However I rejoiced to see these feathered creatures, already
fancying them on my table, if we were obliged to remain in this
desert region.
Our first care, when we stepped in safety on land, was to kneel down
and thank God, to whom we owed our lives; and to resign ourselves wholly
to his Fatherly kindness.
We then began to unload our vessel. How rich we thought ourselves with
the little we had saved! We sought a convenient place for our tent,
under the shade of the rocks. We then inserted a pole into a fissure in
the rock; this, resting firmly on another pole fixed in the ground,
formed the frame of the tent. The sailcloth was then stretched over it,
and fastened down at proper distances, by pegs, to which, for greater
security, we added some boxes of provision; we fixed some hooks to the
canvas at the opening in front, that we might close the entrance during
the night. I sent my sons to seek some moss and withered grass, and
spread it in the sun to dry, to form our beds; and while all, even
little Francis, were busy with this, I constructed a sort of
cooking-place, at some distance from the tent, near the river which was
to supply us with fresh water. It was merely a hearth of flat stones
from the bed of the stream, fenced round with some thick branches.
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