to go out. A signal-staff they "fished" out of
such stunted trees as the island produced. And
now time began to hang heavily on their hands.
Idleness tended to make them fastidious, and
they began to get wearied of roasted eggs and
salt, and to long for change of food. As for
clothing, they only had what they wore at the
time they volunteered from their berths: a shirt,
trousers, and pair of shoes, each. Socks they
had none, and one hat did for both. They
each possessed, however, a knife, and these
knives, in addition to two or three seal-skins
which had been fortunately left on shore covering
the salt, was all their property in that
desert spot. Fortunately, however, they
discovered a few large nails in some planks upon
which the salt had been placed, and out of these,
after great application and arguments between
Paine and Proudfoot as to which was "the
right way to do it," they succeeded, with the aid
of stones for temporary hammers and anvils, to
make a couple of very odd-looking hooks; these
they "barbed," after much exertion and
expenditure of time, by the aid of their knives.
The next thing to be done was to procure good
strong lines. This they happily effected by
cutting the seal-skins into thongs, which, being
carefully twisted and attached firmly to the
nails, enabled them to provide themselves with
fishing-tackle. They could now have fresh fish
fried on heated rocks, salt fish boiled in a large
bowl or basin scooped out of a piece of rock.

In this manner, three months passed with
out any prospect of relief. It is true that during
that period several vessels had been seen by
them, but at such a great distance, that neither
the signal-flash of their watch-fire by night, nor
the remnants of the old shirts which they flew
aloft by day, were of any avail. In the mean
time, their clothes, which were none of the newest
or strongest at first, began to decay; and their
hair and beards became as long, matted, and
shaggy as those of Peter the Wild Boy when
first discovered in the forests of Germany.
Their shoes were worn out, and their one hat
was religiously preserved for Sundays. Not
having adopted the plan of Selkirk for marking
the lapse of time, they feared, after a while,
that they had lost their reckoning altogether;
but they subsequently discovered that they
were only two days out of their reckoning in
all.

At the end of the first three months, as they
were standing on an elevated part of the island,
a vessel hove in sight, holding a course which
would lead her nearer to the spot than any other
vessel had hitherto come, save their own. By
this time Proudfoot had become dogged and
phlegmatic; indifferent to anything but eating,
drinking, sleeping, and, as duties, watching in
his turn, and fishing. He kept either silent,
or only answered Paine, who was the more active
and cheerful of the two, in very inelegant
monosyllables. Perceiving that the vessel bore
steadily in towards the island, Paine drew the
attention of Proudfoot to her, and suggested
that they should hasten down and replenish the
beacon-fire. Proudfoot declared, with an oath,
that it was of no use. Paine, however, persisted,
and went to the spot where they kept their fire,
by night and by day; having raised an immense
flame and smoke, he had the satisfaction of
perceiving that the vessel bore directly for the
land, which happy circumstance he pointed out
exultingly to Proudfoot. The vessel, which
proved to be a brig, having approached as near
as seemed prudent, despatched a boat to the
shore, to the great joy of our Crusoes, who
prepared to quit the inhospitable spot. The boat
having approached near enough to the surf
for the purpose of conversation, without crossing
it, the mate in charge of her hailed the two
men, asking them who they were, how they
came there, and what they were doing? To
these questions Paine having shouted out
satisfactory, albeit somewhat impatient, answers,
began in his turn to ask the mate to take them
off to the ship. The reply was that he could not
do so; but that when he returned on board he
would "ask the captain." Red tape proved to be
no novelty even in the South Atlantic. No
persuasion of either of the castaways would
induce the mate to alter his determination to take
orders from head-quarters. Beginning to see
the possibility of a cruel disappointment, Paine,
who was a shrewd fellow, now begged for at
least some fish-hooks, for which he offered to
pay with eggs and fish; this model specimen
of humanity replied that he "couldn't say"
—he would see when he went back to the
ship, and so forth—at the same time ordering
the men to pull back to the brig. Paine and
Proudfoot watched the boat with the most
intense anxiety, until she reached the vessel,
when, to their dismay and grief, the boat was
hoisted on board, and the brig, without the
slightest manifestation of sympathy, stood out
to sea.

The inhumanity of this act needs no comment.
But an avenging Nemesis followed the cruel ship.
The last questions put by Paine to the mate
were, what was the name of the brig, and what
was her destination? He was told that she was
the Hope, trader, bound from London to Van
Diemen's Land. She never reached her port,
as Paine afterwards discovered by diligent
inquiry; nor was she ever again heard of.

Eleven dreary months now passed away, and
the two men began to resign all hope of the
blessings of home and civilisation. They lost,
in their own personal appearance, all vestiges
of being Europeans or civilised natives of any
country. Their hair was long, yellow with the
sun (like the Somali Africans), and matted,
hanging down over their faces, backs, and
shoulders. Their complexions became copper-
coloured. Their beards were dense, and hung
midway down their bodies. The only particle
of clothing that they possessed now, was a
tattered rag tied round the loins.