glishman who had joined a company of American
buccaneers. They arrived in May 1698 on the Western coast of
Australia, which was by this time fairly well known to the Dutch
under the name of New Holland.

New Holland is a very large tract of land. It is not yet determined
whether it is an island or a main continent; but I am certain that it
joins neither to Asia, Africa nor America. This part of it that we saw
is all low even land, with sandy banks against the sea, only the points
are rocky, and so are some of the islands in this bay.

The land is of a dry sandy soil, destitute of water, except you make
wells; yet producing divers sorts of trees, but the woods are not thick,
nor the trees very big. Most of the trees that we saw are dragon-trees
as we supposed, and these too are the largest trees of any there.

They are about the bigness of our large apple-trees, and about the same
height, and the rind is blackish and somewhat rough. The leaves are of a
dark colour; the gum distils out of the knots or cracks that are in the
bodies of the trees. We compared it with some gum dragon, or dragon's
blood, that was on board, and it was of the same colour and taste. The
other sorts of trees were not known by any of us. There was pretty long
grass growing under the trees, but it was very thin. We saw no trees
that bore fruit or berries.

We saw no sort of animal, nor any track of beast, but once, and that
seemed to be the tread of a beast as big as a mastiff dog. Here are a
few small land-birds, but none bigger than a black-bird and but few sea
fowls.

Neither is the sea very plentifully stored with fish, unless you reckon
the manatee and turtle as such. Of these creatures there is plenty, but
they are extraordinary shy, though the inhabitants cannot trouble them
much, having neither boats nor iron.

The inhabitants of this country are the miserablest people in the world.
The Hodmadods of Monomatapa, though a nasty people yet for wealth are
gentlemen to these, who have no houses and skin garments, sheep,
poultry, and fruits of the earth, ostrich eggs etc. as the Hodmadods
have; and setting aside their human shape, they differ but little from
brutes. They are tall, straight-bodied and thin, with small long limbs.
They have great heads, round foreheads and great brows. Their eyelids
are always half closed to keep the flies out of their eyes, being so
troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming t