Adventures in Southern Seas | Page 2

vessels noted are the "Endraght", "Zeewolf", "Arms of
Amsterdam", "Pera", and "Arnheim". All these vessels lay claim to
having touched at the 'Great Southern Continent' as well as at the
islands of the South Seas.
The 'Place of the Painted Hands', the objective of the third voyage of
Van Bu with Dirk Hartog to New Holland, is referred to by the late Mr
Lawrence Hargrave, who made a very interesting study of
picture-writings discovered in Australia, in a collection of pamphlets
entitled "Lope de Vega", now in the possession of the Mitchell Library
at Sydney. "There are picture-writings," he says, "which have remained
for hundreds of years without any archaeologist discovering their
meaning. They are not as ancient as those on the monuments of the
Egyptians, but they are equally interesting. If they are read in the light
of a message to posterity, they may yet reveal something of surprising
interest. By whom were they chiselled? What is their meaning? The
more recent discoveries show an oval encircling a cross--the symbol of
Spanish conquest. On an ironstone rock-face on the Shoalhaven River
are many 'hands.' These have been there to the memory of the oldest
inhabitant. No aboriginal will go near them. Gold is still washed in this
river, and possibly these hands, or fingers, refer to the days worked
here washing gold, or to the number of 'quills' of gold obtained. You
will understand these 'hands' are not carved, but painted with some
pigment that has withstood the weather for some hundreds of years."
The Malays locate the Male and Female Islands visited by Van Bu, an
account of which appears in many ancient manuscripts from the twelfth
to the sixteenth century, as being the islands of Engarno, to the south of
Sumatra. Marco Polo speaks of them in his voyage round the world,
undertaken in 1271, and both Spanish and Dutch explorers refer to
them in the accounts of their travels of more recent date.
In "The Discovery of Australia" (a critical documentary and historic
investigation concerning the priority of discovery in Australasia by
Europeans before the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in the
Endeavour in the year 1770), by George Collingridge, may be found

accounts of Spanish and Portuguese attempts at settlement upon the
Great Southern Continent--'Terra Australis'.
Staten Land was the name first given to New Zealand in honour of the
States of Holland, and the monstrous birds seen there were probably the
now extinct moa. The Cannibal Islands are doubtless Fiji. The data and
references to chronicles in this work are genuine, and the result of a
careful study of rare and (in some cases) unique books and manuscripts
in the Mitchell Wing of the Public Library at Sydney, said to be the
most comprehensive collection known of accounts of discoveries in
South Seas.
G. F.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
I FALL INTO CAPTIVITY II. THE BLACK CANNIBALS OF NEW
HOLLAND III. THE ONLY WHITE MAN IN NEW HOLLAND IV.
THE SEA SPIDER V. THE VOYAGE CONTINUED VI. THE FIGHT
ON THE SANDS VII. THE SPIRIT OF DISCORD VIII. PEARL
ISLAND IX. MUTINY X. I EMBARK ON A SECOND VOYAGE XI.
A SECOND VOYAGE WITH HARTOG TO THE SOUTH XII. THE
SEA SERPENT XIII. THE FLOATING ISLAND XIV. AN OLD
ACQUAINTANCE XV. THE SEAWEED SEA XVI. THE ISLAND
OF GEMS XVII. QUEEN MELANNIE XVIII. A QUEEN'S
FAVOURITE XIX. I BECOME CHIEF COOK XX. THE SNAKE
GOD XXI. A PLAN OF ESCAPE XXII. THE NIGHT OF THE
SACRIFICE XXIII. AT THE MERCY OF THE SEA XXIV. HOW
MY SECOND VOYAGE ENDED XXV. I ARRIVE AT
AMSTERDAM XXVI. HAPPILY MARRIED XXVII. ONCE MORE
TO THE SOUTH XXVIII. THE MOLUCCA ISLANDS XXIX. THE
VOYAGE CONTINUED XXX. A SPANISH SETTLEMENT XXXI.

THE PLACE OF THE PAINTED HANDS XXXII. MAROONED
XXXIII. CAPTAIN MONTBAR XXXIV. WE AGAIN EXPLORE
THE CAVES XXXV. I AM KIDNAPPED XXXVI. THE MALE AND
FEMALE ISLANDS XXXVII. A TASK IS SET ME XXXVIII. THE
SLAYING OF THE GREAT CROCODILE XXXIX. I BECOME A
VICTIM OF DOMESTIC INFELICITY XL. THE YELLOW
PARCHMENT XLI. THE RUBY MOUNTAINS XLII. THE VALLEY
OF SERPENTS XLIII. WE AGAIN LEAVE NEW HOLLAND XLIV.
THE ISLANDS OF ARMENIO XLV. SUMATRA XLVI.
MAHOMET ACHMET XLVII. KING TRINKITAT XLVIII.
STATEN LAND XLIX. THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS L. AGAIN AT
THE MOLUCCAS LI. GETTING BACK OUR OWN LII.
CONCLUSION

ADVENTURES IN SOUTHERN SEAS
CHAPTER I
I FALL INTO CAPTIVITY
Let those who read this narrative doubt not its veracity. There be much
in Nature that we wot not of, and many strange countries to explore.
The monsters who roamed the earth in ancient times, as their fossil
bones attest, are still to be seen in those regions hitherto unvisited by
white men, and in the fathomless depths of uncharted seas leviathans
find a home.
Peter Ecoores Van Bu was