1565.

Florida.

day, and when they are at the Spanyards finding, they give them nothing but sodden herbs & maiz: and in this order I saw threescore of them feed, who were laden with wares, and came fifty leagues off. The Floridians when they travell, have a kinde of herbe Tobacco & the dried, who with a cane and an earthen cup in the end, great vertue thereof. with fire, and the dried herbs put together, doe sucke thorow the cane the smoke thereof, which smoke satisfieth their hunger, and therwith they live foure or five dayes without meat or drinke, and this all the Frenchmen used for this purpose: yet do they holde opinion withall, that it causeth water & fleame to void from their stomacks. The commodities of this land are more then are yet knowen to any man: for besides the land it [III. 519.] selfe, whereof there is more then any king Christian is able to inhabit, it flourisheth with medow, pasture The variety of ground, with woods of Cedar and Cypres, and other commodities in sorts, as better can not be in the world. They have for apothecary herbs, trees, roots and gummes great store, as Storax liquida, Turpintine, Gumme, Myrrhe, and Frankinsence, with many others, whereof I know not the names. Colours both red, blacke, yellow, & Colours. russet, very perfect, wherewith they so paint their bodies, and Deere skinnes which they weare about them, that with water it neither fadeth away, nor altereth colour. Golde and silver they want not: for at the Frenchmens Golde and first comming thither they had the same offered them silver. for little or nothing, for they received for a hatchet two pound weight of golde, because they knew not the estimation thereof: but the souldiers being greedy of the same, did take it from them, giving them nothing for it: the which they perceiving, that both the Frenchmen did greatly esteeme it, and also did rigorously deale with them, by taking the same away from them, at last would not be knowen they had any more, neither durst they weare the same for feare of being taken away: so that saving at their first comming, they could get none of them: and how they came by this golde and silver the

1565.

Two Spanyards lived long among ye

Floridians.

French men know not as yet, but by gesse, who having travelled to the Southwest of the cape, having found the same dangerous, by meanes of sundry banks, as we also have found the same: and there finding masts which were wracks of Spanyards comming from Mexico, judged that they had gotten treasure by them. For it is most true that divers wracks have beene made of Spanyards, having much treasure: for the Frenchmen having travelled to the capeward an hundred and fiftie miles, did finde two Spanyards with the Floridians, which they brought afterward to their fort, whereof one was in a caravel comming from the Indies, which was cast away foureteene yeeres ago, & the other twelve yeeres; of whose fellowes some escaped, othersome were slain by the inhabitants. It seemeth they had estimation of Pieces of Gold their golde & silver, for it is wrought flat and graven, graven among which they weare about their neckes; othersome made ye Floridians. round like a round like a pancake, with a hole in the midst, to boulster up their breasts withall, because they thinke it a deformity to have great breasts. As for mines either of gold or silver, the Frenchmen can heare of none they have upon the Island, but of copper, whereof as yet also they have not made the proofe, because they were but few men: but it is not unlike, but that in the maine where are high hilles, may be golde and silver aswell as in Mexico, because it is all one maine. The Frenchmen obteined pearles of them of great bignesse, but they were blacke, by meanes of rosting of them, for they do not fish for them as the Spanyards doe, but for their meat: for the Spanyards use to keepe dayly afishing some two or three hundred Indians, some of them that be of choise a thousand: and their order is to go in canoas, or rather great pinnesses, with thirty men in a piece, whereof the one halfe, or most part be divers, the rest doe open the same for the pearles: for it is not suffered that they should use dragging, for that would bring them out of estimation, and marre the beds of them. The oisters which have the smallest

Florida

esteemed an Island.

This copper was found perfect golde, called by the Savages, Sycroa phyra.

Pearles.

1

sort of pearles are found in seven or eight fadome water, but the greatest in eleven or twelve fadome.

ye

1565.

