went a-hunting in the woods, or ascended to the
mountain top, by way of variety, although Peterkin always asserted that
we went for the purpose of hailing any ship that might chance to heave in
sight. But I am certain that none of us wished to be delivered from our
captivity, for we were extremely happy, and Peterkin used to say that as
we were very young we should not feel the loss of a year or two.
Peterkin, as I have said before, was thirteen years of age, Jack
eighteen, and I fifteen. But Jack was very tall, strong, and manly for
his age, and might easily have been mistaken for twenty.

The climate was so beautiful that it seemed to be a perpetual summer, and
as many of the fruit-trees continued to bear fruit and blossom all the
year round, we never wanted for a plentiful supply of food. The hogs,
too, seemed rather to increase than diminish, although Peterkin was very
frequent in his attacks on them with his spear. If at any time we failed
in finding a drove, we had only to pay a visit to the plum-tree before
mentioned, where we always found a large family of them asleep under its
branches.

We employed ourselves very busily during this time in making various
garments of cocoa-nut cloth, as those with which we had landed were
beginning to be very ragged. Peterkin also succeeded in making excellent
shoes out of the skin of the old hog, in the following manner:--He first
cut a piece of the hide, of an oblong form, a few inches longer than his
foot. This he soaked in water, and, while it was wet, he sewed up one
end of it, so as to form a rough imitation of that part of the heel of a
shoe where the seam is. This done, he bored a row of holes all round the
edge of the piece of skin, through which a tough line was passed. Into
the sewed-up part of this shoe he thrust his heel, then, drawing the
string tight, the edges rose up and overlapped his foot all round. It is
true there were a great many ill-looking puckers in these shoes, but we
found them very serviceable notwithstanding, and Jack came at last to
prefer them to his long boots. We ago made various other useful
articles, which added to our comfort, and once or twice spoke of building
us a house, but we had so great an affection for the bower, and, withal,
found it so serviceable, that we determined not to leave it, nor to
attempt the building of a house, which, in such a climate, might turn out
to be rather disagreeable than useful.

We often examined