第75章

His Caution was so seasonable, and his Advice so good, that I could not but be very well pleased with his Proposal, as well as I was satisfy'd with his Fidelity.So we fell to digging all four of us, as well as the Wooden Tools we were furnish'd with permitted; and in about a Month's time, by the End of which it was Seed time, we had gotten as much Land cur'd and trim'd up, as we sowed 22 Bushels of Barley on, and 16 Jarrs of Rice, which was in short all the Seed we had to spare; nor indeed did we leave our selves Barley sufficient for our own Food, for the six Months that we had to expect our Crop, that is to say, reckoning from the time we set our Seed aside for sowing; for it is not to be supposed it is six Months in the Ground in the Country.

Having now Society enough, and our Number being sufficient to put us out of Fear of the Savages , if they had come, unless their Number had been very great, we went freely all over the Island, where-ever we found Occasion; and as here we had our Escape or Deliverance upon our Thoughts, it was impossible, at least for me , to have the Means of it out of mine; to this Purpose, I mark'd out several Trees which I thought fit for our Work, and I set Friday and his Father to cutting them down;

and then I caused the Spaniard, to whom I imparted my Thought on that Affair, to oversee and direct their Work.I shewed them with what indefatigable Pains I had hewed a large Tree into single Planks, and I caused them to do the like, till they had made about a Dozen large Planks of good Oak, near 2 Foot road, 35 Foot long, and from 2 Inches to 4 Inches thick: hat prodigious Labour it took up, any one may imagine.At the same time I contriv'd to encrease my little Flock of tame Goats as much as I could; and to this Purpose, I made Friday and the Spaniard go out one Day, and my self with Friday the next Day; for we took our Turns: And by is Means we got above 20 young Kids to breed up with the rest; for when-ever we shot the Dam, we saved the Kids, and added them to our Flock: But above all, the Season for curing the Grapes coming on, I caused such a prodigious Quantity to be hung up in the Sun, that I believe, had we been at Alicant where the Raisins of the Sun are cur'd, we could have fill'd 60 or 80 Barrels; and these with our Bread was a great Part of our Food, and very good living too, I assure you; for it is an exceeding nourishing Food.

It was now Harvest, and our Crop in good Order; it was not the most plentiful Encrease I had seen in the Island, but however it was enough to answer our End; for from our 22 Bushels of Barley, we brought in and thrashed out above 220 Bushels; and the like in Proportion of the Rice, which was Store enough for our Food to the next Harvest, tho' all the 16 Spaniards had been on Shore with me; or if we had been ready for a Voyage, it would very plentifully have victualled our Ship, to have carry'd us to any Part of the World, that is to say, of America.

When we had thus hous'd and secur'd our Magazine of Corn, we fell to Work to make more Wicker Work, (viz.) great Baskets in which we kept it;

and the Spaniard was very handy and dexterous at this Part, and often blam'd me that I did not make some things, for Defence, of this Kind of Work; but I saw no Need of it.

And now having a full Supply of Food for all the Guests I expected, I gave the Spaniard Leave to go over to the Main , to see what he could do with those he had left behind him there.I gave him a strict Charge in Writing, Not to bring any Man with him, who would not first swear in the Presence of himself and of the old Savage , That he would no way injure, fight with, or attack the Person he should find in the Island, who was so kind to send for them in order to their Deliverance;

but that they would stand by and defend him against all such Attempts, and wherever they went, would be entirely under and subjected to his Commands;

and that this should be put in Writing, and signed with their Hands: How we were to have this done, when I knew they had neither Pen or Ink; that indeed was a Question which we never asked.

Under these Instructions, the Spaniard , and the old Savage the Father of Friday , went away in one of the Canoes, which they might be said to come in, or rather were brought in, when they came as Prisoners to be devour'd by the Savages.

I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion.

This was a chearful Work, being the first Measures used by me in View of my Deliverance for now 27 Years and some Days.I gave them Provisions of Bread, and of dry'd Grapes, sufficient for themselves for many Days, and sufficient for all their Country-men for about eight Days time; and wishing them a good Voyage, I see them go, agreeing with them about a Signal they should hang out at their Return, by which I should know them again, when they came back, at a Distance, before they came on Shore.

They went away with a fair Gale on the Day that the Moon was at Full by my Account, in the Month of October: But as for an exact Reckoning of Days, after I had once lost it I could never recover it again; nor had I kept even the Number of Years so punctually, as to be sure that I was right, tho' as it prov'd, when I afterwards examin'd my Account, I found I had kept a true Reckoning of Years.

It was no less than eight Days I had waited for them, when a Strange and unforeseen Accident interveen'd, of which the like has not perhaps been heard of in History: I was fast asleep in my Hutch one Morning, when my Man Friday came running in to me, and call'd aloud, Master, Master, they are come, they are come.