WOODES ROGERS’S NARRATIVE, 641

the middlo bay is by much the best. Wo guessed there had boon shipa
thoro, but that they wore gono on sight of us. Wo sent our yawl ashore
about noon, with Captain Dover, Mr. Fry, and six men, all armed ; mean-
whilo, wo and tho Duchess kopt turning to got in, and such hoavy flaws came
off tho land, that wo were forced to let go our topsnil shoot, keeping all
hands to stand by our sails, for fear of tho winds carrying them away. But,
whon tho flaws were gono, wo had little or no wind. These flaws proceeded
from the land, which is very high in the middle of tho island. Our boat did
not return; wo sent our pinnace, with the men armed, to seo what was the
ocension of the yawl's stay; for wo wore afraid that the Spaniards had a
garrison there, and might have seized them, Wo put out a signal for our
boat, and the Duchess showed a Fronch ensign. Tmmediately our pinnace
returned from the shore, and brought abundance of cray-fish, with a man
clothed in goats’ skins, who looked wilder than tho first owners of them.
Ho had been on the island four years and four months, being left there by
Captain Stradling in tho Cinque Ports, His namo was Alexander Selkirk, a
Scotchman, who had beon master of the Cinque Ports, a ship that camo hore
last with Captain Dampior, who told mo that this was the best man in her.
bimmedintely agroed with him to be a mate on board our ship. It was he
{hat mado tho fire last night when he saw our ships, which he judged to be
Inglish, During his stay here ho saw several ships pass by, but only two
camo to anchor. As he went to viow them, ho found them to be Spaniards,
and retired from them, upon which they shot at him. Had they been French
he would have submitted ; but chose to risk his dying alono on the island
rathor than fall into the hands of Spaniards in these parts; because he ap-
prohended they would murder him, or make a slave of him in the mines ;
for he feared they would sparo no stranger that might be capable of dis
covering the South Seas,

The Spaniards had landed before he knew what they were, and they came
so noar him that ho had much ado to escape: for they not only shot at him,
but pursued him through the woods, where ho climbed to the top of a tree,
at tho foot of which they killed several goats just by, but went off again
without discovering him. He told us that he was born in Scotland, and was
bred a sailor from his youth, The reason of his being left there was a dif-
ference between him and his captain; which, together with the ship's being
leaky, made him willing rather to stay here than go along with him at first ;
but when ho was at last willing to go, the captain would not receive him. He
had been at the island before, to wood and water, when two of the ship's
company were left upon it for six months, till the ships returned, being
chased thence by two French South Seaships. Ho had with him his clothes
and bedding, with a firelock, some powder, bullets, and tobacco, a hatchet, a
knife, a kettle, a Bible, some practical pieces, and his mathematical instru-
ments and books. He diverted and provided for himself as well as he could
but, for the first eight months, had much ado to bear up against melancholy,