ble to produce all the
necessaries of life with very little cultivation. It abounds with
small streams and brooks, the banks of which are covered with
wholesome giants; and the waters which run down from the mountains,
though not in the least disagreeable to the taste, or injurious to
health, are so impregnated with some mineral particles, that they
never corrupt. On the east side of the bay in which the Dutch ships
anchored, there are three mountains, the middlemost of which resembles
the Table Mountains at the Cape of Good Hope. Behind these there
are many other mountains which rise to a prodigious height, and are
generally covered by very thick mist, especially in the mornings and
evenings, whence I am apt to suspect that these mountains may contain
rich mines. To give a just idea of the island in few words, it
resembles in all respects the country at the Cape of Good Hope.

This author also mentions the sea-lions and seals of other writers,
and adds, that there are sea-cows also of enormous size, some weighing
near half a ton. He also mentions the abundance and excellence of the
fish, of which the Dutch cured many thousands during their short stay,
which proved extraordinarily good, and were of great service during
the rest of the voyage. He mentions goats also on the island in
abundance, but says the Dutch were unable to catch them, and at a loss
how to get at their bodies when shot; but they were frightened from
this sport by an unlucky accident which happened to the steward of one
of the ships, soon after their arrival, who, rambling one evening in
the mountains, fell suddenly from the top of a rock and was dashed to
pieces. They found here the remains of a wreck, supposed by them to
have been of a Spanish ship; but it was more probably the vestiges of
the Speedwell, lost a year before, and from which, by diving, some of
the sailors recovered several pieces of silver plate.

Having attentively considered the advantageous situation and many
conveniences of this island, Roggewein conceived the design of
settling on it, as the most proper place that could be thought of
for ships bound, as he was, for the _Terra Australis_, or southern
islands, and was the more encouraged in this design by considering
the fertility of the island, which could not fail to afford sufficient
subsistence for six hundred families at least. He postponed this,
however, as also the settlement of _Belgia Australis_, or Falkland
islands, till