ARTES
18371
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN |
PLURIBUS UBU
!
TUEBOR
!
SI QUERIS PENINSULAM-AMⱭNAM)
CIRCUMSPICE
L
GIFT OF
REGENT LLHUBBARD
2
HIN
где
THE
LTE E.
I FE
And Strange and Surprising
ADVENTURES
+
O F
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
Of YORK, MARINER,
Who lived Eight and Twenty Years all alone in an un-
inhabited Inland on the Coaft of America, near the
Mouth of the Great River Oroonoque; having been
caft on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men pe-
rifhed but Himfelf.
With an ACCOUNT how he was at laft ftrange-
ly delivered by PYRATES.
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
S
LONDON,
Printed for T.THOMPSON, R. DAMPER, L. BURCH, H. SHORAM,,
T. CLITCH, B. BLOSSOM, D. LORD, F. FRITCHET, G.
TOWNWOLD, J. DWARF, J. LIBLOND and W. BLANCHARD.
M DCC LXVII.
Res.
Regent £. L. Funboard
H
110-23-1924
THE
PREFACE,
I'
c
Fever the story of any private man's
adventures in the world were worth
making public, and were acceptable when
publifhed, the editor of this account thinks
this will be fo
The wonders of this man's life exceed
all that (he thinks) is to be found extant;
the life of one man being Scarce capable
of a greater variety.
The story is told with modefty, with
ferioufness, and with a religious applica-
tion of events to the uses to which wife
men always apply them; viz. to the in-
THE PREFACE.
1i
ftruction of others, by this example, and
to justify and honour the wisdom of Pro-
vidence in all the variety of circumſtan-
ces, let them happen how they will.
The editor believes the thing to be a
just hiftory of facts; neither is there any
appearance of fiction in it: And however
thinks, becauſe all fuch things are diſput-
ed, that the improvement of it, as well
to the diverfion, as to the inftruction of
the reader, will be the fame; and as fuch,
he thinks, without farther compliment to
the world, he does them a great fervice
in the publication.
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0000 0000 0033 DOOR DEJA KOJO JO09 0005 0000 00SA
THE
LIFE and ADVENTURES
O F
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
I
Was born at York, in the year 1632, of a reputable
family. My father was a native of Bremen, who
by merchandiſing at Hull for fome time gained a
very plentiful fortune. He married my mother
at York, who received her firft breath in that country;
and as her maiden name was Robinson, 1 was called
Robinſon Kreutznaer; which not being eaſily pronoun-
ced in the Engliſh tongue, we are commonly known by
the name of Crusoe.
I was the youngeſt of three brothers. The eldeſt
was a lieutenant-colonel in Lockhart's regiment, but
flain by the Spaniards: what became of the other, I
could never learn.
No charge nor pains were wanting in my educa-
tion. My father defigned me for the law; yet nothing
A
( 2 )
would ferve me, but I must go to fea, both againſt the
will of my father, the tears of my mother, and the
intreaties of friends. One morning my father ex-
poftulated very warmly with me. What reafon, fays
he, have you to leave your native country, where
there muſt be a more certain profpect of content and
happineſs, to enter into a wandering condition of un-
eaſineſs and uncertainty? He recommended to me A-
gur's wish, Neither to defire poverty nor riches; that a
middle ſtate of life was the moſt happy; and that the
high towering thoughts of raifing our condition by
wandering abroad, were furrounded with mifery and
danger, and often ended with confufion and difappoint-
ment. I intreat you, nay I command you, (fays he)
to defift from theſe intentions. Conſider your eldeſt
brother, who laid down his life for his honour, or
rather loft it for his difobedience to my will. If you
will go, added he, my prayers fhall however be offer-
ed for your preſervation; but a time may come, when,
defolate, oppreffed, or forfaken, you may wish you had
taken your poor deſpiſed father's counfel.------He pro-
nounced theſe words with ſuch a moving and paternal
eloquence, while floods of tears ran down his aged
cheeks, that it feemed to ftem the torrent of my re-
folutions. But this foon wore off, and a little after I
informed my mother, that I could not ſettle to any
buſineſs, my reſolutions were fo ftrong to fee the
world; and begged fhe would gain my father's con-
fent only to go one voyage; which if it did not prove
profperous, I would never attempt a fecond. But my
defire was as vain as my folly in asking. My mother
paffionately expreffed her dislike of this propofal, tel-
( 3´)
ling me, That as fhe faw I was bent upon my own
deſtruction, contrary to their will and my duty, ſhe
would fay no more, but leave me to myſelf to do what-
• foever I pleaſed.'
I was then, I think, nineteen years old, when one
time being at Hull, I met a ſchool-fellow of mine, going
along with his father, who was maſter of a ſhip, to
London; and acquainting him with my wandering de-
fires, he affured me of a free paffage, and a plentiful
ſhare of what was neceffary. Thus without imploring
a bleffing, or taking farewell of my parents, I took fhip-
ping on the first of September 1651. We fet fail foon
after; and our fhip had fcarce left the Humber aftern,
when there aroſe ſo violent a form, that, being ex-
tremely fea-fick, I concluded the judgments of God de-
fervedly followed me for my difobedience to my dear
parents. It was then I called to mind the good advice
of
my father; how eafy and comfortable was a middle
ſtate of life; and I firmly refolved, if it pleaſed God
to fet me on dry land once more, I would return to my
parents, implore their forgiveneſs, and bid a final adieu
to my wandering inclinations.
Such were my thoughts while the ſtorm continued ;
but theſe good refolutions.decreaſed with the danger;
more eſpecially, when my companion came to me, clap-
ping me on the fhoulder: What, Bob! faid he, fure
you was not frightened last night with fcarce a cap-full
of wind?----------And do you, cry'd 1, call fuch a vie-
lent form a cap-full of wind? A form, you fool you,
faid he, this is nothing; a good ſhip and ſea-room always
baffles fuch a foolish squawl of wind as that: But you're
a freſh-water ſailor: Come, boy, turn out, ſee what fine
A 2
(4)
weather we have now, and a good bowl of punch will
drown all your paſt forrows. In fhort, the punch was
made, I was drunk, and in one night's time drowned
both my repentance and my good refolutions, forget-
ting entirely the vows and promifes I made in my di-
ftreſs: and whenever any reflexions would return on me,
what by company, and what by drinking, I foon ma-
ftered thofe fits, as I deridingly called them. But this
only made way for another trial, whereby I could not
but fee how much I was beholden to kind providence.
Upon the fixth day we came to an anchor in Harwich
road, where we lay wind-bound with fome Newcalle
fhips; and there being good anchorage, and our cables
found, the feamen forgot their late toil and danger, and
ſpent the time as merry as if they had been on shore.
But on the eighth day there arofe a brisk gale of wind,
which prevented our tiding it up the river, and ſtill in-
creaſing, our ſhip rode forecaſtle in, and ſhipped ſeve-
ral large feas.
It was not long before horror feized the feamen them-
felves, and I heard the mafter exprefs this melancholy
ejaculation, Lord, have mercy upon us, we shall be all
loft and undone! For my part, fick unto death, I kept
my cabin, till the univerfal and terribly dreadful ap-
prehenfions of our ſpeedy fate, made me get upon deck:
and there I was afrighted indeed. The fea went moun-
tains high I could fee nothing but diftrefs around us;
two ſhips had cut their maſts on board, and another
was foundered: two more that had loft their anchors,
were forced out to the mercy of the ocean; and to fave
cur lives, we were forced to cut our foremaſt and
mainmalt quite away.
( 5 )
Who is there fo ignorant as not to judge of my
dreadful condition? I was but a freſh-water failor, and
therefore it ſeemed more terrible. Our fhip was very
good, but over-loaded; which made the failors often cry
out, She would founder: Words I then was ignorant
of! All this while the ftorm continuing, and rather
increafing, the mafter and the more fober part of his
men went to prayers, expecting death every moment.
In the middle of the night, one cried out, We had
fprung a leak; another, That there was four foot wa-
foot_wa-
ter in the hold. I was just ready to expire with fear,
when immediately all hands were called to the pump;
and the men forced me alfo in that extremity to ſhare
with them in their labour. While thus employed, the
maſter elping fome light colliers, fired a gun as a
fignal of diftrefs; and I not underſtanding what it
meant. and thinking that either the ship broke, or
fome dreadful thing happened, fell into a fwoon.
Even in that common condition of wo, nobody mind-
ed me, excepting to thrust me afide with their feet,
thinking me dead, and it was a great while before I re-
covered.
Happy it was for us, when, upon the fignal given,
they ventured out their boat to fave our lives. All our
pumping had been in vain, and vain had all our attempts
been, had they not come to our fhip's fide, and our
men caſt them a rope over the ftern with a buoy to it,
which after great labour they got hold of, and we hal--
ing them to us, got into their boat, and left our fhip,
which we perceived fink within lefs than a quarter of
an hour; and thus I learned what was meant by Foun-
dering at Sea. And now the men inceffantly laboured
A 3
(6)
to recover their own fhip, but the fea ran fo high, and
the wind blew fo hard, that they thought it convenient
to hale within fhore; which with great difficulty and
danger at laſt we happily effected, landing at a place call-
ed Cromer, not far from Winterton light-houſe; from
whence we all walked to Yarmouth, where, as objects
of pity, many good people furniſhed us with neceffa-
ries to carry us either to Hull or London.
Strange, that after all this, like the prodigal fon, I
did not return to my father; who, hearing of the fhip's
calamity, for a long time thought me intombed in the
deep. No doubt but I ſhould have ſhared in his fatted
calf, as the fcripture expreffeth it: but my ill fate ſtill
puſhed me on, in fpite of the powerful convictions of
reafon and confcience.
When we had been at Yarmouth three days, I met
my old companion, who had given me the invitation
to go on board along with his father. His behaviour
and ſpeech was altered, and in a melancholy manner
afked me how I did, telling his father who I was, and
how I had made this voyage for a trial only to pro
ceed farther abroad. Upon which the old gentleman
turning to me gravely, ſaid, 'Young man, you ought
never to go to fea any more, but to take this for a cer-
tain fign that you will never profper in a feafaring
'condition. Sir, anfwered I, will you take the fame
• refolution? It is a different cafe, faid he, it is my call-
ing, and confequently my duty; but as you have made
this voyage for a trial, you fee what ill fuccefs hea-
ven has fet before your eyes; and perhaps our miſe-
ries have been on your account, like Jonah in the fhip
of Tarfish. But pray, what are you, and on what
:
( 7 )
account did you go to fea? Upon which I very free-
ly declared my whole ftory; at the end of which he
made this exclamation. Ye facred powers! what had
I committed, that fuch a wretch fhould enter into my
ſhip, to heap upon me ſuch a deluge of miferies! But
foon recollecting his paffions, Young man, Said he, if
'you do not go back, depend upon it, where-ever you
go, you will meet with difafters and diſappointments
'till your father's words are fulfilled upon you.' And
fo we parted.
I thought at firft to return home; but fhame oppofed
that good motion, as thinking I fhould be laughed at
by my neighbours and acquaintance. So ftrange is the
nature of youth, who are not ashamed to fin, but yet a-
fhamed to repent; and fo far from being afhamed of
thoſe actions for which they may be accounted fools,
they think it folly to return to their duty, which is the
principal mark of wifdom. In fhort, I travelled up to
London, refolving upon a voyage; and a voyage I foon
heard of, by my acquaintance with a captain who took
a fancy to me, to go to the coaſt of Guinea. Having
fome money, and appearing like a gentleman, I went
on board not as a common failor or foremaſt-man ;
nay, the commander agreed I fhould go that voyage
with him without any expence; that I fhould be his
meſs-mate and companion; and I was very welcome to
carry any thing with me, and make the beſt merchan-
dife I could.
my
I bleſſed my happy fortune, and humbly thanked
captain for this offer; and acquainting my friends in York-
fire, forty pounds were fent me, the greateſt part of
which my dear father and mother contributed to; with
A 4
( 8 )
which I bought toys and trifles, as the captain direct-
ed me. My captain alſo learned me navigation, how
to keep an account of the fhip's courſe, take an obſer-
vation, and led me into the knowledge of ſeveral uſeful
branches of the mathematics. And indeed this voyage.
made me both a failor and a merchant; for I brought
home 5 pounds 9 ounces of gold duft for my adventure,
which produced, at my return to London, almoſt three
hundred pounds. But, in this voyage, I was extreme-
ly fick, being thrown into a violent calenture through
exceffive heat, trading upon the coaft from the latitude
of fifteen degrees north, even to the line itſelf.
But alas! my dear friend the captain ſoon departed
this life after his arrival. This was a fenfible grief to
me; yet I refolved to go another voyage with his mate,
who had now got command of the fhip. This proved
a very unſucceſsful one; for though I did not carry quite
100l. of my late acquired wealth, fo that I had 200l.
left, which I repofed with the captain's widow, who was
an honeſt gentlewoman, yet my misfortunes in this un-
happy voyage were very great. For our fhip failing to-
wards the Canary iſlands, we were chaſed by a Sailee
rover; and in ſpite of all the hafte we could make, by
crouding as much canvaſs as our yards would ſpread, or
mafts carry, the pirate gained upon us, fo that we pre-
pared ourſelves to fight. They had 18 guns, and we
had but 12. About three in the afternoon, there was a
deſperate engagement, wherein many were killed and
wounded on both fides; but finding ourſelves over-
powered with numbers, our ſhip diſabled, and ourſelves
too impotent to have the leaft hopes of fuccefs, we were
forced to furrender, and accordingly were all carried
(9)
prifoners into the port of Sallee. Our men were fent to
the emperor's court to be fold there; but the pirate
captain taking notice of me, kept me to be his own
flave.
In this condition I thought myſelf the moſt miferable
creature on earth, and the prophecy of my father came
afreſh into my thoughts. However, my condition was
better than I thought it to be, as will foon appear.
Some hopes indeed I had, that my new patron would
go to fea again, where he might be taken by a Spanish
or Portugueſe man of war, and then I fhould be fet at
liberty. But in this I was miſtaken, for he never took
me with him, but left me to look after his little garden,
and do the drudgery of his houfe; and when he return-
ed from fea, would make me lie in the cabin, and look
after the fhip. I had no one that I could communicate
my thoughts to, which were continually meditating
my eſcape; no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotsman
here but myself; and for two years I could fee no-
thing practicable, but only pleafed myfelf with the i-
magination.
After fome length of time, my patron, as I found,
grew fo poor, that he could not fit out his fhip as u-
fual: and then he ufed conftantly, once or twice a-
week, if the weather was fair, to go out a-fishing, ta-
king me and a young Morefco boy to row the boat; and
fo much pleaſed was he with me for my dexterity in
catching the fish, that he would often ſend me with a
Moor, who was one of his kinfmen, and the Moreſco
youth, to catch a difh of fish for him.
One morning, as we were at the ſport, there aroſe
fuch a thick fog, that we loft fight of the fhore: and
(
10 )
rowing we knew not which way, we laboured all the
night, and in the morning found ourſelves in the ocean,
two leagues from land. However, we attained there at
length, and made the greater hafte, becauſe our ſto-
machs were exceeding fharp and hungry. In order to
prevent fuch diſaſters for the future, my patron order-
ed a carpenter to build a little ftate-room or cabin in
the middle of the long boat, with a place behind it to
fteer and hale home the main-fheet, with other conve-
niencies to keep him from the weather, as alſo lockers
to put in all manner of provifions, with a handſome
fhoulder of mutton fail, gibing over the cabin.
In this he frequently took us out a-fiſhing; and one
time inviting two or three perfons of diftinction to go
with him, made provifion extraordinary, providing alſo
three fufees with powder and fhot, that they might have
ſome ſport at fowling along the fea-coaft. The next
morning the boat was made clean, her ancient and pen-
dants out, and every thing ready; but their minds alte-
ring, my patron ordered us to go a-fiſhing, for that his
gueſts would certainly fup with him that night.
And now I began to think of my deliverance indeed.
In order to this I perfuaded the Moor to get fome pro-
vifions on board, as not daring to meddle with our pa-
tron's; and he taking my advice, we ftored ourſelves
with Rusk bitket, and three jars of water. Befides, I
privately conveyed into the boat a bottle of brandy,
fome twine, thread, a hammer, hatchet, and a faw; and
in particular ſome bees wax, which was a great comfort
to me, and ferved to make candles. I then perfuaded
Muley (for fo the Moor was called) to procure fome
powder and ſhot, pretending to kill fea-curlieus, which
( II )
he innocently and readily agreed to. In ſhort, being
provided with all things neceffary, we failed out, refolv-
ing for my own part to make my eſcape though it
fhould cost me my life.
"
•
When we had paffed the caftle, we fell to fiſhing; but
though I knew there was a bite, I diffembled the mat-
ter in order to put further out to fea. Accordingly we
ran a league further; when giving the boy the helm,
and pretending to ſtoop for fomething, I feized Muley
by furprife, and threw him overboard. As he was an
excellent fwimmer, he foon arofe, and made towards the
boat; upon which I took out a fuſee, and preſented it
at him: Muley, faid I, I never yet defigned to do you
any harm, and feek nothing now but my redemption.
I know you are able enough to fwim to fhore, and
fave your life; but if you are refolved to follow me, to
the endangering of mine, the very moment you pro-
ceed I will fhoot you through the head.' The harm-
lefs creature, at theſe words, turned himſelf from me,
and I make no doubt got fafe to land. Then turning
to the boy Xury, I perceived he trembled at the action ;
but I put him out of all fear, telling him, that if he
would be true and faithful to me, I would do well by
him. And therefore, faid I, you muſt ſtroke your face
to be faithful, and, as the Turks have learned you,
fwear by Malomet, and the beard of your father, or
elfe I will throw you into the fea alfo.' So innocent
did the child then look, and with fuch an obliging fmile
confented, that I readily believed him, and from that
day forward began to love him entirely.
<
<
We then purſued our voyage; and left they fhould
think me gone to the Streights mouth, I kept to the
( 12 )
Southward to the truly Barbarian coaſt ; but in the duſk
of the evening, I changed my courſe, and ſteered direct-
ly S. and by E. that I might keep near the fhore; and
having a freſh gale of wind, with a pleaſant ſmooth fea,
by three o'clock next day I was 150 miles beyond the
Emperor of Morocco's dominions. Yet ftill having the
dreadful apprehenfion of being retaken, I continued
failing for five days fucceffively, till fuch time as the
wind fhifting to the fouthward, made me conclude,
that if any veffel was in chace of me, they would pro-
ceed no farther. After fo much fatigue and thought,
I anchored at the mouth of a little river, I knew not
what or where: neither did I then fee any people.
What I principally wanted was fresh water; and I was
refolved about the dusk to fwim afhore. But.no fooner
did the gloomy clouds of night begin to fucceed the
declining day, when we heard fuch barking, roaring,
and howling of wild creatures, that one might have
thought the very ftrangeft monsters of nature, or infer-
nal fpirits, had their refidence there. Poor Xury, al-
moft dead with fear, intreated me not to go on fhore
that night. Suppoſing I don't, Xury, faid 1, and in
the morning we thould fee men who are worſe than
'thoſe we fear, what then? O den me may give dem
•
de fhoot-gun, replied Xury laughing, and de gun make
dem all run away.' The wit, and broken English
which the boy had learned among the captives of our
nation, pleaſed me entirely; and to add to his chear-
fulness, I gave him a dram of the bottle. We could
get but little fleep all the night, for thoſe terrible how-
lings they made; and indeed we were both very much
affrighted, when by the rollings of the water, and other
( 13 )
'
tokens, we justly concluded one of thofe monsters made
towards our boat. I could not fee it till it came within
two oars length, when taking my fufee, I let fly at him.
Whether I hit him or no, I cannot tell; but he made
towards the fhore, and the noife of my gun increaſed
the ſtupendous noife of the monsters.
The next morning I was refolved to go on fhore to
get fresh water, and venture my life among beafts or fa-
vages, ſhould either attack me. Xury faid, he would
take one of the jars, and bring me fome. I aſked him
why he would go, and not I? The poor boy anfwered,
If wild mans come, they eat me, you go way. A mind
fcarcely now to be imitated, fo contrary to felf-preferva-
tion, the most powerful law of nature! This indeed in-
creafed my affection to the child. Well, dear Xury,
faid I, we will both go ashore, both eat wild mans, and
they shall eat neither of us. So giving Xury a piece of
Rusk bread to eat, and a dram, we waded afhore, car-
rying nothing with us but our arms and two jars for wa-
ter. I did not go out of fight of the boat, as dreading
the favages coming down the river in their canoes. But
the boy feeing a low defcent or vale about a mile in the
country, he wandered to it; and then running back to
me with great precipitation, I thought he was purfued
by ſome favage or wild beast; upon which I approach-
ed, refolving to perish or protect him from danger. As
he came nearer to me, I faw fomething hanging over
his fhoulders, which was a creature he had thot like a
hare, but different in colour, and longer legs; howe-
ver, we were glad of it, for it proved wholefòme and
nourishing meat; but what added to our joy was, my boy
affured me there was plenty of water, and that he jee
( 14 )
no wild mans. And greater ftill was our comfort, when
we found freſh water in the creek where we were when
the tide was out, without going fo far up into the coun-
try.
In this place I began to confider that the Canary
and Cape de Verd iflands lay not far off; but having
no inftrument, I knew not what latitude, or when to
ſtand off to fea for them; yet my hopes were, I fhould
meet ſome of the English trading veſſels, who would re-
lieve and take us in.
The place I was in was no doubt that wild country,
inhabited only by a few, that lies between the Empe-
ror of Morocco's dominions and the Negroes. It is filled
with wild beaſts, and the Moors ufe it for hunting chief-
ly. From this place I thought I faw the top of the
mountain Teneriffe in the Canaries; which made me try
twice to attain it; but as often was I drove back, and
fo forced to purſue my fortune along ſhore.
Early one morning we came to an anchor under a
little point of land, but pretty high; and the tide be-
ginning to flow, we lay ready to go further in. But
Xury, whofe youthful and penetrating eyes were fharp-
er than mine, in a foft tone, defired me to keep far
from land, left we ſhould be devoured: For look yon-
der, meyter, faid he, and ſee de dreadful monſter falt a-
Sleep on the fide of the hill. Accordingly looking where
he pointed, I efpied a fearful monfter indeed: It was a
terrible great lion that lay on fhore, covered as it were
by a fhade of a piece of the hill. Xury, faid I, you ſhall
go on fhore and kill him. But the boy looked amazed:
Me kill him, fays he, he eat me at one mouth; meaning
one mouthful. Upon which I bid him lie ftill, and
( 15 )
ever heard:
charging my biggeſt gun with two flugs, and a good
charge of powder, I took the best aim I could to hoor
him through the head; but his leg lying over his noſe,
the flug broke his knee-bone. The lion awaking with
the pain got up, but foon fell down, giving the moſt
hideous groan I
but taking my fecond
piece, I fhot him through the head, and then he lay
ftruggling for life. Upon this Xury took heart, and
defired my leave to go on fhore. Go then, faid I. Upon
which taking a little gun in one hand, he fwam to fhore
with the other, and coming clofe to the lion, put a pe-
ried to his life, by fhooting him again through the head.
But this was ſpending our ammunition in vain, the
fleſh not being good to eat. Xury was like a champion,
and comes on board for a hatchet, to cut off the head
of his enemy; but not having ftrength to perform it,
he cut off and brought me a foot. I bethought me how-
ever that his ſkin would be of uſe. This work coft
Xury and me a whole day; when fpreading it on the
top of our cabin, the hot beams of the fun effectually
dried it in two days time, and it afterwards ferved me
for a bed to lie on、
And now we failed foutherly, living fparingly on our
provifions, and went no oftener on fhore than we were
obliged for freſh water. My defign was to make the
river Gambia or Senegal, or any where about the Cape
de Verd, in hopes to meet fome European fhip. If
providence did not fo favour me, my next courfe was
to feek for the iflands, or loſe my life among the Ne-
groes. And in a word, I put my whole ftrefs upon
this: Either that I must meet with ſome ſhip, or certain‐
by perif.
( 16 )
One day we were failing along, we faw people ſtand
on the fhore looking at us; we could alſo perceive they
were black and ftark naked. I was inclined to go on
fhore; but Xury cried, No, no; however I approached
nearer, and I found they run along the fhore by me a
good way. They had no weapons in their hands, ex-
cept one, who held a long ftick, which Xury told me
was a lance, with which they could kill at a great di-
ſtance. I talked to them by figns, and made them fen-
fible I wanted fomething to eat; they beckoned to me
to ſtop my boat, while two of them ran up into the
country, and in lefs than half an hour came back, and
brought with them two pieces of dry flesh, and fome
corn, which we kindly accepted; and to prevent any
fears on either fide, they brought the food to the fhore,
laid it down, then went and ſtood a great way off, till
we fetched it on board, and then came clofe to us again.
But while we were returning thanks to them, being
all we could afford, two mighty creatures came from
the mountains, one as it were purſuing the other with
great fury, which we were the rather inclined to be-
lieve, as they feldom appear but in the night; and both
theſe ſwiftly paffing by the Negroes, jumped into the fea,
wantonly ſwimming about, as though the diverfion of
the waters had put a stop to their fiercenefs.
one of them coming nearer to my boat than I expected
or defired, I fhot him directly through the head; up-
on which he funk immediately, yet rifing again, would
have willingly made to the fhore; but, between the
wound and the ftragling of the water, he died before he
could reach it.
At last,
It is impoffible to exprefs the confternation the poor
( 17 )
Negroes were in at the firing my guu; much leſs can I
mention their furprife, when they perceived the crea
ture to be flain by it. I made figns to them to draw
near it with a rope, and then gave it to them to hale on
thore. It was a beautiful leopard, which made me de-
fire its ſkin; and the Negroes ſeeming to covet the car-
cafe, I freely gave it to them. As for the other leo-
pard, it made to ſhore, and ran with a prodigious ſwift-
nefs out of fight. The Negroes having kindly furnish-
ed me with water, and with what roots and grains their
country afforded, I took my leave, and after eleven days
fail, came in fight of the Cape de Verd, and thoſe iſlands
called by its name, But the great diftance I was from
it, and fearing contrary winds would prevent my reach-
ing them, I began to grow melancholy and dejected,
when, upon a fudden, Xury cried out, Master, maler,
a ship with a fail! and looked as affrighted, as if it was
his maſter's ſhip fent in fearch of us. But I foon dif-
covered fhe was a Portugueſe fhip, as I thought, bound
to the coaft of Guinea, for Negroes. Upon which I
ftrove for life to come up to them. But vain had it
been, if through their perſpective glaffes they had not
perceived me, and fhortened their fail to let me come
up. Encouraged at this, I fet up my patron's ancient,
and fired a gun, both as fignals of diftrefs; upon which
they very kindly lay to, fo that in three hours time I
came up with them. They ſpoke to me in Portugueſe,
Spanish, and French, but neither of theſe did I under-
ſtand; til at length a Scots failor called, and then I
told him I was an Engliſhman, who had eſcaped from
the Moors at Sallee; upon which they took me kindly
on board, with all my effects.
B
( 18 )
<
"
"
Surely none can exprefs the inconceiveable joy I felt
at this happy deliverance! who from being a late mi-
ferable and forlorn creature, was not only relieved, but
in favour with the master of the thip, to whom, in re-
turn for my deliverance, I offered all I had. 'God
forbid, faid he that I ſhould take any thing from vou.
Every thing fhall be delivered to you when you come
to Brafil. If I have faved your life, it is no more
than 1 fhould expect to receive myfelf from any other,
when, in the fame circumftances, I fhould happen to
meer the like deliverance. And fhould I take from
you what you have, and leave you at Brafil, why,
this would be only taking away a life I have given.
My charity teaches me better. Thoſe effects you
have will fupport you there, and provide you a paf-
fage home again.' And indeed he acted with the
ftrictest justice in what he did, taking my things into
his poffeffion, and giving me an exact inventory, even
to my earthen jars He bought my boat of me for
the ſhip's ufe giving me a note of eighty pieces of eight,
payable at Brafil; and if any body offered more, he
would make it up. He alſo gave me 60 pieces for my
boy Xury. It was with great reluctance I was prevailed
upon to fell the child's liberty, who had ferved me ſo
faithfully but the boy was willing himſelf: and it was
agreed, that after ten years he ſhould be made free,
upon his renouncing Mahometifm, and embracing Chrif
tianity.
+
Having a pleaſant voyage to the Brafils, we arrived
in the Bay de Todes los Santos, or All-Saints Bay, in
twenty-two days after. And there I cannot forget the
generous treatment of the captain. He would take no-
( 19 )
thing for my paffage, gave me 20 ducats for the leo-
pard's fkin, and 30 for the lion's. Every thing he
cauſed to be delivered; and what I would fell, he
bought. In fhort, I made about 220 pieces of my car-
go; and with this ſtock I entered once more, as I may
fay, into the ſcene of life.
Being recommended to an honeft planter, I lived
with him till fuch time as I was informed of the man-
ner of their planting and making fugar; and feeing how
well they lived, and how fuddenly they grew rich, I
was filled with a defire to ſettle among them, and re-
folved to get my money remitted to me, and to pur-
chaſe a plantation.
To be brief, I bought a fettlement next door to an
honeſt and kind neighbour, born at Lisbon of English
parents, whofe plantation joining to mine, we improv-
ed it very amicably together. Both our ſtocks were
low, and for two years we planted only for food: but
the third year we planted fome tobacco, and each of us
dreffed a large piece of ground the enfuing year for
planting canes. But now I found how much I wanted
affiftance, and repented the lofs of my dear boy Xury.
Having none to aflift me, my father's words came
often into my mind; and I uſed to aſk myſelf, if what
I fought was only a middle ftation of life, why could
it not as well be obtained in England as here? When
I pondered of this with regret, the thoughts of my
late deliverance for fook me. I had none to converfe
with but my neighbours; no work to be done but by
my own hands; it often made me fay, my condition
was like that of a man caft upon a defolate iſland. So
unhappy are we in our reflexions, ſo forgetful of what
B 2
( 20 )
good things we receive ourſelves, and fo unthankful
for our deliverance from thofe calamities that others
endure.
I was in fome meaſure fettled, before the captain,
who took me up, departed from the Brafil. One day
I went to him, and told him what ſtock 1 had in London,
defiring his aſſiſtance in getting it remitted; to which
the good gentleman readily confented, but would onlý
have me fend for half my money, left it should miſcar
ry; which if it did, I might ftill have the remainder
to fupport me; and fo taking letters of procuration
from me, bid me trouble myſelf no farther about it.
And indeed wonderful was his kindneſs towards me;
for he not only procured the money I had drawn for
upon my captain's widow, but fent me over a fervant
with a cargo, proportionable to my condition. He al-
ſo ſent me over tools of all forts, iron work, and uten-
fils neceffary for my plantation, and which proved of
the greateſt uſe to me in my buſineſs.
Wealth now accumulating on me, and uncommon
fuccefs crowning my proíperous labours, I might have
refted happy in that middle ſtate of life my father had
fo often recominended; yet nothing would content me,
fuch was my evil genius, but I must leave this happy
ſtation, for a fooliſh ambition in rifing; and thus, once
more, I caſt myſelf in the deepeſt gulf of miſery that
ever poor creature fell into. Having lived four years
in Brafil, I had not only learned the language, but con-
tracted acquaintance with the most eminent planters,
and even the merchants of St Salvadore; to whom,
once, by way of diſcourſe, having given an account of
my two voyages to the coaft of Guinea, and manner of
( 21 )
trading there for mere trifles, by which we furniſh our
plantations with Negroes, they gave fuch attention to
what I faid, that three of them came one morning to
me, and told me they had a fecret propofal to make.
After enjoining me to fecrecy, (it being an infringement
on the powers of the kings of Portugal and Spain), they
told me they had a mind to fit out a fhip to goio Guinea,
in order to ſtock the plantation with Negroes, which,
as they could not be publicly fold, they would divide a-
mong them; and if I would go their fupercargo in the
ſhip, to manage the trading part, I ſhould have an e-
qual ſhare of the Negroes, without providing any ftock.
The thing indeed was fair enough, had 1 been in ano-
ther condition. But I, born to be my own deftroyer,
could not refiit the propoſal, but accepted the offer up-
on condition of their looking after my plantation. So,
making a formal will, I bequeathed my effects to my
good friend the captain, as my univerfal heir; but ob-
liged him to difpofe of my effects as directed, one half
of the produce to himſelf, and the other to be ſhipped
to England.
The ſhip being fitted out, and all things ready, we fet
fail the first of September 1659, being the fame day
eight year I left my father and mother in Yorkshire. We
failed Northward upon the coaft, in order to gain Africa,
till we made Cape Augustine; from whence going farther
in the ocean, out of fight of land, we fteered as though
we were bound for the iſle Fernand de Norenba, leaving
the iſlands on the East; and then it was we met with
a terrible tempeft, which continued for twelve days fuc-
ceffively, fo that the winds carried us wherefoever they
pleafed. In this perplexity, one of our men died, and
t
B 3
(22
)
one man and a boy were washed overboard. When
the weather cleared up a little, we found ourſelves ele-
ven degrees north latitude upon the coast of Guinea.
Upon this the captain gave reafons for returning; which
I oppofed, counſelling him to ftand away for Barba-
does, which, as I fuppofed, might be attained in fif-
teen days. So altering our courfe, we lailed North-west
and by West, in order to reach the Leeward iſlands;
but a ſecond ſtorm fucceeding, drove us to the West-
ward; fo that we were justly afraid of falling into the
hands of cruel favages, or the paws of devouring beaſt 3
of prey.
In this great diftrefs, one of our men, early in the
morning cried out, Land, land; which he had no foon-
er cried out, but our fhip ftruck upon a fand, and in a
moment the fea broke over her in fuch a manner, that
we expected we fhould all have perished immediately.
We knew nothing where we were, or upon what land
we were driven: whether an iſland or the main, inha-
bited or not inhabited, and we could not fo much as
hope that the ſhip would hold out many minutes, with-.
out breaking in pieces, except the wind by a miracle
ſhould turn about immediately. While we flood look-
ing at another, expecting death every moment the
mate lays hold of the boat, and with the help of the
reft got her flung over the fhip's fide, and getting all
into her, being eleven of us, committed ourſelves to
God's mercy, and the wild fea. And now we faw that
this laft effort would not be a fufficient protection from
death; fo high did the fea rife, that it was impoffible
the boat fhould live. As to making fail, we had none;
neither if we had, could we make uſe of any. So that
(( 23
23 )
when we had rowed, or rather were driven about a
league and a halt, a raging wave, like a lofty mountain,
came rolling altern of us, and took us with fuch fury,
that at once it over-fet the boat. Thus being-fwallow-
ed up in a mo'nent, we had hardly time to call upon
the tremendous name of God; much lefs to implore,
in dying ejaculations, his infinite mercy to receive our
departing fouls,
Men are generally counted infenfible, when ftrug-
gling in the pains of death; but while I was over-
whelmed with water, I had the moit dreadful appre-
henfions imaginable. For the joys of heaven, and the
torments of hell, feemed to preſent themſelves before
me in theſe dying agonies, and even fmall ſpace of
time, as it were, between life and death. I was go-
ing, I thought, I knew not whither, in a difinal gulf
unknown and as yet unperceived, never to behold my
friends, nor the light of this world any more! Could
I ever have thought of annihilation, or a total diffolu-
tion of foul as well as body, the gloomy thoughts of hav-
ing no further being, no knowledge of what we hop-
ed for, but an eternal quietus, without life or fenfe;
even that, I fay, would have been enough to ftrike me
with horror and confufion! I ftrove however to the laſt
extremity, while all my companions were overpowered
and entombed in the deep; and it was with great diffi-
culty I kept my breath till the wave ſpent itſelf, and
retiring back, left me on the fhore half dead with the
water I had taken in. As foon as I got on my feet. I
ran as fast as I could, left another wave fhould purfue
me, and carry me back again. But for all the hafte I
made, I could not avoid it; for the fea came after me
В 4
( 24 )
like a high mountain, or furious enemy; fo that my
buſineſs was to hold my breath, and by raiſing myſelf
on the water, preferve it by fwimming. The next
dreadful wave buried me at once twenty or thirty feet
deep, but at the fame time carried me with a mighty
force and fwiftnefs towards the fhore; when raifing my-
felf, I held out as well as poffible, till at length the
water having ſpent itſelf, began to return, at which I
ftruck forward, and feeling ground with my feet, I
took to my heels again. Thus being ferved twice
inore, I was at laft dashed against a piece of a rock, in
fuch a manner as left me fenfelefs; but recovering a
little before the return of the wave, which, no doubt,
would then have overwhelmed me, I held fait by the
rock till thofe fucceeding waves abated; and then
fetching another run was overtaken by a ſmall wave,
which was foon conquered. But before any more could
overtake me, I reached the main land, where clamber-
ing up the clifts of the fhore, tired and almoſt ſpent, I
fat down on the grafs, free from the dangers of the
foaming ocean.
No tongue can exprefs the ecftafies and tranfports
that my foul felt at this happy deliverance. It was
like a reprieve to a dying malefactor, with the halter
about his neck, and ready to be turned off. I was
wrapt up in contemplation, and often lifted up my
hands, with the profoundeſt humility, to the divine
powers, for faving my life, when the rest of my com-
panions were all drowned. And now I began to caft
my eyes around, to behold what place I was in, and
what I had next to do. I could fee no houſe, nor
people: I was wet, yet had no cloaths to fhift me:
( 25 )
hungry and thirsty, yet nothing to eat or drink; no
weapon to deſtroy any creature for my fuftenance,
nor defend myſelf againſt devouring beafts; in fhort,
I had nothing but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a box
half filled with tobacco. The dark fome night co-
ming upon me, increafed my fears of being devoured
by wild creatures; my mind was plunged in deſpair,
and, having no profpect, as I thought, of life before
me, I prepared for another kind of death than what
I had lately eſcaped. I walked about a furlong to ſee
if I could find any fresh water, which I did to my great
joy, and taking a quid of tobacco to prevent hunger,
I got up into a thick bushy tree, and fetting myíelf
fo that I could not fall, a deep fleep overtook me,
and for that night buried my forrows in a quiet re-
poſe.
It was broad day the next morning before I awak-
ed; when I not only perceived the tempeft was
ceaſed, but faw the fhip driven almoſt as far as the
rock before mentioned, which the waves had daſhed
me against, and which was about a mile from the
place where I was. When I came down from my
apartment in the tree, I perceived the fhip's boat two
miles diftant on my right hand, lying on fhore, as
the waves had caft her. I thought to have got to her,
but there being an inlet of water of about half a mile's
breadth between it and me, I returned again towards
the ſhip, as hoping to find fomething for my more
immediate fubfiftence. About noon, when the fea
was calm, that I could come within a quarter of a mile
of her, it was to my grief I perceived that if we had
kept on board, all our lives had been faved. Thefe
( 26 )
thoughts, and my folitude, drew tears from my eyes,
though all in vain. So refolving to get to the fhip,
I ftript and leaped into the water; when fwimming
round her, I was afraid I ſhould not get any thing to lay
hold of; but it was my good fortune to efpy a fuall
piece of rope hang down by the forechains fo low,
that, by the help of it, thongh with great difficuity, I
got into the fore-castle of the fhip. Here I found that
the fhip was bulged, and had a great deal of water
in her hold; her ftern was lifted up against a bank, and
her head almoſt to the water. All her quarter, and what
was there, were free and dry. The provifions I found
in good order, with which I crammed my pockets; and,
lofing no time, and while I was doing other things; I
alfo found fome rum, of which I took a hearty dram;
and now I wanted for nothing except a boat, which
indeed was all, to carry away what was needful for
me.
Neceffity occafions quicknefs of thought. We had
feveral fpare yards, a fpare top-mail or two, and two
or three large fpars of wood. With thefe I fell to
work, and flung as many of them over board as I could
manage, tying every one of them with a rope that they
might not drive away. This done, I went down the
fhip's fide, and tied four of them faft together at both
ends in form of a raft, and laying two or three fhort
pieces of plank upon them crosswife, I found it would
bear me, but not any confiderable weight. Upon which
I went to work again, cutting a fpare topmalt into three
lengths, adding them to my raft with a great deal of
labour and pains. I then confidered what I fhould load
it with, it being not able to bear a ponderous burthen.
( 27 )
And this I foon thought of, first laying upon it all the
planks and boards I could get; next I lowered down
three of the feamens chefts, after I had filled them with
bread, rice, three Dutch cheeſes, five pieces of dried
goats flesh, and fome European corn, what little the
rats had fpared; and for liquors, I found feveral
cafes of bottles belonging to our ſkipper, in which
were fome cordial waters, and four or five gallons
of rack, which I ftowed by themſelves. By this
time the tide beginning to flow, I perceived my coat,
waiſtcoat, and thirt fwim away, which I had left on
the fhore; as for my linen breeches and ftockings, I
fwam with them on to the fhip: But I foon found
cloaths enough, though I took no more than I wanted
for the prefent. My eyes were chiefly on tools to
work with; and after long fearch I found out the
carpenter's chest, which I got ſafe down on my raft.
I then looked for arms and ammunition, and in the
great cabin found two good fowling-pieces, two pi-
ftols, feveral powder-horns filled, a ſmall bag of ſhot,
and two old rufty fwords. I likewife found three
barrels of powder, two of which were good, but the
third had taken water; alfo two or three broken
oars, two faws, an ax, and a hammer. I then put
to fea, and in getting to fhore, had three encourage-
1. A fmooth calm fea. 2. The tide rifing
and ſetting into the fhore. 3. The little wind there
was blew towards land. After I had failed about a
mile, I found the raft to drive a little diſtance from
the place where I first landed; and then I perceived a
little opening of the land, with a strong current of
the tide running into it, upon which I kept in the
ments.
}
"
( 28 )
1
middle of the ftream. But great was my concern,
when on a fudden the forepart of my raft ran aground;
fo that had I not, with great difficulty, for near half
an hour, kept my back ſtraining againſt the chefts t
keep my effects in their places, all I had would have
gone into the fea. But after fome time, the rifing of
the water cauſed the raft to float again, and coming up
a little river, with land on both fides, I landed in a lit
tle cave, as near the mouth as poffible, the better to
diſcover a fail, if any fuch providentially paffed that
way.
Not far off, I efpied a hill of a ftupendous height,
furrounded with leffer hills about it; and thither I
was refolved to go and view the country, that I might
ſee what part was beſt to fix my habitation in. Aċ-
cordingly arming myfelf with a piftol, a fowling-piece,
powder and ball, I afcended the mountain. There I
perceived 1 was in an ifland, encompaffed by the fea;
no diftant lands to be feen, but fcattering rocks that
lay to the weft; that it feemed to be a barren place,
and, as I thought, inhabited only by wild beafts. Į
perceived abundance of fowls, but ignorant of what kind,
or whether good for nouriſhment. I fhot one of them
at my return, which occafioned a confufed fcreaming
among other birds; and I found it, by its colours and
beak, to be a kind of a hawk, but its flesh was perfect
carrion.
1
When I came to my raft, I brought my effects on
ſhore, which work ſpent that day entirely; and fear-
ing that fome cruel beats might devour me in the
night-time while I flept, I made a kind of hut or bar-
ricade with the chefts and boards I had brought on
·
( 29 )
fhore. That night I flept very comfortably; and the
next morning my thoughts were employed to make a
urther attempt on the fhip, and bring away what ne-
ceffaries I could find, before another ftorm ſhould
break her to pieces. Accordingly I got on board as
before, and prepared a fecond raft, far more nice than
the first; upon which I brought away the carpenter's
ftores, two or three bags full of nails, a great jack
fcrew, a dozen or two of hatchets, and a grindstone.
I alfo took away feveral things that belonged to the
gunner, particularly two or three iron crows, two bar-
rels of muſket-bullets, another fowling-piece, a fmall
quantity of powder, and a large bag full of ſmall fhot.
Befides thefe, I took all the men's cloaths I could find,
a fpare foretop fail, hammock, and fome bedding; and
thus compleating my fecond cargo, I made all the haſte
to fhore I could, fearing fome wild beaft might de-
ſtroy what I had there already. But I only found a
little wild cat fitting on one of the chefts, who not
feeming to fear me, or the gun that I prefented at her,
I threw her a piece of bifcuit, which the inftantly eat,
and departed.
When I had gotten theſe effects on fhore, I went to
work, in order to make me a little tent with the fail
and fome poles which I had cut for that purpoſe; and
having finiſhed it, what things might be damaged by
the weather I brought in, piling all the empty chefts
and casks in a circle, the better to fortify it against any
fudden attempt of man or beaft. After this, I blocked
up the doors with fome boards, and an empty cheft
turned the long way out I then charged my gun and
piftol; and laying my bed on the ground, flept as com-
( 30 )
fortably, till next morning, as though I had been in a
Chriſtian country.
Now, though I had enough to fubfift me a long time,
yet defpairing of a fudden deliverance, or that both an
munition and provifion might be fpent before fuch a
thing happened, I coveted as much as I could; and fo
long as the ſhip remained in that condition, I daily
brought away one neceflary or other; particularly the
rigging, fails, and cordage, fome twine, a barrel of wet
powder, fome fugar, a barrel of meal, three casks of
rum; and, what indeed was moſt welcome to me, a
whole hogthead of bread.
The next time I went, I cut the cables in pieces,
carried off a haulfer whole, with a great deal of iron
work, and made another raft with the mizen and fprit
fail yards; but this being fo unwieldy, by the too hea-
vy burthen I had upon it, and not being able ſo dex-
terouſly to guide it as the former, both my cargo and I
were overturned. For my part, all the damage I fuf-
tained was a wet skin; and at low water, after much
labour in diving, I got moſt of the cables, and fome
pieces of iron,
Thirteen days had I now been in the iſland, and
eleven times on board, bringing away all that was
poffible; and I believe, had the weather been calm,
I fhould have brought away the whole fhip piece by
piece. As I was going the twelfth time, the wind
began to rife; however, I ventured at low water, and
rummaging the cabin, in a locker I found feveral ra-
zors, feiffars, and fome dozens of knives and forks;
and in another 36 pounds in pieces of eight, filver and
gold. Ah! fimple vanity, faid 1, whom this world
( 31 )
fo much dotes on, where is now thy virtue, thy excel-
lency to me? You cannot procure me one thing needful,
nor remove me from this defolate ifland to a place of
pienty. One of theſe knives fo meanly effeemed, is to me
more preferrable than all this heap. E'en therefore re-
main where thou art to fink in the deep, as unregard-
ed even as a creature whofe life is not worth preferving.
Yet, after all this exclammation, I wrapt it up in a piece
of canvafs, and began to think of making another raft;
but I foon perceived the wind begin to arife, a freſh
gale blowing from the thore, and the fky overcalt
with clouds and darkneſs. So thinking a raft to be
in vain, I let myfelt into the water with what things
I had about me; and it was with much difficulty I got
afhore, and foon after it blew a fearful florm.
That night I flept very contentedly in my little tent,
furrounded with all my effects; but when I looked out
in the morning, no more fhip was to be feen. This
much furpriſed me for the prefent: yet when I confi-
dered I had loft no time, abated no pains, and had got
every thing uſeful out of her, I comforted myſelf in
in the beſt manner, and entirely fubmitted to the will
of Providence.
My next thoughts were, how I fhould defend and
fecure mytelf from favages and wild beatts, if any fuch
were in the island. At one time I thought of digging
a cave; at another, 1 was for erecting a tent; and, at
length I refolved to do both: The manner or form
of which, will not, I hope, be unpleafing to defcribe.
When I confidered the ground where I was; that it
was moorish, and had no freſh water near it; my re-
folutions were to fearch for a foil healthy and well wa-
( 32 )
孽
​:
tered, where I might not only be fheltered from the
fun's fcorching heat, but be more conveniently fituat-
ed, as well to be ſecured from wild men, and beaſts of
prey, as more eaſily to difcover any diftant fail, fhould
it ever fo happen.
And indeed it was not long before I had my defire.
I found a little plain near a rifing hill, the front to-
wards which being as fteep as an houfe-fide, nothing
could defcend on me from the top. On the fide of this
rock was a little hollow place, refembling the entrance
or door of a cave. Juft before this place, on the circle
of the green, I refolved my tent ſhould fland. This
plain did not much exceed 100 yards broad, and about
twice as long, like a delightful green before my door,
with a pleafing though irregular defcent every way to
the low grounds by the fea-fide, lying on the N. N.
W. fide of the hill, fo that it was fheltered from the
exceffive heat of the fun. After this I drew a femi-
circle, containing to yards in its femi-diameter, and 20
yards in the whole, driving down two rows of ſtrong
ſtakes not fix inches from each other. Then with the
pieces of cable which I had cut on board. I regularly
laid them in the circle between the piles up to their
tops, which were more than five foot out of the earth,
and after drove another row of piles looking within
fide against them, between two or three foot high,
which made me conclude it a little impregnable cafle
for men and beafts. And for my better fecurity, I
would have no door, but entered in and came out by
the help of a ladder which I alſo made.
