ad it not been that the "Golden Seahorse" was a new ship, upon which
no expense had been spared in the building, we must have foundered. But
it was amid such scenes of storm and stress that the indomitable spirit
of Dirk Hartog asserted itself, and seemed to animate both officers and
crew with something of his own courage and determination. Forgetting
the hardships and privations through which we had passed, we set to
work, under the magic of his influence, with such goodwill that, in the
space of some six hours, order had been evolved out of chaos, and our
vessel once more rode the sea in safety. The pumps were then manned,
when it was found that although much water was in the hold, it was
easily gained upon, from which we concluded that no leak had sprung in
our timbers, notwithstanding the battering they had received. Jury-masts
were then rigged, upon which sufficient sail was set to give the ship
steering way, when we hoped to make a harbour where we might refit, and
effect necessary repairs.

We were now anxious to reach some port where new masts and rigging
might be obtained, as our progress under jury-masts, which carried only
a limited spread of canvas, was necessarily slow. Donna Isabel was in
favour of abandoning the "Golden Seahorse" at the first port we came to
where another ship could be purchased to convey our treasure to Spain,
but neither Hartog nor I would consent to this proposal, having no
desire to see the interior of a Spanish prison, or to taste of the
horrors of the Inquisition. It was astonishing how quickly Donna Isabel
and her son, Pedro de Castro, appeared to have forgotten the obligation
they were under to us for having rescued them from the desert island
upon which they had been marooned. Both now spoke as if we were
indebted to them for having put us in the way of enriching ourselves
with the gold obtained from the Islands of Armenio, and Donna Isabel
declared that the treasure really belonged to her, since she had
possessed the secret which led to its discovery. I was so disgusted by
the ingratitude of these Spaniards that I could hardly bring myself to
speak of the matter with patience.

Hartog now proposed that we should make for Sumatra, and as this
proposal appeared to promise a way out of, our difficulties, I had
nothing to say against it.

Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands, having Malacca on the north,
Borneo on the east, Java on the south-east, and the Indian Ocean on the
west.