: A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume 11 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation Discovery and Commerce by Sea and Land from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Kerr Ro

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Introduction, ? 1. Particulars of the Capture of the Mercury by the Spaniards, ? 2. Observations made by Betagh in the North of Peru, ? 3. Voyage from Payta to Lima, and Account of the English Prisoners at that Place, ? 4. Description of Lima, and some Account of the Government of Peru, ? 5. Some Account of the Mines of Peru and Chili, ? 6. Observations on the Trade of Chili, ? 7. Some Account of the French Interlopers in Chili, ? 8. Return of Betagh to England,

Introduction

Preface,

Introduction,

A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY CAPTAIN GEORGE SHELVOCKE, IN 1719-1722.

We fell in with the coast of California on the 11th of August, and as soon as we were discovered by the natives, they made fires on the shore as we sailed past. Towards evening, two of them came off on a bark log, and were with difficulty induced to come on board. Seeing our negroes standing promiscuously among the whites, they angrily separated them from us, and would hardly suffer them to look at us. They then made signs for us to sit down, after which one of them put himself into strange postures, talking to us with great vehemence, and seeming to be in a transport of extacy, running from one to the other of us with great vehemence, continually singing, speaking, and running, till quite out of breath. Night coming on, they were for departing, when we gave them a knife and an old coat each, with which they were much pleased, and invited us by signs to go on shore along with them. On the 13th, we were near Porto Leguro, whence some of the natives came out to meet us on bark-logs, while others made fires, as if to welcome us, on the tops of hills and rocks near the sea, all seemingly rejoiced to see us; those on shore running up and down to each other, and those on the bark-logs paddling with all their strength to meet us.

No sooner was our anchor down than they came off to us in crowds, some off bark-logs, but most of them swimming, all the while talking and calling to each other confusedly. In an instant our ship was full of these swarthy gentry, all quite naked. Among the rest was their king or chief; who was no way distinguishable from the rest by any particular ornament, or even by any deference paid to him by his people, his only ensign of sovereignty being a round black stick of hard wood, about two feet and a half long. This being observed by some of our people, they brought him to me, and concluding that I was the chief of the ship, he delivered his black sceptre to me in a handsome manner, which I immediately returned. Notwithstanding his savage appearance, this man had a good countenance, and there was something dignified in his manner and behaviour. I soon found a way to regale them, by setting before them abundance of our choicest Peruvian conserves, with which they seemed much gratified. They were accommodated with spoons, mostly silver, all of which they very honestly returned.

Having thus commenced friendship with the natives, I sent an officer ashore to view the watering-place; and, to make him the more welcome, I sent with him some coarse blue baize and some sugar, to distribute among the women. On seeing our boat ready to put off, the king was for accompanying her in his bark-log, but I persuaded him to go in the boat, with which he seemed to be much gratified. The remainder of the day was spent with our wild visitors, who behaved in general very quietly. The officer returned with an account of having been very civilly received, and we prepared our casks for being sent ashore next morning. Although, at first view, the country and inhabitants might dissuade us from venturing freely among them, I had formerly read such accounts of these people, that I was under no apprehension of being molested in wooding and watering. The Californians, however, appeared very terrible to our negroes, insomuch, that one of them, who accompanied the officer on shore, was afraid to stir from the boat, and held an axe constantly in his hand, to defend himself in case of being attacked. On the approach of night, all the Indians swam ashore, leaving us a clear ship, after the fatigues of the day.

Next morning, at day-break, our boat went ashore with the people appointed to cut wood and fill our water-casks; and before the sun was up, our ship was again filled with our former guests, who seemed never satisfied with gazing at us and every thing about the ship. That nothing might be wanting to keep up our amity, I sent a large boiler on shore, with a good store of flour and sugar, and a negro cook, who continually boiled hasty-pudding, to serve the numerous guests on the beach. At first the natives remained idle spectators of our labours; but at length, taking compassion to see our few men labouring hard in rolling great casks of water over the heavy sand in the sultry heat of the day, they put forth their hands to help them, encouraged by the particular readiness of their chief to serve us; for, after seeing Mr Randal take up a log of wood to carry to the boat, he took up another, and was immediately followed by two or three hundred of the natives, so that they eased our men mightily. They also rolled our casks down to the beach, but always expected a white man to assist them, though quite satisfied if he only touched the cask with his finger. This eased our men of a great deal of fatigue, and shortened the time of our stay at this place. We even found means to make those who used to stay all day on board, of some use to us; for, when we came to heel the ship, we crowded them, all over on one side, which, with other shifts, gave her a deep heel, while we cleaned and paid her bottom with pitch and tallow.

Having made some stay in California, some account of that country and its inhabitants may be expected; though I believe a complete discovery of its extent and boundaries would produce few real advantages, except satisfying the curious. That part of California which I saw, being the southern extremity of its western coast, appears mountainous, barren, and sandy, much like some parts of Peru: yet the soil about Porto Leguro, and most likely in the other vallies, is a rich black mould, and when turned up fresh to the sun, appears as if intermingled with gold-dust. We endeavoured to wash and purify some of this, and the more this was done, the more it appeared like gold. In order to be farther satisfied, I brought away some of this earth, but it was afterwards lost in our confusions in China. However this may be, California probably abounds in metals of all sorts, though the natives had no ornaments or utensils of any metal, which is not to be wondered at, as they are perfectly ignorant of all arts.

The men of this country are tall, straight, and well set, having large limbs, with coarse black hair, hardly reaching to their shoulders. The women are of much smaller size, having much longer hair than the men, with which some of them almost cover their faces. Some of both sexes have good countenances; but all are much darker-complexioned than any of the other Indians I saw in the South Seas, being a very deep copper-colour. The men go quite naked, wearing only a few trifles by way of ornament, such as a band or wreath of red and white silk-grass round their heads, adorned on each side with a tuft of hawk's feathers. Others have pieces of mother-of-pearl and small shells fastened among their hair, and tied round their necks; and some had large necklaces of six or seven strings, composed of small red and black berries. Some are scarified all over their bodies; others use paint, some smearing their faces and breasts with black, while others were painted black down to the navel, and from thence to the feet with red.

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