rsons there, who, however, all took to flight directly. They
also saw two dogs, not unlike so-called Bengal jackals. The persons who
had fled, shortly after returned to them, when they found them armed with
the assagays above described. They were accompanied by a number of
females who had their privities covered with a kind of small mats. The
natives then all of them sat down on the beach near our men, who made
signs to them that they were seeking fresh water; upon which the natives
got up and signified to our men their willingness to show them the places
where water was obtainable. Nor were our men deceived, for after walking
on along the beach for some time, they were conducted to a pleasant
valley with fine trees such as those above described. This seemed to be
the dwelling-place of the natives, for our men saw here more women and
children and also a number of primitive dwellings, merely consisting of
sheltered places under the trees partly covered in with bark. The water
which they found here, welled up out of the earth in pits dug by human
hands. After having inspected the whole place, they went back to the
beach, where they found the two prows in which the natives had previously
approached the ship. As our men were seated on the beach, nineteen
natives came up to them, all of them with bodies daubed over with red;
when the said natives were by our men treated to some arrack with sugar,
they began to make merry and even struck up a kind of chant, at the
conclusion of which they retired to the wood again.

In the morning of the 27th our men went ashore again for the purpose of
attempting to get hold of one or two natives, but did not succeed in
doing so that day, because they landed too late to lure the natives to
the beach. Early in the morning of the 28th they again landed in order to
execute their plan; on their arrival the natives came up to them dancing
and singing, sat down close to them, laid aside their so-called assagays
or weapons, and again enjoyed the liquor with which our men plied them.
While they were thus making merry, our men seized hold of two of them
[*], upon which the others jumped to their feet, snatched up their
assagays and began to throw them at our people without, however, wounding
any one; except that the ship's clerk, who in flying tried to seize one
of the natives round the body, was in the scuffle slightly wounded in the
hand; upon this, our men fired a volley, wounding one of the natives