also
saw a man who fled into the wood at their approach, and a small prow or
species of vessel also made of bark, together with some fishing-tackle
and a kind of assagays made of branches of trees, from 4 to 9 feet long,
tipped at one end with a small piece of bone ground to a sharp point. The
fishing-lines seemed to be twisted out of fibrous bark, and, instead of
hooks, had pointed claws of beasts fastened to them. The land was
overgrown with tall grass, and they saw a number of fine dells or
valleys, through which flowed various small rills of fresh water; the
trees were very tall and straight, of regular growth and of different
kinds, some of which would, as they presumed, furnish excellent timber
for ships' masts, yards, etc. The soil was very rich, and on the whole
the country looked very promising. They remained there, making various
landings, and taking in firewood and water, till the 26th of April, when
they put to sea again...shaping their course E.N.E. close to the wind in
depths Of 5, 6 or 7 fathom, following the trend of the coast till they
had got into 10 deg. 30' S. Lat., where they cast anchor on April 28, in
order to explore the land also in this latitude. They found nothing worth
mentioning, however, {Page 93} except a few more cabins or huts of the
kind before described, the inmates of which took to the wood as soon as
our men appeared. They dragged the boat on the {Page 94} beach here, and
repaired the same, remaining there till the 13th of May, waiting for the
ship de Buys. On that day they resolved to continue their voyage, shaping
their course along the land as high as they could in order to keep the
same alongside; but they lost sight of the land all the same, and became
aware that the said land lay at least one degree more to southward than
the chart had led them to believe. On the 24th of May they again sighted
the land in 12 deg. 18' S. Lat.; it showed as a very low-lying coast, whose
trend they followed close inshore. In Lat. 12 deg. 26' South they cast anchor
in 10 fathom good anchoring-ground. As they were lying at anchor at about
1 or 11/2 mile's distance from the shore, they saw two of the prows above
described paddle up to the ship, each of them containing two men, who,
when they had got near the ship, by signs and cries began to signify to
our men that they wished them to come ashore. The following day, being
the 26th of May, our men went ashore at daybreak, and on landing found
several pe