By this time I had got at a frightful distance from the island, and had the least cloudy or hazy weather intervened, I had been undone another way, too; for I had no compass on board, and should never have known how to have steered towards the island, if I had but once lost sight of it; but the weather continuing clear, I applied myself to get up my mast again, and spread my sail, standing away to the north as much as possible, to get out of the current.
Intanto per altro stava ad una spaventosa distanza dall’isola, onde la menoma nube o nebbia che fosse sopravvenuta, io era ciò nondimeno perduto, perchè privo di bussola non avrei mai saputo come governare verso la terra, se l’avessi smarrita di vista; ma continuando il sereno io mi diedi di nuovo a mettere all’ordine l’albero della mia navicella e a spiegare la vela, mantenendomi quanto io poteva a tramontana per tirarmi fuori della corrente.