N.B. This wall being described before, I purposely omit what was said in the Journal; it is sufficient to observe, that, I was no less time than from the 3d of January to the 14th of April, working, finishing, and perfecting this wall, tho' it was no more than about 24 yards in length, being an half circle, from one place in the rock to another place about eight yards from it, the door of the cave being in the center behind it.

All this time I worked very hard, the rains hindering me many days, nay, fometimes weeks together; but I thought I should never be perfectly secare till this wall was finished; and it is scarcely credible what inexpressible labour every thing was done with, especially the bringing piles out of the wood, and driving them into the ground, for I made them much bigger than I needed to have done.

When this wall was finished, and the outside doublefenced with a turf-wall raised up close to it, I perfuaded myself, that if any people were to come on shore there, they would not perceive any thing like an habitation : and it is very well I did so, as may be observed hereafter, upon a very remarkable occafion.

During this time, I made rounds in the woods for game every day, when the rain permitted me, and made frequent discoveries in these walks of something or other to my advantage; particularly, I found a kind of wild pigeons, which build not as wood-pigeons, in a tree, but rather as house-pigeons, in the holes of the rocks; and taking some young ones, I endeavoured to breed them up tame, and did fo; but when they grew older, they all flew away, which perhaps was at first for want of feeding them, for I had nothing to give them; however, I frequently found their nests, and got their young ones, which was very good meat.

And now, in the managing my houshold affairs, I found myself wanting in many things, which I thought at first it was impossible for me to make, as indeed as to fome of them it was: For instance, I could never make a cask to be hooped; I had a small rundlet or two, as I observed before, but I could never arrive to the capacity of making one by them, tho' I spent many weeks about it; I could neither put in the heads, nor join the staves so true to one another as to make them hold water; fo I gave that also over.

In the next place, I was at a great loss for candles; so that as foon as it was dark, which was generally by seven o'clock, I was obliged to go to bed. I remembered the lump of bees-wax with which I made candles in my African adventure; but I had none of that now; the only remedy I had was, that when I had killed a goat, I faved the tallow, and with a little dish made of clay, which I baked in the fun, to which I added a wick of fome oakum, I made me a lamp; and this gave me light, tho' not a clear steady light like a candle. In the middle of all my labours it happened, that rummaging my things, I found a little bag, which, as I hinted before, had been filled with corn for the feeding of poultry, not for this voyage, but before, as I suppose, when the ship came from Lifbon; what little remainder of corn had been in the bag was all devoured by the rats, and I faw nothing in the bag but husks and duft; and being willing to have the bag for fome other use (I think it was to put powder in, when I divided it for fear of the lightning, or fome such use) I shook the husks of corn out of it on one side of my fortification, under the rock.

It was a little before the great rains, just now mentioned, that I threw this stuff away, taking no notice of any thing, and not fo much as remembering that I had thrown any thing there; when about a month after, or thereabouts, I faw fome few stalks of something green shooting upon the ground, which I fancied might be fome plant I had not seen; but I was surprised, and perfectly astonished, when after a little longer time, I faw about ten or twelve ears come out, which were perfect green barley, of the fame kind as our European, nay, as our English barley.

It is impoflible to express the aftonishment and confufion of my thoughts on this occasion; I had hitherto acted upon no religious foundation at all; indeed I had very few notions of religion in my head, nor had entertained any fenfe of any thing that had befallen me, otherwise than as a chance, or, as we lightly fay, what pleases God, without so much as enquiring into the end of Providence in these things, or his order in governing, events in the world. But after I faw barley grow there, in a climate which I knew was not proper for corn, and especially as I knew not how it came there, it startled me strangely, and I began to suggest, that God had miraculously caused this grain to grow without any help of feed fown, and that it was so directed, purely for my sustenance in that wild miferable place.

This touched my heart a little, and brought tears out of my eyes, and I began to bless myself, that such a prodigy of nature should happen upon my account; and this was the more strange to me, because I saw near it ftill, all along by the fide of the rock, fome other strag. gling stalks, which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I knew, because I had seen it grow in Africa, when I was afhore there.

