第20章

I now began to consider，that I might yet get a great many Things out of the Ship，which would be useful to me，and particularly some of the Rigging，and Sails，and such other Things as might come to Land，and I resolv'd to make another Voyage on Board the Vessel，if possible；and as I knew that the first Storm that blew must necessarily break her all in Pieces，I resolv'd to set all other Things apart，'till I got every Thing out of the Ship that I could get；then I call'd a Council，that is to say，in my Thoughts，whether I should take back the Raft，but this appear'd impracticable；so I resolv'd to go as before，when the Tide was down，and I did so，only that I stripp'd before I went from my Hut，having nothing on but a Chequer'd Shirt，and a Pair of Linnen Drawers，and a Pair of Pumps on my Feet.

I got on Board the Ship，as before，and prepar'd a second Raft，and having had Experience of the first，I neither made this so unwieldy，nor loaded it so hard，but yet I brought away several Things very useful to me；as first，in the Carpenter's Stores I found two or three Bags full of Nails and Spikes，a great Skrew-Jack，a Dozen or two of Hatchets，and above all，that most useful Thing call'd a Grindstone；all these I secur'd together，with several Things belonging to the Gunner，particularly two or three Iron Crows，and two Barrels of Musquet Bullets，seven Musquets，and another fowling Piece，with some small Quantity of Powder more；a large Bag full of small Shot，and a great Roll of Sheet Lead：But this last was so heavy，I could not hoise it up to get it over the Ship's Side.

Besides these Things，I took all the Mens Cloths that I could find，and a spare Fore-top-sail，a Hammock，and some Bedding；and with this I loaded my second Raft，and brought them all safe on Shore to my very great Comfort.

I was under some Apprehensions during my Absence from the Land，that at least my Provisions might be devour'd on Shore；but when I came back，I found no Sign of any Visitor，only there sat a Creature like a wild Cat upon one of the Chests，which when I came towards it，ran away a little Distance，and then stood still；she sat very compos'd，and unconcern'd，and look'd full in my Face，as if she had a Mind to be acquainted with me，I presented my Gun at her，but as she did not understand it，she was perfectly unconcern'd at it，nor did she offer to stir away；upon which I toss'd her a Bit of Bisket，tho' by the Way I was not very free of it，for my Store was not great：However，I spar'd her a Bit，I Say，and she went to it，smell'd of it，and ate it，and look'd （as pleas'd） for more，but I thank'd her，and could spare no more；so she march'd off.

Having got my second Cargo on Shore，tho' I was fain to open the Barrels of Powder，and bring them by Parcels，for they were too heavy，being large Casks，I went to work to make me a little Tent with the Sail and some Poles which I cut for that Purpose，and into this Tent I brought every Thing that I knew would spoil，either with Rain or Sun，and I piled all the empty Chests and Casks up in a Circle round the Tent，to fortify it from any sudden Attempt，either from Man or Beast.

When I had done this I block'd up the Door of the Tent with some Boards within，and an empty Chest set up an End without，and spreading one of the Beds upon the Ground，laying my two Pistols just at my Head，and my Gun at Length by me，I went to Bed for the first Time，and slept very quietly all Night，for I was very weary and heavy，for the Night before I had slept little，and had labour'd very hard all Day，as well to fetch all those Things from the Ship，as to get them on Shore.

I had the biggest Maggazin of all Kinds now that ever were laid up，I believe，for one Man，but I was not satisfy'd still；for while the Ship sat upright in that Posture，I thought I ought to get every Thing out of her that I could；so every Day at low Water I went on Board，and brought away some Thing or other：But particularly the third Time I went，I brought away as much of the Rigging as I could，as also all the small Ropes and Rope-twine I could get，with a Piece of spare Canvass，which was to mend the Sails upon Occasion，the Barrel of wet Gun-powder：In a Word，I brought away all the Sails first and last，only that I was fain to cut them in Pieces，and bring as much at a Time as I could；for they were no more useful to be Sails，but as meer Canvass only.

But that which comforted me more still was，that at last of all，after I had made five or six such Voyages as these，and thought I had nothing more to expect from the Ship that was worth my medling with，I say，after all this，I found a great Hogshead of Bread and three large Runlets of Rum or Spirits，and a Box of Sugar，and a Barrel of fine Flower；this was surprizing to me，because I had given over expecting any more Provisions，except what was spoil'd by the Water：I soon empty'd the Hogshead of that Bread，and wrapt it up Parcel by Parcel in Pieces of the Sails，which I cut out；and in a Word，I got all this safe on Shore also.