old idol-temple about ten foot square: the walls of it were about six foot high and two foot thick, made of bricks.

The floor was paved with broad bricks, and in the middle of the floor stood an old rusty iron bell on its brims. This bell was about two foot high, standing flat on the ground; the brims on which it stood were about sixteen inches diameter. From the brims it did taper away a little towards the head, much like our bells but that the brims did not turn out so much as ours do. On the head of the bell there were three iron bars as big as a man’s arm and about ten inches long from the top of the bell, where the ends joined as in a centre and seemed of one mass with the bell, as if cast together.

These bars stood all parallel to the ground, and their farther ends, which stood triangularly and opening from each other at equal distances, like the fliers of our kitchen-jacks, were made exactly in the shape of the paw of some monstrous beast, having sharp claws on it. This it seems was their god; for as soon as our zealous guide came before the bell he fell flat on his face and beckoned to us, seeming very desirous to have us do the like.

At the inner side of the temple against the walls there was an altar of white hewn stone. The table of the altar was about three foot long, sixteen inches broad, and three inches thick. It was raised about two foot from the ground and supported by three small pillars of the same white stone. On this altar there were several small earthen vessels; one of them was full of small sticks that had been burned at one end. Our guide made a great many signs for us to fetch and to leave some of our meat there, and seemed very importunate but we refused. We left him there and went aboard; I did see no other temple nor idol here.

THE CHINA-JUNKS, AND THEIR RIGGING.

While we lay at this place we saw several small China junks sailing in the lagoon between the islands and the main, one came and anchored by us. I and some more of our men went aboard to view her: she was built with a square flat head as well as stern, only the head or fore part was not so broad as the stern. On her deck she had little thatched houses like hovels, covered with palmetto-leaves and raised about three foot high, for the seamen to creep into. She had a pretty large cabin wherein there was an altar and a lamp burning. I did but just look in and saw not the idol.

The hold was divided into many small partitions, all of them made so tight that if a leak should spring up in any one of them it could go no farther, and so could do but little damage but only to the goods in the bottom of that room where the leak springs up. Each of these rooms belong to one or two merchants, or more; and every man freights his goods in his own room; and probably lodges there if he be on board himself. These junks have only two masts, a main-mast and a fore-mast. The fore-mast has a square yard and a square sail, but the main-mast has a sail narrow aloft like a sloop’s sail, and in fair weather they use a topsail which is to haul down on the deck in foul weather, yard and all; for they did not go up to furl it. The main-mast in their biggest junks seem to me as big as any third-rate man-of-war’s mast in England, and yet not pieced as ours but made of one grown tree; and in an all my travels I never saw any single-tree-masts so big in the body, and so long and yet so well tapered, as I have seen in the Chinese junks.

Some of our men went over to a pretty large town on the continent of China where we might have furnished ourselves with provision, which was a thing we were always in want of and was our chief business here; but we were afraid to lie in this place any longer for we had some signs of an approaching storm; this being the time of the year in which storms are expected on this coast; and here was no safe riding. It was now the time of the year for the south-west monsoon but the wind had been whiffing about from one part of the compass to another for two or three days, and sometimes it would be quite calm. This caused us to put to sea, that we might have sea-room at least; for such flattering weather is commonly the forerunner of a tempest.

THEY LEAVE ST. JOHN’S AND THE COAST OF CHINA. A MOST OUTRAGEOUS STORM.

Accordingly we weighed anchor and set out; yet we had very little wind all the next night. But the day ensuing, which was the 4th day of July, about four o’clock in the afternoon, the wind came to the north-east and freshened upon us, and the sky looked very black in that quarter, and the black clouds began to rise apace and moved towards us; having hung all the morning in the horizon. This made us take in our topsails and, the wind still increasing, about nine o’clock we reefed our mainsail and foresail; at ten we furled our foresail, keeping under a mainsail and mizzen. At eleven o’clock we furled our mainsail and ballasted our mizzen; at which time it began to rain, and by twelve o’clock at night it blew exceeding hard and the rain poured down as through a sieve. It thundered and lightened prodigiously, and the sea seemed all of a fire about us; for every sea that broke sparkled like lightning. The violent wind raised the sea presently to a great height, and it ran very short and began to break in on our deck. One sea struck away the rails of our head, and our sheet-anchor, which was stowed with one flook or bending of the iron over the ship’s gunwale, and lashed very well down to the side, was violently washed off, and had like to have struck a hole in our bow as it lay beating against it. Then we were forced to put right before the wind to stow our anchor again; which we did with much ado; but afterwards we durst not adventure to bring our ship to the wind again for fear of foundering, for the turning the ship either to or fro from the wind is dangerous in such violent storms. The fierceness of the weather continued till four o’clock that morning; in which time we did cut away two canoes that were towing astern.

