We now approached a coast running east and west to the horizon, so that
we could not say whether we had come to an island or to another
southern continent. The anxieties through which we had passed,
particularly our narrow escape from shipwreck upon the reefs, made it
desirable we should seek some haven in which to recruit our strength
and re-victual our ship before setting out upon our homeward voyage,
for Hartog was anxious to deposit the gold we had obtained from the
place of the painted hands in safe keeping at Amsterdam. The carrying
about of so much treasure on board the vessel was a risk he thought it
imprudent to run, as the presence of gold on the ship would prove a
constant temptation to the men to mutiny. Besides which, there was
always the chance of capture by pirates or freebooters who, at this
time, roamed the seas. General satisfaction was, therefore, expressed
when Hartog announced his intention of returning to Amsterdam.
On the morning of the next day after sighting the land along which we
now coasted the look-out reported a sheltered bay, which promised us
the haven we desired, and an hour later we cast anchor under the lee of
a bold headland, near to a beach, which bordered what appeared to be a
fertile and well-wooded country.
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