Here was my fence and fortrefs into which I carri-
ed all my riches, ammunition, and ſtores. After which,
( 33 )
working on the rock, what with the dirt and tones I
dug out, I not only raiſed my ground two feet, but
made a little cellar to my manfion-houſe; and this coft
me many days labour and pains. One day in particu-
lar a shower of rain falling, thunder and lightning en-
fued, which put me in terror left my powder ſhould
take fire, and not only hinder my neceffary fubfiftence,
by killing me food, but even blow me up and my ha-
bitation. To prevent which, I fell to making boxes
and bags, in order to feparate it, having by me near
150 weight. And thus being eſtabliſhed as king of the
ifland, every day I went out with my gun to fee what
I could kill that was fit to eat. 1 foon perceived num-
bers of goats but very fhy. Yet having watched them
narrowly, and feeing I could better fhoot off the rocks
than when in the low grounds, I happened to ſhoot a
fhe-goat, fuckling a young kid; who not thinking its
dam flain, ſtood by her unconcerned; and when I took
the dead creature up, the young one followed me even
to the incloſure. I lifted the kid over the pales, and
would willingly have kept it alive; but finding it could
not be brought to eat, I was forced to flay it alfo for
my own fubfiftence.
Thus entered into as ftrange a fcene of life, as ever
any man was in, I had moſt melancholy apprehenfions
concerning my deplorable condition; and many times
the tears would plentifully run down my face, when I
confidered how I was debarred from all communicati-
on with humankind. Yet while thefe defponding cogi-
tations would feem to make me accufe Providence, o-
ther good thoughts would interpoſe and reprove me af-
ter this manner: Well, fuppofing you are defolate, is it
C
1
( 34 )
!
not better to be fo than totally perifh? Why were you
fingled out to be faved, and the reſt deſtroyed? Why
fhould you complain, when not only your life is pre-
ſerved, but the fhip driven even into your reach, in or✨
der to take what was neceffary out of her for your fub-
fiftence? But to proceed. It was, by the account E
kept, the 30th of September, when I first landed on this
iland. About twelve days after, fearing left I fhould
lofe my reckoning of time, nay even forget the Sab-
bath-days for want of pen, ink and paper, I carved, with
a knife upon a large poſt, in great letters, and ſet it up,
in the fimilitude of a crofs, on the fea-fhore where I
landed, I came on fore Sept. 30. 1659. Every day I cut
a notch with my knife on the fides of this fquare poſt,
and that on Sabbath was as long again as the rell;
and every first day of the month as long again as that
long one. In this manner I kept my calendar, weekly,
monthly, or yearly reckoning of time. But had I made
a more ſtrict fearch (as I did afterwards), I need not
have fet up this mark. For among the parcels belong-
ing to the gunner, carpenter, and captain's mate, I
found thofe very things I wanted; particularly pens,
ink, and paper; alfo 1 found two or three compaffes,
fome mathematical inftruments, dials, perſpective glaffes,
books of navigation, three English bibles, and feveral
other good books, which I carefully put up. Here I
cannot but call to mind our having a dog and two cats
on board, whom I made inhabitants with me in my caftle.
Though one might think I had all the neceffaries that
were defirable, yet ftill I found feveral things wanting.
My ink was daily wafting: I wanted needles, pins, and
thread, to mend or keep my cloaths together: and
( 35 )
particularly a ſpade, pickaxe, or fhovel, to remove
the earth It was a year before I finished my little
bulwark and having fome intervals of relaxation, after
my daily wandering abroad for provifion, I drew up
this plan, alternately, as creditor and debtor, to remind
me of the miferies and bleffings of my life, under fo
many various circumftances.
EVIL.
I am cast upon a defolate
illand, having no hopes, no
profpect of a welcome deli-
verance.
Thus miferable am I fin-
gled out from the enjoyment
or company of all
kind.
GOOD.
But yet I am preſerved,
while my companions are pe-
rifhed in the raging ocean.
Yet fet apart to be spared
from death. And he, who
man-has fo preferved me, can de-
liver me from this condition.
Like an hermit (rather
Should I Say a lovely an-
chorite) am I forced from
human converſation.
My cloaths, after some
time, will be worn out; and
then I shall have none to
cover me.
When my ammunition is
wasted, then shall I remain
without any defence against
wild men and beasts.
However, I have food to
eat, and even a happy pro-
Ipect of ſubſiſtence u hilft
life endures.
At prefent Ienjoy what is
abfolutely needful; and the
climate is fo hot, that had
I never fo many, I ſhould
hardly wear them.
Yet if it does, I ſee no
danger of any to hurt me, as
in Africa: And what if I
had been caft away upon
that coaft?
I have no creature, no
Is there not God to con-
C 2
( 36 )
EVIL.
GOOD.
Soul to Speak to; none to beg verfe to, and is not be able
affistance from. Some com- to relieve thee? Already
fort would it be to refound has he afforded thee ſuſter
my woes where I am un-nance, and put it in thy
derſtood; and beg aſſiſtance, power to provide for thyself
where I might hope for till he fends thee a deliver
relief.
ance.
And now eafing my mind a littile by thefe reflexi-
ons. I began to render my life as eafy as poffible. I
must here add, to the defcription I have given of my
habitation, that having raiſed a turf-wall againſt the
outſide of it, I thatched it fo clofe, as might keep it
from the inclemency of the weather; I alfo improved
it within, enlarged my cave, and made a paffage and door
in the rock, which came out beyond the pale of my
fortification. I next proceeded to make a chair and
table, and fo began to ftudy fuch mechanical arts as
feemed to me practicable. When I wanted a plank or
board, I hewed down a tree with my hatchet, making
it as thin with my axe as poffible, and then ſmooth e-
nough with an adze to anſwer my defigns: Yet though
I could not make more this way than one board out of
a tree, in length of time, I got boards enough to fhel-
ter all my ftores, every thing being regularly placed,
and my guns fecurely hanging againſt the ſide of the
rock. This made it a very pleaſant fight to me, be-
ing the reſult of vaft labour and diligence; which leav-
ing for a while, and me to the enjoyment of, I fhall
give the reader an account of my journal, from the day
of my landing, till the fixing and fettling of my habita-
tion, as heretofore fhewn.
( 37 )
JOURNAL.
SEeptember 30. 1659. I unhappy Robinson Crusoe hav-
ing fuffered fhipwreck, was driven on this defolate i-
fland, which I named the Defolate island of Defpair, the
reſt being ſwallowed up in the tempeftuous ocean. The
next day I ſpent in confideration of my unhappy cir-
cumſtances, having no profpect, but of death, either to
be ftarved with hunger, or devoured by beafts or mer-
citefs favages.
Octob. 1. That morning with great comfort I beheld
the ſhip drove ashore. Some hopes I had, that when
the ſtorm was abated, I might be able to get fome food
and neceffaries out of her; which I conceived were
not damaged, becauſe the ſhip did ſtand upright. At this
time I lamented the lofs of my companions, and our
misfortune in leaving the veffel. When I perceived the
hip as it were lie dry, I waded through the fands, then
fwam aboard, the weather being very rainy, and with
fcarcely any wind.
To the 14th of this month, my time was employed
in making voyages, every tide getting what I could
out of the ſhip. The weather very wet and uncer-
tain.
Octob. 20. My raft, and all the goods thereon were
overfet; yet I recovered moſt again at low water.
Octob. 25. It blew hard, and rained night and day,
when the fhip went in pieces, fo that nothing was feen
C 3
( 38 )
of her but the wreck at low water. This day I fecur-
ed my goods from the inclemency of the weather.
Octob. 26 I wandered to fee where I could find a
place convenient for my abode. 1 fixed upon a rock
in the evening, marked out a half-moon, intending to
erect a wall, fortified with piles, lined within with pieces
of cables, and covered with turf.
Nov. 1. 1 erected my tent under a rock; and took
up my lodging very contentedly in a hammock that
night.
Nov. 2. This day I fenced myfelf in with timber,
chefts, and boards.
Nov. 2. I shot two wild fowls, refembling ducks,
which were good to eat; and in the afternoon made me
a table.
Nov. 4. I began to live regularly. In the morning
I allowed myſelf two or three hours to walk out with
my gun; I then worked till near eleven o'clock; and
afterwards refreſhed myſelf with what I had to eat,
From twelve to two, I would lie down to fleep. Ex-
treme fultry weather. In the evening go to work a-
gain.
Nov. 5. Went out with my gun and dog, fhot a wild
cat with a ſoft ſkin, but her fleſh was good for nothing.
The skins of thofe I killed I preferved. In my return,
I perceived many wild birds, and was terrified by fome
feals, which made off to ſea.
Nov. 6. Completed my table.
Nov. 7. Fair weather. I worked till the 12th, but
omitted the 11th, which, according to my calculation,
I fuppofed to be Sunday.
Nov. 13. Rain in abundance, which however much
not
( 39 )
cooled the earth, when thunder and lightning caufed
in me a terrible furprife. The weather clearing, I
fecured my powder in ſeparate parcels.
Nov. 14. to 16. I made little boxes for my powder,
lodging them in feveral places. I alfo fhot a large fowl,
which proved excellent meat.
Nov. 17. I began to dig in the rock, yet was obli-
ged to defift for want of a pickaxe, fhovel, and wheel-
barrow. Iron crows I cauſed to ſupply the place of the
firft; but with all my art I could not make a wheel-
barrow.
Nov. 18. It was my fortune to find a tree, refem-
bling what the Brafilians call an iron tree. I had like
to have ſpoiled my axe with cutting it, being very hard
and exceeding heavy: yet, with much labour and in-
duſtry, I made a fort of a ſpade out of it.
Nov. 2
23. Theſe tools being made, I daily carried
on my business; eighteen days I allowed for enlarging
my cave, that it might ferve me, not only for a ware-
houfe, but kitchen, parlour, and cellar. I commonly
lay in the tent, unless the weather was rainy that I
could not lie dry. So wet would it be at certain feafons,
that I was obliged to cover all within the pale, with
long poles in the form of rafters leaning against the
rock, and load them with flags, and large leaves of trees
reſembling a thatch.
Dec. 10. No fooner did I think my habitation finish-
ed, but fuddenly a great deal of the top broke in, fo
that it was a mercy I was not buried in the ruins. This
occafioned a great deal of pains and trouble to me, be.
fore I could make it firm and durable.
Dec. 17. I nailed up fome fhelves, and drove nails and
C 4
( 40 )
ftaples in the wall and poſts to hang things out of the
way.
Dec. 20. Every thing I got into its place, then made
a fort of a dreffer, and another table.
Dec. 24, 25. Rain in abundance.
Dec. 26. Very fair weather.
Dec. 27. I chanced to light on fome goats, fhot one,
wounded another, I led it home in a firing, bound up
his leg, and cured it in a little time; at length it be-
came fo tame and familiar, as to feed before the door,
and follow me where I pleafed. This put me in mind
to bring up tame creatures, in order to fupply me with
food after my ammunition was ſpent.
Dec. 28, 29, 30. The weather being exceffive hot,
with little air, obliged me for the moſt part to keep
within doors.
Jan. 1. Still fultry. However, obliged by neceffity,
I went out with my gun, and found a great store of
goats in the valleys; they were exceedingly fhy, nor
could any dog hunt them down.
Jan. 3. to 14 My employment this time was to fi-
nish the wall before defcribed, and fearch the ifland. I
diſcovered a kind of pigeons like our houſe-pigeons, in
a neft among the rocks. I brought them home, nurf-
ed them till they could fly, and then they left me. Af
ter this I fhot fome, which proved excellent food. Some
time I spent vainly in contriving to make a cask; I may
well fay it was in vain, becauſe I could neither join the
flaves, or fix the heads, to make it tight; fo leaving
that, I took fome goats tallow I had by me, and a little.
okum for the wick, and provided myſelf with a lamp,
which ferved me inftead of candles.
( 4
)
41
But now a very ſtrange event happened. For be
ing in the height of my fearch, what fhould come into
my hand, but a bag, which was uſed to hold corn (as
I fuppofed for the fowls): fo immediately, refolving
to put gun-powder in it, I ſhook all the husks and dirt
upon one fide of the rock, little expecting what the
conſequence would be. The rain had fallen plentiful-
ly a few day before; and about a month after, to my
great amazement, fomething began to look out very
green and flouriſhing: and when I came to view it more
nearly, every day as it grew, 1 found about ten or
twelve ears of green barley appeared in the fame ſhape
and make as that in England.
I can scarce exprefs the agitations of my mind at this
fight. Hitherto I had looked upon the actions of this
life, no otherwife than only as the events of blind chance
and fortune. But now, the appearance of this barley,
flourishing in a barren foil, and my ignorance in not
conceiving how it fhould come there, made me conclude
that miracles were not yet ceafed: nay, I even thought
that God had appointed it to grow there without any
feed, purely for my fuftenance in this miferable and
defolate ifland. And indeed fuch great effect this had
upon me, that it often made me melt into tears, through
a'grateful ſenſe of God's mercies; and the greater ſtill
was my thankfulness, when I perceived about this little
field of barley fome rice ftalks, alfo wonderfully flouriſh-
ing.
While thus pleaſed in mind, I concluded there muſt
be more corn in the ifland; and therefore made a di-
ligent fearch narrowly among the rocks; but not be
ing able to find any, on a fudden it came into my mind,
( 42 )
how I had fhaken the hufks of corn out of the bag, and
then my admiration ceaſed, with my gratitude to the
divine being, as thinking it was but natural, and not to
be conceived a miracle; though even the manner of its
prefervation might have made me own it as a wonderful
event of God's kind providence
It was about the latter end of June when the ears
of this corn ripened, which I laid up very carefully, tọ-
gether with 20 or 30 ftalks of rice, expecting one day
I ſhould reap the fruit of my labour; yet four years
were expired before I could allow myfelf to eat any
barley-bread, and much longer time before I had any
rice. After this, with indefatigable pains and induftry
for three or four months, at laft I finished my wall on
the 14th of April, having no way to go into it, but by
a ladder againſt the wall.
April. 16. I finished my ladder, and afcended it; af-
terwards pulled it up, then let it down on the other ſide,
and deſcended into my new habitation, where I had ſpace
enough, and fo fortified that nothing could attack me,
without fcaling the walls.
But what does all human pains and induſtry avail, if
the bleffing of God do not crown our labour? Or, wha
can ſtand before the Almighty, when he ftretcheth
forth his arm? For one time, as I was at the entrance
of my cave, there happened fuch a dreadful earthquake,
that not only the roof of the cave came tumbling about
my cars, but the poſts feemed to crack terribly at the
fame time. This put me in great amazement; and
running to my ladder, and getting over the wall, I then
plainly knew it was an earthquake, the place I ftood
on fuftaining three terrible fhocks in lefs than three
( 43 )
minutes. But judge of my terror when I faw the top
of a great rock roll into the fea; I then expected the
iland would be fwallowed up every moment: And what
made the ſcene ftill more dreadful, was to fee the ſea
thrown into the most violent agitations and diforders
by this tremenduous accident.
For my part, I ftood like a criminal at the place of
execution, ready to expire. At the moving of the
earth. I was, as it were, fea-fick; and very much a
fraid left the rock, under which was my fence and ha-
bitation, ſhould overwhelm me and it in a lafting tomb.
When the third dreadful fhock had fpent itself, my
fpirits began to revive; yet still I would not venture
to aſcend the ladder, but continued fitting, not know,
ing what I fhould do. So little grace had I then, as
only to fay, Lord have mercy upon me! and no fooner
was the earthquake over, but that pathetic prayer left
me.
It was not long after, when a horrible tempeſt aroſe,
at the fame time attended with a harricane of wind.
The fea feemed mountains high and the waves rolled
fo impetuously, that nothing could be perceived but
froth and foam. Three hours did this ftorm continue,
and in fo violent a manner, as to tear the very trees up
by the roots, which was fucceeded by abundance of
rain. When the tempeft was over, I went to my tent;
but the rain coming on in a furious manner, I was ob-
liged to take thelter in the cave, where I was forced
to cut a channel through my fortification to let the was
ter out. It continued raining all that night, and tome
time the next day. Thefe accidents made me refolve,
as foon as the weather cleared up, to build me a little
( 44 )
1.
hut in fome open place, walled round to defend me
from wild creatures and favages, not doubting but, at
the next earthquake, the mountain would fall upon my
habitation and me, and fwallow up all in its bowels.
April 16.-20. Theſe days I ſpent in contriving
how and in what manner I fhould fix my place of abode.
All this while I was under the moft dreadful apprehen-
frons. When I looked round my habitation, every
thing I found in its proper place. I had ſeveral reſo-
lutions whether I fhould move or not; but at length
I refolved to stay where I was, till I found out a con-
venient place where I might pitch my tent.
April 22. When I began to put my refolutions in
practice, I was topt for want of tools and inftruments
to work with. Most of my axes and hatchets were
ufelefs, occafioned by cutting the hard timber that grew
on the island. It took me up a full week to make my
grindstone of ufe to me; and at laſt I found out a way
to turn it about with my foot, by the help of a wheel
and a ſtring.
April 28. 29. Thefe days were ſpent in grinding my
tools.
April 30. My bread falling fhort, I allowed myſelf
but one bifcuit a-day.
May 1. As I walked along the fea-fhore, I found a
barrel of gun-powder, and feveral pieces of the wreck,
which the fea had flung up. Having fecured thoſe, I
made to the fhip, whofe ftern was torn off, and waſh-
ed a great diſtance afhore; but the reft lay in the fands.
This I fuppofed was occafioned by the earthquake. I
now refolved to keep my old place of abode; and alſo
( 45 )
(45
to go to the ſhip that day, but then found it imponis
ble.
May 3. This day I went on board, and with my faw
.fawed off one of the beams, which kept her quarter-
deck. I then cleared the fand till flood.
May 4. I caught fome fish, but they were not whole-
fome. The fame day I alfo catched a young dolphin.
May 5. This day I alfo repaired to the wreck, and
fawed another piece of timber: and when the flood
came, I made a float of three great planks, which was
driven afhore by the tide.
t
May 6. 7. 8. 9. Thefe days I brought off the iron
bolts, opened the deck with the iron crow, and carried
two planks to land, having made a way into the very
middle of the wreck.
H
May. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. All this time I ſpent in
bringing off great quantities of iron and timber.
May 15. Took with me two hatchets on purpoſe to
cut off fome lead of the roll, but all in vain, for it lay
too low under water.
May 16. I omitted going to the wreck this day; for
employing myſelf in looking out pigeons, I outſtaid
my time.
May 17. I perceived feveral pieces of the wreck
blown afhore, which I found belonged to the head of
the ſhip.
May 24. To this day I worked on the wreck, and
with great difficulty loofened fome things fo much with
the crow, that at the first blowing tide feveral cafks
floated out, and many of the feamens chefts; yet that
day nothing came to land but pieces of timber, and a
hogshead which had fome Brafil pork in it. I cou-
( 46 )
tinued working to the 15th of June, (except neceffary
times for food and reſt); and had I known how to have
built a boat, I had timber and planks enough: I had
alfo near 100 weight of fheet-lead.
June 16. As I was wandering towards the fea-fide,
I found a large tortoife or turtle, being the first I had
ſeen on the iſland, though, as I afterwards found there
were many on the other fide of it.
June 17. This day I ſpent in cooking it, found in
her threefcore eggs, and her fleſh the most favoury and
pleaſant I ever tafted in my life.
June 18. I ftaid within this day, there being a con-
tinual rain; and it was fomething more chilly and cold
than ufual.
June 19. Exceeding bad, taken with a trembling
and fhivering.
June 20. Awake all night, my head racked with
pain, and feverish.
June 21. Sick unto death, and terrified with the dif-
mal apprehenfions of my condition: Prayed to God
more frequently, but very confufedly.
June 22. Something better, but ftill uneafy in my
mind.
June 23. Again relapfed as before.
June 24. Mended a fecond time
June 25. A violent ague for ſeven hours, cold and
hot fits, fucceeded with faint ſweats.
June 26. Better, but very weak; yet I fcrambled
out, fhot a fhe-goat, brought it home and broiled fome
of it: I would willingly have ſtewed it, and made ſome
broth, but had no pot.
June 27. All this day I was afflicted with an ague;
( 47 )
thirsty, yet could not
God in theſe words:
have mercy upon me;
help myself to water: Prayed to
Lord, in pity look upon me; Lord
have mercy upon me! After this
.I fell aſleep, which I found had much refreſhed me
when I waked. I fell aſleep a fecond time, and fell into
this ftrange and terrible fort of dream.
Methought I was fitting on the ſame fpot of ground,
at the outſide of the wall where I fat when the form
blew after the earthquake; and that I faw a man de-
fcending from a great black cloud, and light upon the
ground. He was all over as bright as a flaſh of fire
that a little before furrounded him; his countenance
inconceiveably terrible; the earth as it were trembled
when he ſtept upon the ground, and flaſhes of fire feem
ed to fill all the air. No fooner I thought him landed
upon the earth, but with a long fpear or other weapon
he made towards me: but firſt afcending a rifing ground,
his voice added to my amazement, when I thought I
heard him pronounce theſe dreadful words, Unhappy
wretch! feeing all these things have not brought thee to
repentance, thou shalt immediately die. In pronouncing
this dreadful fentence, I thought he went to kill me with
the fpear that was in his hand.
Any body may think it impoffible for me to exprefs
the horrors of my mind at this vifion; and even when
I awaked, this very dream made a deep impreflion up-
on my mind. The little divine knowledge I had, I re-
ceived from my father's inftructions, and that was worn
out by an uninterrupted ſeries of feafaring impiety for
eight years ſpace. Except what fickness forced from
I do not remember I had one thought of lifting
up my heart towards God; but rather had a certain
me,
( 48 )
ſtupidity of foul, not having the leaft fenfe or fear of
the omnipotent Being when in diftrefs, nor of gratitude
to him for his deliverances. Nay, when I was on the
deſperate expedition on the defart Afritan fhore, I can-
not remember I had one thought of what would be.
come of me, or to beg his confolation and affiftance in
my fufferings and diftrefs. When the Portugal captain
took me up, and honourably ufed me; nay, farther;
when I was even delivered from drowning by efcaping
to this ifland, I never looked upon it as a judgment,
but only I was an unfortunate dog, and that's all. In-
deed fome fecret tranſports of foul, I had, which was
not through grace, but only a common flight of joy,
that I was yet alive, when my companions were all
drowned and no other joy could I conceive but what
is common with the failors over a bowl of punch, after
they have eſcaped the greateſt dangers.
:
The likelihood of wanting for neither food nor con-
veniences, might have called upon me for a thankful
acknowledgment to Providence. Indeed the growth
of my corn touched me with fome fenfe; but that foon
wore off again. The terrible earthquake pointed to me
as it were the finger of God, but my dreadful amaze-
ment continued no longer than its duration. But now
when my ſpirits began to fink under the burthen of a
ftrong distemper, and I could leifurely view the miſe-
ries of death preſent themſelves before my eyes; then
my awakened confcience began to reproach me with
my past life, in which I had fo wickedly provoked the
juſtice of God to pour down his vengeance upon me.
Such reflexions as thefe oppreffed me even in the
violence of my diftemper. Some prayers I uttered
( 49 )
which only proceeded from my fear of death. But when
I confidered my father's advice and prophefy, I could
not forbear weeping: for he told me, That if I did
perfiſt in
my folly, I ſhould not only be deprived of God's
bleſſing, but have time enough to reflect upon my defpifing
his inſtructions; and this in a wretched time, when none
could help me. And now concluding it to be fulfilled,
having no foul in the island to adminifter any comfort
to me, I prayed earnestly to the Lord, that he would
help me in this my great calamity. And this, I think,
was the first time I prayed in fincerity for many years.
But now I must return to my journal.
June 28. Something refrefhed with fleep, and the fit
quite off, I got up. My dream ftill occafioned in me a
great confternation; and fearing that the ague might
return the fucceeding day, I concluded it time to get
fomething to comfort me. I filled a cafe-bottle with
water, and fet it within the reach of my bed; and to
make it more nouriſhing, and lefs chilly, I put fome
rum into it. The next thing I did was to boil me a
piece of goat fleſh, of which I eat but little. I was ve-
ry weak; however, walked about, dreading the return
of my distemper; and at night I fupped on three of the
turtle's eggs, which I roafted and eat, begging God's
bleffing therewith.
After I had eaten, I attempted to walk again out of
doors with my gun; but was fo weak, that I fat down,
and looked at the fea, which was fmooth and calin.
While I continued here, theſe thoughts came into my
mind.
In what manner is the production of the earth and
ſea, which I have ſeen ſo much of? From whence came
D
( 50 )
myfelf, and all other creatures living, and of what are
we made?
Our beings were affuredly created by fome almighty
invifible power, who framed the earth, the fea, and air,
and all therein But what is that power?
Certainly it must follow, that God has created it all.
Yet, faid 1, if God has made all this he must be the ru-
ler of them all, and what is relating thereto; for cer-
tainly the power that makes. muſt indiſputably have a
power to guide and direct them. And if this be fo (as
certainly it muft) nothing can happen without his know-
ledge or appointment. Then furely if nothing happens
without God's appointment, certainly God has appoint-
ed theſe my fufferings to befal me. And here I fixed
firm belief, that it was his will that it fhould be fo;
and then proceeded to enquire, why fhould God deal
with me in this manner? Or what had I done thus to
deferve his indignation?
my
Here confcience flew in my face, reprehending me
as a blafphemer; crying with a loud and piercing voice,
Unworthy wretch! dare you ask what you have done?
Look upon your past life, and see what you have left un-
done. Afk thyfelf, why thou wert not long ago in the
merciless hands of death? Why not drowned in Tar-
mouth roads, or killed in the fight when the fhip was
taken by the Sallee man of war? Why not entombed
in the bowels of wild beafts on the African coak, or
drowned here when all thy companions fuffered fbip-
wreck in the ocean?
a pen-
Struck dumb with thoſe reflections, I roſe up in a
five manner, being fo thoughtful that I could not go to
Aleep; and fearing the dreadful return of my diftemper,
>
( 51 )
it caúfed me to remember that the Brafilians ufe to-
bacco for almoſt all diſeaſes. I then went to my cheſt,
in order to find fome, where Heaven no doubt direct-
ed me to find a cure for both foul and body; for there
1 found one of the bibles, which till this time. I had
neither leifure nor inclination to look into; I took
both the tobacco and that out of the cheft, and laid
them on the table. Several experiments did I try with
the tobacco: First, I took a piece of leaf, and chewed
it; but it being very green and ftrong, almoft ftupified
me. Next I ſteeped it in fome rum an hour or two,
refolving when I went to bed to take a doſe of it; and
in the third place I burned fome over a pan of fire,
holding my nofe over it fo long as I could endure it
without fuffocation.
In the intervals of this operation, though my head
was giddy and diſturbed at the tobacco, I took up the
Bible to read. No fooner did I open it, but there ap-
peared to me thefe words, Call on me in the day of trou-
ble, and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.
At first this fentence made a very deep impreffion
on my heart; but it ſoon wore off again, when I confi-
dered the word deliver was foreign to me. And as the
children of Ifrael faid, when they were promiſed fleſh
to eat, Can God spread a table in the wilderness? in
like manner I began to fay, Can Gcd himſelf deliver
me from this defolate ifland? However, the words
would ftill return to my mind, and afterwards made a
greater impreſſion upon me. As it now was very late,
and the tobacco had dozed my head, I was inclined to
fleep; but before I would lie down, I fell on my kates,
and implored the promife that God had made to me in
D 2
( 53 )
the holy fcriptures, that if I called upon him in the
day of trouble, he would deliver me. With much diffi-
culty I after drank the rum, wherein I had ſteeped
the tobacco; which flying in my head, threw me into
fuch a profound fleep, that it was three o'clock the
next day before I awaked; or rather, I believe I flept
two days, having certainly loft a day in my account,
and I could never tell any other way. When I got up,
my fpirits were lively and chearful; my ftomach much
better, being very hungry; and in fhort, no fit retur-
ned the next day, which was the 29th, but I found my
felf much altered for the better.
The 30th I went abroad with my gun, but not far,
and killed a fea-fowl or two, reſembling a brand-gooſe,
which however I cared not to eat when I brought
them home, but dined upon two more of the turtle's
eggs. In the evening I renewed my medicine, except-
ing that I did not take fo large a quantity, neither did
I chew the leaf, or hold my head over be fmoke:
But next day, which was the 1st of July, having a lit-
tle fpice of the cold fit, I again took my medicine as I
did the first time.
July 3 The fit quite left me, but very weak. In
this condition I often thought of theſe words, I will
deliver thee; and while at fometimes I would think of
the impoffibility of it, other thoughts would reprehend
me, for difregarding the deliverances I had received,
even from the moft forlorn and diftreffed condition.
I aſked myſelf, what regard have I had to God for his
abundant mercies? Have I done my part? He has de-
livered me, but I have not glorified him;----- as if I had
faid, I had not owned and been thankful for theſe de-
( 53 )
liverances, and how could I expect greater? So much
did this fenfibly touch my heart, that, I gave God
thanks for my recovery from fickneſs in the moſt hum-
ble proftration.
July 4. This morning I began ſeriouſly to ponder
on what is written in the New Telament, refolving to
read a chapter every morning and night as long as my
thoughts could engage me. As foon as 1 fer about this
work ſeriouſly, I found my heart deeply affected with
the impiety of my palt life; theſe words that I thought
were ſpoken to me in my dream revived, All theſe
things have not brought thee to repentance. After this,
I begged of God to aflift me with his Holy Spirit in
returning to my duty. One day in peruſing the ſcrip-
tures, I came to theſe words, He is exaited a Prince
and a Saviour, to give repentance, and to give remiffi-
on: Immediately I laid down the book, and, with up-
lifted hands to heaven, loudly cried. O blessed Jejus,
thou fon of David, Jefus thou exalted Prince and Sa-
viour, give me repentance! And now indeed I prayed
with a true fente of my condition, and a more certain
hope founded on the word of God. Now I had a dif-
ferent fenfe of thefe words, Cali on me, and I will de-
liver thee, that is, from the dreadful load of guilt,which
oppreffed my finful foul, and not from a folitary life,
which might rather be called a bleſſing (ſeeing I nei-
ther wanted food nor raiment) when compared with
living among the human race, furrounded with fo
much oppreffion, mifery and affliction: In a word, I
came to this conclufion, that a deliverance from fin was
a much greater bleffing than a deliverance from afflic-
1
tion. But again I proceed to my journal.
1
D 3
( 54 )
To the 24th of July, I walked about with my gun,
little and little at a time, having been reduced to the
greateſt extremity of weakneſs. The applications and
experiments I uſed were perfectly new; neither could
1 recommend them to any one's practice. For though
it carried off the fit, it very much weakened me; and
I had frequently convulfions in my nerves and limbs,
for fome time. From hence I learned, that going a-
broad in rainy weather, eſpecially when it was atten-
ded with ſtorms and hurricanes of wind, was moſt per-
nicious to health. I had now been above ten months
in the iſland; and as I never had ſeen any of the hu-
man kind, I therefore accounted myſelf as fole mo-
narch; and as I grew better, having fecured my habi-
tation to my mind, I refolved to make a tour round
my kingdom, in order to make new diſcoveries.
The 15th of July I began my journey. I firſt went
to the creek, where I had brought my rafts on fhore;
and travelling farther, found the tide went no higher
than two miles up, where there was a little brook of
running water, on the bank of which were many plea-
fant Savannas or meadows, plain, fmooth, and covered
with grafs. On the rifing parts, where I fuppoſed the
water did not reach, I perceived a great deal of tobac-
co growing to a very ſtrong ſtalk. Several other plants,
I likewife found, the virtues of which I did not un-
derland. I fearched a long time for the Caffava root,
which I knew the Indians in that climate made their
bread of; but all in vain. There were feveral plants
of aloes, though at that time I knew not what they
were: Likewife I faw feveral fugar-canes, but imper-
fect for want of cultivation. With theſe few diſcove-
( 55 )
ries I came back that night, and flept contentedly in
my little caſtle.
The next day, being the 16th, going the fame way,
but farther than the day before, I found the country
inore adorned with woods and trees. Here I percei-
ved different fruits in great abundance. Melons in
plenty lay on the ground, and cluſters of grapes, ripe
and very rich, ſpread over the trees. You may imagine
I was glad of this diſcovery, yet eat very fparingly,
left I fhould throw myfelf into a flux or fever. The
grapes 1 found of excellent ufe; for when I had dried
them in the fun, which. preferved them as dried raifins.
are kept, they proved very whole fome and nouriſh-
ing, and ferved me in thofe feaſons when no grapes
were to be had.
The night drawing on apace, I afcended up a tree,
and flept very comfortably, though it was the first time
I had lain out of my habitation. And when the morn-
ing came, I proceeded with great pleaſure on my way,
travelling about four miles, as I imagined by the length
of the valley, directing my courſe northward, there be-
ing a ridge of hills on the fouth and north fide of me.
At the end of this valley I came to an opening where
the country ſeemed to defcend to the weft: There E
found a little ſpring of fresh water, proceeding out of
the fide of a hill with its cryſtal ftreams running di-
rectly east. And indeed here my feníes were charm-
ed with the moſt beautiful landſcape nature could af-
ford; for the country appeared fo flouriſhing, green
and delightful, that to me it ſeemed like a planted gar-
den. I then defcended on the fide of that delicious
vale, when I found abundance of cocoa, orange and
D 4
(
56 )
lemon, and citron trees, but very wild and barren at
that time. As for the limes, they were delightful and
wholefome, the juice of which I after ufed to mix in
water, which made it cool and refreshing. And now I.
was refolved to carry home and lay up a ſtore of grapes,
limes, and lemons, againſt the approaching wet ſeaſon. '
So laying them up in feparated parcels, and then tak-
ing a few of each with me, I returned to my little ca-
ftle, after having spent three days in this journey. Be-
'fore I got home, the grapes were fo bruiſed that they
were utterly ſpoiled; the limes indeed were good, but
of thefe I could bring only a few.
July 19. Having prepared two bags, I returned
thither again; but to my great furprife found all the
grapes fpread about, trode to pieces, and abundance
eaten, which made me conclude there were wild beaſts
thereabouts. To prevent this happening again, I ga-
thered a large quantity of the grapes, and hung them
upon the out-branches of the trees, both to keep them
unhurt, and that they might cure and dry in the fun :
and having well loaded myſelf with limes and lemons,
I returned once more to my old place of reſidence.
And now contemplating on the fruitfulnefs of this
valley, the pleafantnefs of its fituation, its fecurity from
forms, and the delightfuluefs of the adjacent woods, I
concluded I was fettled in the worst part of the coun-
try, and therefore was thinking to remove my habita-
tion. But when I confidered again, that though it
was pleafant, it was off from the fea-fide, where there
was a poflibility, fome time or other, a fhip might ei-
ther be driven or fail by; and that to inclofe my felf
among hills and woods muft certainly put an end to
( 57 )
my hopes of deliverance; I refolved to let my caftle
remain where Providence had first affigned it. Yet fo
ravifhed was I with this place, that I made me a little
kind of bower, furrounding it with a double hedge, as
high as I could reach. well itaked, and filled with bul-
rushes, and having ſpent a great part of the month of
July, I think it was the firit of August before I be-
gan to enjoy my labour.
Aug. 3. Perceiving my grapes to be dry, I took
them from the trees, and they proved excellent good
raiſins of the fun; the moſt of which I carried to my
cave; and happy for me I did fo, by which I faved the
beſt part of my winter-food.
Aug. 14. This day it began to rain; and though I
had made me a tent like the other, yet having no fhel-
ter of a hill to keep me from ftorms, nor a cave be-
hind me to retreat to, I was obliged to return to my
old castle. The rain continued more or less every day,
till the middle of October; and fometimes fo violently,
that I could not ftir out of my cave for ſeveral days.
This ſeaſon I found my family to increaſe; for one
of my cats that run away from me, and who I thought
had been dead, returned about August, with three kit-
tens at her heels, like herfelf; which I thought ſtrange,
becauſe both my cats were females, and the wild cats
of the iſland ſeemed to be of a different kind from our
European cats; but from theſe cats proceeded fuch
numbers, that I was forced to kill and deftroy them as
I would do wild beafts or vermin
To the 26th of this month I could not ftir out, it
raining inceffantly: when beginning to want food, I
was compelled to venture twice, the first of which I
( 58 )
fhot a goat, and afterwards found a very large tor,
Joife. The manner of my regulating my food was thus:
A bunch of raifins ferved me for breakfaft; a piece of
goat's flesh or turtle boiled for my dinner, and two or
three turtle's eggs for my fupper. While the rain la-
fted, I daily worked two or three hours at enlarging
my cave, and by degrees worked it on towards one
fide till I came to the out-fide of the hill, and made a
door or way out, which came beyond the fence or
wall, and ſo I came in and out this way. But after I
had done this, I was troubled to ſee myſelf thus ex-
pofed, though I could not perceive any thing to fear,
a goat being the biggeſt creature I had feen upon the
ifland.
Sept. 30. Cafting up my notches on my poft, which
amounted to 365, I concluded this to be the annivers
fary of my landing; and therefore humbly proftrate
ing myſelf on the ground, confeffing my fins, acknow-
ledging God's righteous judgments upon me, and pray-
ing to Jefus Chrift to have mercy on me, I fafted for
twelve hours till the going down of the fun; and then
eating a biſcuit and a bunch of grapes, laid me on the
bed, and with great comfort took my night's repoſe.
Till this time I never had diſtinguiſhed the Sabbath-
day; but now I made a longer notch than ordinary for
the days of reft, and divided the weeks as well as I
could, though I found I had lost a day or two in my
account My ink failing foon after, I omitted in my
daily memorandum things of an indifferent nature, and
contented myſelf to write down only the moſt remark-
able events of my life. The rainy and dry feafons ap-
peared now regular to me, and experience taught me
( 59 )
how to provide for them; yet in one thing I am go-
ing to relate, my experience very much failed me. You
may call to mind what I have mentioned of fome bar-
ley and rice which I had faved; about thirty talks
of the former and twenty of the latter; and at that
time the fun being in its fouthern pofition, going from
me together with the rains made me conclude it a very
proper ſeaſon to fow it. Accordingly I dug up a piece
of ground with my wooden fpade, and dividing it in
two parts, fowed about two thirds of my feed, prefer-
ying by me about a handful of each. And happy it
was I did fo; for no rain, falling, it was choked up,
and never appeared above the earth till the wet fea-
fon came again, and then part of it grew as if it had
been newly fown.
I was refolved ftill to make another trial; and feek-
ing for a moiſter piece of ground near my bower, I
there fowed the rest of my feed in February, a little
before the vernal Equinox, which having the rainy
months of March and April to water it, yielded a no-
ble crop, and fprung up very pleafantly. I had ftill
faved part of the feed, not daring to venture all; and
by the time I found out the proper feaſons to fow in,
and that I might expect every year two feed-times and
two harveſts. my ſtock amounted to above half a peck
of each ſort of grain.
No fooner were the rains over, but the talks
which I had cut from the trees, fhot out like wil-
lows the first year after lopping their heads. I was
ignorant of the tree I cut them from; but they grew
fo regularly beautiful, that they made a moft lively
appearance, and ſo flouriſhed in three years time, that
( 60 )
I refolved to cut more of them; and thefe foon grow.
ing made a glorious fence, as afterwards I fhall ob-
ferve.
}
And now I perceived that the feafons of the year
might generally be divided, not into Summer and
Winter as in Europe, but into Wet and Dry Seafons,
as in this manner :
Februa
Half March.
April,
April, 2
} Rainy, fun coming ne in the equinox.
May, Dry, fun getting north of the line.
Half June,
Fuly,!
August,
Auguſt,
Half 3 September Wet, the fun being then come back,
October,
}
October, 2
November,
Half December, Dry, fun running fouth of the line.
Fanuary,
February,
The wet feaſons would continue longer or fhorter
as the winds happened to blow. But having found
the ill confequences, of being abroad in the rain, I took
care beforehand to furnish myſelf with provifions;
and during the wet months fat within doors as much
as poffible. At this time I contrived to make many
things that I wanted, though it cost me much labour
( 61 )
and pains before I could accomplish them. The first
1 tried was to make a basket, but all the twigs I could
get proved fo brittle, that I could not then perform
it. It now proved of great advantage to me, that,
when a boy, 1 took great delight in ftanding at a baſ
ket-makers's in the fame town where my father lived,
to view them at work; and, like other boys, curious,
to fee the manner of their working thefe things, and
very officious to affiſt, I perfectly learned the method
of it, and wanted nothing but the tools. And it com-
ing into my mind, that the twigs of that tree of which
I made my flakes, might be as tough as fallow, willow,
or ofiers, growing in England, I refolved to make an
experiment, and went the next day to my country-
feat, and found fome fit for my turn; and after cutting
down a quantity with my hatchet, I dried them in my
pale, and, when fit to work with, carried them to my
cave, where I employed my felf in making feveral forts
of baſkets, infomuch that I could put in whatfoever I
pleafed. It is true, they were not cleverly made yet
they ferved my turn upon all occafions.
But ftill I wanted two neceffary things. I had no
cafk to hold my liquor, except two rundlets almoſt
full of rum, a few bottles, of an ordinary fize, and
fome fquare cafe bottles: neither had I a pot to boil a-
ny thing in, only a large kettle, unfit to make broth,
or flew a bit of meat; I wanted likewiſe at the begin-
ning of this dry feafon a tobacco-pipe; but for this I
afterwards found an expedient.
I kept myſelf employed in planting my fecond row
of flakes But remembering that when I trave led up
to the brook, I had a mind to fee the whole iſland, I
( 62 )
now refumed my intention, and taking my dog, gun,
hatchet, two bifcuit-cakes, a great bunch of raifins,
with a larger quantity of powder and fhot than ufual,
I began my journey. Having paffed the vale where
my bower flood, I came within view of the fea lying
to the weft; when it being a clear day I fairly defcri-
ed land, extending from the W. to the S. W. about 10
or 15 leagues, as I concluded: but could not fay whe-
ther it was an ifland or a continent. Neither could
I tell what this place might be; only thought it was
part of America, and where I might have been in a
miferable condition had I landed. Again, I confider-
ed, that if this was the Spanish coaft, certainly, one
time or other, I fhould fee fome fhip pafs by; and if
it was not, then it muſt be the Savage coaft, between
the Spanish country and Brafil, which abounds with
cannibals or inan eaters.
As I proceeded forward, I found this fide of the
ifland much more pleaſant than mine; the fields fra-
grant, adorned with fweet flowers and verdant grafs,
together with ſeveral very fine woods. There were
parrots in plenty, which made me long for one to be
my companion; but it was with great difficulty I could
knock down one with my ftick; and I kept him at
home fome years, before I could get him to call me by
my name.
In the low grounds, I found various forts of hares
and foxes as I took them to be, but much different
from thoſe in England. Several of theſe I killed, but
never eat them; neither indeed had I any occafion;
for abounding with goats, pigeons, turtle, and grapes,
I could defy Leadenhall market to furniih me a better
#
(63)
2
table. In this journey I did not travel above twỏ
miles a-day, becaufe I took feveral turns and wind-
ings to fee what diſcoveries I could make, returning
weary enough to the place where I defigned to reſt
all night, which was either in a tree, or to a place
which I furrounded with stakes. that no wild creature
might fuddenly ſurpriſe me. When I came to the feas
fhore, I was amazed to ſee the fplendour of it. Its
ftrand was covered with fhells of the moſt beautiful
fish, and conſtantly abounding with innumerable tur-
tles, and fowls of many kinds, which I was ignorant
of, except thofe called Penguins. I might have fhot
as many as I pleaſed, but was fparing of my ammuni-
tion, rather chufing to kill a fhe-goat, which I did
with much difficulty, on account of the flatness of the
country.
Now, though this journey produced the moſt plea-
fing fatisfaction, yet my habitation was fo much to
my liking, that I did not repine at my being feated on
the worst part of the island. I continued my journey,
travelling about twelve miles further towards the
east, where I fet a great pile on the fhore for a mark,
concluding that my next journey ſhould bring me to
the other fide of the island, eaft from my caſtle, and
ſo round till I came to my poſt again. As I had a
conftant view of the country, I thought I could not
mifs my way; but fcarce had I travelled three miles,
when I defcended into a very large valley, fo fur-
rounded with hills covered with wood, that I having
no guide but by the fun, nor even then, unless I knew
well the pofition of the fun at that time of the day;
and to add to my misfortune, the weather proving ve
(
64)
64 )
ry hazy, I was obliged to return to my post by the fea-
fide, and fo backwards the fame way I came. In this
journey my dog furpriſed a kid, and would have kill-
ed it, had I not prevented him. As I had often been
thinking of getting a kid or two, and fo raifing a
breed of tame goats to fupply me after my ammuni-
tion was ſpent, I took this opportunity of beginning;
and having made a collar for this little creature with a
ſtring made of rope yarn, I brought it to my bower,
and there inclofed and left him, and having ſpent a .
month in this journey, at length I returned to my old
habitation.
No body can doubt of my fatisfaction, when I re-
turned to my little caftle, and repofed myſelf in my
hammock. After my journey, I refted myfelf a week,
which time I employed in making a cage for my pret-
ty poll. I now began to confider of the poor kid I
had left at the bower; and I immediately went to
fetch it home. When I came there, I found the young
creature almoſt ſtarved; I gave it fome food, and tied
it as before; but there was no occafion, for it follow-
ed me like a dog; and as I conftantly fed it, it be
came fo loving, gentle, and fond, that it commenced
one of my domeſtics, and would never leave me.
The rainy feafon of the autumnal equinox being
now come, I kept the 30th of September in the moſt
folemn manner as ufual, it being the third year of my
abode in the iſland. I spent the whole day in ac-
knowledging God's mercies; in giving him thanks
for making this folitary life as agreeeable, and lefs
finful, than that of human fociety; and for the com-
munications of his grace to my foul, in fupporting,
5
( 65 )
comforting, and encouraging me to depend upon his
providence, and hope for his eternal prefence in the
world to come.
Indeed I often did confider how much more happy
I was in this ftate of life than in that accurfed manner
of living I formerly uſed; and fometimes when hunt-
ing, or viewing the country, the anguifh of my fou!
would break out upon me, and my very heart would
fink within me, to think of the woods, the mountains,
the defarts I was in; and how I was a prifoner locked
up with the eternal bars and bolts of the ocean, in
an uninhabited wilderneſs, without hopes, and with-
but redemption. In this condition, I would often
wring my hands, and weep like a child; and even fome-
times in the middle of my work this fit would take me:
and then I would fit down and figh, looking on the
ground for an hour or two together, till fuch time as
my grief got vent in a flood of tears.
One morning as I was fadly employed in this man-
her, I opened my Bible, when immediately I fixed
my eyes upon thefe words, I will never leave thee,
nor forfake thee! Surely, thought I, theſe words are
directed to me; or elfe, why fhould they appear juſt
at a moment when I am bemoaning my forlorn con-
dition? and if God does not forfake me, what mat
ters it, fince he can make me more happy in this ftate
of life, than if I enjoyed the greateſt ſplendour in the
world? But while I was going to return God thanks
for my preſent ſtate, ſomething ſeemed to fhock my
mind, as if it had thus faid: Unworthy wretch! can
you pretend to be thankful for a condition, from
which you would pray to be delivered! Here I ftopt;
E
1
( 66 )
#
-------and though I could not fay, I thanked the di
vine Majefty for being there, yet I gave God thanks
for placing to my view my former wicked courfe of life,
and granting me a true knowledge of repentance And
whenever I opened or fhut the Bible, I bleſſed kind
Providence, that directed my good friend in England
to fend it among my goods without my order, and for
affifting me to fave it from the power of the raging
ocean.
And now beginning my third year, my feveral dai-
ly employments were theſe. First, My duty to hea-
ven, and diligently reading the holy fcriptures, which
I did twice or thrice every day. Secondly, Seeking
provision with my gun, which commonly took me up,
when it did not rain, three hours every morning.
Thirdly, The ordering, curing, preferving, and cook-
ing what I had killed, or catched for my fupply,
which took me up a great part of the day: for in the
middle of the day the fun being in its height, it was
fo hot, that I could not ftir out; fo that I had only
but four hours in the evening to work in: and then
the want of tools, of affiſtance, and fill, wafted a great
deal of time to little purpoſe. I was no leſs than two
and forty days making a board fit for a long fhelf;
which two fawers, with their tools and faw-pit, would
have cut out of the fame tree in half a day. It was of
a large tree, as my board was to be broad. I was three
days in cutting it down, and two more in lopping off
the boughs, and reducing it to a piece of timber. This
I hacked and hewed off each fide, till it became light
to move; then I turned it, made one fide of it ſmooth
and flat as a board from end to end, then turned it
( 67 )
downwards, cutting the other fide, till I brought the
plank to about three inches thick, and fmooth on both
fides. Any body may judge my great labour and fa-
tigue in fuch a piece of work; but this I went through
with patience, as alfo many other things that my cir-
cumſtances made neceffary for me to do.
The harveſt-months, November and December, were
now at hand, in which I had the pleating profpect of
a very good crop: But here I met with a new mif-
fortune for the goats and hares, having tafted of
the ſweetneſs of the blade, kept it fo fhort, that it
had not ſtrength to fhoot up into a ſtalk.
To pre-
vent this, I inelofed it with a hedge, and by day
fhot ſome of its devourers; and my dog, which I had
tied to the field-gate, keeping barking all night, fo
frightened thefe creatures, that I got entirely rid of
them.
