Journal of a cruise made to the Pacific Ocean / by Captain David Porter, in the United States frigate Essex, in the years 1812, 1813, and 1814. Containing descriptions of the Cape de Verd Islands, coasts of Brazil, Patagonia, Chili, and Peru, and of the Gallapagos Islands.
- David Porter
- Date:
- [1815]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Journal of a cruise made to the Pacific Ocean / by Captain David Porter, in the United States frigate Essex, in the years 1812, 1813, and 1814. Containing descriptions of the Cape de Verd Islands, coasts of Brazil, Patagonia, Chili, and Peru, and of the Gallapagos Islands. Source: Wellcome Collection.
399/470 page 113
![tween two stones, and showed them the flour, which produced from them the most joyous exclamations of maié! maié! maieé! and all be- gan to clear away spots for sowing the grain,andbringing me leaves and cocoa-nut shells, begging that I would give them some to take home to plant. When we first arrived at this island, we of- _ fered them our ship bread, but they would not eat it, declaring it was made of coral rocks, and was no ways to be compared te bread-fruit; but after we had got our oven to work, and issued fresh bread to the crew, they, particularly the women, became ex- travagantly fond of it, and there was no favour they would not grant, nor any risk they would not run to obtain a smail loaf; they would swim off to the ships, about meal times, in large shoals, and wait there for the sailors to throw them pieces of bread, although the harbour was much infested with large and. ravenous sharks, and one of the natives was devoured by them soon after our arri- val. A string of beads, highly as they were valued, could be pur- chased for a loaf; and chiefs after walking many miles over moun- tains to bring us presents of fruit and hogs, would return well sa- tisfied, if I presented them a hot roll from the oven. I endeavoured to impress them with an idea of the value of the seeds I was planting, and explained to them the different kinds of fruit they would produce, assuring them of their excel- lence, and as a farther inducement to them to attend their culti- vation, I promised them that, on my return, I would give them a whale’s tooth for every ripe pumpkin and mellon they would bring me; and to the chiefs of the distant tribes, to whom I dis- tributed the diffent kinds of seeds, I made the same promise. J] also gave them several English hogs of a superior breed, which they were very anxious to procure. I left in charge of Wil- son some male and female goats, and as I had a number of young Gallapagos tortoises, I distributed several among the chiefs, and permitted a great many to escape into the ene and among: the grass. In one of those excursions, I was led to the chief place of - religious ceremony of the valley. It is situated high up the val- _ley of the Havvous, and I regret extremely that I had it not in my power to make a correct drawing of it on the spot, as it fax exceeds in splendour every thing of the kind described by cap-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29286931_0399.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
