looting and throwing people off. They took the treasure that we were
carrying—and then they set my ship on fire!
I fell into the water, and a lucky sailor managed to grab me. He
found rope trailing from a yardarm and tied himself onto me. We
could do nothing but let the currents take us where they would. In this
way we floated for two days until we came to a small island. When we
grounded on the beach, we lay still until the sailor got the strength to
free himself. After exploring for a bit, he came back and gave me a pat.
“Well, ol’ mast, it looks like you and me are all that’s left of the
good ship Dolphin. My own grandfather once captained that ship. I’m
glad he ain’t around to see this unhappy day.”
Sailor Harbison and I were on that island for months. He found
fresh water and enough food to keep himself alive, mostly fish and
coconuts and breadfruit. He had no tools but a knife, yet he managed
to find wood for a signal fire. He sometimes slept in a cave on the hill.
Often he climbed high and scanned the empty horizon for ships. Some
days he leaned against me while he wove sandals from pandanus leaves
or made fishing spears from bamboo.
“I’m carving my name into you, old friend,” he said, “and the name
of our ship, in case no one ever finds me. And I’m carving it really deep
so it will last.”
BREADFRUIT IS A LARGE,
ROUNDISH FRUIT NATIVE
TO THE PACIFIC ISLANDS.
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