268

Hamilton’s account of the east indies.

was forced to harbour his ihip on the fouth-weft fide of that ifland, till the eafterlymonfoons were blown over, and in the month of March he ventured to put to fea,which was too foon, becaufe the currents ftill ran ftrong to the weftward, and hehanding over to the Ethiopian coaft, fell in again with Magadoxa, which, by thehandfome figure it made from the fea, made him believe it to be fome place of com-merce, and being curious to know if it was fo or no, fent his yawl afhore, with hispurfer and four feamen, to bring information, and gave them ftrict orders to be ontheir guard, and only one perfon to go afhore at a time. When the boat got over therocks, they anchored clofe to the beech, and the natives came from the town, driving ftoreof cattle and fheep before them for fal'e. The purfer, being young and inexperienced,forgot his orders, and went afhore himfelf with three of his crew, leaving one only toflay in the boat, and thofe that went afhore, were fo filly, as to leave their fire-arms inthe boat, and by the feigned civilities that the natives fhewed them, they heedlefslymingled themfelves with the natives, who, finding fo unexpected an opportunity, hurledthem away to the town ; and the boat keeper, neither hearing nor feeing what wasdone to his comrades, fuffered fome natives to come into the boat, who feized himalfo, and hauled the boat a good way up on the land.

Thofe on board the fhip faw, by their profpectives, what was acted afhore, and fenttheir other boats, well manned, to try if they could ranfom the captives, but in fourdays fruitlefs endeavours, they could never bring the natives to a parley, and fo thefnip was obliged to leave them to repent of their folly; but it never came to ourknowledge in India , what became of them, or what their fate was.

Yet on the coafts of Zeyla and Yeman , which both terminate at Cape Guardafoy,the natives will bring off fheep, goats, hens, fifli and fruits, to fell to flipping that fome-times lay becalmed on their fea, near the fhore. The people are tall, meagre, andlarge boned, very fwarthy, but not quite black in their complexions ; they are trea-cherous, cruel, and avaricious in their temper; their habit is a pair of breeches totheir ancles, or a piece of coarfe cloth about their loins, and a gown open before, andwithout fleeves, called a camlin ; it is made of camel’s hair, or of their fheep’s wool,that is fully as hard and coarfe as hog’s hair. On their heads they wear a turban ofcoarfe calico, and then they are equipped. Their fheep are white, with jet blackheads, and fmall ears, their bodies large, and their fiefh delicate, their tails as broad astheir buttocks, and about 6 or 8 inches long ; fo they are in the fhape of a pillowwanting corners, and from, the lower end of that bundle, comes a fmall tail about 6inches long, almoft like a pig’s.

And now having travelled along the fhore of the continent, from the Cape of Good-Hope to Cape Guardafoy, I’ll furvey the iflands that lie in the Ethiopian fea ; but asthey afford nothing for commerce, but flaves and provifions, they are little minded bymerchants : fo beginning with the weftmoft, I’ll bring them in order to the eaftward.

Chap. II .—Giving a Jhort Defcription of the IJlands in the Ethiopian Seas , with fomeremarkable Pajfages hijlorical and accidental.

MADAGASCAR , or, as the Portugueze chriftened it, St. Laurence, is one of thelargeft iflands in the known world, and affords molt part of the requifites of human,life: it produces very large cattle, whofe flefh is excellent, efpecially their large humpsthat grow between their neck and fhoulders. They have alfo goats and deer plentyenough, and when the Portugueze firft failed along the coafts of this ifland, they left a

brood