But no fooner did I get rid of theſe than other e-
nemies appeared, to wit, whole flocks of ſeveral forts
of birds, who only waited till my back was turned
to ruin me. So much did this provoke me, that I let
fly, and killed three of the malefactors; and afterwards
ferved them, as they do notorious thieves in England,
hung them up in chains as a terror to others. And in-
deed ſo good an effect had this, that they not only for-
fook the corn, but all that part of the iſland, ſo long as
theſe criminals hung there.
My corn having ripened apace, the latter end of
December, which was my fecond harvest, I reaped it
with a ſcythe, made of one of my broad fwords. Į
had no fatigue in cutting down my firſt crop, it was
fo flender. The ears I carried home in a baſket, rub-
!
E 2
( 60 )
bing it out with my hands inflead of threfhing it; and
when my harveft was over, found my half peck of feed
produced near two bufhels of rice, and two bufhels and
a half of barley. And now 1 plainly fore faw, that, by
God's goodness, I fhould be furniſhed with bread: bug
yet I was concerned, becauſe I knew not how to grind
or make meal of my corn, nor bread, neither knew
how to bake it. I would not however tafte any of the
crop, but refolved to preſerve it againſt next ſeaſon,
and in the mean while ufe my beſt endeavours to pro-
vide myſelf with other food.
But where were my labours to end? The want of
a plough to turn up the earth, or fhovel to dig it, I
conquered by making me a wooden fpade: the want
of a harrow, I fupplied my felf with dragging over the
corn a great bough of a tree. When it was growing,
I was forced to fence it; when ripe, to mow it, carry
it home, thresh it, part it from the chaff, and fave it.
And after all, I wanted a mill to grind it, fieve to
dreſs it, yeaſt and falt to make it into bread, and an
oven to bake it. This fet my brains on work to find
fome expedient for every one of thefe neceffaries a-
gainſt the next harveſt
1
And now having more feed, my firft care was to pre-
pare me more land. I pitched upon two large flat pieces
of ground near my castle for that purpoſe, in which
I fowed my feed, and fenced it with a good hedge.
This took me up three months; by which time the
wet feafon coming on, and the rain keeping me with-
in doors, I found feveral occafions to employ myſelf;
and, while at work, fed to divert myfelf with talk-
ing to my parrot, learning him to know and ſpeak his
/
(69)
own name Poll, the firit welcome word I ever heard
ſpoke in the iſland. I had been a long time contri-
ving how to make earthen veffels, which I wanted ex-
tremely; and when I confidered the heat of the cli-
mate, I did not doubt but if I could find any fuch
clay, I might botch up a pot, ftrong enough when
dried in the fun to bear handling, and to hold any
thing that was dry, as corn, meal, and other things.
To be ſhort, the clay I found; but it would occa-
fion the moſt feri us perfon to fmile to fee what auk-
ward ways I took, and what ugly miſhapen things I
made; how many either fell out, or cracked by the vi-
olent heat of the fun, and fell into pieces when they
were removed: fo I think that it was two months
time before I could perfect any thing; and even then
but two clumſy things, in imitation of earthen jars.
Theſe however I very gently placed in wicker baf
kers, made on purpoſe for them, and between the pot
and the baſkets, ſtuffed it full of rice and barley
ftraw and theſe I prefumed would hold my dried
corn, and perhaps the meal when the corn was bruif-
ed. As for the fmaller things, I made them with bet-
ter fuccefs; fuch as little round pots, flat difhes, pitch-
ers, and pipkins, the fun baking them very hard.
:
Yet ftill I wanted one thing abfolutely neceffary,
and that was an earthen pot, not only to hold any li-
quid, but alfo to bear the fire, which none of theſe
could do. It once happened, that as I was putting
out my fire, I found therein a broken piece of one of
veffels burnt hard as a rock, and red as a tile.
This made me think of burning fome pots; and hav-
ing no notion of a kiln, or of glazing them with lead,
my
E 3
( 70 )
I fixed three large pipkins, and two or three pots in
a pile one upon another. The fire I piled round
the out-fide, and dry wood on the top, till I faw the
pots in the jafide red hot, and found that they did not
crack at all; and when I perceived them perfectly
red, I let one of them ftand in the fire about five or
fix hours, till the clay melted by the extremity of the
heat, and would have run to glaſs, had I fuffered it;
upon which I flaked the fire by degrees, till the red-
neſs abated; and watching them till the morning, I
found I had three very good pipkins, and two earth-
en pots, as well burnt and fit for my turn as I could
defire.
No joy could be greater than mine at this difcove-
ry. For after this, I may fay, I wanted for no fort
of earthen ware. I filled one of my pipkins with wa-
ter to boil me fome meat, which it did admirably
well, and with a piece of kid 1 made me fome good
broth, as well as my circumstances could afford me at
that time.
The next concern I had was to get me a ftone-
mortar to beat fome corn in, inſtead of a mill to
grind it. Here indeed I was at a great loſs, as not
being fit for a ftone-cutter; and many days 1 fpent to
find out a great ftone big enough to cut hollow and
make fit for a mortar, and ſtrong enough to bear the
weight of the peftle, that would break the corn with-
out filling it with fand. But all the ftones of the if
land being of a mouldering nature, rendered my
fearch fruitless; and then I refolved to look out a
great block of hard wood; which having foon found,
I formed it with my axe and hammer, and then with
( 71 )
infinite labour made a hollow in it, juſt as the Indians
of Brafil make their canoes. When I had finished this,
I made a great peſtle of iron wood, and then laid them
up againſt my ſucceeding harveſt.
My next bufinefs was to make me a fieve, to fift my
meal, and part it from the bran and huſk; having no
fine thin canvaſs to fearch the meal through, I could
not tell what to do. What linen I had was reduced to
rags: I had goats hair enough, but neither tools to
work it, nor did I know how to fpin it: At length I
remembered I had fome neckcloths of callico or muflia
of the failors which I had brought out of the ſhip,
and with theſe I made three fmall fieves, proper e-
nough for the work-
I come now to confider the baking part. The want
of an oven I fupplied by making fome earthen pans
very broad, but not deep. When I had a mind to
bake, I made a great fire upon my hearth, the tiles of
which I had made myself; and when the wood was
burnt into live coals, I ſpread them over it, till it be-
came very hot; then fweeping them away, I fet down
my loaves, and whelmed down the earthen pots upon
them, drew the afhes and coals all around the outfide
of the pots to continue the heat; and in this manner I
baked my barley-loaves as well as if I had been a com-
plete paſtry-cook, and alfo made of the rice feveral
cakes and puddings.
'Tis no wonder that all theſe things took me up the
beſt part of a year, fince what intermediate time I had
was beſtowed in managing my new harveft and huf
bandry; for in the proper feafon I reaped my corn,
carried it home, and laid it up in the ear in my large
E 4
( 72 )
baſkets, till I had time to rub, instead of threshing it.
And now indeed my corn increaſed fo much, that it
produced me about twenty bufhels of barley, and as
much of rice, that I not only began to uſe it freely,
but was thinking how to enlarge my barns, and refol-
ved to fow as much at a time as would be fufficient for
me for a whole year.
All this while, the profpect of land, which I had
feen from the other fide of the island, ran in my mind.
I till meditated a deliverance from this place, though
the fear of greater misfortunes might have deterred ine
from it. For allowing that I had attained that place,
I run the hazard of being killed and eaten by the de-
vouring cannibals; and if they were not fo, yet I
might be flain, as other Europeans had been, who fell
into their hands. Notwithstanding all this, my thoughts
ran continually upon that fhore, I now wished for
my boy Xury, and the longboat, with the fhoulder of
mutton fail: I went to the hip's boat, that had been
caft a great way on the fhore in the late ftorm. She
was removed but a little; but her bottom being turn-
ed up by the impetuofity and fury of the waves and
wind, I fell to work with all the ſtrength I had, and
with levers and rollers I had cut from the wood, to
turn her, and repair the damages fhe had fuitained.
This work took me up three or four weeks, when
fading my little ftrength all in vain, I fell to under-
mining it by digging away the fand, and ſo to make it
fall down, ſetting pieces of wood to thrust and guide
it in the fall. But after this was done, I was ftill un-
able to flir it up, or to get under it, much less to move
( 73 )
it forwards towards the water, and fo I was forced to
give it over.
This diſappointment however did not frighten me.
I began to think whether it was not poffible for me
to make a Canoe or Periagua, fuch as the Indians make
of the trunk of a tree. But here I lay under particu-
lar inconveniencies, want of tools to make it, and want
of hands to move it into the water when it was made.
However, to work I went upon it, ftopping all the
inquiries I could make, with this very fimple an-
fwer I made to myſelf, Let's firſt make it, I'll warrant
I'll find fome way or other to get it along when it is
done.
I first cut down a cedar tree, which was five foot
ten inches diameter at the lower part next the ſtump,
and four foot eleven inches dimater at the end of
twenty-two foot, after which it leffened for a ſpace,
and then parted into branches. Twenty days was I
a hacking and hewing this tree at the bottom, four-
teen more in cutting off the branches and limbs, and
a whole month in fhaping it like the bottom of a boat.
As for the infide, I was three weeks with a mallet
and chiffel, clearing it in fuch a manner, as that it was
big enough to carry 26 men, much bigger than any
canoe I ever faw in my life, and confequently fufficient
to transport me and all my effects to that wifhed for
ſhore I fo ardently defired.
-
Nothing remained now, but indeed the greateſt
difficulty, to get it into the water, it lying about 100
yards from it. To remedy the firſt inconvenience,
which was a rifing hill between this boat and the
creek, with wonderful pains and labour I dug into
?
( 74 )
:
the furface of the earth, and made a declivity; this I
began, and it coft me a prodigious deal of pains: But
who grudge pains, that have their deliverance in view?
but when this was worked through, and this difficul-
ty managed, it was ftill much at one; for I could no
more ftir the canoe, than I could the other boat.
Then I meaſured the diſtance of ground, and refolv-
ed to cut a dock, or canal, to bring the water up to
the canoe, feeing I could not bring the canoe down to
the water: well, I began this work, and when I began
to enter into it, and calculated how deep it was to be
dug, how broad, how the ftuff to be thrown out, I
found, that by the number of hands I had, being none
but my own, it must have been ten or twelve years
before I ſhould have gone through with it; for the
fhore lay high, fo that at the upper end it muſt have
been at leaſt twenty feet deep; fo at length, though with
great reluctancy, I gave this attempt over alſo.
This grieved me heartily, and now I faw, though
too late, the folly of beginning a work before we
count the coft, and before we judge rightly of our
own ftrength to go through with it.
In the middle of this work I finiſhed my fourth year
in this place, and kept my anniverſary with the fame
devotion, and with as much comfort, as ever before:
for by a conſtant ſtudy, and ſerious application of the
word of God, and by the affiftance of his grace, I
gained a different knowledge from what I had before;
I entertained different notions of things; I looked now
upon the world as a thing remote; which I had no-
thing to do with, no expectation from, and indeed no
defires about; in a word, I had nothing indeed to do
( 75 )
with it, nor was ever like to have; fo 1 thought it look
ed as we may perhaps look upon it hereafter; viz,
as a place I had lived in, but was come out of it; and
well might I fay, as father Abraham to Dives, Be-
tween me and thee is a great gulph fixed.
:
In the first place, I was removed from all the
wickedness of the world here: I had neitheir the luft
of the flesh, the luft of the eye, or the pride of life: I
had nothing to covet, for I had all I was now capable
of enjoying I was lord of the whole manor, or, if
I pleafed, I might call myfelf king or emperor over
the whole country which I had poffeffion of: 'I here
were no rivals: I had no competitor, none to diſpute
fovereignity or command with me: I might have raif-
ed fhip-loadings of corn, but I had no uſe for it; fo I
let as little grow as I thought enough for my occafion;
I had tortoises or turtles enough; but now-and-then
one was as much as I could put to any ufe: I had tim-
ber enough to have built a fleet of ſhips: I had grapes
enough to have made wine, or to have cured into
raifins, to have loaded that fleet when they had been
built.
But all I could make ufe of, was all that was valu-
able: I had enough to eat, and to fupply my wants,
and what was all the reft to me? if I killed more fleſh
than I could eat, the dog muft eat it, or the vermin;
if I fowed more corn than I could eat, it muſt be
1poiled: The trees that I cut down were lying to rot
on the ground, I could make no more uſe of them
than for fuel; and that I had no occafion for, but to
drefs my food.
In a word, the nature and experience of things dic-
( 76 )
tated to me upon juft reflexion, that all the good
things of this world are not farther good to us, than
they are for our ufe; and that whatever we may heap
up indeed to give others, we enjoy as much as we can
uſe, and no more. The most covetous griping mifer
in the world would have been cured of the vice of co-
yetoufneſs, if he had been in my cafe; for I poffeffed
infinitely more than I knew what to do with. I had
Do room for defire, except it was of things which I had
not, and they were but trifles, tho' indeed of great
uſe to me. I had, as I hinted before, a parcel of mo
ney, as well gold as filver, about thirty-fix pound ſter-
ling: Alas! there the nafty forry ufelefs ftuff lay;
I had no manner of buſineſs for it; and I often thought
with myſelf, that I would have given an handful of it
for a grofs of tobacco-pipes, or for an hand mill to
grind my corn; nay, I would have given it all for
fixpence-worth of turnep and carrot feed out of Eng-
lund, or for an handful of peas and beans, and a bot-
tle of ink: As it was, I had not the leaft advantage by
it, or benefit from it; but there it lay in a drawer,
and grew mouldy with the damp of the cave, in the
wet feafon; and if I had had the drawer full of dia-
monds, it had been the fame cafe; and they had been
of no manner of value to me, becauſe of no uſe.
I had now brought my ftate of life to be much ea-
fier in itſelf then it was at firſt, and much eaſier to my
mind as well as to my body. I frequently fat down
to my meat with thankfulneſs, and admired the hand
of God's providence, which had thus fpread my table
in the wilderneſs: I learned to look more upon the
bright fide of my condition, and leſs upon the dark
fide; and to confider what I enjoyed, rather than what
I wanted; and this gave me fometimes fuch fecret
comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I
take notice of here, to put thofe difcontented people
in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God
hath given them, becauſe thy fee and covet fomething
that he has not given them: all our difcontents about
what we want, appeared to me to fpring from the want
of thankfulnefs for what we have.
Another reflexion was of great ufe to me, and doubt-
lefs would be ſo to any one that ſhould fall into fuch
diſtreſs as mine was; and this was, to compare my
prefent condition with what I at firft expected it ſhould
be; nay, with what it would certainly have been, if
the good providence of God had not wonderfully or-
dered the fhip to be caft up nearer to the thore, where
I not only could come at her, but could bring what I
got out of her to the fhore, for my relief and comfort;
without which I had wanted tools to work, weapons
for defence, or gunpowder and fhot for getting my
food.
I ſpent whole hours, I may fay, whole days, in re-
preſenting to myſelf in the moſt lively colours, how I
muſt have acted, if I had got nothing out of the ſhip;
how I could not have fo much as got any food, except
fish and turtles; and that, as it was long before I
found any of them, I muſt have perifhed firft: That
I fhould have lived, if I had not perished, like a mere
favage: That if I had killed a goat or a fowl by any
contrivance, I had no way to flay or open them, or
part the flesh from the fkiu and the bowels, or to cut
A
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it up;
but muft gnaw it with my teeth, and pull it with
my claws, like a beaſt.
Theſe reflexions made me very fenfible of the good-
neſs of providence to me, and very thankful for my
prefent condition, with all its hardships and mif-
fortunes: And this part alfo I cannot but recom-
mend to the reflexion of thofe who are apt in their
mifery to fay, Is any affliction like mine? Let them
confider, how much worſe the cafes of fome people are,
and what their cafe might have been, if providence
had thought fit.
I had another reflexion which affifted me alfo to
comfort my mind with hopes; and this was, compar-
ing my prefent condition with what I had deſerved,
and had therefore reaſon to expect from the hand of
providence: I had lived a dreadful life, perfectly defti-
tute of the knowledge and fear of God: I had been
well inftructed by my father and mother; neither had
they been wanting to me in their early endeavours, to
infufe a religious awe of God into my mind, a ſenſe
of my duty, and of what the nature and end of my
being required of me: but alas! falling early into the
feafaring life, which of all the lives is the moſt deſti-
tute of the fear of God, tho' his terrors are always
before them; I fay, falling early into the feafaring
life, and into feafaring company, all that little fenfe
of religion which I had entertained, was laught out of
me by my meffinates; by an hardened defpifing of
dangers, and the views of death, which grew habitual
to me; by my long abfence from all manner of oppor-
tunities to converfe with any thing but what was like
mylelf, or to hear any thing of what was good, or
tended towards it.
79 وو
1
So void was I of every thing that was good, or of
the leaſt ſenſe of what I was, or was to be, that in the
greateſt deliverance I enjoyed, fuch as my eſcape from
Sallee, my being taken up by the Portugueſe mafter of
the ſhip, my being planted fo well in Brafil, my re-
ceiving the cargo from England, and the like, I never
once had the word thank God fo much as on my mind,
or in my mouth; nor in the greateſt diſtreſs, had
I fo much thought as to pray to him; nor fo much
as to fay, Lord, have mercy upon me! No not to men-
tion the name of God, unless it was to fwear by, and
blafpheme it.
I had terrible reflexions upon my mind for many
months, as I have already obferved, on the account of
my wicked and hardened life paft; and when I looked
about me, and confidered what particular providences
had attended me, fince my coming into this place, and
how God had dealt bountifully with me; had not on-
ly puniſhed me lefs than my iniquity deferved, but had
fo plentifully provided for me; this gave me great
hopes, that my repentance was accepted, and that God
had yet mercies in ftore for me.
With thefe reflexions I worked my mind up, not
only to refignation to the will of God in the preſent
difpofition of my circumftances, but even to a fincere.
thankfulneſs for my condition; and that I, who was
a living Man, ought not to complain, Jeeing I had not
the due puniſhment of my fin; that I enjoyed fo many
mercies, which I had no reafon to have expected in
that place, that 1 ought never more to repine at my
condition, but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks, for
(80)
that daily bread, which nothing but a cloud of wonders
could have brought: that I ought to confider I had been
fed even by a miracle, even as great as that of feed-
ing Elijah by ravens; nay, by a long feries of mira-
cles; and that I could hardly have named a place in
the uninhabited part of the world, where I could have
been calt more to my advantage: a place, where as 1
had no fociety, which was an affliction on one hand, ſo I
found no ravenous beafts, no furious wolves or tygers,
to threaten my life; no venomous creatures or poiſon-
ous, which I might have fed on to my hurt, no favages
to murder and devour me.
In a word as my life was a life of forrow one way,
fo it was a life of mercy another; and I wanted no-
thing to make a life of comfort, but to be able to
make my fenfe of God's goodnefs to me, and care over
me in this condition, be my daily confolation; and af-
ter I made a juft improvement of theſe things, I went
away, and was no more fad.
I had now been here fo long, that many things which
I brought on fhore for my help, were either quite
gone, or very much wafted, and near ſpent
My ink, as I obferved, had been gone for fome time,
all but a very little, which I eeked out with water a
little and a little, till it was fo pale it ſcarce left any ap-
pearance of black upon the paper: As long as it lafted,
I made uſe of it to minute down the days of the month
on which any remarkable thing happened to me; and
firſt by cafting up times paſt, I remembered that there
was a ſtrange concurrence of days, in the various pro-
vidences which befel me, and which, if I had been
ſuperſtitiouſly inclined to obſerve days as fatal or for-
(81)
tunate, I might have had reafon to have looked
with a great deal of curioſity.
upon
Firſt, I had obferved, that the fame day that I broke
away from my father and my friends, and ran
away to Hull in order to go to fea, the fame day af-
terwards I was taken by the Sallee man of war, and
made a flave.
The fame day of the year that I eſcaped out of the
wreck of that fhip in Yarmouth roads, that fame day
of the year afterwards I made my efcape from Sallee
in the boat.
The fame day of the year I was born on, viz. the
20th of September, the fame day I had my life fo mi-
raculouſly ſaved 26 years after, when I was caſt on
fhore in this iſland; fo that my wicked life, and ſoli-
tary life, began both on a day.
The next thing to my ink's being wafted, was that
of my bread, I mean the biſcuit which I brought out
of the fhip: This I had husbanded to the laſt degree,
allowing myſelf but one cake of bread a day, for above
a year; and yet I was quite without bread for a year
before I got any corn of my own; and great reafon
I had to be thankful that I had any at all, the get-
ting it being, as has been already obferved, next to
miraculous.
My cloaths too began to decay mightily: As to lin-
en, I had none a good while, except fome chequered
fhirts which I had found in the chefts of the other
ſeamen, and which 1 carefully preſerved, becauſe ma-
ny times I could bear no other cloaths on but a fhirt;
and it was a very great help to me, that I had among
all the men's cloaths of the ſhip almoſt three dozen of
F
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( 82
fhirts. There were feveral thick watch-coats of the
feamen, which were left behind, but they were too hot
to wear; and tho' it is true, that the weather was fo
violent hot, that there was no need of cloaths, yet I
could not go quite naked; not, tho' I had been inclin-
ed to it, which I was not; nor could I abide the
thoughts of it, though I was all alone.
One reafon why I could not go quite naked, was, I
could not bear the heat of the fun fo well when quite
naked, as with fome cloaths on; nay, the very heat
frequently bliftered my fkin; whereas, with a fhirt on,
the air itſelf made fome motion, and whiſtling under
the firt, was twofold cooler than without it: No more
could I ever bring myſelf to go out in the heat of the
fun without a cap, or an hat; the heat of the fun beat-
ing with fuch violence as it does in that place, would
give me the head-ach preſently, by darting ſo directly
on my head, without a cap or hat on, fo that I could
not bear it; whereas, if I put on my hat, it would pre-
fently go away.
Upon thefe views I began to confider about putting
the few rags I had, which I called cloaths, into ſome
order I had worn out all the waiſtcoats I had, and
my buſineſs was now to try if I could not make jackets
out of the great watch-coats which I had by me, and
with fuch other materials as I had; fo I fet to work
a tayloring, or rather indeed a botching; for I made
moft piteous work of it. However, I made fhift to
make two or three waiſtcoats, which I hoped would
ferve me a great while; as for breeches or drawers,
I made but very forry fhift indeed, till afterwards.
I have mentioned that I faved the fkins of all the
( 83 )
creatures that I killed, I mean four-footed ones; and
1 had hung them up ftretched out with flicks in the
fun; by which means fome of them were fo dry and
hard, that they were fit for little; but others, it ſeems,
were very uſeful. The firſt thing I made of theſe
was a great cap for my head, with the hair on the
outfide to ſhoot off the rain; and this I performed fo
well, that after this I made a fuit-of cloaths wholly of
thoſe ſkins; that is to fay, a waiſtcoat and breeches
open at the knees, and both loofe; for they were ra-
ther wanting to keep me cool, than to keep me warm.
I must not omit to acknowledge, that they were wretch-
edly made; for if I was a bad carpenter, I was a worſe
taylor: however, they were fuch as I made a very
good ſhift with; and when I was abroad, if it happen-
ed to rian, the hair of the waiſtcoat and cap being out-
moſt, I was kept very dry.
After this I ſpent a deal of time and pains to make
me an umbrella: I was indeed in great want of one,
and had a great mind to make one: I had feen them
made in the Brafils, where they are very uſeful in the
great heats which are there; and I felt the heats eve-
ry jot as great here, and greater too, being nearer the
Equinox; befides, as I was obliged to be much abroad,
it was a moſt uſeful thing to me, as well for the rains.
as the heats. I took a world of pains at it, and was a
great while before I could make any thing likely to
hold; nay, after I thought I had hit the way, I ſpoil-
ed two or three before I made one to my mind; but
1
at laſt I made one that anſwered indifferently well,
the main difficulty I found was to make it to let down.
I could make it to ſpread; but if it did not let down
F 2
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84 )
་
too, and draw in, it would not be portable for me any
way, but juft over my head, which would not do:
However, at laft, as I faid, I made one to anſwer; I
covered it with fkins, the hair upwards, fo that it caſt
off the rain like a penthouſe, and kept off the fun fo
effectually, that I could walk out in the hottest of the
weather, with greater advantage than I could before
in the cooleft; and when I had no need of it, I could
clofe it, and carry it under my arm.
Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being
intirely compoſed by refigning to the will of God, and
throwing myſelf wholly upon the difpofal of his pro-
vidence: this made my life better than fociable; for
when I began to regret the want of converfation, I
would afk myſelf, whether thus converfing mutually
with my own thoughts, and, as I hope, I may fay,
with even my Maker, by ejaculations and petitions,
was not better than the utmoſt enjoyment of human
fociety in the world?
I cannot fay, that after this, for five years, any ex-
traordinary thing happened to me; but I lived on in
the fame courfe, in the fame pofture and place, juft as
before the chief thing I was employed in, befides my
yearly labour of planting my barley and rice, and cur-
ing my raiſins, of both which I always kept up juft
enough to have fufficient ftock of the year's provifions
beforehand; I fay, befides this yearly labour, and my
daily labour of going out with my gun, I had one la-
hour to make me a canoe, which at laft 1 finished: fo
that by digging a canal to it fix feet wide, and four feet
deep, I brought it into the creek, almoſt half a mile.
As for the firft, that was fo vaftly big, as I made it
¿
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( (85
85 )
without confidering beforehand, as I ought to do, how
I fhould be able to launch it; fo never being able to
bring it to the water, or bring the water to it, 1 was
obliged to let it lie where it was, as a memorandum to
teach me to be wifer next time. Indeed the next time,
tho' I could not get a tree proper for it, and was in a
place where I could not get the water to it, at any lefs
diftance than, as I have faid, of near half a mile; yet
as I faw it was practicable at laft, I never gave it over;
and tho' I was near two years about it, yet I never
grudged my labour, in hopes of having a boat to go
off to fea at laft.
However, though my little periagua was finished. yet
the fize of it was not at all anſwerable to the defign
which I had in view, when I made the firft, I mean of
venturing over to the Terra firma, where it was above
forty miles broad; accordingly, the fmallneſs of my
boat affifted to put an end to that deſign, and now I
thought no more of it: But as I had a boat, my next de-
fign was to make a tour round the ifland; for as I had
been on the other fide, in one place, croffing, as I have
already defcribed it, over the land, fo the difcoveries I
made in that journey, made we very eager to ſee the
other parts of the coaft; and now I had a boat, I thought
of nothing but failing round the iſland.
For this purpoſe, and that I might do every thing
with diſcretion and confideration, 1 fitted up a little
maſt to my boat, and made a fail to it out of fome of
the pieces of the fhip's fails, which lay in ſtore, and of
which I had a great ftore by me.
Having fitted my maſt and fail, and tried the boat, I
found fhe would fail very well then I made little
F 3
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B
4
lockers and boxes at either end of my boat, to put pro-
vifions, neceffaries, and ammunition, &c. into, to be
kept dry, either from rain, or the ſpray of the ſea ;
and a little long hollow place I cut in the infide of the
boat, where I could lay my gun, making a flap to hang
down over it to keep it dry.
I fixed my umbrella alfo in a ſtep at the ftern, like
a maft, to stand over my head, and keep the heat of
the fun off of me like an awning; and this I every
now-and-then took a little voyage upon the ſea, but
never went far out, nor far from the little creek; but
at laft being eager to view the circumference of my
little kingdom, I refolved upon my tour, and ac-
cordingly I victuall'd my fhip for the voyage; put-
ting in two dozen of my loaves (cakes I fhould rather
call them) of barley-bread; an earthen pot full of
parched rice, a food I eat a great deal of, a little bot-
tle of rum, half a goat, and powder with ſhot for kill-
ing more, and two large watch-coats, of thoſe which,
as I mentioned before, I had faved out of the feamen's
chefts; thefe I took, one to lie upon, and the other
to cover me in the night.
It was the fixth of November, in the fixth year of my
reign, or my captivity, which you pleaſe, that I ſet
out on this voyage, and I found it much longer than
I expected; for though the iſland itſelf was not very
large, yet when I came to the eaſt fide of it, I found
a great ledge of rocks lie out about two leagues into
the fea, fome above water, fome under it; and beyond
this a thoal of fand, lying dry half a league more; ſo
that I was obliged to go a great way out to fea to double
that point.
( 87 )
When I firſt diſcovered them, I was going to give
over my enterprize, and come back again, not knowing
how far it might oblige me to go out to fea; and above
all, doubting how I fhould get back again; fo I came
to an anchor, for I had made me a kind of an anchor
with a piece of broken grappling, which I got out of
the ſhip.
Having fecured my boat, I took my gun, and went
on fhore, climbling upon an hill, which feemed to o-
verlook that point, where I faw the full extent of it,
and refolved to venture.
In my viewing the fea from that hill where I ftood,
I perceived a ſtrong, and indeed, a moft furious cur-
rent, which ran to the east, even came cloſe to the
point; and I took the more notice of it, becauſe I ſaw
there might be fome danger, that when I came into it,
I might be carried out to fea by the ftrength of it, and
not be able to make the island again and indeed, had
I not gotten firſt upon this hill, I believe it would have
been fo; for there was the fame current on the other
fide of the iſland, only that it fet off at a farther dif-
tance; and I ſaw there was a ſtrong eddy under the
fhore; fo I had nothing to do but to get out of the
first current, and I fhould prefently be in an eddy.
I lay here, however, two days; becauſe the wind
blowing pretty freſh (E. at S. E. and that being juft
contrary to the faid current) made a great breach of
the fea upon the point; fo that it was not fafe for me
to keep too cloſe to the fhore for the breach, nor to
go too far off becauſe of the ftream.
The third day in the morning, the wind having
abated over night, the fea was calm, and I ventured;
F 4
( 88 )
but I am a warning-piece again to all rafh and ignorant
pilots; for no fooner was I come to the point, when
even I was not my boat's length from the fhore, but
I found myſelf in a great depth of water, and a cur-
rent like the fluice of a mill: It carried my boat along
with it with fuch violence, that all I could do, could
not keep her fo much as on the edge of it; but I found
it hurried me farther and farther out from the eddy,
which was on the left-hand. There was no wind
ftirring to help me, and all that I could do with my
paddles fignified nothing; and now I began to give
myfelf over for loft; for, as the current was on both
fides the inland, I knew a few leagues diftance they
inuſt join again, and then I was irrecoverably gone;
nor did I fee any poffibility of avoiding in; fo that 1
had no profpect before me but of perifhing; not
by the fea, for that was calm enough, but of ftarving
for hunger.
I had indeed found a tortoife on the
thore, as big almoſt as I could lift, and had toffed it
into the boat; and I had a great jar of fresh water,
that is to fay, one of my earthen pots; but what was
all this to being driven into the vaft ocean, where, to
be fure, there was no fhore, no main land or ifland, for
a thouſand leagues at leaft?
And now I faw how eafy it was for the providence
of God to make the moſt miferable condition that man-
kind could be in, worse. Now I looked back upon my
defolate folitary iſland, as the moſt pleaſant place in the
world, and all the happineſs my heart could wish for,
was to be there again: Iftretched out my hands to it
with eager wishes; O happy defart! faid I, 1 ſhall ne-
ver fee thee more; O miferable creature! faid I, whi-
( 89 )
ther am I going? Then I reproached myſelf with my un-
thankful temper, and how I had repined at my folitary
condition; and now what would I give to be on ſhore
there again? thus we never fee the true ftate of our
condition, till it is illuftrated to us by its contraries;
nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by the
want of it: It is fcarce poffible to imagine the confter-
nation I was now in, being driven from my beloved if
land (for fo it appeared to me now to be) into the wide
ocean, almoſt two leagues, and in the utmoſt deſpair of
ever recovering it again: however, I worked hard,
till indeed my ftrength was almoſt exhaufted; and
kept my boat as much to the Northward, that
is, towards the fide of the current which the eddy
lay on, as poffibly I could; when about noon, as
the fun paffed the meridian, I thought I felt a little
breeze of wind in my face, fpringing up from the S.
S. E.
This cheared my heart a little, and eſpecially
when in about half an hour more it blew a pretty
fmall gentle gale: by this time I was gotten at a
frightful diſtance from the iſland; and, had the leaſt
cloud or hazy weather intervened, I had been undone
another way too; for I had no compafs on board,
and ſhould never have known how to have fleered to-
wards the ifland, if I had but once loft fight of it
but the weather continuing clear, I applyed myfelf
to get up my maft again, and ſpread my fail, ſtanding
away to the north as much as poffible, to get cut of
the current.
Juſt as I had fet my maft and fail, and the boat began
to stretch away, I faw even by the clearness of the wa-
ter, fome alteration of the current was near: for where
1
( 90 )
1
the current was fo ftrong, the water was foul; but
perceiving the water clear, I found the current abate,
and preſently I found on the eaft, at about half a
mile, a breach of the fea upon fome rocks; theſe
rocks I found caufed the current to part again; and
as the main ſtreſs of it ran away more foutherly, leav-
ing the rocks to the north-east, fo the other returned
by the repulfe of the rock, and made a ftrong eddy,
which ran back again to the north-weft with a very
fharp ftream.
They who know what it is to have a reprieve
brought to them upon the ladder, or to be reſcued
from thieves juft going to murder them, or who have
been in ſuch like extremities, may gueſs what my pre-
ſent ſurprize of joy was, and how gladly I put my boat
into the ſtream of this eddy; and the wind alſo freſh,
ening, how gladly I ſpread my fail to it, running chear
fully before the wind, and with a ſtrong tide or eddy
under foot.
This eddy carryed me about a league in my way back
again directly towards the iſland, but about two leagues
more towards the northward than the current lay,
which carried me away at first; fo that when I came
near the iſland, I found myſelf open to the northern
fhore of it, that is to fay, the other end of the iſland,
oppofite to that which I went out from.
When I had made fomething more than a league of
way by the help of this current or eddy, I found it
was ſpent, and faved me no farther. However I found,
that being between the two great currents, viz. that
on the fouth fide which had hurried me away, and that
on the north, which lay about two leagues on the o-
( 91 )
ther fide; I fay, between theſe two, in the weft of the
iſland, I found the water at leaſt ftill, and running no
way; and having ſtill a breeze of wind fair for me,
I kept on ſteering directly for the iſland, though not
making fuch freſh way as I did before.
About 4
o'clock in the evening, being then within
about a league of the ifland, I found the point of the
rocks which occafioned this diſtance ftretching out
as is deſcribed before, to the fouthwards, and, caft-
ing off the current more fouthwardly, had of courſe
made another eddy to the north, and this I found very
ftrong, but directly fetting the way my courſe lay,
which was due weſt, but almoſt full north. However,
having a freſh gale I ftretched acroſs this eddy, flant-
ing north-west, and in about an hour came within a-
bout a mile of the thore, where, it being fmooth wa-
ter, I foon got to land.
When I was on fhore, I fell on my knees, and
gave God thanks for my deliverance, refolving to
lay afide all thoughts of my deliverance by my boat;
and refreshing myfelf with fuch things as I had, I
brought my boat cloſe to the fhore in a little cove that
I had 'spy'd under fome trees, and laid me down to
ſleep, being quite ſpent with the labour and fatigue of
the voyage.
I was now at a great lofs which way to get home
with my boat; I had run fo much hazard, and knew
too much the cafe to think of attempting it by the way
I went out; and what might be at the other fide (I
mean the weſt fide,) I knew not, nor had I any mind
to run any more ventures; fo I only refolved in the
morning to make my way weftward along the ſhore,
( (92
92 )
and to fee if there was no creek where I might lay up
my frigate in fafety, fo as to have her again if I want-
ed her. In about three miles, or thereabouts, coaft-
ing the ſhore, I came to a very good inlet, or bay, a-
bout a mile over, which narrowed till it came to a ve-
ry little rivulet, or brook, where I found a convenient
harbour for my boat, and where he lay as if he had
been in a little dock made on purpoſe for her; here I
put in, and having ftowed my boat yery fafe, I went
on fhore to look about me, and fee where I was.
I foon found I had but a little paffed by the place
where I had been before, when I travelled on foot to
that ſhore; ſo taking nothing out of my boat, but my
gun and my umbrella, for it was exceeding hot, I be-
gan my march: The way was comfortable enough af-
ter fuch a voyage as I had been upon, and I reached
my old bower in the evening, where I found every
thing ftanding as I left it; for I always kept it in
good order, being, as I faid before, my country.
houſe.
3
I got over the fence, and laid me down in the ſhade
to rest my limbs, for I was very weary, and fell a-
fleep: But judge you, if you can, that read my ſtory,
what a furpriſe I muſt be in, when I was awaked out
of my fleep, by a voice calling me by my name feveral
times, Robin, Robin, Robin Crufoe, poor Robin Crufoe!
Where are you, Robin Crufoe? Where are you? Where
have you been?
I was fo dead afleep at first, being fatigued with row-
ing, or paddling, as it is called, the first part of the day,
and walking the latter part, that I did not awake tho-
roughly; and dozing between fleeping and waking,
( 93 )
thought I dreamed that ſomebody ſpoke to me: But as
the voice continued to repeat Robin Cru oe, Robin Crufoe;
at laſt I began to awake more perfectly, and was at
first dreadfully frighted, and ſtarted up in the utmoſt
conſternation: but no fooner were my eyes open, but
I faw my Poll fitting on the top of the hedge, and im-
mediately knew that this was he that ſpoke to me; for
juft in fuch bemoaning language I had ufed to talk to
him, and teach him; and he had learned it ſo perfectly,
that he would fit upon my finger, and lay his bill clofe
to my face, and cry, poor Robin Crufoe, Where are
you? Where have you been? How came you here? And
fuch things as I had taught him.
However, even tho' I knew it was the parrot, and
that indeed it could be nobody elſe, it was a good
while before I could compofe myſelf. Firft, I was a-
mazed how the creature got thither, and then how he
fhould juſt keep about the place, and no-where elfe:
But as I was well fatisfied it could be nobody but hon-
eſt Poll, I got it over; and holding out my hand, and
calling him by his name, Poll, the fociable creature
came to me, and fat upon my thumb, as he uſed to do,
and continued talking to me, poor Robin Crufoe, and,
How did I come here? And, Where had I been? Just
as if he had been overjoyed to fee me again; and fo I
carried him home along with me.
I had now had enough of rambling to fea for fome
time, and had enough to do for many days to fit ftill,
and reflect upon the danger I had been in: I would
have been very glad to have had my boat again on my
fide of the iſland, but I knew not how it was practi-
cable to get it about: As to the eaft-fide of the island,
(94)
i
which I had gone round, I knew well enough there
was no venturing that way; my very heart would
fhrink, and my very blood run chill, but to think of
it and to the other fide of the island, I did not know
how it might be there; but fuppofing the current ran
with the fame force againſt the fhore at the eaſt, as it
paffed by it on the other, I might run the ſame rifque
of being driven down the ftream, and carried by the
ifland, as I had been before of being carried away from
it; fo with thefe thoughts I contented myfelf to be
without any boat, tho' it had been the product of lo
many months labour to make it, and of fo many more
to get into the ſea.
In this government of my temper I remained near
a year, lived a very fedate retired life, as you may well
fuppofe; and my thoughts being very much compofed,
as to my condition, and fully comforted in refigning
myſelf to the difpofitions of providence, I thought
I lived really very happily in all things, except that
of fociety.
I improved myſelf, in this time, in all the mechanic
exerciſes which my neceffities put me upon applying
myfelf to; and, I believe, could, upon occafion, have
made a very good carpenter, efpecially confidering how
few tools I had.
Befides this, I arrived at an unexpected perfection in
my earthen-ware, and contrived well enough to make
them with a wheel, which I found infinitely eaſier and
better; becauſe I made things round and fhapeable,
which before were filthy things indeed to look on.
But I think I never was more vain of my own perfor-
mance, or more joyful for any thing I found out, than
( 95 )
for my being able to make a tobacco-pipe; and tho
it was a very ugly clumfy thing when it was done, and
only burnt red like other earthen-ware, yet, as it was
hard and firm, and would draw the fmoke, I was ex-
ceedingly comforted with it; for I had been always
ufed to finoke, and there were pipes in the fhip, but I
forgot them at firft, not knowing that there was tobaċ-
co in the iſland; and afterwards, when I fearched the
ſhip again, I could not come at any pipes at all.
In my wicker-ware I alſo improv'd much, and made
abundance of neceffary baſkets, as well as my invention
fhewed me, tho' not very handfome, yet convenient for
my laying things up in, or fetching things home in.
For example, if I killed a goat abroad, I could hang
it up in a tree, flay it, and drefs, and cut it in pieces,
and bring it home in a baſket; and the like by
a turtle, I could cut it up, take out the eggs, and a
piece or two of the flesh, which was enough for me,
and bring them home in a baſket, and leave the reft
behind me: alfo large deep baſkets were my receivers
for my corn, which I always rubbed out as foon as it
was dry, and cured; and kept it in great baſkets in-
ftead of a granary.
I began now to perceive my powder abated confi-
derably; and this was a want which it was impoffible
for me to ſupply, and I began ſeriouſly to confider what
I muſt do when I ſhould have no more powder; that is
to fay, how I should do to kill any goats.
I had, as
I obferved in the third year of my being here, kept
a young kid, and bred her up tame; I was in hopes of
getting an he-kid, but I could not by any means bring
it to pafs, till my kid grew an old goat; and I could
( 98 )
98)
never find in my heart to kill her, till ſhe died, at laft
of mere age.
But being now in the eleventh year of my reſidence,
and, as I have faid, my ammunition growing low, I fet
myſelf to ſtudy fome art to trap and fnare the goats, to
fee whether I could not catch fome of them alive, and
particularly I wanted à fhe-goat great with young..
To this purpoſe I made fnares to hamper them;
and I believe they were more than once taken in
them; but my tackle was not good, for I had no
wire, and always found them broken, and my bait de-
voured.
At length I refolved to try a pit fall, fo I dug feve-
ral large pits in the earth, in places where I had obferv-
ed the goats uſed to feed, and over theſe pits I placed
hurdles of my own making too, with a great weight up-
on them; and ſeveral times I put ears of barley, and
dry rice, without fetting the trap; and I could eaſily
perceive, that the goats had gone in, and eaten up the
corn, that I could fee the mark of their feet: at length,
I fet three traps in one night, and going the next
morning, I found them all ſtanding, and yet the bait
eaten, and gone: this was very difcouraging; however,
I altered my traps; and, not to trouble you with par-
ticulars, going one morning to fee my traps, I found,
in one of them, a large old he-goat; and, in one of the
others three kids, a male and two females.
As to the old one, I knew not what to do with him;
he was fo fierce I durft not go into the pit to him;
that is to fay, to go about to bring him away alive,
which was what 1 wanted: I could have killed him,
but that was not my buſineſs, nor would it anfwer my
( 97 )
end; fo I e'en let him out, and he ran away as if he
had been frighten'd out of his wits; but I did not then
know what I afterwards learned, that hunger will tante
a lion: If I had let him ftay there three or four days
without food, and then have carried him fome water
to drink, and then a little corn, he would have been
as tame as one of the kids; for they are mighty faga-
cious tractable creatures, where they are well ufed.
However, for the prefent I let him go, knowing no
better at that time; then I went to the three kids, and,
taking them one by one, I ty'd them with ftrings to-
gether, and with fome difficulty brought them all
home.
It was a good while before they would feed, but
throwing them fome fweet corn, it tempted them, and
they began to be tame: and now I found, that if I ex-
pected to fupply myfelf with goats-flesh, when I had no
powder or fhot left, breeding fome up tame was my
only way, when perhaps I might have them about my
houfe like a flock of fheep.
But then it preſently occur'd to me, that I muſt keep
the tame from the wild, or elſe they would always run
wild when they grew up ; and the only way for this was
to have fome inclos'd piece of ground, well fenc'd ei-
ther with hedge or pale, to keep them up fo effectually,
that thoſe within might not break out, or thoſe with-
out break in.
This was a great undertaking for one pair of hands;
yet as I faw there was an abfolute neceffity of doing it,
my first piece of work was to find out a proper piece of
ground; viz. where there was likely to be herbage for
G
( 98 )
them to eat, water for them to drink, and cover to
keep them from the fun.
Thoſe who underſtand fuch inclofures, will think I
had very little contrivance, when I pitched upon a
place very proper for all theſe, being a plain open piece
of meadow-land or Savanna (as our people call it in the
western colonies) which had two or three little drills of
fresh water in it, and at one end was very woody; I
fay they will fmile at my forecaſt, when I fhall tell
them I began my incloſing of this piece of ground in
fuch a manner, that my hedge or pale muſt have been
at least two miles about; nor was the madneſs of it fo
great as to the compafs; for if it was ten miles about,
I was like to have time enough to do it in; but I did
not confider, that my goats would be as wild in fo much
compafs, as if they had had the whole island; and I
fhould have fo much room to chace them in, that I
fhould never catch them.
My hedge was begun and carried on, I believe, about
fifty Yards when this thought occurr'd to me; fo I pre-
fenty to p'd thort, and for the first beginning I refolv'd
to inclufe a piece of about 150 yards in length, and 100
yards in breadth which as it would maintain as many
as 1 fhould have in any reaſonable time, fo, as my flock.
increaſed, I could add more ground to my inclofure.
This was acting with fome prudence. and I went to
work with courage I was about three months hedg-
ing in the first piece; and, till I had done it, I tether'd
the three kids in the best part of it, and ufed them to
feed as near me as poffible. to make them familiar; and
very often I would go and carry them fome ears of
barley, or an handful of rice, and feed them out of my
( 99 )
hand; fo that after my incloſure was finish'd, and I
let them looſe, they would follow me up and down,
bleating after me for an handful of corn.
This anfwer'd my end, and in about a year and a half
I had a flock of about twelve goats, kids and all; and in
two years more I had three-and-forty, befides feveral
that I took and kill'd for my food; and after that I inclof-
ed five feveral pieces of ground to feed themin, with little
pens to drive them into, to take them as I wanted them;
and gates out of one piece of ground into another.
But this was not all; for now I not only had goat's
fleſh to feed on when I pleas'd, but milk too, a thing
which indeed in my beginning, I did not ſo much as think
of, and which, when it came into my thoughts was
really an agreeable furprize; for now I fet up my dai-
ry, and had fometimes a gallon or two of milk in a
day. And as nature, who gives fupplies of food to e-
very creature, dictates even naturally how to make uſe
of it; fo I, that never milk'd a cow, much leſs a goat,
or faw butter or cheeſe made, very readily and handi-
ly, tho' after a great many effays and mifcarriages,
made me both butter and cheeſe at laft, and never wan-
ted it afterwards.
How mercifully can our great creator treat his crea-
tures, even in thofe conditions in which they feem'd to
be overwhelm'd in deftruction! How can he fweeten the
bittereſt providences, and give us caufe to praiſe him for
dungeons and priſons! What a table was here fpread
for me in a wilderneſs, where I faw nothing at first but
to perifh for hunger!
It would have made a ftoick fmile, to have ſeen me
and my little family fit down to dinner; there was my
"
G 2
( 100 )
majefty, the prince and lord of the whole ifland; I had
the lives of all my fubjects at abſolute command; I
could hang, draw, give life and liberty, and take it a-
way, and no rebels among all my ſubjects.
1
Then to fee how like a king I dined too, all alone,
attended by my fervants! Poll, as if he had been my
favourite, was the only perfon permitted to talk to me;
my dog, which was now grown very old and crazy,
and found no fpecies to multiply his kind upon, fat
always at my right-hand; and two cats, one on one
ſide of the table, and one on the other, expecting now
and then a bit from my hand as a mark of ſpecial fa-
vour.
:
But theſe were not the two cats which I brought
on fhore at firft; for they were both of them dead,
and had been interred near my habitation by my own
hands but one of them having multiply'd by I know
not what kind of creature, theſe were two which I
preſerved tame, whereas the reſt ran wild in the woods,
and became indeed troubleſome to me at laſt; for they
would often come into my houſe, and plunder me too,
til at lalt I was obliged to fhoot them, and did kill a
great many; at laſt they left me with this attendance,
and in this plentiful manner I lived; neither could I
be faid to want any thing but fociety, and of that, in
fome time after this, I was like to have too much.
I was tomething impatient, as I had obferved, to
have the ufe of my boat, though very loath to run a-
ny more hazard; and therefore fometimes I fat con-
triving ways to get her about the island, and at other
times I fat down contented enough without her. But
I had a ſtrange uneafinefs in my mind to go down to
( 101 )
the point of the iſland, where, as I have faid, in my
laſt ramble, I went up the hill to fee how the fhore
lay, and how the current fet, that I might fee what I
had to do: This inclination increafed upon me every
day, and at length I refolved to travel thither by land,
and following the edge of the thore, I did fo: But
had any one in England been to meet fuch a man as
I was, it must either have frighted them, or raiſed a
great deal of laughter; and as I frequently ftood till
to look at myſelf, 1 could not but fmile at the notion
my travelling through Yorkshire with ſuch an equi-
page, and in fuch a drefs. Be pleafed to take a ſketch
of my figure, as follows:
of
I had a great high fhapelefs cap, made of goat's fkin,
with a flap hanging down behind, as well to keep the
fun from me, as to ſhoot the rain off from running in-
to my neck; nothing being fo hurtful in theſe climates,
as the rain upon the flesh under the cloaths.
I had a fhort jacket of goat's fkin, the skirts com-
ing down to about the middle of my thighs, and a pair
of open-kneed breeches of the fame: The breeches
were made of the ſkin of an old he goat, whoſe hair
hung down fuch a length on either fide, that, like
Pontoloons, it reached the middle of my legs. Stock-
ings and fhoes I had none; but I had made me a pair
of fomething, I fcarce knew what to call them, like
bufkins, to flap over my legs, and lace on either fide
like fpatterdaſhes, but of a moſt barbarous ſhape, as in-
deed were all the rest of my cloaths.
