The cacique or chief who came on board had his skin curiously streaked or painted [tatooed], full of strange devices all over his body.  Candish kept him on board, desiring him to send his servants, who paddled his canoe, to bring the other six chiefs to the ship.  They came accordingly, attended by a great train of the natives, bringing vast quantities of hogs and hens, and a full market of cocoa-nuts and potatoes; so that the English were occupied the whole day in purchasing, giving eight rials of plate for a hog, and one for a hen.  At this place, a justly-merited punishment was inflicted on a Spanish pilot, taken in the Santa Anna, who had plotted to betray them to the Spaniards, and for which he was hanged.  Candish remained here for nine days, all the time receiving ample supplies of fresh victuals, good water, and wood for fuel.  The islanders are all pagans, who are said to worship the devil, and to converse with him.  They are of a tawny complexion, and go almost naked; the men wearing a small square piece of cloth in front, woven from plantain-leaves, and another behind, which is brought up between their legs, both being fastened to a girdle round their waists.  They are all circumcised, and have also a strange custom, hardly practised any where else but in Pegu, having a nail of tin in a perforation through the glans, which nail is split at one end and rivetted; but which can be taken out as they have occasion, and put in again.  This is said to have been contrived, on the humble petition of the women, to prevent perpetrating an unnatural crime, to which they were much addicted.

On the 23d of January, Candish summoned all the caciques of this island, and an hundred more, who had paid him tribute, and then revealed to them all, when assembled, that he and his men were Englishmen, and the greatest enemies the Spaniards had in the world.  At the same time he generously restored them, in money, the value of all the tribute they had paid to him, in hogs, cocoa-nuts, potatoes, and the like.  This unexpected generosity astonished the whole assembly, who applauded his bounty, and offered to join him with all the forces of their respective districts, if he would go to war with the Spaniards.  They seemed much pleased with finding that Candish and his people were English, and thankful for the kindness with which they had been treated.  On taking leave, they rowed round the ship awhile in their canoes, as if in compliment to the English; and Candish caused a gun to be fired at their departure.

Setting sail on the 24th, Candish ran along the coast of Luzon, steering N.W. between that island and Masbate.  In the islands thereabout, the Spaniards were observed to keep a strict watch, making great fires, and discharging their pieces all night, having been much alarmed by the arrival of the English.  The island of Panama is in many places plain and level, affording many large, tall, and straight trees, fit for masts, and has several mines of very fine gold, which are possessed by the natives.  To the south of this is the island of the Negroes, which is very large, almost as big as England, and is in lat. 9 deg.  N.[57] It appeared to consist mostly of low land, and to be very fertile.