The people of this island are of an agreeable conversation, understanding us very well, desirous of learning our language and to teach us theirs. They are great cruizers: they have much beard; they are great archers and hurlers of darts; the vessels in which they sail are large, and can go a great way. They informed us of more than forty islands, great and small, all peopled, naming them by their names, and telling us that they were at war with many of them. They also gave us intelligence of the island Santa Cruz, and of what had happened when the adelantado was there.
The people of this island are of ordinary stature: they have amongst them people white and red, some in colour like those of the Indies, others woolly-headed blacks and mulattoes. Slavery is in use amongst them. Their food is yams, fish, cocoa-nuts, and they have hogs and fowls.
This island is named Taomaco, and the name of the chief is Tomai. We departed from hence with four Indians whom we took, at which they were not much pleased: and as we here got wood and water, there was no necessity for us to go to the Island Santa Cruz, which, as I have said, is in this parallel sixty leagues farther on.
So we sailed from hence, steering S.S.E. to 12½° S. latitude, where we found an island like that of Taomaco, and with the same kind of people, named Chucupia: there is only one small anchoring place; and passing in the offing, a small canoe with only two men came to me to make peace, and presented me some bark of a tree, which appeared like a very fine handkerchief, four yards long and three palms wide: on this I parted from them.
From hence we steered south. We had a hard gale of wind from the north, which obliged us to lye to for two days: at the end of that time it was thought, as it was winter, that we could not exceed the latitude of 14° S., in which we were, though my opinion was always directly contrary, thinking we should search for the islands named by the Indians of Taomaco. Wherefore sailing from this place we steered west, and in one day’s sail we discovered a volcano, very high and large, above three leagues in circuit, full of trees, and of black people with much beard.
To the westward, and in sight of this volcano, was an island, not very high and pleasant in appearance. There are few anchoring places, and those very close to the shore: it was very full of black people. Here we caught two in some canoes, whom we cloathed and gave them presents, and the next day we put them ashore. In return for this they shot a flight of arrows at a Spaniard, though in truth it was not in the same port, but about a musket shot farther on. They are, however, a people that never miss an opportunity of doing mischief.