that I left my lamp burning in the cave, lest I should want any thing
in the night, and went to bed; but before I lay down, I did what I never
had done in all my life: I kneeled down, and prayed to God to fulfil the
promise to me, that if I called upon him in the day of trouble, he would
deliver me. After my broken and imperfect prayer was over, I drank the
rum in which I had steeped the tobacco, which was so strong and rank of
the tobacco, that indeed I could scarce get it down. Immediately upon
this I went to bed, and I found presently it flew up into my head
violently; but I fell into a sound sleep, and waked no more, till by the
sun it must necessarily be near three o'clock in the afternoon the next
day; nay, to this hour I am partly of the opinion, that I slept all the
next day and night, and till almost three the day after; for otherwise I
knew not how I should lose a day out of my reckoning in the days of the
week, as it appeared some years after I had done; for if I had lost it
by crossing and recrossing the line, I should have lost more than a day;
but in my account it was lost, and I never knew which way.

Be that however one way or other; when I awaked, I found myself
exceedingly refreshed, and my spirits lively and cheerful; when I got
up, I was stronger than I was the day before, and my stomach better; for
I was hungry; and, in short, I had no fit the next day, but continued
much altered for the better: this was the 29th.

The 30th was my well day of course, and I went abroad with my gun, but
did not care to travel too far: I killed a sea-fowl or two, something
like a brand goose, and brought them home, but was not very forward to
eat them: so I ate some more of the turtle's eggs, which were very good.
This evening I renewed the medicine which I had supposed did me good the
day before, viz. the tobacco steeped in rum; only I did not take so
much as before, nor did I chew any of the leaf, or hold my head over the
smoke; however, I was not so well the next day, which was the 1st of
July, as I hoped I should have been; for I had a little spice of the
cold fit, but it was not much.

July 2. I renewed the medicine all the three ways, and dozed myself with
it at first, and doubled the quantity which I drank.

July 3. I missed the fit for good and all, though I did not recover my
full strength for some weeks after. While I was thus gathering strength,
my thoughts ran exceedingly upon this scripture, "I will deli