A MALAGASY CUSTOM. 519

apprehensions of them. But they went their way, and we heard
no more of them.

I shall not pester my account, or the reader, with descriptions
of places, journals of our voyages, variations of the compass, lati-
tudes, meridian distances, trade winds, situation of ports, and the
like, such as almost all the histories of long navigation are full of,
and makes the reading tiresome enough, and are perfectly unpro-
fitable to all that read it, except only to those who are fo go to
those places themselves.

It is enough to name the ports and places which we touched at,
and what occurred to us upon our passing from one to another.
We touched first at the Island of Madagascar, where, though the
people are fierce and treacherous, and, in particular, very well
armed with lances and bows, which they use with inconceivable
dexterity, yet we fared very well with them a while: they treated
us very civilly, and for some trifles which we gave them, such as
knives, scissors, &c., they brought us eleven good fat bullocks,
middling in size, but very good in flesh; which we took in partly
for fresh provisions for our present spending, and the rest to salt
for the ship’s use.

We were obliged to stay here some time after we had furnished
ourselves with provisions; and I, that was always too curious to
look into every nook of the world wherever I came, was for going
on shore as often as I could. It was on the east side of the island
that we went on shore, one evening; and the people, who, by the
way, are very numerous, came thronging about us, and stood
gazing at us at a distance. But as we had traded freely with
them, and had been kindly used, we thought ourselves in no
danger. But when we saw the people, we cut three boughs out
of a tree, and stuck them up at a distance from us;- which, it
seems, is a mark in the country, not only of truce and friendship,
but, when it is accepted, the other side set up three poles or
boughs, which is a signal that they accept the truce too. But
then, this is a known condition of the truce, that you are not to
pass between their three poles towards them, nor they to come
past your three poles or boughs towards you; so that you are
perfectly secure within the three poles, and all the space between