m to cherish the cats, by feeding them with goats flesh, so
that many of them became so tame that they used to lie beside him in
hundreds, and soon delivered him from the rats. He also tamed some kids,
and for his diversion would at times sing and dance with them and his
cats: So that, by the favour of Providence and the vigour of his youth,
for he was now only thirty years of age, he came at length to conquer
all the inconveniences of his solitude, and to be quite easy in his
mind.

When his clothes were worn out, he made himself a coat and a cap of goat
skins, which he stitched together with thongs of the same, cut out with
his knife, using a nail by way of a needle or awl. When his knife was
worn out, he made others as well as he could of some old hoops that had
been left on the shore, which he beat out thin between two stones, and
grinded to an edge on a smooth stone. Having some linen cloth, he sewed
himself some shirts by means of a nail for a needle, stitching them with
worsted, which he pulled out on purpose from his old stockings, and he
had the last of his shirts on when we found him. At his first coming on
board, he had so much forgotten his language, for want of use, that we
could scarcely understand him, as he seemed to speak his words only by
halves. We offered him a dram, which he refused, not having drank any
thing but water all the time he had been on the island, and it was some
time before he could relish our provisions. He could give us no farther
account of the productions of the island than has been already, except
that there were some very good black plums, but hard to come at, as the
trees which bear them grow on high mountains and steep rocks. There are
many pimento trees, some of them being sixty feet high and two yards
round; and we saw cotton trees still higher, and near four fathoms round
the stems. The climate is excellent, and the trees and grass are quite
verdant the whole year. The winter lasts no longer than June and July,
and is not then severe, there being then only slight frosts and a little
hail, but sometimes very great rains. The heat of summer is equally
moderate, and there is not much thunder or tempestuous weather. He saw
no venomous, or savage creature on the island, nor any other beasts
besides goats, bred there from a few brought by Juan Fernandez, a
Spaniard, who settled there with a few families, till the continent of
Chili began to submit to the Spaniards when they removed