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true, we muft of necefllty have been driven near forty leagues to the weftward of ourcourfe ; but this is very improbable that the current fhould fet fo ftrong to the weft-ward, feeing we had fuch a conftant wefterly wind. I grant that when the monfoonfhifts firft, the current does not prefently fhift, but runs afterwards near a month, butthe monfoon had been lhifted at leaft two months now : but of the monfoons and otherwinds, and of the currents, elfewhere in their proper place. As to thefe here, I dorather believe that the land is not laid down true, than that the current deceived us;for it was more probable we fhould have been deceived before we met with a fhoalthan afterwards ; for on the coaft of New Holland we found the tides keeping theirconftant courfe, the flood running north by eaft and the ebb fouth by eaft.
The 4th day of January 1688, we fell in with the land of New Holland in the latitudeof 16 degrees fifty minutes, having, as I faid before, made our courfe due fouth fromthe fhoal that we paft by the 31ft day of December. We ran in clofe by it, and find-ing no convenient anchoring, becaufe it lies open to the north-weft, we ran along fhoreto the eaftward, fleering north-eaft by eaft, for fo the land lies. We fleered thus abouttwelve leagues; and then came to a point of land from whence the land trends eaftand foutherly for ten or twelve leagues, but how afterwards I know not. About threeleagues to the eaftward of this point there is a pretty deep bay with abundance of iflandsin it, and a very good place to anchor in, or to hale afhore. About a league to theeaftward of that point we anchored January the 5th, 1688, two miles from the fhorein twenty-nine fathoms, good hard fand and clean ground.
New Holland is a very large tract of land. It is not yet determined whether it is anilland or a main continent; but I am certain that it joins neither to Afia, Africa, norAmerica . This part of it that we faw is all low even land with fandy banks againft thefea, only the points are rocky, and fo are fome of the iflands in this bay.
The land is of a dry fandy foil, deftitute of water, except you make wells, yet pro-ducing divers forts of trees ; but the woods are not thick, nor the trees very big. Moftof the trees that we faw are dragon-trees as we fuppofed ; and thefe too are the largefttrees of any there. They are about the bignels of our large apple-trees, and about thefame heighth, and the rind is blackilh and fomewhat rough ; the leaves are of a darkcolour; the gum diftils out of the knots or cracks that are in the bodies of the trees.We compared it with fome gum-dragon, or dragon’s blood that was aboard, and it wasof the fame colour and tafte. The other fort of trees were not known by any of us.There was pretty long grafs growing under the trees, but it was very thin. We fawno trees that bore fruit or berries.
We faw no fort of animal nor any track of beaft, but once ; and that feemed to bethe tread of a beaft as big as a great maftiff dog. Here are a few fmall land birds, butnone bigger than a black-bird, and but few fea fowls. Neither is the fea very plenti-fully ftored with filh, unlefs you reckon the manatee and turtle as fuch ; of thefe crea-tures there is plenty, but they are extraordinary fhy, though the inhabitants .cannottrouble them much, having neither boats nor iron.
The inhabitants of this country are the miferableft people in the world. The Hod-madods of Monomatapa, though a nafty people, yet for wealth are gentlemen tothefe; who have no houfes and fldn-garments, fheep, poultry, and fruits of the earth,oftricn eggs, &c. as the Hodmadods have : and fetting afide their human fhape, theydiffer but little from brutes. They are tall, ftrait-bodied and thin, with fmall longlimbs. They have great heads, round foreheads, and great brows. Their eyelids arealways half ciofed, to keep the flies out of their eyes : they being fo troublefome here,jhat no fanning will keep them from coming to one’s face, and without the affiftance