the ear. At the noise of my gun, whole flocks of them would fly
up; and at this rate I saw that there would be no corn left; so I
made up my mind to keep a look out night and day. I hid by the
side of a hedge, and could see the birds sit on the trees and
watch, and then come down, one by one, at first. Now each grain
of wheat was, as it were, a small loaf of bread to me. So the
great thing was to get rid of these birds. My plan was this, I
shot three, and hung them up, like thieves, to scare all that
came to the corn; and from this time, as long as the dead ones
hung there, not a bird came near. When the corn was ripe, I made
a scythe out of the swords from the ship, and got in my crop.

Few of us think of the cost at which a loaf of bread is made. Of
course, there was no plough here to turn up the earth, and no
spade to dig it with, so I made one with wood; but this was soon
worn out, and for want of a rake, I made use of the bough of a
tree. When I had got the corn home, I had to thrash it, part the
grain from the chaff, and store it up. Then came the want of a
mill to grind it, of sieves to clean it, and of yeast to make
bread of it.

Still, my bread was made, though I had no tools; and no one could
say that I did not earn it, by the sweat of my brow. When the
rain kept me in doors, it was good fun to teach my pet bird Poll
to talk; but so mute were all things round me, that the sound of
my own voice made me start.

My chief wants now were jars, pots, cups, and plates, but I knew
not how I could make them. At last I went in search of some clay,
and found some a mile from my house; but it was quite a joke to