Madras in February, 1798, on board a fhattered fhip taken from the Dutch, which could hardly reach the Bay of Da Lagoa, oppofite to the fouthern point of Madagascar. The account of the ftorm, by which he was nearly wrecked, would little intereft our readers. At Da Lagoa were found three British fhips, employed in the whale-fiihery, and three American veffels occupied in the fame trade. A defcription of the Bay, and the inhabitants of the adjacent coaft, may be found interefting. Da Lagoa Bay, fituated in about 25° 52′ fouth latitude, and in longitude 33° east of London, is large and capacious, being nearly thirty miles deep from eaft to weft, and about fixty miles long from north to fouth. It is, however, very little known, as the charts I have seen of it are very incorrect, Deer Ifland being not laid down in them. It is much frequented by south-fea whalers. The whales come into the bay in the month of June to cub, and leave it in September, when their calves are fufficiently ftrong to accompany them to fea. They are called right whales, and are commonly about fixty feet long, and make about eight tons of oil: fome are much larger. They are this feafon (1798) very numerous. As the whaler's time is entirely taken up in fifhing and boiling down, it is, therefore, in fome meafure, excufable, that fome of them do not publifh a plan of a port which ought certainly to be much better known; and if, on the peace with the French and Dutch, we retain the Cape," which I hope to God we will," no place, in my opinion, can be fo well calculated to form a fettlement, in being a commodious harbour, and having feveral large rivers, particularly Mafumo or English River, being navigable for large vessels, having four fathom on the bar at the entrance in fpring-tides, and is four miles broad: the channel is, however, narrow, not more, I believe, than one mile over. Captain Hopper, who has obligingly given me every information in his power, as he has been here frequently, was told by the Portuguese who were fettled here, that it is naviga ble for veffels drawing about twelve feet water for upwards of thirty or forty miles, and for large boats feveral hundred; and, from its appearance, I really think it is fo. Ships commonly lie about two miles up the river, where you have a good depth of water, and lie perfectly safe from all winds, with plenty of every fort of refreshment, fuch as excellent beef, goats, fowls, fish, sweet potatoes, cabbage and greens, lemons, bananas, &c. and plenty of good water on both fides the river. I would advife a fhip coming into the bay to stand to the N. and N. N. W. till the come into between eight and nine fathoms water, and brings Cape St. Mary's to bear S. by E.E. (allowing for the variation, which is two points wefterly), diftance near three leagues, and you fee high breakers extending for near feven miles to the northward of it; coming near them, you always fhoal your wa ter, but deepen it as you keep further off; then ftand to the weftward, i. e. W. by S. W. and W. by N. by the compafs, you will meet with frequent riplings; but if you come in at half flood, you will never have less than four fathoms, and there are a number of fhoals, flats, and fhifting fands in the bay, occafioned by the tide and different rivers that run into it. They fhift, I understand, with every fpring tide, or when it blows ftrong from the eastward, which is the only wind that occafions any fea in the bay; but a vessel may ride with perfect safety in many parts of the bay in good holding ground, and fufficient depth of water. The foundings are very uneven and irregular all over the bay, as you have ten fathoms, then five, then no ground at 13, and the next throw of the lead but four fathoms water. : • Deer Island is the nearest land you will have coming in: it is low and fandy, with short brush wood, and is about three or four miles long it has a reef extending for two or three miles out, bearing from N. W. to E. N. E. Half flood is the best time for a fhip to ftand in, the tide ring rather more than twelve feet (it is high water at full and change at four P. M.), and having fent your boats a head on the tide's making, and with a leading wind, or two points free, you may very easily escape every danger. The Red Head is a pretty high, bluff, red point, being the north point of Mafumo river; it is clearly cut; the oppofite point is not fo high; keep rather more than one mile off the Red Head, and you will have the deepest water in croffing the bar, as, on the other shore, there is a bank which extends more than a mile out, and part of it is dry at low water. The inhabitants of Da Lagoa are Caffres, of a bright black colour, but not numerous, as I do not recollect ever seeing more than one hundred or an hundred and fifty at one time, although, they crowd round you when you come on fhore, therefore do not fuppofe they exceed fix, or at moft ten thoufand, about the bay: they, in