New Holland is a vaft track of land, that neither joins to Afia, Africa, or America *. It was even low and fandy ground, the points only excepted, which are rocky, and fome ifles in this bay. This part had no fresh water, except what was dug, but divers forts of trees, and, among the reft, the dragontree, which produces the gum-dragon, or dragonblood: we saw neither fruit-trees, nor fo much as the track of any living animal, except one, which feemed to be the footstep of a beast, of the bigness of a large mastiff-dog. The inhabitants are the most miserable wretches in the universe, having no houfes or covering but the heavens; no garments, except a piece of the bark of a tree, tied like a girdle round the waist; no sheep, poultry, or fruits, but feed upon a few fish, cockles muffels, and periwinkles; without religion or government, but cohabit promifcuoufly for the rest, their bodies are ftrait, thin, and ftrong limbed, with great hands and eye-brows, and round foreheads: Their eye-lids are conftantly halfclofed, to keep the flies out, which are exceffive troublesome here: they have large bottle-noses, thick lips, and wide mouths. Both men and women, old and young, want the two fore teeth of the upperjaw; but whether they draw them, I am not able to tell. They have no beards, but black short curled hair, like the African negroes, and are as black as those. Their weapons are a fort of wooden cutlaffes; inftead of a lance, they have a ftrait pole, fharpened and hardened at the end. Of their language I can fay nothing, but that they speak pretty much in the throat. We landed feveral times, and at laft brought them to fomething of a familiarity with us, by giving them fome old cloaths; but could never prevail with them to give us the least affiftance in carrying

See Tafman's Voyage for discoveries to the fouthward; in the ad vol.

himself told me: He was curiously painted down to the breast, and betwixt his fhoulders behind, but most of all on the thighs before, after the nature of flower-work. By what I could understand, this painting was done by pricking the skin, and rubbing in it a certain gum of a tree, called Damurer, ufed inftead of pitch in fome part of the Indies. As to his captivity, he faid, that, as one day, he, his father and mother, were going in a canoe to one of the two adjacent ifles, they were taken by fome Mindanayan fishermen, who fold them all to the interpreter of Raja Laut, with whom he and his mother lived as flaves five years, and then were fold for fixty dollars to Mr. Moody: Some time afterward, Mr. Moody presented me alfo with his fhare in them, but the mother died not long after, and I had much ado to fave the fon's life.

During my stay at Bencoolen, I ferved in the quality of a gunner of the fort; but, my time being expired, I got aboard captain Heath, in the Defence, with my painted prince, in order to my return for England. January 25, we failed in company of three fhips more; but had not been long at fea, before a fatal diftemper raged aboard us, which we attributed to the badnefs of the water taken in at Bencoolen during the land-floods, which is often impregnated with the tinctures of poisonous roots or herbs: the best remedy we had, was to mix fome tamarinds with the rice we eat, which I believe preferved the lives of many of our men, having scarce fo many men left as were able, but with great difficulty, to bring us to the Cape of Good Hope, where we came to an anchor the beginning of April, by the affiftance of a Dutch captain and his men.

After a stay of fix weeks here, we failed, May 3, towards St. Helena, an ifle feated in 16° fouth latitude, where we arrived June 20. It is about nine agues long; and, though 400 leagues from the con

nt, enjoys a ferene air, (except in the rainy fea

fon)

fon) and a temperate and healthy climate; which, together with the refreshing herbs this inland produces, is the reason that our East India fhips touch here to recover their feamen from the fcurvy, which they do in a little time. This ifle, after its first dif covery by the Portuguese, was poffeffed by the Dutch; but thefe relinquishing it for the Cape of Good Hope, the English settled here till 1672, when they were beaten out of it by the Dutch, who were forced, foon after, to furrender it again to the English, under captain Monday. We have now a fort there, with a garrifon, and a good number of great guns, to defend the common landing-place, being a small bay, not above 500 paces wide: within this bay ftands a fmall English town; the inhabitants having their plantations deeper into the country, which furnish them with potatoes, plantains, bananas, hogs, bullocks, cocks, and hens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, in vaft plenty. July 2, 1691, we left this ifle, fteering our courfe for England. We took the mid-way, betwixt Africa and the American continent, ftill to the north of the line; and came to an anchor in the Downs, September 16, following. After my arrival in the Thames, being in want of money, I fold, at first, part of the property I had in the before-mentioned prince Ieoly, and by degrees all the reft. I understood afterward, that he was carried about for a fight, and fhewn for money; and that at last he died of the fmall-pox at Oxford,

THE

THE

VOYAGE of Capt. WOODES ROGERS in the DUKE, and Capt. STEPHEN COURTNEY in the DUCHESS, round the WORLD.

IT

T has been univerfally allowed by thofe who are proper judges of fuch expeditions, that there never was any voyage of this nature fo happily adjusted, fo well provided for in all refpects, or in which the accidents, that ufually happen in privateers, were so effectually guarded against as in this: which was chiefly owing to the perfonal abilities of the gentlemen at Bristol, who charged themselves, not only with the expences of this expedition, but with the care of all things relating to it. Their firft concern was the choice of proper officers, in which they were very fortunate: captain Woodes Rogers, who commanded in chief, was a bold, active, indefatigable officer, one that would not give up his opinion too readily to others, and who was not to be flattered by other peoples giving up their opinions to him. He had been a large fufferer by the French, and was naturally no great friend to that nation; but his moft fingular quality, and that which indeed recommended him to this command, was a peculiar art he had of maintaining his authority over his feamen, and his readinefs in finding out expedients in the moft difficult conjunctures. Captain Stephen Courtney was a man of birth, fortune, and of very amiable qualities: he contributed confiderably to the expence of the

voyage,

voyage, and took a fhare in it, that he might fee how it was managed, and be able either to prevent mifcarriages, or, at leaft to make a faithful report of them. Captain Thomas Dover, who was third in command, was a proprietor alfo, and went for the fame reafon. He was by profession a physician, and, toward the decline of his life, made a noise in the world, by recommending the ufe of crude mercury. He was a man of a rough temper, and could not eafily agree with people about him: but his untoward difpofition had one good effect, which was this; that it hindered his making any party to fupport him in his ill humours. As for captain Edward Cooke, who was fecond to captain Courtney, he had been twice taken by the French, once by four Dunkirk privateers, and again by two men of war of fifty guns. The pilot, in the larger fhip, was captain William Dampier, who was now to proceed for the fourth time into the fouth feas, where his name was very well known, and, from his exploits, terrible to the Spaniards; and they were alfo extremely careful in the choice of their inferior officers, and, as far as it was poffible, even of their private men.

The proprietors, in the next place, undertook to lay down rules for the conduct of the voyage; which were digefted and figned by a committee of the proprietors, and styled, very properly, The Conítitu

tion.

We have two accounts of this voyage, one by captain Rogers, the other by captain Cooke, and both in the manner of a Journal. That of captain Rogers will be principally regarded; but, where it is neceffary, explanatory circumftances and defcriptions will be borrowed from captain Cooke. To proceed therefore: all things neceffary being provided, fays Mr. Rogers, we were firft to fail for Cork, in order to make up our complement of men; our force standing thus: the Duke, burden about 300 tons, 30 guns, and 170 mea, captain Woodes Ro

gers