I had on a broad belt of goat's fkin dryed, which I
drew together with two thongs of the fame instead of
buckles; and in a kind of frog on either fide of this,
1:
G 3
( 102 )
inftead of a fword and dagger, hung a little faw and
an hatchet, one on one fide, one on the other: I had
another belt not fo broad, and faltened in the fame
manner, which hung over my fhoulder; and at the
end of it, under my left arm, hung two pouches, both
made of goat's ſkin too; in one of which hung my
powder, in the other my fhot; At my back I carried
my baſket, on my fhoulder my gun, and over my head
a great clumfy ugly goat skin umbrella, but which, af-
ter all, was the most neceffary thing I had about me,
next to my gun: As for my face, the colour of it was
not really fo Mulatto-like, as one might expect from a
man not at all careful of it, and living within 9 or 10
degrees of the equinox. My beard 1 had once fuffer-
ed to grow till it was about a quarter of a yard long;
but as I had both fciffars and razors fufficient, I had
cut it pretty ſhort, except what grew on my upper lip,
which I had trimmed into a large pair of Mahometan
whiskers, fuch as I had feen worn by fome Turks,
whom I faw at Sallee; for the Moors did not wear
fuch, though the Turks did: Of theſe muſtachios, or
whiskers, I will not fay they were long enough to hang
my hat upon them; but they were of a length and
fhape monstrous enough, and fuch as in England would
have paffed for frightful.
But all this is by the bye; for as to my figure I had
fo few to obferve me, that it was of no manner of
confequence; fo I fay no more of that part: In this
kind of figure I went my new journey, and was out
five or fix days. I travelled firft along the fea-fhore,
directly to the place where I firit brought my boat to
an anchor, to get up upon the rock; and having no
1
( 103 )
boat now to take care of, I went over, the land a near-
er way, to the fame height that I was upon before;
when looking forward to the point of the rock which
lay out, and which I was to double with my boat, as I
faid above, I was furpriz'd to fee the fea all fmooth
and quiet; no rippling, no motion, no current, any
more there than in other places.
I was at a firange lofs to underſtand this, and refol-
ved to ſpend ſome time in the obſerving it, to ſee if no-
thing from the fets of the tide had occafioned it: But
I was preſently convinced how it was; viz. That the
tide of ebb ſetting from the Weſt, and joining with the
current of waters from fome great river on the ſhore,
must be the occafion of this current; and that accor-
ding as the wind blew more forcible from the Weſt,
or from the North, this current came near, or went
farther from the fhore; for waiting thereabouts till
evening, I went up to the rock again and then the
tide of ebb being made, I plainly law the current a-
gain as before, only that it ran farther off, being near
half a league from the fhore; whereas in my cafe,
it fet cloſe upon the thore, and hurried me in my Ca-
noe along with it, which at another time it would not
have done.
:
This obfervation convinced me, that I had nothing
to do but to obſerve the ebbing and the flowing of the
tide, and I might very eafily bring my boat about the
island again But when I began to think of putting it
in practice, I had fuch a terror upon my 1pirits at the
remembrance of the danger I had been in, that I could
not think of it again with any patience; but on the
contrary, I took up another refolution, which was
G 4
( 104 )
104)
more fafe, tho' more laborious; and this was, that I
would build, or rather make me another Periagua, or
Canoe; and fo have one for one fide of the island, and
one for the other.
You are to underſtand, that now I had, as 1 may
call it, two plantations in the ifland; one my little for-
tification or tent, with the wall about it under the
rock, with the cave behind me, which by this time I
had enlarged into feveral apartments or caves, one
within another. One of thefe, which was the driest
and largeſt, and had a door out beyond my wall or fer-
tification, that is to fay, beyond where my wall joined
to the rock, was all filled with the large earthen pots,
of which I have given an account, and with fourteen
or fifteen great baſkets, which would hold five or fix
bufhels each, where I laid up my ftores of proviſion,
efpecially my corn, fome in the ear cut off fhort from
the ſtraw, and the other rubbed out with my hand.
As for my wall made, as before, with long flakes or
piles, thofe piles grew all like trees, and were by this
time grown ſo big, and ſpread fo very much, that there
was not the leaft appearance, to any one's view, of any
habitation behind them.
Near this dwelling of mine, but a little farther wi-
thin the land, and upon lower ground, lay two pieces
of corn-ground; which I kept duly cultivated and fow-
ed, and which duly yielded me their harveſt in its fea-
fon; and whenever I had occafion for more corn, I
had more land adjoining as fit as that.
Befides this, I had my country-feat, and I had now
a tolerable plantation there alfo; for firft, I had my
little bower, as I called it, which I kept in repair;
(
105 )
that is to fay, I kept the hedge which circled it in,
conftantly fitted up to its ufual height, the ladder ftan-
ding always in the infide: I kept the trees, which at
first were no more than my ſtakes, but were now
grown very firm and tall; I kept them always fo cut,
that they might fpread and grow thick and wild, and
make the more agreeable fhade, which they did effec-
tually to my mind. In the middle of this I had my tent
always flanding, being a piece of a fail fpread over
poles fet up for that purpoſe, and which never want-
ed any repair or renewing; and under this I had made
me a fquab or couch, with the skins of the creatures
I had killed, and with other ſoft things, and a blan-
ket laid on them, fuch as belonged to our fea-bedding,
which I had faved, and a great watch-coat to cover
me; and here, whenever I had occafion to be abfent
from my chief feat, I took up my country habitation.
Adjoining to this I had my incloſures for my cattle,
that is to fay, my goats: And as I had taken an incon-
ceivable deal of pains to fence and inclofe this ground,
I was fo uneaſy to ſee it kept entire, left the goats
hould break through, that I never left off, tili with
infinite labour I had ftuck the outfide of the hedge fo
full of fmall flakes, and fo near one another, that it
was rather a pale than a hedge, and there was ſcarce
room to put a hand through between them, which af
terwards, when theſe ſtakes grew, as they all did in the
next rainy feaſon, made the inclofure ftrong like a
wall, and indeed ftronger than any wall.
This will teftify for me that I was not idle, and that
I fpared no pains to bring to paſs whatever appeared
peceflary for my comfortable ſupport; for I confider-
( 106 )
ed the keeping up a breed of tame creatures thus at
my hand, would be a living magazine of fleſh, milk,
butter and cheeſe for me, as long as I lived in the
place, if it were to be forty years; and that keeping
them in my reach, depended intirely upon my perfect-
ing my incloſures to fuch a degree, that I might be
fure of keeping them together; which by this me-
thod indeed I fo effectually fecured, that when theſe
little ſtakes began to grow, I had planted them to ve-
ry thick, I was forced to pull fome of them up again.
In this place alfo I had my grapes growing, which
I principally depended on for my winter ftore of rai-
fius, and which I never failed to preferve very care-
fully, as the beſt and moſt agreeable dainty of my
whole diet; and indeed they were not agreeable only,
but phyfical, wholefome, nouriſhing and refreſhing
to the laſt degree.
As this was alfo about half-way between my habi-
tation and the place where I laid up my boat, I gene-
rally ſtaid and lay here in the way thither; for I uſed
frequently to uſe my boat, and I kept all things about
or belonging to her in very good order: fometimes I
went out in her to divert myſelf, but no more hazar-
dous voyages would I go, nor ſcarce ever above a
ftone's caft or two from the fhore. I was fo appre-
henfive of being hurried out of my knowledge again
by the currents, or winds, or any other accident: But
now I come to a new fcene of my life.
It happened one day about noon, going towards my
boat, I was exceedingly furprized with the print of a
man's naked foot on the fhore, which was very plain
to be ſeen in the fand: I flood like one thunderftruck,
( 107 )
i.
or as if I had feen an apparition; I liſtened, I looked
round me, I could hear nothing, nor fee any thing;
I went up to a rifing ground to look farther; I went
up the ſhore and down the fhore, but it was all one, I
could fee no other impreffion but that one; I went to
it again to ſee if there were any more, and to obſerve
if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for
that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot,
toes, heel, and every part of a foot: how it came thi
ther I knew not, nor could in the leaft imagine. But
after innumerable fluttering thoughts, like a man per-
fectly confuſed, and out of myſelf, I came home to my
fortification, not feeling, as we fay, the ground I went
on, but terrified to the laft degree, looking behind me
at every two or three fteps, miſtaking every buſh and
tree, and fancying every flump at a distance to be a
man; nor is it poflible to deſcribe, how many various
fhapes an affrighted imagination reprefented things to
me in; how many wild ideas were formed every mo-
ment in my fancy, and what ftrange unaccountable
whimfies came into my thoughts by the way.
When I came to my caftle, for fo I think I called it
ever after this, I fled into it like one purfued; whe-
ther I went over by the ladder, as firit contrived, or
went in at the hole in the rock, which, I cannot re-
member; for never frighted hare fled to cover, or
fox to earth, with more terror of mind than I to this
retreat.
1 had no fleep that night; the farther I was from
the occafion of my fright, the greater my apprehenti-
ons were; which is fomething contrary to the nature
of fuch things, and efpecially to the ufual practice of
(108)
1
1
all creatures in fear: But I was fo embarraffed with
my own frightful ideas of the thing, that I formed
nothing but difmal imaginations to myſelf, even tho'
I was now a great way off it. Sometimes I fancied it
must be the devil; and reafon joined in with me in
this fuppofitione for how fhould any other thing in
human ſhape come into this place? Where was the
veffel that brought them? What marks were there of
any other footſteps? And how was it poffible a man
fhould come there? But then to think that Satan
ſhould take a human fhape upon him in ſuch a place,
where there could be no manner of occafion for it,
but to leave the print of his foot behind him, and that
even for no purpoſe too (for he could not be ſure I
fhould fee it) this was an amazement the other way:
I confidered that the devil might have found out abun-
dance of other ways to have terrified me, than this of
the fingle print of a foot: That as I lived quite on
the other fide of the island, he would never have been
fo fimple to leave a mark in a place where it was ten
thouſand to one whether I fhould ever fee it or not,
and in the fand too, which the firft furge of the fea
upon an high wind would have defac'd entirely: All
this feemed inconfiftent with the thing itſelf, and with
all the notions we ufually entertain of the ſubtlety of
the devil.
Abundance of fuch things as theſe affifted to argue
me out of all apprehenfions of its being the devil; and
I preſently concluded then that it must be fome more
dangerous creature, viz. That it muſt be ſome of the
favages of the main land over-against me, who had
wandered out to fea in their canoes, and, either driven
( 109 )
by the currents, or by contrary winds, had made the
ifland; and had been on thore, but were gone away as
gain to fea being as loth, perhaps, to have ftaid in
this defolate iſland, as I would have been to have had
them.
While thoſe reflexions were rolling upon my mind,
I was very thankful in my thought, that I was ſo hap-
py as not to be thereabouts at that time, or that they
did not fee my boat, by which they would have con-
cluded, that fome inhabitants had been in the place,
and perhaps have fearched farther for me: Then
terrible thoughts racked my imaginations about their
having found my boat, and that there were people here;
and that if fo, I fhould certainly have them come again
in greater numbers, and devour me; that if it ſhould
happen fo that they fhould not find me, yet they would
find my inclofure, deftroy all my corn, carry away all
my flock of tame goats, and I ſhould perish at laſt for
mere want.
Thus my fear baniſh'd all my religious hope; all
that former confidence in God, which was founded
upon fuch wonderful experience as I had had of his
goodneſs, now vanifhed; as if he that had fed me by
miracle hitherto, could not preſerve by his power the
proviſion which he had made for me by his goodneſs.
I reproached myſelf with my eaſineſs, that would not
fow any more corn one year than would juft ferve me
till the next feafon, as if no accident could intervene to
prevent my enjoying the crop that was upon the
ground; And this I thought fo juſt a reproof, that I
refolved for the future to have two or three years corn
( 110 )
before-hand, fo that whatever might come, I might not
perith for want of bread,
How range a chequer-work of providence is the
life of man! And by what fecret differing fprings are
the affections hurried about, as differing circumſtances
prefent! To-day we love what to-morrow we hate;
to-day we feek what to-morrow we fhun; to-day we
defire what to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at
the apprehenfions of. This was exemplified in me at
this time in the moft lively manner imaginable; for I,
whofe only affliction was, that I feemed banished from
human fociety, that I was alone, circumfcribed by the
boundleſs ocean, cut off from mankind, and condemn-
ed to what I call filent life; that I was as one whom
heaven thought not worthy to be numbered among the
living, or to appear among the reſt of his creatures;
that to have ſeen one of my own fpecies, would have
ſeemed to me a railing from death to life, and the grea-
teft bleffing that heaven itſelf, next to the fupreme
bleffing of falvation, could beſtow; I fay, that I ſhould
now tremble at the very apprehenfions of feeing a man,
and was ready to fink into the ground, at but the
fhadow, or filent appearance of a man's having fet his
foot on the iſland.
Such is the uneven ftate of human life; and it af-
forded me a great many curious fpeculations after-
wards, when I had a little recovered my furprize; I
confidered that this was the flation of life the infinite-
ly wife and good Providence of God had determined
for me; that as I could not foreſee what the ends of
divine wiſdom might be in all this, fo I was not to diſ-
pute his fovereignty, who, as I was his creature, had
( 11 )
an undoubted right by creation to govern and difpofe
of me abfolutely as he thought fit; and who, as I was
a creature who had offended him, had likewife a judi-
cial right to condemp me to what punishment he
thought fit; and that it was my part to fubmit to bear
his indignation becauſe I had finned against him.
I then reflected, that God, who was not only righte-
ous, but omnipotent, as he had thought fit thus to pu
niſh and afflict me, ſo he was able to deliver me; that
if he did not think fit to do it, it was my unquestioned
duty to refign myſelf abfolutely and entirely to his will:
And, on the other hand, it was my duty alſo to hope
in him, pray to him, and quietly to attend the dictates
and directions of his daily providence.
Thefe thoughts took me up many hours, days, nay,
I may fay, weeks and months; and one particular ef-
fect of my cogitations on this occafion, I cannot omit;
viz. One morning early, lying in my bed, and filled
with thoughts about my danger from the appearance
of favages, I found it difcompofed me very much; up-
on which theſe words of the fcripture came into my
thoughts, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Upon this rifing chearfully out of my bed, my heart
was not only comforted, but I was guided and encou-
raged to pray earnestly to God for deliverance: When
I had done praying, I took up my bible, and opening
it to read, the first words that prefented to me, were,
Wait on the Lord, and be of good cheer, and he shall
Strengthen thy heart; Wait, 1Jay, on the Lord. It is
impoffible to exprefs the comfort this gave me; and in
112
112 )
return, thankfully laid down the book, and was no
more fad, at lealt, not on that occafion.
In the middle of thefe cogitations, apprehenfions,
and reflexions, it came into my thoughts one day, that
all this might be a mere chimera of my own, and that
this foot might be the print of my own foot, when I
came on ſhore from my boat : This cheered me up a
little too, and I began to perfuade myſelf it was all a
delufion; that it was nothing elſe but my own foot;
and why might not I come that way from the boat,
as well as I was going that way to the boat? Again I
confidered alſo, that I could by no means tell for cer-
tain where I had uod, and where I had not; and that
if at last this was only the print of my own foot, I
had played the part of thoſe fools, who ftrive to make
ftories of ſpectres and apparitions, and then are them-
felves frighted at them more than any body elſe.
Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad
again; for I had not tirred out of my caſtle for three
days and nights, fo that I began to ftarve for want of
provifion; for I had little or nothing within doors,
but fome barley-cakes and water. Then I knew, that
my goats wanted to be milked too, which ufually was
my evening diverfion; and the poor creatures were in
great pain and inconvenience for want of it; and in-
deed it almoſt ſpoiled fome of them, and almoft dried
up their milk.
Heartening myfelf therefore with the belief, that
this was nothing but the print of one of my own feet
(and fo I might be truly faid to ftart at my own fha-
dow) I began to go abroad again, and went to my
country-houſe to milk my flock; but to fee with what
(
III
11 )
fear I went forward, and how often I looked behind
me, how I was ready, every now and then, to lay down
my baſket, and run for my life, it would have made a-
ny one have thought I was haunted with an evil con-
ſcience, or that I had been lately most terribly fright-
ed; and fo indeed I had
However, as I went down thus two or three days,
and having ſeen nothing, I began to be a little bolder,
and to think there was really nothing in it but my owa
imagination; but I could not perfuade myſelf fully of
this, till I fhould go down to the fhore again, and fee
this print of a foot, and meaſure it by my own, and fee
if there was any fimilitude or fitnefs, that I might be
affured it was my own foot: But when I came to the
place firſt, it appeared evidently to me, that when I laid
up my boat, I could not poffibly be on fhore anywhere
thereabouts Secondly, when I came to meaſure the
mark with my own foot, I found my foot not fo large
by a great deal Both thefe things filled my head with
new imaginations, and gave me the vapours again to the
highest degree; fo that I fhook with cold like one in
an ague, and I went home again, filled with the belief
that ſome man or men had been on fhore there; or,
in short, that the island was inhabited, and I might be
furpriſed before I was aware; and what courſe to take
for my fecurity, I knew not.
O what ridiculous refolutions men take, when poſ-
feffed with fear! It deprives them of the uſe of thoſe
means, which reafon offers for their relief. The first
thing I propoſed to myſelf was, to throw down my in-
cloſures, and turn all my tame cattle wild into the
woods, that the enemy might not find them, and then
H
( 112 )
7
frequent the iſland in profpect of the fame, or the like
booty; then to the fimple thing of digging up my two
corn-fields, that they might not find fuch a grain there,
and ſtill be prompted to frequent the iſland; then to
demolith my bower and tent, that they might not fee
any veftiges of my habitation, and be prompted to look
farther, in order to find out the perfons inhabiting.
Theſe were the fubjects of the first night's cogitati-
on, after I was come home again, while the apprehen-
fions which had fo over-run my mind were freſh upon
me, and my head was full of vapours, as above. Thus
fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying
than danger itſelf, when apparent to the eyes; and
we find the burden of anxiety, greater by much, than
the evil which we are anxious about; but, which was
worſe than all this, 1 had not this relief in that trou-
ble for the reſignation I uſed to practiſe, that I hoped
to have. I looked, I thought, like Saul, who com-
plained not only that the Philistines were upon him,
but that God had forfaken him; for I did not now
take due ways to compofe my mind, by crying to God
in my diſtreſs, and refting upon his Providence, as
I had done before, for my defence and deliverance;
which if I had done, I had, at leaſt, been more chear-
fully fupported under this new ſurprize, and perhaps
carried through it with more refolution.
This confufion of my thoughts kept me waking all
night; but in the morning I fell aſleep, and having
by the amufement of my mind been, as it were, tired,
and my ſpirits exhaufted, I flept very foundly, and a-
waked much better compofed than I had been before :
And now I began to think fedately; and, upon the ut-
( 113 )
moſt debate with myſelf, I concluded, that this iſland,
which was fo exceeding pleaſant, fruitful, and no far-
ther from the main land than as I had feen, was not
fo intirely abandoned as I might imagine: That al-
though there were no ftated inhabitants who lived on
the fpot; yet that there might fometimes come boats.
off from the fhare, who either with defign, or perhaps
never but when they were driven by croſs winds, might
come to this place.
That I had lived here 15 years now, and had not
met with the leaſt ſhadow or figure of any people be-
fore; and that if at any time they fhould be driven
here, it was probable they went away again as foon as
ever they could, feeing they had never thought fit to
fix there upon any occafion, to this time.
That the moſt I could fuggeft any danger from, was,
from any ſuch caſual accidental landing of fraggling
people from the main, who, as it was likely, if they
were driven hither, were here againſt their wills; fo
they made no ſtay here, but went off again with all pof-
fible ſpeed, feldom ftaying one night on fhore, left they
ſhould not have the help of the tides and day-light
back again; and that therefore I had nothing to do but
to confider of ſome ſafe retreat, in caſe I ſhould ſee a-
ny favages land upon the spot.
Now I began forely to repent, that I had dug my
cave fo large, as to bring a door through again, which
door, as I faid, came out beyond where my fortifica-
on joined to the rock. Upon maturely confidering
this therefore, I refolved to draw me a fecond fortifi-
cation, in the fame manner of a femicircle, at a diſtance
from my wall, just where I had planted a double row
H 2
( 114 )
of trees about twelve years before, of which I made
mention: Theſe trees having been planted fo thick
before, there wanted but few piles to be driven be-
tween them, that they fhould be thicker and ſtronger,
and my wall would be foon finished.
So that I had now a double wall, and my outer wall
was thickened with pieces of timber, old cables, and
every thing I could think of to make it ſtrong; having
in it feven holes, about as big as I might put my arm
out at it. In the infide of this I thickened my wall to
about ten feet thick, continually bringing earth out of
my cave, and laying it at the foot of the wall, and
walking upon it; and through the feven holes I con-
trived to plant the mufquets, of which I took notice,
that I got feven on fhore out of the fhip; thefe, I fay,
I planted like my cannon, and fitted them into frames
that held them like a carriage, that fo I could fire all
the feven guns in two minutes time: This wall I was
many a weary month in finiſhing, and yet never thought
myfelf fafe till it was done.
When this was done, I ftuck all the ground without
my wall, for a great way every way, as full with ſtakes
or flicks of the ofier-like wood, which I found ſo apt
to grow as they could well ſtand; infomuch that I be-
lieve I might fet in near twenty thousand of them,
leaving a pretty large ſpace between them and my wall,
that I might have room to fee an enemy, and they
might have no ſhelter from the young trees, if they
attempted to approach my outer wall.
Thus in two years time I had a thick grove; and in
five or fix years time I had a wood before my dwell-
ing, grown fo monftrous thick and ftrong, that it was
( 115 )
indeed perfectly impaffable; and no man of what kind
foever, would ever imagine, that there was any thing
beyond it, much leſs an habitation: As for the way I
propoſed to myſelf to go in and out (for I left no ave-
nue) it was by fetting two ladders; one to a part of
the rock which was low, and then broke in, and left
room to place another ladder upon that; fo when the
two ladders were taken down, no man living could
come down to me without mifchieving himfeif; and if
they had come down, they were ftill on the outfide of
my outer wall.
Thus I took all the meaſures human prudence could
fuggeſt for my own prefervation; and it will be feen
at length that they were not altogether without juſt
reafon; though I forefaw nothing at that time, more
than my mere fear fuggefted to me.
While this was doing, I was not altogether careleſs
of my other affairs; fo I had a great concern upon me
for my little herd of goats; they were not only a pre-
fent fupply to me upon every occafion, and began to be
fufficient to me without the expence of powder and ſhot,
but alſo abated my fatigue of hunting after the wild
ones; and I was loth to loſe the advantage of them, and
to have them all to nurfe up over again.
To this purpoſe, after long confideration, I could
think of but two ways to preſerve them; one was to
find another convenient place to dig a cave under
ground, and to drive them into it every night; and the
other was to incloſe two or three little bits of land,
remote from one another, and as much concealed as I
could, where I might keep about half a dozen young
goats in each place; fo that if any diſaſter happened to
H 3
( 116 ).
the flock in general, I might be able to raiſe them a-
gain with little trouble and time: and this, though it
would require a great deal of time and labour, I thought
was the moſt rational defign.
Accordingly I ſpent fome time to find out the moſt
retired parts of the iſland; and I pitched upon one
which was indeed as private as my heart could with;
for it was a little damp piece of ground in the middle
of the hollow and thick woods, where, as is obferved,
I almoſt loft my felf once before, endeavouring to come
back that way from the eaſtern part of the iſland;
Here I found a clear piece of land near three acres, fo
furrounded with woods, that it was almoſt an incloſure
by nature; at leaſt, it did not want near fo much la-
bour to make it ſo, as the other pieces of ground 1 had
worked fo hard at.
I immediately went to work upon this piece of ground,
and in less than a month's time I had fo fenced it round,
that my flock or herd, call it which you pleaſe, which
were not fo wild now as at first they might be fuppof-
ed to be, were well enough fecured in it. So without
any farther delay, I removed ten fhe-goats and two he-
goats to this piece; and when they were there I con-
tinued to perfect the fence, till I had made it as fecure
as the other, which, however I did at more leifure,
and it took me up more time by a great deal.
All this labour I was at the expence of, purely from
my apprehenfions on the account of the print of a
man's font which I had feen; for as yet, I never faw
any human creature come near the island, and I had
now lived two years under theſe uneafineffes, which in-
deed made my life much lefs comfortable than it was
2
( 117 )
before; as may well be imagined, by any who know
what it is to live in the conftant fnare of the fear of
man; and this I muſt obſerve with grief too, that the
difcompoſure of my mind had too great impreffions al-
fo upon the religious part of my thoughts; for the
dread and terror of falling into the hands of favages
and canibals lay fo upon my ſpirits, that I ſeldom found
myſelf in a due temper for application to my Maker ;
at leaſt, not with the fedate calmnefs and refignation
of foul which I was wont to do. I rather prayed to
God as under great affliction and preffure of mind,
ſurrounded with danger, and in expectation every night
of being murdered and devoured before morning; and
I muſt teſtify from my experience, that a temper of
peace, thankfulnefs, lore and affection, is much the
more proper frame for prayer than that of terror and
diſcompofure; and that under the dread of miſchief
impending, a man is no more fit for a comforting per-
formance of the duty of praying to God, than he is
for repentance on a fick bed; for thefe difcompofures
affect the mind as the others do the body; and the dif-
compoſure of the mind muſt neceffarily be as great a
difability as that of the body, and much greater; pray-
ing to God being properly an act of the mind, not of
the body.
But to go on; after I had thus fecured one part of
my little living ſtock, I went about the whole island,
ſearching for another private place, to make ſuch an-
other depofit; when wandering more to the weſt point
of the island than I had ever done yet, and looking out
to fea, I thought I faw a boat upon the fea, at a great
diſtance; I had found a perſpective glaſs or two, in one
H 4
( 118 )
of the feamen's chefts, which I faved out of our fhip;
but I had it not about me, and this was fo remote, that
I could not tell what to make of it, though I looked at
it till my eyes were not able to look any longer; whe-
ther it was a boat, or not, I do not know; but as I de-
fcended the hill, I could fee no more of it, ſo I gave
it
over; only 1 refolved to go no more without a per-
ſpective-glafs in my pocket.
When I was come down the hill, to the end of the
ifland, where indeed I had never been before, I was
preſently convinced, that the feeing the print of a
man's foot, was not fuch a ftrange thing in the iſland
as I imagined; and, but that it was a fpecial Providence
that I was cast upon the fide of the island where the
favages never came, 1 fhould eaſily have known, that
nothing was more frequent than for the Canoes from
the main, when they happened to be a little too far
out at fea, to fhoot over to that fide of the iſland for
harbour; likewife as they often met and fought in their
Canoes, the victors having taken any prifoners, would
bring them over to this fhore. where, according to their
dreadful customs, being all canibals, they would kill
and eat them: Of which hereafter.
When I was come down the hill to the fhore, as I
faid above, being the S. W. point of the iſland, I was
perfectly confounded and amazed; nor is it poffible for
me to express the horror of my mind, at feeing the
fhore fpread with ſkulls, hands, feet, and other bones
of human bodies; and particularly I obferved a place
where there had been a fire made, and a circle dug in
the earth, like a cock-pit, where it is fuppofed the fa-
"
}
( 119 )
vage wretches had fat down to their inhuman feaftings
upon the bodies of their fellow creatures.
I was ſo aſtoniſhed with the fight of theſe things,
that I entertained no notions of any danger to myſelf
from it, for a long while; all my apprehenfions were
buried in the thoughts of fuch a pitch of inhuman,
helliſh brutality, and the horror of the degeneracy of
human nature; which, though I had often heard of,
yet I never had fo near a view of before; in fhort, I
turned away my face from the horrid fpectacle; my
ftomach grew fick, and I was juft at the point of faint-
ing, when nature difcharged the diſorder from my fto-
mach, and, having vomited with an uncommon vio-
lence, I was a little relieved, but could not bear to ſtay
in the place a moment; fo I got up the hill again,with
all the ſpeed I could, and walked on towards my own
habitation.
When I came a little out of that part of the island,
I ftood ſtill a while as amazed; and then recovering
myſelf, I looked up with the utmoſt affection of my
foul, and, with a flood of tears in my eyes, gave God
thanks, that had caft my first lot in a part of the world,
where I was diftinguiſhed from fuch dreadful crea-
tures as thefe; and that tho' I had eſteemed my preſent
condition very miferable, had yet (given me fo many
comforts in it, that I had ſtill more to give thanks for,
than to complain of; and above all, that I had even in
this mferable condition, been comforted with the know-
ledge of himſelf, and the hope of his bleffing, which
was a felicity more than fufficiently equivalent to all
the mifery which I had fuffered, or could fuffer.
In this frame of thankfulneſs, I went home to my
।
་
( 120 )
caſtle, and began to be much eafier now, as to the
ſafety of my circumſtances, than ever I was before;
for I obferved, that thefe wretches never came to this
iſland in fearch of what they could get; perhaps not
ſeeking, not wanting, or not expecting any thing here;
and having often, no doubt, been up in the covered
woody part of it, without finding any thing to their
purpoſe: I knew I had been here now almoſt eighteen
years, and never faw the leaft footsteps of a human
creature there before; and might be here eighteen
more as intirely concealed as I was now, if I did not
diſcover myſelf to them, which I had no manner of
occafion to do, it being my only buſineſs to keep my-
felf intirely concealed, where I was, unless I found a
better fort of creatures than canibals to make myſelf
known to.
Yet I entertained fuch an abhorrence of the favage
wretches that I have been ſpeaking of, and of the
wretched inhuman cuſtom of their devouring and eat-
ing one another up, that I continued penfive and fad,
and kept cloſe within my own circle for almoſt two
years after this: When I fay my own circle, I mean
by it, my three plantations, viz. my castle, my coun-
try-feat, which 1 called my bower, and my incloſure in
the woods; nor did I look after this for any other uſe,
than as an inclofure for my goats; for the averfion
which nature gave me to thefe hellish wretches was
fuch, that I was as fearful of ſeeing them, as of feeing
the devil himself; nor did I fo much as go to look af
ter my boat in all this time, but began rather to think
of making me another; for I could not think of ever
making any more attempts to bring the other boat
(
121 )
left I fhould meet with fome
round the iſland to me,
of thoſe creatures at fea,
in which, if I had happened
to have fallen into their hands, I knew what would
have been my lot.
Time however, and the fatisfaction I had, that I was
in no danger of being diſcovered by theſe people, be-
gan to wear off my uneaſineſs about them; and 1 be-
gan to live juſt in the fame compoſed manner as before,
only with this difference, that I uſed more caution,
and kept my eyes more about me, than I did before,
left I ſhould happen to be feen by any of them; and
particularly, 1 was more cautious of firing my gun,
leſt any of them on the iſland ſhould happen to hear it,
and it was therefore a very good providence to me,
that I had furniſhed myſelf with a tame breed of goats,
that I had no need to hunt any more about the woods,
or ſhoot at them; and it I did catch any more of them
after this, it was by traps and fnares, as I had done be-
fore; ſo that for two years after this, 1 believe, I ne-
ver fired my gun once off, though I never went out
without it; and, which is more, as I had faved three
piftols out of the fhip, I always carried them out with
me, or at leaſt two of them, ſticking them in my goat-
fkin belt: I likewife furbiſhed up one of the great cut-
laces that 1 had out of the fhip, and made me a belt
to put in on alſo; fo that I was now a moſt formidable
fellow to look at, when I went abroad, if you add to
the former deſcription of myſelf, the particular of two
piſtols, and a great broad fword hanging at my fide in
a belt, but without a ſcabbard.
Things going on thus, as I have faid, for fome time,
I feemed, excepting theſe cautions, to be reduced to my
( 122 )
former calm fedate way of living; all theſe things ten-
ded to fhew me more and more how far my condition
was from being miferable, compared to fome others;
nay, to many other particulars of life, which it might
have pleaſed God to have made my lot. It put me up-
on reflecting, how little repining there would be among
mankind, at any condition of life, if people would ra-
ther compare their condition with thofe that are worſe,
in order to be thankful, than be always comparing them
with thoſe which are better, to aflift their murmur-
ings and complaints.
As in my preſent condition there were not really
many things which I wanted, fo indeed I thought that
the frights I had been in about thefe favage wretches,
and the concern I had been in for my own prefervati-
on, had taken off the edge of my invention for my own
conveniencies, and I had dropt a good defign, which I
had once bent my thoughts upon; and that was, to
try if 1 could not make fome of my barley into malt,
and then try to brew myſelf fome beer: this was real-
ly a whimſical thought, and I reproved myſelf often
for the fimplicity of it; for I prefently faw there
would be the want of feveral things neceffary to the
making my beer, that it would be impoffible for me to
fupply; as, firft, cafks to preferve it in, which was a
thing that, as I have obſerved already, I could never
compafs; no, though I fpent, not many days, but
weeks, nay months, in attempting it, but to no pur.
pofe. In the next place, I had no hops to make it
keep, no yeaſt to make it work, no copper or kettle
to make it boil; and yet, had not all theſe things in-
tervened, I mean the frights and terrors I was in a-
( 133 )
bout the favages, I had undertaken it, and perhaps
brought it to paſs too; for I feldom gave any thing
over without accompliſhing it, when I once had in my
head enough to begin it.
But my invention now ran quite another way; for
night and day I could think of nothing, but how I
might deſtroy fome of theſe monſters in their cruel
bloody entertainment; and, if poffible, fave the victim
they ſhould bring hither to destroy. It would take up
a larger volume than this whole work is intended to
be, to fet down all the contrivances I hatched, or ra-
ther brooded upon in my thoughts, for the deftroying
thefe creatures, or at leaft frightening them, fo as to
prevent their coming hither any more; but all was a-
bortive; nothing could be poffible to take effect, unleſs
I was to be there to do it myſelf; and what could one
man do among them, when perhaps there might be
twenty or thirty of them together, with their darts,
or their bows and arrows, with which they would
fhoot as true to a mark as I could with my gun ?
Sometimes I contrived to dig a hole under the place
where they made their fire, and put in five or fix
pounds of gunpowder, which, when they kindled their
fire, would confequently take fire, and blow up all that
was near it; but, as in the first place I fhould be very
loth to waſte ſo much powder upon them, my ſtore
being now within the quantity of a barrel; fo neither
could I be fure of its going off at any certain time,
when it might furprize them; and, at beft, that it
would do little more than blow the fire about their
ears, and fright them, but not fufficient to make them
forfake the place; fo I laid it afide, and then propofed,
( 124 )
that I would place myſelf in ambuſh, in ſome conveni-
ent place, with my three guns all double loaded, and
in the middle of their bloody ceremony let fly at them,
when I ſhould be fure to kill or wound perhaps two
or three at every fhot; and then falling in upon them
with my three piftols, and my fword, I made no doubt
but that, if there were twenty, I fhould kill them all:
This fancy pleaſed my thoughts for fome weeks, and
I was fo full of it, that I often dreamed of it; and
fometimes that I was just going to let fly at them in
my ſleep.
I went fo far with it in my imagination. that I em-
ployed myſelf ſeveral days, to find out proper places to
put myſelf in ambuſcade, as I faid, to watch for them ;
and I went frequently to the place itſelf, which was
now grown more familiar to me; and especially while
my mind was thus filled with thoughts of revenge, and
of a bloody putting twenty or thirty of them to the
fword, as I may call it; but the horror I had at the
place, and at the ſignals of the barbarous wretches de-
vouring one another, abated my malice.
Well, at length I found a place in the fide of the hill
where I was fatisfied I might fecurely wait till I faw
any of the boats coming, and might then, even before
they would be ready to come on fhore, convey myfelf
unfeen into thickets of trees, in one of which there
was an hollow large enough to conceal me entirely; and
where I might fit, and obſerve all their bloody doings,
and take my full aim at their heads, when they were fo
cloſe together, as that it would be next to impoffible
that I ſhould miss my fhot, or that I could fail wound-
ing three or four of them at the firſt ſhot.
( 125 )
In this place then I refolv'd to fix my defign; and
accordingly I prepared two muſkets, and my ordinary
fowling-piece. The two muskets I loaded with a brace
of flugs each, and four or five fmaller bullets, about
the fize of piſtol-bullets; and the fowling-piece I load-
ed with near an handful of fwan-fhot, of the largeſt
fize; I alfo loaded my piſtols with about four bullets
each: and in this pofture, well provided with ammuni-
tion for a fecond and third charge, I prepar'd myſelf
for my expedition."
After I had thus laid the fcheme for my defign, and
in my imagination put it in practice, I continually made
my tour every morning up to the top of the hill, which
was from my caſtle, as I called it, about three miles,
or more, to ſee if I could obſerve any boats upon
the
fea, coming near the iſland, or ſtanding over towards
it; but I began to tire of this hard duty, after I had
for two or three months conftantly kept my watch;
but came always back without any diſcovery, there
having not in all that time been the leaſt appearance,
not only on or near the fhore, but not on the whole
ocean, ſo far as my eyes or glaffes could reach every
way.
As long as I kept up my daily tour to the hill to
look out, ſo long alſo I kept up the vigour of my de-
fign, and my ſpirits feemed to be all the while in a fuit-
able frame, for fo outrageous an execution, as the kill-
ing twenty or thirty naked favages for an offence, which
1 had not at all enter'd into a difcuffion of in my thoughts
any further than paffions were are firft fired by the
horror I conceiv'd at the unnatural cuftom of the peo-
ple of that country, who, it feems, had been fuffered by
( 126 )
providence, in his wife difpofition of the world, to
have no other guide than that of their own abominable
and vitiated paffions; and confequently were left, and
perhaps had been for fome ages, to act fuch horrid
things, and receive fuch dreadful customs as nothing,
but nature, intirely abandon'd of heaven, and actuated
by fome hellish degeneracy, could have run them into:
but now, when, as I have faid, I began to be weary of
the fruitless excurfion which I had made fo long, and
fo far, every morning in vain; fo my opinion of the
action itſelf began to alter, and I began with cooler
and calmer thoughts to confider what it was I was go-
ing to engage in; what authority or call I had, to pre-
tend to be judge and executioner upon theſe men as
criminals, whom heaven had thought fit for fo many
ages to fuffer, unpunished, to go on, and to be, as it
were, the executioners of his judgments upon one ano-
ther; alfo how far thefe people were offenders againſt
me, and what right I had to engage in the quarrel of
that blood, which they ſhed promifcuouſly one upon ano-
ther: I debated this very often with myſelf thus; how
do I know what God himfelf judges in this particular
cafe? It is certain theſe people do not commit this as a
crime: it is not against their own confciences reprov
ing, or their light reproaching them. They do not
know it to be an offence, and then commit it in defiance
of divine juftice, as we do in almoſt all the fins we
commit. They think it no more a crime to kill a cap-
tive taken in war, than we do to kill an ox; nor to
eat human fleſh, than we do to eat mutton.
When I had confider'd this a little, it follow'd ne-
ceffarily, that I was certainly in the wrong in it; that
j
(127)
theſe people were not murderers in the fenfe that I had
before condemn'd them in my thoughts, any more than
thoſe chriſtians were murderers, who often put to
death the priſoners taken in battle, or more frequently,
upon many occafions, put whole troops of men to the
fword, without giving quarter, though they threw down
their arms, and fubmitted.
In the next place, it occured to me, that albeit the
uſage they gave one another was thus brutiſh and in-
human, yet it was really nothing to me: thefe people
had done me no injury: that if they attempted me, or
1 faw it neceffary for my immediate prefervation to fall
upon them, fomething might be faid for it; but that
I was yet out of their power, and they had really no
knowledge of me, and conſequently no defign upon me;
and therefore it could not be juſt for me to fall upon
them: that this would juſtify the conduct of the Spa-
niards, in all their barbarities practiſed in America, where
they deſtroyed millions of theſe people, who, however
they were idolaters and barbarians, and had ſeveral
bloody and barbarous rites in their customs, fuch as fa-
crificing human bodies to their idols, were yet, as to the
Spaniards, very innocent people; and that the rooting
them out of the country is fpoken of with the utmoſt
abhorrence and deteftation, even by the Spaniards them-
felves, at this time, and by all other chriftian nations
of Europe, as a mere butchery, a bloody and unnatural
piece of cruelty, unjuftifiable either to God or man :
and fuch, as for which the very name of a Spaniard is
reckoned to be frightful and terrible to all people of
humanity, or of chriftian compaffion: as if the king-
don of Spain were particularly eminent for the product
I
( 128 )
of a race of men, who were without principles of ten-
derneſs and humanity.
Thefe confiderations really put me to a paufe, and
to a kind of full ftop; and I began by little and little
to be off of my defign, and to conclude that I had taken
wrong meaſures in my refolutions to attack the fava-
ges; that it was not my buſineſs to meddle with them,
unless they first attacked me, and this it was my bufi-
neſs, if poffible, to prevent; but that, if I were diſco-
vered and attacked, then I knew my duty.
On the other hand I argued with myfelf, that this
really was the way not to deliver myſelf, but intirely
to ruin and deſtroy myſelf; for unleſs 1 was fure to kill
every one that not only fhould be on fhore at that time,
but that ever fhould come on fhore afterwards, if but
one of them eſcaped to tell their country-people what
had happened, they would come over again by thou-
fands to revenge the death of their fellows, and I ſhould
only bring upon myſelf a certain deſtruction, which at
preſent I had no manner of occafion for.
Upon the whole, I concluded, that neither in prin-
ciples nor in policy, I ought one way or other to con-
cern myſelf in this affair: That my bufinefs was, by
all poffible means to conceal myſelf from them, and not
to leave the leaſt ſignal to them to gueſs by, that there
were any living creatures upon the iſland, I mean of
human fhape.
Religion joined in with this prudential, and I was
convinced now many ways, that I was perfectly out of
my duty, when I was laying all my bloody fchemes for
the deſtruction of innocent creatures, I mean innocent
ás to me As to the crimes they were guilty of to-
wards one another, I had nothing to do with them,
( 129 )
there were national puniſhments to make a juft re-
tribution for national offences; and to bring publick
judgments upon thoſe who offend in a publick manner,
by fuch ways as beſt pleaſe God.
This appeared fo clear to me now, that nothing was
à greater fatisfaction to me, than that I had not been
fuffered to do a thing which I now faw fo much rea-
fon to believe would have been no lefs a fin than that
of wilful murder, if I had committed it; and I gave
moſt humble thanks on my knees to God, that had
thus delivered me from blood-guiltinefs; befeeching
him to grant me the protection of his Providence, that
I might not fall into the hands of Barbarians; or that
I might not lay my hands upon them, unless I had a
more clear call from heaven to do it, in defence of my
own life.
In this difpofition I continued for near a year after
this; and fo far was I from defiring an occafion of fal-
ling upon theſe wretches, that in all that time I never
once went up the hill to fee whether there was any of
them in fight, or to know whether any of them had
been on ſhore there or not; that I might not be teinp-
ted to renew any of my contrivances againſt them, or
be provoked by any advantage which might prefent it-
ſelf, to fall upon them; only this I did, I went and re-
moved my boat, which I had on the other fide of the
inland, and carried it down to the Eaft end of the whole
iſland, where I ran it into a little cove which I found
under fome high rocks, and where I knew, by reafon
of the currents, the favages durft not, at leaſt would not,
come with their boats, upon any account whatſoever.
With my boat I carried away every thing that I had
I 2
( 130 )
left there belonging to her, though not neceffary for
the bare going thither, viz. a maft and a fail, which I
had made for her, and a thing like an anchor, but in-
deed, which could not be called either anchor or grap-
ling; however, it was the best I could make of its
kind. All theſe I removed, that there might not be
the leaſt ſhadow of any diſcovery, or any appearance
of any boat, or of any habitation upon the island.
Beſides this, I kept myſelf, as 1 ſaid, more retired
than ever, and feldom went from my cell, other than
upon my conftant employment, viz. to milk my fhe-
goats, and manage my little flock in the wood; which,
as it was quite on the other part of the island, was
quite out of danger; For certain it is, that theſe fa-
vage people, who fometimes haunted this iſland, never
came with any thoughts of finding any thing here, and
confequently never wandered off from the coaft; and I
doubt not, but they might have been feveral times on
fhore, after my apprehenfions of them had made me
cautious, as well as before; and I looked back with
fome horror upon the thoughts of what my condition
would have been, if I had chopped upon them, and
been diſcovered before that, when naked and unarm-
ed, except with one gun, and that loaded only with
ſmall ſhot. I walked every where, peeping and peer-
ing about the iſland, to fee what I could get what a
furprize fhould I have been in, if, when I difcovered
the print of a man's foot, I had inſtead of that ſeen
fifteen or twenty favages, and found them purſuing
me, and by the fwiftnefs of their running, no poffibi-
lity of my escaping them!
The thoughts of this fometimes funk my very foul
( 131 )
within me, and diftreffed my mind fo much, that I
could not foon recoyer it; to think what I fhould have
done, and how I not only ſhould not have been able to
reſiſt them, but even ſhould not have had preſence of
mind enough to do what I might have done; much
leſs, what now after ſo much confideration and prepa-
ration I might not be able to do. Indeed, after ſerious.
thinking of thefe things, I would be very melancholy,
and fometimes it would laft a great while; but I re-
folved it at laft all into thankfulneſs to that Providence
which had delivered me from fo many unfeen dangers,
and had kept me from thoſe mifchiefs, which I could
no way have been the agent in delivering myſelf from,
becauſe I had not the leaft notion of any fuch thing
depending, or the leaft fuppofition of its being poffible.
This renewed a contemplation, which often had come
to my thoughts in former time, when first I began to
ſee the merciful difpofitions of Heaven, in the dangers
we run through in this life; how wonderfully we are
delivered when we know nothing of it: How when
we are in a quandary (as we call it) a doubt or heſitati-
on, whether we go this way, or that way, a fecret hint
ſhall direct us this way, when we intended to go that
way; nay, when fenfe, our own inclination, and per-
haps buſineſs, has called us to go the other way, yet a
ftrange impreffion upon the mind, from we know not
what fprings, and by we know not what power, fhall
over-rule us to go this way; and it fall afterwards ap-
pear, that had we gone that way which we would have.
gone, and even to our imagination ought to have gone,
we ſhould have been ruined and loft: Upon theſe, and
many like reflections, I afterwards made it a certain
13
( 132 )
rule with me, that whenever I found thefe fecret
hints, or preffings of my mind, to doing or not doing
any thing that prefented, or to going this way or that
way, I never failed to obey the fecret dictate; though
I knew no other reaſon for it, than that ſuch a pref-
fure, or ſuch an hint, hung upon my mind: I could
give many examples of the fuccefs of this conduct in
the courſe of my life; but more eſpecially in the lat-
ter part of my inhabiting this unhappy ifland: befides
many occafions which it is very likely I might have ta-
ken notice of, if I had feen with the fame eyes then,
that I ſaw with now: But 'tis never too late to be
wife; and I cannot but adviſe all confidering men,
whoſe lives are attended with fuch extraordinary in-
cidents as mine, or even though not fo extraordinary,
not to flight fuch fecret intimations of Providence, let
them come from what invifible intelligence they will;
that I fhall not difcufs, and perhaps cannot account
for; but certainly they are a proof of the converfe of
fpirits, and the fecret communication between thoſe
embodied, and thoſe unembodied; and fuch a proof as
can never be withftood: Of which 1 fhall have occafi-
on to give ſome very remarkable inftances, in the re-
mainder of my folitary refidence in this difmal place.
I believe the reader of this will not think it ſtrange,
if I confess that theſe anxieties, theſe conflant dangers
I lived in, and the concern that was now upon me, put.
an end to all invention, and to all the contrivances that
1 had laid for my future accommodations and conveni-
encies. I had the care of my fafety now more upon
my hands, than that of my food. I cared not to drive
a nail, or chop a piece of wood now, for fear the noiſe
( 133 )
I ſhould make ſhould be heard; much lefs would I fire
a gun, for the fame reafon; and, above all, I was very
uneafy at making any fire, left the fmoke, which is vi-
fible at a great distance in the day, fhould betray me;
and for this reaſon I removed that part of my buſineſs,
which required fire, fuch as burning of pots and pipes,
&c. into my new apartment in the wood, where after
I had been fome time, I found, to my unfpeakable con-
folation, a mere natural cave in the earth, which went
in a vaſt way, and where, I dare fay, no favage had
he been at the mouth of it, would be fo hardy as to
venture in, nor indeed would any man elfe, but one
who, like me, wanted nothing fo much as a fafe re-
treat.
The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of a
great rock, where, by mere accident (I would fay, if I
did not fee an abundant reaſon to afcribe all ſuch things
now to providence) I was cutting down fome thick
branches of trees to make charcoal; and before I go
on, I muſt obſerve the reaſon of my making this char-
coal, which was thus:
I was afraid of making a ſmoke about my habitation,
as I faid before; and yet I could not live there with-
out baking bread, cooking my meat, &c. fo I con-
trived to burn fome wood here, as I had feen done in
England under turf, till it became chark, or dry coal:
and then putting the fire out, I preferved the coal to
carry home, and perform the other fervices, which fire
was wanting for at home, without danger of fmoke.