general, are a tall, ftout, ftrong, and well-made race, and, to all appearances, healthy; but great numbers of the men are affflicted with the hydrocele: they go about nearly naked, and the women only use a small narrow piece of cloth, with two or more pieces of leather hanging down behind, ornamented with beads, and coloured or tanned with red earth. The men have mostly the paint of an antelope's or deer's horn, which they ufe as a call or whistle, fufpended by a string about their necks: they have, likewife, wooden and ivory ones, and they hang feveral brass buttons, pieces of broken china, and some of them with a number of goofe quills ftrung together, and different forts of roots, to which they attribute foine medicinal virtue. I have brought fome quantity of it with me, and have found it to be an aromatic, and a great aftringent. I have feen them use it to ftop any bleeding wound, with fuccefs, by chewing and applying it to the part: it is likewife ufed CRIT. REV. VOL. XXX. November, 1800. by them to cure pains in the bowels, and they affured me that it always fucceeded. They drefs their hair in different modes, fome of them taking great pains with it, oiling it frequently; but I never could obferve two dressed exactly in the fame manner. They have with a piece of iron, formerly a large nail made into a fmall chiffel, without wfing water, or any other fubftitute; and, in general, shave all the hair off their heads but a large tuft in the middle of the crown, which they drefs up, by putting in fome fmall pieces of stick, and fewing them in, to bring it to the fhape of a fugar-loaf, with the point cut off. Some of the men, I have obferved, left two large tufts on each fide of the head, which they ornamented with pieces of brafs, the fize of our common buttons, with a hole made in them to pull the hair through. Both fexes fhave all the hair off their eye-brows, only leaving two fmall tufts in the middle. The women fhave all their heads but a finall piece over the crown, of the shape of a half-moon. They have or pull out all the hair of their bodies, except under the arms, laying and rubbing ashes on he hair, and then pulling it out. Most of the men and women of rank wear brafs bangles, or bracelets, on their necks and wrists, and I have feen several women with them round their necks three inches in circumference, and weighing four or five pounds. The men wear them smaller, having feveral rows, and likewife from the wrift up to the elbow on both arms (those on the neck angular, but thofe on the wrifts circular). Those about their necks feemed to give them pain, as they could not easily turn their heads; but as it is a mark of rank, and worn only till a certain age, they do not of courfe like to lay them afide. I could not, however, learn at what age or time they left them off, but I never faw any worn by men much past thirty; they always told me they were given them by their fathers. Both men and women wear rings on their fingers and toes, and some of both fexes copper chains juft under the knee; the women decorate their necks likewife with large blue and other coloured glass beads, but the poorer fort have but very few ornaments: the women are always anointed with oil, mixed with red earth, which is easily procured here.. They are all tattowed, fome down the middle of the forehead, : and point of the chin, in this way \; and of their temples, of this hape X their bodies are fo likewife, particularly on the cheft, but none of them exactly alike; thofe, however, of the fame family are tattowed very nearly in the fame manner. Polygamy is allowed, and they purchafe their wives from the father, giving a certain number of bullocks, perhaps ten, or not fo many, for each: their chief, however, comes in for a certain number, and he of course encourages this cuftom. Divorces are not in fashion at Da Lagoa, for the men are all faithful, and the women, though nearly naked, virtuous; and from particular inquiries among them, found that they were surprised at my even afking fuch a question, telling me, that woman, that man wife; yet there are a class of them who come on fhip-board that leffen the general character, but these are very juftly confidered as outcafts; their numbers are not very confiderable, nor will they even permit of a promiscuous intercourse with different men. • Their mode of falutation is ching, ching, which they repeat ra pidly (laying great emphasis on the last ching), offering you one of their hands, bowing down at the fame time; but they seem to make no difference or distinction in which hand they offer. Saheb is ufed by fome of them after ching, ching, but not frequent: both are friendly. They feem a very good-natured and harmless race, being always good-humoured, and laughing heartily on the flightest occafions, particularly in trading, when you offer less than they think their commodities are worth, calling ha, hah; but a very cunning fet, great Jews, and