CORPUS SANT, A LIGHT, OR METEOR APPEARING IN STORMS.

After four o’clock the thunder and the rain abated and then we saw a corpus sant at our main-top-mast head, on the very top of the truck of the spindle. This sight rejoiced our men exceedingly; for the height of the storm is commonly over when the corpus sant is seen aloft; but when they are seen lying on the deck it is generally accounted a bad sign.

A corpus sant is a certain small glittering light; when it appears as this did on the very top of the main-mast or at a yard-arm it is like a star; but when it appears on the deck it resembles a great glow-worm. The Spaniards have another name for it (though I take even this to be a Spanish or Portuguese name, and a corruption only of corpus sanctum) and I have been told that when they see them they presently go to prayers and bless themselves for the happy sight. I have heard some ignorant seamen discoursing how they have seen them creep, or, as they say, travel about in the scuppers, telling many dismal stories that happened at such times: but I did never see anyone stir out of the place where it was first fixed, except upon deck, where every sea washes it about: neither did I ever see any but when we have had hard rain as well as wind; and therefore do believe it is some jelly: but enough of this.

We continued scudding right before wind and sea from two till seven o’clock in the morning, and then the wind being much abated we set our mizzen again, and brought our ship to the wind, and lay under a mizzen till eleven. Then it fell flat calm, and it continued so for about two hours: but the sky looked very black and rueful, especially in the south-west, and the sea tossed us about like an eggshell for want of wind. About one o’clock in the afternoon the wind sprung up at south-west out of the quarter from whence we did expect it: therefore we presently brailed up our mizzen and wore our ship: but we had no sooner put our ship before the wind but it blew a storm again and rained very hard, though not so violently as the night before: but the wind was altogether as boisterous and so continued till ten or eleven o’clock at night. All which time we scudded and run before the wind very swift, though only with our bare poles, that is, without any sail abroad. Afterwards the wind died away by degrees, and before day we had but little wind and fine clear weather.

I was never in such a violent storm in all my life; so said all the company. This was near the change of the moon: it was two or three days before the change. The 6th day in the morning, having fine handsome weather, we got up our yards again and began to dry ourselves and our clothes for we were all well sopped. This storm had deadened the hearts of our men so much that, instead of going to buy more provision at the same place from whence we came before the storm, or of seeking any more for the island Prata, they thought of going somewhere to shelter before the full moon, for fear of another storm at that time: for commonly, if there is any very bad weather in the month, it is about two or three days before or after the full or change of the moon.

THE PISCADORES, OR FISHERS ISLANDS NEAR FORMOSA.

These thoughts, I say, put our men on thinking where to go, and, the charts or sea-plats being first consulted, it was concluded to go to certain islands lying in latitude 23 degrees north called Piscadores. For there was not a man aboard that was anything acquainted on these coasts; and therefore all our dependence was on the charts, which only pointed out to us where such and such places or islands were without giving us any account what harbour, roads or bays there were, or the produce, strength, or trade of them; these we were forced to seek after ourselves.

The Piscadores are a great many inhabited islands lying near the island Formosa, between it and China, in or near the latitude of 23 degrees north latitude, almost as high as the Tropic of Cancer. These Piscadore islands are moderately high and appear much like our Dorsetshire and Wiltshire Downs in England. They produce thick short grass and a few trees. They are pretty well watered and they feed abundance of goats and some great cattle. There are abundance of mounts and old fortifications on them: but of no use now, whatever they have been.

A TARTARIAN GARRISON, AND CHINESE TOWN ON ONE OF THESE ISLANDS.

Between the two easternmost islands there is a very good harbour which is never without junks riding in it: and on the west side of the easternmost island there is a large town and fort commanding the harbour. The houses are but low, yet well built, and the town makes a fine prospect. This is a garrison of the Tartars, wherein are also three or four hundred soldiers who live here three years and then they are moved to some other place.

