第43章

However，as the Sun bak'd these Two，very dry and hard，I lifted them very gently up，and set them down again in two great Wicker-Baskets which I had made on purpose for them，that they might not break，and as between the Pot and the Basket there was a little room to spare，I stuff'd it full of the Rice and Barley Straw，and these two Pots being to stand always dry，I thought would hold my dry Corn，and perhaps the Meal，when the Corn was bruised.

Tho' I miscarried so much in my Design for large Pots，yet I made several smaller things with better Success，such as little round Pots，flat Dishes，Pitchers and Pipkins，and any things my Hand turn'd to，and the Heat of the Sun bak'd them strangely hard.

But all this would not answer my End，which was to get an earthen Pot to hold what was Liquid，and bear the Fire，which none of these could do. It happen'd after some time，making a pretty large Fire for cooking my Meat，when I went to put it out after I had done with it，I found a broken Piece of one of my Earthen-ware Vessels in the Fire，burnt as hard as a Stone，and red as a Tile. I was agreeably suppris'd to see it，and said to my self，that certainly they might be made to burn whole if they would burn broken.

This set me to studying how to order my Fire，so as to make it burn me some Pots. I had no Notion of a Kiln，such as the Potters burn in，or of glazing them with Lead，tho' I had Some Lead to do it with；but I plac'd three large Pipkins，and two or three Pots in a Pile one upon another，and plac'd my Fire-wood all round it with a great Heap of Embers under them，I ply'd the Fire with fresh Fuel round the out-side，and upon the top，till I saw the Pots in the inside red hot quite thro'，and observ'd that they did not crack at all；when I saw them clear red，I let them stand in that Heat about 5 or 6 Hours，till I found one of them，tho' it did not crack，did melt or run，for the Sand which was mixed with the Clay melted by the violence of the Heat，and would have run into Glass if I had gone on，so I slack'd my Fire gradually till the Pots began to abate of the red Colour，and watching them all Night，that I might not let the Fire abate too fast，in the Morning I had three very good，I will not say handsome Pipkins；and two other Earthen Pots，as hard burnt as cou'd be desir'd；and one of them perfectly glaz'd with the Running of the Sand.

After this Experiment，I need not say that I wanted no sort of Earthen Ware for my Use；but I must needs say，as to the Shapes of them，they were very indifferent，as any one may suppose，when I had no way of making them；but as the Children make Dirt-Pies，Or as a Woman would make Pies，that never learn'd to raise Past.

No Joy at a Thing of so mean a Nature was ever equal to mine，when I found I had made an Earthen Pot that would bear the Fire；and I had hardly Patience to stay till they were cold，before I set one upon the Fire again，with some Water in it，to boil me some Meat，which it did admirably well；and with a Piece of a Kid，I made Some very good Broth，though I wanted Oatmeal，and several other Ingredients，requisite to make it so good as I would have had it been.

My next Concern was，to get me a Stone Mortar，to stamp or beat some Corn in；for as to the Mill，there was no thought at arriving to that Perfection of Art，with one Pair of Hands. To supply this Want I was at a great Loss；for of all Trades in the World I was as perfectly unqualify'd for a Stone-cutter，as for any whatever；neither had I any Tools to go about it with. I spent many a Day to find out a great Stone big enough to cut hollow，and make fit for a Mortar，and could find none at all；except what was in the solid Rock，and which I had no way to dig or cut out；nor indeed were the Rocks in the Island of Hardness sufficient，but were all of a sandy crumbling Stone，which neither would bear the Weight of a heavy Pestle，or would break the Corn without filling it with Sand；so after a great deal of Time lost in searching for a Stone，I gave it over，and resolv'd to look out for a great Block of hard Wood，which I found indeed much easier；and getting one as big as I had Strength to stir，I rounded it，and form'd it in the Out-side with my Axe and Hatchet，and then with the Help of Fire，and infinite Labour，made a hollow Place in it，as the Indians in Brasil make their Canoes. After this，I made a great heavy Pestle or Beater，of the Wood call'd the Iron-wood，and this I prepar'd and laid by against I had my next Crop of Corn，when I propos'd to my self，to grind，or rather pound my into Meal to make my Bread.

My next Difficulty was to make a Sieve，or Search，' to dress my Meal，and to part it from the Bran，and the Husk，without which I did not see it possible I could have any Bread. This was a most difficult Thing，so much as but to think on；for to be sure I had nothing like the necessary Thing to make it；I mean fine thin Canvas，or Stuff，to search the Meal through. And here I was at a full Stop for many Months；nor did I really know what to do；Linnen I had none left，but what was meer Rags；I had Goats Hair，but neither knew I how to weave it，or spin it；and had I known how，here was no Tools to work it with；all the Remedy that I found for this，was，That at last I did remember I had among the Seamens Cloaths which were sav'd out of the Ship，some Neckcloths of Callicoe，or Muslin；and with some Pieces of these，I made three small Sieves，but proper enough for the Work；and thus I made shift for some Years；how I did afterwards，I shall shew in its Place.