Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

“ And the Fruits which are brought from thence are exceeding good, as we had Proof by two that I took care to bring along with me, altho' they had not their full Maturity and Growth when I gathered them from the Tree. We have not seen any barren and sandy Ground, nor any Thistles, or Trees that are thorny, of whose Roots do shew themselves, no Marshes or Fenns, no Snow upon the Mountains, no Snakes or Serpents, no Crocodiles in the Rivers, no Worms that use with us to hurt and consume our Grain, and to work us so much Displeasure in our Houses, no Fleas, Catterpillers, or Gnats. ”

“ There are found in this Country as many Commodities, both for the Support and Delectation of the Life of Man, as may be expected from a Soil that is manurable, pleasant and very temperate. {19} It is a fat and a fertile Land, where in many places Clay is found, which will prove of excellent Use to build Houses, and to make Tiles and Bricks, and will serve for whatsoever is usually made of Earth. ”

“ Men do make Cables and other Cordage of them, which are of sufficient Strength to draw a Cannon, and are fit for other domestick Uses. But that which is more special, they do there use the Leaves of Palm-trees, which they amass together, to make Sails of them for Vessels of small Bulk and Burthen. ”

“ You are not to make your Judgment of the Indians that inhabit these Countries according to the Honour of the People here, or conceive them to be affected with the same Desires, Pleasures, Necessities, or Estimation of things that we are: But you are to make account that they are a People whose Care is studiously placed upon this, that they may live easily in this World, and pass their Days with the least Pain and Perturbation they can. And this is indeed their Practice, for they do not bestow themselves on those things, which with such Vexation and Torment we here labour to obtain. ”

“ You are to note, that these Palm-trees resemble Vines, from whence they gather their Materials for Wine all the Year long, which they make without much Cost, or Labour. Amongst their Herbage and Garden-Fruits; we have seen Melons, Pears great and little, and sundry sorts {14} of Pot-Herbs. And they have also Beans For Flesh, they are stored with a great Number of Hogs, which are like unto ours. They have Hens, Capons, Partridges, Ducks, Turtles, Pigeons, Stock-Doves, and Goats, as one of my Captains doth relate. And the Indians themselves have assured us that there are Cows and Oxen. ”

“ And if you shall acquire unto your self the Dominion of these Seigniories which I do now present, I do make so great an Esteem of them, that besides their being the Key of all the rest, they will (in my Opinion) prove another China or Japan, and equalize the other rich Islands which are on this side of Asia in Traffick of curious and precious Merchandizes, to speak nothing of the Augmentation and Extent of your Power, and the Establishment which you may make unto your self of your Dominions by the Accession of so great a Country. ”

“ They have moreover Sugar-Canes, large in Size, and in great Plenty; they have Knowledge of our ordinary Apples; they have Palm-trees without Number, out of which there may easily be drawn a Juice, which will make a Liquor alluding much to Wine, as also Whey, Vinegar, and Honey, the Kernels thereof are exceeding sweet. And they have Fruits which the Indians call Cocos, which being green do make a kind of Twine, and the Pith is almost like in Taste unto the Cream of Milk: When they are ripe they serve for Meat and Drink both by Land and Sea ”

“ The Country aboundeth in Wood, fit for all Works and Uses, whereunto the same is commonly put. There are spacious and goodly Plains, and Fields that are divided and interlaced with Brooks, Trenches and Rivers. ”

“ All which (with a Number of other Varieties) doth make us think that the Air is clear and healthy, and that the Nature of the place is of a good Temperature, The Haven and Bay are therefore of the greater Estimation, because they have the Neighbourhood of so many goodly Islands that are there, and especially of those Seven which are said to have 200 Leagues of Extent: And surely one of them (which is some twelve Leagues distant from the Haven) is fifty Leagues in Circuit. ”

“ And upon ripe and serious Consideration of that which I have represented unto you, a Man may easily collect, that such plentiful and different Varieties of all things, may yield large means to inhabit there, with great and singular Delights. There is Stuff for Marchpanes and sweet Confections of all sorts, without borrowing any Spice for the Composition of them elsewhere. ”

“ And for the Inhabitants, they are commonly healthy, and many of them very aged, although they have nothing but the bare Earth for their Pallet, {25} which is an Argument of the Wholesomeness and Pureness of the Soil. ”

“ They are a simple People, canton'd into' several Sects, and Factions, and exercise much Disagreement amongst themselves. The Arms which they use are Bows and Arrows, which are not poisoned or steeped in the Juice of venomous Herbs, as the Custom is of many other Countries: They do also carry Clubs, Truncheons, Pikes, Darts, to hurl with the Arm, all which ate framed only of Wood. ”

“ Their Bread is usually made of three Sorts of Roots, which grow there in great abundance. Neither do they employ much Labour in making this Bread, for they do only roast the Roots until they are soft and tender. They are very pleasant to the Taste, wholsome and nourishing, they are of a good Length, there being of them of an Ell long, and the half of that in Bigness.
{12} There is great store of excellent Fruits in these Countries. There are six kinds of Maple-trees, Almond-trees of four sorts, and other Trees called Obi, resembling almost in Fruit and Greatness our Quince-trees. ”

“ And you must observe, that many of these things are the same with those which we have in our Parts, and possibly they are there in greater abundance; by all which it is easily to be conjectured, that this Country is fit for the production of all that which groweth in Europe. ”

“ They make also a kind of Rosen, with which the Indians pitch their Boats, which they call Piraques. And since there are Goats and Cows in those parts, without question we shall have Goat-Skins, Leather, Tallow, and Flesh in full abundance. The Bees which we have seen there do make proof, that there will be no Scarcity of Honey and Wax. And there is good Appearance to discover many other things which are not yet known, to say nothing touching the Form and Site of the Country. ”

“ The which doth build in me a belief, that, with the Assistance of God, if they may be gently and amiably intreated, they will be found very docible and easie of Manage, and that we shall without much Work accommodate our selves unto them. ”

“ They {10} do cover themselves from the Waste of Girdling-place down to the half of their Thighs; they are very studious of Cleanliness, tractable, gleeful, and wonderously addicted to be grateful unto those that do them a Courtesie, as I have experienced many times. ”

“ They also do make thereof Pearls and great Beads to wear about their Necks; they that do dwell in the Islands have Boats very artificially made, and exceedingly commodious for Sailing, which is a certain Argument that they confine upon other Nations that are of a more polished and elegant Behaviour. ”

“ Unto all which, if that be adjoined, which the Industry of Man {17} may contribute to those Parts, since there is such abundance of Commodities, which the Country itself doth yield, and such Hope to transport thither those things which grow with us, the best and choicest whereof that Peru and New Spain bring forth, I have resolved to transfer thither ”