At first I was very thankful to be alive. Slowly, I got to my feet and went higher
up the shore. From there, I looked out to the sea. I could see our ship, but it
was wrecked and there was nobody near it. There was nobody in the water. All my
friends were dead. I was alive, but in a strange wild country, with no food, no
water, and no gun. It was dark now and I was tired. I was afraid to sleep on the
shore. Perhaps there were wild animals there. So I went up into a tree and I
stayed there all night.
When day came, the sea was quite again. I looked for our ship and, to my surprise, it was still there
and still in one piece. ‘I think I can swim to it,’ I said to myself. So I
walked down the sea and, before long, I was at the ship and I was swimming round
it. But how could I get on to it? In the end, I got in through a hole in the
side, but it wasn’t easy. There was a lot of water in the ship, but the sand
under the sea was still holding the ship in one place. The back of the ship was
high out of the water, and I was very thankful for this because all the ship’s
food was there. I was very hingry so I began to eat something at once. Then I
decided to take some of it back to the shore with me. But how could I get it
there? I looked around the ship and after a few minutes I found some long pieces
of wood. I tied them together with rope. Then I got the things that I wanted
from the ship. There was a big box of food – rice and salted meat, and a hard
ship’s bread. I also took many strong knives and other tools, the ship’s
sails and ropes, paper, pens, books and seven guns. Now I needed a little sail
from the ship, and then I was ready.
