Holland it was almost impossible to eat them, especially the geese and ducks, on account of the fat.
There
.are two places off the coast of St. Helena where one can anchor. The
best of them is where we were, because the bottom is very good for
anchorage, and the drinking water which comes from the top of the
mountain is the best on the island. In this part of the island there is
no level ground, for the mountain rises from the very shore. There is
only a small flat place close to the sea, where formerly there was a
chapel where a Portuguese priest of the sect of St. Francis lived for
fourteen years ; but at present this chapel is half ruined. While this
priest lived there he made presents to the vessels which touched there,
furnishing them with fish, which he caught and dried, and they gave him
in exchange rice, biscuit, and Spanish wine. After he had dwelt there
for the time I have said, and had lived a very austere life, he fell
ill, and by good fortune it happened that a Portuguese vessel arrived
just then. Everything was done to relieve him, but he died five days
after the vessel had anchored, and was interred by people of his own
nationality.
The
anchorage is not so good at the other roads, but on shore there is a
beautiful plain where all that is sown arrives at maturity. The orders
of the Dutch Company are at present, that, if a vessel takes cabbages,
salad, or other vegetables, seeds must be sown for the benefit of those
who may come afterwards. There are many lemon and some orange trees,
which the Portuguese planted. For this nationality has this to its
credit, that wherever it goes it seeks to do something for the benefit
of those who afterwards visit the place. The Dutch do the reverse and
seek to destroy everything, so that those who come afterwards shall
find nothing. It is true that it is not the superior officers who act
in this way, but the common sailors and soldiers, who say to one
another, ' We shall not return any more', and in order to get fruit
from a tree more quickly, they cut it down instead of plucking the
fruit.
A
serious disturbance was on the point of breaking out. In the fleet
although our vessel left Batavia the last of all, since she was a good
sailer, she was the second to arrive at
