lation of a scene of
silent life, such, perhaps, as was never heard of in the world before, I
shall take it from its beginning, and continue it in its order. It was
by my account the 30th of September, when, in the manner as above said, I
first set foot upon this horrid island; when the sun, being to us in its
autumnal equinox, was almost over my head; for I reckoned myself, by
observation, to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two minutes
north of the line.

After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came into my thoughts
that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of books, and pen and
ink, and should even forget the Sabbath days; but to prevent this, I cut
with my knife upon a large post, in capital letters--and making it into a
great cross, I set it up on the shore where I first landed--"I came on
shore here on the 30th September 1659."

Upon the sides of this square post I cut every day a notch with my knife,
and every seventh notch was as long again as the rest, and every first
day of the month as long again as that long one; and thus I kept my
calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning of time.

In the next place, we are to observe that among the many things which I
brought out of the ship, in the several voyages which, as above
mentioned, I made to it, I got several things of less value, but not at
all less useful to me, which I omitted setting down before; as, in
particular, pens, ink, and paper, several parcels in the captain's,
mate's, gunner's and carpenter's keeping; three or four compasses, some
mathematical instruments, dials, perspectives, charts, and books of
navigation, all which I huddled together, whether I might want them or
no; also, I found three very good Bibles, which came to me in my cargo
from England, and which I had packed up among my things; some Portuguese
books also; and among them two or three Popish prayer-books, and several
other books, all which I carefully secured. And I must not forget that
we had in the ship a dog and two cats, of whose eminent history I may
have occasion to say something in its place; for I carried both the cats
with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship of himself, and
swam on shore to me the day after I went on shore with my first cargo,
and was a trusty servant to me many years; I wanted nothing that he could
fetch me, nor any company that he could make up to me; I only wanted to
have him talk to me, but that would n