But this by the by: While I was cutting down fome
wood here, I perceived that behind a very thick branch
of low bruſh-wood, or under-wood, there was a kind
I 4
( 134 )
;
of hollow place: I was curious to look into it, and get-
ting with difficulty into the mouth of it, I found it was
pretty large, that is to fay, fufficient for me to ftand
upright in it, and perhaps another with me; but I must
confefs to you, I made more hafte out than I did in
when looking farther into the place, which was per-
fectly dark, I faw two broad fhining eyes of fome crea-
ture, whether devil or man, I knew not, which twin-
kled like two ſtars, the dim light from the cave's mouth
fhining directly in, and making the reflection.
等
​However, after fome pauſe, I recovered myſelf, and
began to call my felf a thouſand fools, and tell myſelf,
that he that was afraid to fee the devil, was not fit to
live twenty years in an iſland all alone, and that I durft
to believe there was nothing in this cave that was more
frightful than myfelf: Upon this, plucking up my cou-
rage, I took up a large firebrand, and in 1 rufh'd a-
gain with the ſtick flaming in my hand: I had not gone
three steps in, but I was almoſt as much frightened as
I was before; for I heard a loud figh, like that of a
man in fome pain; and it was followed by a broken
noife, as of words half expreffed, and then a deep figh
again; I ſtepped back, and was indeed ftruck with ſuch
a furprize, that it put me into a cold ſweat; and if I had
had a hat on my head, I will not anſwer for it, that my
hair might not have lifted it off. But ftill plucking
up my fpirits as well as I could, and encouraging my-
felf a little, with confidering that the power and pre-..
fence of God was every where, and was able to pro-
tect me; upon this I ftepped forward again, and by the
light of the firebrand, holding it up a little over my
head, I faw lying on the ground a moft monstrous and
( 135 )
frightful old he-goat, juſt making his will, as we fay,
gaſping for life, and dying indeed of mere old age.
I ftirred him a little to fee if I could get him out,
and he effayed to get up, but was not able to raiſe
himſelf; and I thought with myfelf, he might even lie
there; for if he had frightened me fo, he would cer-
tainly fright any of the favages, if any of them fhould
be fo hardy as to come in there, while he had any life
in him.
I was now recovered from my furprize, and began
to look round me, when I found the cave was but ve-
ry ſmall; that is to fay, it might be about twelve feet
over, but in no manner of ſhape, either round or ſquare,
no hands having ever been employed in the making it,
but thoſe of mere nature: I obferved alfo, that there
was a place at the farther fide of it that went in far-
ther, but, fo low, that it required me to creep upon
my hands and knees to get into it, and whether it
went, I knew not; fo having no candle, I gave it over
for fome time, but refolved to come again the next day,
provided with candles and a tinder-box, which I had
made of the lock of one of the mufkets, with fome
wildfire in the pan.
Accordingly, the next day, I came provided with fix
large candles of my own making, for I made very good
candles now of goats tallow; and, going into this low
place, I was obliged to creep upon all fours, as I have
faid, almoſt ten yards; which, by the way, I thought
was a venture bold enough, confidering that I knew
not how far it might go, or what was beyond it:
When I was got through the ftreight, I found the roof
rofe higher up, I believe near twenty feet; but never
( 136 )
was fuch a glorious fight ſeen in the iſland, I dare fay,
as it was, to look round the fides and roof of this vault,
or cave: The walls reflected an hundred thoufand
lights to me from my two candles; what it was in the
rock, whether diamonds, or any other precious ſtones,
or gold, which I rather ſuppoſed it to be, I knew not.
The place I was in was a moſt delightful cavity, or
grotto, of its kind, as could be expected, though per-
fectly dark; the floor was dry and level, and had a fort
of fmall loofe gravel upon it; fo that there was no
naufeous creature to be feen; neither was there any
damp or wet on the fides of the roof: The only dif
ficulty in it was the entrance, which, however, as it
was a place of fecurity, and fuch a retreat as I want-
ed, I thought that was a convenience; fo that I was
really rejoiced at the diſcovery, and refolved, without
any delay, to bring fome of thoſe things which I was
moſt anxious about, to this place; particularly, I re-
folved to bring hither my magazine of powder, and
all my ſpare arms, viz. two fowling pieces (for I had
three in all) and three mufkets (for of them I had
eight in all ;) fo I kept at my caftle only five, which
ſtood ready mounted, like pieces of cannon, on my
outmoſt fence; and were ready alſo to take out upon
any expedition.
Upon this occafion of removing my ammunition, I
was obliged to open the barrel of powder which I took
up out of the fea, and which had been wet; and I
found that the water had penetrated about three or
four inches into the powder on every fide, which,
caking and growing hard, had preferved the infide like
a kernel in a ſhell; fo that I had near fixty pounds of
( 137 )
very good powder in the centre of the cafk; and this
was an agreeable difcovery to me at that time; ſo I
carried all away thither, never keeping above two or
three pounds of powder with me in my caftle, for fear
of a furprize of any kind. I alfo carried thither all the
lead I had left for bullets.
I fancied myſelf now like one of the antient giants,
who were faid to live in caves and holes of the rocks,
where noue could come at them; for I perfuaded my-
ſelf while I was here, if five hundred favages were to
hunt me, they could never find me out; or if they did,
they would not venture to attack me here.
The old goat, which I found expiring, died in the
mouth of the cave, the next day after I made this dif-
covery; and I found it much eaſier to dig a great hole
there, and throw him in, and cover him with earth,
than to drag him out: So I interred him there, to pre-
vent offence to my noſe.
I was now in my twenty third year of refidence in
this iſland, and was fo naturalized to the place, and to
the manner of living, that could I have but enjoyed
the certainty, that no favages would come to the place
to disturb me, I could have been content to have capi-
tulated for ſpending the rest of my time there, even ta
the laſt moment, till I had laid me down and died,
like the old he-goat, in the cave: I had alſo arrived
to fome little diverfions and amufements, which made
the time paſs more pleaſantly with me a great deal than
it did before; as, firſt, I had taught my Poll, as I not-
ed before, to ſpeak; and he did it ſo familiarly, and
talked fo articulately and plain, that it was very plea
fant to me; and he lived with me no leſs than fix-and-
( 138 )
twenty years: How long he might live afterwards, I
know not; though I know they have a notion în Bra-
fil that they live an hundred years; perhaps fome of
my Polls may be alive there ftill, calling after Poor
Robin Crusoe to this day: I wiſh no Englishman the
ill luck to come there and hear them; but if he did,
he would certainly believe it was the devil. My dog
was a very pleafant and loving companion to me for no
leſs than fixteen years of my time, and then died of
mere old age; as for my cats, they multiplied, as I
have obſerved, to that degree, that I was obliged to
ſhoot ſeveral of them at first, to keep them from de-
vouring of me, and all I had; but at length, when the
two old ones 1 brought with me were gone, and after
fome time continually driving them from me, and let-
ting them have no proviſion with me, they all ran wild
into the woods, except two or three favourites, which
I kept tame, and whofe young, when they had any, I
always drowned, and theſe were part of my family :
Beſides theſe, I always kept two or three houfhold kids
about me, which I taught to feed out of my hand; and
I had alſo more parrots, which talked pretty well, and
could all call Robin Crufoe, but none like my firſt; nor
indeed, did I take the pains with any of them that I had
done with him: I had alſo ſeveral tame fea-fowls, whofe
names I know not, which I caught upon the fhore, and
cut their wings; and the little ftakes, which I had
planted before my caftle-wall being now grown up a
good thick grove, theſe fowls all lived among the low
trees, and bred there, which was very agreeable to me,
fo that, as I faid before, I now began to live very well
( 139 )
contented with the life I led, if it might but have been
fecured from the dread of ſavages.
But it was otherwife directed; and it may not be a-
mifs for all people who fhall meet with my ftory, to
make this juſt obſervation from it; viz. How fre-
quently, in the courfe of our lives, the evil, which in
itſelf we ſeek moft to fhun, and which, when we are
fallen into, is the moft dreadful to us, is oftentimes the
very means or door of our deliverance, by which a-
lone we can be raiſed again from the affliction we are
fallen into: I could give many examples of this in the
courſe of my unaccountable life; but in nothing was
it more particularly remarkable, than in the circum-
ftances of my laſt years of folitary refidence in this if
land..
It was now the month of December, as I faid above,
in my twenty third year; and this being the fouthern
folftice, for winter I cannot call it, was the particular
time of my harveft, and required my being pretty much
abroad in the fields; when going out pretty early in
the morning, even before it was thorough daylight, I
was ſurpriſed with feeing a light of fome fire upon the
hore, at a distance from me of about two miles, to-
wards the end of the island, where I had obferv'd ſome
favages had been, as before; but not on the other fide;
but, to my great affliction, it was on my fide of the
ifland.
I was indeed terribly furpris'd at the fight, and ftop-
ped fhort within my grove, not daring to go out, left I
might be furpris'd; and yet I had no more peace with-
in, from the apprehenfions I had, that if theſe ſavages,
in rambling over the iſland, fhould find my corn ftand-
i
( 140 )
ing, or cut, or any of my works and improvements, they
would immediately conclude, that there were people
in the place, and would then never give over till they
found me out: In this extremity I went back directly to
my caſtle, pull'd up the ladder after me, having made
all things without look as wild and natural as I could.
Then I prepar'd myſelf within, putting myſelf in a
poſture of defence; I loaded all my cannon, as I called
them, that is to Jay, my mufquets, which were mount-
ed upon my new fortification, and all my piftols, and re-
folved to defend myfelf to the laft gafp; not forgetting
ſeriouſly to recommend myſelf to the divine protection,
and earneſtly to pray to God to deliver me out of the
hands of the barbarians; and in this poſture I continu'd
about two hours, but began to be mighty impatient for
intelligence abroad, for I had no fpies to fend out.
and
After fitting a while longer, and mufing what I
ſhould do in this cafe, I was not able to bear fitting in
ignorance longer; fo fetting up my ladder to the fide
of the hill, where there was a flat place, as I obſerved
before, and then pulling the ladder up after me, I fet
it up again, and mounted to the top of the hill ;
pulling out my perſpective-glaſs, which I had taken on
purpoſe, I laid me down flat on my belly on the ground
and began to look for the place: I prefently found
there were no leſs than nine naked favages fitting round
a fmall fire they had made; not to warm them, for
they had no need of that, the weather being extreme
hot; but as I fuppofed, to dreſs ſome of their barba-
rous diet of human fleſh, which they had brought with
them, whether alive or dead, I could not know.
They had two Canoes with them, which they had haled
( 141 )
up upon the ſhore; and as it was then tide of ebb, thèy
ſeemed to me to wait the return of the flood to go a-
way again. It is not eafy to imagine what confufion
this fight put me into, eſpecially ſeeing them come on my
fide the iſland, and fo near me too; but when I ob-
ſerved their coming muſt be always with the current
of the ebb, I began afterwards to be more fedate in
my mind, being fatisfied that I might go abroad with
ſafety, all the time of tide of flood, if they were not on
ſhore before; and having made this obfervation, I went
abroad about my harveft-work with the more compo-
fure.
As I expected, fo it proved; for as foon as the tide
made to the weftward, I ſaw them all take boat, and
row (or paddle, as we call it) all away I fhould have
obferved, that for an hour and more before they went
off, they went to dancing, and I could eaſily diſcern
their poſtures and geftures by my glaffes : I could not
perceive, by my niceſt obſervation but that they were
ſtark-naked, and had not the leaft covering upon them;
but whether they were men or women, that I could
not diſtinguiſh.
As foon as I faw them ſhipped and gone, I took two
guns upon my fhoulders, and two piſtols at my girdle,
and my great fword by my fide, without a fcabbard;
and with all the ſpeed I was able to make, I went a-
way to the hill, where I had diſcover'd the first appear-
ance of all. As foon as I got thither, which was not
lefs than two hours (for I could not go apace, being fo
loaden with arms as I was) I perceived there had been
three Canoes more of favages on that place; and look-
(
142.)
ing out further, I faw they were all at fea together,
making over for the main.
This was a dreadful fight to me, eſpecially when go
ing down to the fhore, I could fee the marks of hor-
ror which the difmal work they had been about had
left behind it, viz. the blood, the bones, and part of
the fleſh of human bodies, eaten and devoured by thofe
wretches, with merriment and fport. I was fo filled with
indignation at the fight, that I began now to premedi-
tate the deftruction of the next that I faw there, let
them be who or how many foever.
It ſeemed evident to me, that the vifits which they
thus made to this ifland, were not very frequent; for
it was above fifteen months before any more of them
came on ſhore there again; that is to say, I never ſaw
them, or any footſteps or fignals of them, in all that
time; for as to the rainy ſeaſons, then they are ſure
not to come abroad, at leaſt not fo far; yet all this
while I lived uncomfortably, by reaſon of the conftant
apprehenfions I was in of their coming upon me by
furpriſe; from whence I obſerve, that the expectati-
on of evil is more bitter than the fuffering, efpecially
if there is no room to ſhake off that expectation or thoſe
apprehenfions.
During all this time,I was in the murdering humour;
and took up moſt of my hours, which ſhould have been
better employed, in contriving how to circumvent and
fall upon them the very next time I fhould fee them;
eſpecially if they ſhould be divided, as they were the laſt
time, into two parties; nor did I confider at all, that if
I killed one party, fuppofe ten or a dozen, I was ſtill
the next day, or week, or month, to kill another, and
( 143 )
(143
if another, even ad infinitum, till 1 fhould be at length
no lefs a murderer than they were in being men-eaters,
and perhaps much more fo.
I spent my days now in great perplexity and anxiety
of mind, expecting that I should one day or other fall
into the hands of theſe mercileſs creatures; if I did at
any time venture abroad, it was not without looking
round me with the greateſt care and caution imagina-
ble; and now I found, to my great comfort, how hap-
py it was that I had provided a tame flock or herd of
goats; for I durft not, upon any account, fire my gun,
eſpecially near that fide of the island, where they ufu-
ally came, left I fhould alarm the favages; and if they
had fled from me now, I was fure to have them come
back again, with perhaps two or three hundred Canoes
with them in a few days, and then I knew what to ex-
pect.
However, I wore out a year and three months more,
before I ever faw any more of the favages, and then I
found them again, as I fhall foon obferve: It is true,
they might have been there once or twice; but either
they made no ſtay, or, at leaſt, I did not hear them;
but in the month of May, as near as I could calculate,
and in my four-and-twentieth year, I had a very ſtrange
encounter with them, of which in its place.
The perturbation of my mind, during this fifteen or
fixteen months interval, was very great; I flept unquiet,
dreamed always frightful dreams, and often ſtarted out
of my fleep in the night; in the day great troubles
overwhelmed my mind; in the night I dreamed often
of killing the favages, and the reafons why I might
jaftify the doing of it: But to wave all this for a while,
K
( 144 )
it was in the middle of May, of the fixteenth day, I
think, as well as my poor wooden calendar would rec-
kon; for I marked all upon the poft ftill; I ſay, it was
on the fixteenth of May, that it blew a very great ftorm
of wind all day, with a great deal of lightning and
thunder, and a very foul night was after it: I know
not what was the particular occafion of it; but as I was
reading in the bible, and taken up with ferious thoughts
about my preſent condition, I was furpriſed with the
noiſe of a gun, as I thought, fired at fea.
This was, to be fure, a ſurpriſe of a quite different
nature from any I had met with before; for the noti-
ons this put into my thoughts were quite of another
kind: I ſtarted up in the greateſt hafte imaginable;
and in a trice ftepped up my ladder to the middle
place of the rock, and pulled it after me, and, mount-
ing it the fecond time, got to the top of the hill; that
very moment a flaſh of fire bad me liften for a fecond
gun, which accordingly in about half a moment I
heard, and by the found knew that it was from that
part of the fea where I was driven out with the cur-
rent in my boat.
I immediately confidered, that this muſt be fome fhip
in distress, and that they had fome comrade, or ſome
other fhip in company, and fired thefe guns for fignals
of diſtreſs, and to obtain help: I had this prefence of
mind at that minute, as to think, that though I could
not help them, it may be they might help me; fo I
brought together all the dry wood I could get at
hand, and making a good handfome pile, I fet it on
fire upon the hill; the wood was dry, and blazed
freely, and tho' the wind blew very hard, yet it burnt
( 145 )
fairly out, fo that I was certain, if there was any fuch
thing as a fhip, they muft needs fee it, and no doubt
they did; for as foon as ever my fire blazed up, I heard
another gun, and after that feveral others, all from
the fame quarter. I plied my fire all night long, till
day broke; and when it was broad day, and the air
cleared up, I faw fomething at a great distance at fea,
full eat of the island, whether a fail, or an hull, I
could not diſtinguiſh, no not with my glaffes, the dif-
tance was fo great and the weather ſtill ſomething hazy
alfo; at leaſt it was fo out at ſea,
I looked frequently at it all that day, and foon per-
ceived that it did not move: fo 1 prefently concluded,
that it was a fhip at anchor; and being eager, you
may
be fure to be fatisfied, I took my gun in my hand,
and ran towards the South-east fide of the island, to the
rocks, where I had been formerly carried away with
the current; and getting up there, the weather by this
time being perfectly clear, I could plainly fee, to my
great forrow, the wreck of a fhip caft away in the
night upon thofe concealed rocks which I found when I
was out in my boat; and which rocks, as they check-
ed the violence of the ftream, and made a kind of coun-
ter-ſtream, or eddy, were the occafion of my recover-
ing then from the moſt deſperate hopeleſs condition
that ever I had been in all my life.
Thus, what is one man's fafety, is another man's
deſtruction; for it feems, theſe men, whoever they
were, being out of their knowledge, and the rocks be-
ing wholly under water, had been driven upon them
in the night, the wind blowing hard at E. and E. N. E.
Had they feen the iſland, as I muft neceffarily fuppofe
K 2
( 146 )
they did not, they must, as I thought, have endeavour
ed to have faved themfelves on fhore by the help of
their boat; but their firing of their guns for help, e-
ſpecially when they faw, as I imagined, my fire, filled
me with many thoughts; first I imagined, that, upon
feeing my light, they might have put themſelves into
their boat, and have endeavoured to make the fhore;
but that the ſea going very high, they might have been
caft away; other times I imagined, that they might have
loft their boat before, as might be the cafe many ways;
as particularly, by the breaking of the fea upon their
ſhip, which many times obliges men to ſtave, or take
in pieces their boat; and fometimes to throw it over-
board with their own hands: other times I imagined,
they had fome other fhip or fhips in company, who,
upon the fignals of diftrefs they had made, had taken
them up, and carried them off: other whiles I fanci-
ed, they were all gone off to fea in their boat, and
being hurried away by the current that I had been
formerly in, were carried out into the great ocean,
where there was nothing but mifery and periſhing;
and that perhaps they might by this time think
of ftarving, and of being in a condition to eat one an-
other.
}
As all theſe were but conjectures at beſt, ſo, in the
condition I was in, I could do no more than look upon
the mifery of the poor men, and pity them; which
had ſtill this good effect on my fide, that it gave me
more and more caufe to give thanks to God, who had
fo happily and comfortably provided for me in my
defolate condition; and that of two fhips companies,
who were now caft away upon this part of the world,
(147)
not one life ſhould be ſpared but mine. I learnt here
again to obſerve, that it is very rare, that the providence
of God caîts us into any condition of life fo low, or a-
ny mifery fo great, but we may fee fomething or other
to be thankful for, and may fee others in worſe cir-
cumſtances than our own.
Such certainly was the cafe of thoſe men, of whom
I could not fo much as fee room to fuppofe any of them
were faved; nothing could make it rational, ſo much
as to wiſh or expect that they did not all perish there,
except the poffibility only of their being taken up by
another ſhip in company: And this was but mere pof-
fibility indeed; for I faw not the leaſt ſignal or appear-
ance of any fuch thing.
I cannot explain, by any poſſible energy of words
and a ſtrange longing, or hankering of defire, I felt in
my foul upon this fight; breaking out fometimes thus:
O that there had been but one or two, nay, or but one
foul faved out of the ſhip, to have eſcaped to me, that
I might but have had one companion, one fellow-crea-
ture, to have spoken to me, and to have con-
verfed with! in all the time of my folitary life, I ne-
ver felt fo earneſt, ſo ſtrong a defire after the fociety
of my fellow-creatures, or fo deep a regret at the want
of it.
There are fome fecret moving fprings in the affec-
tions, which, when they are fet a going by fome ob-
ject in view, or be it fome object though not in view,
yet rendered preſent to the mind by the power of ima-
gination, that motion carries out the foul by its impe-
tufioty to fuch violent, eager embracing of the object,
that the abſence of it is infupportable.
K 3
( 148 )
Such were thefe earneſt wiſhings, that but one man
had been faved! O that it had been but one! I believe
I repeated the words, O that it had been but one! a
thousand times, and my defires were fo moved by
it, that when I fpoke the words, my hands would
clinch together, and my fingers prefs the palms of my
hands, that if I had had any ſoft thing in my hand, it
would have cruſhed it involuntarily; and my teeth
in my head would ftrike together, and fet againſt one
another ſo ſtrong, that for fome time I could not part
them again.
Let the naturalifts explain theſe things, and the rea-
fon and manner of them: All I can fay of them, is,
to deſcribe the fact, which was very furprising to me
when I found it; tho' I knew not from what it ſhould
proceed; it was doubtlefs the effect of ardent wifhes,
and of ſtrong ideas formed in my mind, realizing the
comfort which the converfation of one of my fellow-
chriftians would have been to me.
But it was not to be; either their fate, or mine, or
both, forbad it; for till the laft year of my being on
this ifland, I never knew, whether any were faved out
of that ſhip or no; and had only the affliction fome
days after, to ſee the corpſe of a drowned boy come on
fhore, at the end of the island, which was next the
ſhip-wreck: he had on no cloaths, but a feaman's
waiſtcoat, a pair of open-keed linen drawers, and
a blue linen fhirt; but nothing to direct me fo much
as to gueſs what nation he was of: he had nothing in
his pocket but two pieces of eight, and a tobacco-pipe;
the laſt was to me of ten times more value than the
first.
|( 149
149 )
It was now calm, and I had a great mind to venture
out in my boat to this wreck, not doubting but I might
find ſomething on board, that might be uſeful to me;
but that did not altogether prefs me fo much, as the
poffibility that there might yet be fome living creature
on board, whoſe life I might not only fave, but might
by faving that life, comfort my own to the laſt de-
gree: And this thought clung fo to my heart, that I
could not be quiet, night nor day, but I muft venture
out in my boat on board this wreck; and committing
the rest to God's Providence, I thought the impreffi-
on was fo ftrong upon my mind, that it could not be
refifted, though it must come from fome invifible di-
rection, and that 1 thould be wanting to myſelf, if I
did not go.
Under the power of this impreffion, I haſtned back
to my caſtle, prepared every thing for my voyage,
took a quantity of bread, a great pot of freſh water,
a compaſs to ſteer by, a bottle of rum (for I had ſtill
a great deal of that left) a baſket full of raifins: And
thus loading myſelf with every thing neceffary, I went
down to my boat, got the water out of her, and gat
her afloat, loaded all my cargo in her, and then went
home again for more: My fecond cargo was a great
bag full of rice, the umbrella to fet up over my head
for a ſhade, another large pot full of freſh water, and
about two dozen of my finall loaves, or barley-cakes,
more than before, with a bottle of goat's milk, and a
cheeſe; all which, with great labour and ſweat, I
brought to my boat; and praying to God to direct my
voyage, I put out, and rowing or paddling the Canoe
along the shore, I came at laft to the utmost point of
K К
4
(150)
the ifland, on that fide, viz. N. E. And now I was
to launch out into the ocean; and either to venture,
or not to venture; I looked on the rapid currents
which ran conſtantly on both fides of the iſland, at a
distance, and which were terrible to me, from the re-
membrance of the hazard I had been in before, and
my heart began to fail me; for I forefaw, that if I was
driven into either of thoſe currents. I fhould be car-
ried a vast way out to fea, and perhaps out of my
reach, or fight of the iſland again; and that then, as
my boat was but fmall, if any little gale of wind fhould
rife, I fhould inevitably be loft.
Theſe thoughts fo oppreffed my mind, that I began
to give over my enterpriſe, and having haled my boat
into a little creek on the fhore, I ftepped out, and fat
me down upon a little rifing ſpot of ground, very pen-
five and anxious, between fear and defire about my
voyage; when as I was mufing, I could perceive that
the tide was turned, and the flood came on, upon
which my going was for fo many hours impracticable:
Upon this it preſently occurred to me, that I fhould go
up to the higheſt piece of ground I could find, and ob-
ferve, if I could, how the fets of the tide or currents.
lay, when the flood came in, that I might judge whe-
ther, if I was driven one way out, I might not expect
to be driven another way home with the fame rapid-
nefs of the currents: This thought was no fooner in
my head, but I caft my eye upon a little hill which
fufficiently overlooked the fea both ways, and from
whence I had a clear view of the currents, or ſets of
the tide, and which way I was to guide myſelf in my
return: Here I found, that as the current of the ebb
( 151 )
fet out cloſe to the fouth point of the iſland, fo the
current of the flood fet in cloſe by the ſhore of the
North-fide; and that I had nothing to do but to keep
to the North of the iſland in my return, and I ſhould
do well enough.
Encouraged by this obfervation, I refolved the next
morning to set out with the first of the tide; and re-
poſing myſelf for that night in the Canoe, under the
great watch-coat I mentioned, I launched out; I made
first a little out to fea full north, till I began to feel
the benefit of the current, which fet eastward, and
which carried me at a great rate, and yet did not fo
hurry me as the fouthern fide current had done be-
fore, and fo as to take from me all government of the
boat; but having a strong fteerage with my paddle, I
went, I ſay, at a great rate, directly for the wreck,
and in leſs than two hours I came up to it.
It was a difmal fight to look at: The fhip, which
by its building was Spanish, ftuck faft, jambed in be-
tween two rocks; all the ſtern and quarter of her was
beaten to pieces with the fea; and as her forecaſtle,
which ſtuck in the rocks, had run on with great vio-
lence, her main-maft and fore-maſt were brought by
the board, that is to fay, broken fhort off, but her bow-
fprit was found, and the head and bow appeared firm:
When I came cloſe to her, a dog appeared upon her,
which ſeeing me coming, yelped and cryed, and as ſoon
as 1 called him, jumped into the fea to come to me;
and I took him into the boat, but found him almoſt
dead for hunger and thirst: I gave him a cake of my
bread, and he eat it like a ravenous wolf, that had
þeen ſtarving a fortnight in the fnow: I then gave the
( 152 )
;
poor creature fome freſh water, with which, if I would
have let him, he would have burft himſelf.
After this I went on board; the firſt fight I met
with, was two men drowned in the cook-room, or fore-
caſtle of the ſhip, with their arms faſt about one ano-
ther. I concluded, as is indeed probable, that when
the fhip ftruck, it being in a ſtorm, the fea broke fo
high, and fo continually over her, that the men were
not able to bear it, and were ftrangled with the con-
ſtant ruſhing in of the water, as much as if they had
been under water: Befides the dog, there was no-
thing left in the fhip, that had life, nor any goods
that I could fee, but what were ſpoiled by the water;
There were ſome caſks of liquor, whether wine or
brandy I know not, which lay lower in the hold, and
which, the water being ebbed out, I could fee; but
they were too big to be meddled with: I faw feveral
cheſts, which I believed belonged to fome of the ſea-
men, and I got two of them into the boat, without ex-
amining what was in them.
Had the ſtern of the hip been fixed, and the fore-
part broken off, I am perfuaded I might have made a
good voyage; for by what I found in theſe two cheſts
I had room to fuppofe the fhip had a great deal of
wealth on board; and if I may gueſs by the courfe fhe
fteered, fhe must have been bound from the Buenos
Ayres, or the Rio de la Plata, in the fouth part of
America, beyond the Brafils, to the Havannah in the
gulph of Mexico, and fo perhaps to Spain: She had
no doubt a great treaſure in her, but of no ufe at that
time to any body; and what became of the rest of her
people, I then knew not.
( 153 )
I found, befides theſe chefts, a little cafk full of li-
quor, of about twenty gallons, which I got into my
boat, with much difficulty: There were feveral muf-
quets in a cabin, and a great powder-horn, with about
four pounds of powder in it; as for the mufquets, I
had no occafion for them, ſo I left them, but took the
powder-horn: I took a fire-thovel and tongs, which I
wanted extremely; as alfo two little brafs kettles, a
copper pot to make chocolate, and a gridiron; and
with this cargo, and the dog, I came away, the tide
beginning to make home again; and the fame even-
ing, about an hour within night, I reached the iſland
again weary and fatigued to the laſt degree.
I repos'd that night in the boat, and in the morning
I refolved to harbour what I had gotton in my new
cave, not to carry it home to my caftle: After refreſh-
ing myſelf, I got all my cargo on fhore, and began to
examine the particulars: The caſk of liquor I found
to be a kind of rum, but not fuch as we had at the
Brafils; and in a word, not at all good; but when Į
came to open the chefts, I found feveral things which
I wanted: For example, I found in one cheſt a fine
cafe of bottles, of an extraordinary kind, and filled
with cordial waters, fine, and very good; the bottles
held about three pints each, and were tipped with fil-
ver; I found two pots of very good fuccades, or ſweet
meats, fo faſtened alfo on the top, that the falt water
had not hurt them; and two more of the fame which
the water had ſpoiled: I found fome very good ſhirts,
which were very welcome to me, and about a dozen
and a half of white linen handkerchiefs, and coloured
neckcloths; the former were alſo very welcome, be-
2
( 154 )
ing exceeding refreſhing to wipe my face in a hot day;
beſides this, when I came to the till in the cheft, I
found there three great bags of pieces of eight, which
held about eleven hundred pieces in all; and in one of
them, wrapt up in a paper, fix doubloons of gold, and
fome ſmall bars or wedges of gold; I fuppofe they
might all weigh near a pound.
The other cheft I found had ſome cloaths in it, but
of little value; but by the circumftances it muſt have
belonged to the gunner's mate, though there was no
powder in it, but about two pounds of glazed powder,
in three flaſks, kept, I fuppofe, for charging their
fowling-pieces on occafion: Upon the whole, I got
very little by this voyage, that was of much uſe to me;
for, as to the money, I had no manner of occaſion for
it, it was to me as the dirt under my feet: and I would
have given it all for three or four pair of English
fhoes and ſtockings, which were things I greatly wan-
ted, but had not had on my feet now for many years;
I had indeed gotten two pair of fhoes now, which I
took off of the feet of the two drowned men, whom I
faw in the wreck; and I found two pair more in the
chefts, which were very welcome to me; but they
were not like our English fhoes, either for eaſe or fer-
vice, being rather what we call pumps than fhoes : I
found in this feaman's cheſt about fifty pieces of eight
in royals, but no gold; I ſuppoſe this belonged to a
poorer man than the other, which feemed to belong
to fome officer.
Well, however, I lugged this money home to my
cave, and laid it up, as I had done that before, which I
brought from our own fhip; but it was great pity, as I
( 155 )
faid, that the other part of the fhip had not come to
my ſhare, for I am fatisfied I might have loaded my
Canoe feveral times over with money, which if I had
ever eſcaped to England, would have lain here ſafe e-
nough till I might have come again and fetched it.
Having now brought all my things on fhore, and fe-
cured them, I went back to my boat, and rowed or
paddled her along the fhore to her old harbour,where
I laid her up, and made the best of my way to my old
habitation, where I found every thing fafe and quiet;
ſo I began to repoſe myſelf, live after my old fashion,
and take care of my family-affairs; and for a while I
lived eafy enough; only that I was more vigilant than
I uſed to be, looked out oftener, and did not go a-
broad fo much; and if at any time I did ftir with any
freedom, it was always to the eaſt part of the iſland,
where I was pretty well fatisfied the lavages never
came, and where I could go without fo many precau-
tions, and fuch a load of arms and ammunition, as I
always carried with me, if I went the other way.
I lived in this condition near two years more; but
my unlucky head, that was always to let me know it
was born to make my body miferable, was all thoſe two
years fill'd with projects and deſigns, how, if it were
poffible, I might get away from this iſland; for fome-
times I was for making another voyage to the wreck,
though my reaſon told me, that there was nothing left
there worth the hazard of my voyage; fometimes for
a ramble one way, fometimes another; and I believe
verily, if I had had the boat that I went from Sallee in,
I fhould have ventured to fea, bound any-where, I
knew not whither.
( 156 )
Ì have been, in all my citcumſtances, à mementó tỏ
thoſe who are touched with that general plague of
mankind, whence, for aught I know, one half of their
miferies flow; I mean that of not being fatisfied with
the ſtation wherein God and nature hath plac'd them;
for, not to look back upon my primitive condition, and
the excellent advice of my father, the oppofition to
which was, as I may call it, my original fin, my fubfe-
quent miſtakes of the fame kind have been the means
of my coming into this miferable condition; for had
that Providence, which fo happily had feated me at
the Brafils, as a planter, bleſſed me with confined de-
fires, and could I have been contented to have gone on
gradually I might have been by this time, I mean the
time of my being in this ifland, one of the most confi-
derable planters in the Brafils; nay, I am perfuaded,
that by the improvements I had made in that little time
I lived there, and the increaſe I ſhould probably have
made, if I had ftayed, I might have been worth an
hundred thouſand moidores; and what buſineſs had I
to leave a fettled fortune, well-stocked plantation, im-
proving and increasing, to turn fupercargo to Guinea,
to fetch Negroes, when patience and time would have
fo increaſed our stock at home, that we could have
bought them at our own doors, from thofe whofe bu-
fineſs it was to fetch them? And though it had coft
us fomething more, yet the difference of that price
was by no means worth faving at fo great a hazard.
But as this is ordinarily the fate of young heads, ſo
reflection upon the folly of it is more ordinarily the
exerciſe of more years, or of the dear-bought experi
ence of time; and fo it was with me now, and
yet fo
( 157 )
deep had the miſtake taken root in my temper,
that I could not fatisfy myſelf in my ſtation, but was
continually poring upon the means and poffibility of
my eſcape from this place; and that I may, with the
greater pleaſure to the reader, bring on the remain-
ing part of my ſtory, it may not be improper to give
fome account of my first conceptions on the fubject of
this foolish fcheme for my eſcape; and how, and upon
what foundation I acted.
I am now to be fuppofed to be retired into my ca-
ftle after my late voyage to the wreck, my frigate laid
up, and fecured under water as ufual, and my conditi
on restored to what it was before: I had more riches,
indeed, than I had before, but was not at all the rich-
er; for I had no more ufe of it, than the Indians of
Peru had before the Spaniards came thither.
It was one of the nights, in the rainy ſeaſon in
March, the four and twentieth year of my firft fet-
ing foot in this iſland of folitarineſs, I was lying in my
bed, or hammock, awake, very well in health, had no
pain, no diftemper, no uneafinefs of body, no nor a-
by uneasiness of mind more than ordinary, but could
by no means clofe my eyes; that is, fo as to fleep;
no, not a wink all night long, otherwiſe than as fol-
lows:
It is as impoffible as needlefs, to fet down the innu-
merable crowd of thoughts that whirled through that
great thoroughfare of the brain, the memory, in this
night's time; I ran over the whole hiftory of my life
in miniature, or by abridgement, as I may call it, to my
coming to this iſland; and alſo of that part of my life
fince I came to this iſland; in my reflections upon the
( 158 )
flate of my cafe, fince I came on fhore on this iſland;
I was comparing the happy poſture of my affairs, in
the first years of my habitation here, to that courfe of
anxiety, fear and care, which I had lived in ever fince
I had feen the print of a food in the fand; not that I
did not believe the favages had frequented the iſland
even all the while, and might have been feveral hun-
dreds of them at times on fhore there; but as I had
never known it, and was incapable of any apprehenfi-
ons about it, my fatisfaction was perfect, though my
danger was the fame; and I was as happy in not
knowing my danger, as if I had never really been ex-
poſed to it; this furniſhed my thoughts with many ve
ry profitable reflections, and particularly this one, How
infinitely good that Providence is, which has fettled in
its government of mankind ſuch narrow bounds to his
fight and knowledge of things; and though he walks
in the midſt of many thouſand dangers, the fight of
which, if diſcovered to him, would diſtract his mind,
and fink his fpirits, he is kept ferene and calm, by ha-
ving the events of things hid from his eyes, and know-
ing nothing of the dangers which furround him.
After theſe thoughts had for fome time entertained
me, I came to reflect feriously upon the real danger I
had been in for many years in this very ifland; and
how I had walked about in the greateft fecurity, and
with all poffible, tranquillity, even when perhaps no-
thing but a brow of an hill, a great tree, or the cafual
approach of night, had been between me and the worst
kind of deftruction, viz. that of falling into the hands
of canibals and favages, who would have feized on me
with the fame view, as I did on a goat or a turtle, and
( 159 )
have thought it no more a crime to kill and devour
me, than I did of a pigeon or a curlieu; I thould un-
justly flander myſelf, if I ſhould fay I was not fincere-
ly thankful to my great preferver, to whofe fingular
protection I acknowledged, with great humility, that
all theſe unknown deliverances were due, without
which I ſhould inevitably have fallen into their merci.
lefs- hands.
When theſe thoughts were over, my head was for
fome time taken up in confidering the nature of theſe
wretched creatures, I mean the favages; and how it
came to pass in the world, that the wife governour of
all things fhould give up any of his creatures to fuch
inhumanity, nay, to fomething fo much below even
brutality itſelf, as to devour its own kind: But as this
ended in fome (at that time fruitless) fpeculations, it oc
curred to me to inquire what part of the world theſe
wretches lived in; how far off the coaft was from
whence they came; what they ventured fo far from
home for; what kind of boats they had; and why I
might not order myfelf and my bufinefs fo, that I
might be as able to go over thither, as they were to
come to me.
I never ſo much as troubled myſelf to confider what
I ſhould do with myfelf when I came thither; what
fhould become of me, if I fell into the hands of fava-
ges; or how ſhould I eſcape from them, if they at-
tempted me; no, nor fo much as how it was poffible
for me to reach the coaft, and not be attempted by
fome or other of them, without any poffibility of de-
livering myself; and if I fhould not fall into their
hands, what I should do for provifion, or whither I
I
( 160 )
ſhould bend my courfe; none of theſe thoughts, I fay,
fo much as came in my way; but my mind was whol-
ly bent upon the notion of my paffing over in my boat
to the main land: I looked back upon my preſent
condition, as the moſt miferable that could poffibly be;
that I was not able to throw my felf into any thing but
death that could be called worfe; that if I reached the
fhore of the main, I might, perhaps, meet with relief;
or I might coaft along, as I did on the fhore of Afri-
ca, till I came to fome inhabited country, and where I
might find fome relief; and after all perhaps 1 might
fall in with fome Chriſtian ſhip that might take me in,
and if the worst came to the worst, 1 could but die,
which would put an end to all thefe miferies at once.
Pray note, All this was the fruit of a diſturbed mind,
an impatient temper, made, as it were, defperate by
the long continuance of my troubles, and the diſap-
pointments I had met in the wreck I had been on
board of, and where I had been ſo near the obtaining
what I fo earneſtly longed for, viz. ſomebody to ſpeak
to, and to learn fome knowledge from, of the place
where I was, and of the probable means of my deli-
verance: I fay, I was agitated wholly by theſe thoughts.
All my calm of mind in my refignation to providence,
and waiting the iffue of the difpofitions of heaven,
feemed to be fufpended; and I had, as it were, no
power to turn my thoughts to any thing, but the pro-
ject of a voyage to the main, which came upon me
with fome force, and fuch an impetuofity of defire, that
it was not to be reſiſted.
When this had agitated my thoughts for two hours
or more, with fuch violence, that it fet my very blood
( 181 )
into a ferment, and my pulſe beat as high as if I hâd
been in a fever, merely with the extraordinary fervour
of my mind about it; nature, as if I had been fatigue
ed and exhauſted with the very thought of it, threw
me into a found fleep: One would have thought I
fhould have dreamed of it; but I did not, nor of any
thing relating to it, but I dreamed, that as I was go
ing out in the morning, as uſual from my caſtle, I faw
upon the fhore two Canoes, and eleven favages com-
ing to land, and that they brought with them another
favage, whom they were going to kill, in order to eat
him; when on a fudden, the favage that they were
going to kill jumped away, and ran for his life; then
1 thought in my fleep, that he came running into my
little thick grove, before my fortification, to hide him-
felf; and that I feeing him alone, and not perceiving
that the others fought him that way, fhewed myſelf to
him, and fmiling upon him, encouraged him: That
he kneeled down to me, feeming to pray me to aſſiſt
him; upon which I fhewed my ladder, made him go
up it, and carried him into my cave, and he became
my fervant; and that as foon as I had gotten this man,
1 faid to myſelf, Now I may certainly venture to the
main land; for this fellow will ferve me as a pilot, and
will tell me what to do, and whither to go for provi-
fions, and whither not to go for fear of being devour-
ed, what places to venture into, and what to eſcape. I
waked with this thought, and was under inexpreffible
impreffions of joy at the profpect of my eſcape in my
dream that the diſappointments which I felt upon
coming to myſelf, and finding it was no more than a
L 2
( 162 )
}
dream, "were equally extravagant the other way, and
threw me into a very great dejection of ſpirit.
Upon this, however, I made this conclufion, That
my only way to go about an attempt for an eſcape, was,
if poffible, to get a favage in my poffeffion; and, if
poffible, it ſhould be one of their priſoners whom they
had condemned to be eaten, and fhould bring hither
to kill; but theſe thoughts ftill were attended with
this difficulty, that it was impoffible to effect this,
without attacking a whole caravan of them, and kill-
ing them all; and this was not only a very defperate
attempt, and might mifcarry; but on the other hand,
I had greatly fcrupled the lawfulneſs of it to me, and
my heart trembled at the thoughts of fhedding fo much
blood, though it was for my deliverance: I need not
repeat the arguments which occurred to me againſt
this, they being the fame mentioned before: But tho'
I had other reaſons to offer now, viz. that thoſe men
were enemies to my life, and would devour me, if they
could; that it was felf-preſervation in the higheſt de-
gree, to deliver myfelf from this death of a life, and
was acting in my own defence as much as if they were
actually affaulting me, and the like; I fay, tho' theſe
things argued for it yet the thoughts of fhedding hu-
man blood for my deliverance, were very terrible to
me, and fuch as I could by no means reconcile myſelf
to a great while.
However, at laft, after many fecret difputes with
myſelf, and after great perplexities about it (for all theſe
arguments, one way and another, ftruggled in my head
a long time) the eager prevailing defire of deliverance
at length maſtered all the reft, and I refolved, if pof-
( 163 )
fible to get one of theſe favages into my hands, coft
what it would: My next thing then was to contrive
how to do it; and this indeed was very difficult to re-
folve on: But as I could pitch upon no probable means
for it, ſo I reſolved to put myself upon the watch, to
fee them when they came off fhore, and leave the reſt
to the event, taking fuch meaſures as the opportunity
ſhould prefent, let it be what it would.
With theſe reſolutions in my thoughts, I fet myſelf
upon the ſcout, as often as poffible, and indeed fo often
till I was heartily tired of it; for it was above a year
and an half that I waited, and for a great part of that
time went out to the west end, and to the ſouth-west
corner of the iſland, almoſt every day to fee the Ca-
noes, but none appeared: This was very difcourag-
ing, and began to trouble me much; though I cannot
ſay that it did in this cafe as it had done fome time be-
fore that, viz. wear off the edge of my defire to the
thing; but the longer it ſeemed to be delayed, the
more eager I was for it; In a word, I was not at firſt
more careful to fhun the fight of thofe favages, and a-
void being feen by them, than I was now eager to be
upon them.
Befides, I fancied myſelf able to manage one, nay,
two or three favages, if I had them, fo as to make
them entirely flaves to me, to do whatever I fhould
direct them, and to prevent their being able, at any
time, to do me any hurt: It was a great while that I
pleaſed myſelf with this affair, but nothing ſtill pre-
fented; all my ſchemes and fancies came to nothing,
for no favages came near me for a great while.
About a year and an half after 1 had entertained
L 3
( 164 )
thefe notions, and, by long mufing, had, as it were re-
folved them all into nothing, for want of an occaſion
to put them in execution, I was furpriſed one morn-
ing early, with ſeeing no leſs than five Canoes all on
fhore together, on my fide of the island, and the peo-
ple who belonged to them all landed, and out of my
fight: The number of them broke all my meaſures;
for ſeeing fo many, and knowing that they always
came four, or fix, or fometimes more in a boat, I could
not tell what to think of it, or how to take my mea-
fures to attack twenty or thirty men ſingle-handed; ſo
I lay ſtill in my caſtle, perplexed, and diſcomforted;
however, I put myſelf into the fame poſture for an
attack, that I had formerly provided, and was just rea-
dy for action, if any thing had prefented: Having wai-
ted a good while, liftening to hear if they made any
noiſe, at length being very impatient, I fet my guns at
the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to the top
of the hill by my two ftages, as ufual; ſtanding ſa
however, that my head did not appear above the hill;
ſo that they could not perceive me by any means:
Here I obferved, by the help of my perfpective-glafs,
that they were no lefs than thirty in number, that they
had a fire kindled, and that they had had meat dref-
fed; how they cooked it, that I know not, or what it
was; but they were all dancing, in I know not how
many barbarous geftures and figures, their own way,
round the fire.
When I was thus looking on them, I perceived by
my perſpective two miferable wretches dragged from
the boats, where, it feems, they were laid by, and were
now brought out for the flaughter: 1 perceived one
( 165 )
of them immediately fell, being knocked down, I fup-
poſe, with a club or wooden fword, for that was their
way; and two or three others were at work immedi-
ately, cutting him open for their cookery, while the
other victim was left ftanding by himfelf, till they
ſhould be ready for him: In that very moment this
poor wretch ſeeing himſelf a little at liberty, nature
infpired him with hopes of life, and he ſtarted away
from them, and ran with incredible ſwiftnefs along the
fands, directly towards me, I mean towards that part
of the coaft where my habitation was.
I was dreadfully frighted (that I must acknowledge)
when I perceived him to run my way; and eſpecially
when, as I thought, I faw him purfued by the whole
body; and now I expected that part of my dream was
coming to paſs, and that he would certainly take ſhel-
ter in the grove; but I could not depend by any means
upon my dream for the rest of it, viz that the other
favages would not purfue him thither, and find him
there: However, I kept my station, and my ſpirits be-
gan to recover, when I found that there were not a、
bove three men that followed him; and ftill more was
I encouraged, when I found that he outftript them ex-
ceedingly in running, and gained ground of them, fo
that if he could but hold it out for half an hour, I
faw eaſily he would fairly get away from them all.
There was between them and my caftle the creek
which I mentioned often at the firſt part of my ſtory,
when I landed my cargoes out of the fhip; and this I
knew, he muſt neceffarily fwim over, or the poor
wretch would be taken there: But when the favage
efcaping came thither, he made nothing of it tho' the
L 4
( 166 )
tide was then up; but plunging in, fwam through in
about thirty ſtrokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran
on with exceeding ſtrength and fwiftnefs; when the
three purſuers came to the creek, I found that two of
them could ſwim, but the third could not, and that he
ſtanding on the other fide, looked at the other, but
went no farther, and foon after went foftly back again,
which, as it happened, was very well for him in the
main.
I obferved that the two that fwam, were yet more
than twice as long fwimming over the creek, than the
fellow was that fled from them: It came now very
warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irreſiſtibly, that
now was my time to get me a fervant, and perhaps a
companion or affiftant, and that I was called plainly by
providence to ſave this poor creature's life; I imme-
diately got down the ladders with all poffible expediti-
on, fetched my two guns, for they were both at the
foot of the ladder, as I obferved above; and getting
up again with the fame hafte to the top of the hill, I
croffed towards the fea; and, having a very fhort cut,
and all down hill, clapped myſelf in the way between
the purfuers and the purfued, hollowing aloud to him
that fled, who, looking back, was at firſt perhaps as
much frighted at me as them; but I beckoned with
my hand to him to come back, and in the mean time,
I flowly advanced towards the two that followed; then
rufhing at once upon the foremost, I knocked him
down with the flock of my piece; I was loath to fire,
becauſe I would not have the reſt hear; though at the
diſtance it would not have been easily heard; and be-
ing out of the fight of the fmoke too, they would not
( 167 )
have easily known what to make of it. Having knoc-
ked this fellow down, the other who purfued him ſtop-
ped, as if he had been frightned, and I advanced apace
towards him; but as I came nearer, I perceived pre-
fently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting to ſhoot
at me: ſo I was then neceffitated to ſhoot at him firſt,
which I did, and killed him at the firſt ſhot. The poor
favage who fled, but had stopped, though he faw both
his enemies fallen and killed (as he thought) yet was
fo frighted with the fire and noiſe of my piece, that
he ſtood ſtock ſtill, and neither came forward nor went
backward, tho' he ſeemed rather inclined to fly ftill,
than to come on. I hollowed again to him, and made
figns to him to come forward, which he eafily under-
ſtood, and came a little way, then ſtopped again, and
then a little farther, and ſtopped again, and I could
then perceive that he ſtood trembling, as if he had
been taken prifoner, and had just been to be killed as
his two enemies were. I beckoned him again to comę
to me, and gave him all the figns of encouragement I
could think of; and he came nearer and nearer, knee-
ling down every ten or twelve ſteps, in token of ac-
knowledgment for faving his life. I fmiled at him, and
looked pleaſantly, and beckoned to him to come ſtill
nearer. At length he came cloſe to me, and then he
kneeled down again, kiffed the ground, and laid his
head upon the ground, and taking me by the foot, fet
my foot upon his head: This, it ſeems, was in token
of ſwearing to be my ſlave for ever. I took him up,
and made much of him, and encouraged him all I could.