On the island, on the west side of the harbour close by the sea, there is a small town of Chinese; and most of the other islands have some Chinese living on them more or less.

THEY ANCHOR IN THE HARBOUR NEAR THE TARTARS’ GARRISON, AND TREAT WITH THE GOVERNOR. OF AMOY IN THE PROVINCE OF FOKIEN, AND MACAO, A CHINESE AND PORTUGUESE TOWN NEAR CANTON IN CHINA.

Having, as I said before, concluded to go to these islands, we steered away for them, having the wind at west-south-west a small gale. The 20th day of July we had first sight of them and steered in among them; finding no place to anchor in till we came into the harbour before mentioned. We blundering in, knowing little of our way, and we admired to see so many junks going and coming, and some at an anchor, and so great a town as the neighbouring easternmost town, the Tartarian garrison; for we did not expect nor desire to have seen any people, being in care to lie concealed in these seas; however seeing we were here, we boldly ran into the harbour and presently sent ashore our canoe to the town.

Our people were met by an officer at their landing; and our quartermaster, who was the chiefest man in the boat, was conducted before the governor and examined of what nation we were, and what was our business here. He answered that we were English and were bound to Amoy or Anhay, which is a city standing on a navigable river in the province of Fokien in China, and is a place of vast trade, there being a huge multitude of ships there, and in general on all these coasts, as I have heard of several that have been there. He said also that, having received some damage by a storm, we therefore put in here to refit before we could adventure to go farther; and that we did intend to lie here till after the full moon, for fear of another storm. The governor told him that we might better refit our ship at Amoy than here, and that he heard that two English vessels were arrived there already; and that he should be very ready to assist us in anything; but we must not expect to trade there but must go to the places allowed to entertain merchant-strangers, which were Amoy and Macao. Macao is a town of great trade also, lying in an island at the very mouth of the river of Canton. It is fortified and garrisoned by a large Portuguese colony, but yet under the Chinese government, whose people inhabit one moiety of the town and lay on the Portuguese what tax they please; for they dare not disoblige the Chinese for fear of losing their trade. However the governor very kindly told our quartermaster that whatsoever we wanted, if that place could furnish us, we should have it. Yet that we must not come ashore on that island, but he would send aboard some of his men to know what we wanted, and they should also bring it off to us. That nevertheless we might go on shore on other islands to buy refreshments of the Chinese. After the discourse was ended the governor dismissed him with a small jar of flour, and three or four large cakes of very fine bread, and about a dozen pineapples and watermelons (all very good in their kind) as a present to the captain.

THE HABITS OF A TARTARIAN OFFICER AND HIS RETINUE.

The next day an eminent officer came aboard with a great many attendants. He wore a black silk cap of a particular make, with a plume of black and white feathers standing up almost round his head behind, and all his outside clothes were black silk: he had a loose black coat which reached to his knees, and his breeches were of the same; and underneath his coat he had two garments more, of other coloured silk. His legs were covered with small black limber boots. All his attendants were in a very handsome garb of black silk, all wearing those small black boots and caps. These caps were like the crown of a hat made of palmetto-leaves, like our straw hats; but without brims, and coming down but to their ears. These had no feathers, but had an oblong button on the top, and from between the button and the cap there fell down all round their head as low as the cap reached, a sort of coarse hair like horse-hair, dyed (as I suppose) of a light red colour.

THEIR PRESENTS, EXCELLENT BEEF. SAM SHU, A SORT OF CHINESE ARAK, AND HOC SHU, A KIND OF CHINESE MUM, AND THE JARS IT IS BOTTLED IN.

