62 ROBINSON CRUSOE.

in its order. It was, by my account, the 30th of September,
when, in the manner as above said, I first set foot upon this
horrid island ; when the sun, being to us in its autumnal equinox,
was almost just over my head: for I reckoned myself, by ob-
servation, to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two
minutes north of the line.

After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came
into my thoughts that I should lose my reckoning of time for
want of books, and pen and ink, and should even forget the
Sabbath days ; but to prevent this, I cut with my knife upon a
large post, in capital letters ; and making it into a great cross,
I set up on the shore where I first landed, “I came on shore
here on the 3oth of September, 1659.”

Upon the sides of this square post I cut every day a notch
with my knife, and every seventh notch was as long again as
the rest, and every first day of the month, as long again as that
long one ; and thus 1 kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly,
and yearly reckoning of time. _

In the next place, we are to observe that among the many
things which I brought out of the ship, in the several voyages
which, as above mentioned, I made to it, I got several things
of less value, but not at all less useful to me, which I omitted
setting down before; as, in particular, pens, ink, and paper ;
several parcels in the captain’s, mate’s, gunner’s, and carpenter’s
keeping ; three or four compasses, some mathematical instru-
ments, dials, perspectives, charts, and books of navigation ; all
which I huddled together, whether I might want them or no:
also I found three very good Bibles, which came to me in my
cargo from England, and which I had packed up among my
things ; some Portuguese books also; and, among them, two
or three Popish prayer-books, and several other books, all which
I carefully secured. And I must not forget, that we had in the
ship a dog, and two cats, of whose eminent history I may have
occasion to say something in its place ; for I carried both the
cats with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship of
himself, and swam on shore to me the day after I went on
shore with my first cargo, and was a trusty servant to me many
years ; I wanted nothing that he could fetch me, nor any com-
pany that he could make up to me; I only wanted to have him
talk to me, but that would not do. As I observed before, I
found pens, ink, and paper, and I husbanded them to the ut-
most ; and I shall show that while my ink lasted, I kept things
very exact, but after that was gone I could not, for I could not
make any ink by any means that I could devise.