the sea: no land to be seen except some rocks, which lay a great
way off; and two small islands, less than this, which lay about
three leagues to the west.

I found also that the island I was in was barren, and, as I saw
good reason to believe, uninhabited except by wild beasts, of whom,
however, I saw none. Yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not
their kinds; neither when I killed them could I tell what was fit
for food, and what not. At my coming back, I shot at a great bird
which I saw sitting upon a tree on the side of a great wood. I
believe it was the first gun that had been fired there since the
creation of the world. I had no sooner fired, than from all parts
of the wood there arose an innumerable number of fowls, of many
sorts, making a confused screaming and crying, and every one
according to his usual note, but not one of them of any kind that I
knew. As for the creature I killed, I took it to be a kind of
hawk, its colour and beak resembling it, but it had no talons or
claws more than common. Its flesh was carrion, and fit for
nothing.

Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to
work to bring my cargo on shore, which took me 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
chest and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of
hut for that night's lodging. As for food, I yet saw not which way