Page 75
An. 1683
Isle of Mayo.
mote. They were all very swarthy, if the Governour was the clearest of them; yet of a dark tawny com- plexion.
At this Island we scrubb'd the bottom of our Ship; and here also we dug wells ashore on the Bay, and fill'd all our water; and after 4 or 6 days stay, we went from hence to Mayo, another of the Cape-Verd Islands, lying about 20 miles East and by South from the other; arriving there the next day, and anchoring on the N. W. side of the Island. We sent our Boat ashore, intending to have purchased some Provisions, as Beef or Goats, with which this Island is better stocked than the rest of the Islands. But the inhabitants would not suffer us to come on land; for about a week before our arrival there came an English Ship; the men of which came ashore, pre- tending friendship, and seised on the Governour with some others, and carrying them aboard, made them send ashore for Cattle to ransom their Liber- ties: and yet after this set sail, and carry'd them away; and they had not heard of them since. The English-man that did this (as I was afterwards in- formed) was one Captain Bond of Bristol. Whether ever he brought back those men again I know not: He himself and most of his men have since gone over to the Spaniards: and 'twas he who had like to have burnt our Ship after this in the Bay of Panama, as I shall have occasion to relate.
This Isle of Mayo is but small, and environed with sholes; yet a place much frequented by shipping for its great plenty of Salt: and though there is but bad landing, yet many Ships lade here every year. Here are plenty of Bulls, Cows, and Goats; and at a certain season in the year, as May, June, July, and August, a sort of small Sea-Tortoise come hither to lay their Eggs: but these Turtle are not so sweet as those in the West Indies. The Inhabitants plant Corn, Yams, Potatoes, and some Plantations, and breed a few