Then he sailed away, leaving us here, and here we have since lived.

Under the circumstances, we have no right to complain, for had we been taken by an ordinary pirate it is likely that our bones would now be lying at the bottom of the ocean.
"Here I have worked hard and have made myself a home, such as it is.
There are wild cattle upon the distant savannas, and I trap game and birds, cultivate the soil to a certain extent, and if we had clothes I might say we would be in better circumstances than many a respectable family in England.

Sometimes when a merchantman anchors here and I have hides or anything else which we can barter for things we need, I row over the bay in a canoe which I have made, and have thus very much bettered our condition.

But in no case have I been able to provide my family with suitable clothes." "Why did you not get some of these merchant ships to carry you away ?" asked Dickory.
The man shook his head.

"There is no place," he said sadly, "to which I can in reason ask a ship to carry me and my family.