But, if the shore proved to their satisfaction for its safety, it was much more so on another account; for they had not been long here before they found the sands or shore infinitely rich in gold, beyond all that they had seen, or thought of seeing before. They had no sooner made the discovery, than they resolved to possess themselves of a treasure that was to enrich them all for ever; accordingly, they went to work with such an avaricious spirit, that they seemed to be as if they were plundering an enemy's camp, and that there was an army at hand to drive them from the place; and, as it proved, they were in the right to do so; for, in this gust of their greedy appetite, they considered not where they were, and upon what tender and ticklish terms their navigation stood. They had, indeed, drawn their two floats to the shore as well as they could, and with pieces of wood like piles, stuck in on every side, brought them to ride easy, but had not taken the least thought about change of weather, though they knew they had neither anchor or cable, nor so much as a rope large enough to fasten them with on the shore. But they were taught more wit, to their cost, in two or three days; for, the very second night they felt a little unusual rising of the water, as they thought, though without any wind; and the next morning they found the water of the lake was swelled about two feet perpendicular, and that their floats, by that means, lay a great way farther from the shore than they did at first, and the water still increasing. This made them imagine there was a tide in the lake, and that after a little time it would abate again, but they soon found their mistake; for after some time, they perceived the water, which was perfectly fine and clear before, grew by degrees of a paler colour, thick and whitish, till at last it was quite white and muddy, as is usual in land floods; and as it still continued rising, so they continued thrusting in their floats farther and farther towards the shore, till they had, in short, lost all the fine golden sands they were at work upon before, and found the lake overflowed the land so far beyond them, that, in short, they seemed to be in the middle of the lake, for they could scarce see to the end of the water, even on that very side where, but a few hours before, their floats were fast on the sands. It may be easily judged that this put them into great consternation, and they might well conclude that they should be all drowned and lost; for they were now, as it were, in the middle of the sea upon two open floats or rafts, fenced nowhere from the least surge or swell of the water, except by a kind of waste board, about two feet high, built up on the sides, without any calking or pitching, or anything to keep out the water.