arget
entirely covers their whole body. Their bows are short and tolerably
strong, as much as a man is able to draw with one finger, and the string
is made of the bark of a tree, made flat, and a quarter of an inch
broad. I have not seen any of their arrows, as they were all close
wrapped up, and I was so busily engaged in traffic that I had not
leisure to get them opened out for my inspection. They have also the art
to work up their gold into very pretty ornaments.

When the captain had taken his seat on the stool, I sent him as a
present two ells of cloth and two basins, and he sent back for our
weight and measure, on which I sent him a weight of two angels, and
informed him that such was our price in gold for two ells, or the
measure I had already sent him. This rule of traffic he absolutely
refused, and would not suffer his people to buy any thing but basins of
brass or latten; so that we sold that day 74 brass basins for about half
an angel weight each, and nine white basins for about a quarter of an
angel each. We shewed them some of all our other wares, but they did not
care for any of them. About two o'clock, P.M. the chief returned again,
and presented me a hen and two great roots, which I accepted, and he
then made me understand by signs, that many people would come from the
country that night to trade with me, who would bring great store of
gold. Accordingly about 4 o'clock there came about 100 men under 3
chiefs, all well equipped with darts and bows; and when they came to us,
every man stuck his dart into the ground in token of peace, all the
chiefs having their stools with them, sat down, after which they sent a
youth on board our boat who brought a measure of an ell, a quarter and a
sixteenth, making us understand that they would have four times that
measure in cloth for the weight in gold of an angel and 12 grains. I
offered him two ells for that weight, for which I had before demanded
two angels; but this he despised, and stuck to the four measures, being
5-1/4 ells. When it grew late and I motioned to go away, he came to four
ells for the above weight, and as he and I could not agree we went back
to the ships. This day we took for basins 6 ounces a half and an eighth
of gold.

In the morning of the 6th, we well manned our boats and the skiff, being
in some fear of the Portuguese, who had taken away a man from the ships
in the year before; and as the negroes had not canoes, we went near the
shore to t