Part 2

"Why not make my camp right here," I asked myself; and as I reflected it seemed to be the only place where I should locate for the present, for here I should be in a position to watch closely in the hope that some vestige of the bark would yet be washed ashore; for I thought that, if the vessel had foundered, something belonging to her would very likely come ashore, and I felt sure that some parts of the boats, and perhaps the bodies of some of my unfortunate companions would be almost sure to drift in.

It was, I judged, now near mid-day, and the heat of the sun upon my head gave me some concern. I must devise some covering for my head. Looking about with this object in view, I saw hanging from a small palm tree what looked like coarse canvas. On examining it more closely, I found that it was really a sort of natural cloth, about the color of hemp, and composed of fibres that appeared to be very strong, crossing one another like warp and filling, but not interwoven. Instead, the fibres were closely stuck together so that a strong, pliant fabric was formed.

With my knife I cut off a large piece which I twisted about in such a manner as to form a conical cap. The edges I fastened together with long, sharp thorns that I cut from some bushes near by. This, though rude, would protect my head for the time being.

Before proceeding to begin the construction of my place of abode, I felt inclined to look about for some means of satisfying the hunger which I now felt keenly, for I had eaten nothing since supper the night before on board the ill-fated bark.

The cocoanut trees suggested the most available source of supply for the first meal in the strange surroundings in which I found myself; so going to a cluster of the trees near by, meanwhile wondering how I would manage to obtain the nuts fifty feet or more above my head, I was greatly relieved to find plenty of them lying upon the ground. But the nuts that I saw were not like those common in the markets at home. Instead, they were oblong and many times larger. I soon discovered that to get at the meat I must first cut away the outer husk or covering with which it was enveloped; so I opened my knife and set to work. It was no easy task, for the husk was thick and tough; but after much labor I succeeded in removing it until I bared the round, hard shell of the nut, when, with a large stone I was not long in cracking it, and laying bare the white meat. With the nut in my hands I walked about among the trees as I ate. So interested was I in the beautiful, brilliant-colored flowers, some of which were of enormous size, and in numbers of little green lizards that hopped about over the leaves of the smaller shrubs, that I did not at once notice, as I came into a grassy, circular plat, that the ground beneath a compact, shapely tree was plentifully besprinkled with golden globes, and I was in a high state of elation when I discovered that they were oranges. The tree itself was loaded with green and yellow fruit. I peeled one of the largest, and found that it was delicious and juicy, but of a rather different flavor from those to which I had been accustomed. But here was at least both refreshment and sustenance, so I was in no danger of starving, and I made a hearty meal.

Crossing the grassy plat where the orange tree grew, I descended a gentle slope among the palm trees and soon came to a beautiful little stream of clear water. Having still one of the halves of the cocoanut shell in my hand, I used it as a cup and took a long draught of the water, which, though rather warm, appeared to be pure and wholesome.

The stream at this point was quite broad and very shallow, and though but a few rods from the mouth it flowed quite swiftly. Along the banks I noticed that a certain tall, reed-like plant grew in great profusion, and, on closer examination I discovered it to be a kind of wild cane, with large, feathery, chocolate-colored plumes.

I followed the bank of the stream to the shore, and then returned to my landing place, walking along the narrow beach.

Hunger satisfied for the time-being, I set about making preparations for constructing my dwelling. Although in no need of protection from cold in this tropical climate, I remembered having read that it was not advisable to be without shelter at night, so I decided that my first task should be to construct a house, or a hut.

I first chose a clear place a little in among the palms, perhaps a dozen rods from the beach, and, as accurately as I could by pacing, I measured off an area ten feet square. Each corner I marked by driving down a short stick, and then went in search of four corner posts. After a little searching I found some straight trees about three inches in diameter, having smooth bark and with but few limbs, each tree forked about seven feet from the ground. After an hour's hard work, I succeeded in cutting down four of them with my knife; and after trimming off the branches and cutting off the tops, leaving ample forks, I dragged them to the site of lay dwelling. I next felled another pole which was cut in halves, leaving the butt end about four feet long. This I sharpened at the thickest end, and with it made holes about eighteen inches deep at each corner of the square to be occupied by my house.

Into each of these holes I set one of the forked corner posts, wedging it firmly with stones from the beach, driven solidly down all around it, filling in each with earth which I trod down firmly. Four long poles were now needed to rest one end in each of the upright forks, so as to form a frame, and I started away again, this time toward the brook, which I followed up stream. I had gone but a short distance when I came to a place where the stream widened into a broad pool. The water here was dark and apparently deep, and all around it, gracefully bending over the still depths, I found growing tall plants having small, narrow green leaves. The plants grew in clusters, and some of them were very tall, I judged from twenty-five to forty feet. I hurried forward with a view to ascertaining whether they would suit my purpose, when I immediately made a discovery which at once solved the question of obtaining an ample supply of material for building operations, both now and in the future; for the tall, graceful plants proved to be bamboos. I knew them from the descriptions I had read, and from the regular joints, just like those I had seen on the bamboo fishing rods at home.

