第41章

Thus，and in this Disposition of Mind，I began my third Year：and tho' I have not given the Reader the Trouble of so particular Account of my Works this Year as the first；yet in General it may be observ'd，That I was very seldom idle；but having regularly divided my Time，according to the several daily Employments that were before me，such as，First，My Duty to God，and the Reading the Scriptures，which I constantly set apart some Time for thrice every Day. Secondly，The going Abroad with my Gun for Food，which generally took me up three Hours in every Morning，when it did not Rain. Thirdly，The ordering，curing，preserving，and cooking what I had kill'd or catch'd for my Supply；these took up great Part of the Day；also it is to be considered that the middle of the Day when the Sun was in the Zenith，the Violence of the Heat was too great to stir out；so that about four Hours in the Evening was all the Time I could be suppos'd to work in；with this Exception，That sometimes I chang'd my Hours of Hunting and Working，and went to work in the Morning，and Abroad with my Gun in the Afternoon.

To this short Time allow'd for Labour，I desire may be added the exceeding Laboriousness of my Work；the many Hours which for want of Tools，want of Help，and want of Skill，every Thing I did，took up out of my Time：For Example，I was full two and forty Days making me a Board for a long Shelf，which I wanted in my Cave；whereas two Sawyers with their Tools，and a Saw-Pit，would have cut six of them out of the same Tree in half a Day.

My Case was this，It was to be a large Tree，which was to be cut down，because my Board was to be a broad one. This Tree I was three Days a cutting down，and two more cutting off the Bows，and reducing it to a Log，or Piece of Timber. With inexpressible hacking and hewing I reduc'd both the Sides of it into Chips，till it begun to be light enough to move；then I turn'd it，and made one Side of it smooth，and flat，as a Board from End to End；then turning that Side downward，cut the other Side，till I brought the plank to be about three Inches thick，and smooth on both Sides. Any One may judge the Labour of my Hands in such a Piece of Work；but Labour and Patience carry'd me through that and many other Things：I only observe this in Particular，to shew，The Reason why so much of my Time went away with so little Work，viz.That what might be a little to be done with Help and Tools，was a vast Labour，and requir'd a prodigious Time to do alone，and by hand.

But notwithstanding this，with Patience and Labour I went through many Things；and indeed every Thing that my Circumstances made necessary to me to do，as will appear by what follows.

I was now，in the Months of November and December，expecting my Crop of Barley and Rice. The Ground I had manur'd or dug up for them was not great；for as I observ'd，my Seed of each was not above the Quantity of half a Peck；for I had lost one whole Crop by sowing in the dry Season；but now my Crop promis'd very well，when on a sudden I found I was in Danger of losing it all again by Enemies of several Sorts，which it was scarce possible to keep from it；as First，The Goats，and wild Creatures which I call'd Hares who tasting the Sweetness of the Blade，lay in it Night and Day，as soon as it came up，and eat it so close，that it could get no Time to shoot up into Stalk.

This I saw no Remedy for，but by making an Enclosure about it with a Hedge，which I did with a great deal of Toil；and the more，because it requir'd Speed. However，as my Arable Land was but small，suited to my Crop，I got it totally well fenc'd，in about three Weeks Time；and shooting some of the Creatures in the Day Time，I set my Dog to guard it in the Night，tying him up to a Stake at the Gate，where he would stand and bark all Night long；so in a little Time the Enemies forsook the Place，and the Corn grew very strong，and well，and began to ripen apace.

But as the Beasts ruined me before，while my Corn was in the Blade；so the Birds were as likely to ruin me now，when it was in the Ear；for going along by the Place to see how it throve，I saw my little Crop surrounded with Fowls of I know not how many Sorts，who stood as it were watching till I should be gone：I immediately let fly among them （for I always had my Gun with me） I had no sooner shot，but there rose up a little Cloud of Fowls，which I had not seen at all，from among the Corn it self.

This touch'd me sensibly，for I foresaw，that in a few Days they would devour all my Hopes，that I should be starv'd，and never be able to raise a Crop at all，and what to do I could not tell：However I resolv'd not to loose my Corn，if possible，tho' I should watch it Night and Day. In the first Place，I went among it to see what Damage was already done，and found they had spoil'd a good deal of it，but that as it was yet too Green for them，the Loss was not so great，but that the Remainder was like to be a good Crop if it could be sav'd.

I staid by it to load my Gun，and then coming away I could easily see the Thieves sitting upon all the Trees about me，as if they only waited till I was gone away，and the Event proved it to be so；for as I walk'd off as if I was gone，I was no sooner out of their sight，but they dropt down one by one into the Corn again. I was so provok'd that I could not have Patience to stay till more came on，knowing that every Grain that they eat now，was，as it might be said，a Peck-loaf to me in the Consequence；but coming up to the Hedge，I fir'd again，and kill'd three of them. This was what I wish'd for；so I took them up，and serv'd them as we serve notorious Thieves in England，（viz.） Hang'd them in Chains for a Terror to others；it is impossible to imagine almost，that this should have such an Effect，as it had；for the Fowls wou'd not only not come at the Corn，but in short they forsook all that Part of the Island，and I could never see a Bird near the Place as long as my Scare-Crows hung there.

This I was very glad of，you may be sure，and about the latter end of December，which was our second Harvest of the Year，I reap'd my Crop.