these fears, as I have since found. I put the chests and boards
round me as well as I could, and made a kind of hut for the night.

As there was still a great store of things left in the ship, which would
be of use to me, I thought that I ought to bring them to land at once;
for I knew that the first storm would break up the ship. So I went on
board, and took good care this time not to load my raft too much.

The first thing, I sought for was the tool chest; and in it were some
bags of nails, spikes, saws, knives, and such things: but best of all I
found a stone to grind my tools on. There were two or three flasks,
some large bags of shot, and a roll of lead; but this last I had not
the strength to hoist up to the ship's side, so as to get it on my raft.
There were some spare sails too which I brought to shore.

I had some fear lest my stores might be run off with by beasts of prey,
if not by men; but I found all safe and sound when I went back, and no
one had come there but a wild cat, which sat on one of the chests. When
I came up I held my gun at her, but as she did not know what a gun was,
this did not rouse her. She ate a piece of dry goat's flesh, and then
took her leave.

Now that I had two freights of goods at hand, I made a tent with the
ship's sails, to stow them in, and cut the poles for it from the wood.
I now took all the things out of the casks and chests, and put the casks
in piles round the tent, to give it strength; and when this was done,
I shut up the door with the boards, spread one of the beds (which I had
brought from the ship) on the ground, laid two guns close to my head,
and went to bed for the first time. I slept all night, for I was much in
need of rest.

The next day I was sad and sick at heart, for I felt how dull it was to
be thus cut off from all the rest of the world. I had no great wish for
work: but there was too much to be done for me to dwell long on my sad
lot. Each day as it came, I went off to the wreck to fetch more things;
and I brought back as much as the raft would hold. One day I had put too
great a load on the raft, which made it sink down on one side, so that
the goods were lost in the sea; but at this I did not fret, as the chief
part of the freight was some rope, which would not have been of much use
to me.

The twelve days that I had been in the isle were spent in this way, and
I had brought to land all that one pair of hands could lift; though if
the sea had been s