h was our second harvest of the year, I reaped my
corn.

I was sadly put to it for a scythe or sickle to cut it down, and all I
could do was to make one, as well as I could, out of one of the
broadswords, or cutlasses, which I saved among the arms out of the ship.
However, as my first crop was but small, I had no great difficulty to cut
it down; in short, I reaped it in my way, for I cut nothing off but the
ears, and carried it away in a great basket which I had made, and so
rubbed it out with my hands; and at the end of all my harvesting, I found
that out of my half-peck of seed I had near two bushels of rice, and
about two bushels and a half of barley; that is to say, by my guess, for
I had no measure at that time.

However, this was a great encouragement to me, and I foresaw that, in
time, it would please God to supply me with bread. And yet here I was
perplexed again, for I neither knew how to grind or make meal of my corn,
or indeed how to clean it and part it; nor, if made into meal, how to
make bread of it; and if how to make it, yet I knew not how to bake it.
These things being added to my desire of having a good quantity for
store, and to secure a constant supply, I resolved not to taste any of
this crop but to preserve it all for seed against the next season; and in
the meantime to employ all my study and hours of working to accomplish
this great work of providing myself with corn and bread.

It might be truly said, that now I worked for my bread. I believe few
people have thought much upon the strange multitude of little things
necessary in the providing, producing, curing, dressing, making, and
finishing this one article of bread.

I, that was reduced to a mere state of nature, found this to my daily
discouragement; and was made more sensible of it every hour, even after I
had got the first handful of seed-corn, which, as I have said, came up
unexpectedly, and indeed to a surprise.

First, I had no plough to turn up the earth--no spade or shovel to dig
it. Well, this I conquered by making me a wooden spade, as I observed
before; but this did my work but in a wooden manner; and though it cost
me a great many days to make it, yet, for want of iron, it not only wore
out soon, but made my work the harder, and made it be performed much
worse. However, this I bore with, and was content to work it out with
patience, and bear with the badness of the performance. When the corn
was sown, I had no harrow, but