I selected several of the bamboos, each being about two inches in diameter, and although I found them to be very hard, I managed to cut them down, and to trim off the branches and the tops. By making three trips I dragged the bamboos to my building site. Laying them along one side of the area to be occupied by the house, I found that they were nearly twenty feet long. Four of them I cut off to the required length. I then raised one on either side, one end of each pole resting in one of the forks of the uprights. A pole was then laid across each of the other sides, resting upon the poles supported by the forks, so that a sort of scaffold was formed, which needed only to be covered over to be complete.

I had worked so busily and had become so much interested that I scarcely noticed that the sun was already sinking behind the palm trees, and casting long shadows across the beach; so, as I was aware that darkness very quickly follows sunset in the tropics, I must make haste and provide a temporary shelter for the night before suspending work. I therefore cut the rest of the poles in halves and laid them across the two longer poles resting in the forks, thus forming a gridiron-like structure. With my knife I cut a large quantity of leafy branches from the shrubs that grew near at hand, and then went to the brook for an armful of wild canes. With this material I covered a portion of the scaffold, making quite a good shelter between myself and the sky.

As the sun sank lower and the shadows deepened, I felt a sense of loneliness steal over me, for the idea of spending the night alone, I knew not where, perhaps on an island, with the boundless ocean on one side, and a deep, unknown forest on the other which might conceal fierce wild animals, was not at all pleasing. But I must train myself to know no fear, and the sooner I began to school myself to this end, the better.

Although I felt sure I should not sleep with nothing to protect me and with no means of making a fire, I instinctively began to think of providing some sort of couch; and again I took my knife and cut a quantity of bushes which I piled in the form of a bed beneath the scaffold. I next cut several armfuls of the tall grass which grew all around and with it covered the couch of bushes. I now had an acceptable bed, so constructed that one end which was to serve as the head, was about a foot higher than the other.

By the time I had finished it was quite dark; but I still stood leaning against one of the corner uprights with my face turned toward the forest, hesitating what to do next, and instinctively listening for some new sound. There was no breeze stirring, and the sea lightly washed the sand with a low murmur which tended to increase my feeling of loneliness. Since sunset the air had become beautifully cool. For a long time I stood motionless.

The sounds of the night were about me; and once I started violently when I thought I heard a twig crack. Then I heard, apparently only a little distance away, a noise like a stone, thrown by some one, striking the ground; but, after the startled feeling had partly left me I reasoned that the noise was made by a ripened cocoanut falling from the tree. The indistinct notes of many insects, new and strange, filled the air, and one particularly noisy insect gave forth a sharp clipping sound like that made by shears in the hands of a barber. Sometimes a note like that of a bird varied the myriads of sounds. Feeling reassured, after a time, I cautiously lay down upon my couch, but still listening. How long I remained conscious I cannot say; but I must have been very weary from the excitement of the ship-wreck, the hardship of being cast ashore and the busy day's work.

*CHAPTER V.*

_*Strange Surroundings; Building a House*_*.*

My next sensation was that of the sun shining in my face when I awoke in the morning. At first, as I looked out from beneath my shelter I could scarcely comprehend where I was or how I came there; but the events of the day before soon returned to me. For a few minutes I lay still, looking around upon my beautiful surroundings. What a perfect paradise it was, and how overjoyed I should be were I here under different circumstances.

There was a gentle breeze stirring, just enough to move the feathery leaves of the palms and to slightly bend the tall grass; and though I could not see any of them, I heard birds giving forth discordant notes in the forest around.

But I must stir myself, for there was much to do. My house must be finished, I must devise some articles for personal use, and the problem of my future sustenance must be solved, for I could not long continue to work and subsist entirely upon cocoanuts and oranges, although they would answer well enough for the present.

So I sprang up and going directly to the stream I bathed my face and hands. Having no towel and seeing no substitute for one, I sat down and dried myself in the sun.

Cracking another cocoanut in the same manner as I did the day before and gathering some oranges, I sat down with my back against the palm tree and proceeded with my frugal breakfast. As I had neglected to provide myself with a meal ere I retired the night before, I was very hungry and my appetite was not satisfied until I had eaten nearly a dozen oranges, beside the cocoanut. Using a half shell of the cocoanut as a cup, I took a long drink of water from the stream and turned again toward my embryo dwelling.

