I always put a tin of biscuits and a two-pound
tin of preserved meat in the lockers near the stern, in case of
emergency, and more than once I had to break bulk when a trip
unexpectedly kept me out longer than I anticipated.

I now had all I could desire in the way of comforts and engagements, and
not an idle day did I spend, except Sundays, upon which day I never did
a stroke of work nor fired a shot. Even my rabbit gins were neglected
that day. All I did was to feed my animals, walk or doze in my hammock
and meditate, and this to me was a great enjoyment. When the wind was
westerly I could hear the Guernsey church bells ringing for service, and
when they ceased I knew it was eleven o'clock, and regulated my watch
accordingly; that being done I always spent the time between that hour
and twelve in going through the church service for the day, and the
regulation three hymns, with one or two added, and a chapter or two from
the Bible in place of a sermon. Then I felt comfortable, and contented,
and without fear.

One Sunday afternoon, swinging in my hammock in the grove reading a book
of poetry, I came across those beautiful verses by Cowper, entitled,
"Alexander Selkirk," and could not but think how true they were to my
own lot in many points; in fact, few persons reading the poem _could_
appreciate it as I did in my solitude, with nought but the sea and sky
with their teeming creatures around me. The first half of the first
verse fitted me capitally, and I could not get it out of my head all
day; it tickled my fancy:

"I am monarch of all I survey,
To my right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of both fowl and of brute."

In the second verse occur the lines:

"I am out of humanity's reach,
I must finish my journey alone;
Never hear the sweet music of speech--
I start at the sound of my own."

Certainly it was very seldom I heard a human voice, even in the
distance, sometimes not for weeks together; but as to starting at the
sound of my own, well, that is not at all correct. Probably if my
friends could have heard the voice of either "Eddy" or myself, when in
full song, _they_ would have had a _start_, if not a severe shock to the
system.

Again:

"Society, friendship, and love,
Divinely bestowed upon men;
Oh, had I the wings of a dove,
How soon would I taste you again!"

Dove's wings would no