ARGUMENTS PRO AND CON. 116

her up; and not only so, but when I carried the old one with me
upon my shoulders, the kid followed me quite to my enclosure:
upon which I laid down the dam and took the kid in my arms,
and carried it over my pale, in hopes to have bred it up tame; but
it would not eat, so I was forced to kill it and eat it myself. These
two supplied me with flesh a great while, for I ate sparingly, and
saved my provisions (my bread especially) as much as possibly I
could,

Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely necessary
to provide a place to make a fire in, and fuel to burn; and what I
did for that, as also how I enlarged my cave and what conveniences
I made, I shall give a full account of in its place. But I must
first give some little account of myself and of my thoughts about
living, which it may well be supposed were not a few.

I had a dismal prospect of my condition; for as I was not cast
away upon that island without being driven, as is said, by a violent
storm quite out of the course of our intended voyage, and a great
way, namely, some hundreds of leagues, out of the ordinary course
of the trade of mankind, I had great reason to consider it as a
determination of Heaven that in this desolate place and in this
desolate manner I should end my life. The tears would run plenti-
fully down my face when I made these reflections ; and sometimes
I would expostulate with myself why Providence should thus com-
pletely ruin its creatures and render them so absolutely miserable,
so without help abandoned, so entirely depressed, that it could
hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life.

But something always returned swift upon me to check these
thoughts and to reprove me; and particularly one day, walking
with my gun in my hand by the sea-side, I was very pensive upon
the subject of my present condition, when reason, as it were, ex-
postulated with me the other way, thus: Well, you are in a deso-
late condition it is true, but pray remember, where are the rest of
you? Did not you come eleven of you into the boat,—where are
the ten? Why were not they saved and you lost? Why were
you singled out? Is it better to be here or there ?—and then I
pointed to the sea. All evils are to be considered with the good
that is in them, and with what worse attends them.