第31章
May 16. It had blow'd hard in the Night，and the Wreck appear'd more broken by the Force of the Water；but I stay'd so long in the Woods to get Pidgeons for Food，that the Tide prevented me going to the Wreck that Day.
May 17. I saw some Pieces of the Wreck blown on Shore，at a great Distance，near two Miles off me，but resolv'd to see what they were，and found it was a Piece of the Head，but too heavy for me to bring away.
May 24. Every Day to this Day I work'd on the Wreck，and with hard Labour I loosen'd some Things so much with the Crow，that the first blowing Tide several Casks floated out，and two of the Seamens Chests；but the Wind blowing from the Shore，nothing came to Land that Day，but Pieces of Timber，and a Hogshead which had some Brazil Pork in it，but the Salt-water and the Sand had spoil'd it.
I continu'd this Work every Day to the 15th of June，except the Time necessary to get Food，which I always appointed，during this Part of my Employment，to be when the Tide was up，that I might be ready when it was ebb'd out，and by this Time I had gotten Timber，and Plank，and Iron-Work enough，to have builded a good Boat，if I had known how；and also，I got at several Times，and in several Pieces，near 100 Weight of the Sheet-Lead.
June 16. Going down to the Sea-side，I found a large Tortoise or Turtle；this was the first I had seen，which it seems was only my Misfortune，not any Defect of the Place，or Scarcity；for had I happen'd to be on the other Side of the Island，I might have had Hundreds of them every Day，as I found afterwards；but perhaps had paid dear enough for them.
June 17. I spent in cooking the Turtle；I found in her threescore Eggs；and her Flesh was to me at that Time the most savoury and pleasant that ever I tasted in my Life，having had no Flesh，but of Goats and Fowls，since I landed in this horrid Place.
June 18. Rain'd all Day，and I stay'd within. I thought at this Time the Rain felt Cold，and I was something chilly，which I knew was not usual in that Latitude.
June 19. Very ill，and shivering，as if the Weather had been cold.
June 20. No Rest all Night，violent Pains in my Head，and feaverish.
June 21. Very ill，frighted almost to Death with the Apprehensions of my sad Condition，to be sick，and no Help：Pray'd to GOD for the first Time since the Storm off of Hull，but scarce knew what I said，or why；my Thoughts being all confused.
June 22. A little better，but under dreadful Apprehensions of Sickness.
June 23. Very bad again，cold and shivering，and then a violent Head-ach.
June 24. Much better.
June 25. An Ague very violent；the Fit held me seven Hours，cold Fit and hot，with faint Sweats after it.
June 26. Better；and having no Victuals to eat，took my Gun，but found my self very weak；however I kill'd a She-Goat，and with much Difficulty got it Home，and broil'd some of it，and eat；I wou'd fain have stew'd it，and made some Broath，but had no Pot.
June 27. The Ague again so violent，that I lay a-Bed all Day，and neither eat or drank. I was ready to perish for Thirst，but so weak，I had not Strength to stand up，or to get my self any Water to drink：Pray'd to God again，but was light-headed，and when I was not，I was so ignorant，that I knew not what to say；only I lay and cry'd，Lord look upon me，Lord pity me，Lord have Mercy upon me：I suppose I did nothing else for two or three Hours，till the Fit wearing off，I fell asleep，and did not wake till far in the Night；when I wak'd，I found my self much refresh'd，but weak，and exceeding thirsty：However，as I had no Water bin my whole Habitation，I was forc'd to lie till Morning，and went to sleep again：In this second Sleep，I had this terrible Dream.
I thought，that I was sitting on the Ground on the Outside of my Wall，where I sat when the Storm blew after the Earthquake，and that I saw a Man descend from a great black Cloud，in a bright Flame of Fire，and light upon the Ground：He was all over as bright as a Flame，so that I could but just bear to look towards him；his Countenance was most inexpressibly dreadful，impossible for Words to describe；when he stepp'd upon the Ground with his Feet，I thought the Earth trembl'd，just as it had done before in the Earthquake，and all the Air look'd，to my Apprehension，as if it had been fill'd with Flashes of Fire.
He was no sooner landed upon the Earth，but he moved forward towards me，with a long Spear or Weapon in his Hand，to kill me；and when he came to a rising Ground，at some Distance，he spoke to me，or I heard a Voice so terrible，that it is impossible to express the Terror of it；all that I can say，I understood，was this，Seeing all these Things have not brought thee to Repentance，nom thou shalt die：At which Words，I thought he lifted up the Spear that was in his Hand，to kill me.
No one，that shall ever read this Account，will expect that I should be able to describe the Horrors of my Soul at this terrible Vision，I mean，that even while it was a Dream，I even dreamed of those Horrors；nor is it any more possible to describe the Impression that remain'd upon my Mind when I awak'd and found it was but a Dream.
I had alas！ no divine Knowledge；what I had received by the good Instruction of my Father was then worn out by an uninterrupted Series，for 8 Years，of Seafaring Wickedness，and a constant Conversation with nothing but such as were like my self，wicked and prophane to the last Degree：I do not remember that I had in all that Time one Thought that so much as tended either to looking upwards toward God，or inwards towards a Reflection upon my own Ways：But a certain Stupidity of Soul，without Desire of Good，or Conscience of Evil，had entirely overwhelm'd me，and I was all that the most hardened，unthinking，wicked Creature among our common Sailors，can be supposed to be，not having the least Sense，either of the Fear of God in Danger，or of Thankfulness to God in Deliverances.