192 CRUSOE’S DISCOVERIES.

rice—a food I ate a great deal of—a little bottle of rum, half a
goat, and powder and shot for killing more, and two large watch-
coats of those which, as I mentioned before, I had saved out of
the seamen’s chests: these I took, one to lie upon, and the other
to cover me in the night.

It was the 6th of November, in the sixth year of my reign, or
my captivity, which you please, that I set out on this voyage, and
I found it much longer than I,expected. For though the island
itself was not very large, yet, when I came to the east side of it,
I found a great ledge of rocks lie out above two leagues into the
sea, some above water, some under it; and beyond that a shoal of
sand, lying dry half a league more. So that I was obliged to go
a great way out to sea to double the point.

When first I discovered them I was going to give over my
enterprise and come back again, not knowing how far it might
oblige me to go out to sea; and above all, doubting how I should get
back again; so I came to an anchor—for [had made me a kind of an
anchor with a piece of a broken grapling, which I got out of the ship.

Having secured my boat, I took my gun and went on shore,
¢limbing up upon a hill which seemed to overlook that point,
where I saw the full extent of it, and resolved to venture.

In my viewing the sea from that hill where I stood, I perceived
a strong, and indeed a most furious current, which ran to the east,
and even came close to the point. And I took the more notice of
it, because I saw there might be some danger that when I came
into it I might be carried out to sea by the strength of it, and not
be able to make the island again. And, indeed, had I not gotten
first up upon this hill, I believe it would have been so; for there
was the same current on the other side of the island, only that it
set off at a further distance. And I saw there was a strong eddy
under the shore; so I had nothing to do but to get in out of the
first current, and I should presently be in an eddy.

I lay here, however, two days, because the wind blowing pretty
fresh at east-south-east, and that being just contrary to the said
current, made: a great breach of the sea upon the point; so that
it was not safe for me to keep too close to the shore for the breach,
nor to go too far off because of the stream.