the
night, or at least till the fog should break away. At two in the
morning, it being very clear, we made sail again; at day-break we saw
the land, at about five leagues distance, and steered directly for it;
but at eight o'clock, when we were close under it, the fog obliged us
again to lie to, and when it cleared away, we were much surprised, to
find ourselves surrounded by some hundreds of canoes. They were of
different sizes, and had on board different numbers, from one to ten, so
that in all of them together, there could not be less than eight hundred
people. When they came within pistol-shot of the ship, they lay by,
gazing at us with great astonishment, and by turns conferring with each
other. In the mean time we shewed them trinkets of various kinds, and
invited them on board. Soon after, they drew together, and held a kind
of council, to determine what should be done: Then they all paddled
round the ship, making signs of friendship, and one of them holding up a
branch of the plantain-tree, made a speech that lasted near a quarter of
an hour, and then threw it into the sea. Soon after, as we continued to
make signs of invitation, a fine, stout, lively young man ventured on
board: He came up by the mizen chains, and jumped out of the shrouds
upon the top of the awning. We made signs to him to come down upon the
quarter-deck, and handed up some trinkets to him: He looked pleased, but
would accept of nothing till some of the Indians came along-side, and
after much talk, threw a few branches of plantain-tree on board the
ship; he then accepted our presents, and several others very soon came
on board, at different parts of the ship, not knowing the proper
entrance. As one of these Indians was standing near the gang-way, on the
larboard side of the quarter-deck, one of our goats butted him upon the
haunches: Being surprised at the blow, he turned hastily about, and saw
the goat raised upon his hind-legs, ready to repeat the blow. The
appearance of this animal, so different from any he had ever seen,
struck him with such terror, that he instantly leaped over-board; and
all the rest, upon seeing what had happened, followed his example with
the utmost precipitation: They recovered, however, in a short time, from
their fright, and returned on board. After having a little reconciled
them to our goats and sheep, I shewed them our hogs and poultry, and
they immediately made signs that they had such animals as these. I then
di