ook after us, but not a human being or a hut could we discover. There
was water and there were cocoa-nuts; and as we had our knives, we had a
chance of getting some shell-fish, if we could not find anything else.
Now, as it happened, not one of us had been on a desolate island before;
and there we were, six stout fellows, very little better off than babes
in the wood. We had short commons, I can tell you, Master Walter.
There were birds enough, and some of them with gay feathers, but we
could not catch them; and there were animals, but they got away from us.
At first we thought we were not going to find any water; but we did
come up to a spring, which bubbled up out of the earth--the only one
that we could discover on the island. That kept our throats moist. We
had a hard job to get a light. We hunted about for tinder out of the
rotten trees; but, then, there was the flint to be found: and no flint
could we fall in with. You may be sure we hunted in our pockets, and
looked about with our noses on the ground wherever we went. At last,
what should we see but a bit of a broken tea-cup. At first I thought it
was a bit of shell. How it could have come there I do not know, except
it was thrown overboard from some Chinese craft and washed up there.
Well, that bit of china was of more use to us than its weight in gold.
Taking it in my hand, and beginning to strike it against the back of my
knife, what was my joy to see a spark fly from it. It was but one; but
one little spark was, I knew, enough to kindle a great fire. Well, we
dried our tinder in the sun, and then began to strike away with the
flint and china. Roger Trew took it in hand first, and struck and
struck away; but though the sparks came, not one could he make go down
to the tinder. At last I took it; and didn't I feel pleased when I saw
there was a spark resting on the tinder. We blew, not too hard, you may
depend on it, and blew and blew, and the spark began to grow larger and
larger, and the whole of the tinder was on fire. Did not we bring dried
leaves in a hurry!--and, blowing them, up there sprung a flame in no
time. We soon collected a whole load of sticks, and in a few minutes
there we had a fire blazing away. We felt inclined to join hands and
dance round it. We did not, though. We quickly got our shell-fish, and
began roasting them. We thought them very good, though they were not
much for keeping body and soul together. Well, we did prize