upon a shoal, and, not being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo had slipped off towards the end that was afloat, and so fallen into the water. 4. I did my utmost, by setting my back against the chests, to keep them in their places; but, with all my strength, I could not thrust off the raft; neither did I dare to stir from the posture I was in. And so, holding up the chests with all my might, I stood in that manner nearly half an hour, in which time the rising of the water brought me a little more upon a level. A little after, the water still rising, my raft floated again, and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel, and then, driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of a little river, with land on both. sides, and a strong tide running up. 5. I looked on both sides for a proper place to get to shore, for I was not willing to be driven too high up the river, because I hoped, in time, to see some ship at sea. Accordingly I resolved to place myself as near the coast as I could. At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, to which, with great pain and difficulty, I guided my raft, and at last got so near, that, reaching ground with my oar, I was able to thrust her directly in. 6. But here I was again near dipping all my cargo into the sea; for the shore lay pretty steep and sloping, and, wherever I might land, one end of my float, if it ran on shore, would lie so high, and the other be sunk so low, that it would endanger my cargo. All that I could do was to wait till the tide was at the highest, using my oar as an anchor to hold the side of the raft fast to the shore, near a flat piece of ground, which I expected the water would overflow. 7. And so it did. As soon as I found water enough, for my raft drew about a foot, I thrust her up on the flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored her by sticking my two broken oars into the ground, one on one side, near one end, and one on the other side, near the other end. Thus I lay till the water ebbed away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore. 8. My next work was to view the country, and seek a proper place for my habitation, and where to stow my goods, to secure them from whatever might happen. Where I was I yet knew not: whether on the continent or on an island; whether inhabited or not inhabited; whether in danger of wild beasts or not. There was a hill not above a mile from me, which rose up very steep and high, and which seemed to overtop some other hills, which lay as in a ridge from it, northward. 9. I took out one of the fowling-pieces, and one of the pistols, and a horn of powder; and thus armed, I traveled for discovery up to the top of the hill. After I had with much labor and difficulty reached the top, I saw, to my great affliction, that I was on an island, surrounded on every side by the sea. No land was to be seen except some rocks, which lay a great way off, and two small islands, less than these, which lay about three leagues to the west. 10. Having made this discovery, I returned to my raft, and fell to work to bring my cargo on shore. This took up the rest of that day. What to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest, for I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some wild beast might devour me; though, as I afterwards found, there was really no need for those fears. However, as well as I could I barricaded myself round with the chests and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of hut for that night's lodging. 11. I now began to consider that I might yet get out of the ship a great many things which would be useful to me, and particularly some of the rigging and sails, and such other things as might come to land: so I resolved to make another voyage on board the vessel, if possible. As I knew that the first storm that blew must break her all in pieces, I determined to set aside all other work till I had got every thing out of the ship that I could get. 12. I got on board the ship as before, and prepared a second raft; and having had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy, nor loaded it so heavily. I brought away several things very useful to me. Thus I found among the carpenter's stores two or three bags full of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets, and, above all, that most useful thing, a grindstone. 13. All these I secured, together with several things belonging to the gunner, - particularly two or three iron crows, two barrels of musket bullets, seven muskets and another fowling-piece, with a little more powder, a large bagful of small shot, and a great roll of sheet-lead; but this last was so heavy that I could not hoist it up to get it over the ship's side. Besides these things, I took all the men's clothes that I could find, and a spare fore-topsail, a hammock, and some bedding. With these articles I loaded my second raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to my very great comfort. HEADS FOR COMPOSITION. Write a composition by answering these questions:1. For how long did Crusoe's raft go well? (Par. 2) 2. What did he hope to find? (2) 3. How did he guide his raft? (3) 4. What next happened to our navigator? (8) 5. How did he keep the chests in their places? (5) 6. What happened when the water rose? (4) 7. What did Crusoe at length spy? (6) 8. What accident nearly happened to Crusoe? (6) 9. What was the end of the voyage? (7) 10. What Crusoe Brought from the Wreck. PART III. ea'ble, a large, strong rope. măg-a-zïne', -a storehouse, collection. pōrt'a-ble, that may be carried. rum'maġed, searched carefully. un-wield'y, hard to manage. 1. HAVING got my second cargo on shore, I went to work to make me a little tent, with the sail and some poles, which I cut for that purpose; and into this tent I carried everything that I knew would spoil either from rain or sun. I piled all the empty chests and casks up in a circle round the tent, to fortify it against any sudden attack, either from man or beast. 2. When I had done this, I blocked up the door of the tent with some boards within, and an empty chest set up on end without. Then spreading one of the beds upon the ground, and laying my two pistols just at my head, and my gun by my side, I went to bed for the first time, and slept very quietly all night; for I was very weary. The night before I had slept little, and had labored very hard all day to bring all those things from the ship, and get them on shore. 3. I had the biggest magazine of. all kinds now that ever was laid up, I believe, for one man. But I was not satisfied yet; for while the ship sat upright in that position, I thought I ought to get every thing out of her that I could. |