June 4. Added a P.S. to letters. A month gone and no chance to send them.
Hard cheese!
June 6. Another week will see me in extremis. Wish I had a fishing-line.
June 7. Got some oysters. Oh for a good beefsteak or a chop! No sign of any boat. Lord help me!
June 9. Nearly skinned the oysters. What will I do when they are finished?
June 10. Dull; cold. Thank God for the sweet potatoes! They are my only food now. No rays about; no fish in the trap, and the whole coast of the island almost stripped of oysters. Only one candle left to cheer the night.
June 11. Miserable and hungry.
June 17. Cold and clear. Did not sleep well. The hunger woke me often.
This is fearful work.
On the 19th he got some coco-nuts, which were first-rate. With coco-nuts and an occasional ray, he ekes out an existence, hungry, cheerless, without light, without tobacco. A copy of "Barnaby Rudge" and a few old papers represent his reading matter. He is glad when daylight comes.
July 3. Craft lay-to off Lorne Reef. Signalled by flag and fire from hill. They took no notice. Strange! Government cutter, I think.
So his life drags on. He tries to re-read by firelight "Barnaby Rudge," which he must almost know by heart, but it is of no use. In the taming of a monitor lizard he finds much amusement, recording his satisfaction—"Goanna quite friendly."