No nation need contend for the honour of the difcovery
of this ifland; as there can be few places which afford lefs
convenience for ihipping than it does. Here is no fafe anchorage;
no wood for fuel; nor any frefh water worth
taking on board. Nature has been exceedingly fparing of
her favours to this fpot. As every thing mull be raifed by
dint of labour, it cannot be fuppofed the inhabitants plant
much more than is fufficient for themfelves; and as they
are but few in number, they cannot have much to fpare to
fupply the wants of vifitant ftrangers.’ The produce is fweet
potatoes, yams, taraor eddy root, plantains, and fugar-canes,
all pretty good, the potatoes efpeciaUy, which are the bell of
the kind I ever tailed. Gourds they have alfo; but fo very
few, that a cocoa-nut fhell was the moll valuable thing we
could-give them. They have a few tame fowls fuch as cocks
and hens, fmall but well tailed. They have alfo rats,
which, it feems, they eat; for I faw a man with fome dead
ones in his hand; and he feemed unwilling to part with
them, giving me to underlland they were for food. Land
birds there were hardly any ; and fea birds but few; thefe
were, men of war, tropic, and egg birds, nodies, tern, &c.
The coaft feemed not to abound with fifli; at leaft we could
catch none with hook and line, and it was but very little w.e
faw arpongll the natives.
Such is the produce of Ealler Illand, -or Davis’s Land,
which is Ctuated in the latitude of 2j° 5' 30" S., longitude
109° 46' 20" Well. It is about ten or twelve leagues in circuit,
hath a hilly .and Itony furface and an iron bound
fhore. The hills are of fuch an height as to be feen fifteen
or fifteen leagues; off the South end, are two rocky illots,
lying near the fhore : the North and Eaft points of the illand
rife
rife direftly from the fea to a conliderable height; between
them, on the S. E. fide, the fhore forms an open bay, in
which I believe the Dutch anchored. We anchored, as hath
been already mentioned, on the Well fide of the illand, three
miles to the North of the South point, with the fandy beach
bearing E. S. E. This is a very good road with ealterly
winds, but a dangerous one with wellerly, as the other on
the S. E. fide mull be with ealterly winds.
For this, and other bad accommodations already mentioned,
nothing but neceflity will induce any one to touch,
at this ifiLe, unlefs it can be done without going much out of
the w ay; in which cafe touching here may be advantageous,
as the people willingly and readily part with fuch refrefh-
ments as they have, and at an eafy rate. We certainly received
great benefit from the little we got; but few fhips can
come here without being in want of water, and this want
cannot be here fupplied. The little we took on board, could
not be made ufe of; it being only fait water which had
filtrated through a llony beach, into a flone well. This the
natives had made for the purpofe, a little to the fouthward
of the fandy beach fo often mentioned; and the water ebbed
and flowed into it with the tide.
The inhabitants of this ifland do not feem to exceed fix or
feven hundred fouls, and above two-thirds of thofe we faw
were males. They either have but few females among
them, or elfe many were rellrained from making their appearance,
during our flay; for though we faw nothing to
induce us to believe the men were of a jealous difpofition, or
the women afraid to appear in public, fomething of this
kind was probably the cafe.
Vol. I. Pp In