st, as I thought,
have endeavoured to have saved themselves on shore by the help of their
boat; but the firing of their guns for help, especially when they saw,
as I imagined, my fire, filled me with many thoughts: first, I imagined,
that, upon seeing my light, they might have put themselves into their
boat, and have endeavoured to make the shore; but that the sea going
very high, they might have been cast away; other times I imagined, that
they might have lost their boat before, as might be the case many ways;
as particularly, by the breaking of the sea upon their ship, which many
times obliges men to stave, or take in pieces their boat; and sometimes
to throw it overboard with their own hands; other times I imagined, they
had some other ship or ships in company, who, upon the signals of
distress they had made, had taken them up, and carried them off: other
whiles I fancied they were all gone off to sea in their boat, and being
hurried away by the current that I had been formerly in, were carried
out into the great ocean, where there was nothing but misery and
perishing; and that perhaps they might by this time think of starving,
and of being in a condition to eat one another.

All these were but conjectures at best, so, in the condition I was in, I
could do no more than look upon the misery of the poor men, and pity
them; which had still this good effect on my side, that it gave me more
and more cause to give thanks to God, who had so happily and comfortably
provided for me in my desolate condition; and that of two ships'
companies, who were now cast away upon this part of the world, not one
life should be spared but mine. I learnt here again to observe, that it
is very rare that the providence of God casts us into any condition of
life so low, or any misery so great, but we may see something or other
to be thankful for, and may see others in worse circumstances than
our own.

Such certainly was the case of these men, of whom I could not so much as
see room to suppose any of them were saved; nothing could make it
rational, so much as to wish or expect that they did not all perish
there, except the possibility only of their being taken up by another
ship in company: and this was but mere possibility indeed; for I saw not
the least signal or appearance of any such thing.

I cannot explain, by any possible energy of words, what a strange
longing, or hankering of desire, I felt in my soul upon this sight;
breaking out