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as almost all the histories of long navigation are full of, and which make the reading tiresome enough; and are perfectly unprofitable to all that read, except only to those who are to go to those places themselves.

It is enough to name the ports and places which we touched at; and what occurred to us upon our paffing from one to another. We touched first at the island of Madagascar, where, though the people are fierce and treacherous, and, in particular, very well armed with lances and bows, which they ufe with inconceivable dexterity, yet we fared very well with them awhile; they treated us very civilly; and for fome trifles which we gave them, fuch as knives, fciffars, &c. they brought us eleven good fat bullocks, middling in fize, but very good in flesh; which we took in, partly for fresh provifions for our present spending, and the reft to falt for the ship's

ufe.

We were obliged to stay here for fome time, after we had furnished ourselves with provifions; and I, that was always too curious to look into every nook of the world wherever I came, was for going on fhore as often as I could. It was on the east fide of the island that we went on fhore one evening; and the people, who, by the way, are very numerous, came thronging about us, and ftood gazing at us at a diftance; as we had traded freely with them, and had been kindly used, we thought ourselves in no danger but when we faw the people, we cut three boughs out of a tree, and stuck them up at a distance from us, which, it feems, is a mark in the country, not only of truce and friendship, but when it is accepted,

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cepted, the other fide fet up three poles, or boughs, alfo; which is a fignal that they accept the truce too; but then this is a known condition of the truce, that you are not to país beyond their three poles towards them, nor they come past your three poles or boughs towards you ; fo that you are perfectly fecure within the three poles; and all the fpace between your poles and their's, is allowed like a market, for free converfe, traffick, and commerce, When you go thi ther, you must not carry your weapons with you; and if they come into that fpace, they ftick up their javelins and launces, all at the firft poles, and come on unarmed; but if any violence is offered them, and the truce thereby broken, away they run to the poles, and lay hold of their weapons, and then the truce is at an end.

It happened one evening, when we went on fhore, that a greater number of their people came down than usual, but was all very friendly and civil. They brought with them several kinds of provifions, for which we fatisfied them with fuch toys as we had; their women alfo brought us milk and roots, and feveral things very acceptable to us, and all was quiet; and we made us a little tent, or hut, of fome boughs of trees, and lay on fhore all that night.

I know not what was the occafion, but I was not fo well fatisfied to lie on fhore as the reft; and the boat lying at an anchor about a ftone's caft from the land, with two men in her to take care of her, I made one of them come on fhore; and getting fome boughs of trees to cover us alfo in the boat, I fpread the fail on the bottom of the boat, and lay on board, under

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under the cover of the branches of the trees, all night.

About two o'clock in the morning we heard one of our men make a terrible noife on the fhore, calling out for God's fake to bring the boat in, and come and help them, for they were all like to be murdered; at the fame time I heard the firing of five mufquets, which was the number of the guns they had, and that three times over; for, it feems, the natives here were not so easily frighted with guns as the favages were in America, where I had to do with them.

All this while I knew not what was the matter; but roufing immediately from fleep with the noise, I caused the boat to be thruft in, and refolved, with three fufils we had on board, to land and affist our

men.

We got the boat foon to the fhore; but our men were in too much hafte; for, being come to the fhore, they plunged into the water, to get to the boat with all the expedition they could, being pursued by between three and four hundred men. men were but nine in all, and only five of them had fufils with them; the reft, indeed, had pistols and fwords, but they were of fmall use to them.

Our

We took up feven of our men, and with difficulty enough too, three of them being very ill wounded; and that which was ftill worse, was, that while we ftood in the boat to take our men in, we were in as much danger as they were in on fhore; for they poured their arrows in upon us fo thick, that we were fain to barricade the fide of the boat up with the benches, and two or three loose boards, which,

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to our great fatisfaction, we had, by mere accident, or providence rather, in the boat.

And yet, had it been day-light, they are, it seems, fuch exact markfmen, that if they could have seen but the leaft part of any of us, they would have been fure of us: we had, by the light of the moon, a little fight of them, as they stood pelting us from the fhore with darts and arrows; and, having got ready our fire-arms, we gave them a volley; and we could hear by the cries of fome of them, that we had wounded feveral; however they stood thus in battle array on the fhore till break of day, which we fuppofe was, that they might fee the better to take their aim at us.

In this condition we lay, and could not tell how to weigh our anchor, or fet up our fail, because we must needs ftand up in the boat, and they were as fure to hit us, as we were to hit a bird in a tree with fmall fhot; we made fignals of distress to the ship, which though fhe rode a league off, yet my nephew, the captain, hearing our firing, and by glaffes perceiving the posture we lay in, and that we fired towards the fhore, pretty well understood us; and, weighing anchor with all speed, he stood as near the shore as he durft with the fhip, and then sent another boat, with ten hands in her, to affift us; but we called to them not to come too near, telling them what condition we were in: however, they stood in nearer to us; and one of the men, taking the end of a tow-line in his hand, and keeping our boat between him and the enemy, fo that they could not perfectly fee him, fwam on board us, and made the line faft to the boat; upon which we flipt our little cable,

and leaving our anchor behind, they towed us out of the reach of the arrows; we all the while lying close behind the barricade we had made.

As foon as we were got from between the ship and the shore, that she could lay her fide to the fhore, we ran along just by them, and we poured in a broadfide among them, loaded with pieces of iron and lead, fmall bullets, and fuch ftuff, befides the great fhot, which made a terrible havock among them.

When we were got on board, and out of danger, we had time to examine into the occafion of this fray; and, indeed, our fupercargo, who had been often in those parts, put me upon it; for he said he was fure the inhabitants would not have touched us after we had made a truce, if we had not done fomething to provoke them to it: At length it came out, viz. That an old woman, who had come to fell us fome milk, had brought it within our poles, with a young woman with her, who alfo brought fome roots or herbs; and while the old woman (whether she was mother to the young woman or no, they could not tell) was felling us the milk, one of our men offered fome rudenefs to the wench that was with her; at which the old woman made a great noife. However, the feaman would not quit his prize, but carried her out of the old woman's fight, among the trees, it being almoft dark; the old woman went away without her; and, as we fuppose, made an outcry among the people fhe came from; who, upon notice, raised this great army upon us in three or four hours; and it was great odds but we had been all destroyed.

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