2019/11/29PIGAFETTA, 1519-11-29

(…) and we crossed as far as a country named Verzin, which is in twenty-four degrees and a half of the antarctic sky. This country is from the cape St. Augustine, which is in eight degrees in the antarctic sky. At this place we had refreshments of victuals, like fowls and meat of calves,  also a variety of fruits, called battate, pigne (pine-apples), sweet, of singular goodness, and many other things, which I have omitted mentioning, not to be too long. The people of the said place gave, in order to have a knife, or a hook  for catching fish, five or six fowls, and for a comb they gave two geese, and for a small mirror, or a pair of scissors, they gave so much fish that ten men could have eaten of it. And for a bell (or hawk's-bell)  they gave a full basket  of the fruit named battate; this has the taste of a chestnut, and is of the length of a shuttle.  For a king of cards, of that kind which they used to play with in Italy, they gave me five fowls, and thought they had cheated me. (…)