sea. 2.  The tide rising and letting in to shore. 3.  The little wind there was blew towards the land.  After I had sailed about a mile, I found the raft to drive a little distance from the place where I first landed; and then I perceived a little opening of the land, with a strong current of the tide running into it:  upon which I kept the middle of the stream.  But great was my concern, when on a sudden the fore part of my raft ran a ground, so that had I not, with great difficulty, for near half an hour, kept my back straining against the chests to keep my effects in their places, all I had would have gone into the sea.  But after some time, the rising of the water caused the raft to float again, and coming up a little river with land on both sides, I landed in a little cove, as near the mouth as possible, the better to discover a sail, if any such providentially passed that way.

Not far off, I espied a hill of stupendous height, surounded with lesser hills about it, and thither I was resolved to go and view the country that I might see what part was best, to fix my habitation.  Accordingly, arming myself with a pistol a fowling piece, powder and ball, I ascended the mountain.  There I perceived I was in an island, encompassed by the sea; no distant lands to be seen but scattering rocks that lay to the west:  that it seemed to be a barren place, and, as I thought, inhabited only by wild beasts.  I perceived abundance of fowls, but ignorant of what kind, or whether good for nourishment; I shot one of them at my return, which occasioned a confused screaming among the other birds, and I found it, by its colours and beak, to be a kind of a hawk, but its flesh was perfect carrion.

When I came to my raft, I brought my effects on shore, which work spent that day entirely; and fearing that some cruel beasts might devour me in the night time while I slept, I made a kind of hut or barricade with the chests and boards I had brought onshore.  That night I slept very comfortably; and the next morning my thoughts were employed to make a further attempt on the ship, and bring away what necessaries I could find, before another storm should break her to pieces.  Accordingly I got on board as before, and prepared a second raft far more nice then the first, upon which I brought away the carpenter’s stores, two or three bags full of nails, a great jack-screw, a dozen or two of hatchets, and a grind-stone.  I also took away several things that belonged to the gunner, particularly two or three iron crows, two barels of musket-bullets, another fowling-piece, a small quantity of powder, and a large bagful of small shot.  Besides these, I took all the men’s clothes I could find, a spare fore topsail, a hammock, and some bedding; and thus completing my second cargo, I made all the haste to shore I could, fearing some wild beast might destroy what I had there already.  But I only found a little wild cat sitting on one of the chests, which seeming not to fear me or the gun that I presented at her, I threw her a piece of biscuit, which she instantly ate, and departed.