travelled a fewer miles in a day than before, there being sucha prodigious number of little rivers that came down from the hills onthe east side, emptying themselves into this gulf, all which waters werepretty high, the rains having been but newly over.
In the last three days of our travel we met with some inhabitants, butwe found they lived upon the little hills and not by the water-side; norwere we a little put to it for food in this march, having killed nothingfor four or five days but some fish we caught out of the lake, and thatnot in such plenty as we found before.
But, to make us some amends, we had no disturbance upon all the shoresof this lake from any wild beasts; the only inconveniency of that kindwas, that we met an ugly, venomous, deformed kind of a snake or serpentin the wet grounds near the lake, that several times pursued us as ifit would attack us; and if we struck or threw anything at it, it wouldraise itself up and hiss so loud that it might be heard a great way.It had a hellish ugly deformed look and voice, and our men would not bepersuaded but it was the devil, only that we did not know what businessSatan could have there, where there were no people.
It was very remarkable that we had now travelled 1000 miles withoutmeeting with any people in the heart of the whole continent of Africa,where, to be sure, never man set his foot since the sons of Noah spreadthemselves over the face of the whole earth. Here also our gunner tookan observation with his forestaff, to determine our latitude, and hefound now, that having marched about thirty-three days northward, wewere in 6 degrees 22 minutes south latitude.
After having with great difficulty got over this river, we came into astrange wild country that began a little to affright us; for though thecountry was not a desert of dry scalding sand as that was we had passedbefore, yet it was mountainous, barren, and infinitely full of mostfurious wild beasts, more than any place we had passed yet. There wasindeed a kind of coarse herbage on the surface, and now and then a fewtrees, or rather shrubs. But people we could see none, and we beganto be in great suspense about victuals, for we had not killed a deera great while, but had lived chiefly upon fish and fowl, always by thewater-side, both which seemed to fail us now; and we were in the moreconsternation, because we could not lay in a stock here to proceed upon,as we did before, but were obliged to set out with scarcity, and withoutany certainty of a supply.
We had, however, no remedy but patience; and having killed some fowlsand dried some fish, as much as, with short allowance, we reckoned wouldlast us five days, we resolved to venture, and venture we did; norwas it without cause that we were apprehensive of the danger, forwe travelled the five days and met neither with fish nor fowl, norfour-footed beast, whose flesh was fit to eat, and we were in a mostdreadful apprehension of being famished to death. On the sixth day wealmost fasted, or, as we may say, we ate up all the scraps of what wehad left, and at night lay down supperless upon our mats, with heavyhearts, being obliged the eighth day to kill one of our poor faithfulservants, the buffaloes that carried our baggage. The flesh of thiscreature was very good, and so sparingly did we eat of it that it lastedus all three days and a half, and was just spent; and we were on thepoint of killing another when we saw before us a country that promisedbetter, having high trees and a large river in the middle of it.
This encouraged us, and we quickened our march for the river-side,though with empty stomachs, and very faint and weak; but before we cameto this river we had the good hap to meet with some young deer, a thingwe had long wished for. In a word, having shot three of them, we came toa full stop to fill our bellies, and never gave the flesh time to coolbefore we ate it; nay, it was much we could stay to kill it and had noteaten it alive, for we were, in short, almost famished.
Through all that inhospitable country we saw continually lions, tigers,leopards, civet cats, and abundance of kinds of creatures that we didnot understand; we saw no elephants, but every now and then we met withan elephant's tooth lying on the ground, and some of them lying, as itwere, half buried by the length of time that they had lain there.
When we came to the shore of this river, we found it ran northerlystill, as all the rest had done, but with this difference, that as thecourse of the other rivers were N. by E. or N.N.E., the course of thislay N.W.N.
On the farther bank of this river we saw some sign of inhabitants,but met with none for the first day; but the next day we came into aninhabited country, the people all negroes, and stark naked, withoutshame, both men and women.
