day, till the middle of October; and fometimes fo violently, that I could not ftir out of my cave for several days. In this feafon I was much furprised with the increase of my family: I had been concerned for the lofs of one of my cats, who ran away from me, or, as I thought, had been dead; and I heard no more tale or tidings of her, till to my astonishment fhe came home about the end of Auguft, with three kittens. This was the more ftrange to me, because tho' I had killed a wild cat, as I called it, with my gun, yet I thought it was a quite different kind from our European cats; yet the young cats were the fame kind of house breed like the old one; and both my cats being females, I thought it very ftrange: But from these three cats, I afterwards came to be fo peftered with cats, that I was forced to kill them like vermin, or wild beasts, and to drive them from my house as much as poffible. From the fourteenth of Auguft to the twenty-fixth, inceffant rain, fo that I could not ftir, and was now very careful not to be much wet. In this confinement I began to be freightened for food, but venturing out twice, I one day killed a goat; and the last day, which was the twenty-fixth, found a very large tortoife, which was a treat to me, and my food was regulated thus: I eat a bunch of raifins for my breakfast, a piece of the goat's flesh, or of the turtle, for my dinner, broiled (for to my great misfortune I had no veffel to boil or stew anything;) and two or three of the turtle's eggs for fupper. During this confinement in my cover by the rain, I worked daily two or three hours at enlarging my cave; and, by degrees, worked it on towards one fide, till I came to the outside of the hill, and made a door or way out, which came beyond my fence or wall; and so I came in and out this way: but I was not perfectly easy at lying fo open; for as I had managed myself before, I was in a perfect inclosure, whereas now I thought I lay expofed; and yet I could not perceive, that there was any living thing to fear, the biggest creature that I had yet feen upon the island, being a goat. September the thirtieth, I was now come to the unhappy anniversary of my landing: I caft up the notches on Ez my 758720/ my post, and found I had been on shore three hundred and fixty-five days. I kept this day as a folemn faft, fetting it apart to a religious exercife, proftrating myself to the ground with the most serious humiliation, confeffing myself to God, acknowledging his righteous judgment upon me, and praying to him to have mercy on me, through Jefus Chrift; and having not tafted the leaft refreshment for twelve hours, even till the going down of the fun, I then eat a biscuit-cake, and a bunch of grapes,' and went to bed, finishing the day as I began it. I had all this time observed no fabbath-day; for as at first I had no fenfe of religion upon my mind, I had after fome time omitted to distinguish the weeks, by making a longer notch than ordinary for the fabbath-day, and fo did not really know what any of the days were; but now having caft up the days as above, I found I had been there a year; fo I divided it into weeks, and fet apart every seventh day for a fabbath; though I found at the end of my account, I had loft a day or two of my reckoning. A little after this my ink began to fail me, and fo I contented myself to use it more fparingly, and to write down only the most remarkable events of my life, without continuing a daily memorandum of other things. The rainy season, and the dry season, began now to appear regular to me, and I learned to divide them fo as to provide for them accordingly. But I bought all my experience before I had it; and this I am going to relate, was one of the most discouraging experiments that I made at all. I have mentioned, that I had faved the few ears of barley and rice which I had fo furprisingly found fpring up, as I thought of themselves, and believe there were about thirty talks of rice, and about twenty of barley; and now I thought it a proper time to fow it after the rains, the fun being in its fouthern pofition going from me. Accordingly I dug up a piece of ground, as well as I could, with my wooden spade, and dividing it into two parts, I fowed my grain; but as I was fowing, it cafually occurred to my thoughts, that I would not fow it all at first, because I did not know when was the proper time for it; fo I fowed about two thirds of the feeds, leaving about an handful of each. It was a great comfort to me afterwards, that I did fo, for not one grain of that I fowed this time came to any thing; for the dry months following, the earth having had no rain after the feed was fown, it had no moisture to affift its growth, and never came up at all, till the wet season had come again, and then it grew as if it had been newly fown. Finding my firft feed did not grow, which I easily imagined was by the drought, I fought for a moifter piece of ground to make another trial in; and I dug up a piece of ground near my new bower, and fowed the reft of my feed in February, a little before the vernal equinox; and this, having the rainy months of March and April to water it, fprung up very pleasantly, and yielded a very good crop; but having part