The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I. eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 541 pages of information about The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I..

The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I. eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 541 pages of information about The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I..

[Sidenote:  Their chastity.] They are very shamefast in betraying the secrets of nature, and very chaste in the maner of their liuing:  for when the man, which wee brought from thence into England the last voyage, should put off his coat or discouer his whole body for change, he would not suffer the woman to bee present, but put her forth of his Cabin.  And in all the space of two or three moneths, while the man liued in company of the woman, there was neuer any thing seene or perceiued betweene them, more then ought haue passed betweene brother and sister:  but the woman was in all things very seruiceable for the man, attending him carefully when he was sicke, and he likewise in all the meates which they did eate together, woulde carue vnto her of the sweetest, fattest, and best morsels they had.  They wondred much at all our things, and were afraid of our horses and other beasts out of measure.  They began to grow more ciuill, familiar, pleasant, and docible amongst vs in very short time.

[Sidenote:  Their boates.] They haue boates made of leather, and couered cleane ouer sauing one place in the middle to sit in, planked within with timber, and they vse to row therein with one Ore, more swiftly a great deale, then we in our boates can doe with twentie.  They haue one sort of greater boates wherein they can carrie aboue twentie persons, and haue a Mast with a saile thereon, which saile is made of thinne skinnes or bladders, sowed togither with the sinewes of fishes.

They are good Fishermen, and in their small Boates being disguised with their coates of Seales skinnes, they deceiue the fish, who take them rather for their fellow Seales, then for deceiuing men.

They are good marke-men.  With their dart or arrow they will commonly kill a Ducke, or any other foule in the head, and commonly in the eye.

When they shoote at a great fish with any of their darts, they vse to tye a bladder thereunto, whereby they may the better find them againe, and the fish not able to cary it so easily away (for that the bladder doth boy the dart) will at length be wearie, and dye therewith.

[Sidenote:  Traffique with some other nation vnknowen.] They vse to traffike and exchange their commodities with some other people, of whom they haue such things as their miserable Countrey, and ignorance of Art to make, denieth them to haue, as barres of yron, heads of yron for their darts, needles made foure square, certaine buttons of copper, which they vse to weare vpon their forehads for ornament, as our Ladies in the Court of England doe vse great pearle.

[Sidenote:  Gold.] Also they haue made signes vnto vs, that they haue seene gold, and such bright plates of mettals, which are vsed for ornaments amongst some people with whom they haue conference.

We found also in their tents a Guiny Beane of redde colour, the which doth vsually grow in the hote Countreys:  whereby it appeareth they trade with other nations which dwell farre off, or else themselues are great trauellers.

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The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I. from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.