Storia do Mogor 265.4.6

265.4.6

In the said isle they often held council how to get out of it. To effect this, they decided to make a boat ready for the time when Fortune should favour them. All the timber and the trees driven to the island by the currents were collected, and the best kept for the above purpose, and the rest served for cooking. They kept the nails and pieces of iron found in the timber, and with these prepared the necessary iron and woodwork in the best way they could; only files and hand-saws they could not procure. With the skins and feathers of birds they clothed themselves, and of the gut they made string. The coverings of the turtles served as bowls and plates. As soon as they had timber enough, they began to build their boat, which looked like a box. They made in it a tank to carry water, and put on a deck. The mast alone delayed them six months, shaving and paring it; it was twelve cubits long. With the skins and feathers of birds they manufactured sails. The boat having been completed in the best way they could, they provisioned it with flesh of birds salted with salt they had made, and other flesh fried in tortoise fat, and of their shells they made water-jars and vessels. Dried yams served instead of biscuit. During their stay in the island two of the company died.