the matter, I was set adrift, as I say.
Fortunately for me the sea was smooth, for an off-shore breeze soon
carried me beyond reach and sight of land, where I must quickly have
been swamped had there been any waves moving. After awhile I became so
thoroughly chilled and benumbed that I thought I should perish with the
cold, as indeed I should, had I not bethought me of the canvas hood on
the back of my tub. This, after infinite labor, and the most careful
balancing to prevent an upset, I finally managed to obtain. Wrapped in
it, I made out to exist through that fearful night, which seemed as
though it would never end.

"In the morning I was out of sight of land, though soon after sunrise I
detected a speck lying in the direction I was taking, that afterwards
proved to be a small island. A breeze sprang up with the sun, and
though it drove me along more rapidly, it also sent little waves
slopping over the sides of my tub, so that I was obliged to bail pretty
constantly with a sponge. At the same time I was broiled and frizzled
by the blaze of the sun on my bare body. To remedy this, I bit away
some of the stitches in the bottom of my canvas bag, until I made an
opening through which I could thrust my head. I completed the garment
thus formed by opening holes in the sides for my arms. Upon my
unprotected head, which, as you see, is inclined to be bald, the sun
beat with such fury that I feared my brain would be affected, until I
conceived the happy thought of tying on a wet sponge.

"By the time I was thus equipped, it was nearly noon, and the island I
had been approaching all the morning was close at hand. I saw,
however, that I was in danger of drifting past without touching it, and
to avert this evil I began to paddle with my hands. In order to
preserve the equilibrium of the tub under these efforts I was obliged
to paddle it back foremost. Thus I was completely hidden from the
shore, nor could I see it save at a distance on either side.

"At length, when I was about used up by this unaccustomed exertion, my
craft touched bottom, and I joyfully stepped out in water not over my
knees. To my dismay, I was immediately seized by a couple of savages,
who had evidently been waiting for me, and found that I had escaped
from one enemy only to fall into the hands of another. The feeling
thus experienced was, however, as nothing compared with what I
underwent when I saw standing but a short distance away three la