I gave him a knife, which he was
wonderfully delighted with; and I made him a belt, with a frog
hanging to it, such as in England we wear hangers in; and in the
frog, instead of a hanger, I gave him a hatchet, which was not only
as good a weapon in some cases, but much more useful upon other
occasions.
I described to him the country of Europe, particularly England,
which I came from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, how we
behaved to one another, and how we traded in ships to all parts of
the world. I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on
board of, and showed him, as near as I could, the place where she
lay; but she was all beaten in pieces before, and gone. I showed
him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we escaped, and which
I could not stir with my whole strength then; but was now fallen
almost all to pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood, musing
a great while, and said nothing. I asked him what it was he
studied upon. At last says he, "Me see such boat like come to
place at my nation." I did not understand him a good while; but at
last, when I had examined further into it, I understood by him that
a boat, such as that had been, came on shore upon the country where
he lived: that is, as he explained it, was driven thither by stress
of weather.
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