6 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



recovered from his disaster, setting out on a tour of 

 exploration. 



" ' When I pass'd the Vale where my Bower stood, 

 I came within view of the Sea, and, it being a clear 

 Day, I fairly descried Land — whether an Island or a 

 Continent, I could not tell ; but it lay very high, at a 

 very great distance.' 



" And later, when he had a companion in the faith- 

 ful ' Friday,' he says : ' I ask'd him how far it was 

 from our Island to the Shore, and whether Canoes 

 were not often lost. And he told me there was no 

 danger, — no Canoes ever lost ; but tliat a little way 

 out to Sea there was a Wind and a Current, always 

 one way in the Morning, and another in the After- 

 noon. This I understood to be no more than the sets 

 of the Tyde, as going out and coming in ; but I after- 

 wards understood it to be occasion'd by the great 

 draught and reflux of the mighty River Oroonoque, 

 in the mouth or gulph of which our Island lay. And 

 the Land which I perceiv'd was the great Island of 

 Trinidad, on the north point of the mouth of the 

 River.' " 



" That's enough, my boy," said the kind old cap- 

 tain, " you needn't read any more, for your case is 

 proven. You've convinced me that the island is really 

 Tobago, for there isn't any other in that latitude, off 

 the mouth of the Orinoco, from which the island of 

 Trinidad can be seen. I'll take you there, as I said. I 

 would have done so, anyway, as it won't be much out 

 of my way ; only, the currents along Tobago coast are 

 very strong, and may cause me trouble." 