We made signs of friendship to them, and found them a very frank,civil, and friendly sort of people. They came to our negroes withoutany suspicion, nor did they give us any reason to suspect them of anyvillainy, as the others had done; we made signs to them that we werehungry, and immediately some naked women ran and fetched us greatquantities of roots, and of things like pumpkins, which we made noscruple to eat; and our artificer showed them some of his trinkets thathe had made, some of iron, some of silver, but none of gold. They had somuch judgment as to choose that of silver before the iron; but when weshowed them some gold, we found they did not value it so much as eitherof the other.
For some of these things they brought us more provisions, and threeliving creatures as big as calves, but not of that kind; neither did weever see any of them before; their flesh was very good; and after thatthey brought us twelve more, and some smaller creatures like hares; allwhich were very welcome to us, who were indeed at a very great loss forprovisions.
We grew very intimate with these people, and indeed they were thecivillest and most friendly people that we met with at all, and mightilypleased with us; and, which was very particular, they were much easierto be made to understand our meaning than any we had met with before.
At last we began to inquire our way, pointing to the west. They made usunderstand easily that we could not go that way, but they pointed to usthat we might go north-west, so that we presently understood that therewas another lake in our way, which proved to be true; for in two daysmore we saw it plain, and it held us till we passed the equinoctialline, lying all the way on our left hand, though at a great distance.
Travelling thus northward, our gunner seemed very anxious about ourproceedings; for he assured us, and made me sensible of it by themaps which he had been teaching me out of, that when we came into thelatitude of six degrees, or thereabouts, north of the line, the landtrended away to the west to such a length that we should not come at thesea under a march of above 1500 miles farther westward than the countrywe desired to go to. I asked him if there were no navigable rivers thatwe might meet with, which, running into the west ocean, might perhapscarry us down their stream, and then, if it were 1500 miles, or twice1500 miles, we might do well enough if we could but get provisions.
Here he showed me the maps again, and that there appeared no river whosestream was of any such a length as to do any kindness, till we cameperhaps within 200 or 300 miles of the shore, except the Rio Grande, asthey call it, which lay farther northward from us, at least 700 miles;and that then he knew not what kind of country it might carry usthrough; for he said it was his opinion that the heats on the north ofthe line, even in the same latitude, were violent, and the country moredesolate, barren, and barbarous, than those of the south; and that whenwe came among the negroes in the north part of Africa, next the sea,especially those who had seen and trafficked with the Europeans, such asDutch, English, Portuguese, Spaniards, etc., they had most of them beenso ill-used at some time or other that they would certainly put all thespite they could upon us in mere revenge.
Upon these considerations he advised us that, as soon as we had passedthis lake, we should proceed W.S.W., that is to say, a little incliningto the south, and that in time we should meet with the great riverCongo, from whence the coast is called Congo, being a little north ofAngola, where we intended at first to go.
I asked him if ever he had been on the coast of Congo. He said, yes, hehad, but was never on shore there. Then I asked him how we should getfrom thence to the coast where the European ships came, seeing, if theland trended away
west for 1500 miles, we must have all that shore totraverse before we could double the west point of it.
He told me it was ten to one but we should hear of some European shipsto take us in, for that they often visited the coast of Congo andAngola, in trade with the negroes; and that if we could not, yet, ifwe could but find provisions, we should make our way as well along thesea-shore as along the river, till we came to the Gold Coast, which, hesaid, was not above 400 or 500 miles north of Congo, besides the turningof the coast west about 300 more; that shore being in the latitude ofsix or seven degrees; and that there the English, or Dutch, or Frenchhad settlements or factories, perhaps all of them.
I confess I had more mind, all the while he argued, to have gonenorthward, and shipped ourselves in the Rio Grande, or, as the traderscall it, the river Negro or Niger, for I knew that at last it wouldbring us down to the Cape de Verd, where we were sure of relief;whereas, at the coast we were going to now, we had a prodigious waystill to go, either by sea or