our voyage. Some of the crew were anxious to return home in order to
spend their share of the Spanish money found on Cortes' island, but
Hartog would not consent to such a proposal. He had set his heart upon
finding the Island of Gems, of the existence of which he was firmly
convinced, though our chances of finding it among the numerous islands
of the South Seas appeared remote. The captain, however, would have his
way, and a course was set accordingly. We were soon again among the
islands, where we found the people more intelligent than those upon the
continent of New Holland. Their language, although consisting of many
dialects, possessed some universal key words, of which, by this time, I
had acquired a knowledge which enabled me to make myself understood of
the various tribes of savages we met with, and to understand also their
meaning when they wanted to convey it to us. To this I attributed the
friendly reception which, on the whole, was given to us. Attacks upon
strangers, made by these savages, are not so much from any natural
hostility towards them as from an inability to understand that they
intend no harm--consequently I was generally able to establish friendly
intercourse between us and the tribes we visited. Besides this, our
ship possessed such a powerful armament that, if molested, we had no
fear but that we would be able to protect ourselves.

We made many inquiries from the savages concerning the Island of Gems,
but none seemed to have heard of it.



CHAPTER XIII

THE FLOATING ISLAND