for the skin, which they gave me very freely, and brought me a great deal more of their provisions, which, though I did not understand, yet I accepted.  I then made signs to them for some water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning it bottom upward, to show that it was empty, and that I wanted to have it filled.  They called immediately to some of their friends, and there came two women, and brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt, as I suppose, in the sun; this they set down to me, as before, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and filled them all three.  The women were as stark naked as the men.

I was now furnished with roots and corn, such as it was, and water; and leaving my friendly Negroes, I made forward for about eleven days more, without offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run out a great length into the sea, at about the distance of four or five leagues before me; and the sea being very calm, I kept a large offing, to make this point.  At length, doubling the point, at about two leagues from the land, I saw plainly land on the other side, to seaward:  then I concluded, as it was most certain indeed, that this was the Cape de Verd, and those the islands, called, from thence, Cape de Verd Islands.  However, they were at a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had best to do; for if I should be taken with a gale of wind, I might neither reach one nor the other.

In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped into the cabin, and sat me down, Xury having the helm; when, on a sudden, the boy cried out, Master, master, a ship with a sail! and the foolish boy was frightened out of his wits, thinking it must needs be some of his master’s ships sent to pursue us, when I knew we were gotten far enough out of their reach.  I jumped out of the cabin, and immediately saw, not only the ship, but what she was, viz. that it was a Portuguese ship, and, as I thought, was bound to the coast of Guinea, for Negroes.  But, when I observed the course she steered, I was soon convinced they were bound some other way, and did not design to come any nearer to the shore:  upon which, I stretched out to sea as much as I could, resolving to speak with them, if possible.

With all the sail I could make, I found I should not be able to come in their way, but that they would be gone by before I could make any signal to them:  but after I had crowded to the utmost, and began to despair, they, it seems, saw me, by the help of their perspective glasses, and that it was some European boat, which, they supposed, must belong to some ship that was lost; so they shortened sail, to let me come up.  I was encouraged with this, and as I had my patron’s ensign on board, I made a waft of it to them, for a signal of distress, and fired a gun, both which they saw; for they told me they saw the smoke, though they did not hear the gun.  Upon these signals, they very kindly brought to, and lay by for me; and in about three hours’ time I came up with them.