ater to quench his thirst,
nor to help him in any way. His only medicine was rum, in which he had
soaked tobacco. It was very nasty, and made him sick, but it also
made him sleep for more than a whole day and a night, and he woke much
better, and able to walk about a little, though for a fortnight he was
too weak to work. From this illness he learned not to go out more than
he could help during the rainy season.

When he was again quite strong, Robinson started to explore the island
better than he had yet done, and he found many things growing, of
which he made great use afterwards, tobacco, sugar-cane, and all
manner of fruits, among them grapes, which he used to dry to raisins
in the sun in great quantities.

Near the spot where the most fruit grew, he built a hut, and round it,
for safety, he put a double fence made of stakes cut from some of the
trees near at hand. During the next rainy season these stakes took
root, and grew so fast that soon nothing of the hut could be seen from
outside the hedge, and it made so good a hiding-place, that Robinson
cut more stakes of the same kind, and planted them outside the fence
around his first dwelling; and in a year or two that also was quite
hidden from view. The twigs of this tree, too, were good for making
baskets, of which he had been in great need.

When he had finished all this work, he started again to go over the
rest of the island, and on his way across, from a hill, the day being
very clear, he saw high land a great way off over the water, but
whether it was another island, or the coast of America, he could not
be sure.

When he reached the other side of his island Robinson found the beach
covered with turtles in astonishing numbers, and he thought how much
better off he would have been if he had been cast ashore here, for not
only would the turtles have supplied him with plenty of food, but
there were far more birds than on the part of the island where he had
been living, and far more goats.

During the journey back to his castle he caught a young parrot, which,
after a long time, he taught to speak and to call him by his name. It
was so long since he had heard any voice, that it was a comfort to
listen even to a parrot talking.

Now, the sight which Robinson had had of the far distant land raised
in him again the great longing to get away from this island where he
had been so long alone, and he wished greatly for a boat. He went over
to the remains of the