I not only thought these the pure productions of Providence for my support; but not doubting but that there was more in the place, I went all over that part of the island where I had been before, peeping into every corner, and under every rock, to fee for more of it, but I could not find any; at last it occurred to my thoughts, that I had fhaken the bag of chickens meat out in that place, and the wonder began to cease; and I must confess, my religious thankfulness to God's providence began to abate, upon discovering that all this was nothing but what was common; though I ought to have been as thankful for so strange and unforeseen a Providence, as if it had been miraculous; for it was really the work of Providence as to me, that should order or appoint, that ten or twelve grains of corn should remain unspoiled, when the rats had destroyed all the rest, as if it had been dropped from heaven: as also, that I should throw it out into that particular place, where, it being in the shade of an high rock, sprang up immediately: whereas, if I had thrown it any where else at that time, it had been burnt up and destroyed.

I carefully saved the ears of this corn, you may be fure, in their season, which was about the end of June; and laying up every grain, I resolved to fow them all again, hoping in time to have some quantity, sufficient

to ROBINSON CRUSOE.

77

to fupply me with bread; but it was not till the fourth year that I would allow myself the leaft grain of this corn to eat, and even then but sparingly, as I shall fay afterwards in its order, for I lost all I fowed the first season, by not observing the proper time; for I fowed it just before the dry season, so that it never came up at all, at least not as it would have done of which in its place.

Besides this barley, there were, as above, twenty or thirty stalks of rice which I preserved with the same care, and whose ufe was of the same kind, or to the same purpose, viz. to make me bread, or rather food; for I found ways to cook it up without baking, though I did that also after some time. But to return to my journal.

I worked excessive hard these three or four months, to get my wall done; and the 14th of April I closed it up, contriving to go into it, not by a door, but over a wall by a ladder, that there might be no fign, on the outside, of iny habitation.

April 16. I finished the ladder; so I went up with it to the top, and then pulled it up after me, and let it down on the infide: This was a complete inclosure to me; for within I had room enough, and nothing could come at me from without, unless it could first mount my wall.

The very next day after this wall was finished, I had almost had all my labour overthrown at once, and myself killed: the cafe was thus: As I was busy in the infide of it, behind my tent, just in the entrance into my cave, I was terribly frightened with a most dreadful surprising thing indeed: for all on a sudden I found the earth came tumbling down from the roof of my cave, and from the edge of the hill over my head, and two of the posts I had fet up in the cave cracked in a frightful manner. I was heartily scared, but thought nothing of what really was the cause; only thinking that the top of my cave was falling in, as some of it had done before, and for fear I should be buried in it, I ran forwards to my ladder, and not thinking myself safe there neither, I got over my wall for fear of the pieces of the hill, which I expected might roll down upon me. I was no sooner stept down upon the firm ground, but I plain

D3

ly saw it was a terrible earthquake; for the ground I food on shook three times, at about eight minutes diftance, with three such fhocks as would have overturned the strongest buildings that could be supposed to have stood upon the earth; and a great piece of the top of the rock, which stood at about half a mile from ine, next the fea, fell down with such a terrible noife as I never heard in all my life. I perceived also the very fea was put into a violent motion by it; and I believe the shocks were stronger under the water than on the island.

I was so amazed with the thing itself, having never felt the like, or discoursed with any one that had, that I was like one dead or stupified; and the motion of the earth made my ftomach fick, like one that is toffed at sea; but the noise of the falling of the rock awaked me, as it were, and rousing me from the stupified condition I was in, filled me with horror, and I thought of nothing then but the hill falling upon my tent, and all my houf. hold goods, and burying all at once; and this funk my very foul within me a fecond time.

After the third shock was over, and I felt no more for some time, I began to take courage; and yet I had not heart enough to get over my wall again, for fear of being buried alive, but still fat on the ground, greatly caft down, and disconfolate, not knowing what to do: all this while I had not the least serious religious thought, nothing but the common, Lord, have mercy upon me ; and when it was over that went away too.

While I fat thus, I found the air over-cast, and it grew cloudy, as if it would rain; and in less than half an hour it blew a most dreadful hurricane of wind. - The fea, all on a sudden, was covered with foam and froth, the shore was covered with the breach of the water, the trees were torn up by the roots, and a terrible storm it was; and this held about three hours, and then began to abate; and then in two hours more it was calm, and began to rain very hard.

All this while I fat upon the ground very much terrified and dejected, when on a sudden it came into my thoughts that these winds and rain being the consequence of the earthquake, the earthquake itself was spent and over, and I might venture into my cave again: with