"At last there came a day when my master and patron, for so I might call him, gave orders that a quantity of his merchandise should be got ready to carry to some of the neighbouring islands, and to some which were very far distant. I accompanied him as much out of curiosity as a desire to sell what I had of my own property, in which voyage I saw many wonderful and fearful things, and others amusing and pleasant. I took note of manners, and customs, and ceremonies, unknown elsewhere. In fine, at the end of two months, we were overtaken by a tempest that lasted nearly forty days, at the end of which we were cast upon the island, from whence we have just escaped, among some rocks whereon our vessel went to pieces, and not one of its crew escaped alive but myself." [Illustration] CHAPTER IX. _Wherein Rutilio continues his Story._ "The first thing that offered itself to my sight was the body of a barbarian hanging to a tree, by which I knew that I was in a country of savages, and immediately fear placed before my eyes a thousand different modes of death. Not knowing precisely which to dread, I expected and feared them all by turns. At last, since necessity is said to be the mother of invention, I bethought myself of an experiment, extraordinary enough; this was, to pull the dead barbarian off his bough, and having taken off all my own clothes, which I buried in the sand, to dress myself in his, which easily fitted, seeing they were made only of the skins of animals, not cut or fashioned in any way, but fastened round the waist, as you have seen. To conceal my foreign tongue, and that I might not be known to be a stranger, I pretended to be deaf and dumb, and in this guise I proceeded further into the island, jumping and making fantastic capers in the air. "At a short distance I perceived a great number of the barbarians who flocked round me, and one and all asked (as I have since known) who I was, and whence I came, and whither I was going. I answered by keeping silence and making all the signs I could devise, again beginning to jump and cut capers in the air. I was followed by all the boys, let me go where I would, and thus I passed for a dumb barbarian, and the boys gave me food in return for my capers and merry-andrew tricks. In this way I have lived three years among them, and might pass all my life without being discovered. I paid great attention to their language, and learned to speak it very tolerably. I heard the prophecy about the duration of their kingdom, which had been pronounced by a very ancient and wise man, in whom they placed implicit credit. Many men have I seen sacrificed in order to accomplish it, many maidens I have seen purchased for the same purpose, until the conflagration of the island which you, sirs, have witnessed with your own eyes.