myself I got on my feet and looked round. I
had rolled into the midst of some tall plants,
with a broadish leaf, long, entire, and smooth,
that felt sticky or glutinous when touched, and
with a dusky-coloured flower. It was tobacco.
A coarse, bitter kind, but still it was tobacco.
Eagerly I gathered all I could find, and then
retraced my steps. As soon as I arrived at home,
I hung up my tobacco-leaves on a long string of
flax inside my hut. I then set my wits to work,
to invent a pipe, in which I at last rudely
succeeded. How great a comfort it was, no words
of mine could adequately tell.

IX.

One thing that more than any other impressed
my mind with the utter solitude of the island on
which I was cast, was the absence of animal
life and the silence. I had seen, during several
weeks' residence, little or no traces of life
beyond the solitary instance of the wild cat, which
had probably been thrown overboard or had
swum ashore from some passing ship. The only
other living things I had yet seen, except birds,
were lizards. Wild pigeons abounded. I made
about twenty snares to catch some. For several
days I did not succeed, and I had almost
despaired, when one day, to my great delight, a
couple were caught. How eagerly I cooked
them, and the enjoyment I had in eating them I
need not describe. I afterwards took several
more, securing altogether during the time I was
on the island, fourteen birds.

I now went up on the rocks, where I had
cleared a place to lie and bask in the sun, and
whence I could overlook the sea. Several weeks
had elapsed since I saw the vessel.

About this time I found in the forest, near my
tobacco plot, some yellow clay, a quantity of
which I carried home, and occupied my evenings
in trying to convert into some vessel to hold
water. I made several ungainly looking things,
and spoilt all but two in trying to bake them.
The occupation, however, served to divert my
attention, and keep me from brooding too much
over my misery.

In the hope of finding honey, I had several
bee hunts. How bees came on this desolate
island puzzled me; but there they were; they
could hardly be indigenous. I traced an
immense swarm to a tree, which I had the cruelty
to burn down; that being the only expedient by
which I could obtain the honey hived high up
in the trunk. I was rewarded for this toil
(which was great, first and last) by the largest
stock of honey I had ever yet seen taken, even
in New Zealand, from a tree. A part of the
mass of honey was two or three seasons old, being
of a deep yellow colour, and the wax brown;
the rest was of a pale straw colour, in snow-
white virgin combs. Of the latter I ate eagerly,
and then collecting the rest deposited it in my
clay vessels, leaving the oldest a prey to the
lizards and ants. I found this honey a delicious
addition to my fish. I found afterwards two
more bee trees, the contents of which I obtained
and enjoyed.

X.

I had frequently noticed what I took to be
the footsteps of some kind of animal on the
pathway leading up the rocks into the forest. I
had not, however, seen anything of any animal.
I knew pigs and goats to be the only animals
found in New Zealand in a wild state, and they
are not indigenous: having been introduced, I
believe, by Captain Cook. One day, as I was
returning with a load of firewood, I heard below,
to my great surprise, some animals bleating.
Laying down my load quietly, I looked on the
ground below, and, to my great delight, saw a
herd of wild goats licking the salt on the rocks.
How was I to come at them? How could I
catch one of them? I remembered that Robinson
Crusoe became swift enough of foot to
run them down. I much doubted my
capability of doing so. As, however, no plan
suggested itself to me other than that of stealing
quietly upon them, and then making a
sudden rush, I resolved forthwith to try that
course. Slowly and stealthily I got within fifty
yards of them unnoticed. One suddenly observed
me and gave a loud bleat of warning, and they
all made a rush up the rocks where no human
foot could follow. Having got out of my reach,
they turned round and stared at me. What
could I do? Nothing, but quietly return for
my firewood, and try to devise some mode of
catching them at some future time. Many were
the devices that passed through my mind, all
equally futile. Lying in the hut some days
later, I heard some animals running over the
gravel in front of it. It was mid-day, and I was
resting from the heat of the sun. I peeped out,
and saw six goats separated from their companions
and browsing on some karaka bushes near
my spring. I crept out as stealthily as cat
after mouse; the plashing of the little stream
over the rock, drowned any little noise I might
have made, and, fortunately, the wind blew from
them to me. I found the distance between
me and them gradually lessen, while the space
between the pool of water and the steep
precipitous rocks gradually narrowed, leaving them
less and less room to rush past me. At length
they saw me, and seemed so near that for a
moment they stood perfectly still—paralysed. I
rushed at them with a whoop. Five passed
me; but the last, a she-goat, heavy with
kid, got separated from her companions, and in
her perplexity leaped upon a large stone in the
water, and there stood bleating most pitifully.
I made one bound after her, threw my arms
about her neck, and held her in a close
embrace. Now, I thought, I have succeeded in
catching the very goat I would have chosen;
how shall I get her home? My doubts as
to this important question were very soon
settled. The stone on which we both were, was
covered with a green slimy moss, and gradually
I felt my feet slipping from under me. The
goat made a sudden plunge for liberty, and
down I came with her into the water. I was
forced to loosen my hold. She beat me at
swimming, short as the distance was to land;