of the feed left only, and not daring to fow all that I had yet, I had but a fmall quantity at laft, my whole crop not amounting to above half a peck of each kind. But by this experience I was made master of my bufinefs, and knew exactly when the proper season was to fow; and that I might expect two feed times, and two harvests every year. While this corn was growing, I made a little difcovery, which was of ufe to me afterwards: As foon as the rains were over, and the weather began to fettle, which was about the month of November, I made a vifit up the country to my bower, where, tho' I had not been fome months, yet I found all things juft as I left them. The circle or double hedge that I had made, was not only firm and entire, but the stakes which I had cut off of some trees that grew thereabouts, were all shot out, and grown with long branches, as much as a willow tree usually fhoots the first year after lopping its head. I could not tell what tree to call it, that these ftakes were cut from. I was furprised, and yet very well pleafed, to fee the young trees grow; and I pruned them, and led them up to grow as much alike as I could; and it is fcarce credible, how beautiful a figure they grew into in three years; fo that though the hedge made a circle of about twenty-five yards in diameter, yet the trees, for fuch I might now call them,foon covered it; and it was a compleat shade,fufficient to lodge under all the dry season. E 3 This This made me refolve to cut fome more stakes, and make me an hedge like this in a femicircle round my wall, I mean that of my firft dwelling, which I did; and, placing the trees or stakes in a double row, at above eight yards distance from my first fence, they grew prefently, and were at firft a fine cover to my habitation, and afterwards ferved for a defence alfo, as I fhall obferve in its order. I found now, that the seasons of the year might ge nerally be divided, not into fummer and winter, as in Europe; but into the rainy seasons, and the dry feasons, which were generally thus: Half February,Rainy, the fun being then on, or near, March, Half April, the equinox. Half April, May, June, Dry, the fun being then to the north of the line. July, Half Auguft, Half Auguft,? September, Rain, the fun being then come back. Half October, Half October, November, December, Half February, Dry, the fun being then to the south of the line. The rainy feafon fometimes held longer or fhorter, as the winds happened to blow; but this was the general obfervation I made. After I had found, by experience, the ill conféquence of being abroad in the rain, I took care to furnish myself with provifions beforehand, that I might not be obliged to go out; and I fat within doors as much as poffible during the wet months. In this time I found much employment (and very fuitable alfo to the time) for I found great occafion of many things which I had no way to furnish myfelf with, but by hard labour, and conftant application; particularly, I tried many ways to make myself a basket; but all the twigs I could get for the purpose proved fo brittle, that they would do nothing. It proved of excellent advantage to me now, that when I was a boy, I used to take great delight in standing at a basketmaker's in the town where my father lived, to fee them make their wicker-ware; and being, as boys ufually are, very officious to help, and a great obferver of the manner how they worked those things, and fometimes lent an hand, I had by this means fo full knowledge of the methods of it, that I wanted nothing but the materials; when it came into my mind, that the twigs of that tree from whence I cut my stakes that grew, might poffibly be as tough as the fallows, and willows, and ofiers, in England; and I refolved to try. Accordingly next day I went to my countryhoufe, as I called it, and cutting fome of the smaller twigs, I found them to my purpose as much as I could defire; whereupon I came the next time prepared with an hatchet to cut down a quantity, which I foon found, for there was a great plenty of them: thefe I fet up to dry within my 'circle or hedges; and when they were fit for ufe, I carried them to my cave; and here during the next season I employed myself in making (as well as I could) a great many baskets, both to carry earth, or to carry or lay up any thing, as I had occafion; and though I did not finish them very handsomely, yet I made them fufficiently ferviceable for my purpofe; and thus afterwards I took care never to be without them; and as my wicker-ware decayed, I made more; efpecially I made ftrong deep baskets to place my corn in, instead of sacks, when I fhould come to have any quantity of it. Having mastered this difficulty, and employed a world of time about it, I beitirred myself to fee, if poffible, how to fupply two wants. I had no veffels to hold any thing that was liquid, except two rundlets, which were almost full of rum, and fome glass bottles, fome of the common fize, and others which were cafebottles, fquare, for the holding of waters, fpirits, &c. I had not fo much as a pot to boil any thing in, except a great kettle which I faved out of the fhip, and which was too big for fuch uses as I defired it for, viz. to E 4 make |