y, the pockets of which we found to be full of
the rubies I had collected. But, after consultation, we determined to
say nothing about these rubies to any member of the crew. The wealth of
the Indies would not have tempted me to descend into the valley again,
and Hartog considered the risk too great for him to run, upon whom the
safety of us all depended. To have asked others to undertake a danger
from which we shrank would have been to undermine our authority and sow
the seeds of mutiny. Thus we kept our secret, and after a further
week's rest, during which I fully regained my strength, we made sail
for the open sea.

The land which we had up to now skirted and touched at was not only
barren and inhabited by savages, but also the sea in these parts seemed
to yield nothing but sharks, swordfish, and the like unnatural
monsters, while the birds also were as wild and shy as the men. What
pleasure the wretched inhabitants of this country can find in their
lives it is hard to understand.

We were now once more in need of water, and having sighted an island,
we made for it, but could find no means to get near the land, owing to
the heavy surf. We found the coast very precipitous, without any
foreland or inlets. In short, it seemed to us a barren, accursed place,
without leaf or grass. The coast here was steep, consisting of red
rocks of the same height almost everywhere, and impossible to touch at
owing to the breakers.

During the whole of the next day the current carried us northward
against our will, since we were running with small sail, and had but
little control over the rudder. In the afternoon we saw smoke rising up
from the shore, when I took charge of a boat's crew, in order to effect
a landing, with our spirits somewhat revived, for I concluded if there
were men on the island there must be water also.

Coming near to the shore, we found it to be a steeply-rising coast,
full of rocks and stones, with a violent surf running. Nevertheless,
two of our men swam ashore, and succeeded in drawing the pinnace close
to the reef, upon which we landed.

We now began our search for water, without, however, finding any, when
we observed coming toward us, from the direction in which we had seen
the smoke, three men creeping on all fours. Their appearance was so
wretched that we began to doubt if they were humans. They made no
sound, apparently being incapable of speech, but they signed to us with
beckoning fingers to appro