I found also that the island I was in was barren, and, as I saw good reason to believe, uninhabited, except by wild beasts, of whom, however, I saw none; yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not their kinds; neither, when I killed them, could I tell what was fit for food, and what not.  At my coming back, I shot at a great bird, which I saw sitting upon a tree, on the side of a great wood.  I believe it was the first gun that had been fired there since the creation of the world:  I had no sooner fired, but from all the parts of the wood there arose an innumerable number of fowls, of many sorts, making a confused screaming, and crying, every one according to his usual note; but not one of them of any kind that I knew.  As for the creature I killed, I took it to be a kind of a hawk, its colour and beak resembling it, but had no talons or claws more than common.  Its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing.

Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to work to bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that day:  what to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest:  for I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some wild beast might devour me; though, as I afterwards found, there was really no need for those fears.

However, as well as I could, I barricadoed myself round with the chests and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of a hut for that night’s lodging.  As for food, I yet saw not which way to supply myself, except that I had seen two or three creatures, like hares, run out of the wood where I shot the fowl.

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 resolved 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 resolved to set all other things apart, till I got every thing out of the ship that I could get.  Then I called a council, that is to say, in my thoughts, whether I should take back the raft; but this appeared impracticable:  so I resolved to go as before, when the tide was down; and I did so, only that I stripped before I went from my hut; having nothing on but a chequered shirt, a pair of linen drawers, and a pair of pumps on my feet.

I got on board the ship as before, and prepared 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 of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets; and, above all, that most useful thing called a grind-stone.  All these I secured together, with several things belonging to the gunner; particularly two or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket bullets, seven muskets, 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 hoist it up to get it over the ship’s side.