Berths were also found for Bantum
and Janstins in the officers' quarters, and although Hartog and I were
joint owners of the "Golden Seahorse", and shared equally in the profit
or loss of the expedition, Hartog was given the supreme command.
It was not until we had lost sight of land, and when I felt the call of
the sea, that I ceased to mourn my lost Anna, and realized my
obligation to live what remained to me of life in such manner as an
all-wise Providence might determine.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE MOLUCCA ISLANDS
On this voyage to the place of the painted hands Dirk Hartog resolved
upon a different route from that taken by former navigators to the
Great South Land, and within three months of leaving Amsterdam the
"Golden Seahorse" came to anchor among a group of islands to the north
of New Holland known as the Molucca Islands, first visited by Sir
Francis Drake in the "Pelican" during the year 1579.
The competition between England and Holland for sea supremacy was at
this time very keen, and the ships of both nations sometimes carried a
broom at the masthead to signify the sweeping of the ocean. We found,
however, no English or other vessels to dispute with us our landing at
the Moluccas, where the King received us with some ceremony.
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