ABSTRACT

Having travelled thus long upon the Main Land of America, let us now venture again to Sea, and look into the Islands belonging to his Majesty in the West Indies. The first which offers it self is Bermudas or the Summer Islands, which are a multitude of broken Isles, some write no less than four hundred, scituate directly East from Virginia from which they are distant / five hundred English Miles, and three Thousand three hundred Miles from the City of London, so named from John Bermudaz a Spaniard who first discovered them. Oviedo writes, that he was near it, and had thought to have sent some Hogs on Shore for increase, but by force of Tempest was driven from thence, it being extreamly subject to furious Rains, Lightning and Thunder, for which and the many Ship- wracks that have hapned upon the Coast, it is called the Island of Devils. Job Hartop relates that in the height of Bermudas, they had sight of a Sea-Monster, which shewed it self three times from the middle upward, in shape like a man of an Indian or Mulatto Complexion; It was after named the Summer Islands from the shipwrack of Sr George Summers who was so much delighted with the misadventure, that he endeavoured what he could to settle a Plantation there, together with Sr Thos. Gates. They found there plenty and Variety of Fish, an abundance of Hogs which probably escaped out of some shipwrack; Mulberries, Silkworms, Palmettos, Cedars, Pearls and Ambergreice, but the most surprizing thing was the Variety of Fowl, taking a Thousand of one kind in two or three hours as big as a Pigeon laying speckled Eggs as large as hens on the Sand, which they do dayly without affright though men sit down by them; Other Birds were so tame that by whistling to them they would come and gaze at you, while with your stick you might kill them; when they had taken a Thousand soon after they might have as many more; They had other Eggs of Tortoises, a bushell being found in the belly of one of them which were very sweet and good, they took fourty of these Turtles or Tortoises in a day, one of which would serve fifty men at a meal.