commiserations to refer him to the Council in England to receive a check, rather than by particulating his designs to make him so odious to the world, as to touch his life, or utterly overthrow his reputation. But he so much scorned their charity, and publicly defied the uttermost of their cruelty; he wisely prevented their policies, though he could not suppress their envies; yet so well he demeaned himself in this business, as all the company did see his innocency and his adversaries' malice, and those suborned to accuse him accused his accusers of subornation. Many untruths were alleged against him, but, being so apparently disproved, begat a general hatred in the hearts of the company against such unjust commanders, that the president was adjudged to give him two hundred pounds, so that all he had was seized upon, in part of satisfaction, which Smith presently returned to the store for the general use of the colony. Many were the mischiefs that daily sprung from their ignorant (yet ambitious) spirits; but the good doctrine and exhortation of our preacher, Master Hunt, reconciled them, and caused Captain Smith to be admitted of the council. The next day all received the communion, the day following the savages voluntarily desired peace, and Captain Newport returned for England with news; leaving in Virginia one hundred, the fifteenth of June 1607. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, The Generall Historie of Virginia 1624 Travellers' Tales* I spake of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach, Of being taken by the insolent foe And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence And portance in my travel's history; Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle, Rough quarries, rocks and hills whose heads touch heaven It was my hint to speak, such was the process; And of the Cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. Othello, 1. iii. 134-145 *See also pp. 70, 71. Lepidus. What manner o' thing is your crocodile ? Antony. It is shaped, sir, like itself, and it is as broad as it hath breadth; it is just so high as it is, and moves with its own organs; it lives by that which nourisheth it; and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates. Lepidus. What colour is it of? Antony. Of its own colour too. Antony. 'Tis so; and the tears of it are wet. Antony and Cleopatra, 11. vii. 47–56 Civis. Gentle master, I cannot tell what to call you, nor of what country you are. Mendax. Sir, I was born near unto Tunbridge, where fine knives are made; my name is Mendax, a younger brother lineally descended of an ancient house before the conquest. We give three whetstones in gules, with no difference, and upon our crest a left hand, with a horn upon the thumb, and a knife in the hand. The supporters are a fox on the one side, and a friar on the other side. And of late I travelled into Terra Florida, whereas I felt both wealth and woe; the black ox never trod upon my foot before; a dog hath but a day. We are born all to travail, and as for me I have but little to lose. Yet I am a gentleman, and cannot find it in my heart to play the slave, or go to cart; I never could abide it, by the mass. Civis. You speak like a wise man. I perceive by your behaviour that you have been well brought up. I pray you, where is that land? Mendax. Many thousand miles beyond Torrida Zona, on the equinoctial line, in the longitude near unto the pole antarctic; it is an hundred thousand miles long, and is in the part named America; and by the way are the islands called Fortunato or Canaria, whose west parts be situated in the third climate. Civis. It was a dangerous travel into that country. Where landed you? At what place? Mendax. We sailed to the islands of Portum Sanctum, and then to Madeira, in which were sundry countries and islands, as Eractelenty, Magnefortis, Grancanary, Teneriffe, Palme Ferro, &c. And our captain went with his soldiers to land. And at our first coming near unto the river in one of these islands, as we refreshed ourselves among the date trees, in the land of the palms, by the sweet wells, we did, to the great fear of us all, see a great battle between the dragon and the unicorn; and, as God would, the unicorn thrust the dragon to the heart; and, again, the dragon with his tail stung the unicorn to death. Here is a piece of his horn; the blood of dragons is rich; that battle was worth two hundred marks to our captain. Then we travelled further into Teneriffe, into an exceeding high mountain, above the middle region, whereas we had great plenty of rock alum, and might well hear an heavenly harmony among the stars. The moon was near hand us with marvellous heat; and when we came down at the hill-foot grew many gross herbs, as lovage, laserpitium, acanthus and solanum: and whether it was by the eating of solanum or no, there was a great mighty man naked and hairy, in a deep sleep, whom we gently suffered to