inhabitants

The Floridians have pieces of unicornes hornes which Unicornes they weare about their necks, whereof the Frenchmen hornes, which obteined many pieces. Of those unicornes they have call Souanammany; for that they doe affirme it to be a beast with ma. one horne, which comming to the river to drinke, putteth the same into the water before he drinketh. Of this unicornes horne there are of our company, that having gotten the same of the Frenchmen, brought home thereof to shew. It is therfore to be presupposed that there are more commodities aswell as that, which for want of time, and people sufficient to inhabit the same, can not yet come to light: but I trust God will reveale the same before it be long, to the great profit of them that shal take it in hand. Of beasts in this countrey besides Beasts. deere, foxes, hares, polcats, conies, ownces, & leopards, I am not able certeinly to say: but it is thought that there are lions and tygres as well as unicornes; lions especially; if it be true that is sayd, of the enmity betweene them and the unicornes: for there is no beast but hath his enemy, as the cony the polcat, a sheepe the woolfe, the elephant the rinoceros; and so of other beasts the like: insomuch, that whereas the one is, the other can not be missing. And seeing I have made mention of the beasts of this countrey, it shall not be from my purpose to speake also of the venimous beasts, as crocodiles, whereof there is great abundance, adders of great bignesse, whereof our men killed some of a yard and a halfe long. Also I heard a miracle of one of these adders, upon the which a faulcon seizing, the sayd adder Faulcons in did claspe her tail about her; which the French captaine Florida. seeing, came to the rescue of the faulcon, and tooke her slaying the adder; and this faulcon being wilde, he did reclaim her, and kept her for the space of two moneths, at which time for very want of meat he was faine to cast her off. On these adders the Frenchmen did feed, to no little admiration of us, and affirmed the

1565.

[III. 520.] Serpents.

same to be a delicate meat. And the captaine of the Frenchmen saw also a serpent with three heads and foure feet, of the bignesse of a great spaniell, which for want of a harquebuz he durst not attempt to slay. Of fish also they have in the river, pike, roch, salmon, trout, and divers other small fishes, and of great fish, some of the length of a man and longer, being of bignesse accordingly, having a snout much like a sword of a yard long. Flying fishes. There be also of sea fishes, which we saw comming along the coast flying, which are of the bignesse of a smelt, the biggest sort whereof have foure wings, but the other have but two: of these wee sawe comming out of Guinea a hundred in a company, which being chased by the gilt-heads, otherwise called the bonitos, do to avoid them the better, take their flight out of the water, but yet are they not able to flie farre, because of the drying of their wings, which serve them not to flie but when they are moist, and therefore when they can flie no further they fall into the water, and having wet their wings, take a new flight againe. These bonitos be of bignesse like a carpe, and in colour like a makarell, but it is the swiftest fish in swimming that is, and followeth her prey very fiercely, not onely in the water, but also out of the water: for as the flying fish taketh her flight, so doeth this bonito leape after them, and taketh them sometimes above the water. There were some of those bonitos, which being galled by a fisgig, did follow our shippe comming out of Guinea 500. leagues. There is a sea-fowle also that chaseth this flying fish aswell as the bonito: for as the flying fish taketh her flight, so doth this fowle pursue to take her, which to beholde is a greater pleasure then hawking, for both the flights are as pleasant, and also more often then an hundred times: for the fowle can flie no way, but one or other lighteth in her pawes, the number of them are so abundant. There is an innumerable yoong frie of these flying fishes, which commonly keepe about the ship, and are not so big as butter-flies,

>

1565.

and yet by flying do avoid the unsatiablenesse of the bonito. Of the bigger sort of these fishes wee tooke many, which both night and day flew into the sailes of our ship, and there was not one of them which was not woorth a bonito : for being put upon a hooke drabling in the water, the bonito would leap thereat, and so was taken. Also, we tooke many with a white cloth made fast to a hooke, which being tied so short in the water, that it might leape out and in, the greedie bonito thinking it to be a flying fish leapeth thereat, and so is deceived. We tooke also dolphins Dolphins. which are of very goodly colour and proportion to behold, and no lesse delicate in taste. Fowles also there be many, both upon land and upon sea: but concerning them on the land I am not able to them, because my abode was there so short. But for the fowle of the fresh rivers, these two I noted to be the chiefe, whereof the Flemengo is one, having all Flemingo. red feathers, and long red legs like a herne, a necke according to the bill, red, whereof the upper neb hangeth an inch over the nether; and an egript, which The egript. is all white as the swanne, with legs like to an hearnshaw, and of bignesse accordingly, but it hath in her taile feathers of so fine a plume, that it passeth the estridge his feather. Of the sea-fowle above all other not common in England, I noted the pellicane, which The pellicane. is fained to be the lovingst bird that is; which rather then her yong should want, wil spare her heart bloud out of her belly but for all this lovingnesse she is very deformed to beholde; for she is of colour russet: notwithstanding in Guinea I have seene of them as white as a swan, having legs like the same, and a body like a hearne, with a long necke, and a thick long beake, from the nether jaw whereof downe to the breast passeth a skinne of such a bignesse, as is able to receive a fish as big as ones thigh, and this her big throat and long bill doeth make her seem so ougly. Here I have declared the estate of Florida, and the