62 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



hammock and made holes through the roof, destroyed 

 my bird skins and threw pebbles into my flour ; but I 

 restrained myself, and punished him in a different 

 way. Seeing that he was indeed incorrigible, or ap- 

 peared to be, I fastened him to one of the palm trees 

 by means of a long slender chain. It was arranged 

 so that he could climb up and down the smooth bole 

 at will and perch in the lower leaves ; and he at first 

 took great delight in walking along the smooth mid- 

 ribs and sliding down. But this at last palled upon 

 him, and one day, after sitting long in deep medita- 

 tion, he hobbled up to me and said, with a decided 

 shake of his head, " Lora good." I took this to mean 

 that he would not tear things to pieces any more, 

 but I was doul tful, and I glanced from my posses- 

 sions to him and back again inquiringly, at which he 

 repeated, " Good, Lora good." I set him loose again, 

 and he really seemed to feel on honor, and behaved 

 so prettily that I feared his end was near and death 

 would deprive me of him just as he had come to be 

 so companionable. For after that he sat at table with 

 me, conversing gravely in his polyglot dialect, and 

 tried to accompany me wherever I went. If I left 

 him to go on a hunt, he would perch on the ridgepole 

 of the hut and await my return with great anxiety, 

 hailing me at sight with loud cries of joy. 



His wings soon healed, and after the first molting 

 the wing feathers grew out again, and he could fly at 

 will ; but he preferred my company to the old forest 

 life, and if he made long excursions during the day, 

 it was only to return at night and nestle against my 



