Chapter 21
January 1st
I explored the island and found more goats in the valleys in the center of the island. The animals were very shy, which made it difficult to approach them. Still, I decided to try to tame a few when I got the chance. The next day I returned with my dog, but they all attacked him, so I did not have much success.
I spent the period between January and April working on my fence. It took me a long time because I wanted to make it very thick and strong. Meanwhile I found pigeons on the island. They weren’t nesting in the trees, but in holes of the rocks. This made them easy to capture and their meat was good. This is what I was surviving on while working on my fortification.
I soon found myself missing many commodities. For example, I badly needed candles. Without them I had to stop work at 7 which was the time when it was getting dark on the island. I tried using goat fat instead of wax, but this did not work out well and the light wasn’t very strong.
While cleaning and arranging my fortification, I found a small bag. There used to be corn inside, but now there were only some leaves and dust at the bottom of it. I emptied it outside my fortification because I needed the bag for gunpowder. This was just before the rains and about a month later I was surprised to find a few green leaves growing there. It turned out to be barley.
Next to it there was another familiar plant – rice. I remembered emptying another bag at that place. Words cannot express how happy I was to discover these plants growing just outside my door.
It was mid-April when I finally finished building my fortification. There was no door because I had decided to use a ladder to climb over the wall. This way there was no sign of anyone living there at all.