When day came，the sea was quiet again. I looked for our ship and，to my surprise，it was still there and still in one piece. ‘I think I can swim to it，’I said to myself. So I walked down to the sea and before long，I was at the ship and was swimming round it. But how could I get on to it？In the end，I got in through a hole in the side，but it wasn't easy.

There was a lot of water in the ship，but the sand under the sea was still holding the ship in one place. The back of the ship was high out of the water，and I was very tnankful for this be-cause all the ship's food was there. I was very hungry so I be-gan to eat something at once. Then I decided¹ to take some of it back to the shore² with me. But how could I get it there？

I looked around the ship，and after a few minutes，I found some long pieces of wood. I tied them together with rope. Then I got the things that I wanted from the ship. There was a big box of food—rice，and salted meat，and hard ship's bread. I al-so took many strong knives and other tools，the ship's sails³ and ropes，paper，pens，books，and seven guns. Now I needed a little sail⁴ from the ship，and then I was ready. Slowly and carefully，I went back to the shore. It was difficult to stop my things from falling into the sea，but in the end I got everything on to the shore.

Now I needed somewhere to keep my things.

There were some hills around me，so I decided to build my－self a little house on one of them. I walked to the top of the highest hill and looked down，I was very unhappy，because I saw then that I was on an island. There were two smaller is-lands a few miles away，and after that，only the sea. Just the sea，for mile after mile after mile.

After a time，I found a little cave⁵ in the side of a hill. In front of it，there was a good place to make a home. So，I used⁶ the ship's sails，rope，and pieces of wood，and after a lot of hard work I had a very fine tent. The cave at the back of my tent was a good place to keep my food，and so I called it my ‘kitchen’. That night，I went to sleep in my new home.

The next day I thought about the possible dangers on the is-land. Were there wild animals，and perhaps wild people too，on my island？I didn't know，but I was very afraid. So I decided to build a very strong fence⁷. I cut down young trees and put them in the ground，in a halfcircle around the front of my tent. I used many of the ship's ropes too，and in the end my fence was as strong as a stone wall. Nobody could get over it，through it，or round it.

Making tents and building fences⁸ is hard work. I needed many tools to help me. So I decided to go back to the ship again，and get some more things.

I went back twelve times，but soon after my twelfth visit there was another terrible storm. The next morning，when I looked out to sea，there was no ship.

When I saw that，I was very unhappy. ‘Why am I alive，and why are all my friends dead？’I asked myself. ‘What will hap-pen to me now，alone on this island without friends？How can I ever escape⁹ from it？’

Then I told myself that I was lucky—lucky to be alive，lucky to have food and tools，lucky to be young and strong. But I knew that my island was somewhere off the coast¹⁰ of South America. Ships did not often come down this coast，and I said to myself，‘I'm going to be on this island for a long time. ’So，on a long piece of wood，I cut these words：

I CAME HERE ON 30TH SEPTEMBER 1659

After that，I decided to make a cut for each day.