r hands had been
served, even when they had been ten or twenty together; much more I that
was but one, and could make little or no defence. All these things, I
say, which I ought to have considered well of, and I did cast up in my
thoughts afterwards, yet took none of my apprehensions at first; and my
head ran mightily upon the thoughts of getting over to that shore.

Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long-boat, with the shoulder of
mutton sail, with which I sailed above a thousand miles on the coast of
Africa; but this was in vain. Then I thought I would go and look on our
ship's boat, which, as I have said, was blown up upon the shore a great
way in the storm, when we were first cast away. She lay almost where she
did at first, but not quite; and was turned by the force of the waves
and the winds almost bottom upwards, against the high ridge of a beachy
rough sand, but no water about her as before.

If I had had hands to have refitted her, and have launched her into the
water, the boat would have done well enough, and I might have gone back
into the Brasils with her easy enough; but I might have easily foreseen,
that I could no more turn her, and set her upright upon her bottom, than
I could remove the island. However, I went to the wood, and cut levers
and rollers, and brought them to the boat, resolving to try what I could
do; suggesting to myself, that if I could but turn her down, I might
easily repair the damage she had received, and she would be a very good
boat, and I might go to sea in her very easily.

I spared no pains indeed in this piece of fruitless toil, and spent, I
think, three or four weeks about it; at last finding it impossible to
heave it up with my little strength, I fell to digging away the sand to
undermine it; and so to make it fall down, setting pieces of wood to
thrust and guide it right in the fall.

But when I had done this, I was unable to stir it up again, or to get
under it, much less to move it forwards towards the water; so I was
forced to give it over: and yet, though I gave over the hopes of the
boat, my desire to venture over for the main increased, rather than
decreased, as the means for it seemed impossible.

This at length set me upon thinking whether it was not possible to make
myself a canoe or periagua, such as the natives of those climates make,
even without tools, or, as I might say, without hands, viz. of the trunk
of a great tree. This I not only thought possible,