28 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



be paid to the seasons of rains and drought. To have 

 the best results, I must prepare my soil and plant the 

 seed just before the rains commenced, or at least so 

 that the growing plants should receive the benefits of 

 the watering when most needed. I had, then, at least 

 two months for hunting and the leisurely preparation 

 of my farm. 



I will also confess to you, reader, that another 

 reason operated against a hasty resumption of my 

 forest rambles. You may recall that on my first trip, 

 as narrated in the previous chapter, I was frightened 

 — ^yes, I was startled and made quite uneasy — by that 

 mysterious interrogator in the deep woods, who hooted 

 in my ears and himself remained unseen. The more 

 I thought upon it the deeper became the mystery ; 

 but I could not allow him, whoever he was, to drive 

 me from my purpose ; and, at all events, he had not 

 pursued me beyond the forest verge, and had made 

 no other hostile demonstration. So I determined to 

 venture again, but to keep on the alert as soon as the 

 deep woods were gained. 



Descending the river bed between great rocks tliat 

 seemed to have been rent apart for the passage of a 

 torrent in bygone ages, I entered a gloomy gorge 

 where the sun was almost shut out. Here the stream 

 ran from basin to basin in the ledge, now with low 

 murmur and again with noisy fall. It was overhung 

 by a dense canopy of vines and trees, which intensi- 

 fied the gloom beneath. 



A drift of sand lay at the base of a cliflp, clean 

 and yellow, beneath which was a deep pool of quiet 



