the bell-tent, to occupy the skeleton of an old Indian wigwam, which I
had discovered in a walk that way upon our first landing. This we covered
to windward with sea-weed; and lighting a fire, laid ourselves down, in
hopes of finding a remedy for our hunger in sleep; but we had not long
composed ourselves before one of our company was disturbed by the blowing
of some animal at his face, and upon opening his eyes was not a little
astonished to see by the glimmering of the fire, a large beast standing
over him. He had presence of mind enough to snatch a brand from the fire,
which was now very low, and thrust it at the nose of the animal, who
thereupon made off: This done, the man awoke us, and related, with horror
in his countenance, the narrow escape he had of being devoured. But though
we were under no small apprehensions of another visit from this animal, yet
our fatigue and heaviness was greater than our fears, and we once more
composed ourselves to rest, and slept the remainder of the night without
any further disturbance. In the morning, we were not a little anxious to
know how our companions had fared; and this anxiety was increased upon
tracing the footsteps of the beast in the sand in a direction towards the
bell-tent. The impression was deep and plain, of a large round foot well
furnished with claws. Upon our acquainting the people in the tent with the
circumstances of our story, we found that they too had been visited by the
same unwelcome guest, which they had driven away by much the same
expedient.

We now returned from this cruise, with a strong gale, to Wager's Island,
having found it impracticable to make farther discoveries in the barge on
so dangerous a coast, and in such heavy seas. Here we soon discovered, by
the quarters of dogs hanging up, that the Indians had brought a fresh
supply to our market. Upon enquiry, we found that there had been six canoes
of them, who, among other methods of taking fish, had taught their dogs to
drive the fish into a corner of some pond or lake, from whence they were
easily taken out by the skill and address of these savages. The old cabal,
during our absence, had been frequently revived; the debates of which
generally ended in riot and drunkenness. This cabal was chiefly held in a
large tent, which the people belonging to it had taken some pains to make
snug and convenient, and lined with bales of broad cloth driven from the
wreck. Eighteen of the stoutest fellows of the