ght, as they took up all the space,
and left me no room to turn in: so I made my small cave a large one, and
dug it out a long way back in the sand rock. Then I brought the mouth of
it up to the fence, and so made a back way to my house. This done, I put
shelves on each side, to hold my goods, which made my cave look like a
shop full of stores. To make these shelves I cut down a tree, and with
the help of a saw, an axe, a plane, and some more tools, I made boards.

A chair, and a desk to write on, came next. I rose in good time, and set
to work till noon, then I ate my meal, then I went out with my gun, and
to work once more till the sun had set; and then to bed. It took me more
than a week to change the shape and size of my cave, but I had made it
far too large; for in course of time the earth fell in from the roof;
and had I been in it, when this took place, I should have lost my life.
I had now to set up posts in my cave, with planks on the top of them, so
as to make a roof of wood.

One day, when out with my gun, I shot a wild cat, the skin of which made
me a cap; and I found some birds of the dove tribe, which built their
nests in the holes of rocks.

I had to go to bed at dusk, till I made a lamp of goat's fat, which I
put in a clay dish; and this, with a piece of hemp for a wick, made a
good light. As I had found a use for the bag which had held the fowl's
food on board ship, I shook out from it the husks of corn. This was just
at the time when the great rains fell, and in the course of a month,
blades of rice, corn, and rye, sprang up. As time went by, and the grain
was ripe, I kept it, and took care to sow it each year; but I could not
boast of a crop of wheat, as will be shown bye-and-bye, for three years.

A thing now took place on the isle, which no one could have dreamt of,
and which struck me down with fear. It was this--the ground shook
with great force, which threw down earth from the rock with a loud
crash--once more there was a shock--and now the earth fell from the roof
of my cave. The sea did not look the same as it had done, for the shocks
were just as strong there as on land. The sway of the earth made me feel
sick; and there was a noise and a roar all around me. The same kind of
shock came a third time; and when it had gone off, I sat quite still on
the ground, for I knew not what to do. Then the clouds grew dark, the
wind rose, trees were torn up by the roots, the sea was a mass of foam
and fr