A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 844 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 844 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09.

In this long conflict, only five men were lost out of our four ships, three belonging to the admiral, and two out of the James.  Besides whom, there were about twenty wounded in our fleet, all of whom afterwards recovered.  But, of 700 who sailed in the carack, there came not above 250 to Goa, as we were afterwards credibly informed.  In this fearful engagement, our ship, the Charles, discharged 375 great shot against the adversary, as reported by our gunners, besides 100 musqueteers who plied their small arms all the time.  Neither were the enemy idle, for our ship received at least 100 great shot from them, many of which dangerously took place in her hull.  Our foremast was shot through the middle, our mainmast wounded, the main stay, and many of the main shrouds, cut asunder.

After we had seen the carack set on fire, which was about midnight of the 8th, we stood off and on till morning, to see if we might find any thing in her ashes.  Finding this ineffectual, we sought about for some place where we might find succour and refreshment for our sick and wounded on shore.  The land was very high, and the sea every where too deep for anchoring, so that it was the 10th before we could find a good harbour, which was in the S.W. part of the island, where we anchored.  The James came to anchor in twenty-two fathoms, with one of her anchors, while the other was only in fourteen.  This harbour was over against a town called Mattoma.

This island seemed very pleasant, full of goodly trees, covered all over with green pasture, and abounding in beeves, goats, poultry, sugar-canes, rice, plantains, lemons, oranges, and cocoa-nuts, with many other wholesome things; of all which we procured sufficient to relieve our whole company for a small quantity of white paper, a few glass beads, and penny knives.  For instance, we bought as many oranges as would fill a hat for half a quarter of a sheet of white paper, and all other kinds of provision in the same proportion.  The islanders brought much of their fruits to us in their little canoes, which are long and narrow boats, like troughs, hollowed out of single trees; but their cattle we bought on shore.  I observed the people to be straight, well-limbed, and able-bodied men, of a very dark tawny colour.  Most of the men, and all the women, were entirely naked, except merely enough to hide their parts of shame.  Some few of the men wore long garments, after the fashion of the Arabs, whose language they spoke, and were likewise of the Mahometan religion, and so rigid, that they would not suffer us to come near their places of worship.  They have good convenient dwellings, and fair sepulchres for their dead.

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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.