Vol - II - IT@School

Notes
‘The prisoners were very weak.’ Why
were they so?
who lived in the west of his country. I thought that
they were Spaniards. My hope of rescue rose again.
Friday and I built a large boat made of wood. I began
the preparations for the voyage to Friday’s country
by collecting and packing the provisions.
17. One day more savages came to the island. They
had three prisoners with them including Friday’s
father and a white man, a Spaniard who lived in
Friday’s country. Filled with horror, I decided to
attack immediately. We killed the savages and rescued
the prisoners. They were very weak. We carried them
to our shelter and looked after them well. Soon they
recovered their strength. We wandered freely all over
the island. I decided to grow more corn on the island
to feed all. We dug up the ground with the wooden
tools we had. Within a month it was time to sow the
seeds of barley and rice. We sowed all the seeds we
had, hoping for a good crop.
18. Soon it was the season to dry the grapes. We hung
up large quantities of the fruit, for it had proved
very beneficial for me to have raisins to eat in the
rainy season. We waited for another six months to
return to Friday’s country.
19. One day we saw a big English ship anchored near
the shore. A boat with some people came to the island.
When they landed on the shore, I saw that they were
Englishmen. But they had some prisoners with them.
I was afraid they would murder the prisoners. I
decided to attack and save the prisoners at night.
When the sailors went to explore the island, leaving
their prisoners unguarded, we made our way down
to them. ‘Who are you gentlemen?’ I asked as we
stepped out of the woods. The prisoners were dumb
struck. I told them that I wished to help them. One
of them told me what had happened to them. He
was the captain of the ship that lay out at sea. His
160 English Coursebook VIII