The officer brought aboard as a present from the governor a young heifer, the fattest and kindliest beef that I did ever taste in any foreign country; it was small yet full-grown; two large hogs, four goats, two baskets of fine flour, 20 great flat cakes of fine well-tasted bread, two great jars of arak (made of rice as I judged) called by the Chinese sam shu; and 55 jars of hoc shu, as they call it, and our Europeans from them. This is a strong liquor, made of wheat, as I have been told. It looks like mum and tastes much like it, and is very pleasant and hearty. Our seamen love it mightily and will lick their lips with it: for scarce a ship goes to China but the men come home fat with soaking this liquor, and bring store of jars of it home with them. It is put into small white thick jars that hold near a quart: the double jars hold about two quarts. These jars are small below and thence rise up with a pretty full belly, closing in pretty short at top with a small thick mouth. Over the mouth of the jar they put a thin chip cut round just so as to cover the mouth, over that a piece of paper, and over that they put a great lump of clay, almost as big as the bottle or jar itself, with a hollow in it, to admit the neck of the bottle, made round and about four inches long; this is to preserve the liquor. If the liquor take any vent it will be sour presently, so that when we buy any of it of the ships from China returning to Madras, or Fort St. George, where it is then sold, or of the Chinese themselves, of whom I have bought it at Achin and Bencoolen in Sumatra, if the clay be cracked, or the liquor motherly, we make them take it again. A quart jar there is worth sixpence. Besides this present from the governor there was a captain of a junk sent two jars of arak, and abundance of pineapples and watermelons. Captain Read sent ashore as a present to the governor a curious Spanish silver-hilted rapier, an English carbine, and a gold chain, and when the officer went ashore three guns were fired. In the afternoon the governor sent off the same officer again to compliment the captain for his civility, and promised to retaliate his kindness before we departed; but we had such blustering weather afterward that no boat could come aboard.

We stayed here till the 29th day and then sailed from hence with the wind at south-west and pretty fair weather. We now directed our course for some islands we had chosen to go to that lie between Formosa and Luconia. They are laid down in our plots without any name, only with a figure of 5, denoting the number of them. It was supposed by us that these islands had no inhabitants, because they had not any name by our hydrographers. Therefore we thought to lie there secure, and be pretty near the island Luconia, which we did still intend to visit.

FORMOSA AND THE 5 ISLANDS

Formosa has 5 islands which we named:

• Orange
• Monmouth
• Grafton
• Bashee
• Goat Islands

Bashee

Southwest of Formosa is a large island. Its south end is in latitude 21 degrees 20 minutes and the north end in the 25 degrees 10 minutes north latitude.

The longitude of this isle is laid down from 142 degrees 5 minutes to 143 degrees 16 minutes reckoning east from the Pike of Tenerife, so that it is but narrow; and the Tropic of Cancer crosses it.

It is a high and woody island, and was formerly well inhabited by the Chinese, and was then frequently visited by English merchants, there being a very good harbour to secure their ships.

But after the Mongols conquered China, they:

• spoiled the harbour to hinder the rebelling Chinese from fortifying themselves there
• ordered the foreign merchants to come and trade on the main island

On August 6, we arrived at the 5 islands. We anchored on the east side of the northernmost island in 15 fathom, a cable’s length from the shore.

Here, contrary to our expectation, we found many people.

There were 3 large towns all within a league of the sea; and another larger town than any of the three, on the back side of a small hill close by also, as we found afterwards.

These islands lie in latitude 20 degrees 20 minutes north latitude by my observation, for I took it there, and I find their longitude according to our charts to be 141 degrees 50 minutes. These islands having no particular names in the charts some or other of us made use of the seamen’s privilege to give them what names we please. Three of the islands were pretty large; the westernmost is the biggest.

This the Dutchmen who were among us called the Prince of Orange’s Island, in honour of his present Majesty. It is about seven or eight leagues long and about two leagues wide; and it lies almost north and south. The other two great islands are about four or five leagues to the eastward of this.

The northernmost of them, where we first anchored, I called the Duke of Grafton’s Isle as soon as we landed on it; having married my wife out of his duchess’s family, and leaving her at Arlington House at my going abroad. This isle is about 4 leagues long and one league and a half wide, stretching north and south.

The other great island our seamen called the Duke of Monmouth’s Island. This is about a league to the southward of Grafton Isle. It is about three leagues long and a league wide, lying as the other. Between Monmouth and the south end of Orange Island there are two small islands of a roundish form, lying east and west. The easternmost island of the two our men unanimously called Bashee Island, from a liquor which we drank there plentifully every day after we came to an anchor at it. The other, which is the smallest of all, we called Goat Island, from the great number of goats there; and to the northward of them all are two high rocks.

Orange Island is the biggest of them all, but is not inhabited.

It is high land, flat and even on the top with steep cliffs against the sea; for which reason we could not go ashore there as we did on all the rest.

A DIGRESSION CONCERNING THE DIFFERENT DEPTHS OF THE SEA NEAR HIGH OR LOW LANDS, SOIL, ETC., AS BEFORE.

