INGENIOUS PRECAUTIONS, 217

by setting two ladders: one to a part of the rock which was low,
and then broke in, and left room to place another ladder upon
that. So, when the two ladders were taken down, no man living
could come down to me without mischieving himself; and if they
had come down, they were still on the outside of my outer wall.

Thus I took all the measures human prudence could suggest for
my own preservation ; and it will be seen at length that they were
not altogether without just reason, though I foresaw nothing at
that time more than my mere fear suggested to me.

While this was doing, I was not altogether careless of my other
affairs; for Thad a great concern upon me for my little herd of
goats. They were not only a present supply to me upon every occa-
sion, and began to be sufficient to me, without the expense of
powder and shot, but also without the fatigue of hunting after
the wild ones; and I was loath to lose the advantage of them,
and to have them all to nurse up over again.

To this purpose, after long consideration, I could think of but
two ways to preserve them: one was, to find another convenient
place to dig a cave under ground, and to drive them into it every
night; and the other was, to enclose two or three little bits of
land, remote from one another, and as much concealed as I could,
where I might keep about hali-a-dozen young goats in each place ;
so that, if any disaster happened to the flock in general, I might
be able to raise them again with little trouble and time. And
this, though it would require a great deal of time and labour, I
thought was the most rational design.

Accordingly I spent some time to find out the most retired
parts of the island; and I pitched upon one which was as private
indeed as my heart could wish for. It was a little damp piece of
ground in the middle of the hollow and thick woods where, as is
observed, I almost lost myself once before, endeavouring to come
back that way from the eastern part of the island. Here I found
a clear piece of land—near three acres—so surrounded with woods
that it was almost an enclosure by nature; at least, it did not want
near so much labour to make it so as the other pieces of ground I
had worked so hard at.

I immediately went to work with this piece of ground; and in