goat, my dog would be able to catch him.
And, with this thought, I went to sleep, and
I slept very soundly till the next morning;
when, after returning my thanks to God for
preserving me during the night, I made a fire,
and cooked myself some breakfast; and, after
I and my dog had done, we travelled on to
my old habitation, and soon packed up my
all. And, when I counted my stones, I found
that I had been one hundred and fifteen days
on the island. And away I and my dog
went, back to my new lodgings; and we got
back before sunset,—for we had taken a
nearer road than we did the first day. And
after I had put all my store in my new house,
I went to bed, for I was tired; and the first
thing I did, next morning, was to regulate
my time-keeper, in digging two more holes,
and put my stones in them; and cutting my
notches in a tree, that stood close by. And
now I began to work at my bow and arrows;
for that purpose I killed a large tortoise, to
get his gut to make a string for my bow;
and after getting a piece of wood, fit for a bow,
I made it; and I found my gimlet that I
had found in my poor shipmate's trousers
pocket very handy. And after my bow was
done, I went to work to make the arrow, and
I finished my weapon in three days,—which
I don't think very long, considering I had
nothing but my knife to do it with, and
I had everything to look for before I could
use it.
I was soon repaid for my trouble; for the
fourth day that I was out with my bow and
arrow, and my dog. I wounded an old she-goat,
and my dog soon caught it; and as he
and I were bringing the goat home, I found
that two young ones followed the old one;
and as the old goat was only wounded in the
leg, I tied her up outside my grove; and I had
the pleasure of seeing them come to the old
one, and sucking her. After they were tired
of sucking, they laid down beside the old
dam.
My next trouble was to make a place to
keep my goats in; and I turned to, and
fenced a piece of ground all round, which
cost me a good deal of trouble; but I
completed a piece in four days, and I put my
goats into it: and now, keeping the young
ones by themselves, I had some milk to
drink, which was a great help to me; and I
returned the Almighty God thanks for his
wonderful mercy to me. And now that I saw
I had made a good job of the fence, that I
had made for my goats, I intended to make
a sort of fence round my dwelling-place, and
to try to cover it more from the sun, for
rain is scarcely ever known in these islands,
for I had been here now one hundred and
eighty-four days, and I had no rain all
that time; so to work I went, and finished
my job in about thirty days, and I found
myself a good deal more comfortable than
I was before.
I had not long finished my job, when one
night, which I believed to be nearly the latter
end of September, it came on to blow and rain
as if heaven and earth were coming together,
and very heavy lightning and thunder along
with it. It was a night such as I had not
experienced since I had been on the island, and
I thanked the Lord Almighty for putting it
into my head to put my house to rights, in
order to shelter me from the weather. But
about midnight, as near as I could guess, the
roof, and everything that I had put on my
house, was blown off, and I was exposed to
the open air. The only thing that I was
fretting about was, that the rain would put
my fire out, which I had been at so much
trouble in getting; but about four or five
o'clock next morning, the rain ceased, and the
wind died away, and by sunrise it was quite a
fine morning. And, thanks be to God, my
fire was not gone out; but, on looking round
me, to see the destruction which the wind and
lightning had caused, and still I was saved
amongst the living to praise the Lord, which
I did, I hope, with a true heart, I had the
misfortune to find that one of my young
goats had been killed by lightning, for he
was black and blue all over; my house
was much damaged, and my bed soaking with
rain.
Repairing my house and bed cost me a
good deal of trouble and time, for I had
never been properly well since the night the
hurricane swept over the island, and I found
myself getting worse every day. My legs
began to swell very much, so that I was
scarcely able to go to the spring to fetch
my water, or able to catch a tortoise; but
my dog, my only companion, used to fetch
them to me. But at last I got that bad,
that I was not able to get up out of my
bed-place, and I nearly gave myself up for
lost.
I had lain in this state two or three days,
when one day, as I was nearly famishing
with thirst, I heard my dog barking a good
deal more than he used to do. I tried to
get up, but I could not. I called my dog,
"Nero! Nero! " as loud as I could, but still
he kept on barking, but I could hear that he
was getting nearer to my habitation. But
what was my surprise when I heard a human
voice singing out to some one, " Come along,
Jack, I must go and see where this dog is
going to! " I cannot express my feelings at
the first sound of a human voice. Joy and
fear overcame me, so that I was nearly
fainting away when my dog came in, and two
men close to him. They were quite surprised
at finding me there, and they asked me
several questions, which I was scarcely able
to answer; but after a little while, I asked
one of them to give me a drink of water
which I had in my hat, and after I got a
little revived, I asked them how they came
there. They told me they belonged to an
American schooner, called the " Flying Fish,"
of Baltimore, and that they came on shore
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