went on board with my goods; but, not having enough
to load her, I took on board several merchants of
different nations with their merchandise. We sailed
with the first fair wind, and, after a long navigation,
the first place we touched at was a desert island,
where we found the egg of a roc, equal in bigness
to that I formerly mentioned. There was a young
roc in it just ready to be hatched, and the bill of
it began to appear. The merchants whom I had
taken on board my ship, and who landed with me, broke
the egg with hatches, and made a hole in it, from
whence they pulled out the young roc, piece after piece,
and roasted it. I had earnestly dissuaded them
from meddling with the egg, but they would not listen
to me. Scarcely had they made an end of their
treat, when there appeared in the air, at a considerable
distance from us, two great clouds. The captain,
whom I hired to sail my ship, knowing by experience
what it meant, cried that it was the he and the she
roc that belonged to the young one, and pressed us
to re-embark with all speed, to prevent the misfortune
which he saw would otherwise befall us. We made
haste to do so, and set sail with all possible diligence.
In the mean time the two rocs approached with a frightful
noise, which they redoubled when they saw the egg
broken, and their young one gone. But, having
a mind to avenge themselves, they flew back towards
the place from whence they came; and disappeared for
some time, while we made all the sail we could to
prevent that which unhappily befell us. They returned,
and we observed that each of them carried between
their talons stones, or rather rocks, of a monstrous
size. When they came directly over my ship, they
hovered, and one of them let fall a stone; but, by
the dexterity of the steersman, who turned the ship
with the rudder, it missed us, and falling by the
side of the ship into the sea, divided the water so
that we could almost see to the bottom. The other
roc, to our misfortune, threw the stone so exactly
upon the middle of the ship, that it split it in a
thousand pieces. The mariners and passengers were
all killed by the stone, or sunk. I myself had
the last fate; but as I came up again, I caught hold,
by good fortune, of a piece of the wreck; and swimming
sometimes with one hand, and sometimes with the other,
but always holding fast my board, the wind and the
tide being for me, I came to an island whose banks
were very steep; I overcame that difficulty, however,
and got ashore. I sat down upon the grass to
recover myself a little from my fatigue, after which
I got up, and went into the island to view it.
It seemed to be a delicious garden. I found trees
everywhere, some of them bearing green, and others
ripe fruits, and streams of fresh pure water, with
pleasant windings and turnings. I ate the fruits,
which I found excellent, and drank of the water, which
was very pleasant.