I thought it best to construct the walls first in order to provide against the possible attacks of wild animals, and knowing this to be the first part of the dry season which, in the latitude in which I judged myself to be, lasts from the middle of November until May, there was no immediate necessity for providing shelter from rain.

The necessity of devising some plan for keeping an accurate account of each day as it passed, now occurred to me, and as I walked back to the pool for another supply of bamboos, I revolved the question in my mind. The record which I proposed to keep must be indestructible, and in some compact, portable form so that I could easily take it with me in the event of sudden departure from my habitation. One of the halves of the cocoanut shells which caught my eye as I passed the spot where I had partaken of breakfast, gave me an idea which I at once adopted.

Then and there I put the plan into execution. It was this: I resolved to use only the halves of the cocoanut shells that contained the natural holes through which the shoots of the germinating nut emerge from the shell. The meat was removed from the half shell, leaving the two holes through it.

At the close of each day, as near sunset as possible, I would cut a deep notch in the edge of the shell, and each shell should have as many notches as there were days in the month. On the completion of the month I would carve with my knife the name of the month and year; and in this way I hoped to preserve a correct record of the time. As each month was finished I proposed to pass a cord through one of the holes; and for the purpose I at once braided a strong cord from the fibres of the cocoanut cloth from which I had constructed my head gear.

I remembered, accurately the day of the wreck, and as I had been on shore one day, I out the first notch, and engraved on the shell: "December 18th, 18--."

As I marked upon my calendar I wondered how many shells I should have upon my string ere I was rescued from my lonely position. "Perhaps," I thought, "I may never see any other place." But I resolved not to harbor gloomy thoughts; and tying a large hard knot in one end of the cord, I strung the shell upon it, inserting it from the outside. Succeeding shells strung upon the cord would fit into one another like a nest of bowls. Thus I would have a complete record, and a practically imperishable one.

As I knew the day of the week on which I had commenced my lone life, I resolved, for each Sunday, to bore a hole instead of cutting a notch, for I intended to observe the Sabbath by abstaining from work.

Continuing my way to the pool, I set to work cutting bamboos. I selected only those measuring about two inches in diameter, and before the sun reached the zenith I had thirty of them cut and trimmed, ready to drag to my house.

I found it hot work, and I threw myself down to rest. For the first time I caught sight of the birds that had been making such a babel of discordant sounds all the morning. Several of them were flying about near the opposite side of the pool, and I at once recognized them as parrots.

"What a consolation it would be," I thought, "if I could capture one and teach it to talk. It certainly would prove far better than no companion."

Having landed the bamboos at the house, I set about cutting them into lengths corresponding to the height of the corner posts. These I set into the ground at regular intervals, in line with the posts, lashing the upper ends to the horizontal poles resting in the forks, and to the poles across the other two sides, using for the purpose a long, supple vine which I found growing in plenty in the edge of the woods, twisting around the trunks of the trees.

*CHAPTER VI.*

_*The Stockade; A Crusoe's Life*_*.*

By the time I had finished setting the poles into the ground, thus forming the enclosure of the house, my appetite began to assert itself; and I was again reminded that I must search for food other than cocoanuts and oranges. More substantial nourishment I must have if I was to continue to work and retain my health and strength. But my extreme anxiety to carry along the construction of my house sufficiently far to afford a feeling of security at night, decided me to make a few more meals of the oranges and nuts before suspending work long enough to discover or develop resources.

Again I went to the pool and cut two more bamboos, each twenty feet long. I then cut them in halves, making four poles each ten feet long. Carrying these to the house, I lashed one across the upright palings midway between the upper pole and the ground, lashing them firmly to each of the palings. This strengthened the structure, and shaking it with all my strength I was gratified to find that, though naturally elastic, it was firm and strong.

As I now had a safe protection from any wild animal of moderate size and strength, I felt that I should be secure at night. I was on an island somewhere to the northeast of the Caribbean sea, in fact, I reasoned that I could be nowhere else; and from this, together with what I had read, I concluded that there could be no very large or ferocious wild animals in the forests about me.

I still had some time to work before sunset, and I therefore went to the bank of the stream to cut a quantity of wild canes which I proposed to weave in the form of basket work, between the palings, thus forming the walls of my house.

Cutting the canes was easy work, and by sunset I had a great pile of them landed by the house.

Again satisfying the cravings of hunger with oranges and cocoanuts, washed down with water from the brook, I cut another notch in the cocoanut-shell calendar, and after sitting and listening to the varied insect sounds until it was quite dark, I retired, to my couch within the inclosure.

