came and sat down by us, and wondered much at our clothes and arms. Nor
did we suffer any harm from them during our whole stay on the island.

Before the ship sailed twenty-three of the crew decided to join us, and
the captain, not unwilling to lose them, sent us two barrels of powder,
and shot and lead, as well as a great bag of bread.

Being now a considerable number, and in condition to defend ourselves,
the first thing we did was to give everyone his hand that we would not
separate from one another, but that we would live and die together, that
we would be in all things guided by the majority, that we would appoint
a captain among us to be our leader, and that we would obey him on pain
of death.


_II.--A Mad Venture_


For two years we remained on the island of Madagascar, for at the
beginning we had no vessel large enough to pass the ocean.

I never proposed to speak in the general consultations, but one day I
told the company that our best plan was to cruise along the coast in
canoes, and seize upon the first vessel we could get that was better
than our own, and so from that to another, till perhaps we might at last
get a good ship to carry us wherever we pleased to go.

"Excellent advice," says one of them. "Admirable advice," says another.
"Yes, yes," says the third (which was a gunner), "the English dog has
given excellent advice, but it is just the way to bring us all to the