er and
taking a little gun in one hand, swam to shore with the other hand, and
coming close to the creature, put the muzzle of the piece to his ear, and
shot him in the head again, which despatched him quite.

This was game indeed to us, but this was no food; and I was very sorry to
lose three charges of powder and shot upon a creature that was good for
nothing to us. However, Xury said he would have some of him; so he comes
on board, and asked me to give him the hatchet. "For what, Xury?" said
I. "Me cut off his head," said he. However, Xury could not cut off his
head, but he cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a
monstrous great one.

I bethought myself, however, that, perhaps the skin of him might, one way
or other, be of some value to us; and I resolved to take off his skin if
I could. So Xury and I went to work with him; but Xury was much the
better workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it. Indeed, it took
us both up the whole day, but at last we got off the hide of him, and
spreading it on the top of our cabin, the sun effectually dried it in two
days' time, and it afterwards served me to lie upon.

CHAPTER III--WRECKED ON A DESERT ISLAND

After this stop, we made on to the southward continually for ten or
twelve days, living very sparingly on our provisions, which began to
abate very much, and going no oftener to the shore than we were obliged
to for fresh water. My design in this was to make the river Gambia or
Senegal, that is to say anywhere about the Cape de Verde, where I was in
hopes to meet with some European ship; and if I did not, I knew not what
course I had to take, but to seek for the islands, or perish there among
the negroes. I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sailed either
to the coast of Guinea or to Brazil, or to the East Indies, made this
cape, or those islands; and, in a word, I put the whole of my fortune
upon this single point, either that I must meet with some ship or must
perish.

When I had pursued this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said,
I began to see that the land was inhabited; and in two or three places,
as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we
could also perceive they were quite black and naked. I was once inclined
to have gone on shore to them; but Xury was my better counsellor, and
said to me, "No go, no go." However, I hauled in nearer the shore that I
might talk to them, and I found