They retired in the
day-time to their dens, where they hid themselves from the roc,
their enemy, and did not come out but in the night-time. I spent
the day in walking about the valley, resting myself at times, in
such places as I thought most commodious. When night came on, I
went into a cave, where I thought I might be in safety; I stopped
the mouth of it, which was low and straight, with a great stone,
to preserve me from the serpents, but not so exactly fitted as to
hinder light from coming in. I supped on part of my provisions;
but the serpents, which began to appear, hissing about in the
mean time, put me into such extreme fear, that you may easily
imagine I did not sleep. When day appeared, the serpents retired,
and I came out of the cave trembling; I can truly say, that I
walked a long time upon diamonds, without having a mind to touch
any of them. At last I sat down, and, notwithstanding my
uneasiness, not having shut my eyes during the night, I fell
asleep, after having ate a little more of my provisions. But I
had scarcely shut my eyes, when something that fell by me with a
great noise awakened me, and this was a great piece of fresh
meat; at the same time I saw several others fall down from the
rocks in different places.
I always looked upon it to be a fable, when I heard mariners and
others discourse of the valley of diamonds, and of the stratagems
made use of by some merchants to get jewels from thence; but I
found it to be true; for, in reality, those merchants come to the
neighbourhood of this valley when the eagles have young ones, and
throwing great joints of meat into it, the diamonds upon whose
points they fall stick to them: The eagles, which are stronger in
this country than any where else, fall down with great force upon
these pieces of meat, and carry them to their nests upon the top
of the rocks, to feed their young ones with; at which time the
merchants, running to these nests, frighten the eagles by their
noise, and take away the diamonds that stick to the meat.
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