The next day I made another voyage.And now,having plundered the ship of what was portable and fit to hand out,I began with the cables;and cutting the great cable into pieces,such as I could move,I got two cables and a hawser on shore,with all the ironwork I could get;and having cut down the sprit sail yard,and the mizzen yard,and everything I could to make a large raft,I loaded it with all those heavy goods,and came away.But my good luck began now to leave me;for this raft was so unwieldy,and so overladen,that after I was entered the little cove where I had landed the rest of my goods,not being able to guide it so handily as I did the other,it overset,and threw me and all my cargo into the water.As for myself,it was no great harm,for I was near the shore;but as to my cargo,it was great part of it lost,especially the iron,which I expected would have been of great use to me.However,when the tide was out I got most of the pieces of cable ashore,and some of the iron,though with infinite labour;for I was fain to dip for it into the water,a work which fatigued me very much.After this I went every day on board,and brought away what I could get.
I had been now thirteen days on shore,and had been eleven times on board the ship;in which time I had brought away all that one pair of hands could well be supposed capable to bring,though I believe verily,had the calm weather held,I should have brought away the whole ship piece by piece.But preparing the twelfth time to go on board,I found the wind begin to rise.However,at low water I went on board,and though I thought I had rummaged the cabin so effectually as that nothing more could be found,yet I discovered a locker with drawers in it,in one of which I found two or three razors,and one pair of large scissors,with some ten or a dozen of good knives and forks;in another,I found about thirty six pounds value in money,some European coin,some Brazil,some pieces of eight,some gold,some silver.
I smiled to myself at the sight of this money.‘O drug!’said I aloud,‘what art thou good for?Thou art not worth to me,no,not the taking off of the ground;one of those knives is worth all this heap.I have no manner of use for thee;even remain where thou art,and go to the bottom as a creature whose life is not worth saving.’However,upon second thoughts,I took it away;and wrapping all this in a piece of canvas,I began to think of making another raft;but while I was preparing this,I found the sky overcast,and the wind began to rise,and in a quarter of an hour it blew a fresh gale from the shore.It presently occurred to me that it was in vain to pretend to make a raft with the wind offshore,and that it was my business to be gone before the tide of flood began,otherwise I might not be able to reach the shore at all.Accordingly I let myself down into the water,and swam across the channel,which lay between the ship and the sands,and even that with difficulty enough,partly with the weight of the things I had about me,and partly the roughness of the water;for the wind rose very hastily,and before it was quite high water it blew a storm.
But I was gotten home to my little tent,where I lay with all my wealth about me very secure.It blew very hard all that night,and in the morning,when I looked out,behold,no more ship was to be seen.I was a little surprised,but recovered myself with this satisfactory reflection,viz.,that I had lost no time,nor abated no diligence,to get everything out of her that could be useful to me,and that indeed there was little left in her that I was able to bring away if I had had more time.
I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship,or of anything out of her,except what might drive on shore from her wreck,as indeed divers pieces of her afterwards did;but those things were of small use to me.
My thoughts were now wholly employed about securing myself against either savages,if any should appear,or wild beasts,if any were in the island;and I had many thoughts of the method how to do this,and what kind of dwelling to make,whether I should make me a cave in the earth,or a tent upon the earth;and,in short,I resolved upon both,the manner and deion of which it may not be improper to give an account of.
I soon found the place I was in was not for my settlement,particularly because it was upon a low moorish ground near the sea,and I believed would not be wholesome;and more particularly because there was no fresh water near it.So I resolved to find a more healthy and more convenient spot of ground.
I consulted several things in my situation,which I found would be proper for me.First,health and fresh water,I just now mentioned.Secondly,shelter from the heat of the sun.Thirdly,security from ravenous creatures,whether men or beasts.Fourthly,a view to the sea,that if God sent any ship in sight I might not lose any advantage for my deliverance,of which I was not willing to banish all my expectation yet.
In search of a place proper for this,I found a little plain on the side of a rising hill,whose front towards this little plain was steep as a houseside,so that nothing could come down upon me from the top;on the side of this rock there was a hollow place,worn a little way in,like the entrance or door of a cave;but there was not really any cave,or way into the rock at all.
On the flat of the green,just before this hollow place,I resolved to pitch my tent.This plain was not above an hundred yards broad,and about twice as long,and lay like a green before my door,and at the end of it descended irregularly every way down into the low grounds by the seaside.It was on the N.N.W.side of the hill,so that I was sheltered from the heat every day,till it came to a W.and by S.sun,or thereabouts,which in those countries is near the setting.
