It was not the twenty-seven year on the island, and I did not want to be there for another
year. We worked hard to get the corn in and to make a lot of bread. We had dried
fruit and salted meat, and big pots to keep water in. One evening Friday went
out to look for a turtle for meat and eggs. But in less than one hour he was
back and he looked very afraid.
‘Master! Master!’ he cried. ‘There’s a great ship near the island, and men are
coming to the shore in a boat!’
I jumped up and ran with him down to the shore. To my great surprise, I saw that
it was an English ship! But why was it there? English ships never come this way.
Perhaps they were pirates! ‘Don’t let them see you, Friday!’ I called.
‘We’ll hide in the trees and watch.’
There were eleven men in the boat, but three of them were prisoners. Their arms
were tied with rope, but there legs were free and they could walk. The other
sailors pushed the prisoners up the beach, laughing and shouting and hitting
them. Then some of them sat down on the sand and began to drink. Others walked
away to look at the island, and two men stayed to watch the boat.
