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СКАЧАТЬ the Island; and they answer'd it was morass, and the most dangerous Part to attempt, it being a Place where they shelter on any imminent Danger.

      The Ships return'd to Johanna, where the greatest Tenderness and Care was shown for the Recovery and Cure of the two Captains and of their Men; they lay six Weeks before they were able to walk the Decks, for neither of them would quit his Ship. Their Johanna Wives expressed a Concern they did not think them capable of, nay, a Wife of one of the wounded Men who died, stood some Time looking upon the Corpse as motionless as a Statue, then embracing it, without shedding a Tear, desired she might take it ashore to wash and bury it; and at the same Time, by an Interpreter, and with a little Mixture of European Language, she had, begg'd her late Husband's Friends would take their Leave of him the next Day.

      Accordingly a Number went ashore, and carried with them the Dividend, which fell to his Share, which the Captain order'd to be given his Widow; when she saw the Money, she smil'd, and ask'd if all, all that was for her? Being answered in the affirmative, and what Good will all that shining Dirt do me, if I could with it purchase the Life of my Husband, and call him back from the Grave, I would accept it with Pleasure, but as it is not sufficient to allure him back to this World, I have no Use for it; do with it what you please. Then she desired they would go with her and perform the last Ceremonies to her Husband's dead Body, after their Country Fashion, least he should be displeased, that she could not stay with them, to be a Witness, because she was in haste to go and be married again. She startled the Europeans who heard this latter Part of her Speech so dissonant from the Beginning; however, they followed her, and she led them into a Plantane Walk, where they found a great many Johanna Men and Women, sitting under the Shade of Plantanes, round the Corpse, which lay (as they all sate) on the Ground, covered with Flowers. She embraced them round, and then the Europeans, one by one, and after these Ceremonies, she poured out a Number of bitter Imprecations against the Mohila Men, whose Treachery had darken'd her Husband's Eyes, and made him insensible of her Caresses, who was her first Love, to whom she had given her Heart, with her Virginity. She then proceeded in his Praises, calling him the Joy of Infants, the Love of Virgins, the Delight of the old, and the Wonder of the young, adding, he was strong and beautiful as the Cedar, brave as the Bull, tender as the Kid, and loving as the Ground Turtle; having finished this Oration, not unlike those of the Romans, which the nearest Relation of the deceas'd used to pronounce from the Rostrum, she laid her down by the Side of her Husband, embracing him, and sitting up again, gave herself a deep Wound under the left Breast with a Bayonet, and fell dead on her Husband's Corpse.

      The Europeans were astonished at the Tenderness and Resolution of the Girl, for she was not, by what her Mien spoke her, past seventeen; and they now admired, as much as they had secretly detested, her, for saying she was in haste to be married again, the Meaning of which they did not understand.

      After the Husband and Wife were buried, the Crew return'd on Board, and gave an Account of what had pass'd; the Captains Wives (for Misson and his were on Board the Bijoux, the Name they had given their Prize from her Make and Gilding) seem'd not in the least surprized, and Caraccioli's Lady only said, she must be of noble Descent, for none but the Families of the Nobility had the Privilege allowed them of following their Husbands, on pain, if they transgressed, of being thrown into the Sea, to be eat by Fish; and they knew, that their Souls could not rest as long as any of the Fish, who fed upon them, lived. Misson asked, if they intended to have done the same Thing had they died? We should not, answer'd his Wife, have disgraced our Families; nor is our Tenderness for our Husbands inferior to hers whom you seem to admire.

      After their Recovery, Misson proposed a Cruize, on the Coast of Zangueber, which being agreed to, he and Caraccioli took Leave of the Queen and her Brother, and would have left their Wives on the Island, but they could by no Means be induced to the Separation; it was in vain to urge the Shortness of the Time they were to Cruize; they answer'd it was farther than Mohila they intended to go, and if they were miserable in that short Absence, they could never support a longer; and if they would not allow them to keep them Company the Voyage, they must not expect to see them at their Return, if they intended one.

      In a Word they were obliged to yield to them, but told them, if the Wives of their Men should insist as strongly on following their Example, their Tenderness, would be their Ruin, and make them a Prey to their Enemies; they answer'd the Queen should prevent that, by ordering no Woman should go on Board, and if any were in the Ships, they should return on Shore: This Order was accordingly made, and they set Sail for the River of Mozembique. In about ten Days Cruize after they had left Johanna, and about 15 Leagues to the Eastward of this River, they fell in with a stout Portuguese Ship of 60 Guns, which engaged them from Break of Day till Two in the Afternoon, when the Captain being killed, and a great Number of Men lost, she struck: This proved a very rich Prize, for she had the Value of 250000 l. Sterling on Board, in Gold-Dust. The two Women never quitted the Decks all the Time of the Engagement, neither gave they the least Mark of Fear, except for their Husbands: This Engagement cost them thirty Men, and Caraccioli lost his right Leg; the Slaughter fell mostly on the English, for of the above Number, twenty were of that Nation: The Portuguese lost double the Number. Caraccioli's Wound made them resolve to make the best of their Way for Johanna, where the greatest Care was taken of their wounded, not one of whom died, tho’ their Number amounted to Twenty seven.

      Caraccioli kept his Bed two Months, but Misson seeing him in a fair way of Recovery, took what Hands could be spar'd from the Bijoux, leaving her sufficient for Defence, and went out, having mounted ten of the Portuguese Guns, for he had hitherto carried but thirty, though he had Ports for forty. He stretched over to Madagascar, and coasted along this Island to the Northward, as far as the most northerly Point, when turning back, he enter'd a Bay to the northward of Diego Suares. He run ten Leagues up this Bay, and on the larboard Side found it afforded a large, and safe, Harbour, with plenty of fresh Water. He came here to an

      Anchor, went ashore and examined into the Nature of the Soil, which he found rich, the Air wholesome, and the Country level. He told his Men, that this was an excellent Place for an Asylum, and that he determined here to fortify and raise a small Town, and make Docks for Shipping, that they might have some Place to call their own; and a Receptacle, when Age or Wounds had render'd them incapable of Hardship, where they might enjoy the Fruits of their Labour, and go to their Graves in Peace. That he would not, however, set about this, till he had the Approbation of the whole Company; and were he sure they would all approve this Design, which he hoped, it being evidently for the general Good, he should not think it adviseable to begin any Works, lest the Natives should, in his Absence, destroy them; but however, as they had nothing upon their Hands, if they were of his Opinion, they might begin to fall and square Timber, ready for the raising a wooden Fort, when they return'd with their Companions.

      The Captain's Motion was universally applauded, and in ten Days they fell'd and rough hew'd a hundred and fifty large Trees, without any Interruption from, or seeing any of, the Inhabitants. They fell'd their Timber at the Waters Edge, so that they had not the Trouble of hawling them any way, which would have employ'd a great deal more Time: They returned again, and acquainted their Companions with what they had seen and done, and with the Captain's Resolution, which they one and all came into.

      Captain Misson then told the Queen, as he had been serviceable to her in her War with the Island of Mohila, and might continue to be of farther Use, he did not question her lending him Assistance in the settling himself on the Coast of Madagascar, and to that end, furnish him with 300 Men, to help in his Buildings; the Queen answered, she could do nothing without Consent of Council, and that she would assemble her Nobility, and did not question their agreeing to any Thing he could reasonably desire, for they were sensible of the Obligations the Johanians had to him. The Council was accordingly called, and Misson's Demand being told, one of the eldest said, he did not think it expedient to comply with it, nor safe to refuse; that they should in agreeing to give him that Assistance, help to raise a Power, which might prove formidable СКАЧАТЬ