at lying so open: for as I had
managed myself before, I was in a perfect enclosure; whereas now, I
thought I lay exposed; and yet I could not perceive that there was any
living thing to fear, the biggest creature that I had yet seen upon the
island being a goat.

_September_ 30. I was now come to the unhappy anniversary of my landing.
I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore three
hundred and sixty-five days. I kept this day as a solemn fast; setting
it apart for religious exercise, prostrating myself on the ground with
the most serious humiliation, confessing my sins to God, acknowledging
his righteous judgments upon me, and praying to him to have mercy on me
through Jesus Christ; and having not tasted the least refreshment for
twelve hours, even till the going down of the sun, I then ate a biscuit
and a bunch of grapes, and went to bed, finishing the day as I began it.
I had all this time observed no sabbath-day; for as at first I had no
sense of religion upon my mind, I had, after some time, omitted to
distinguish the weeks, by making a longer notch than ordinary for the
sabbath-day, and so did not really know what any of the days were: but
now having cast up the days, as above, I found I had been there a year;
so I divided it into weeks, and set apart every seventh day for a
sabbath: though I found, at the end of my account, I had lost a day or
two in my reckoning. A little after this, my ink beginning to fail me, I
contented myself to use it more sparingly; and to write down only the
most remarkable events of my life, without continuing a daily memorandum
of other things.

The rainy season and the dry season began now to appear regular to me,
and I learned to divide them so as to provide for them accordingly; but
I bought all my experience before I had it; and what I am going to
relate was one of the most discouraging experiments that I had made
at all.

I have mentioned that I had saved the few ears of barley, and rice,
which I had so surprisingly found sprung up, as I thought, of
themselves. I believe there were about thirty stalks of rice, and about
twenty of barley; and now I thought it a proper time to sow it after the
rains; the sun being in its southern position, going from me.
Accordingly I dug a piece of ground, as well as I could, with my wooden
spade; and dividing it into two parts, I sowed my grain; but, as I was
sowing, it casually occurred to my thoughts that I would not sow