I have observed that where the land is fenced with steep rocks and cliffs against the sea there the sea is very deep, and seldom affords anchor-ground.

and on the other side where the land falls away with a declivity into the sea (although the land be extraordinary high within) yet there are commonly good soundings, and consequently anchoring; and as the visible declivity of the land appears near, or at the edge of the water, whether pretty steep or more sloping, so we commonly find our anchor-ground to be more or less deep or steep; therefore we come nearer the shore or anchor farther off as we see convenient; for there is no coast in the world that I know or have heard of where the land is of a continual height without some small valleys or declivities which lie intermixed with the high land. They are the subsidings of valleys or low lands that make dents in the shore and creeks, small bays, and harbours, or little coves, etc., which afford good anchoring, the surface of the earth being there lodged deep under water.

Thus we find many good harbours on such coasts where the land bounds the sea with steep cliffs, by reason of the declivities or subsiding of the land between these cliffs: but where the declension from the hills or cliffs is not within land, between hill and hill, but, as on the coast of Chile and Peru, the declivity is toward the main sea, or into it, the coast being perpendicular, or very steep from the neighbouring hills, as in those countries from the Andes that run along the shore, there is a deep sea, and few or no harbours or creeks. All that coast is too steep for anchoring, and has the fewest roads fit for ships of any coast I know. The coasts of Galicia, Portugal, Norway, and Newfoundland, etc., are coasts like the Peruvian and the high islands of the archipelago; but yet not so scanty of good harbours; for where there are short ridges of land there are good bays at the extremities of those ridges, where they plunge into the sea; as on the coast of Caracas, etc. The island of Juan Fernandez and the island St. Helena, etc., are such high land with deep shore: and in general the plunging of any land under water seems to be in proportion to the rising of its continuous part above water, more or less steep; and it must be a bottom almost level, or very gently declining, that affords good anchoring, ships being soon driven from their moorings on a steep bank: therefore we never strive to anchor where we see the land high and bounding the sea with steep cliffs; and for this reason, when we came in sight of States Island near Tierra del Fuego, before we entered into the South Seas, we did not so much as think of anchoring after we saw what land it was, because of the steep cliffs which appeared against the sea: yet there might be little harbours or coves for shallops or the like to anchor in, which we did not see or search after.

As high steep cliffs bounding the sea have this ill consequence that they seldom afford anchoring; so they have this benefit that we can see them far off and sail close to them without danger: for which reason we call them bold shores; whereas low land on the contrary is seen but a little way and in many places we dare not come near it for fear of running aground before we see it. Besides there are in many places shoals thrown out by the course of great rivers that from the low land fall into the sea.

This which I have said, that there is usually good anchoring near low lands, may be illustrated by several instances. Thus on the south side of the bay of Campeachy there is mostly low land, and there also is good anchoring all along shore; and in some places to the eastward of the town of Campeachy we shall have so many fathom as we are leagues off from land that is from nine or ten leagues distance till you come within 4 leagues: and from thence to land it grows but shallower. The bay of Honduras also is low land, and continues mostly so as we passed along from thence to the coasts of Portobello and Cartagena till we came as high as Santa Marta; afterwards the land is low again till you come towards the coast of Caracas, which is a high coast and bold shore. The land about Surinam on the same coast is low and good anchoring, and that over on the coast of Guinea is such also. And such too is the Bay of Panama, where the pilot-book orders the pilot always to sound and not to come within such a depth, be it by night or day.

In the same seas, from the high land of Guatemala in Mexico to California, there is mostly low land and good anchoring. In the main of Asia, the coast of China, the Bay of Siam and Bengal, and all the coast of Coromandel, and the coast about Malacca, and against it the island Sumatra, on that side are mostly low anchoring shores. But on the west side of Sumatra the shore is high and bold; so most of the islands lying to the eastward of Sumatra, as the islands Borneo, Celebes, Gilolo, and abundance of islands of less note, lying scattering up and down those seas, are low land and have good anchoring about them, with many shoals scattered to and fro among them; but the islands lying against the East Indian Ocean, especially the west sides of them, are high land and steep, particularly the west parts, not only of Sumatra but also of Java, Timor, etc. Particulars are endless; but in general it is seldom but high shores and deep waters; and on the other side low land and shallow seas are found together.