es refuse to give us up.

The chief, who had adopted me as his son, seemed determined not to let
me go, and I found that I was narrowly watched wherever I wandered.

Dick managed, at length, to communicate with some of the other men;
though one or two were content to remain among the natives, having
married and adopted their customs: the rest expressed an earnest wish to
escape.

A tremendous storm having occurred, when it seemed as if the whole
island would be carried away by the fury of the waves, the wreck of the
_Dolphin_ was cast up on the beach.

Dick told me that Mat Davis had long been thinking of building a vessel,
and that the carpenter's tools having been among the first things
landed, he hoped, if he could get hold of them, to be able to build a
craft which would convey us to the coast of South America. He had
persuaded the chiefs, that if they could have such a vessel as he
described, they might not only overpower all the neighbouring tribes,
but sail in quest of foreign lands, which they might conquer. The
chiefs listened eagerly to this proposal, and promised to assist him in
carrying out his undertaking.

Mat Davis, who was a clever fellow, was the chief architect. Assisted
by the armourer, a forge was put up for the ironwork, and he set the
natives to cut down trees and hew out timbers and planks. Others were
employed in rope-making and in manufacturing fine matting for the sails,
as all the _Dolphin's_ canvas had been burnt. Dick and I were allowed
to lend a hand, but as, with the exception of Davis and Clode, all were
unskilled, the work proceeded but slowly. The hopes of escaping
encouraged the Englishmen, and the thoughts of the victories they were
to win induced the natives to labour on.

Dick had followed his own plan of notching the days on sticks, several
of which he had tied up in a bundle. By his calculation we had been two
years among the savages, and I could now speak their language perfectly
well. Our clothes were worn out, and I had to dress like the natives.
The chief told me, when I grew older, that I must be tattooed, an
operation for which I had no fancy, and I hoped to make my escape before
he should insist on my undergoing it.

The vessel was at last built, and ready to be launched. She was a
schooner of about forty tons, and capable of carrying sixty or eighty
men. The natives declared that none of their island canoes would be
able to contend with her. It took som