A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 11 | Page 3

seemed much gratified. They were accommodated with spoons,
mostly silver, all of which they very honestly returned.
Having thus commenced friendship with the natives, I sent an officer
ashore to view the watering-place; and, to make him the more welcome,
I sent with him some coarse blue baize and some sugar, to distribute
among the women. On seeing our boat ready to put off, the king was
for accompanying her in his bark-log, but I persuaded him to go in the
boat, with which he seemed to be much gratified. The remainder of the
day was spent with our wild visitors, who behaved in general very
quietly. The officer returned with an account of having been very
civilly received, and we prepared our casks for being sent ashore next
morning. Although, at first view, the country and inhabitants might
dissuade us from venturing freely among them, I had formerly read
such accounts of these people, that I was under no apprehension of
being molested in wooding and watering. The Californians, however,
appeared very terrible to our negroes, insomuch, that one of them, who
accompanied the officer on shore, was afraid to stir from the boat, and
held an axe constantly in his hand, to defend himself in case of being
attacked. On the approach of night, all the Indians swam ashore,
leaving us a clear ship, after the fatigues of the day.
Next morning, at day-break, our boat went ashore with the people
appointed to cut wood and fill our water-casks; and before the sun was
up, our ship was again filled with our former guests, who seemed never
satisfied with gazing at us and every thing about the ship. That nothing
might be wanting to keep up our amity, I sent a large boiler on shore,
with a good store of flour and sugar, and a negro cook, who continually
boiled hasty-pudding, to serve the numerous guests on the beach. At
first the natives remained idle spectators of our labours; but at length,
taking compassion to see our few men labouring hard in rolling great
casks of water over the heavy sand in the sultry heat of the day, they

put forth their hands to help them, encouraged by the particular
readiness of their chief to serve us; for, after seeing Mr Randal take up
a log of wood to carry to the boat, he took up another, and was
immediately followed by two or three hundred of the natives, so that
they eased our men mightily. They also rolled our casks down to the
beach, but always expected a white man to assist them, though quite
satisfied if he only touched the cask with his finger. This eased our men
of a great deal of fatigue, and shortened the time of our stay at this
place. We even found means to make those who used to stay all day on
board, of some use to us; for, when we came to heel the ship, we
crowded them, all over on one side, which, with other shifts, gave her a
deep heel, while we cleaned and paid her bottom with pitch and tallow.
The natives seemed every day more and more attached to us. When our
boat went ashore in the morning, there was constantly a large retinue in
waiting on the beach for our people, and particularly for those whom
they guessed to be above the common rank, by their better dress. By
this time, the news of our arrival had spread through all the
neighbouring parts, and some natives of different tribes from that
which dwelt about the bay, came daily to visit us. Those who came
from any distance in the inland country could not swim, and were
differently painted, besides some other visible distinctions; but all
united amicably to assist us, and hardly any were idle except the
women, who used to sit in circles on the scorching sand, waiting for
their shares of what was going forwards, which they received without
any quarrelling among themselves about the inequality of distribution.
Having completed our business in five days, we prepared for our
departure on the 18th August, and employed that morning in making a
large distribution of sugar among the women, and gave a great many
knives, old axes, and old iron among the men, being the most valuable
presents we could make them; and, in return, they gave us bows and
arrows, deer-skin bags, live foxes and squirrels, and the like. That we
might impress them with awe of our superior power, we saluted them
with five guns on loosing our top-sails, which greatly frightened them,
and there seemed an universal damp on their spirits on seeing our sails
loosed, as sorry for our approaching departure. The women were all in
tears when my people