But there was more work to do yet; for I perceived
the favage, whom I knocked down, was not killed, but
( 168 )
ftanned with the blow, and began to come to himself:
So I pointed to him, and fhewed him the favage, that
he was not dead, upon this he ſpoke ſome words to me,
and tho' I could not underſtand them, yet I thought
they were pleaſant to hear, for they were the first found
of a man's voice that I had heard (my own excepted)
for above five and twenty years: but there was no
time for fuch reflections now; the favage who was
knocked down, recovered himſelf fo far as to fit upon
the ground; and I perceived that my favage began to
be afraid; but when he faw that, I prefented my other
piece at the man, as if I would fhoot him; upon this
my favage, for ſo I call him now, made a motion to me
to lend him my fword, which hung naked in a belt by
my fide; fo I did: He no fooner had it, but he runs
to his enemy, and at one blow cut off his head fo cle-
verly, no executioner in Germany could have done it
fooner or better; which I thought very ſtrange, for
one, who, I had reaſon to believe, never faw a (word
in his life before, except their own wooden fwords;
however, it ſeems, as I learned afterwards, they make
their wooden fwords ſo ſharp, ſo heavy, and the wood
is fo hard that they will cut off heads even with them,
ay, and arms, and that at one blow too. When he had
done this, he comes laughing to me in fign of tri-
umph, and brought me the fword again, and with a-
bundance of geſtures, which I did not underſtand, laid
it down with the head of the favage that he had kill-
ed, juft before me.
But that which aſtoniſhed him moſt was, to know
how I had killed the other Indian fo far off; fo poin-
ting to him, he made figns to me to let him go to him:
f
( 169 )
So I bade him go, as well as I could; when he came
to him, he stood like one amazed, looking at him;
turned him firft on one fide, then on t'other; looked
at the wound the bullet had made, which it feems was
juft in his breaft, where it had made a hole, and no
great quantity of blood had followed, but he had bied
inwardly, for he was quite dead Then he took up
his bow and arrows, and came back; fo I turned to go
away, and beckoned to him to follow me, making figns
to him, that more might come after them.
Upon this he figned to me, that he ſhould bury them
with fand, that they might not be ſeen by the reft. if
they followed; and ſo I made ſigns again to him to do
fo; he fell to work, and in an inftant he had ſcraped
an hole in the fand with his hands big enough to bu-
ry the first in, and then dragged him into it, and
covered him, and did fo alfo by the other. I believe
he had buried them both in a quarter of an hour;
then calling him away, I carried him not to my castle,
but quite away to my cave, on the further part of the
iſland; fo I did not let my dream come to pafs in that
part, viz. that he came into my grove for fhelter.
Here I gave him bread and a bunch of raifins to
eat, and a draught of water, which I found he was in-
deed in great diltreſs for, by his running; and hav-
ing refreſhed him, I made figns for him to go lie down
and fleep, pointing to a place where I had laid a great
parcel of rice ftraw, and a blanket upon it, which I
uſed to fleep upon myſelf ſometimes; fo the poor crea-
ture lay down, and went to fleep.
He was a comely hand fome fellow, perfectly well
made, with ſtrait long limbs, not too large, tall and well
( 170
()
170 ſhaped, and, as I reckon, about 26 years of age. He
had a very good countenance, not a fierce and furly a-
ſpect, but feemed to have fomething very manly in his
face, and yet he had all the ſweetneſs and ſoftneſs of
an European in his countenance too, especially when
he ſmiled: His hair was long and black, not curled
like wool; his forehead very high, and large, and a
great vivacity and ſparkling fharpneſs in his eyes. The
colour of his ſkin was not quite black, but very tawny,
and yet not of an ugly yellow naufeous tawny, as the
Brafilians, Virginians, and other natives of America
are, but of a bright kind of a dun olive colour, that
had in it fomething very agreeable, tho' not very eafy
to deſcribe. His face was round and plump, his nofe
fmall, not flat like the Negroes, a very good mouth,
thin lips, and his teeth fine, well-fet, and white as ivo-
ry: After he had flumbered, rather than flept, about
an hour, he waked again, and comes out of the cave
to me, for I had been milking my goats which I had
in the incloſure juſt by: When he efpied me, he came
running to me, laying himſelf down again upon the
ground, with all the poffible figns of an humble thank-
ful difpofition, making many antic gestures to fhew it.
At laſt he lays his head flat upon the ground, clofe to
my foot, and ſets my other foot upon his head, as he
had done before; and after this, made all the figns to
me of fubjection, fervitude and fubmiffion imaginable,
to let me know how much he would ferve me as long
as he lived I underſtood him in many things, and let
him know I was very well pleaſed with him; in a little
time I began to ſpeak to him, and teach him to ſpeak
to me; and firſt, I made him know his name ſhould be
( 171 )
Friday, which was the day I faved his life; and I call
ed him fo for the memory of the time; I likewife
taught him to fay Mafter, and then let him know that
was to be my name; I likewife taught him to fay Yes
and No, and to know the meaning of them; I gave him
fome milk in an earthen pot, and let him fee me drink
it before him, and fop my bread in it; and I gave
him a cake of bread to do the like, which he quickly
complied with, and made figns that it was very good
for him.
I kept there with him all that night, but as foon as
it was day, I beckoned him to come with me, and let
him know I would give him fome cloaths, at which he
ſeemed very glad for he was ftark naked: As we went
by the place where he had buried the two men, he
pointed exactly to the fpot, and fhewed me the marks
that he had made to find them again, making figns to
me that we ſhould dig them up again, and eat them;
at this I appeared very angry, expreffed my abhor-
rence of it, made as if I would vomit at the thoughts
of it, and beckoned with my hand to him to come a-
way, which he did immediately with great fubmiffion :
I then led him up to the top of the hill to fee if his e-
nemies were gone, and pulling out my glaſs, I looked,
and faw plainly the place where they had been, but no
appearance of them, or of their Canoes; fo that it was
plain that they were gone, and had left their two com-
rades behind them, without any ſearch after them.
But I was not content with this diſcovery, but hav-
ing now more courage, and confequently more curio-
fity, I took my man Friday with me, giving him the
fword in his hand, with the bow and arrows at his
172 )
back, which I found he could uſe very dexterously,
making him carry one gun for me, and I two for my-
ſelf, and away we marched to the place where theſe
creatures had been; for I had a mind now to get fome
fuller intelligence of them: When I came to the place
my very blood ran chill in my veins, and my heart
funk within me at the horror of the ſpectacle: Indeed
it was a dreadful fight, at leaft it was fo to me, though
Friday made nothing of it: The place was covered
with human bones, the ground dyed with the blood,
great pieces of flesh left here-and-there, half-eaten,
mangled, and fcorched; and, in ſhort, all the tokens of
the triumphant feaſt they had been making there, af-
ter a victory over their enemies: I faw three ſkulls,
five hands, and the bones of three or four legs and
feet, and abundance of other parts of the bodies; and
Friday, by his figns, made me understand, that they
brought over four priſoners to feaſt upon; that three
of them were eaten up, and that he, pointing to him-
felf, was the fourth; that there had been a great bat
tle between them and their next king, whofe fubjects,
it feems, he had been one of, and that they had taken
a great number of prifoners all which were carried to
feveral places by thofe who had taken them in the
flight, in order to feaft upon them. as was done here
by theſe wretches upon thoſe they brought hither.
I caufed Friday to gather all the ſkulls, fleſh, bones
and whatever remained and lay them together on an
heap, and make a great fire upon it, and burn them
all to aſhes: I found Friday had ſtill an hankering ſto-
mach after fome of the flesh, and was ftill a canibal in
his nature; but I diſcovered ſo much abhorrence at the
(
173 )
very thoughts of it, and at the leaft appearance of it,
that he durft not diſcover it; for I had, by fome means,
let him know, that I would kill him if he offered it.
When we had done this, we came back to our caftle,
and there I fell to work for my man Friday; and firſt
of all, I gave him a pair of linen drawers, which I had
out of the poor gunner's cheft I mentioned, and which
I found in the wreck; and which, with a little altera-
tion, fitted him very well; then I made him a jerkin
of goat's-fkin, as well as my fkill would allow, and I
was now grown a tolerable good taylor; and I gave
him a cap, which I had made of a hare-ſkin, very con-
venient, and faſhionable enough: and he was dreffed,
for the preſent, tolerably well, and mighty well was
he pleaſed to ſee himſelf almoſt as well cloathed as his
maſter: It is true, he went aukwardly in theſe things
at first; wearing the drawers was very aukward to
him, and the fleeves of the waiſtcoat galled his fhould-
ers, and the infide of his arms; but a little eafing them,
where he complained they hurt him, and uſing him-
ſelf to them, at length he took to them very well.
The next day after I came home to my hutch with
him, I began to confider where I fhould lodge him;
and that I might do well for him, and yet be perfectly
eafy myſelf, I made a little tent for him in the vacant
place between my two fortifications, in the infide of the
laſt, and in the outſide of the first: and as there was
a door or enterance there into my cave, I made a for-
mal framed door-cafe, and a door to it of boards, and
fet it up in the paffage, a little within the entrance;
and caufing the door to open on the infide, I barred it
up in the night, taking in my ladders too; fo that
( 174 )
Friday could no way come at me in the infide of my
innermoft wall, without making ſo much noiſe in get-
ting over, that it muſt needs awaken me ; for my firſt
wall had now a complete roof over it of long poles,
covering all my tent. and leaning up to a fide of the hill,
which was again laid croſs, with ſmall ſticks instead of
laths, and then thatch'd over a great thickneſs, with
the rice-ſtraw, which was ſtrong like reeds; and at
the hole or place which was left to go in or out by the
ladder, I had placed a kind of trap-door, which if it
had been attempted on the outfide, would not have o
pened at all, but would have fallen down, and made a
great noife; and as to weapons, I took them all in to
my fide every night.
But I needed none of all this precaution; for never
man had a more faithful, loving, fincere fervant than
Friday was to me; without paffions, fullenneſs, or de-
figns; prefectly obliged and engaged; his very affecti-
ons were tied to me, like thoſe of a child to a father;
and I dare fay, he would have facrificed his life
for the faving mine, upon any occafion whatſoever :
the many teftimonies he gave me of this, put it out
of doubt; and foon convinced me, that I needed to uſe
no precautions as to my fafety on his account.
This frequently gave me occafion to obferve and
that with wonder, that, however it had pleaſed God
in his providence, and in the government of the works
of his hands, to take from fo great part of the world
of his creatures, the beft ufes to which their faculties,
and the powers of their fouls, are adapted; yet that
he has bestowed upon them the fame powers, the fame
realon, the fame affections, the fame fentiments of kind-
(175)
nefs and obligation, the fame paffions and refentments of
wrongs, the fame fenfe of gratitude, fincerity, fidelity,
and all the capacities of doing good, and receiving good,
that he has given to us; and that when he pleaſes to
offer them occafions of exerting thefe, they are as rea-
dy, nay, more ready to apply them to the right uſes
for which they were beſtow'd, than we are. And this
made me very melancholy fometimes, in reflecting, as
the feveral occafions prefented, how mean an ufe we
make of all theſe, even though we have thefe powers en-
lighten'd by the great lamp of inftruction, the fpirit of
God, and by the knowledge of his word, added to our
underſtanding; and why it has pleafed God to hide the
like faving knowledge from fo many millions of fouls,
who, if I might judge by this poor favage, would make
a much better ufe of it than we did.
From hence I ſometimes was led too far to invade the
fovereignty of providence; and, as it were, arraign the
juftice of fo arbitrary a difpofition of things, that should
hide that light from fome, and reveal it to others, and
yet expect a like duty from both : But I shut it up, and
check'd my thoughts with this conclufion: First, That
we do not know by what light and law thefe fhould
be condemn'd; but that, as God was neceffarily, and by
the nature of his being, infinitely holy and juft, fo it
could not be, but that if theſe creatures were all fen-
tenced to abfence from himſelf, it was on account of
finning againſt that light, which, as the fcripture fays,
was a law to themſelves, and by fuch rules as their
confciences would acknowledge to be juft, though the
foundation was not difcover'd to us: And, fecondly,
That ſtill, as we are all the clay in the hand of the potter,
M
(176)
no veffel could fay to him, Why haft thou form'd me
thus?
But to return to my new companion: I was greatly
delighted with him, and made it my bufinefs to teach
him every thing that was proper to make him uſeful,
handy, and helpful; but efpecially to make him ſpeak,
and underſtand me when I fpake; and he was the apteſt
fcholar that ever was; and particularly was fo merry,
fo conſtantly diligent, and fo pleas'd when he could but
underſtand me, or make me underſtand him, that it
was very pleaſant to me to talk to him; and now my
life began to be ſo eaſy, that I began to fay to myſelf,
that could I but have been fafe from more favages I car'd
not if I was never to remove from the place while I
liv'd.
After I had been two or three days return'd to my
caſtle, I thought, that, in order to bring Friday off from
his horrid way of feeding, and from the reliſh of a Ca-
nibal's ſtomach, I ought to let him taſte other flesh; fo
I took him out with me one morning to the woods: I
went, indeed, intending to kill a kid out of my own
flock, and bring it home and drefs it: But as I was gɔ.
ing, I faw a fhe-goat lying down in the fhade, and two
young kids fitting by her: 1 catched hold of Friday,
hold, faid I, ſtand ftill; and made figns to him not to ſtir;
immediately I prefented my piece, fhot and kill'd one
The poor creature, who had at a distance
indeed, ſeen me kill the favage, his enemy, but did not
know, or could imagine, how it was done, was ſenſibly
furpris'd, trembled and ſhook, and look'd fo amaz'd,
that I thought he would have funk down: He did not
fee the kid I had fhot at, or perceive I had kill'd it,
of the kids.
( 177 )
but ripp'd up his waiſtcoat to feel if he was not wound-
ed; and, as I found, prefently thought I was refolv'd
to kill him; for he came and kneel'd down to me, and,
embracing my knees, faid a great many things I did not
underſtand, but I could eaſily fee, that his meaning was
to pray me not to kill him.
I foon found a way to convince him, that I would
do him no harm; and taking him up by the hand, laugh'd
at him, and, pointing to the kid which I had kill'd, beck-
on'd to him to run and fetch it, which he did; and
while he was wondering and looking to fee how the
creature was kill'd, I loaded my gun again, and by-and-
by I ſaw a great fowl, like an hawk, fit upon a tree
within fhot; ſo, to let Friday underſtand a little what
I would do, I call'd him to me again, pointing at the
fowl, which was indeed a parrot, tho' I thought it had
been an hawk; I fay, pointing to the parrot, and to
my gun, and to the ground under the parrot, to let
him fee I would make him fall, I made him underſtand
that I would ſhoot and kill that bird; accordingly Ifir'd,
and bid him look, and immediately he ſaw the parrot
fall: He ſtood like one frighted again, notwithſtand-
ing all that I had faid to him; and I found he was the
more amazed, becauſe he did not fee me put any thing
into the gun; but thought there must be fome won-
derful fund of death and deftruction in that thing, able
to kill man, beaft, bird, or any thing near or far off;
for the aſtoniſhment this created in him, was ſuch, as
could not wear off for a long time; and I believe, if I
would have let him, he would have worſhipp'd me and
my gun: As for the gun itſelf, he would not fo much
as touch it for ſeveral days after; but would fpeak to it,
M 2
(178
( 178 )
and talk to it, as if it had anſwer'd him, when he was
by himself; which, as I afterwards learn'd of him, was
to defire it not to kill him.
Well: after his aftoniſhment was a little over at this,
I pointed to him to run and fetch the bird I had ſhot,
which he did, but ftaid fome time; for the parrot, not
being quite dead, was flutter'd a good way off from the
place where ſhe fell; however he found her, took her
up, and brought her to me; and, as I had perceiv'd his
ignorance about the gun before, I took this advantage
to charge the gun again, and not let him fee me do it,
that I might be ready for any other mark that might
prefent; but nothing more offer'd at that time; fo I
brought home the kid; and the fame evening I took
the fkin off, and cut it out as well as I could, and hav-
ing a pot for that purpoſe, I boil'd or ftew'd fome of
the fleſh, and made fome very good broth; after I had
begun to eat fome, I gave fome to my man, who feem'd
very glad of it, and lik'd it very well; but that which
was ftrangeſt to him, was, to fee me eat falt with it.
He made a fign to me, that falt was not good to eat,
and putting a little into his own mouth, he feemed to
nauſeate it, and would fpit and fputter at it, waſhing
his mouth with fresh water after it; on the other hand
I took fome meat in my mouth without falt, and I pre-
tended to ſpit and fputter for want of falt, as faſt as he
had done at the falt; but it would not do, he would ne-
ver care for falt with meat, or in his broth; at leaſt,
not a great while, and then but a very little.
Having thus fed him with boil'd meat and broth, I
was refolv'd to feaſt him the next day with roasting a
piece of the kid; this I did by hanging it before the
ga
*
( 179 )
fire in a ſtring, as I had feen many people do in Eng-
land, ſetting two poles up, one on each fide the fire and
one croſs on the top, and tying of the ftring to the
croſs ſtick, letting the meat turn continually: This
Friday admir'd very much; but when he came to taſte
the fleſh, he took ſo many ways to tell me how well he
lik'd it, that I could not but underſtand him: And at
laſt he told me he would never eat man's fleſh any more
which I was very glad to hear.
The next day I fet him to work to beating fome corn
out, and fifting it in the manner I uſed to do, as I ob-
ferv'd before; and he ſoon underſtood how to do it as
well as 1, eſpecially after he had ſeen what the mean-
ing of it was, and that it was to make bread of; for af-
ter that I let him ſee me make my bread, and bake it
too; and in a little time Friday was able to do all the
work for me, as well as I could do it myſelf.
I began now to confider, that having two mouths to
feed inſtead of one, I must provide more ground for
my harveſt, and plant a larger quantity of corn, than
I us'd to do; fo I mark'd out a larger piece of land,
and began the fence in the fame manner as before, in
which Friday not only work'd very willingly, and very
hard, but did it very chearfully; and I told him what
it was for, that it was for corn for to make more bread,
becauſe he was now with me, and that I might have
enough for him and myſelf too: He appeared very ſen-
fible of that part, and let me know, that he thought I
had much more labour upon me on his account, than
I had for myſelf, and that he would work the harder
for me, if I would tell him what to do.
This was the pleaſanteſt year of all the life I led in
、、”སྙ;
M 3
( 180 )
this place: Friday began to talk pretty well, and ung
derſtand the names of almoſt every thing I had occa
fion to call for, and of every place I had to fend him to,
and talk a great deal to me; ſo that, in fhort, I began
now to have ſome ufe for my tongue again, which in-
deed I had very little occafion for before; that is to
Say, about Speech: Befides the pleaſure of talking to
him, I had a fingular fatisfaction in the fellow himſelf
his fimple unfeigned honefty appear'd to me more and
more every day, and I began really to love the crea
ture; and on his fide, I believe he lov'd me more than
it was poſſible for him ever to love any thing before.
I had a mind once to try if he had any hankering
inclination to his own country again; and having learn'd
him English fo well, that he could anfwer me almoſt any
queſtions; I aſk'd him, whether the nation that he be-
long'd to never conquer'd in battle. At which he fmil'd
and faid, yes, yes, we always fight the better; that is,
he meant, always get the better in fight, and fo we be-
gan the following difcourfe. You always fight the bet
ter! faid I: How came you to be taken priſoner then,
Friday?
Friday. My nation beat much for all that.
Mafter. How beat; if your nation beat them, how
came you to be taken?
Friday. They more than my nation in the place where
me was; they take one, two, three, and me: My nation
ever beat them in the yonder place, where me no was;
there my nation take one, two, great thoufand.
Mafter. But why did not your fide recover you
from the hands of your enemies then?
Friday. They run one, two, three, and me, and make
go in the Canoe; my nation have no Canoe that time.
( 181 )
Mafter. Well, Friday, and what does your nation
do with the men they take? Do they carry them a
way, and eat them as thefe did?
Friday. Yes, my nation eat mans too, eat all up:
Mafter. Where do they carry them?
Friday. Go to other place where they think.
Maſter. Do they come hither?
(place.
Friday. Yes, yes, they come hither; come other elſe
Mafter. Have you been here with them?
Friday. Yes, I been here [Points to the N. W. Side of
the Iſland, which, it ſeems, was their Side.]
By this I underſtood, that my man Friday had for-
merly been among the favages, who uſed to come on
fhore on the farther part of the iſland, on the ſaid man-
eating occafions that he was now brought for; and fome
time after, when I took the courage to carry him to
that fide, being the fame I formerly mention'd, he pre-
ſently knew the place, and told me, he was there once
when they eat up twenty men, two women, and one
child: He could not tell twenty in Engliſh, but he
number'd them by laying fo many ftones in a row, and
pointing to me to tell them over.
I have told this paſſage, becauſe it introduces what
follows; that after I had this difcourfe with him,
I afk'd him, how far it was from our iſland to the
fhore, and whether the Canoes were not often loft:
He told me there was no danger, no Canoes ever loſt:
but that after a little way out to ſea, there was a cur-
rent, and a wind always one way in the morning, the
other in the afternoon.
This I underſtand to be no more than the fets of the
M 4
(182)
tide, as going out, or coming in; but I afterwards un
derſtood it was occafion'd by the great draught and
reflux of the mighty river Oroonoque; in the mouth of
which river, as I thought afterwards, our iſland lay;
and that this land, which I perceived to the W. and
N. W was the great ifland Trinidad, on the north
point of the mouth of the river: I afk'd Friday a thou-
fand queſtions about the country, the inhabitants, the
fea, the coaſt, and what nations were near: he told
me all he knew, with the greateſt opennefs imaginable:
I afk'd him the names of the feveral nations of his
fort of people, but could get no other name than Caribs;
from whence I eafily understood, that theſe were the
Caribbees, which our maps place on that part of Ame-
rica which reaches from the mouth of the river Oro-
noque to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha: He
told me, that up a great way beyond the moon, that was
beyond the fetting of the moon, which muſt be W. from
their country, there dwelt white-bearded men, like
me, and pointed to my great whiſkers, which I men-
tion'd before; and that they had kill'd much mans,
that was his word: By all which I underſtood he meant
the Spaniards, whofe cruelties in America had been
fpread over the whole countries, and were remember'd
by all the nations from father to fon.
I inquired if he could tell me how I might come from
this ifland, and get among thofe white men; he told
me, Yes, yes, I might go in two Canoe; I could not
underſtand what he meant by two Canoe till at last,
with great difficulty, I found he meant, that it muſt
be in a large great boat, as big as two Canoes.
This part of Friday's difcourfe began to relish with
( 183 )
me very well; and from this time I entertained fome
hopes, that one time or other I might find an opportu
nity to make my eſcape from this place, and that this
poor favage might be a means to help me to do it.
During the long time that Friday had now been
with me, and that he began to ſpeak to me, and un-
derſtand me, I was not wanting to lay a foundation of
religious knowledge in his mind; particularly, I afk'd
him one time, who made him? The poor creature did
not underſtand me at all, but thought I had aſk'd who
was his father: But I took it by another handle, and
afk'd him, who made the fea, the ground he walk'd
on, and the hills and woods? He told me, it was one
old Benamuckee that liv'd beyond all: He could de-
fcribe nothing of this great perfon, but that he was very
old; much older, he ſaid, than the ſea or the land, than
the moon or the ſtars: I afk'd him then, if this old
perfon had made all things, why did not all things wor-
ſhip him? He look'd very grave, and with a perfect
look of innocence, faid, All things ſaid O to him: I
afk'd him, if the people who die in his country, went
away any where: He faid, yes, they all went to Be-
namuckee; Then I aſked him, whether thofe they eat
up went thither too? He faid, yes.
From theſe things I began to inftruct him in the
knowledge of the true God. I told him, that the great
maker of all things liv'd there, pointing up towards hea-
ven; That he governs the world by the fame power
and providence by which he made it: that he was om-
nipotent, could do every thing for us; give every thing
to us, take every thing from us; and thus, by degrees,
I open'd his eyes: He liften'd with great attention,
( 184 )
and receiv'd with pleaſure the notion of Jefus Christ
being fent to redeem us, and of the manner of making
our prayers to God, and his being able to hears us, e-
ven in heaven He told me one day, that if our God
could hear us up beyond the fun, he muſt needs be a
greater God than their Benamuckee, who liv'd but a
little way off, and yet could not hear, till they went
up to the great mountains where he dwelt, to ſpeak
to him. I afk'd him, if ever he went thither to ſpeak
to him? He faid, no, they never went that were young
men; none went thither but the old men; whom he
call'd their Oowokakee, that is, as I made him explain
it to me, their religious, or clergy; and that they went
to fay O (fo he call'd faying prayers) and then came
back, and told them what Benamuckee faid; By this
I obferv'd, that there is Prieftcraft even amongst the
moſt blinded ignorant pagans in the world; and the
policy of making a fecret of religion, in order to preferve
the veneration of the people to the clergy, is not only
to be found in the Roman but perhaps in all religions
in the world, even among the most brutish and barba-
rous favages.
I endeavour'd to clear up this fraud to my man Fri-
day; and told him, that the pretence of their old men
going up to the mountains to ſay O to their God Bena-
muckee, was a cheat; and their bringing word from
thence what he faid, was much more fo; that if they
met with any anſwer, or ſpoke with any one there, it
must be with an evil fpirit: And then I enter'd into a
long difcourfe with him about the devil, the original of
him, his rebellion againſt God, his enmity to man, the
reafon of it, his fetting himfelf up in the dark parts of
the world to be wor fhipp'd instead of God, and as God,
( 185 )
and the many ftratagems he made ufe of, to delude
mankind to their ruin; how he had a fecret acceſs to
our paffions, and to our affections, to adapt his fnares
fo to our inclinations, as to caufe us even to be our
own tempters, and to run upon our own deftruction by
our own choice.
I found it was not fo eafy to imprint right notions in
his mind about the devil, as it was about the being of
a God: nature affifted all my arguments to evidence
to him even the neceffity of a great firft caufe, and
over-ruling governing power, a fecret directing pro-
vidence, and of the equity and juftice of paying homage
to him that made us, and the like; but there appeared
nothing of all this in the notion of an evil fpirit, of his
original, his being, his nature, and above all, of his in-
clination to do evil, and to draw us in to do fo too: and
the poor creature puzzled me once in fuch a manner,
by a queſtion merely natural and innocent, that I
ſcarce knew what to fay to him. I had been talking a
great deal to him of the power of God, his omnipo-
tence, his dreadful averſion to fin, his being a confum-
ing fire to the workers of iniquity; how, as he had
made us all, he could deftroy us, and all the world,
in a moment; and he liftened with great ſeriouſneſs to
me all the while.
After this. I had been telling him how the devil
was God's enemy in the hearts of men, and uſed all
his malice and ſkill to defeat the good defigns of pro-
vidence, and to ruin the kingdom of Chrift in the
world, and the like: Well, fays Friday, but you fay,
God is ſo ſtrong, fo great, is he not much ſtrong, much
might, as the devil? Yes, yes, faid I, Friday, God is
(186)
ſtronger than the devil, God is above the devil, and
therefore we pray to God to tread him under our
feet, and enable us to reſiſt his temptations, and quench
his fiery darts. But, fays he again, if God much
ftrong, much might, as the devil, why God not kill
the devil, fo make him no more wicked?"
I was ſtrangely ſurpriſed at this queſtion, and after
all, though I was now an old man, yet I was but a
young doctor, and ill enough qualified for a caſuiſt,
or a folver of difficulties: And at first, I could not
tell what to fạy; fo I pretended not to hear him, and
aſked him what he faid; But he was too earneſt for
an anſwer to forget his queſtion; fo that he repeated
it in the very fame broken words, as above By this
time I had recovered myſelf a little, and I faid, 'God
will at last puniſh him ſeverely, he is reſerved for the
judgment, and is to be caft into the bottomlefs pit, to
⚫ dwell with everlaſting fire;' this did not fatisfy Friday;
but he returns upon me, repeating my words, referve
at laft, me no underſtand: but why not kill the de-
vil now, not kill great ago? You may as well aſk
me, faid I, why God does not kill you and me, when
we do wicked things here that offend him: we are
preferved to repent and be pardoned. He mules a
while at this; Well, well, fays he, mighty affectionate-
ly, that well, fo you, I, devil, all wicked, all preferve,
repent, God pardon all: here l was run down again by
him to the laſt degree, and it was a teſtimony to me,
how the mere notions of nature, though they will
guide reaſonable creatures to the knowledge of a God,
and of a worſhip or homage due to the ſupreme being
of God, as the confequence of our nature; yet no-
1
(187)
thing but diviné revelation can form the knowledge of
Jefus Christ, and of a redemption purchaſed for us; of
a mediator of a new covenant; and of an interceffor at
the footstool of God's throne, I fay, nothing but a re-
velation from heaven can form thefe in the foul; and
that therefore the gofpel of our Lord and Saviour
Jefus Christ, I mean the word of God. and the fpirit
of God, promiſed for the guide and fanctifier of his
people, are the abfolutely neceffary inftructors of the
fouls of men in the faving knowledge of God, and the
means of falvation.
I therefore diverted the prefent difcourfe between
me and my man, rifing up haftily, as upon fome fudden
occafion of going out; then fending him for fomething
a great way off, I ſeriouſly prayed to God, that he
would enable me to inftruct favingly this poor favage,
affifting by his fpirit the heart of the poor ignorant
creature to receive the light of the knowledge of God
in Chriſt, reconciling him to himſelf, and would guide
me to ſpeak fo to him from the word of God, as his
confcience might be convinced, his eyes opened, and
his foul faved: when he came again to me, I entered
into a long difcourfe with him upon the fubject of the
redemption of man by the faviour of the world, and
of the doctrine of the gofpel preached from heaven,
viz. of repentance towards God, and faith in our blef-
fed Lord Jesus: I then explained to him, as well as I
could, why our bleffed redeemer took not on him the
nature of angels, but the feed of Abraham, and how
for that reaſon the fallen angels had no fhare in the
redemption; that he came only to the loft fheep of the
houſe of Ifrael, and the like.
( 188 )
1 had, God knows, more fincerity than knowledge,
in all the methods I took for this poor creature's in-
ſtruction; and muſt acknowledge, what I believe all
that act upon the fame principle will find, that in laying
things open to him, I really informed and inſtructed
myſelf in many things that either I did not know, or
had not fully confidered before; but which occurred
naturally to my mind, upon my fearching into them,
for the information of this poor favage; and I had
more affection in my inquiry after things upon this oc-
cafion, than ever I felt before; fo that whether this
poor wild wretch was the better for me or no, I had
great reafon to be thankful, that ever he came to me:
my grief fat lighter upon me, my habitation grew com-
fortable to me beyond meaſure; and when I reflected,
that in this folitary life which I had been confined to,
I had not only been moved myſelf to look up to heaven,
and to feek to the hand that brought me thither, but
was now to be made an inftrument, under providence,
to fave the life, and, for aught I know, the foul, of a
poor favage, and bring him to the true knowledge of
religion, and of the chriſtian doctrine, that he might
know Chriſt Jefus, to know whom is life eternal; I
fay, when I reflected upon all theſe things, a fecret
joy ran thro' every part of my foul, and I frequently
rejoiced, that ever I was brought to this place, which
I had often thought the moft dreadful of all afflicti-
ons, that could poffibly have befallen me.
In this thankful frame I continued all the remain-
der of my time, and the converfation which employed
the hours between Friday and me was fuch, as made
the three years which we lived there together, perfect-
( 189 )
ly and completely happy, if any ſuch thing as complete
happineſs can be found in a fublunary ftate: the fa-
vage was now a good chriſtian, a much better than I;
though I have reafon to hope, and bleſs God for it,
that we were equally penitent, and comforted reſtor-
ed penitents: we had here the word of God to read,
and no farther off from his fpirit to inſtruct, than if
we had been in England.
I always applied myſelf to reading the fcripture, and
to let him know, as well as I could, the meaning of
what I read; and he again, by his ferious inquiries
and queſtions, made me, as I faid before, a much bet-
ter ſcholar in the fcripture-knowledge, than I fhould
ever have been by my own mere private reading: An-
other thing I cannot refrain from abferving here alfo
from experience, in this retired part of my life; viz.
how infinite and inexpreffible a bleffing it is, that the
knowledge of God, and of the doctrine of falvation by
Jefus Chrift, is fo plainly laid down in the word of
God, ſo eaſy to be received and underſtood, that as the
bare reading the fcripture made me capable of under-
ſtanding enough of my duty to carry me directly on to
the great work of fincere repentance of my fins, and
laying hold of a ſaviour for life and falvation, to a ſta-
ted reformation in practice, and obedience to all God's
commands, and this without any teacher or inſtructor
(I mean, human) fo the fame plain inftruction fufficient-
by ferved to the enlightening this favage creature, and
bringing him to be ſuch a chriſtian, as I have known
few equal to him in my life.
As to the difputes, wranglings, ftrife, and contenti-
on which has happened in the world about religion,
( 190 )
>
*
whether niceties in doctrines, or fchemes of church-
government, they were all perfectly uſeleſs to us, as,
for aught I can yet fee, they have to all the reft in the
world: We had the fure guide to heaven, viz. the
word of God; and we had bleffed be God, comforta-
ble views of the ſpirit of God, teaching and inftruc-
ting us by his word, leading us into all truth, and mak-
ing us both willing and obedient to the inftruction of
his word; and I cannot fee the leaft ufe that the great-
eſt knowledge of the difputed points in religion, which
have made fuch confufions in the world, would have
been to us, if we could have obtained it: But I muſt
go on with the hiftorical part of things, and take e-
very part in its order.
Է
After Friday and I became more intimately acquaint
'ted, and that he could underſtand almost all I faid to
him, and ſpeak fluently, though in broken English, to
me; I acquainted him with my own ftory, or at leaft
fo much of it as related to my coming into the place,
how I had lived there, and how long: I let him into
the myſtery (for fuch it was to him) of gunpowder
and bullets and taught him how to fhoot: 1 gave him
I
a knife, which he was wonderfully delighted with, and
I made him a belt with a frog hanging to it, fuch as in
England we wear hangers in; and in the frog, inſtead
of an hanger, I gave him an hatchet, which was not
only as good a weapon in fome cafes, but much more
uſeful upon many occafions.
I defcribed to him the countries of Europe, and par-
ticularly England, which I came from; how we lived,
how we worshipped God, how we behaved to one an-
other, and how we traded in fhips to all the parts of
A
( 191 )
the world: I gave him an account of the wreck which
I had been on board of, and fhew'd him, as near as I
could, the place where the lay; but fhe was all beaten
in pieces long before, and quite gone.
I fhew'd him the ruins of our boat, which we loft
when we eſcap'd, and which I could not ſtir with my
whole ſtrength then, but was now fallen almoſt all to
pieces upon feeing this boat, Friday ftood mufing a
great while, and ſaid nothing; I aſk'd him what it
was he ſtudied upon? at laſt, ſays he, Me fee fuch boat
like come to place at my nation.
:
I did not underſtand him a good while; but at last,
when I had examined further into it, I underſtood by
him, that a boat, fuch as that had been, came on ſhore
upon the country where he liv'd; that is, as he explain'd
it, was driven thither by ſtreſs of weather: I preſently
imagin'd, that fome European fhip muſt have been caft
away upon their coaſt, and the boat might get looſe,
and drive aſhore; but was fo dull, that I never once
thought of men making eſcape from a wreck thither,
much leſs whence they might come; fo I only inquired
after a deſcription of the boat.
7
Friday deſcribed the boat to me well enough; but
brought me better to underſtand him, when he added,
with fome warmth; We fave the white mans from drown:
then I preſently afk'd him, if there were any white mans,
as he called them, in the boat: Yes, he faid, the boat
full of white mans: I aſk'd him, how many? He told
upon his fingers feventeen; I ask'd him then, what be-
came of them? He told me, They live, they dwell at
my nation.
This put new thoughts into my head again; for I
N
1.
(192)
préfently imagined,that thefe might be the men belong
ing to the ſhip that was caft away in fight of my iſland,
as I now call it; and who, after the fhip was ftruck on
the rock, and they faw her inevitably loſt, had faved
themſelves in their boat, and were landed upon that
wild fhore among the favages.
Upon this I inquired of him more critically, what was
become of them; he affur'd me they liv'd ftill there,
that they had been there about four years, that the fa-
vages let them alone, and gave them victuals to live:
I ask'd him, how it came to pafs they did not kill them,
and eat them? He faid, No, they make brother with
them; that is, as I underſtand him, a truce and then
he added, They eat no mans but when make the war
fight: That is to fay, they never eat any men, but ſuch
as come to fight with them, and are taken in battle.
It was after this, fome confiderable time, that being
on the top of the hill, at the eaft-fide of the ifland,
from whence, as I have ſaid, I had in a clear day dif-
cover'd the main or continent of America; Friday, the
weather being very ferene, looks very earneſtly towards
the main land, and in a kind of furpriſe falls a jumping
and dancing, and calls out to me, for I was at fome
diſtance from him: I ask'd him what was the matter?
O joy! fays he, O glad! There fee my country, there my
nation!
I obferv'd an extraordinary fenfe of pleafure appear-
ed in his face, and his eyes fparkled, and his counte-
nance diſcover'd a ſtrange eagernefs, as if he had a
mind to be in his own country again; and this obfer-
vation of mine put a great many thoughts into me,
which made me at firſt not fo eaſy about my new man
•
( 193 )
Friday, as I was before; and I made no doubt, but that
if Friday could get back to his own nation again, he
would not only forget all his religion, but all his obli-
gations to me; and would be forward enough to give
his countrymen an account of me and come back per-
haps, with an hundred or two of them. and make a
feaft upon me, at which he might be as merry as he
uſed to be with thofe of his enemies, when they were
taken in war.
But I wrong'd the poor honeft creature very much,
for which I was very forry afterwards: however, as
my jealouſy increaſed, and held me fome weeks, I was
a little more circumfpect, and not fo familiar and kind
to him as before; in which I was certainly in the wrong
too, the honeſt grateful creature having no thought a-
bout it, but what confifted of the beſt principles, both
as a religious chriſtian, and as a grateful friend, as ap-
peared afterwards to my full fatisfaction.
Whilft my jealouſy of him lafted, you may be fure
I was every day pumping him to fee if he would
diſcover any of the new thougles, which I fufpected
were in him; but I found every thing he faid was ho-
neſt, and ſo innocent, that I could find nothing to nou-
rish my fufpicion; and, in fpite of all my uneafinefs, he
made me at laſt intirely his own again; nor did he in
the leaſt perceive, that I was uneafy; and therefore I
could not fufpect him of deceit.
One day, walking up the fame hill, but the weather
being hazy at the fea, fo that we could not fee the con-
tinent, I called to him, and faid, Friday, do not you
wiſh yourſelf in your own country, your own nation?
Yes, he faid, I be much O glad to be at my own nation.
N 2
(
194 )
What would you do there? faid I would you turu
wild again, eat mans fleſh again, and be a favage as you
were before? He look'd full of concern, and ſhaking
his head, faid, No, no, Friday tell them to live good, tell
them to pray God, tell them to eat corn-bread, cattle-
fleſh, milk, no eat man again. Why then, faid I to him,
they will kill you: he look'd grave at that, and then
faid, No, they no kill me, they willingly love learn: he
meant by this, they would be willing to learn: he ad-
ded, they learn'd much of the bearded mans that came
in the boat? then I aſk'd him, it he would go back to
them? He fmil'd at that, and told me he could not
fwim fo far: I told him I would make a Canoe for him;
he told me he would go, if I would go with him. I
go! faid I, why they will eat me if I come there :
No, no, fays he, me make them no eat you, me make them
much love you: He meant he would tell them how I
had kill'd his enemies and fav'd his life, and fo he would
make them love me: then he told me as well as he could
how kind they were to feventeen white men, or bear-
ded men, as he call'd them, who came on fhore in di-
ftreſs.
From this time, I confels, I had a mind to venture
over, and fee if I could poffibly join with theſe bearded
men, who, I made no doubt, were Spaniards or Portu
quefe; not doubting but, if I could, we might find ſome
method to eſcape from thence, being upon the conti
nent, and a good company together, better than I could
from an iſland forty miles off the fhore, and alone with
out help: fo, after fome days, I took Friday to work
again, by way of difcourfe; and told him, I would
give him a boat to go back to his own nation; and
accordingly I carried him to my frigate, which lay on
( 195 )
the other fide of the iſland; and having clear'd it of
water (for I always kept it funk in the water) I brought
it out, fhew'd it him, and we both went into it.
I found he was a moft dextrous fellow at managing
it, would make it go almoſt as ſwift and faft again as I
could; fo when he was in, I faid to him, well, now
Friday, fhall we go to your nation? He look'd very
dull at my ſaying ſo, which, it ſeems, was becauſe he
thought the boat too ſmall to go ſo far: I told him then
I had a bigger; fo the next day, I went to the place
where the firſt boat lay which I had made, but which
I could not get into the water; he faid that was big
enough; but then, as I had taken no care of it, and it
had lain two or three-and-twenty years there, the fun
had ſplit and dry'd it, that it was in a manner rotten.
Friday told me, fuch a boat would do very well, and
would carry much enough vittle, drink, bread, that was
his way of talking.
Upon the whole, I was by this time fo fix'd upon
my deſign of going over with him to the continent,
that I told him we would go and make one as big as
that, and he ſhould go home in it. He anſwer'd
not one word, but look'd very grave and fad. Iafk'd
him what was the matter with him. He ask'd me a-
gain thus, Why you angry mad with Friday? what me
done? I ask'd him what he meant; I told him I was
not angry with him at all: No angry!
he, repeating the words feveral times,
home away to my nation? Why, faid I,
not ſay you wiſh'd you were there?
No angry! fays
why fend Friday
Friday,
Friday, did
Yes, yes, fays he,
you
wish be both there, no wifh Friday there, no mafter there.
In a word, he would not think of going there with-
N 3
(
( 196 )
out me. I go there, Friday! faid I: what fhould I
do there? He turn'd very quick upon me at this; You do
great deal much good, fays he, you teach wild mans be
good, fober, tame mans; you tell them know God, pray
God, and live new life. Alas, Friday, faid I, thou
knoweſt not what thou fayeft; I am but an ignorant,
man myſelf. Yes, yes, fays he, you teachee me good, you
teachee them good. No, no, Friday, ſaid I, you fhall
go without me; leave me here to live by myſelf, as Į
did before. He look'd confus'd again at that word,
and running to one of the hatchets which he uſed to
wear, he takes it up haftily, and gives it me. What
muft I do with this? faid I to him: You take kill
Friday, fays he. What must I kill you for? faid I a-
gain. He returns very quick, What you ſend Friday
away for? Take kill Friday, no Send Friday away.
This he ſpoke fo earnestly, that I faw tears ftand in
his eyes. In a word, I fo plainly diſcover'd the utmoſt
affection in him to me, and a firm refolution in him,
that I told him then, and often after, that I would ne、
ver fend him away from me, if he was willing to ftay
with me.
Upon the whole, as I found by all his difcourfe, a
fettled affection to me, and that nothing fhould part
him from me, fo I found all the foundation of his de-
fire to go to his own country, was laid in his ardent
affection to the people, and his hopes of my doing them
good; a thing, which as I had no notion of myſelf,
fo I had not the leaft thought, or intention, or defire
of undertaking it. But ftill I found a ftrong inclination
to my attempting an efcape, as above, founded on the
fuppofition gathered from the former difcourfe; viz.
( 197 )
·
That there were ſeventeen bearded men there; and there-
fore, without any delay, I went to work with Friday,
to find out a great tree proper to fell, and make a large
Periagua or Canoe, to undertake the voyage there
were trees enough in the island to have built a little.
fleet, not of Periaguas and Canoes only, but even of
good large veffels: but the main thing I looked at,
was to get one fo near the water that we might launch
it when it was made, to avoid the miſtake I committed
at firſt.
At laſt, Friday pitched upon a tree; for I found he
knew much better than I, what kind of wood was fit-
teft for it; nor can I tell to this day, what wood to call
the tree we cut down, except that it was very like the
tree we call Fuftic, or between that and the Nicara-
gua wood, for it was much of the fame colour and
fmell: Friday was for burning the hollow or cavity of
this tree out, to make it into a boat; but I fhewed him
how rather to cut it out with tools, which after I fhew'd
him how to uſe, he did very handily, and in about a
month's hard labour we finifh'd it, and made it very
handſome, eſpecially when with our axes, which I
fhewed him how to handle, we cut and hew'd the out-
ſide into the true ſhape of a boat; after this however,
it coſt us near a fortnight's time to get her along, as
it were inch by inch, upon great rollers, into the wa-
ter: but when ſhe was in, fhe would have carried twen-
ty men with great eaſe.
When ſhe was in the water, and tho' ſhe was ſo big,
it amaz❜d me to fee with what dexterity and how ſwift
my man Friday would manage her, turn her, and pad-
dle her along; fo I aſked him if he would, and if we
N4
(198)
might venture over in her: Yes, he faid, he venture over
in her very well, though great blow wind: However,
I had a farther defign that he knew nothing of, and
that was to make a maft and fail, and to fit her with
an anchor and cable: as to a maft, that was eafy enough
to get; fo I pitch'd upon a ſtrait young cedar-tree,
which I found near the place, and which there was
great plenty of in the iſland; and I fet Friday to work
to cut it down, and gave him directions how to fhape
and order it but as to the fail, that was my particu
lar care; I knew I had old fails, or rather pieces of
old fails enough; but as I had them now twenty fix
years by me, and had not been very careful to preferve
them, not imagining that 1 fhould ever have this kind
of ufe for them, I did not doubt but they were all rot-
ten; and indeed moft of them were fo; however, I
found two pieces which appeared pretty good, and with
thefe I went to work, and with a great deal of pains,
and aukward tedious ftitching (you may be fure) for
want of needles, I at length made a three-corner'd ug-
ly thing, like what we call in England a fhoulder-of-
mutton fail, to go with a boom at bottom, and a little
ſhort ſprit at the top, fuch as ufually our fhips long-
boats fail with, and fuch as I beſt knew how to manage:
becauſe it was fuch a one as I uſed in the boat in which
1 made my eſcape from Barbary, as related in the firſt
part of my ſtory.
I was near two months performing this laft work ;
viz. rigging and fitting my maft and fails; for I finiſh'd
them very complete, making a ſmall ſtay, and a fail or
forefail to it, to affift, if we ſhould turn to windward;
and, which was more than all, I fix'd a rudder to the
( 199 )
ſtern of her, to ſteer with; and tho' I was but a bung
ling ſhipwright, yet as I knew the uſefulneſs and even
neceffity of ſuch a thing, I applied myſelf with fo much
pains to do it, that at laſt I brought it to paſs, tho³
confidering the many dull contrivances I had for it
that fail'd, I think it coaft me almoſt as much labour
as making the boat.
After all this was done, I had my man Friday to
teach as to what belong'd to the navigation of my boat;
for tho' he knew very well how to paddle the Canoe, he
knew nothing what belong'd to a fail and a rudder,
and was the most amaz'd when he faw me work the
boat to and again in the fea by the rudder, and how the
fail gyb'd, and fill'd this way or that way, as the courſe
we fail'd chang'd; I fay, when he faw this, he ſtood
like one aftonifh'd and amaz'd: however with a little
ufe, I made all theſe things familiar to him, and he be-
came an expert failor, except that as to the compafs, I
could make him underſtand very little of that on the
other hand, as there was very little cloudy weather,
and feldom or never any fogs in thoſe parts, there was
the lefs occafion for a compaſs, feeing the ftars were
always to be ſeen by night, and the fhore by day, ex-
cept in the rainy feafons; and then nobody cared to
ftir abroad, either by land or ſea.
I was now enter'd on the ſeven-and-twentieth year
of my captivity in this place; though the three laſt
years that I had this creature with me, ought rather to
be left out of the account, my habitation being quite of
another kind than in all the rest of my time. I kept
the anniverſary of my landing here with the fame thank-
fulneſs to God for his mercies as at firſt; and if I had
( 200 )
fuch caufe of acknowledgment at first, I had much more
fo now, having fuch additional teftimonies of the care
of providence over me, and the great hopes I had of
being effectually and ſpeedily deliver'd; for I had an
invincible impreffion upon my thoughts, that my deli-
verance was at hand, and that I fhould not be another
year in this place: however, I went on with my huf-
bandry, digging, planting, fencing as ufual; I gather'd
and cur'd my grapes, and did every neceffary thing, as
before.
