My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very good
fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols: these I secured
first, with some powder horns, and a small bag of shot, and two old
rusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in the ship,
but knew not where our gunner had stowed them; but with much search I
found them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken water; those
two I got to my raft, with the arms. And now I thought myself pretty
well freighted, and began to think how I should get to shore with them,
having neither sail, oar, or rudder, and the least capful of wind would
have overset all my navigation.

I had three encouragements: 1. A smooth, calm sea; 2. The tide rising
and setting in to the shore; 3. What little wind there was blew me
towards the land: and thus, having found two or three broken oars
belonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest, I
found two saws, an axe, and a hammer; and with this cargo I put to sea:
for a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well, only that I found it
drive a little distant from the place where I had landed before, by
which I perceived that there was some indraft of the water, and
consequently I hoped to find some creek or river there, which I might
make use of as a port to get to land with my cargo.

As I imagined, so it was: there appeared before me a little opening of
the land, and I found a strong current of the tide set into it, so I
guided my raft as well as I could to keep in the middle of the stream;
but here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if I
had, I think verily would have broke my heart; for knowing nothing of
the coast, my raft run aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not
being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo
had slipped off towards that end that was afloat, and so fallen into the