n; he afterwards rose and
turned his thoughts upon his present situation, and to what would be the
measures most advisable to take. He hauled his little boat still
farther on the beach, and attached the painter to one of the oars, which
he fixed deep in the sand; he then proceeded to survey the bank, and
found that but a small portion was uncovered at high water; for trifling
as was the rise of the tide, the bank was so low that the water flowed
almost over it. The most elevated part was not more than fifteen feet
above high-water mark, and that was a small knoll of about fifty feet in
circumference.

To this part he resolved to remove his effects: he returned to the boat,
and having lifted out his chest, the water, the provisions, with the
other articles which he had obtained, he dragged them up, one by one,
until they were all collected at the spot he had chosen. He then took
out of the boat the oars and little sail, which, fortunately, had
remained in her. His last object, to haul the little boat up to the
same spot, was one which demanded all his exertion; but, after
considerable fatigue, he contrived, by first lifting round her bow, and
then her stern, to effect his object.

Tired and exhausted, he then repaired to one of the breakers of water
and refreshed himself. The heat, as the day advanced, had become
intolerable; but it stimulated him to fresh exertion. He turned over
the boat, and contrived that the bow and stern should rest upon two
little hillocks, so as to raise it above the level of the sand beneath
it two or three feet; he spread out the sail from the keel above, with
the thole-pins as pegs, so as to keep off the rays of the sun. Dragging
the breakers of water and the provisions underneath the boat, he left
his chest outside; and having thus formed for himself a sort of covering
which would protect him from the heat of the day and the damp of the
night, he crept in, to shelter himself until the evening.

Although Francisco had not been on deck, he knew pretty well whereabouts
he then was. Taking out a chart from his chest, he examined the coast
to ascertain the probable distance which he might be from any prospect
of succour. He calculated that he was on one of a patch of sand-banks
off the coast of Loango, and about seven hundred miles from the Isle of
St. Thomas--the nearest place where he might expect to fall in with a
European face. From the coast he felt certain that he could not be mo