He Had
Chosen A Pleasant Valley For His Residence, About Half A Mile From The
Coast, Where He Had Erected A Very Convenient Hut, Well Lined With
Seal-Skins, And Had A Bed Of The Same, Raised About Two Feet Above The
Ground.
By the help of a flint, he had converted his knife into a saw,
with which he had cut the barrel of his gun to pieces, which he
fashioned into harpoons, lances, fishing-hooks, and a long knife, by
heating them in a fire.
All this cost him much labour, but enabled him
to live in sufficient comfort. On seeing the ships at sea, he guessed
them to be English, and immediately dressed two goats, and a large
quantity of cabbage, to entertain them on landing. He was also much
pleased, when they landed on the island, to see two of his old
acquaintances, Captains Cooke and Dampier, who had belonged to the ship
by which he was left on the island.
The island of Juan Fernandez is in lat. 34 deg. 15' S. [33 deg. 42'] about 420
English miles from the coast of Chili. The whole island is a pleasant
mixture of hills and vallies, the sides of the hills partly covered with
wood, and partly savannas, or places naturally clear of wood, bearing
fine grass. Among the woods are what are called cabbage-trees, but not
so large as in other parts of the world. The goats which feed on the
west end of the island are much fatter and better than those at the east
end, though the latter has better and greater plenty of grass, with
abundance of excellent water in the vallies, while the west end is a dry
plain, the grass scanty and parched, and has hardly any wood or fresh
water.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 343 of 825
Words from 93028 to 93329
of 224764
