to live very much like the wild beasts; for we have not a tool of
any kind--not even a knife."

"Yes, we have _that_," said Peterkin, fumbling in his trousers pocket,
from which he drew forth a small penknife with only one blade, and that
was broken.

"Well, that's better than nothing.--But come," said Jack, rising; "we
are wasting our time in _talking_ instead of _doing_.--You seem well
enough to walk now, Ralph.--Let us see what we have got in our pockets;
and then let us climb some hill and ascertain what sort of island we
have been cast upon, for, whether good or bad, it seems likely to be our
home for some time to come."

CHAPTER FOUR.

WE EXAMINE INTO OUR PERSONAL PROPERTY, AND MAKE A HAPPY DISCOVERY--OUR
ISLAND DESCRIBED--JACK PROVES HIMSELF TO BE LEARNED AND SAGACIOUS ABOVE
HIS FELLOWS--CURIOUS DISCOVERIES--NATURAL LEMONADE!

We now seated ourselves upon a rock, and began to examine into our
personal property. When we reached the shore after being wrecked, my
companions had taken off part of their clothes and spread them out in
the sun to dry; for although the gale was raging fiercely, there was not
a single cloud in the bright sky. They had also stripped off most part
of my wet clothes and spread them also on the rocks. Having resumed our
garments, we now searched all our pockets with the utmost care, and laid
their contents out on a flat stone before us; and now that our minds
were fully alive to our condition, it was with no little anxiety that we
turned our several pockets inside out in order that nothing might escape
us. When all was collected together, we found that our worldly goods
consisted of the following articles:

First, a small penknife with a single blade, broken off about the middle
and very rusty, besides having two or three notches on its edge.
(Peterkin said of this, with his usual pleasantry, that it would do for
a saw as well as a knife, which was a great advantage.) Second, an old
German-silver pencil-case without any lead in it. Third, a piece of
whip-cord about six yards long. Fourth, a sailmaker's needle of a small
size. Fifth, a ship's telescope, which I happened to have in my hand at
the time the ship struck, and which I had clung to firmly all the time I
was in the water; indeed, it was with difficulty that Jack got it out of
my grasp when I was lying insensible on the shore. I cannot understand
why I kept such a firm hold of this telescope. They say that a drowni