The rainy ſeaſon was in the mean time upon me,
when I kept more within-doors than at other times;
fo I had ſtow'd our new veffel as fecure as we could,
bringing her up into the creek, where, as I faid in
the beginning, I landed my rafts from the fhip; and
haling her up into the fhore, at high-water mark, I
made my man Friday'dig a little dock, juſt big enough
to hold her, and juft deep enough to give her water
enough to float in; and then when the tide was out,
we made a ſtrong dam croſs the end of it, to keep the
water out; and fo fhe lay dry, as to the tide from the
fea; and to keep the rain off, we laid a great many
boughs of trees fo thick, that fhe was as well thatch'd
as an houſe; and thus we waited for the months of
November and December, in which I defign'd to make
my adventure.
When the fettled feafon began to come in, as the
thought of my deſign return'd with the fair weather,
I was preparing daily for the voyage; and the firſt
thing I did was to lay up a certain quantity of provi-
fion, being the ſtore for the voyage; and intended in
a week or a fortnight's time, to open the dock, and
(201)
launch out our boat: I was bufy one morning upon
fomething of this kind, when I call'd to Friday, and
bid him go to the feashore, and fee if he could find a
turtle or tortoife, a thing which we generally got once
a week, for the fake of the eggs, as well as the flesh.
Friday had not been long gone, when he came run-
ning back, and flew over my outward wall, or fence,
like one that felt not the ground, or the steps he fet
his feet on; and before I had time to ſpeak to him, he
cry'd out to me, O maßler! O muſter! O forrow! Ɑ
bad! What's the matter, Friday? fad I; O yonder
there. fays he, one, two, three canoe! one, two, three!
By this way of ſpeaking I concluded there were fix;
but on inquiry I found there were but three. Well
Friday, faid I, do not be frighted; fo 1 hearten'd him
up as well as I could: however, I faw the poor fellow
most terribly ſcar'd; for nothing ran in his head but
that they were come to look for him, and would cut
him in pieces, and eat him; the poor fellow trembled
fo, that I scarce knew what to do with him: I com
forted him as well as I could, and told him I was in
as much danger as he, and that they would eat me as
well as him. But, faid I, Friday, we must refolve to
fight them: can you fight, Friday? Me boot, fays he,
but there come many great number. No matter for that
faid I again, our guns will fright them that we do not
kill. So I afk'd him, whether, if I refolv'd to defend
him, he would defend me, and ſtand by me, and do
just as I bade him? He faid, me die, when you bid die,
maſter; fo I went and fetch'd a good dram of rum,
and gave him; for I had been fo good an husband of
myrum, that I had a great deal left: when he had drank
( 202 )
it, I made him take the two fowling-pieces which we al-
ways carry'd, and load them with large fwan-fhot, as
big as fmall piftol-bullets; then I took four mufquets,
and loaded them with two flugs, and five fmall bul
lets each; and my two piftols I loaded with a brace
of bullets each; I hung my great fword, as ufual, naked
by my fide, and gave Friday, his hatchet.
When I had thus prepar'd myſelf, I took my per-
ſpective-glaſs, and went up to the fide of the hill, to
ſee what I could diſcover; and I found quickly by
my glaſs, that there were one and twenty favages, three
prifoners, and three Canoes; and that their whole bu
finefs feem'd to be the triumphant banquet upon theſe
three human bodies; a barbarous feaſt indeed but no-
thing more than as I had obferv'd was uſual with them.
I obferv'd alſo, that they were landed, not where
they had done when Friday made his eſcape, but nearer
to my creek, where the fhore was low, and where a
thick wood came clofe almoft down to the fea: this,
with the abhorrence of the inhuman errand thefe wret.
ches came about, fo fill'd me with indignation, that I
came down again to Friday, and told him, I was re-
folv'd to go down to them, and kill them all; and aſk'd
him if he would ſtand by me. He was now gotten o❤
ver his fright, and his fpirits being a little rais'd with
the dram I had given him, he was very chearful; and
told me, as before, he would die when I bid die.
In this fit of fury, I took firſt and divided the arms
which I had charg'd, as before, between us: I gave
Friday one piftol to ſtick in his girdle, and three guns
upon his ſhoulder; and I took one piftol, and the o-
ther three, myſelf; and in this poſture we march'd
out; I took a ſmall bottle of rum in my pocket, and
( 203 )
gave Friday a large bag with more powder and bullets;
and as to orders, I charg'd him to keep cloſe behind
me, and not to ſtir, or fhoot, or do any thing till I bid
him; and in the mean time, not to fpeak a word: in
this poſture I fetch'd a compaſs to my right hand of
near a mile, as well to get over the creek as to get in-
to the wood; fo that I might come within ſhot of them
before I ſhould be diſcover'd, which I had ſeen by my
glafs it was eaſy to do.
While I was making this march, my former thoughts
returning, I began to abate my refolution: I do not
mean, that I entertain'd any fear of their number; for
as they were naked,unarm'd wretches, 'tis certain I was
fuperior to them; nay, though I had been alone: but
it occurr'd to my thoughts, what call, what occaſion,
much lefs, what neceffity, I was in to go and dip my
hands in blood, to attack people, who had neither done
or intended me any wrong: who as to me, were in-
nocent, and whoſe barbarous cuftoms were their own
difafter, being in them a token indeed of God's hav-
ing left them, with the other nations of that part of the
world, to fuch ſtupidity, and to fuch inhuman courfes
but did not call me to take upon me to be a judge of
their actions, much lefs an executioner of his juftice;
that whenever he thought fit, he would take the cauſe
into his own hands, and by national vengeance puniſh
them for rational crimes; but that in the mean time,
it was none of my buſineſs that it was true, Friday
might juſtify it, becauſe he was a declar'd enemy, and
in a ſtate of war with thoſe very particular people, and
it was lawful for him to attack them; but I could not
fay the fame with reſpect to me: theſe things were fo
3
( 204 )
Warmly prefs'd upon my thoughts all the way as I went
that I refolv'd I would only go to place myself near
them, that I might obferve their barbarous feaſt, and
that I would act then as God fhould direct; but that
unlefs fomething offer'd that was more a call to me than
yet I knew of, I would not meddle with them.
With this refolution I enter'd the wood, and with
all poffible warinefs and filence (Friday following cloſe
at my heels,) I march'd till I came to the ſkirt of the
wood; on the fide which was next to them; only that
one corner of the wood lay between me and them:
here I call'd foftly to Friday, and fhewing him a great
tree. which was juft at the corner of the wood, I bade
him go to the tree, and bring me word if he could fee
there plainly what they were doing: he did fo, and
came immediately back to me, and told me they might
be plainly view'd there; that they were all about the
fire, eating the fleſh of one of their priſoners; and that
another lay bound upon the fand, a little from them,
whom he ſaid they would kill next, and which fir'd
the very foul within me. He told me, it was not one
of their nation, but one of the bearded men whom he
had told me of, who came to their country in the boat.
I was fill'd with horror at the very naming the white-
bearded man, and going to the tree, I faw plainly, by
my glafs, a white man, who lay upon the beach of the
fea, with his hands and his feet ty'd with flags, or things
like ruthes; and that he was an European, and had
cloaths on.
There was another tree, and a little thickét beyond
it, about fifty yards nearer to them than the place where
I was, which, by going a little way about. I faw I might
( 205 )
come at undiſcover'd, and that then I fhould be within
half ſhot of them; fo I with-held my paffion, tho' I
was indeed enrag'd to the highest degree; and going
back about twenty paces, I got behind fome buſhes,
which held all the way till I came to the other tree,
and then I came to a little rifing ground, which gave
me a full view of them, at the diſtance of about eighty
yards.
I had now not a moment to lofe; for nineteen of the
dreadful wretches fat upon the ground all clofe huddled
together, and had juft fent the other two to butcher
the poor Chriſtian, and bring him, perhaps limb by
limb, to their fire; and they were ſtoop'd down to un-
tie the bands at his feet. I turn'd to Friday; Now,
Friday, faid I, do as I bid thee. Friday faid, he would.
Then, Friday, faid I, do exactly as you fee me do;
fail in nothing. So I fet down one of the mufquets
and the fowling-piece upon the ground, and Friday
did the like by his; and with the other mufquet I took
my aim at the favages, bidding him do the like. Then
afking him if he was ready, he faid, yes. Then fire
at them, faid I; and the fame moment I fir'd alſo.
Friday took his aim fo much better than I, that
on the fide that he fhot, he kill'd two of them and
wounded three more; and on my fide, I kill'd one,
and wounded two. They were, you may be fure, in
a dreadful confternation; and all of 'em, who were
not hurt, jump'd up upon their feet immediately, but
did not know which way to run, or which way to look
for they knew not from whence their deftruction came.
Friday kept his eyes clofe upon me, that as I had bid
him, he might obſerve what I did; fo, as foon as the
(206)
་
firſt ſhot was made, I threw down the piece, and took
up the fowling-piece, and Friday did the like; he fees
me cock, and prefent; he did the fame again. Aré
you ready, Friday? faid I. Yes, fays he. Let fly
then, faid I, in the name of God; and with that I fir'd
again among the amazed wretches, and fo did Friday;
and as our pieces were now loaded with what I called
fwan-fhot, or ſmall piftol bullets, we found only two
drop; but fo many were wounded, that they ran about
yelling and ſcreaming like mad creatures, all bloody
and miferably wounded, moft of them; whereof three
moré fell quickly after, though not quite dead.
Now, Friday, faid I, laying down the diſcharged
pieces, and taking up the mufquet, which was yet load-
en, follow me, ſaid I; which he did, with a deal of
courage; upon which I rushed out of the wood, and
fhewed myſelf, and Friday clofe at my foot: As foon
as 1 perceived they faw me, I fhouted as loud as Ì
could, and bade Friday do fo too, and running as faft
as I could, which by the way was not very faſt, being
loaded with arms as I was, I made directly towards
the poor victim, who was, as I faid, lying upon the
beach, or ſhore, between the place where they fat and
the fea; the two butchers, who were just going to
work with him, had left him, at the furprife of our
first fire, and fled in a terrible fright to the fea-fide,
and had jumped into a Canoe, and three more of the
reft made the fame way: I turned to Friday, and bade
him ftep forwards, and fire at them; he understood
me immediately, and running about forty yards to be
near them, he ſhot at them, and I thought he had kill-
ed them all; for I ſaw them all fall on an heap into
( 207 )
the boat; though I ſaw two of them up again quickly:
However, he killed two of them, and wounded the
third, fo that he lay down in the bottom of the boat,
as if he had been dead.
While my man Friday fir'd at them, I pull'd out my
knife, and cut the flags that bound the poor victim,
and loofing his hands and feet, I lifted him up, and afk-
ed him in the Portugueſe tongue, what he was? he an-
fwered in Latin, Chriftianus; but was fo weak and faint,
that he could ſcarce ftand or ſpeak; I took my bottle
out of my pocket, and gave it him, making figns that he
fhould drink, which he did; and I gave him a piece of
bread, which he eat; then I aſked him, what country-
man he was; and he faid, Efpagnole; and, being a lit-
tle recovered, let me know, by all the figns he could
poffibly make, how much he was in my debt for his de-
liverance: Seignior, faid I, with as much Spanish, as I
could make up, we will talk afterwards, but we muſt
fight now: If you have any ſtrength left, take this pif-
tol and ſword, and lay about you: he took them very
thankfully, and no fooner had he the arms in his hands,
but as if they had put new vigour into him, he flew up-
on his murderers like a fury, and had cut two of them
in pieces in an inflant; for the truth is, as the whole.
was a ſurpriſe to them, fo the poor creatures were ſo
much frighted with the noife of our pieces, that they
fell down for mere amazement and fear, and had no
more power to attempt their own efcape, than their
fleſh had to reſiſt our ſhot; and that was the cafe of
thoſe five that Friday fhot in the boat; for as three
of them fell with the hurt they received, fo the other
two fell with the fright.
O
(208)
I kept my piece in my hand ftill, without firing, being
willing to keep my charge ready, becauſe I had given
the Spaniard my piſtol and fword; fo I called to Fri-
day, and bade him run up to the tree from whence we
firſt fired, and fetch the arms which lay there, that had
been diſcharged, which he did with great fwiftnefs;
and then giving him my mufquet, I fat down myſelf to
load all the reſt again, and bade them come to me when
they wanted: While I was loading theſe pieces there hap-
pened a fierce engagement between the Spaniard and
one of the favages, who made at him with one of their
great wooden fwords, the fame weapon that was to
have killed him before, if I had not prevented it; The
Spaniard, who was as bold and as brave as could be
imagined, tho' weak, had fought this Indian a good
while, and had cut him two great wounds on his head;
but the favage, being a ftout lufty fellow, clofing in
with him, had thrown him down (being faint) and was
wringing my fword out of his hand, when the Spaniard,
tho' undermoft, wifely quitting his fword, drew the
piſtol from his girdle, ſhot the favage through the
body, and killed him upon the fpot, before I, who
was running to help, could come near him.
Friday, being now left at his liberty, purfued the
flying wretches with no weapon in his hand but his
hatchet, and with that he diſpatched thoſe three, who,
as I faid before, were wounded at first and fallen, and
all the reſt he could come up with; and the Spaniard.
coming to me for a gun, I gave him one of the fowl-
ing-pieces, with which he purfued two of the favages,
and wounded them both; but as he was not able to run,
they both got from him into the wood, where Friday
A
( 209 )
porfued them, and killed one of them; but the other
was too nimble for him;. and tho' he was wounded,
yet he plunged into the fea, and fwam with all his
might off to thoſe who were left in the Canoe, which
three in the Canoe, with one wounded, who we know
not whether he died or no, were all that eſcap'd our
hands of one-and-twenty. The account of the reſt is
as follows;
3
Killed at our fhot from the tree.
2 Killed at the next fhot.
2 Killed by Friday in the boat.
2 Killed by ditto, of thofe at firft wounded.
I Killed by ditto, in the wood.
3 Killed by the Spaniard.
4 Killed, being found dropt here-and-there of their
wounds, or killed by Friday in his chace of them.
4 Eſcaped in the boat, whereof one wounded, if not
dead.
21 In all.
Thoſe that were in the Canoe, worked hard to get
out of gun-fhot; and tho' Friday made two or three
ſhot at them, I did not find that he hit any of them:
Friday would fain have had me take one of their Ca-
noes, and purfue them; and indeed I was very anxious
about their eſcape, left carrying the news home to
their people, they ſhould come back, perhaps, with
two or three hundred of their Canoes, and devour us
by mere multitudes; fo 1 confented to purfue them by
"
O 2
( 210 )
fea; and running to one of their Canoes, I jumped in,
and bade Friday follow me; but when I was in the
Canoe, I was ſurpriſed to find another poor creature
lie there alive, bound hand and foot, as the Spaniard
was, for the flaughter, and almoſt dead with fear, not
knowing what the matter was; for he had not been a-
ble to look up over the fide of the boat, he was tied
fo hard, neck and heels, and had been tied fo long, that
he had really little life in him.
I immediately cut the twifted flags, or rufhes, which
they had bound him with, and would have helped him
up; but he could not ftand, or fpeak, but groaned
moſt piteouſly, believing, it ſeems ftill, that he was on-
ly unbound in order to be killed.
When Friday came to him, I bade him fpeak to him,
and tell him of his deliverance; and pulling out my
bottle, made him give the poor wretch a dram, which,
with the news of his being delivered, revived him,
and he fat up in the boat; but when Friday came to
hear him ſpeak, and looked in his face, it would have
moved any one to tears, to have ſeen how Friday kiff-
ed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, laughed,
hallooed, jumped about, danced, fung, then cried again,
wrung his hands, beat his own face and head, and then
fung and jumped about again, like a diftracted crea-
ture: It was a good while, before I could make him
ſpeak to me, or tell me what was the matter, but
when he came a little to himſelf, he told me, that it
was his father.
It was not eaſy for me to exprefs how it moved me,
to ſee what ecſtafy and filial aftection had worked in
this poor favage, at the fight of his father, and of his
( 211 )
being delivered from death; nor indeed can I de
ſcribe half the extravagancies of his affection after
this; for he went into the boat and out of the boat a
great many times: When he went into him, he would
fit down by him, open his breaſt, and hold his father's
head clofe to his bofom, half an hour together, to
nouriſh it: then he took his arms and ankles, which
were numb'd and ftiff with the binding, and chafed
and rubbed them with his hands; and I, perceiving
what the cafe was, gave him fome rum out of my bot-
tle to rub them with, which did them a great deal of
good.
This action put an end to our purfuit of the Can
with the other favages, who were now gotten al-
most out of fight; and it was happy for us, that we
did not; for it blew fo hard within two hours after, and
before they could be gotten a quarter of their way,
and continued blowing fo hard all night, and that from
the north west, which was againſt them, that I could
not fuppofe their beat could live, or that they ever
reached to their own coaſt.
But to return to Friday; he was fo bufy about his
father, that I could not find in my heart to take him
off for fome time: but after I thought he could leave
him a little, I called him to me, and he came jumping
and laughing, and pleaſed to the higheſt extreme.
Then I aſked him, if he had given his father any
bread? He shook his head, and faid, none: Ugly dog
eat all up felf. So I gave him a cake of bread out of
a litte pouch I carried on purpoſe; I alſo gave him a
dram for himſelf, but he would not taſte it, but car-
ried it to his father: I had in my pocket alfo two or
O 3
( 212 )
three bunches of my raifins, fo I gave him a handful
of them for his father. He had no fooner given his
father theſe raifins, but I faw him come out of the
boat, and run away as if he had been bewitched. He
ran at fuch a rate (for he was the ſwifteft fellow of
his feet that ever I faw) I fay, he ran at fuch a rate,
that he was out of fight, as it were in an inſtant; and
tho' I called and hallooed too after him, it was all one;
away he went, and in a quarter of an hour I faw him
come back again, tho' not fo faft as he went; and as
he came nearer, I found his pace was flacker, becauſe
he had fomething in his hand.
When he came up to me, I found he had been quite
home for an earthen jug, or pot, to bring his father
fome fresh water; and that he had got two more cakes
or loaves of bread. The bread he gave me, but the
water he carried to his father: However, as I was
very thirsty too, I took a little fup of it: This
water revived his father more than all the rum or
fpirits I had given him: for he was juſt fainting with
thirst.
When his father had drank, I called him to know
if there was any water left; he ſaid, yes; and I bade
him give it to the poor Spaniard, who was in as much
want of it as his father; and I fent one of the cakes,
that Friday brought, to the Spaniard too, who was
indeed very weak, and was repofing himſelf upon a
green place, under the fhade of a tree, and whofe limbs
were also very ſtiff, and very much fwelled with the
rude bandage he had been tied with: When I faw that
upon Friday's coming to him with the water, he fat
up and drank, and took the bread, and began to eat,
( 213 )
I went to him, and gave him an handful of raifins; he
look'd up in my face with all the tokens of gratitude and
thankfulneſs that could appear in any countenance; but
was fo weak, notwithſtanding he had fo exerted him-
ſelf in the fight, that he could not ſtand up upon his
feet; he tried to do it two or three times, but was re-
ally not able, his ankles were ſo ſwell'd, and ſo pain-
ful to him; ſo I bade him fit ftill, and caus'd Friday
to rub his ankles, and bathe them with rum, as he had
done his father's.
I obferv'd the poor affectionate creature every two
minutes, or perhaps lefs, all the while he was here,
turn'd his head about, to fee if his father was in the ſame
place and poſture as he left him fitting; and at laſt he
found he was not to be ſeen; at which he ſtarted up,
and without fpeaking a word, flew with that ſwiftnefs
to him, that one could ſcarce perceive his feet to touch
the ground as he went but when he came, he only
found he had laid himſelf down to eaſe his limbs: fo
Friday came back to me preſently, and I then fpoke
to the Spaniard to let Friday help him up, if he could
and lead him to the boat, and then he ſhould carry him
to our dwelling, where I would take care of him: but
Friday, a lufty young fellow, took the Spaniard quite
up upon his back, and carried him away to the boat,
and fet him down foftly upon the fide or gunnel of the
Canoe, with his feet in the inſide of it, and then lifted
them quite in, and fet him cloſe to his father, and pre-
fently stepping out again, launch'd the boat off, and
paddled it along the fhore faſter than I could walk,
tho' the wind blew pretty hard too; fo he brought
them both fafe into our creek; and leaving them in
0 4
( 214 )
(214
the boat, runs away to fetch the other Canoe as he
pafs'd me, I ſpoke to him, and afk'd him, whither he
went? He told me, go fetch more boat; fo away he
went, like the wind; for fure never man or horſe ran
like him, and he had the other Canoe in the creek, al-
moſt as ſoon as I got to it by land; fo he wafted
me over, and then went to help our new gueſts out of
the boat, which he did; but they were neither of
them able to walk; fo that poor Friday knew not what
to do.
To remedy this, I went to work in my thought, and
calling to Friday to bid them fit down on the bank
while he came to me, I foon made a kind of handbar-
row to lay them on, and Friday and I carried them up
both together upon it between us: but when we got
them to the outfide of our wall, or fortification, we
were at a worfe lofs than before; for it was impoffible
to get them over; and I was refolv'd not to break it
down; ſo I ſet to work again; and Friday and I, in a-
bout two hours time, made a very handsome tent co-
ver'd with old fails, and above that with boughs of
trees, being in the ſpace without our outward fence,
and between that and the grove of young wood which I
had planted; and here we made two beas of fuch things
as I had; viz. of good rice-ft raw, with blankets laid upon
it to lie on, and another to cover them on each bed.
My iſland was now peopled, and I thought my felf
very rich in fubjects; and it was a merry reflection
which I frequently made, how like a king I look'd:
first of all, the whole country was my own mere pro-
perty; to that I had an undoubted right of dominion.
2dty, My people were perfectly fubjected: I was ab-
( 215 )
folute lord and lawgiver; they all ow'd their lives to
me, and were ready to lay down their lives, if there
had been occafion for it, for me: it was remarkable too
I had but three fubjects, and they were of three dif
ferent religions. My man Friday was a proteftant;
his father a Pagan and a Canibal; and the Spaniard
was a Papist: however I allow'd liberty of confcience
throughout my dominions: but this is by the way.
As foon as I had fecur'd my two weak refcued pri-
foners, and given them fhelter, and a place to reſt them
upon, I began to think of making fome proviſion for
them and the first thing I did, I order'd Friday to
take a yearling goat, betwixt a kid and a goat, out of
my particular flock, to be kill'd: then I cut off the
hinder quarter, and, chopping it into ſmall pieces, I fet
Friday to work, to boiling and ſtewing, and made them
a very good diſh, I affure you, of fleſh and broth;
having put fome barley and rice alſo, into the broth;
and as I cook'd it without doors (for I made no fire
within my inner wall) fo I carried it all into the new
tent; and having fet a table there for them, I fat down
and eat my dinner alfo with them; and, as well as I
could, chear'd them and encouraged them, Friday be-
ing my interpreter, efpecially to his father, and indeed
to the Spaniard too; for the Spaniard fpoke the lan-
guage of the Savages pretty well.
After we had din'd or rather fupp'd, I order'd Fri-
day to take one of the Canoes, and go and fetch our
mufquets and other fire-arms, which for want of time
we had left upon the place of battle; and the next
day I order'd him to go and bury the dead bodies of
the favages, which lay open to the fun, and would pre-
( 216 )
fently be offenfive; and I alfo order'd him to bury the
horrid remains of their barbarous feaſt, which I knew
were pretty much, and which I could not think of do-
ing myself; nay, I could not bear to fee them, if I
went that way all which he punctually perform'd
and defac'd the very appearance of the Savages being
there; fo that when I went again, I could fcarce know
where it was, otherwife than by the corner of the
wood pointing to the place.
I then began to enter into a little converfation with
my two new fubjects; and firſt I fet Friday to inquire
of his father, what he thought of the eſcape of the Sa-
vages in that Canoe, and whether he might expect a
return of them with a power too great for us to reſiſt?
his firſt opinion was, that the Savages in the boat ne-
ver could live out the ftorm, which blew that night
they went off, but muft of neceffity be drown'd or dri
ven fouth to thoſe other ſhores, where they were as fure
to be devour'd, as they were to be drown'd if they were
caſt away; but as to what they would do if they came
fafe on fhore, he ſaid, he knew not; but it was his o-
pinion, that they were fo dreadfully frighted with the
manner of being attack'd, the noife, and the fire, that
he believ'd they would tell their people they were all
kill'd by thunder and lightning, and not by the hand
of man; and that the two which appear'd (viz. Friday
and I) were two heavenly fpirits or furies come down
to deſtroy them, and not men with weapons. This,
he faid, he knew, becauſe he heard them all cry out
fo in their language to one another; for it was impof-
fible to them, to conceive that a man ſhould dart fire,
and ſpeak thunder, and kill at a diſtance, without lift-
( 217 )
ing up the hand, as was done now. And this old fa-
vage was in the right; for, as I underſtood fince by o-
ther hands, the favages of that part never attempted
to go over to the island afterwards. They were fo
terrify'd with the accounts given by thofe four men
(for it ſeems they did eſcape the fea) that they believ❜d,
whoever went to that inchanted ifland, would be de-
ftroyed with fire from the Gods.
This, however, I knew not, and therefore was un-
der continual apprehenſions for a good while, and kept
always upon my guard, I and all my army; for as we
were now four of us, I would have ventur❜d upon an.
hundred of them fairly in the open field at any time,
In a little time however, no more Canoes appearing,
the fear of their coming wore off, and I began to take
my former thoughts of a voyage to the main into con
fideration, being likewife affur'd by Friday's father,
that I might depend upon good ufage from their nati-
on on his account, if I would go.
But my thoughts were a little fufpended, when I
had a ſerious diſcourſe with the Spaniard, and when
I underſtood, that there were fixteen more of his coun-
trymen and Portuguese, who having been caft away,
and made their efcape to that fide, liv'd there at peace
indeed with the favages, but were very fore put to it
for neceffaries, and indeed for life: I afk'd him all the
particulars of their voyage, and found they were a Spa-
nifh fhip bound from the Rio de la Plata. to the Ha-
vanna, being directed to leave their loading there,
which was chiefly hides and filver, and to bring back
what European goods they could meet with there;
that they had five Portugueſe feamen on board, whom
(218)
1
*
they took out of another wreck; that five of their own
men were drown'd when firſt the ſhip was loſt; and
that theſe efcap'd thro' infinite dangers and hazards, and
arriv'd almoſt ſtary'd on the Canibal coaft, where they
expected to have been devour'd every moment.
He told me, they had fome arms with them, but they
were perfectly ufelefs, for that they had neither pow-
der or ball, the wafhing of the fea having ſpoil'd all
their powder, but a little which they uſed at their firſt
landing to provide themſelves fome food.
I aſk'd him what he thought would become of them
there; and if they had form'd no deſign of making a-
ny eſcape? He ſaid, they had many confultations about
it; but that having neither veffel, nor tools to build
one, or provifions of any kind, their counfels always
ended in tears and defpair.
I aſk'd him how he thought they would receive a
propoſal from me, which might tend towards an eſcape;
and whether, if they were all here, it might not be
done? I told him with freedom, I fear'd moftly their
treachery and ill ufage of me, if I put my life in their
hands; for that gratitude was no inherent virtue in
the nature of man; nor did men always fquare their
dealings by the obligations they had receiv'd, fo much
as they did by the advantages they expected: 1 told
him, it would be very hard, that I ſhould be the in-
ſtrument of their deliverance, and that they ſhould af-
terwards make me their prifoner in new Spain, where
an Englishman was certain to be made a facrifice, what
neceffity, or what accident foever, brought him thi-
ther: and that I had rather be deliver'd up to the Su-
vages, and be devour'd alive, than fall into the merci-
0%
( 219 )
lefs claws of the prieſts, and be carried into the inqui
fition. I added, that otherwife I was perfuaded, if they
were all here, we might, with fo many hands, build a
bark large enough to carry us all away either to the
Brafils fouthward, or to the islands or Spanish coaft
northward but that if in requital they ſhould, when
I had put weapons into their hands, carry me by force
among their own people, I might be ill us'd for my
kindneſs, to them, and make my cafe worſe than it was
before.
He anſwer'd with a great deal of candour and inge-
nuity, that their condition was fo miferable, and they
were fo fenfible of it, that he believ'd they would ab-
hor the thought of uſing any man unkindly that ſhould
contribute to their deliverance; and that, if I pleas'd,
he would go to them with the old man, and difcourfe
with them about it, and return again, and bring me
their anſwer: that he would make conditions with them
upon their folemn oath, that they would be abfolutely
under my leading, as their commander and captain;
and that they ſhould fwear upon the holy facraments
and goſpel, to be true to me, and to go to fuch chrif-
tian country as I fhould agree to, and no other; and to
be directed wholly and abfolutely by my orders, till
they were landed fafely in fuch country as I intended,
and that he would bring a contract from under their
hands for that purpoſe.
Then he told me, he would firſt ſwear to me him-
felf, that he would never fir from me as long as he
liv'd, till I gave him order; and that he would take
my fide to the laft drop of blood, if there fhould hap-
pen the least breach of faith among his countrymen.
( 220 )
He told me, they were all of them very civil honeft
men, and they were under the greatest diftrefs imagi-
nable, having neither weapons or cloaths, nor any food
but at the mercy and difcretion of the Savages; out of
all hopes of ever returning to their own country; and
that he was fure, if I would undertake their relief,
they would live and die by me.
Upon theſe affurances, I refolv'd to venture to re-
lieve them, if poffible, and to fend the old Savage and
this Spaniard over to them to treat: but when he had
gotten all things in readiness to go, the Spaniard him-
felf ſtarted an objection, which had fo much prudence
in it on one hand, and fo much fincerity on the other
hand, that I could not but be very well fatisfied in it;
and, by his advice, put off the deliverance of his com-
rades for at leaſt half a year. The cafe was thus:
He had been with us now about a month; during
which time I had let him fee in what manner I had
provided, with the affiftance of providence, for my ſup-
port; and he faw evidently what ſtock of corn and rice
I had laid up; which, as it was more than fufficient
for my felf, ſo it was not fufficient, at leaft, without good
husbandry, for my family, now it was increas'd to num-
ber four: but much lefs would it be fufficient, if his
countrymen, who were, as he faid, fourteen ſtill alive,
fhould come over; and leaft of all would it be fuffici-
ent to victual our veffel, if we fhould build one, for a
voyage to any of the chriftian colonies of America.
So he told me, he thought it would be more adviſea-
ble, to let him and the two other dig and cultivate
fome more land, as much as I could fpare feed to fow,
and that we ſhould wait another harveſt, that we might
!
( 221 )
have a ſupply of corn for his countrymen when they
fhould come; for want might be a temptation to them
to diſagree, or not to think themſelves delivered, o-
therwiſe than out of one difficulty into another: You
know, ſays he, the children of Ifrael, tho' they re-
joiced at first at their being delivered out of E-
gypt, yet rebelled even againſt God himſelf, that deli-
vered them, when they came to want bread in the wil-
derneſs.
His caution was fo feaſonable, and his advice fo
good, that I could not but be very well pleaſed with
his propofal, as well as I was fatisfy'd with his fidelity:
fo we fell to digging all four of us, as well as the wood-
en tools we were furniſhed with permitted; and in a-
bout a month's time, by the end of which it was feed
time, we had gotten as much land cured and trimmed up
as we fowed twenty-two bushels of barley on, and fix-
teen jars of rice, which was, in fhort, all the feed we
had to fpare; nor indeed did we leave ourſelves barley
fufficient for our own food for the fix months that
we had to expect our crop, that is to ſay, reckoning from
the time we ſet our feed aſide for fowing; for it is
not to be ſuppoſed it is fix months in the ground in
that country.
Having now fociety enough, and our number being
fufficient to put us out of fear of the favages, if they
had come, unless their number had been very great,
we went freely all over the iſland, where-ever we
found occafion; and as here we had our eſcape or de-
liverance upon our thoughts, it was impoffible, at leaft
for me, to have the means of it out of mine: to this
purpoſe, I marked out feveral trees, which I thought
( 222 )
fit for our work, and I fet Friday and his father to
cutting them down; and then I caufed the Spaniard
to whom I imparted my thoughts on that affair, to over-
fee and direct their work: I fhewed them with what
indefatigable pains I had hewed a large tree into fingle
planks, and 1 cauſed them to do the like till they had
made about a dozen large planks of good oak, near
two feet broad, thirty-five feet long, and from two in
ches to four inches thick: What prodigious labour it
took up, any one may imaginé.
At the fame time I contrived to increafe my little
flock of tame goats as much as I could; and to this
purpoſe I made Friday and the Spaniard go out one
day, and myſelf, with Friday, the next day, for we
took our turns: And by this means we got about twen-
ty young kids to breed up with the reft; for when-
ever we fhot the dam, we faved the kids, and added
them to our flock: but above all the feafon for curing
the grapes coming on, I caufed fuch a prodigious quan-
tity to be hung up in the fun, that I believe, had we
been at Alicant, where the raifins of the fun are cur-
ed, we ſhould have filled fixty or eigthy barrels; and
thefe, with our bread, was a great part of our food,
and very good living too, I affure you; for it is an ex-
ceeding nouriſhing food.
It was now harveſt, and our crop in good order;
it was not the moſt plentiful increaſe I had ſeen in the
island, but, however, it was enough to anfwer our
end; for from twenty-two bufhels of barley we
brought in and threſhed out above two hundred and
twenty bufhels, and the like in proportion of the rice,
which was ſtore enough for our food to the next har-
(223)
veſt, tho' all the fixteen Spaniards had been on ſhore
with me; or, if we had been ready for a voyage, it
would very plentifully have victualled our fhip, to
have carried us to any part of the world, that is to
Say, of America. When we had thus houfed and fe-
cured our magazine of corn, we fell to work to make
more wicker-work; viz. great baſkets in which we
kept it; and the Spaniard was very handy and'dex-
trous at this part, and often blamed me, that I did
not make fome things for defence, of this kind of
work; but I faw no need of it: And now having a
full ſupply of food for all the gueſts expected, I gave
the Spaniard leave to go over to the main, to fee what
he could do with thefe he left behind him there; I
gave him a ſtrict charge in writing not to bring any
man with him, who would not firit fwear in the pre-
fence of himſelf and of the old favage, that he would
no way injure, fight with, or attack the perfon he ſhould
find in the island, who was fo kind to fend for them
in order to their deliverance; but that they would
ſtand by and defend him against all fuch attempts; and
where-ever they went, would be intirely under, and
ſubjected to his command; and that this fhould be put
in writing, and figned with their hands: How we
were to have this done, when I knew they had neither
pen or ink, that indeed, was a queſtion which we ne-
ver aſked.
Under theſe inſtructions, the Spaniard, and the old
favage (the father of Friday) went away in one of the
Canoes, which they might be faid to come in, or rather
were brought in, when they came as prifoners to be
devoured by the favages.
P
(224)
I gave each of them a mufquet with a firelock
on it, and about eight charges of powder and ball,
charging them to be very good husbands of both,
and not to uſe either of them but upon urgent occa-
fion.
This was a chearful work, being the firft meaſures
ufed by me in view of my deliverance for now 27
years and fome days; I gave them provifions of bread,
and of dry'd grapes, fufficient for themſelves for many
days, and fufficient for their countrymen for about
eight days time; and wishing them a good voyage, I
let them go, agreeing with them about a fignal they
fhould hang out at their return, by which I ſhould
know them again, when they came back, at a diſtance,
before they came on fhore.
They went away with a fair gale on the day that
the moon was at the full; by my account in the month
of October; but as for the exact reckoning of days, af-
ter I had once loft it, I could never recover it again;
nor had I kept even the number of years fo pun&tual-
ly, as to be fure that I was right, tho' as it proved,
when I afterwards examined my account, I found I had
kept a true reckoning of years.
It was no less than eight days I waited for them,
when a ftrange and unforeſeen accident intervened, of
which the like has not, perhaps, been heard of in hif-
tory. I was faft afleep in my hutch one morn
ing, when my man Friday came running in to me,
and called aloud, Mafter, Mafter, they are come, they
are come.
I jumped up, and, regardleſs of danger, I went out
as foon as I could get my cloaths on, through my lit
«
( 225 )
de grove, which (by the way) was by this time grown
to be a very thick wood: I ſay, regardleſs of danger,
I went without my arms, which was not my cuftom to
do; but I was ſurpriſed, when turning my eyes to
the fea, I prefently faw a boat at about a league and
än half's diſtance, ftanding in for the fhore, with a
fhoulder-of-mutton-fail, as they call it, and the wind
blowing pretty fair to bring them id: Alfo I obferved
preſently, that they did not come from that fide which
the fhore lay on, but from the ſouthermoſt end of the
ifland: Upon this I called Friday in, and bid him lic
clofe, for theſe were not the people we looked for,
and that we did not know yet whether they were
friends or enemies.
In the next place, I went in to fetch my perfpective.
glafs, to fee what I could make of them; and having
taken the ladder out, I climbed up to the top of the
hill, as I uſed to do when I was apprehenfive of any
thing, and to take my view the plainer without being
diſcovered.
I had ſcarce fet my foot on the hill, when my eye
plainly diſcovered a fhip lying at an anchor, at about
two leagues and an half's diſtance from me, S. S. E
but not above a league and an half from the shore.
By my obſervation it appeared plainly to be an Eng-
lifh fhip, and the boat appeared to be an English long-
boat.
I cannot exprefs the confufion I was in, though
the joy of feeing a fhip, and one whom I had reafon
to believe was manned by my own countrymen, and
confequently friends, was fuch as I cannot defcribe;
but yet I had fome fecret doubts hung about me, I
P 2
(226)
cannot tell from whence they came, bidding me keep
upon my guard. In the first place, it occurred to me
to confider what bufinefs an English fhip could have
in that part of the world; fince it was not the way to
or from any part of the world where the English had
any traffick; and I knew there had been no ftorms to
drive them in there, as in diſtreſs; and that if they
were English really, it was moſt probable, that they
were here upon no good defign; and that I had bet-
ter continue as I was, than fall into the hands of thieves
and murderers.
Let no man defpife the fecret hints and notices of
danger, which fometimes are given him when he may
think there is no poffibility of its being real. That
fuch hints and notices are given us, I believe few that
have made any obſervations of things can deny; that
they are certain diſcoveries of an inviſible world, and
a converſe of ſpirits, we cannot doubt; and if the ten-
dency of them ſeems to be to warn us of danger,
why ſhould we not ſuppoſe they are from fome friend-
ly agent (whether fupreme, or inferior and fubordi-
nate, is not the queſtion) and that they are given for
our good?
The prefent queſtion abundantly confirms me in the
juftice of this reaſoning; for had 1 not been made cau-
tious by this fecret admonition, come it from whence
it will, 1 had been undone inevitably, and in a far
worle condition than before, as you will fee preſent-
ly.
I had not kept myſelf long in this poſture, but I faw
the boat draw near the fhore, as if they looked for a
creek to thrust in at for the convenience of landing;
( 227 )
however, as they did not come quite far enough, they
did not fee the little inlet where I formerly landed my
rafts, but ran their boat on fhore upon the beach, at
about half a mile from me, which was very happy for
me; for otherwife they would have landed juft, as I
may fay, at my door, and would foon have beaten me
out of my castle, and, perhaps, have plundered me of
all I had.
When they were on fhore, I was fully fatisfy'd they
were Engliſhmen, at leaſt most of them; one or two
I thought were Dutch, but it did not prove fo There
were in all eleven men, whereof three of them I found
were unarmed, and (as I thought) bound; and when
the firſt four or five of them were jumped on fhore,
they took thoſe three out of the boat as prifoners: One
of the three I could perceive uſing the moſt paſſion-
ate gestures of intreaty, affliction, and defpair, even
to a kind of extravagance; the other two, I could
perceive lifted up their hands fometimes, and appear-
ed concerned indeed, but not to fuch a degree as the
firft.
I was perfectly confounded at the fight, and knew
not what the meaning of it fhould be; Friday called
out to me in English, as well as he could, O Ma-
fter! You fee English mans eat prifoners as well as
Savage mans. Why, faid I, Friday do you think they
are going to eat them then? Yes, fays Friday, they will
eat them. No, no, faid I, Friday: I am afraid they
will murder them indeed; but you may be fure they
will not eat them.
All this while I had no thought of what the matter
really was, but flood trembling with the horror of the
P 3
(228)
fight, expecting every moment when the three priſong
ers fhould be killed; nay, once I faw one of the vil
Jains lift up his arm with a great cutlace (as the feamen
call it) or fword, to ftrike one of the poor men; and I
expected to ſee him fall every moment, at which all
the blood in my body feemed to run chill in my
veins.
་་
I wiſhed heartily now for my Spaniard, and the fa
vage that was gone with him; or that I had any way
to have come undiſcovered within ſhot of them, that
might have reſcued the three men; for I faw no fire.
arms they had among them; but it fell out to my mind
another way.
After I had obferved the outrageous ufage of the
three men by the infolent feamen, I obferved the fel
lows ran fcattering about the land, as if they wanted
to ſee the country: I obferved alfo, that the three o
ther men had liberty to go where they pleafed; but
they fat down all three upon the ground very penfive,
and looked like men in deſpair.
This put me in mind of the first time when I came
on fhore, and began to look about me; how I gave
myſelf over for loft, how wildly I looked round me,
what dreadful apprehenfions I had, and how I lodged
in the tree all night for fear of being devoured by
wild beafts.
As I knew nothing that night of the ſupply I was
to receive by the providential driving of the fhip near-
er the land, by the ftorms and tide, by which I have
fince been fo long nourished and fupported; fo theſe
three poor defolate men knew nothing how certain of
deliverance and ſupply they were, how near it was to
( 229 )
them, and how effectually and really they were in a
condition of fafety, at the fame time they thought
themſelves loft, and their cafe deſperate.
So little do we ſee before us in the world, and fo
much reaſon have we to depend chearfully upon the
great maker of the world, that he does not leave his
creatures ſo abfolutely deſtitute, but that in the worſt
circumſtances they have always fomething to be thank-
ful for, and fometimes are nearer their deliverance
than they imagine; nay, are even brought to their
deliverance by the means by which they feem to be
brought to their deftruction.
It was juft at the top of high-water when theſe peo-
ple came on ſhore, and while partly they ſtood parly-
ing with the prifoners they brought, and partly while
they rambled about to fee what kind of place they
were in, they had carelefly ftaid till the tide was ſpent,
and the water was ebbed confiderably away, leaving
their boat a-ground.
They had left two men in the boat, who, as I found
afterwards, having drank a little too much brandy,
fell aſleep; however, one of them waking fooner than
the other, and finding the boat too faſt a-ground for
him to ſtir it, halloo'd for the reft who were ſtraggling
about, upon which they all foon came to the boat:
but it was paſt all their ftrength to launch her, the
boat being very heavy, and the fhare on that fide be-
ing a ſoft ouſy fand, almoſt like a quickfand.
In this condition, like true feamen, who are, per-
haps, the leaſt of all mankind, given to forethought,
they gave it over, and away they ftrolled about the
country again; and I heard one of them fay aloud to
P 4
(230)
another (calling them off from the boat;) Why, let
her alone, Jack, can't ye? She'll float next tide: By
which I was fully confirmed in the main inquiry, of
what countrymen they were.
All this while I kept myſelf cloſe, not once daring
to ftir out of my castle, any farther than to my place.
of obfervation, near the top of the hill; and very
glad I was, to think how well it was fortified: I knew
it was no less than ten hours before the boat could be
on float again, and by that time it would be dark, and
I might be more at liberty to fee their motions, and
to hear their diſcourſe, if they had any.
In the mean time I fitted myfelf up for a battle, as
before, tho' with more caution, knowing I had to do
with another kind of enemy than I had at first: I or
dered Friday alfo, whom I had made an excellent
markſman with his gun, to load himſelf with arms: I
took myſelf two flowling-pieces, and I gave him three
mufquets: My figure, indeed, was very fierce; I had
my formidable goat-fkin coat on, with the great cap I
mentioned, a naked fword, two piftols in my belt, and
a gun upon each fhoulder.
It was my defign, as I faid above, not to have
made any attempt till it was dark; but about two
o'clock, being the heat of the day, I found that in
fhort they were all gone ftraggling into the woods,
and, as I thought, were all laid down to flecp: The
three poor diftreffed men, too anxious for their con-
dition to get any fleep, were however fet down under
the shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter of a
mile from me, and, as I thought, out fight of any of
the rest.
( 231 )
Upon this I refolved to diſcover myſelf to them,
and learn fomething of their condition: immediately
I march'd in the figure above, my man Friday at a
good diſtance behind me, as formidable for his arms,
as I, but not making quite fo ftaring a Spectre-like figure
as I did.
I came as near them undiſcovered as I could, and
then, before any of them faw me, I called aloud to
them in Spanish, What are you, Gentlemen?
They started up at the noife, but were ten times
more confounded when they faw me, and the uncouth
figure that I made: They made no anſwer at all, but
I thought I perceived them just going to fly from me,
when I spoke to them in English: Gentlemen, faid I,
do not be ſurpriſed at me; perhaps you may have a
friend near you, when you did not expect it: He muft
be fent directly from heaven then, faid one of them ve-
ry gravely to me, and pulling off his hat at the fame
time, for our condition is paft the help of man. All
help is from heaven, fir, faid I. But can you put a
ſtranger in the way how to help you? for you feem
to me to be in fome great diftrefs: 1 faw you when
you landed; and when you feemed to make applicati-
on to the brutes that came with you, I ſaw one of them
lift up his fword to kill you.
་
7
The poor man, with tears running down his face,
and trembling, looking like one aftonifhed, returned,
Am i talking to God or man? Is it a real man, or an
angel? Be in no fear about chat. fir, jaid 1: If God
had ſent an angel to relieve you, he would have come
better cloathed, and armed after another manner, than
you fee me in; pray lay afide all your fears; I am a
ī
(232
( 232 )
:
man, an Engliſhman, and diſpoſed to affist you, you
fee; I have one fervant only; we have arms and am-
munition: tell us freely, can we ferve you?---What is
your cafe?
Our cafe, faid he, fir, is too long to tell you, while
our murderers are fo near; but, in fhort, fir, I was
commander of that ship, my men having mutinied a-
gainſt me, they have been hardly prevailed on not to
murder me, and at laſt have fet me on fhore in this de-
folate place, with thefe two men with me, one my
mate, the other a paffenger, where we expected to
periſh, believing the place to be uninhabited, and know
not yet what to think of it.
Where are thoſe brutes, your enemies? faid I; do
you know where they are gone? There they are, fir, faid
he, pointing to a thicket of trees; my heart trembles
for fear they have feen us, and heard you speak; if they
have, they will certainly murder us all.
7
Have they any fire-arms? faid I: He answered,
they had only two pieces, and one which they left in
the boat. Well then, faid I, leave the reft to me; I
fee they are all afleep; it is an eafy thing to kill them
all; but fhall we rather take them prifoners? He told
me there were two defperate villains among them, that
it was fcarce fafe to fhew any mercy to; but if they
were fecured, he believed all the reft would return to
their duty: I aſked him, which they were? He told
me, he could not at that diſtance deſcribe them; but
he would obey my orders in any thing I would direct:
Well, faid I, let us retreat out of their view or hear-
ing, left they awake, and we will reſolve farther; ſo
333 )
they willingly went back with me, till the woods covere
ed us from them.
Look you, fir, faid I, if I venture upon your deli
verance, are you willing to make two conditions with
me? He anticipated my propofals, by telling me that
both he and the hip if recovered, fhould be wholly
directed and commanded by me in every thing; and if
the ſhip was not recovered, he would live and die with
me in what part of the world foever I would fend
him; and the two other men faid the fa ne
i
Well, faid I, my conditions are but twa: 1. That
while you stay on this ifland with me, you will not
pretend to any authority here; and if I put arms into
you hands, you will upon all occafions give them up
to me, and do no prejudice to me or mine, upon
this ifland, and in the mean time be governed by my
orders.
2. That if the ſhip is or may be recovered, you will
carry me and my man to England paffage-free.
He gave me all the affurance that the invention and
faith of a man could devife, that he would comply with
thefe moſt reaſonable demands, and befides would'owe
his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occafions as
long as he lived.
Well then, faid I. here are three mufquets for you,
with powder and ball; tell me next what you think is
proper to be done: He fhewed all the teftimony of
his gratitude that he was able; but offered to be whol-
ly guided by me: I told him, I thought it was hard
venturing any thing, but the best method I could think
of, was to fire upon them at once, as they lay; and if
any were not killed at the firſt volley, and offered to
(234)
fubmit, we might fave them, and fo put it wholly u
pon God's providence to direct the fhot.
་་
He faid very modeftly, that he was loth to kill them
if he could help it; but that thoſe two were incorrigi
ble villains, and had been the authors of all the mutiny
in the ſhip; and if they eſcaped, we ſhould be undone
ftill; for they would go on board, and bring the whole
ſhip's company, and deſtroy us all: well then, faid I,
neceffity legitimates my advice; for it is the only way to
fave our lives. However, feeing him ftill cautious of
fhedding blood, I told him, they ſhould go themſelves,
and manage as they found convenient.
In the middle of this diſcourſe we heard fome of them
awake, and ſoon after we faw two of them on their feet;
I afk'd him, if either of them were the men, who, he
had faid, were the heads of the mutiny? He faid No.
Well then, faid I, you may let them eſcape, and provi-
dence feems to have waken'd them on purpoſe to fave
themſelves: now, faid I, if the reft elcape you, it is
your fault.
