g, that I formed nothing but dismal imaginations to
myself, even though I was now a great way off it. Sometimes I fancied
it must be the devil, and reason joined in with me upon this
supposition; for how should any other thing in human shape come into
the place? Where was the vessel that brought them? What marks were
there of any other footsteps? And how was it possible a man should
come there? But then to think that Satan should take human shape upon
him in such a place, where there could be no manner of occasion for
it, but to leave the print of his foot behind him, and that even for
no purpose too, for he could not be sure I should see it; this was an
amusement the other way. I considered that the devil might have found
out abundance of other ways to have terrified me than this of the
single print of a foot; that as I lived quite on the other side of the
island, he would never have been so simple to leave a mark in a place
where it was ten thousand to one whether I should ever see it or not,
and in the sand too, which the first surge of the sea, upon a high
wind, would have defaced entirely. All this seemed inconsistent with
the thing itself, and with all the notions we usually entertain of the
subtilty of the devil.

Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue me out of all
apprehensions of its being the devil; and I presently concluded, then,
that it must be some more dangerous creature, viz., that it must be
some of the savages of the mainland over against me, who had wandered
out to sea in their canoes, and, either driven by the currents or by
contrary winds, had made the island, and had been on shore, but were
gone away again to sea, being as loath, perhaps, to stay in this
desolate island as I should have been to have them.

While these reflections were rolling upon my mind, I was very thankful
in my thoughts that I was so happy as not to be thereabouts at that
time, or that they did not see my boat, by which they would have
concluded that some inhabitants had been in the place, and perhaps
have searched farther for me. Then terrible thoughts racked my
imagination about their having found my boat, and that there were
people here; and that if so, I should certainly have them come again
in greater numbers, and devour me; that if it should happen so that
they should not find me, yet they would find my enclosure, destroy all
my corn, carry away all my flock of tame goats, and I should perish at
last for m