for nothing to us. However, Xury said he would have some of him; so he
comes on board, and asked me to give him the hatchet. "For what, Xury?"
said I, "Me cut off his head," said he. However, Xury could not cut off
his head, but he cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a
monstrous great one.

I bethought myself however, that perhaps the skin of him might one way
or other be of some value to us; and I resolved to take off his skin if
I could. So Xury and I went to work with him; but Xury was much the
better workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it. Indeed it took
us up both the whole day, but at last we got off the hide of him, and
spreading it on the top of our cabin, the sun effectually dried it in
two days time, and it afterwards served me to lie upon.

After this stop, we made on to the southward continually for ten or
twelve days, living very sparing on our provisions, which began to abate
very much, and going no oftener into the shore than we were obliged to
for fresh water: my design in this was, to make the river Gambia or
Senegal, that is to say, any where about the Cape de Verd, where I was
in hopes to meet with some European ship; and if I did not, I knew not
what course I had to take, but to seek for the islands, or perish there
among the Negroes. I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sailed
either to the coast of Guinea or Brasil, or to the East Indies, made
this Cape, or those islands; and in a word, I put the whole of my
fortune upon this single point, either that I must meet with some ship,
or must perish.

When I had passed this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said,
I began to see that the land was inhabited; and in two or three places,
as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we