the young king, who had but lately inherited his kingdom from his
father, whose tomb, perched on the top of a tree, was pointed out to
us, was threatened with war by a neighbouring chief, the former king's
hereditary enemy, and that if we would help him vanquish his opponent
he was willing to hand over to us the property of other white men which
had been left upon the island in years gone by.

When I had imparted this proposition, so far as I was able to
understand it, to Hartog, he expressed a wish to see the white men's
treasure, and on my repeating this request to the king's councillors,
we were invited to accompany them to a part of the island where we were
shown what were undoubtedly the remains of Cortes' vessel, the one that
was burnt and abandoned to the savages. There did not at first sight
appear to be anything of value among the ancient relics, but I noticed
some iron boxes, which had rusted at the locks, so that it became
difficult to open them. With the aid of a crowbar, however, which I
sent for from the ship, we were able to prise the lid off one of them,
when it was found to be filled with Spanish money, much gold coin being
amongst it. There were twelve iron boxes, and we reckoned that each box
contained money to the value of two thousand English pounds. At the
sight of this treasure Hartog readily consented to assist the king of
the islands against his enemies by every means in his power, and an
agreement was come to accordingly. Hartog then ordered the specie to be
taken on board, when we attended a council of the chiefs to ascertain
the part it was proposed for us to play in the war, I acting as
interpreter.

It then appeared that a number of canoes were expected shortly to
arrive from the adjacent islands. They would be met by the young king's
fleet, when a naval battle would take place; but the issue was