s to get into his
house he runs up the plank, and is then high enough to reach the
entrance of the trap.

"I told you how we happened to throw water on our heads, and then saw
the natives doing the same. This we afterwards found was the very sign
they use to show that they wish to be on good terms; and so it happened,
that without knowing it we did the right thing, and at once gained their
friendship.

"They treated us very kindly, and though they had no notion of working
for us, they showed us how to build a house for ourselves after their
fashion.

"We hauled up our boat and thatched her over, to keep her from the sun,
for we, of course, hoped to escape in her when we had collected enough
provisions for a voyage. The natives, however, had no intention of
letting us go, for they believed that we benefited them by living among
them. Though they did not treat us as slaves, they made us, as I have
said, work for our livelihood. It was not hard work, but the sun was
very hot, and we, all of us, often felt ill, and unable to do anything,
but lie down in the shade in our houses.

"First one of my companions died, and then another, and another, till
the mate and I alone remained. We buried the poor fellows, and felt
very sad when we put the last into the ground. We could not help
thinking that one of us would go next, but which it would be, we could
not tell. I daresay the mate looked at my sallow face and thought I
should die first, and as I looked at his, I fancied he had not many
weeks to live.

"We had got ground under cultivation, and as we had now only two to eat
its produce, and the natives had given us some pigs, we had plenty of
provisions. If we had had salt, we should have killed some of our pigs
and salted them down, but though we were near salt water, there were no
rocks, or any flat place where we could manufacture salt.

"Day after day we talked about getting away, and indeed, it was the only
subject we could talk of. We had no sail in the boat, so the first
thing we had to do was to make one. The natives, like most of the
people in those parts, manufactured fine mats; these would answer for
what we wanted, but the difficulty was to get them. We could now make
ourselves understood, so under the pretence that we wanted them for
bedding, we obtained several in exchange for most of our pigs, and yams,
and other produce of our garden.

"We tried drying some of the pigs' flesh in the sun, but tha