The fame of this man spread abroad through the whole country; and one of the lords, being very desirous to have him, that he might see and learn this new and wonderful art of catching fish, made war against the lord with whom he lived, and prevailing in consequence of his superior power and greater skill in war, the fisherman and his companions were given up to him as the price of peace. During thirteen years that he resided in these parts, he says that he was transferred in this manner to twenty-five different lords, as they were continually at war with each other to procure possession of him; so that by wandering about the country in this manner he became perfectly well acquainted with every part of it, He says that it is a very extensive country, and as it were a new world; but that the inhabitants are a rude unpolished people, without the enjoyment of any convenience of life; for, although they take or kill many wild animals in hunting, they have not the sense to make their skins into garments, but all go naked, and are miserably pinched with cold. They are besides extremely uncivilized and savage, continually engaged in wars against each other, in which they commit horrible ravages, and devour their prisoners. They know not the use of any metal, and live by the chase, being armed with spears of wood made sharp at the point, and use bows, the strings of which are made of slips of hide. They are divided into small tribes, each of which has its lord or governor, and the laws or customs of the several tribes differ much from each other. Farther to the southwest, however, the manners are more civilized in proportion to the increasing mildness of the climate; and there the people are not without some degree of knowledge, making use of gold and silver, and having cities and temples dedicated to idols, in which they offer up human sacrifices.
After residing many years among this savage people, the principal fisherman became desirous of returning into his own country, but his companions being without hope of ever seeing it again, wished him prosperity in his attempt, and resolved to remain where they were. Bidding them farewell, he fled through the woods, in the direction which led towards Drogio, and was received with great kindness by one of the lords of that country who knew, him, and who was a determined enemy to the lord from whence he had escaped. Thus passing from one lord to another, with all of whom he was well acquainted, as he had formerly resided with them all, he at length, and with great difficulty, arrived in Drogio, where he stayed three years. Then fortunately hearing that some small vessel had arrived on the coast, he went thither, and learned, to his unspeakable satisfaction, that they were from Estoitland. Upon this, he earnestly requested to be taken on board, which they did very willingly; and as he understood the language of the country, which the others did not, he became their interpreter. He afterwards made repeated voyages from Estoitland to Drogio and acquired great riches. After which, he equipped a bark of his own, in which he returned to Frisland where he made a report to his lord of all that had befallen him, and of the discovery he had made of an extensive and wealthy country.
As this strange and marvellous story was confirmed by the testimony of the sailors he had brought along with him, it gained full credit; and accordingly Zichmni determined to send me, Antonio Zeno, with a fleet into these parts; and so great was the desire among the people to embark in this expedition, that our fleet was well manned and equipped without expence to the public. I accordingly set sail with a great number of ships and men, but not commander in chief as I expected, for Zichmni went in person on the expedition. Our great preparation for the voyage to Estoitland began in an unlucky hour as, three days before our departure, the fisherman died who was to have been our guide; yet Zichmni would not give up the enterprise, but took for, his guides several of the sailors who had returned with the fisherman from Estoitland. Shaping our course to the westwards, we passed several islands subject to Frisland, and arrived at Ledovo, or the Lewis, where we staid a week to refresh ourselves, and to provide the fleet with necessaries. Departing thence, we arrived on the first of July off the island of Ilofe, or Islay; and the wind being favourable, did not stop there but stood on our voyage. Not long afterwards, being in the main sea, we were overtaken by a dreadful tempest, which tossed us to and fro, at the mercy of the winds and waves for eight days, so that we knew not whereabouts we were. By the violence of this tempest, we lost many of our vessels, but after the return of good weather, we collected the remains of our shattered fleet, and having a fair wind, we stood on to the westwards, and at length descried the coast of Estoitland, and arrived in a good and safe harbour. Here we saw an infinite number of armed men running furiously towards the shore, apparently for the purpose of defending the island. Upon this, Zichmni commanded signs of peace to be made, and the islanders sent ten men to us who could speak ten different languages; but we could understand none of these, excepting one man who happened to be an Icelander. This man was brought to our prince, and gave the following account of the country; and people.
The land was called Icarta, and all its kings were named Icarus, after the name, of its first king, who was the son of Daedalus king of Scotland. This Daedalus had discovered and conquered the island, and after instituting the body of laws by which they are still governed, had left them his son to be their king. After this, Daedalus[1] sailed in quest of farther discoveries, but was overtaken by a violent storm and drowned. In memory of which, they named their island Icaria, the sea surrounding it the Icarian sea, and all their successive kings Icarus. He stated, moreover, that they were perfectly contented with the state in which they had been placed by Providence, and not choosing to make the smallest change in their manners and customs, would admit no strangers into their land; and therefore requested the prince not to attempt violating the laws of their king, of glorious memory, as any such attempt would turn to his manifest destruction, since they were resolved to sacrifice their lives in defence of their laws. They were willing, however, to receive one of our men, who should be advanced to the rank of a chief, on purpose to learn our language; having already received ten different men with that view from ten different nations.
[1] Or Icarus, for the language in Forster is ambiguous, and does not clearly fix this important historical fact!--E.
Upon this Zichmni sailed from the harbour, as if meaning to go away from the island; but being in want of wood and water, he skirted along the coast at some distance, and put into another harbour on the eastern side of the island with all his fleet. Here the mariners went on shore, and procured the necessary supplies with all possible speed, lest they might be attacked by the natives. This precaution was by no means unnecessary, for the inhabitants near this harbour made signals by fire and smoke to the rest of the country; and taking to their arms, were soon joined by others, and came down upon our men with bows and arrows, and other weapons, and in the conflict, many of them were killed, and others dangerously wounded[2]. We were therefore obliged to depart, and made a large circuit round the island, always accompanied on the shore and on the hills by a vast number of armed men to oppose our landing. Seeing that nothing could be done here, Zichmni set sail to the eastwards with a fair wind; and after six days sail, we came in sight of land, which we found to be a very good country, with an excellent harbour. We descried a mountain at a considerable distance, which emitted smoke, and Zichmni sent an hundred soldiers to explore the country, and to inquire if it were inhabited. In the meantime, we took in wood and water, and caught vast quantities of fish and sea-fowl, and procured immense numbers of eggs; so that our people, before almost famished, had now more provisions than they could eat. To this harbour, we gave the name of port Trin, and the point that stretched out into the sea was named Cape Trin. The soldiers who had been sent out to examine the country, returned at the end of eight days, and reported they had been all through