lie still. He had a great beard in which a bird did breed, and brought her young ones meat; this man slept half a year and waked not. Our captain declared unto us that the spials had viewed the land, and how that our enemies were at hand. The next day most fearful people painted with sundry colours approached in strange beasts' skins, with flint so were their shafts and darts made, with whom we fought and slew and took some, and yet the people so assaulted us, that with much difficulty we recovered our barks. And then we sailed forth, and chanced to let fall our sounding-lead new-tallowed, whereupon did stick gold. With all speed we sent down our divers, and so within three days we gathered thirty hogsheads of fine gold, besides two butts of orient pearls; all the shore was full of coral. From thence we sailed to the great isle called Madagastat, in Scorea, where were kings, Mahometans by religion, black as devils. Some had no heads, but eyes in their breasts. Some, when it rained, covered all the whole body with one foot. That land did abound in elephants' teeth; the men did eat camels' and lions' flesh. Musk and civet in every place did abound, and the mother of pearl, whereof the people made their platters to put in their meat; they dwell among spice; the ground is moist with oil of precious trees. Plenty of wine out of grapes as big as this loaf; much pepper; they cannot tell what to do with sugar; but that their merchants of Maabar, twenty days' journey off, do come and take of their goods frankly for nothing; but some of them do bring iron to make edge tools, for which they have for one pound twenty pound of fine gold. Their pots, pans and all vessel are clean gold garnished with diamonds. I did see swine feed in them. Civis. Did you see no strange fowls there and fishes? Mendax. In the isle called Ruc, in the great Can's land, I did see mermaids and satyrs with other fishes by night came four miles from the sea, and climbed into trees, and did eat dates and nutmegs, with whom the apes and baboons had much fighting, yelling and crying. The people of that land do live by eating the flesh of women. In this land did I see an ape play at ticktack and after at Irish on the tables with one of that land; and also a parrot give one of their gentlewomen a checkmate at chess. There geese dance trenchmore. Civis. God keep us from those cruel people. Mendax. But, sir, as for birds, they are not only infinite in numbers, but also in kinds; some voices most sweet and some most fearful; nightingales as big as geese, owls greater than some horse; and there are birds that do lie in a rock where dragons are, whose feathers on their wings are thirty foot long, the quill as big as a cannon royal. Also I heard parrots dispute in philosophy, fresh[?] in Greek, and sing descant. Also there are a people called Astomii, which live very long, and neither eat nor drink, but only live by air and the smell of fruits. In Selenetide there are women, contrary to the nature of other women, do lay eggs and hatch them, from whom do children come fifty times greater than those which are born of women. There did I see Scipodes having but one foot, which is so broad that they cover all their bodies for the rain and the sun. Item, I did see men having feet like horse, called Ippopodes. Item, I did see the Satyrs, half men and half goats, playing upon cornets. Item, I did see Apothami, half horse and half man. Item, I played at tables with the people called Fanesii, whose ears were as long as cloaks, covering all their bodies; near them is the great city called O, four hundred miles within the wall; the wall was brass, two thousand gates, six hundred bridges as big as London Bridge; the city paved with gold. Naked men dwell there with two heads and six hands every man. There did I see apes play at tennis. Civis. I pray you is there any plenty of precious stones? Mendax. Very many, but hard to come by; but in the island Zanzibar is much plenty of ambergris, that they make clay for their houses withal; there, if we had holden together like friends, we might have gotten a world. When I do remember it, alas, alas, every man is but for himself; you may consider what division is; emeralds, rubies, turkies, diamonds, and sapphires were sold when we came thither first for the weight of iron; a thousand rich turkesses were sold for three shillings four pence, to be short, one with another, after three shillings four pence a peck. Our men gathered up carbuncles and diamonds with rakes under the spice trees. Civis. How chance you brought none home in to this realm ? Mendax. Oh, sir, we filled two ships with fine gold, three ships with ambergris, musk and unicorns' horns, and two tall barks with precious stones, and sailed by the adamant stones, which will draw iron unto them, and so cast away the greatest riches in Heathenness or Christendom. WILLIAM BULLEIN, A Dialogue against the Pestilence 1573 |