Portuguese going among them, no arms were found in their possession except a few guns they had procured from the Moors and Hollanders, which they knew not how to use, and were even fearful of handling.  They have excellent amber[5], white sandal, tortoises, ebony, sweet woods of various kinds, and abundance of slaves, with plenty of cattle of all kinds, the flesh of their goats being as sweet as mutton.  The island likewise produces abundance of sea cows, sea-horses, monkeys, and some say tigers, with a great many snakes which are not very venomous.  It has no elephants, horses, asses, lions, bears, deer, foxes, nor hares.

[Footnote 1:  Madagascar, between the latitudes of 12 deg. 30’ and 35 deg. 45’ S. and the longitudes of 44 deg. and 53 deg.  W. from Greenwich, rather exceeds 1000 statute miles from N.N.W to S.S.E. and is about 220 miles in mean width from east to west.  This island therefore, in a fine climate, capable of growing all the tropical productions in perfection, and excellently situated for trade, extends to about 200,000 square miles, or 128 millions of acres, yet is abandoned entirely to ignorant barbarians.—­E.]

[Footnote 2:  The north end of Madagascar, called the point of St Ignatius, is 70 miles from east to west, the eastern headland being Cape Natal or de Ambro, and the western Cape St Sebastian.—­E.]

[3][Footnote 3:  3 Cape Antongil on the east coast is probably here meant, in lat. 15 deg. 45’ S. as at this place the deep bay of Antongil or Manghabei penetrates about 70 mile inland, and the opposite coast also is deeply indented by port Massali.  It is proper to mention however, that Cape St Andrew is on the west coast of Madagascar, in lat. 17 deg. 12’ S.—­E.]

[Footnote 4:  There may be numerous villages, or collections of huts, in Madagascar, and some of these may possibly be extensive and populous; but there certainly never was in that island any place that merited the name of a city.—­E.]

[Footnote 5:  More probably Ambergris thrown on their shores.—­E.]

The first place visited by de Costa on this voyage of discovery was a large bay near Masilage[6] in lat. 16 deg.  S. in which there is an island half a league in circumference containing a town of 8000 inhabitants, most of them weavers of an excellent kind of stuff made of the palm-tree.  At this place the Moors used to purchase boys who were carried to Arabia and sold for infamous uses.  The king of this place, named Samamo, received the Portuguese in a friendly manner, and granted leave to preach the gospel among his subjects.  Coasting about 40 leagues south from this place, they came to the mouth of a large river named Balue or Baeli in about 17 deg.  S. and having doubled Cape St Andrew, they saw the river and kingdom of Casame, between the latitudes of 17 deg. and 18 deg.  S. where they found little water and had much trouble[7].  Here also amity was established with the king, whose