as
follows : ' Gentlemen, we shall remain here twenty-two days, arrange
which of you desire to go first on shore to refresh yourselves and
hunt, and let all return here on the eleventh day so that the others
may also go in turn.' Each of the men who went on shore was given a
pair of shoes, and they carried large cauldrons, and supplies of rice,
biscuit, spirits, and salt. On reaching land they ascended the
mountain, but three or four remained below to collect sorrel, which
grows to two or three feet in height and is very good. When they had
collected a load of it they went to find the others, who were in
pursuit of wild pigs, which abound in the island. When they had killed
some they cooked the flesh with the rice and sorrel, which make a
fairly good kind of soup, and purges insensibly without one's knowing
it. While on shore they did nothing but sing, drink, and eat, and they
had to send some of the pigs to the vessel every day. For each pig an
ecu and a pair of shoes were given them, because the mountain was high
and steep, and this chase gave the men much trouble. I have elsewhere
spoken of the Persian greyhounds which are taken to St. Helena for
hunting wild pigs, and after having been used they are thrown into the
sea, and not carried farther for the reason I have pointed out in the
same place.
While
those who are on land occupy themselves with this sport, those who
remain in the vessel spend their time in fishing; for there is a great
abundance of fish around the island, especially mackerel.1
Each sailor and soldier is given a measure of salt, with which they
salt the fish, and then hang them to dry in the wind. They feed
themselves upon this dried fish after leaving the island, and generally
have sufficient for thirty or forty days, and each receives only a
little oil and rice cooked in water ; this saves the Company a quantity
of food.
All
the pigs, sheep, geese, ducks, and hens which were on board were sent
on shore, and as soon as these animals had eaten the sorrel, which
purges them as well as it does men, in a few days they became so fat
that when we approached
1 Of sixty-five species of sea-fish caught off the island, including mackerel, seventeen are peculiar to St. Helena (Ency. Brit., xxiv. 7).
