ROBINSON CRUSOE. 215

board into some snare for their surprise, as to prevent their
landing upon us and destroying us. Upon this it presently
occurred to me that in a little while the ship’s crew, wondering
what was become of their comrades and of the boat, would
certainly come on shore in their other boat to look for them,
and that then, perhaps, they might come armed, and be too strong
for us: this he allowed to be rational. Upon this, I told him the
first thing we had to do was to stave the boat, which lay upon
the beach, so that they might not carry her off, and taking
everything out of her, leave her so far useless as not to be fit
to swim. Accordingly we went on board, took the arms which
were left on board out of her, and whatever else we found
there,—which was a bottle of brandy, and another of rum, a
few biscuit cakes, a horn of powder, and a great lump of sugar
in a piece of canvas (the sugar was five or six pounds) ; all
which was very welcome to me, especially the brandy and
sugar, of which I had had none left for many years.

When we had carried all these things on shore (the oars,
mast, sail, and rudder of the boat were carried away before),
we knocked a great hole in her bottom, that if they had come
strong enough to master us, yet they could not carry off the boat.
Indeed, it was not much in my thoughts that we could be able
to recover the ship ; but my view was, that if they went away
without the boat, I did not much question to make her again
fit to carry us to the Leeward Islands, and call upon our
friends the Spaniards in my way, for I had them still in my
thoughts,

While we were thus preparing our designs, and had first, by
main strength, heaved the boat upon the beach, so high that
the tide would not float her off at high-water mark, and besides,
had broke a hole in her bottom too big to be quickly stopped, .
and were set down musing what we should do, we heard the
ship fire a gun, and make a waft with her ensign as a signal for
the boat:to come on board: but no boat stirred ; and they fired
several times, making other signals for the boat. At last, when
all their signals and firing proved fruitless, and they found the
boat did not stir, we saw them, by the help of my glasses,

‘hoist another boat out, and row towards the shore ; and we
found, as they approached, that there were no less than ten
men in her, and that they had fire-arms with them.

As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore, we had
a full view of them as they came, and a plain sight even of
their faces ; because the tide having set them a little to the:
east of the other boat, they rowed up under shore, to come to