1596-1597

Account by M. Thomas Masham. Date uncertain. pp. 1-15 (in) The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation Made by Sea or Over-land to the Remote and Farthest Distant Quarters of the Earth at any time within the compasse of these 1600 Yeeres. Edited by Richard Hakluyt. Vol. 11. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1904.

[On the 14th of March we] went with our Captaine into Wias, and there traded with the Caribs for such things as they had … All this day we feasted with him [the local Indian chief] and his traine, and the next day we traffiqued with them for such things as they brought, which was principally tabacco … And passing by the rivers of Euracco and Amano … wee came to Marawinne … and came to a Arwaccawes towne called Marrac … and finding the people something pleasant, having drunke much that day, being as it seemed a festivall day with them … And the next day their captaine Mawewiron came out into Marawinne, with divers canoas, and traded with us … and [they] carried us from house to house, and made us eate and drinke in every house which wee came in (pp. 6-7).

[We came to Cuppanamo … [then] Coritine … [then] Warrawalle … On Wednesday the Indians of the towne having hunted a Doe, shee tooke soyle and came neer our ship, and putting off with our boat we tooke her, being like unto our deere in England, not althogether so fat, but very good flesh and great bodied … [and we went and came to] a small river called Tapuere, to a towne called Macharibi, thinking to have had Casavi and other victuals, which they were althogether unprovided of, by reason that they make no more ready then serveth themselves from hand to mouth, living in this towne for the most part by fish (pp. 10-11).

This night we came to a towne called Vaperon, where wee stayed all Saturday and the night followng, for Casavi: whereof they baked good store for us being but a fewe left in the towne … the Sunne is twise a yeere over their heads and never far from them, yet it is temperate ynough in those partes. For besides that we lost not a man upn the coast, one that was sicke before hee came there, was nothing sicker for being there, but came home safe, thanks be to God. And for mine owne part, I was never better in body in all my life … for indeed it is not so extreame hote as many imagine. The people in all the lower parts of the countrey goe naked, both men and women, being of severall languages, very tractable, and ingenious, and very loving and kinde to Englishmen generally (pp. 12-13).

For bread there is infinite store of casavi, which is as good bread as a man need to eate, and better then we can cary any thither. We spent not a bit of our owne [English bread] all the while we were upn the coast. It is made of a root so called; which they take and scrape, and crush all the juyce out, being poison; and when it is drie it is as fine floure as our white meale maketh; which dry as it is, without any moisture, they strew upon a round stone, having a still fire under it, and so it congealeth to a cake; and when it commeth new off, it eateth like to our new white bread. Besides; there is great store of Guiny-Wheat (whereof they make passing good drinke) which after it is once sowed, if you cut off the eare, on the same stalke groweth another. For victuals, wee either did not, or at least needed not to hve spent any of our owne: for there is great store of as good fish in the rivers, as any is in the world. Great store of fowle, of divers sorts. Tortoise-flesh plentifull and Tortoises egges innumerable. Deere, swine, conies, hares, cockes and hennes, with potatoes more then we could spend. Besides, all kinde of fruits, at all times of the yeer: and the rarest fruits of the world, the pine, the plantan, with infinite other variable and pleasant, growing to their handes, without planting or dressing. For commodities…long hempe … fine cotton wooll, which thr trees yeeld great store of … great store of pitch, diverse sorts of sweet gummes, and West Indian pepper, balsamum, parrots and monkies (p. 14).