they will take you in if you do not mind them, for they always afk three or four times more than the value. They are prone to revenge if affronted; for they then take an opportunity of murdering you; but this is only attended with danger to the perfon who has been the aggreffor. I heard of an inftance of the carpenter of a whaler having been killed by them, being taken for a man whom he much resembled, that had infulted fome of them fome time before. At the time the poor man was killed, two boats landed at the fame place for wood: they feized the poor man, who had gone some distance from the boats, and run two or three spears through his body. Some of the men heard his cries, and came and carried him to the boats, and feveral of the natives came and affifted them in getting their boats off. They are a very honeft fet of people, but great beggars, on the north fide particularly: this they have learnt, I imagine, from the Portuguese. During our ftay we never met with an inftance of their taking any thing that was not given or fold to them, although they often had opportunities, as the decks of the Lion were always crowded with them, from eight o'clock in the morning till four in the afternoon. I am convinced, that if a settlement were formed here, they would soon become a very useful set of people, and ncthing but their not having any method of making cloth prevents their being decently clad, as they are very partial to any kind of clothing, even an old jacket, flirt, waiftcoat, handkerchief, breeches, stockings or fhoes, with which you may purchase fowls, fish, eggs, &c. which they bring off in their boats: hats are in great demand among them, and fo are wigs. Several of king Capelleh's fons, about twelve or fourteen years old, ufed to come frequently on board the Lion, dreffed out in old wigs, which they were very proud off. All the labour and work is done by the women, and you will see them working in the fields, cutting down wood, &c. the men attending them armed. It is not uncommon to meet the women, with a child on their backs, in a goat's skin, with a heavy burthen on their heads, travelling for miles along the beach: however, when the men come on fhip board, they will work a whole day for a handful of fugar, called by them English honey; but, though they have plenty of fugar-cane, they are perfectly ignorant of the procefs of extracting the fugar: they were of great ufe to us in the Lion while difcharging her cargo, as fome of the damaged bags of fugar used to be given them, and they would often work at the tackle-fall, and ten or twelve of them would do as much in two hours as the lafcars in nearly a whole day, they being very weak, from the conftant labour and exceffive fatigue they had undergone for fome time before, though very few ill. In going to any of their villages, you find the men moftly fitting in circles round a fire, fmoaking tobacco and bang, dreffing their hair, making bird-cages, or fome other trivial occupation, while the women were employed in beating Indian corn, maize, rice, and other neceflary occupations. It appears very extraordinary that they are ignorant of any fort of game or aufement, which is the more remarkable, as time muft lay heavy on their hands. Indeed, I cannot but rejoice at their ignorance, for in moft other countries, particularly in India, the men would gamble in fome way or other, and, after losing all the property they had, ftake their wives and children.' P. 21. This defeription is illuftrated with two prints, reprefenting the natives of the northern and fouthern thores of Mafumo. In the former the men wear a fraw helmet, refembling in fhape that of the Normans under the Conqueror. The author obferves, that they only feed their flaves with grafs and water, and that he would confider it as a Chriftian duty to carry fuch wretches to the Weft Indies. On the fouthern fide of the river Mafumo, the author found no lets than fourteen chiefs, all fubject to one Capelleh, whofe dominions extend about two hundred miles up the country, and about one hundred round the coaft, computed by the natives, from an allowance of twenty miles for a day's journey. The best article to bring to trade with here is coarfe blue cloth; ambergreafe is to be procured in return, with plenty of elephant and fea-cows' teeth, particularly the latter, which you can purchase for a mere trifle, bring very numerous in the river, as we used to fee them often. They come on fhore at night, when the natives watch for and kill them. The natives do not feem fond of parting with the elephant's teeth without fomething valuable, as they fet a great price on them; but this is not by any means too high, for they would be purchased much under a guinea each. As we did not come here to trade, and the whalers were not permitted, we did not have many, and made no inquiry if they had any thing else except fkins for fale. We ufed to purchase a bullock of 400lb. weight for |