wit, whole flocks of several sorts of birds, who only waited till my
back was turned, to ruin me: so much did this provoke me, that I let
fly, and killed three of the malefactors; and afterwards served them as
they do notorious thieves in England, hung them up in chains as a terror
to others. And, indeed, to good an effect had this that they not only
forsook the corn, but all that part of the island, so long as these
criminals hung there.

My corn having ripened apace, the latter end of December, which was my
second harvest, I reaped it with a scythe, made of one of my broad
swords. I had no fatigue in cutting down my my first crop it was so
slender. The ears I carried home in a basket, rubbing it with my hands,
instead of threshing it: and when the harvest was over, found my half
peck of seed produced near two bushels of rice, and two bushels and a
half of barley. And now I plainly foresaw, that by God's goodness, I
should be furnished with bread; but yet I was concerned, because I knew
not how to grind or make meal of my corn, nor bread, neither knew how to
bake it. I would not however, taste any of the crop, but resolved to
preserve it against next season, and, in the mean while, use my best
endeavours to provide myself with other food.

But where were my labours to end? The want of a plough to turn up the
earth, or shovel to dig it, I conquered by making me a wooden spade. The
want of a harrow I supplied myself, with dragging over the corn a great
bough of a tree. When it was growing I was forced to fence it; when ripe
to mow it, carry it home, thrash it, part it from the chaff, and save
it. And, after all, I wanted a mill to grind it, sieve to dress it, yest
and salt to make it into bread, and an oven to bake it. This set my
brains to work to find some expedient for every one of these necessaries
against the next harvest.