2 The island home

Chapter 2 The island home The next day, when the storm had died down, Crusoe looked for his friends. All he could find were shoes and a hat. He was totally alone. "What will I do?" he wondered.

He decided to see what he could find on the ship. It was easy to reach, now the water was calm. He found a rope hanging down and hauled himself aboard. He was so hungry, he headed straight for the storeroom. To his delight, the food was still dry. Mmm... Tastes good!

"I know!" he thought. "I'll make a raft to carry things back to shore." First, he tied four poles together. With pieces of wood fixed across them, the raft was strong enough to stand on.

Crusoe found lots of useful things on the wrecked ship: chests of food, barrels of rum, gunpowder and guns. He loaded up the raft with as much as it would hold and paddled back to the beach.

Crusoe sailed to and fro on his raft, rescuing tools, clothes, plenty of wood and some sails. On one trip, he heard a strange noise. Was it a bark? He looked around the ship. Suddenly, the ship's dog bounded up to him, followed by the two ship's cats. Woof! Purrrr! Crusoe was delighted. He wasn't completely alone after all.

Soon, Crusoe had enough things to make a home. He found a sheltered spot by a cliff, looking out to sea. Using the ship's sails, he built a tent. Then he built a bigger tent over the top of it, to protect it from the rain.