what it contains?"

But, although he spoke thus, I could see he was bitterly disappointed
at finding the land we had come so far to seek little better than a
wilderness, and the people upon it so poor that they went entirely
naked, and devoured each other in order to satisfy their hunger. I
tried to cheer him by reminding him we might yet find chances to enrich
ourselves before returning home, but I could see he was troubled by the
thought that the voyage he had accomplished with so much skill and
daring might prove resultless in the accumulation of wealth.
In order to hearten the crew with fresh adventure, the course of the
"Endraght" was now directed toward the islands of the Pacific. These
islands were reported to abound in pearl shell, and whilst cruising
among them we looked forward to obtaining a supply of pearls which
might compensate the merchants at Amsterdam for the expense of our
voyage, and send us all home rich men.



CHAPTER VI

THE FIGHT ON THE SANDS


I must now tell of all incident I would willingly have left unrecorded,
but as I have undertaken to set down here, in the order of its
sequence, each event which took place upon my voyages with Dirk Hartog
on southern seas, I must not, as a faithful chronicler, omit to record
each happening in its order.