Lying upon my couch, until I fell asleep, I revolved in my mind various plans for the future. The details for the construction of my house were pretty well worked out in my mind; and the desirability of surrounding my abode with some sort of a stockade occurred to me. I had little fear of attacks from wild animals, but I presumed that the island was inhabited in some part of it, by what sort of people I had not yet considered.

Indeed, it was extremely improbable that an island in this quarter of the world could be totally uninhabited. Whether the islanders proved friendly or otherwise, the idea of a stockade as a protection against possible surprise met with my immediate approval.

Another question of extreme importance to be considered was that of a permanent food supply. Perhaps only cocoanuts and oranges abounded in my near vicinity; at any rate, I resolved to carefully survey the adjacent region for the purpose of ascertaining its resources.

Then the question of providing clothing for myself must be considered, for, at best, my present raiment would not long survive the rough usage which it was now receiving, and to which it would hereafter be subjected in the bush. I even thought it might be well to construct a suit from the cocoanut-fibre cloth, and thus save my civilized clothes for the day of my rescue.

Many other things passed through my mind in rapid succession as I lay upon my couch, among them the project of starting out upon a tour of discovery in an endeavor to ascertain the extent of my domain, and if it was inhabited in any part of it.

*CHAPTER VII.*

_*A Cocoanut Calendar; Food Supply*_*.*

The notches in the cocoanut calendar grew in number as the days passed, busy days of hard, incessant labor, and four months of my exile elapsed ere the house was finished to my satisfaction and a substantial stockade erected around it. The walls of my house were made of the wild canes closely woven like basket-work. It had been done very carefully, and, when completed, I had a perfect shelter, both from the sun and the wind. The roof was made of the long grass, alternate with layers of bamboos; and by using the larger bamboos in the centre of the roof, when by successive layers it reached the proper thickness, I had a roof which sloped steeply from the centre to each edge, which, carefully covered with an outside layer of the long grass dressed from the top downward, would perfectly shed the water during the rainy season. The thickness of the roof rendered it impervious to wet, and, as I soon discovered, almost a non-conductor of heat.

I left no windows in the house, as I thought there would be sufficient ventilation through the interstices of the cane-walls, but I constructed a door three feet wide and five feet high, by lashing bamboos together in the form of a gridiron, and then weaving in cane as I had done in constructing the walls. For hinges I made use of vines twisted together.

The stockade surrounded the house at a distance of about six feet from either side, and it cost me several weeks of steady work. I had first to cut a great number of good-sized bamboos, which, with only my knife, was very laborious work. I had frequently to sharpen the knife on a piece of soft, porous rock which I found near the brook.

Each bamboo was cut off to a length of ten feet, and sharpened at the small, or upper end. These I set into the ground at intervals of one foot, to a depth of two feet. Then, at a distance of one foot from the top all around the enclosure, I lashed long bamboos, using the tough vine which I found in abundance near the edge of the bush, winding it around each upright bamboo, and around the horizontal poles. Between the horizontal pole and the ground, I wove a close basketwork of the vine. It was harder work weaving in this vine, as it was larger than the canes; but it was very tough, and a wall composed of it closely woven would prove a very effective defense.

So I kept busily at work, day after day, cutting the vines, trimming off the leaves, dragging them to the house and weaving them in around the bamboo uprights, until I finally had a wall about me elastic but capable of sustaining a great strain, the sharpened ends of the upright bamboos forming an effectual safeguard against the walls being scaled from the outside.

After the woven-work of vines was thoroughly seasoned, which did not take long, I cut round holes six inches in diameter, four on each side, about five feet from the ground, in order that I might command a view in all directions without leaving the enclosure.

In the side facing the sea, I made a door, constructed in a manner similar to that in the house; but, for the stockade door, I devised an arrangement for securely barring it on the inside, by using two large bamboos each two feet longer than the door was wide, held in place by rings of the supple vine which I twisted about the two door-posts.

These rings were made by first bending several inches of one end of the vine in the form of a circle, and then winding the rest of the vine around this ring. Through these the ends of the bars passing across the door were placed, which, if anything, made the opening, when closed and fastened inside, stronger than any other portion of the structure.

During all this time I had lived solely upon cocoanuts and oranges, varied with a few shellfish, somewhat resembling periwinkles, only larger, that I found along the beach. These I ate raw, and found them rather palatable but somewhat tough. However, as I continued in good health and strength, I preferred to complete my house and stockade before making a systematic attempt to provide other food.

Nothing now remained to be done in connection with my dwelling, but to carry into execution an idea which I had evolved while at work, that of transplanting some creepers from the edge of the forest and training them along the stockade, so that, as I calculated, in a short time, in this tropical land of rapid growth, they would completely cover the stockade, and render my retreat more safe from observation, should my solitude be invaded.