This being over, the captain says to us, God has now done what he
pleased; we may every man dig our grave here, and bid the world
adieu; for we are all in so fatal a place, that none shipwrecked
here did ever return to their homes again. His discourse
afflicted us mortally, and we embraced one another with tears in
our eyes, bewailing our deplorable lot.
The mountain at the foot of which we were cast, was the coast of
a very long and large island. This coast was covered over with
wrecks: and, by the vast number of men's bones we saw every
where, and which filled us with horror, we concluded that
abundance of people had died there. It is also incredible to tell
what a quantity of goods and riches we found cast ashore there.
All those objects served only to augment our grief. While, in all
other places, rivers run from their channels into the sea, here a
great river of fresh water runs out of the sea into a dark cave,
whose entrance is very high and large. What is most remarkable in
this place is, that the stones of the mountain are of crystal,
rubies, or other precious stones. Here also is a sort of fountain
of pitch or bitumen that runs into the sea, which the fishes
swallow, and then vomit up again turned into ambergris; this the
waves throw upon the beach in great quantities. Here grow also
trees, most of which are wood of aloes, equal to those of Comari.
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