when he did, and swore that I should never previously set my
foot on land. But now I considered, if I could possibly once get on
terra firma, though in ever such bad circumstances, I should account
it a happy deliverance, and resolved never to embark again.

The cooper at length took me into the long-boat, while Low, and his
chief people, were on a different island from Roatan, where the
watering place lay; my only clothing was an Osnaburgh frock and
trowsers, a milled cap, but neither shirt, shoes, stockings, nor any
thing else.

When we first landed, I was very active in assisting to get the casks
out of the boat, and in rolling them to the watering-place. Then
taking a hearty draught of water, I strolled along the beach, picking
up stones and shells; but on reaching the distance of a musket-shot
from the party, I began to withdraw towards the skirts of the woods.
In answer to a question by the cooper of whither I was going? I
replied, "for cocoa nuts, as some cocoa trees were just before me;"
and as soon as I was out of sight of my companions, I took to my
heels, running as fast as the thickness of the bushes and my naked
feet would admit. Notwithstanding I had got a considerable way into
the woods, I was still so near as to hear the voices of the party if
they spoke loud, and I lay close in a thicket where I knew they could
not find me.

After my comrades had filled their casks, and were about to depart,
the cooper called on me to accompany them; however, I lay snug in the
thicket, and gave him no answer, though his words were plain enough.
At length, after hallooing loudly, I could hear them say to one
another, "The dog is lost in the woods, and cannot find the way out
again;" then they hallooed once more, and cried "he has run away and
won't come to us;" and the cooper observed, that, had he known my
intention, he would not have brought me ashore. Satisfied of their
inability to find me among the trees and bushes, the cooper at last,
to show his kindness, exclaimed, "If you do not come away presently, I
shall go off and leave you alone." Nothing, however, could induce me
to discover myself; and my comrades seeing it vain to wait any longer,
put off without me.

Thus I was left on a desolate island, destitute of all help, and
remote from the track of navigators; but compared with the state and
society I had quitted, I considered the wilderness hospitable, and the
solitude interesting.

When I thought the wh