第42章

I was sadly put to it for a Scythe or a Sicle to cut it down，and-all I could do was to make one as well as I could out of one of the Broad Swords or Cutlasses，which I sav'd among the Arms out of the Ship. However，as my first Crop was but small I had no great Difficulty to cut it down；in short，I reap'd it my Way，for I cut nothing off but the Ears，and carry'd it away in a great Basket which I had made，and so rubb'd it out with my Hands；and at the End of all my Harvesting，I found that out of my half Peck of Seed，I had near two Bushels of Rice，and above two Bushels and half of Barley，that is to say，by my Guess，for I had no Measure at that time.

However，this was a great Encouragement to me，and I foresaw that in time，it wou'd please God to supply me with Bread：And yet here I was perplex'd again，for I neither knew how to grind or make Meal of my Corn，or indeed how to clean it and part it；nor if made into Meal，how to make Bread of it，and if how to make it，yet I knew not how to bake it；these things being added to my Desire of having a good Quantity for Store，and to secure a constant Supply，I resolv'd not to taste any of this Crop but to preserve it all for Seed against the next Season，and in the mean time to employ all my Study and Hours of Working to accomplish this great Work of Providing my self with Corn and Bread.

It might be truly said，that now I work'd for my Bread；'tis a little wonderful，and what I believe few People have thought much upon，（viz.） the strange multitude of little Things necessary in the Providing，Producing，Curing，Dressing，Making and Finishing this one Article of Bread.

I that was reduced to a meer State of Nature，found this to my daily Discouragement，and was made more and more sensible of it every Hour，even after I had got the first Handful of Seed-Corn，which，as I have said，came up unexpectedly，and indeed to a surprize.

First，I had no Plow to turn up the Earth，no Spade or Shovel to dig it. Well，this I conquer'd，by making a wooden Spade，as I observ'd before；but this did my Work in but a wooden manner，and tho' it cost me a great many Days to make it，yet for want of Iron it not only wore out the sooner，but made my Work the harder，and made it be perform'd much worse.

However this I bore with，and was content to work it out with Patience，and bear with the badness of the Performance. When the Corn was sow'd，I had no Harrow，but was forced to go over it my self and drag a great heavy Bough of a Tree over it，to Scratch it，as it may be call'd，rather than Rake or Harrow it.

When it was growing and grown，I have observ'd already，how many things I wanted，to Fence it，Secure it，Mow or Reap it，Cure and Carry it Home，Thrash，Part it from the Chaff，and Save it. Then I wanted a Mill to Grind it，Sieves to Dress it，Yeast and Salt to make it into Bread，and an Oven to bake it，and yet all these things I did without，as shall be observ'd；and yet the Corn was an inestimable Comfort and Advantage to me too. All this，as I said，made every thing laborious and tedious to me，but that there was no help for；neither was my time so much Loss to me，because as I had divided it，a certain Part of it was every Day appointed to these Works；and as I resolv'd to use none of the Corn for Bread till I had a greater Quantity by me，I had the next six Months to apply my self wholly by Labour and Invention to furnish my self with Utensils proper for the performing all the Operations necessary for the making the Corn （when I had it） fit for my use.

But first，I was to prepare more Land，for I had now Seed enough to sow above an Acre of Ground. Before I did this，I had a Week's-work at least to make me a Spade，which when it was done was but a sorry one indeed，and very heavy，and requir'd double Labour to work with it；however I went thro' that，and sow'd my Seed in two large flat Pieces of Ground，as near my House as I could find them to my Mind，and fenc'd them in with a good Hedge，the Stakes of which were all cut of that Wood which I had set before，and knew it would grow，so that in one Year's time I knew I should have a Quick or Living-Hedge，that would want but little Repair. This Work was not so little as to take me up less than three Months，because great Part of that time was of the wet Season，when I could not go abroad.

Within Doors，that is，when it rained，and I could not go out，I found Employment on the following Occasions；always observing，that all the while I was at work I diverted my self with talking to my Parrot，and teaching him to Speak，and I quickly learn'd him to know his own Name，and at last to speak it out pretty loud P O L，which was the first Word I ever heard spoken in the Island by any Mouth but my own. This therefore was not my Work，but an assistant to my Work，for now，as I said，I had a great Employment upon my Hands，as follows，（viz.） I had long study'd by some Means or other，to make my self some Earthen Vessels，which indeed I wanted sorely，but knew not where to come at them：However，considering the Heat of the Climate，I did not doubt but if I could find out any such Clay，I might botch up some such Pot，as might，being dry'd in the Sun，be hard enough，and strong enough to bear handling，and to hold any Thing that was dry，and requir'd to be kept so；and as this was necessary in the preparing Corn，Meal，etc. which was the Thing I was upon，I resolv'd to make some as large as I could，and fit only to stand like Jarrs to hold what should be put into them.

It would make the Reader pity me，or rather laugh at me，to tell how many awkward ways I took to raise this Paste，what odd mishapen ugly things I made，how many of them fell in，and how many fell out，the Clay not being stiff enough to bear its own Weight；how many crack'd by the over violent Heat of the Sun，being set out too hastily；and how many fell in pieces with only removing，as well before as after they were dry'd；and in a word，how after having labour'd hard to find the Clay，to dig it，to temper it，to bring it home and work it；I could not make above two large earthern ugly things，I cannot call them Jarrs，in about two Months Labour.