ell the position of
the sun at that time of the day. And it happened to my farther
misfortune, that the weather proved hazy for three or four days while I
was in this valley; and not being able to see the sun, I wandered about
very uncomfortable, and at last was obliged to find out the sea-side,
look for my post, and come back the same way I went; and then by easy
journies I turned homeward, the weather being exceeding hot, and my gun,
ammunition, hatchet, and other things very heavy.
In this journey, my dog surprised a young kid, and seized upon it; and
running to take hold of it, I caught it, and saved it alive from the
dog. I had a great mind to bring it home if I could; for I had often
been musing whether it might not be possible to get a kid or two, and so
raise a breed of tame goats, which might supply me when my powder and
shot should be all spent. I made a collar for this little creature, and
with a string which I had made of some rope-yarn, which I always carried
about me, I led him along, though with some difficulty, till I came to
my bower, and there I enclosed him and left him; for I was very
impatient to be at home, from whence I had been absent above a month.
I cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me to come into my old
hutch, and lie down in my hammock-bed. This little wandering journey,
without a settled place of abode, had been so unpleasant to me, that my
own house, as I called it to myself, was a perfect settlement to me,
compared to that; and it rendered every thing about me so comfortable,
that I resolved I would never go a great way from it again, while it
should be my lot to stay on the island.
I reposed myself here a week, to rest and regale myself after my long
journey: during which, most of the time was taken up in the weighty
affair of making a cage for my Pol, who began now to be more domestic,
and to be mighty well acquainted with me. Then I began to think of the
poor kid which I had penned within my little circle, and resolved to
fetch it home, or give it some food: accordingly I went, and found it
where I left it (for indeed it could not get out,) but was almost
starved for want of food. I went and cut boughs of trees, and branches
of such shrubs as I could find, and threw it over, and having fed it, I
tied it as I did before, to lead it away; but it was so tame with being
hungry, that I had no need to have tied it, for it followed me like a
dog: and as I continually fed it, t
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