as almost exhausted, and kept my boat as
much to the northward, that is, towards the side of the current which
the eddy lay on, as possibly I could; when about noon, as the sun passed
the meridian, I thought I felt a little breeze of wind in my face,
springing up from S.S.E. This cheered my heart a little, and especially
when, in about half an hour more, it blew a pretty gentle gale. By this
time I was got at a frightful distance from the island, and had the
least cloudy or hazy weather intervened, I had been undone another way
too; for I had no compass on board, and should never have known how to
have steered towards the island, if I had but once lost sight of it; but
the weather continuing clear, I applied myself to get up my mast again,
and spread my sail, standing away to the north as much as possible, to
get out of the current.

Just as I had set my mast and sail, and the boat began to stretch away,
I saw even by the clearness of the water some alteration of the current
was near; for where the current was so strong, the water was foul; but
perceiving the water clear, I found the current abate; and presently I
found to the east, at about half a mile, a breach of the sea upon some
rocks: these rocks I found caused the current to part again, and as the
main stress of it ran away more southerly, leaving the rocks to the
north-east, so the other returned by the repulse of the rocks, and made
a strong eddy, which ran back again to the north-west, with a very
sharp stream.

They who know what it is to have a reprieve brought to them upon the
ladder, or to be rescued from thieves just going to murder them, or who
have been in such-like extremities, may guess what my present surprise
of joy was, and how gladly I put my boat into the stream of this eddy;
and the wind also freshening, how gladly I spread my sail to it, running
cheerfully before the wind, and with a strong tide or eddy under foot.

This eddy carried me about a league in my way back again, directly
towards the island, but about two leagues more to the northward than the
current which carried me away at first: so that when I came near the
island, I found myself open to the northern shore of it, that is to say,
the other end of the island, opposite to that which I went out from.

When I had made something more than a league of way by the help of this
current or eddy, I found it was spent, and served me no farther.
However, I found that being between two great