THOUGHT LEADS TO ACTION. 248

Let the naturalists explain these things, and the reason and
manner of them. All I can say to them is, to describe the fact,
which was even surprising to me when I found it; though I knew
not from what it should proceed. It was doubtless the effect of
ardent wishes and of strong ideas formed in my mind, realizing the
comfort which the conversation of one of my fellow-Christians
would have been to me.

But it was not to be. Hither their fate or mine, or both, forbade
it; for until the last year of my being on this island, I never knew
whether any were saved out of that ship or no; and had only
the affliction, some days after, to see the corpse of a drowned boy
come on shore, at the end of the island which was next the ship-
wreck. He had on no clothes, but a seaman’s waistcoat, a pair of
open-kneed linen drawers, and a blue linen shirt; but nothing to
direct me so much as to guess what nation he was of. He had
nothing in his pocket but two pieces of eight and a tobacco pipe.
The last was to me of ten times more value than the first.

It was now calm, and I had a great mind to venture out in my
boat to this wreck; not doubting but J might find something on
board that might be useful to me. But that did not altogether
press me so much as the possibility that there might be yet some
living creature on board, whose life I might not only save, but
might, by saving that life, comfort my own to the last degree;
and this thought clung so to my heart that I could not be quiet,
night nor day, but I must venture out in my boat on board this
wreck ; and committing the rest to God’s providence, I thought the
impression was so strong upon my mind that it could not be re-
sisted, that it must come from some invisible direction, and that I
should be wanting to myself if I did not go.

Under the power of this impression, I hastened back to my
castle, prepared everything for my voyage, took a quantity of
bread, a great pot for fresh water, a compass to steer by, a bottle
of rum,—for I had still a great deal of that left,—a basket full of
raisins. And thus loading myself with everything necessary, I
went down to my boat, got the water out of her, and got her afloat,
loaded all my cargo in her, and then went home again for more.
My second cargo was a great bag full of rice, the umbrella to set