Anxious to make a favourable impression upon our first landing, Hartog
and I now donned our best, and the cutter, being manned, we were pulled
toward the beach, where we could see that a number of Spaniards had
assembled to receive us.
On landing we stepped forward as the leaders of our expedition, when we
were greeted with the most extravagant demonstrations of delight at our
arrival, and were presently conducted by some of those whom we took to
be in authority to one of the flat-roofed stone houses, somewhat larger
than the others, where Donna Isabel Barreto, the ruler of the
settlement, graciously welcomed us. From her we learnt the following
strange story.
The voyage of Mendana, as previously stated, had been undertaken with a
view to colonization as well as discovery. After reaching the Solomon
group the fleet dispersed. The "Santa Isabel", as her log informed us,
spent five years in a fine harbour on the Southern Continent, from
whence she had returned without establishing a settlement. Another of
the ships and the frigate remained for a time at the islands, where the
crews left many evidences of their visit. But it was reserved for us to
ascertain what had befallen the "Concordia", the third of the vessels
of Mendana's fleet.
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