ht
venture over in her. "Yes," he said, "we venture over in her very well,
though great blow wind." However I had a further design that he knew
nothing of, and that was, to make a mast and a sail, and to fit her with
an anchor and cable. As to a mast, that was easy enough to get; so I
pitched upon a straight young cedar-tree, which I found near the place,
and which there were great plenty of in the island, and I set Friday to
work to cut it down, and gave him directions how to shape and order it.
But as to the sail, that was my particular care. I knew I had old sails,
or rather pieces of old sails, enough; but as I had had them now
six-and-twenty years by me, and had not been very careful to preserve
them, not imagining that I should ever have this kind of use for them, I
did not doubt but they were all rotten; and, indeed, most of them were
so. However, I found two pieces which appeared pretty good, and with
these I went to work; and with a great deal of pains, and awkward
stitching, you may be sure, for want of needles, I at length made a
three-cornered ugly thing, like what we call in England a
shoulder-of-mutton sail, to go with a boom at bottom, and a little short
sprit at the top, such as usually our ships' long-boats sail with, and
such as I best knew how to manage, as it was such a one as I had to the
boat in which I made my escape from Barbary, as related in the first part
of my story.

I was near two months performing this last work, viz. rigging and fitting
my masts and sails; for I finished them very complete, making a small
stay, and a sail, or foresail, to it, to assist if we should turn to
windward; and, what was more than all, I fixed a rudder to the stern of
her to steer with. I was but a bungling shipwright, yet as I knew the
usefulness and even necessity of such a thing, I applied myself with so
much pains to do it, that at last I brought it to pass; though,
considering the many dull contrivances I had for it that failed, I think
it cost me almost as much labour as making the boat.

After all this was done, I had my man Friday to teach as to what belonged
to the navigation of my boat; though he knew very well how to paddle a
canoe, he knew nothing of what belonged to a sail and a rudder; and was
the most amazed when he saw me work the boat to and again in the sea by
the rudder, and how the sail jibed, and filled this way or that way as
the course we sailed changed; I say when he saw this he sto