After all this was done, I had my man Friday to teach as to what belonged to the navigation of my boat; for though he knew very well how to paddle the canoe, he knew nothing what belonged to a sail and a rudder, and was the more amazed when he saw me work the boat to and again in the sea by the rudder, and how the sail gibed, and filled this way or that way, as the course we sailed changed; I say, when he saw this, he stood like one astonished and amazed:  however, with a little use, I made all these things familiar to him, and he became an expert sailor, except that as to the compass I could make him understand very little of that:  on the other hand, as there was very little cloudy weather, and seldom or never any fogs in those parts, there was the less occasion for a compass, seeing the stars were always to be seen by night, and the shore by day, except in the rainy seasons; and then nobody cared to stir abroad, either by land or sea.

I was now entered on the seven-and-twentieth year of my captivity in this place; though the three last years that I had this creature with me, ought rather to be left out of the account, my habitation being quite of another kind than in all the rest of my time.  I kept the anniversary of my landing here with the same thankfulness to God for his mercies as at first; and if I had such cause of acknowledgment at first, I had much more so now, having such additional testimonies of the care of Providence over me, and the great hopes I had of being effectually and speedily delivered; for I had an invincible impression upon my thoughts, that my deliverance was at hand, and that I should not be another year in this place.  However, I went on with my husbandry, digging, planting, and fencing, as usual; I gathered and cured my grapes, and did every necessary thing, as before.

The rainy season was in the mean time upon me, when I kept more within doors than at other times; so I had stowed our now vessel as secure as we could, bringing her up into the creek, where, as I said in the beginning, I landed my rafts from the ship; and haling her up to the shore, at high water mark, I made my man Friday dig a little dock, just big enough for her to float in; and then, when the tide was out, we made a strong dam cross the end of it, to keep the water out; and so she lay dry, as to the tide, from the sea; and to keep the rain off, we laid a great many boughs of trees so thick, that she was as well thatched as a house; and thus we waited for the months of November and December, in which I designed to make my adventure.

When the settled season began to come in, as the thought of my design returned with the fair weather, I was preparing daily for the voyage; and the first thing I did was to lay up a certain quantity of provision, being the store for the voyage; and intended, in a week or a fortnight’s time, to open the dock, and launch out our boat.  I was busy one morning upon something of this kind, when I called to Friday,