from men of our own race made it doubly necessary to
consider every aspect of our voyage in order to escape the many perils
which everywhere beset us.

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.

We had barely found our moorings when five natives came in a canoe, the
middle one vigorously baling the water out of the craft. As they drew
nearer we observed that they were all women, one standing up at the
prow, whose red hair came down to her waist. She was white as regards
colour, beautifully shaped, the face aquiline and handsome, rather
freckled and rosy, the eyes black and gracious, the forehead and
eyebrows good, the nose, mouth, and lips well-proportioned, with the
teeth well-ordered and white. Being rich in so many parts and graces
she would be judged to be a very beautiful woman, and at first sight
she stole away my heart. On arriving alongside she climbed aboard with
amazing agility, and without the least sign of fear, from which I
conjectured that Europeans were not unknown to her. As her eyes swept
us her glance halted when it rested upon me, and, without
embarrassment, she made signs for me to approach her.

"Whence come ye?" she said, speaking in Spanish, though with an accent
that sounded unfamiliar.