n my face, springing
up from SSE. This cheered my heart a little, and especially when, in
about half-an-hour more, it blew a pretty gentle gale. By this time I
had got at a frightful distance from the island, and had the least cloudy
or hazy weather intervened, I had been undone another way, too; for I had
no compass on board, and should never have known how to have steered
towards the island, if I had but once lost sight of it; but the weather
continuing clear, I applied myself to get up my mast again, and spread my
sail, standing away to the north as much as possible, to get out of the
current.

Just as I had set my mast and sail, and the boat began to stretch away, I
saw even by the clearness of the water some alteration of the current was
near; for where the current was so strong the water was foul; but
perceiving the water clear, I found the current abate; and presently I
found to the east, at about half a mile, a breach of the sea upon some
rocks: these rocks I found caused the current to part again, and as the
main stress of it ran away more southerly, leaving the rocks to the
north-east, so the other returned by the repulse of the rocks, and made a
strong eddy, which ran back again to the north-west, with a very sharp
stream.

They who know what it is to have a reprieve brought to them upon the
ladder, or to be rescued from thieves just going to murder them, or who
have been in such extremities, may guess what my present surprise of joy
was, and how gladly I put my boat into the stream of this eddy; and the
wind also freshening, how gladly I spread my sail to it, running
cheerfully before the wind, and with a strong tide or eddy underfoot.

This eddy carried me about a league on my way back again, directly
towards the island, but about two leagues more to the northward than the
current which carried me away at first; so that when I came near the
island, I found myself open to the northern shore of it, that is to say,
the other end of the island, opposite to that which I went out from.

When I had made something more than a league of way by the help of this
current or eddy, I found it was spent, and served me no further.
However, I found that being between two great currents--viz. that on the
south side, which had hurried me away, and that on the north, which lay
about a league on the other side; I say, between these two, in the wake
of the island, I found the water at least still, and running no way; and
h