about five o'clock
in the evening
King Pippin now conceived hopes of gaining the shore , by means of a raft which he had constructed in the best manner he could ; and , furnishing himself with such things as he thought might be useful to him on shore , he let down his raft into the sea , and placing himself on it , began to paddle towards the land ; he had proceeded about a mile with great difficulty , when a sudden gust of wind instantly overset his whole cargo , and he was obliged to swim near a mile farther before he could reach the shore . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- After returning thanks to God Almighty for his great goodness towards him , in preserving him alone of the whole ship 's crew , King Pippin began to consider in what manner he should spend the night , which now drew on apace . Not knowing but there might be wild beasts on the island , he was for some time at a loss how to secure himself , till recollecting he had read , that Robinson Crusoe , when he was cast away on an uninhabited island , had spent the night on the top of a thick tree , he had recourse to the same method , and after the great fatigue he had undergone , slept very soundly till morning , when he descended from his new lodging , and walked several miles about the island , to discover if it was inhabited , but not being able to find the least traces of any human creature , he returned towards the sea-side , in hopes that some of the ship 's provisions might be driven on shore ; in this too , however , he was disappointed , and hunger obliged him to set about inventing a snare for taking some of the goats , of which he had seen great numbers in his morning walk , but they were so exceeding wild , that it proved a very laborious task , and employed the greatest part of King Pippin 's time during his stay on the island ; indeed he was sometimes so unsuccessful , that a few vegetables alone were his only sustenance for days together . Some months after he had been cast away on this solitary place , being one day greatly fatigued , by a fruitless pursuit of some of these goats , he sat himself down on the side of a hill , and looking with desponding eyes towards the sea , he flattered himself that he saw something like a sail at a great distance ; after gazing attentively for several hours , without once suffering his attention to be diverted from the wished for object , he was at last , to his unspeakable joy , convinced that it was a ship , and that she was making directly for the land : about five o'clock in the evening , they came to anchor at a small distance from the shore , and having hoisted out their boat , rowed directly into a little creek near the edge of a wood , where King Pippin , having descended from the hill , had concealed himself : as soon as they had landed , perceiving as well by their dress as their language , that they were his countrymen , he discovered himself to them , and was received with the greatest kindness and humanity ; and to add to the happiness of his delivery , he found upon enquiry , that they were going to the same island for which he had been originally bound , but had been driven so far out of their course by a violent storm which they had encountered a few days before . Having repaired their vessel , and procured such refreshments as the place afforded , in about a week they again set sail , and arrived at their destined port without any farther accident . Immediately upon their arrival , King Pippin took upon him the care of Sir William Worthy 's estate , and adopted such prudent regulations in the management of it , as rendered it in a few years almost double in its value ; in return for which care and assiduity , he was taken into partnership by Sir William . This good fortune , however , did not fill his mind with that pride and ostentation too frequently attendant on success in life ; King Pippin still continued the same engaging respect to his acquaintance , and the same courteous affability to his inferiors , which had marked his character in every sphere of life , nor did it pass unrewarded ; for the governor of the island falling a sacrifice to those pestilential diseases which are common to hot climates , the inhabitants unanimously joined in a petition to the King requesting him to appoint King Pippin his successor to the government , recommending him as a person , endowed with every qualification requisite to the happiness of his subjects .