Accidents > Life and most surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner, who lived eight and twenty years in an uninhabited island on the coast of America, near the mouth of the great river Oroonoque

i4 ROBINSON CRUSOE.
pion, and comes on board for a hatchet to cut off
the head of his enemy ; which not having ftrength to,
perform, cut off a foot. But I bethought myfelf that
his fkin would be of great ufe, which coft Xury and
I a whole day’s work ; when fpreading it on the tbp
of our cabin, the hot beams of the fun fo effectually
dried it, in two days time, that it afterwards ferved
me for a bed to lie upon.
And now we failed fouthwardly, living fparingly
on our provifions, and went no oftner on fhore than;
we were obliged for frefh water. My defign was to
make the river Gambia or Senegal, or any where about
the Cape de Verd,\n hopes to meet fome Eurcpeatdh'wy.
If Providence did not fo favour, my next courfe was
to feek for the iflands, or lofe my life among the
Negroes. And, in a word, I put my whole ftrefs
upon this, either that I mujl meet with fome fhip, or-
certainly perijh.
But, as we were failing along, we faw people Hand
on the fhore to look at us; we could alfo perceive
they were black and ftark naked. I was inclined to'
go on fhore i but Xury cried, No no; however, I
approached nearer, and I found they run along the'
fliore by me a good way : They had no weapons in
their hands, except one, who held a long flick, which
Xury told me was a lance, with which they could
kill at a great dittance. I talked to them by figns,
and made them fenfible i wanted fomething to eat :1
They beckoned to me to flop my boat, while two of
them run up into the country, and in lei’s than half
an hour came back and brought with them two pieces,
of dry flefli, and fome corn, which we kindly ac¬
cepted ; and to prevent any fears of either fide, they
brought the food to the, fhore, laid it down, then
went and flood a great way off, till we fetched it on
board, and then came clofe to us again.
But while we were returning thanks to them, be¬
ing all we could offer, two mighty creatures came'
from