CHAPTER XVII 



my reckoning lost — rogala and i go to an 

 island where i can see the heavens — we 

 reach it by a raft and build a house — 

 turtle's eggs in profusion 



I HAD been so long in the forest and had led such 

 a life that I could not remember the day of the 

 week and the date of the month. I was not sure 

 whether I was at the end of July or at the beginning 

 of August, nor could I tell if I was north or south of 

 the equator. 



The only way for me to find out these things was 

 to make astronomical observations, to find out my 

 latitude and longitude. While in that great and ap- 

 parently boundless forest I compared myself to a 

 mariner, all alone in a boat, without compass, in the 

 middle of the ocean, having for days a cloudy and 

 gray sky above his head which hid the sun, the moon, 

 and the stars from his sight, so that he could not know 

 in what direction to steer his boat. The foliage of the 

 trees above my head took the place of the gray and 

 cloudy sky. 



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