I saw many green parrots among the trees, and I thought how I would catch one and teach it to talk.
After a great deal of trouble I knocked a young one down with my stick. He was a good fighter, and it was no easy matter to get him. But at last I picked him up and put him in my bag.
He was not hurt, and I carried him home. It was a long time before I could make him talk. But at last he became a great pet and would call me by my name. I shall have a funny story to tell about him after a while.
Besides parrots there were many other birds in the woods. Some of these were of kinds that I had never seen before.
In the low grounds I saw some animals that looked like rabbits. There were others that I took to be foxes, but they were not such foxes as we have in England.
I traveled very slowly around the island, for I wished to see everything. Often I did not go more than two miles in a day.
At night I sometimes slept in a tree, while my dog watched below me. Sometimes I shut myself up in a little pen made by driving tall stakes into the ground. I felt quite safe, for nothing could come near me without waking me.
Along the seashore there were thousands of turtles and a great plenty of waterfowl.
I had no trouble to find all the food I needed. Sometimes I had a roast pigeon for dinner, sometimes the juicy meat of a turtle, sometimes that of a goat. No king could have fared better.
One day my dog caught a young kid. I ran and got hold of it, and would not let him hurt it.
I had a great mind to take it home with me. So I made a collar for it, and led it along by a string which I had in my pocket.
It was quite wild and did not lead well. It gave me so much trouble that I took it to my summer house and left it there.
I then went home to my castle.
I HARVEST MY GRAIN
I CANNOT tell you how glad I was to get to my old house again
I had been away for nearly a month
I was so tired from my long journey
While I was thus resting myself
Then I began to think of the kid