ee, in the same manner I have described in my "Voyage Round the World."
They showed me the tree whereof it was made, and I bought about forty of
the cakes. I bought also three or four nutmegs in their shell, which did
not seem to have been long gathered; but whether they be the growth of
this island or not, the natives would not tell whence they had them, and
seem to prize them very much. What beasts the island affords I know not,
but here are both sea and land fowl. Of the first, boobies and men-of-
war birds are the chief, some goldens, and small milk-white
crab-catchers; the land-fowl are pigeons, about the bigness of mountain-
pigeons in Jamaica, and crows about the bigness of those in England, and
much like them, but the inner part of their feathers are white, and the
outside black, so that they appear all black, unless you extend the
feathers. Here are large sky-coloured birds, such as we lately killed on
New Guinea, and many other small birds, unknown to us. Here are likewise
abundance of bats, as big as young coneys, their necks, head, ears, and
noses like foxes, their hair rough, that about their necks is of a
whitish yellow, that on their heads and shoulders black, their wings are
four feet over from tip to tip; they smell like foxes. The fish are
bass, rock-fish, and a sort of fish like mullets, old-wives, whip-rays,
and some other sorts that I knew not; but no great plenty of any, for it
is deep water till within less than a mile of the shore, then there is a
bank of coral rocks, within which you have shoal-water, white clean sand,
so there is no good fishing with the seine.
This island lies in latitude 2 degrees 43 minutes south, and meridian
distance from port Babo, on the island Timor, four hundred and eighty-six
miles: besides this island, here are nine or ten other small islands.
The inhabitants of this island are a sort of very tawny Indians, with
long black hair, who in their manners differ but little from the
Mindanayans, and others of these eastern islands. These seem to be the
chief; for besides them we saw also shock curl pated New Guinea negroes,
many of which are slaves to the others, but I think not all. They are
very poor, wear no clothes but have a clout about their middle, made of
the rinds of the tops of palmetto trees; but the women had a sort of
calico cloth. Their chief ornaments are blue and yellow beads, worn
about their wrists. The men arm themselves with bows and arrows, l
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