For about ten or twelve days we sailed on south, down the coast of Africa. Then one
day we saw some people on the shore - strange, wild people, who did not look
friendly. By now we had very little food, and we really needed help. We were
afraid, but we had to go on the shore. At first, they were afraid of us too. We
did not speak their language, of course, so we used our hands and faces to show
that we were hungry. They came with food for us, but then they moved away
quickly. We carried the food to our boat and they watched us. I tried to thank
them, but I had nothing to give them.
Just then two big wild cats came down to the shore from the mountains. I think they
were leopards. The people were afraid of these wild cats, and the women cried
out. Quickly, I took a gun and shot one of the animals. The second wild cat ran
back up into the mountains. Guns were new to these African people, and they were
afraid of the loud noise and the smoke. But they were happy about the dead wild
cat. I gave them the meat of the wild animal and they gave us more food and
water.
We now had a lot of food and water and we sailed on.
