while the boat was on the beach, two miles on my right. I went
some way down by the shore, to get to the boat; but an arm of the
sea, half a mile broad, kept me from it. At noon, the tide went a
long way out, so that I could get near the ship; and here I found
that if we had but made up our minds to stay on board, we should
all have been safe.

I shed tears at the thought, for I could not help it; yet, as
there was no use in that, it struck me that the best thing for me
to do was to swim to the ship. I soon threw off my clothes, took
to the sea, and swam up to the wreck. But how was I to get on
deck? I had swam twice round the ship, when a piece of rope,
caught my eye, which hung down from her side so low, that at
first the waves hid it. By the help of this rope I got on board.
I found that there was a bulge in the ship, and that she had
sprung a leak. You may be sure that my first thought was to look
round for some food, and I soon made my way to the bin, where the
bread was kept, and ate some of it as I went to and fro, for
there was no time to lose. There was, too, some rum, of which I
took a good draught, and this gave me heart. What I stood most in
need of, was a boat to take the goods to shore. But it was vain
to wish for that which could not be had; and as there were some
spare yards in the ship, two or three large planks of wood, and a
spare mast or two, I fell to work with these, to make a raft.

I put four spars side by side, and laid short bits of plank on
them, cross ways, to make my raft strong. Though these planks
would bear my own weight, they were too slight to bear much of my
freight. So I took a saw which was on board, and cut a mast in
three lengths, and these gave great strength to the raft. I found