第28章

When this Wall was finished，and the Out-side double fenc'd with a Turff-Wall rais'd up close to it，I persuaded my self，that if any People were to come on Shore there，they would not perceive any Thing like a Habitation；and it was very well I did so，as may be oberv'd hereafter upon a very remarkable Occasion.

During this Time，I made my Rounds in the Woods for Game every Day when the Rain admitted me，and made frequent Discoveries in these Walks of something or other to my Advantage；particularly I found a Kind of wild Pidgeons，who built not as Wood Pidgeons in a Tree，but rather as House Pidgeons，in the Holes of the Rocks；and taking some young ones，I endeavoured to bread them up tame，and did so；but when they grew older they flew all away，which perhaps was at first for Want of feeding them，for I had nothing to give them；however I frequently found their Nests，and got their young ones，which were very good Meat.

And now，in the managing my houshold Affairs，I found my self wanting in many Things，which I thought at first it was impossible for me to make，as indeed as to some of them it was；for Instance，I could never make a Cask to be hooped，had a small Runlet or two，as I observed before，but I cou'd never arrive to the Capacity of making one by them，tho？ I spent many Weeks about it；I could neither put in the Heads，or joint the Staves so true to one another，as to make them hold Water，so I gave that also over.

In the next Place，I was at a great Loss for Candle；so that as soon as ever it was dark，which was generally by Seven-a-Clock，was oblig'd to go to Bed：I remembered the Lump of Bees-wax with which I made Candles in my African Adventure，but I had none of that now；the only Remedy had was，that when I had kill'd a Goat，sav'd the Tallow，and with a little Dish made of Clay，which I bak'd in the Sun，to which I added a Wick of some Oakum，I made me a Lamp；and this gave me Light，tho' not a clear steady Light like a Candle；in the Middle of all my Labours it happen'd，that rumaging my Things，I found a little Bag，which，as I hinted before，had been fill'd with Corn for the feeding of Poultry，not for this Voyage，but before，as I suppose，when the Ship came from Lisbon；what little Remainder of Corn had been in the Bag，was all devour'd with the Rats，and I saw nothing in the Bag but Husks and Dust；and being willing to have the Bag for some other Use，I think it was to put Powder in，when I divided it for Fear of the Lightning，or some such Use，I shook the Husks of Corn out of it on one Side of my Fortification under the Rock.

It was a little before the great Rains，just now mention'd，that I threw this Stuff away，taking no Notice of any Thing，and not so much as remembering that I had thrown any Thing there；when about a Month after，or thereabout，I saw some few Stalks of something green，shooting out of the Ground，which I fancy'd might be some Plant I had not seen，but I was surpriz'd and perfectly astonish'd，when，after a little longer Time，I saw about ten or twelve Ears come out，which were perfect green Barley of the same Kind as our European，nay，as our English Barley.

It is impossible to express the Astonishment and Confusion of my Thoughts on this Occasion；I had hitherto acted upon no religious Foundation at all，indeed I had very few Notions of Religion in my Head，or had' entertain'd any Sense of any Thing that had befallen me，otherwise than as a Chance，or，as we lightly say，what pleases God；without so much as enquiring into the End of Providence in these Things，or his Order in governing Events in the World：But after I saw Barley grow there，in a Climate which I know was not proper for Corn，and especially that I knew not how it came there，It startl'd me strangely，and I began to suggest，that God had miraculously caus'd this Grain to grow without any Help of Seed sown，and that it was so directed purely for my Sustenance，on that wild miserable Place.

This touch'd my Heart a little，and brought Tears out of my Eyes，and I began to bless my self，that such a Prodigy of Nature should happen upon my Account；and this was the more strange to me，because I saw near it still all along by the Side of the Rock，some other straggling Stalks，which prov'd to be Stalks of Ryce，and which I knew，because I had seen it grow in Africa when I was ashore there.

I not only thought these the pure Productions of Providence for my Support，but not doubting，but that there was more in the Place，I went all over that Part of the Island，where I had been before，peering in every Corner，and under every Rock，to see for more of it，but I could not find any；at last it occur'd to my Thoughts，that I had shook a Bag of Chickens Meat out in that Place，and then the Wonder began to cease；and I must confess，my religious Thankfulness to God's Providence began to abate too upon the Discovering that all this was nothing but what was common；tho' I ought to have been as thankful for so strange and unforseen Providence，as if it had been miraculous；for it was really the Work of Providence as to me，that should order or appoint，that 10 or 12 Grains of Corn should remain unspoil'd，（when the Rats had destroy'd all the rest，） as if it had been dropt from Heaven；as also，that I should throw it out in that particular Place，where it being in the Shade of a high Rock，it sprang up immediately；whereas，if I had thrown it anywhere else，at that Time，it had been burnt up and destroy'd.

I carefully sav'd the Ears of this Corn you may be sure in their Season，which was about the End of June；and laying up every Corn，resolv'd to sow them all again，hoping in Time to have some Quantity sufficient to supply me with Bread；But it was not till the 4th Year that I could allow my self the least Grain of this Corn to eat，and even then but sparingly，as I shall say afterwards in its Order；for I lost all that I sow'd the first Season，by not Observing the proper Time；for I sow'd it just before the dry Season，so that it never came up at all，at least，not as it would ha' done：Of which in its Place.