CHAPTER 15 – BASKET

Soon I realized I needed baskets. With baskets I could carry more food when I made my trips around the island. I could also carry more fruit from the fruit valley.

I cut branches from the same tree which I used for both my fences. After drying these branches, I used them to make baskets.

When I finished that, I decided to take another, longer trip around the island. After passing the fruit valley, I found pleasant grass fields.

They were very flat. They had a lot of flowers. They smelled so good. A lot of insects were flying around these flowers. I could see some big butterflies. Their wings were ten centimetres wide.

There were small trees around these fields. I found nuts on these trees. These nuts were different from nuts in England. They had a different shape. They were also sweeter than nuts in England.

I also discovered that there were many parrots, rabbits and cats at this side of the island. I even caught one parrot and took it with me. There were also many turtles and other birds there.

This part of the island was more pleasant and there was more food but I didn’t want to move.

On the way back my dog captured a young kid which I saved and took with me. I wanted to keep goats very much and now I was offered another chance. I left the kid in the valley house until I prepared a space for it in my first home.

I was so tired from the trip that on my return I relaxed the whole day. I made a cage for the parrot and brought home the kid, which started to calm down.

I made a map of the whole island. I put these newly discovered places on the map.

The time passed so quickly and soon it was September again. This was my second year on the island. I was no longer as sad and desperate as I was immediately after the arrival. I accepted my destiny and I was grateful for being well and alive.

I still kept my daily schedule. I was hunting in the morning, cooking at lunchtime, relaxing in the afternoon when it was the hottest, and working in the evening. I also taught the parrot to say his name. His name was Poll.

In the months of November and December I was busy with my fields. The wild goats and rabbits were eating the little plants. I risked losing all of it, so I quickly made a fence around the place where I put the seeds in the ground. I put my dog inside the fence to guard my corn at night.

Soon the plants were tall, but then another danger appeared. Birds of all kinds started eating the seeds. I shot some and kept an eye on my corn until the rest of the birds were gone.

WORDS FROM CHAPTER 15