Animated with this, he took the mufquet I had given
him in his hand, and piftol in his belt, and his two
comrades with him, with each man a piece in his hand :
the two men, who were with him, going firft, made
fomẹ noife at which one of the feamen, who was a-
wake, turned about, and, feeing them coming, cried out
to the reſt; but it was too late then; for the moment
he cried out, they fir'd, I mean the two men, the cap-
tain wiſely reſerving his own piece: they had fo well
aimed their ſhot at the men they knew that one of them
was killed on the ſpot, and the other very much woun-
ded; but not being dead, he ſtarted up upon his feet,
( 235 )
and called eagerly for help to the other; but the capă
tain, ſtepping to him, told him it was too late to cry
for help; he ſhould call upon God to forgive his vil-
lainy; and with that word knock'd him down with the
ſtock of his mufquet; ſo that he never ſpoke more:
there were three more in the company, and one of them
was alfo lightly wounded: by this time I was come:
and when they faw their danger, and that it was in vain
to refift, they begg'd for mercy: the captain told them
he would ſpare their lives, if they would give him any
affurance of their abhorrence of the treachery they had
been guilty of, and would fwear to be faithful to him
in recovering the ſhip. and afterwards in carrying her
back to Jamaica, from whence they came: they gave
him all the proteftations of their fincerity that could
be deſired, and he was willing to believe them, and fpare
their lives, which I was not againft; only I obliged
him to keep them bound hand and foot while they were
upon the iſland.
While this was doing, I fent Friday with the cap-
tain's mate to the boat, with orders to ſecure her, and
bring away the oars and fail, which they did: and by-
and-by, three straggling men, that were (happily for
them) parted from the reft, came back upon hearing
the guns fired; and feeing their captain, who before
was their prifoner, now their conqueror, they fubmit-
ted to be bound alſo, and fo our victory was complete.
It now remained, that the captain and I fhould in-
quire into one another's circumſtances: I began first,
and told him my whole hiftory, which he heard with
an attention even to amazement, and particularly at the
wonderful manner of my being furniſh'd with provi.
( 236 )
frons and ammunition; and indeed, as my flory is a whole
collection of wonders, it affected him deeply; but when
he reflected from thence upon himſelf, and how I feem-
ed to have been preferved there on purpoſe to fave his
life, the tears ran down his face. and he could not ſpeak
a word more.
After this communication was at an end, I carried
him and his two men, into my apartments, leading them
in just where I came out, viz. at the top of the houſe;
where I refreſh'd them with fuch provifions as I had,
and fhewed them all the contrivances I had made, du-
ring my long inhabiting that placé.
1
1
។
All I fhew'd them, all I faid to them, was perfectly
amazing; but, above all, the captain admir'd my for-
tification, and how perfectly I had concealed my retreat
with a grove of trees, which, having now been planted
near twenty years, and the trees growing much fafter
than in England, was become a little wood and fo
thick, that it was unpaffable in any part of it, but at
that one fide, where 1 had reſerved my little winding
paffage into it: this I told him was my caſtle, and my
refidence; but that I had a feat in the country, as moſt
princes have, whither I could retreat upon occafion,
and I would fhew him that too another time; but at
preſent our buſineſs was to confider, how to recover
the fhip: He agreed with me as to that; but told me,
he was perfectly at a lofs what meaſures to take, for
that there were ftill fix and twenty hands on board,
who having entered into a curfed confpiracy, by which
they had all forfeited their lives to the law, would be
harden'd in it now by defperation; and would carry
it on, knowing that if they were reduced, they fhould
(237)
be brought to the gallows as foon as they came to Engs
lund, or to any of the English colonies; and that there
fore there would be no attacking them with fo fmall
a number as we were.
I muſed for fome time upon what he had faid, and
found it was a very rational conclufion, and that there-
fore ſomething was to be refolved on very ſpeedily, as
well to draw the men on board into fome fare for their
ſurpriſe, as to prevent their landing upon us, and de-
ftroying us: upon this it prefently occur'd to me, that
in a little while, the fhip's crew, wondering what was
become of their comrades, and of the boat, would cer
tainly come on ſhore in their other boat to fee for them;
and that then perhaps they might come armed, and be
too ſtrong for us: this he allowed, was rational.
Upon this I told him, the firſt thing we had to do,
was to ftave the boat, which lay upon the beach, fo that
they might not carry her off; and, taking every thing
out of her, leave her fo far uſeleſs as not to be fit to
fwim; accordingly we went on board, took the arms
which were left on board, out of her, and whatever elſe
we found there, which was a bottle of brandy, and a-
nother of rum, a few biſcuit-cakes, an horn of powder;
and a great lump of fugar, in a piece of canvas; the
fugar, was five or fix pounds; all which was very wel-
come to me, eſpecially the brandy and fugar, of which
I had had none left for many years.
When we had carried all theſe things on fore (the
oars, maſt, ſail, and rudder of the boat, were carried
away before, as above) we knock'd a great hole in her
bottom, that if they had come ftrong enough to mafter
us, yet they could not carry off the boat.
( 238 )
Indeed it was not much in my thoughts, that we
could be capable to recover the fhip; but my view was,
that if they went away without the boat, I did not
much queſtion to make her fit again to carry us away
to the Leeward Inlands; and call upon our friends
the Spaniards in my way, for I had them ftill in my
thoughts.
While we were thus preparing our defigns, and had
firſt, by main ſtrength, heav'd the boat up upon the
beach, fo high that the tide would not float her off at
high-water mark; and, befides, had broken an hole
in her botton, too big to be quickly ſtopp'd, and were
fat down muſing what we fhould do; we heard the
ſhip fire a gun, and ſaw her make a waft with her an-
cient, as a fignal for the boat to come on board; but
no boat ſtirred; and they fir'd feveral times, making
other fignals for the boat.
At last, when all their fignals and firings prov'd fruit-
lefs, and they found the boat did not ftir, we faw them
(by the help of our glaſſes,) hoiſt another boat out, and |
row towards the fſhore; and we found, as they approach-
ed, that there were no less than ten men in her, and
that they had fire arms with them.
As the fhip lay almoſt two leagues from the fhore,
we had a full view of them as they came, and a plain
fight of the men, even of their faces; becauſe the tide
having fet them a little to the eaſt of the other boat,
they rowed up under thore, to come to the fame place,
where the other had landed, and where the boat lay.
By this means. 1 fay, we had a full view of them, and
the captain knew the perfons and characters of all the
men in the boat, of whom he ſaid that there were
1
r
(239)
three very honeſt fellows, who, he was fure, were led
into this confpiracy by the reft, being overpower'd and
frighted.
But that for the boatswain, who, it feems, was the
chief officer among them, and all the reft, they were
as outrageous as any of the fhip's crew; and were, no
doubt, made deſperate in their new enterpriſe; and
terribly apprehenfive he was, that they would be too
powerful for us.
I fmil'd at him, and told him, that men in our cir-
cumſtances were paft the operations of fear: that fee-
ing almoſt every condition that could be, was better
than that we were fuppos'd to be in, we ought to ex-
pect, that the confequence, whether death or life, would
be fure to be a deliverance; I afk'd him, what he
thought of the circumſtances of my life: and whether
a deliverance were not worth venturing for. And,
where, fir, faid I, is your belief of my being preferv'd
here on purpoſe to fave your life, which elevated you
a little while ago? For my part, faid I, there feems
to be but one thing amifs in all the profpect of it.
What's that? fays he. Why, faid I, 'tis that, as you
fay, there are three or four honeſt fellows among them
which ſhould be fpar'd; had they been all of the wicked
part of the crew, I ſhould have thought God's provi-
dence had fingled them out to deliver them into your
hands; for depend upon it; every man of them that
comes afhore, are our own, and ſhall die or live, as they
behave to us.
As I spoke this with a rais'd voice, and chearful coun-
tenance, I found it greatly encourag'd him; ſo we ſet
vigorously to our bufinefs: we had, upon the first ap-
е
( 240 )
!
pearance of the boat's coming from the fhip, confider'd
of feparating our prifoners, and had indeed fecur'd them
effectually.
Two of them, of whom the captain was lefs affur'd
than ordinary, I fent with Friday, and one of the three
(deliver❜d men) to my cave, where they were remote
enough, and out of danger of being heard or difcover'd,
or of finding their way out of the woods, if they could
have deliver❜d themſelves: here they left 'em bound,
but gave 'em provifions, and promis'd 'em, if they con-
tinu'd there quietly, to give 'em their liberty in a day
or two; but that if they attempted their efcape, they
fhould be put to death without mercy. They promis❜d
faithfully to bear their confinement with patience, and
were very thankful, that they had fuch good ufage as
to have proviſions, and a light left 'em; for Friday
gave 'em candles (fuch as we made ourſelves) for their
comfort; and they did not know but that he ſtood cen-
tinel over 'em at the entrance.
The other prifoners had better ufage; two of them
were kept pinion'd indeed, becauſe the captain was not
free to trust them; but the other two were taken in-
to my fervice upon their captain's recommendation, and
upon their folemnly engaging to live and die with us;
fo, with them and the three honeft men, we were fe-
ven men well arm'd ; and I made no doubt we ſhould
be able to deal well enough with the ten that were a
coming, confidering that the captain had faid, there
were three or four honeſt men among them alſo.
As foon as they got to the place where their other
boat lay, they ran their boat into the beach, and came
all on fhore, haling the boat up after them, which I
( 241 )
+
was glad to fee; for I was afraid they would rather have
left the boat at an anchor, fome diftance from the
ſhore, with ſome hands in her to guard her; and lo
we fhould not be able to feize the boat.
Being on fhore, the first thing they did they ran all
to the other boat; and it was eafy to fee they were
under a great furpriſe, to find her ftripp'd, as above,
of all that was in her, and a great hole in her bottom.
After they had mus'd a while upon this, they fet up
two or three great fhouts, hallooing with all their might,
to try if they could make their companions hear; but
all was to no purpofe; then they came all clofe in a
ring, and fir'd a volley of their fmall arms, which in-
deed we heard, and the echoes made the woods ting;
but it was all one; thofe in the cave, we were fure,
could not hear; and thoſe in our keeping, though they
heard it well enough, yet durft give no anſwer to them.
They were ſo aſtoniſh'd at the ſurpriſe of this, that,
as they told us afterwards, they refolv'd to go all on
board again to their ſhip, and let them know there, that
the men were all murder'd, and the long boat ftav'd;
accordingly, they immediately launch'd their boat again
and got all of them on board.
The captain was terribly amaz'd, and even confound-
ed at this, believing they would go on board the ſhip
again, and fet fail, giving their comrades for loft, and
fo he ſhould ſtill lofe the fhip, which he was in hopes
we fhould have recover'd; but he was quickly as much
frighted the other way.
They had not been long put off with the boat, but
we perceiv'd them all coming on fhore again; but with
this new meaſure in their conduct, which, it feems,
Q =
A
( 242 )
they confulted together upon; viz. to leave three men
in the boat, and the rest to go on fhore, and go up in-
to the country to look for their fellows.
This was a great difappointment to us; for now we
were at a loſs what to do; for our feizing thoſe 7 men
on fhore would be no advantage to us if we let the
boat eſcape, becauſe they would then row away to the
ſhip; and then the rest of them would be fure to weigh,
and fet fail, and fo our recovering the fhip would be
`loſt.
However we had no remedy but to wait and ſee
what the iffue of things might prefent: the feven men
came on fhore, and the three who remained in the boat,
put her off to a good diſtance from the fhore, and came
to an anchor to wait for them; fo that it was impoffible
for us to come at them in the boat.
Thoſe that came on fhore kept cloſe together, march-
ing towards the top of the little hill, under which my
habitation lay; and we could fee them plainly, tho'
they could not perceive us: we could have been
very glad they would have come nearer to us, fo that
we might have fir'd at them; or that they would have
gone farther off, that we might have come abroad.
But when they were come to the brow of the hill,
where they could fee a great way in the valley and
woods, which lay towards the north-east part, and
where the island lay loweft, they fhouted and halloo'd
till they were weary; and not caring, it ſeems, to ven-
ture far from the fhore, nor far from one another, they
fat down together under a tree, to confider of it: had
they thought fit to have gone to fleep there, as the
( 243 )
other party of them had done, they had done the job
for us; but they were too full of apprehenfions of dan-
ger, to venture to go to fleep, though they could not
tell what the danger was they had to fear, neither.
The captain made a very juſt propoſal to me upon
this confultation of theirs; viz. That perhaps they
would all fire a volley again, to endeavour to make
their fellows hear, and that we fhould all fally upon
them, juſt at the juncture when their pieces were all
diſcharged, and they would certainly yield, and we
ſhould have them without bloodfhed; 1 liked the pro-
pofal, provided it was done while we were near enough
to come up to them, before they could load their pieces
again.
But this event did not happen, and we lay ftill a long
time, very irrefolute what courfe to take, at length I
told them, there would be nothing to be done in my
opinion till night; and then, if they did not return
to the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get
between them and the fhore, and fo might. ufe
fome Aratagem with them in the boat, to get them on
fhore.
We waited a great while, though very impatient,
for their removing, and were very uneafy; when,
after long confultations, we faw them ftart all up, and
march down towards the fea: it feems, they had
ſuch dreadful apprehenſions upon them of the dan-
ger of the place, that they reſolved to go on board
the fhip again, give their companions over for loſt,
and fo go on with their intended voyage with the
hip.
As foon as I perceived them go towards the fhore, I
!
a 3
(( 244
244 )
!
Imagined it to be as it really was; that they had given
over their fearch, and were for going back again; and
the captain, as foon as I told him my thoughts, was
ready to fink at the apprehenfions of it; but I prefent-
ly thought of a ftratagem to fetch them back again,
and which anſwered my end to a tittle.
$
I ordered Friday, and the captain's mate, to go o-
ver the little creek weftward, towards the place where
the favages came on fhore when Friday was refcued;
and as foon as they came to a little rifing ground, at
about half a mile's diſtance, I bade them halloo as loud
as they could, and wait till they found the feamen
heard them; that as foon as ever they heard the fea-
men anſwer them, they fhould return in again, and
then keeping out of fight, take a round, always an-
fwering when the others halloo'd, to draw them as
far into the iſland, and among the woods, as poffible,
and then wheel about again to me, by fuch ways as I
directed.
They were juſt going into the boat, when Friday
and the mate halloo'd and they prefently heard them,
and anſwering, run along the fhore weftward, towards
the voice they heard, when they were prefently ftop-
ped by the creek, where the water being up, they
could not get over, and called for the boat to come up,
and fet them over, as indeed I expected.
?
When they had fet themfelves over, I obferved
that the boat being gone up a good way into the creek,
and as it were in an harbour within the land, they
took one of the three men out of her to go along
with them, and left only two in the boat, having
faftened her to the ftump of a little tree on the fhore.
( 245 )
This was what I wiſhed for, and immediately leav-
ing Friday and the captain's mate to their buſineſs, I
took the reſt with me, and, croffing the creek out of
their fight, we furpriſed the two men before they were
aware, one of them lying on fhore, and the other being
in the boat; the fellow on fhore was between fleeping
and waking, and going to ſtart up, the captain, who
was foremoſt, ran in upon him, and knocked him down,
and then called out to him in the boat to yield, or he
was a dead man.
There needed very few arguments to perfuade a
fingle man to yield, when he faw five men upon him,
and his comrade knocked down; beſides, this was, it
ſeems, one of the three, who were not fo hearty in the
mutiny as the rest of the crew, and therefore was ea-
fily perfuaded, not only to yield, but afterwards to join
very fincerely with us.
In the mean time Friday, and the captain's mate, ſo
well managed their buſineſs with the reft, that they
drew them, by hallooing and anfwering, from one hill
to another, and from one wood to another, till they
⚫ not only heartily tired them, but left them where they
were very fure they could not reach back to the boat
before it was dark; and indeed they were heartily tir-
ed themſelves alfo by the time they came back to us.
We had nothing now to do but to watch for them
in the dark, and to fall upon them, fo as to make fure
work with them.
It was feveral hours after Friday came back to me,
before they came back to their boat; and we could
hear the foremoſt of them, long before they came quite
up, calling to thoſe behind to come along, and could
Q4
(246)
1
alfo hear them anfwer, and complain how lame and
tired they were, and not being able to come any faf-
ter, which was very welcome news to us.
At length they came up to the boat; but 'tis im-
poffible to exprefs their confufion, when they found
the boat faſt a-ground in the creek the tide ebbed out,
and their two men gone; we could hear them call to
one another in a moft lamentable manner, telling one
another they were gotten into an inchanted iſland;
that either there were inhabitants in it, and they
fhould all be murdered; or elfe there were devils or
fpirits in it, and they ſhould be all carried away and
devoured.
They halloo'd again, and called their two comrades
by their names a great many times, but no anſwer:
After fome time, we could fee them, by the little
light there was, run about wringing their hands, like
men in deſpair; and that fometimes they would go
and fit down in the boat to reft themſelves, then come
afhore, and walk about again, and fo the fame thing
over again.
My men would fain have had me given them leave
to fall upon them at once in the dark; but I was will-
ing to take them at fome advantage, ſo to ſpare them,
and kill as few of them as I could; and eſpecially I
was unwilling to hazard the killing any of our men,
knowing the other were very well armed: I refolved
to wait to fee if they did not ſeparate; and therefore,
to make fure of them, I drew my ambufcade nearer;
and ordered Friday and the captain, to creep up-
on their hands and feet as cloſe to the ground as they
could, that they might not be diſcovered, and get as
( 247 )
247)
near them as they could poffibly, before they offered
to fire.
They had not been long in that poſture, but that
the boatswain, who was the principal ringleader of the
mutiny, and had now fhewn himſelf the moſt dejected
and difpirited of all the reft, came walking towards
them with two more of their crew; the captain was
fo eager, at having the principal rogue ſo much in his
power, that he could hardly have patience to let him
come fo near as to be fure of him; for they only heard
his tongue before; But when they came nearer, the
captain and Friday, ſtarting up on their feet, let fly at
them.
The boatſwain, was killed upon the fpot; the next
man was ſhot into the body, and fell juft by him, tho?
he did not die till an hour or two after; and the third
un for it.
At the noife of the fire, I immediately advanced with
my whole army, which was now eight men; viz. my-
felf generaliffimo; Friday, my lieutenant-general; the
captain and his two men, and the three prifoners of
war, whom he had truſted with arms.
We came upon them indeed in the dark, fo that they
could not fee our number; and I made the man they
had left in the boat, who was now one of us, to call
them by name, to try if I could bring them to a parley,
and fo might perhaps reduce them to terms; which fell
out juſt as we defired: For indeed it was eaſy to think,
as their condition then was, they would be very will-
ing to capitulate; fo he calls out, as loud as he could,
to one of them, Tom Smith, Tom Smith. Tom Smith
anſwered immediately, Who's that? Robinfon? for it
( 248 )
feems he knew his voice. T'other anſwered, Ay, ay;
for God's fake, Tom Smith, throw down your arms, and
yield, or you are all dead men this moment.
Who muſt we yield to? Where are they? fays Smith
again. Here they are, fays he; here is our captain
and fifty men with him, have been hunting you this
two hours; the boatfwain is killed; Will Frye is
wounded, and I am a prifoner; and if you do not yield,
you are all loft.
Will they give us quarter then? ſays Tom Smith;
and we will yield. I'll go and afk, if you promise to yield,
fays Robinson. So he aſked the captain, and the cap-
tain himſelf then calls out; You, Smith, you know my
voice, if you lay down your arms immediately, and
ſubmit, you ſhall have your lives, all but Will Atkins.
Upon this Will Atkins cried out, for God's jake,
captain, give me quarter: What have I done? they have
been all as bad as I; which by the way was not true,
neither; for it ſeems, this Will Atkins was the firſt
man that laid hold of the captain, when they first mu-
tiny'd, and uſed him barbarouſly, in tying his hands,
and giving him injurious language: However, the
captain told him he muft lay down his arms at difcre-
tion, and truſt to the governor's mercy, by which he
meant me; for they all called me governor.
In a word, they all laid down their arms, and beg-
ged their lives; and I ſent the man that had parley'd
with them, and two more, who bound them all; and
then my great army of fifty men, which particularly
with thoſe three, were all but eight, came up and
feized upon them all, and upon their boat, only that
C
( 249 )
I kept myſelf, and one more, out of fight, for reafons
of ſtate.
Our next work was to repair the boat, and to think
of feizing the fhip; and as for the captain, now he had
leiſure to parley with them, he expoftulated with them
upon the villainy of their practices with him, and at
length, upon the farther wickedness of their defign;
and how certainly it must bring them to mifery and
diftrefs in the end, and perhaps to the gallows.
They all appeared very penitent, and begged hard
for their lives: As for that, he told them they were
none of his prifoners, but the commander's of the if-
land; that they thought they had fet him on fhore in
a barren uninhabited iſland; but it had pleaſed God
fo to direct them, that the iſland was inhabited, and that
the governor was an Englishman; that he might hang
them all there if he pleafed; but as he had given them
all quarter, he ſuppoſed he would fend them to Eng-
land to be dealt with there, as juſtice required, except
Atkins, whom he was commanded by the governor to
adviſe to prepare for death; for that he would be
hanged in the morning.
Though this was all a fiction of his own, yet it had
its defired effect: Atkins fell upon his knees to beg
the captain to intercede with the governor for his life;
and all the rest begged of him for God's fake, that
they might not be fent to England.
It now occured to me, that the time of our delive-
rance was come and that it would be a moſt eaſy thing
to bring theſe fellows in, to be hearty in getting pof-
feffion of the ſhip; ſo I retired in the dark from them,
that they might not fee what kind of a governor they
( 250 )
had, and called the captain to me; when I called, as
at a good diſtance, one of the men was ordered to
fpeak again, and fay to the captain, Captain, the com-
mander calls for you; and preſently the captain repli-
ed, Tell his excellency I am just a coming. This more
perfectly amufed them; and they all believed, that the
commander was juft by with his fifty men.
Upon the captain's coming to me, I told him my
project for feizing the fhip, which he liked of wond-
erfully well, and refolved to put it in execution the
next morning.
But, in order to execute it with more art, and to be
fecure of fuccefs, I told him we must divide the pri-
foners, and that he fhould go and take Atkins, and
two more of the worst of them, and fend them pini-
oned to the cave where the others lay: This was com-
mitted to Friday, and the two men who came on ſhore
with the captain.
They conveyed them to the cave, as to a priſon;
and it was indeed a difmal place, eſpecially to men in
their condition.
The other I ordered to my bower, as I called it, of
which I have given a full deſcription; and as it was
fenced in, and they pinioned, the place was fecure e-
nough, confidering they were upon their behaviour.
To theſe in the morning I fent the captain, who
was to enter into a parley with them; in a word, to
try them, and tell me, whether he thought they might
be truſted or no, to go on board, and furpriſe the
fhip: He talked to them of the injury done him, of
the condition they were brought to; and that tho' the
governor had given them quarter for their lives, as to
(251)
the prefent action, yet that if they were fent to Eng
land, they would all be hang'd in chains, to be ſure;
but that if they would join in ſuch an attempt, as to re-
cover the ſhip, he would have the governor's engage
ment for their pardon.
Any one may gueſs how readily fuch a propofal would
be accepted by men in their condition; they fell down
on their knees to the captain, and promis'd with the
deepest imprecations, that they would be faithful to him
to the last drop, and that they ſhould owe their lives
to him, and would go with him all over the world;
that they would own him for a father to them as long
as they liv'd.
Well, fays the captain, I must go and tell the go-
vernor what you fay, and fee what I can do to bring
him to conſent to it: fo he brought me an account of
the temper he found them in; and that he verily be-
lieved they would be faithful.
However, that we might be very fecure, I told him
he ſhould go back again, and choofe out five of them,
and tell them, that they fhould fee that they did not
want men; but he would take out thofe five to be his
affiftants, and that the governor would keep the other
two, and the three that were fent prifoners to the caf
tle (my cave) as hoſtages, for the fidelity of thoſe five;
and that if they prov'd unfaithful in the execution, the
five hoftages ſhould be hang'd in chains alive upon the
fhore.
This look'd fevere, and convinc'd them, that the go-
vernor was in earneſt; however, they had no way left
them but to accept it; and it was now the buſineſs of
fes
( 252 )
}
the prifoners, as much as of the captain, to perfuade
the other five to do their duty.
{ ་
Our strength was now thus order'd for the expedi
tion: 1. The captain, his mate, and paffenger. 2. Then
the two prifoners of the first gang, to whom, having
their characters from the captain, I had given their
liberty, and truſted them with arms. 3. The other
two whom I kept till now in my bower pinion'd; but
upon the captain's motion, had now releas'd. 4. Thefe
five releas'd at laft; fo that they were twelve in all,
befides five we kept prifoners in the cave for hoftages.
I aſk'd the captain, if he was willing to venturè
with theſe hands on board the fhip: for, as for mè,
and my man Friday, I did not think it was proper for
us to ftir, having feven men left behind; and it was
employment enough for us to keep them aſunder, and
fupply them with victuals.
As to the five in the cave, I refolv'd to keep them
faft; but Friday went twice a day to them, to fupply
them with neceflaries; and I made the other two
carry proviſions to a certain diftance, where Friday
was to take it.
When I fhew'd myfelf to the two hoftages, it was
with the captain, who told them, I was the perſon
the governor had order'd to look after them, and that
it was the governor's pleafure they fhould not flir any
where but by my direction; that if they did, they should
be fetch'd into the cattle, and be laid in irons; fo that
as we never fuffer'd them to fee me as governor, fo I
now appear'd as another perfon, and fpoke of the go-
vernor, the garrifon, the caftle, and the like, upon all
occafions.
( 253 )
253)
The captain now had no difficulty before him, but
to furnish his two boats, ftop the breach of one, and
man them: he made his paffenger captain of one, with
four other men; and himſelf, and his mate, and five
more, went in the other: and they contriv'd their bu-
fineſs very well; for they came up to the fhip about
midnight as foon as they came within call of the fhip,
he made Robinſon hail them, and tell them he had
brought off the men and the boat, but that it was a long
time before they had found them, and the like; hold-
ing them in a chat, till they came to the fhip's fide;
when the captain and the mate, entering firſt with their
arms, immediately knock'd down the ſecond mate and
carpenter with the but-end of their mufquets, being
very faithfully feconded by their men; they ſecur❜d
all the reft that were upon the main and quarter-decks,
and began to faſten the hatches to keep them down
who were below, when the other boat, and their men,
entering at the fore-chains, fecur'd the forecaſtle of the
ſhip, and the ſkuttle which went down into the cook-
room, making three men they found there priſoners.
When this was done, and all fafe upon the deck, the
captain order'd the mate with three men to break into
the round-houfe, where the new rebel captain lay,
and, having taken the alarm, was gotten up. and with
two men and a boy had gotten fire-arms in their hands;
and when the mate with a crow fplit open the door,
the new captain and his men fir'd boldly among them,
and wounded the mate with a mufquet-ball, which broke
his arm, and wounded two more of the men, but kill'd
nobody.
The mate, calling for help, rufh'd, however, into
A
(254)
the round-houfe, wounded as he was, and with his pil
tol fhot the new captain through the head, the bullet
entering at his mouth, and came out again behind
one of his ears; fo that he never ſpoke a word; upon
which the rest yielded, and the fhip was taken effectu-
ally, without any more lives loſt.
As foon as the fhip was thus fecur'd, the captain or-
der'd ſeven guns to be fir'd, which was the fignal agreed
upon with me, to give me notice of his fuccefs; which
you may be fure I was very glad to hear, having fat
watching upon the ſhore for it, till near two of the
clock in the morning.
Having thus heard the ſignal plainly, I laid me down;
and it having been a day of great fatigue to me, I flept
very found, till I was fomething furpris'd with the noife"
of a gun and preſently ſtarting up, I heard a man call
me by the name of governor, governor; and preſently
I knew the captain's voice, when climbing up to the
top of the hill, there he ſtood, and pointing to the ſhip,
he embrac'd me in his arms; My dear friend and deli
verer, ſays he, there's your ſhip, for fhe is all yours, and
fo are we, and all that belong to her. I caft my eyes
to the ſhip, and there the rode within little more than
half a mile of the fhore; for they had weigh'd her
anchor as foon as they were maſters of her; and the
weather being fair, had brought her to an anchor juſt
againſt the mouth of a little creek; and the tide be-
ing up, the captain had brought the pinnace in near the
place where I firſt landed my rafts, and ſo landed juſt
at my door.
I was, at first, ready to fink down with the furprife:
for I faw my deliverance indeed vifibly put into my
(255)
hands, all things eafy, and a large fhip juft ready to
carry me away whither I pleafed to go: at firft, for
fome time, I was not able to anſwer one word; but
as he had taken me in his arms, I held faſt by him, or
I should have fallen to the ground.
He perceiv'd the furpriſe, and immediately pull'd a
bottle out of his pocket, and gave me a dram of cor-
dial, which he had brought on purpoſe for me: after
I drank it, I fat down upon the ground, and though it
brought me to myfelf, yet it was a good while before
I could ſpeak a word to him.
All this while the poor man was in as great an ec-
ſtaſy as 1, only not under any furpriſe, as I was; and
he faid a thouſand kind tender things to me, to com-
pofe and bring me to myself; but fuch was the flood of
joy in my breaſt, that it put all my fpirits into confu-
ſion; at laſt it broke into tears, and in a little while af-
ter I recovered my fpeech.
Then I took my turn and embrac'd him as my de-
liverer; and we rejoic'd together: I told him I look'd
upon him as a man fent from heaven to deliver me,
and that the whole tranfaction feem'd to be a chain
of wonders; that fuch things as theſe were the tefti-
monies we had of a fecret hand of providence gover-
ning the world, and an evidence, that the eyes of an
infinite power could fearch into the remoteft corner
of the world, and fend help to the miferable whenever
he pleas'd.
I forgot not to lift up my heart in thankfulneſs to
heaven; and what heart could forbear to blefs him,
who had not only in a miraculous manner provided for
R
(256)
one in fuch a wilderneſs, and in fuch a defolate con
dition, but from whom every deliverance muſt always
be acknowledg'd to proceed?
When we had talk'd awhile, the captain told me,
he had brought me fome little refreshments, fuch as the
fhip afforded, and fuch as the wretches, who had been
fo long his maſters, had not plunder'd him of: upon
this he call'd aloud to the boat. and bid his men bring
the things afhore that were for the governor; and in-
deed it was a prefent,, as if I had been one, not that
was to be carried along with them, but as if I had been
to dwell upon the island ftill, and they were to go with-
out me.
Firſt, he had brought me a cafe of bottles full of ex-
lent cordial waters, fix large bottles of Madeira wine;
the bottles held two quarts apiece; two pounds of ex-
cellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the fhip's
beef and fix pieces of the pork, with a bag of peas, and
about an hundred weight of biſcuit.
He brought me alſo a box of ſugar, a box of flour,
a bag full of lemons, and two bottles of lime-juice, and
abundance of other things: but befides thefe, and what
was a thouſand times more uſeful to me, he brought
me fix clean new fhirts, fix very good neckcloths, two
pair of gloves, one pair of fhoes an hat, and one pair of
ftockings, and a very good fuit of cloaths of his own,
which had been worn but very little: in a word, he
cloath'd me from head to foot.
It was a very kind and agreeable prefent, as any one
may imagine, to one in my circumſtances; but never
was any thing in the world of that kind fo unpleaſant,
i
( 257 )
aukward, and uneafy, as it was to me to wear ſuch
cloaths at their first putting on.
After theſe ceremonies paft, and after all his good
things were brought into my little apartment, we began
to confult what was to be done with the priſoners we
had; for it was worth confidering whether we might
venture to take them away with us or no, eſpecially two
of them, whom we knew to be incorrigible and refrac-
tory to the laſt degree; and the captain faid he knew
they were ſuch rogues, that there was no obliging them,
and if he did carry them away, it muſt be in irons, as
malefactors to be deliver'd over to juſtice at the firſt
English colony he could come at; and I found that the
captain himſelf was very anxious about it.
Upon this, I told him, that if he defired it, I durft
undertake to bring the two men he fpoke of, to make
it their own request that he fhould leave them upon
the iſland: 1hould be very glad of that, fays the cap-
tain, with all my heart.
Well, faid I, I will fend for them, and talk with them
for you: fo I caus'd Friday and the two hoftages, for
they were now difcharg'd, their comrades having per-
form'd their promife; I fay, I caus'd them to go to the
cave, and bring up the five men, pinion'd as they were
to the bower, and keep them there till 1 came.
After fome time, I came thither drefs'd in my new
habit, and now I was call'd governor again. Being all
met, and the captain with me, I caus'd the men to be
brought before me, and I told them, I had had a full
account of their villainous behaviour to the captain,
and how they had run away with the fhip, and were
preparing to commit farther robberies; but that pro-
R 2
( 258 )
vidence had enfnar'd them in their own ways, and that
they were fallen into the pit which they had digg'd
for others.
I let them know, that by my direction the ſhip had
been feiz'd, that fhe lay now in the road, and they might
fee by and by, that their new captain had receiv'd the
reward of his villainy; for that they might fee him
hanging at the yard-arm.
That as to them, I wanted to know what they had
to fay, why I ſhould not execute them as pirates taken'
in the fact, as by my commiffion they could not doubt
I had authority to do.
One of them anfwer'd in the name of the rest, that
they had nothing to fay but this, that when they were
taken, the captain promis'd them their lives, and they
humbly implor'd my mercy: but I told them I knew
not what mercy to fhew them; for, as for myſelf, I had
refolv'd to quit the island with all my men, and had
taken paffage with the captain to go for England: and
as for the captain, he could not carry them to England,
other than as prifoners in irons to be try'd for mutiny,
and running away with the fhip; the confequence of
which, they muft needs know, would be the gallows;
fo that I could not tell which was beft for them, un-
lefs they had a mind to take their fate in the iſland, if
they defir'd that, I did not care, as I had liberty to
leave it I had fome inclination to give them their lives,
if they thought they could fhift on fhore. They feem'd
very thankful for it; faid they would much rather ven-
ture to flay there, than to be carry'd to England to
be hang'd; fo I left it on that iſſue.
:
However, the captain feem'd to make fome difficul-
#
2
( 259 )
ty of it, as if he durft not leave them there: Upon this
I ſeemed a little angry with the captain, and told him,
that they were my prifoners, not his; and that ſeeing
I had offered them fo much favour, I would be as
good as my word; and that if he did not think fit to
conſent to it, I would ſet them at liberty as I found
them; and if he did not like that, he might take them
again, if he could catch them.
Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I ac-
cordingly fet them at liberty and bade them retire
into the woods, to the place whence they came, and I
would leave them fome fire-arms, fome ammunition,
and ſome directions how they ſhould live very well, if
they thought fit.
Upon this, I prepared to go on board the ſhip; but
told the captain, that I would ftay that night to pre-
pare my things, and defired him to go on board in the
mean time, and keep all right in the fhip, and fend the
boat on fhore the next day for me; ordering him in
the mean time, to cauſe the new captain who was kill-
ed, to be hanged at the yard-arm, that theſe men might
fee him.
When the captian was gone, I fent for the men up to
me to my apartment, and entered feriously into dif
courſe with them of their circumftances: I told them,
I thought they had made a right choice; that if the
captain carried them away, they would certainly be
hanged: Ifhewed 'em their captain hanging at the yard-
arm of the ſhip, and told them they had nothing leſs
to expect.
When they had all declared their willingness to
ſtay, I told them, I would let them into the ſtory of
R 3
( 260 )
my living there, and put them into the way of making
it eaſy to them: accordingly I gave them the whole
hiſtory of the place, and of my coming to it; fhew-
ed them m fortifications, the way I made my bread,
planted my corn, cured my grapes; and, in a word,
all that was neceſſary to make them eafy: I told them the
flory alfo of the fixteen Spaniards that were to be ex-
pected; for whom I left a letter, and made them pro-
mife to treat them in common with themſelves.
I left them my fire-arms; viz. five mufquets, three
fowling-pieces, and three fwords: I had about a
barrel of powder left; for after the first year or two
I uſed but little, and waſted none: I gave them a de-
ſcription of the way I managed the goats, and directi-
ons to milk and fatten them, to make both butter and-
cheeſe.
In a word, I gave them every part of my own ſtory;
and I told them, I would prevail with the captain to
leave them two barrels of gunpowder more, and fome
garden feed, which I told them I would have been
very glad of; alſo I gave them the bag of peas which
the captain had brought me to eat, and bade them be
fure to fow and increaſe them
Having done all this, I left them the next day, and
went on board the hip: We prepared immediately to
fail, but did not weigh that night: The next morning
early, two of the five men came fwimming to the
fhip's fide, and, making a moft lamentable complaint
of the other three, begged to be taken into the thip,
for God's fake, for they fhould be murdered, and
begged the captain to take them on board, tho' he
hanged them immediately.
(261)
Upon this, the captain pretended to have no power
without me; but after fome difficulty, and after their
folemn promiſes of amendment, they were taken on
board, and were fome time after foundly whipped and
pickled; after which they proved very honest and
quiet fellows.
Some time after this, I went with the boat on ſhore,
the tide being up, with the things promifed to the men,
to which the captain, at my interceffion, caufed their
chefts and cloaths to be added, which they took, and
were very thankful for: I alſo encouraged them, by
telling them, that if it lay in my way to fend any veffel
to take them in, I would not forget them.
When I took leave of this ifland, I carried on board
for reliques the great goat's-fkin cap I had made, my
umbrella, and one of my parrots; alfo I forgot not to
take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain
by me fo long uſeleſs that it was grown rufty, or tar-
niſhed, and could hardly paſs for filver, till it had been
a little rubbed and handled; and alfo the money I
found in the wreck of the Spaniſh ſhip.
And thus I left the island the nineteenth of Decem-
ber, as I found by the fhip's account, in the year 1686,
after I had been upon it eight-and-twenty years, two
months, and nineteen days; being delivered from the
fecond captivity the fame day of the month that I firſt
made my eſcape in the Barco-Longo, from among the
Moors of Sallee.
In this veffel, after a long voyage, I arrived in Eng-
land the eleventh of June, in the year 1687, having
been thirty-and-five years abfent.
When I came to England I was a perfect ftranger
R 4
( 262 )
!
to all the world, as if I had never been known there
my benefactor, and faithful ſteward, whom I had left
in truſt with my money, was alive, but had had great
misfortunes in the world, was become a widow the
fecond time, and very low in the world: I made her ea-
fy as to what the owed me, affuring her, I would
give her no trouble; but on the contrary, in gratitude
to her former care and faithfulneſs to me, I relieved
her as my little ftock would afford, which at that time.
would indeed allow me to do but little for her; but I
affured her, I would never forget her former kindneſs
to me; nor did I forget her, when I had fufficient to
help her; as fhall be obſerved in its place.
I went down afterwards into Yorkshire; but my fa-
ther was dead, and my mother, and all the family ex-
tinct; except that I found two fifters, and two of the
children of one of my brothers; And as I had been
long ago given over for dead, there had been no pro-
vifion made for me, fo that, in a word, I found no-
thing to relieve or affift me; and that little money I
had, would not do fo much for me, as to fettling in
the world.
I met with one piece of gratitude indeed, which I
did not expect; and this was, that the mafter of the
fhip, whom I had ſo happily delivered, and by the fame
means faved the fhip and cargo, having given a very hand-
fome account to the owners, of the manner how I had
faved the lives of the men, and the fhip, they invited
me to meet them, and fome other merchants concern-
ed, and all together made me a very handfome compli-
ment upon that ſubject, and a prefent of almoft two
hundred pounds fterling,
(263)
But after making feveral reflexions upon the cir
cumſtances of my life, and how little way this would go
towards fettling me in the world, I refolved to go to
Lisbon, and fee if 1 might not come by fome informa-
tion of the state of my plantation in the Brafils, and
what was become of my partner, who, i had reaſon to
ſuppoſe, had ſome years now given me over for dead.
With this view I took ſhipping for Lisbon, where I
arrived in April following; my man Friday accom-
panying me very honeſtly in all theſe ramblings, and
proving a moſt faithful fervant upon all occations.
When I came to Lisbon, I found out by inquiry,
and to my particular fatisfaction, my old friend the cap-
tain of the ſhip, who firſt took me up at fea, off the
fhore of Africa: He was now grown old, and had left
off the fea, having put his fon, who was far from a young
man, into his fhip; and who ftill ufed the Brafil trade.
The old man did not know me, and, indeed, I hardly
knew him; hut I foon brought my felf to his remem-
brance, when I told him who I was.
After fome paffionate expreflions of our old ac-
quaintance, I inquired, you may be fure, after my plan-
tation, and my partner: The old man told me, he had
not been in the Brafils for about nine years: but that
he could affure me, that when he caine away, my part-
ner was living; but the truſtees, whom I had joined
with him to take cognizance of my part, were both
dead; that, however, he believed that I would have a
very good account of the improvement of the planta-
tion; for that, upon the general belief of my being
caft away and drowned my trustees had given in the
account of the produce of my part of the plantation, to
(264)
the procurator fiſcal; who had appropriated it, in cafe
I never came to claim it, one third to the king, and
two thirds to the monaftery of St. Augustin, to be ex-
pended for the benefit of the poor, and for the conver-
fion of the Indians to the catholic faith; but that if
I appeared, or any one for me, to claim the inheritance,
it would be reſtored; only that the improvement, or
annual production, being diftributed to charitable ufes,
could not be reſtored; but he affured me, that the
fteward of the king's revenue (from lands) and the
provedore, or ſteward of the monaftery, had taken great
care all along, that the incumbent, that is to fay, my
partner, gave every year a faithful account of the pro-
duce, of which they received duly my moiety.
I aſked him, if he knew to what height of improve-
ment he had brought the plantation: And whether he
thought it might be worth looking after: Or whe-
ther, on my going thither, I fhould meet with no ob-
ftruction to my poffeffing my juft right in the moiety.
He told me, he could not tell exactly to what degree
the plantation was improved; but this he knew, that
my partner was grown exceeding rich upon the enjoy-
ing but one half of it; and that, to the best of his re-
membrance he had heard, that the king's third of my
part, which was, it feems, granted away to fome other
monaſtery, or religious houſe, amounted to above two
hundred moidores a year; that, as to my being reſtor-
ed to a quiet poffeffion of it, there was no queftion to
be made of that, my partner being alive to witnefs my
title, and my name being alfo inrolled in the regiſter
of the country.
Alfo he told me, that the furvivors
of my two truſtees were very fair honeſt people, and
(265)
very wealthy, and he believed I would not only have
their affiftance for putting me in poffeffion, but would
find a very confiderable fum of money in their hands,
for my account, being the produce of the farm. while
their fathers held the truft, and before it was given
up, as above, which, as he remembered, was for about
twelve years.
I fhewed myſelf a little concerned and uneafy at
this account, and inquired of the old captain, how it
came to pafs, that the trustees fhould thus difpofe of
my effects, when he knew, that I had made my will,
and had made him, the Portuguefe captain, my univer-
fal heir, &c.
He told me, that was true; but that, as there was
no proof of my being dead, he could not act as exe-
cutor, until fome certain account fhould come of my
death; and that, beſides, he was not willing to inter-
meddle with a thing fo remote: That it was true, he
had regiſtered my will, and put in his claim; and could
he have given any account of my being dead or alive,
he would have acted by procuration, and taken proffef
fion of the Ingenio (fo they called the fugar-houfe) and
had given his fon, who was now at the Brafus, orders
to do it.
But, fays the old man, I have one piece of news to
tell you, which perhaps may not be fo acceptable to
you as the reſt; and that is, that believing you were
lolt, and all the world believing fo alfo, your partner
and truſtees did offer to account to me in your name,
for fix or eight of the firft years of profits, which I
received, but there being at that time, fays he, great
disbursements for increafing the works, building an in-
(266)
genio, and buying flaves, it did not amount to near fo
much as afterwards it produced: However, fays the
old man, I fhall give you a true account of what I have
received in all, and how I have diſpoſed of it.
After a few days farther conference with this antient
friend, he brought me an account of the fix firſt years
income of my plantation, figned by my partner, and
the merchant's trustees, being always delivered in
goods; viz. tobacco in roll, and fugar in chefts, be-
fides rum, melaffes, &c. which is the confequence of
a fugar-work; and I found by this account, that every
year the income confiderably increaſed: But, as above,
the disburſement being large, the fum at firſt was ſmall:
However, the old man let me fee, that he was debtor
to me 470 moidores of gold, befides 60 chelts of fu-
gar, and 15 double rolls of tobacco, which were loft
in his fhip, he having been fhipwrecked coming
home to Lisbon, about eleven years after my leaving
the place.
The good man then began to complain of his misfor-
tunes, and how he had been obliged to make uſe of
my money to recover his loffes and buy him a ſhare
in a new fhip: However, my old friend, ſays he, you
fhall not want a ſupply in your neceffity; and as foon
as my fon returns, you ſhall be fully fatisfy'd.
Upon this he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me
two hundred Portugal moidores in gold; and giving me
the writings of his title to the fhip which his fon was
gone to the Brafils in, of which he was a quarter-part
owner, and his fon another, he puts them both in my
hands for fecurity of the reſt.
(26)
!
I was too much mov'd with the honefty and kindnefs
of the poor man, to be able to bear this; and remem-
bring what he had done for me, how he had taken me
up at fea, and how generously he had ufed me on all
occafions, and particularly, how fincere a friend he was
now to me, I could hardly refrain weeping at what he
faid to me therefore first I afk'd him if his circum-
ſtances admitted him to ſpare ſo much money at that
time, and if it would not ftreighten him? He told me
he could not ſay but it might freighten him a little;
but, however, it was my money, and I might want it
more than he.
:
Every thing the good man ſaid was full of affection,
and I could hardly refrain from tears while he spoke.
In short, I took one hundred of the moidores, and call'd
for a pen and ink to give him a receipt for them; then
I return'd him the reft, and told him, if ever I had
poffeffion of the plantation, I would return the other
to him alfo, as indeed I afterwards did; and that, as to
the bill of ſale of his part in his fon's fhip, I would not
take it by any means; but that if I wanted the money,
I found he was honeft enough to pay me; and if I did
not, but came to receive what he gave me reaſon to ex-
pect, I would never have a penny more from him.
When this was pafs'd, the old man began to aſk me,
if he ſhould put me in a method to make my claim to
my plantation. I told him, I thought to go over to it
myfelf: he ſaid I might do fo if I pleas'd; but that if
I did not, there were ways enough to ſecure my right,
and immediately to appropriate the profits to my uſe;
and as there were fhips in the river of Lisbon, juſt rea-
dy to go away to Brafil, he made me enter my name
( 268 )
{
;
in a public regiſter, with his affidavit, affirming upon
oath that I was alive, and that I was the fame perfon
who took up the land for the planting the faid planta-
tion at firſt.
This being regularly attefted by a notary, and a
procuration affix'd he directed me to fend it with a
letter of his writing, to a merchant of his acquaintance
at the place; and then propos'd my ftaying with him.
till an account came of the return.
Never any thing was more honourable than the pro-
ceedings upon this procuration; for in lefs than feven
months I receiv'd a large packet from the furvivors of
my truſtees, the merchants, for whofe account I went
to fea, in which were the following particular letters
and papers inclofed.
First, There was the account current of the pro-
duce of my farm, or plantation, from the year when
their fathers had balanc'd with my old Portugal cap-
tain, being for fix years: the balance appear'd to be
1174 moidores in my favour.
Secondly, There was the account of four years more
while they kept the effects in their hands, before the
government claim'd the adminiftration, as being the
effects of a perfon not to be found, which they call Ci-
til death; and the balance of this, the value of the
plantation increafing, amounted to cruifadoes, which
made 3241 moidores.
1
Thirdly. There was the prior of the Augustines ac-
count, who had receiv'd the profits for above fourteen
years; but not being able to account for what was dif
pos'd to the hofpital, very honeſtly declar'd he had 872
moidores not distributed, which he acknowledg'd to
(269)
my account: as to the king's part, that refunded no-
thing.
There was alfo a letter of my partner's, congratu-
lating me very affectionately upon my being alive; giv-
ing me an account how the eftate was improv'd, and
what it produc'd a year, with a particular of the num-
ber of fquares or acres that it contain'd; how planted,
how many flaves there were upon it; and making two-
and-twenty croffes for bleffings, told me, he had ſaid
fo many Ave Maria's to thank the bleffed virgin that
I was alive; inviting me very paffionately to come over
and take poffeffion of my own, and in the mean time
to give him orders to whom he fhould deliver my ef-
fects, if I did not come myself; concluding with an hearty
tender of his friendſhip, and that of his family; and
fent me, as a prefent, feven fine leopards fkins, which
he had, it feems, receiv'd from Africa by fome other
fhip which he had fent thither, and who, it ſeems,
had made a better voyage than I: he fent me alfo
five chefts of excellent fweetmeats, and an hundred
pieces of gold uncoin'd, not quite fo large as moidores.
By the fame fleet my two merchant-trustees fhipp'd
me 1200 cheſts of fugar, 800 rolls of tobacco, and the
reſt of the whole account in gold.
I might well fay now, indeed, that the latter end of
Fob was better than the beginning: it is impoffible to
expreſs the flutterings of my very heart, when I look'd
over theſe letters, and eſpecially when I found all my
wealth about me; for as the Brafil fhips come all in
fleets, the fame ſhips which brought my letters brought
my goods; and the effects were fafe in the Tagus be
fore the letter came to my hand: in a word, I turn'd
( 270 )
pale, and grew fick; and had not the old man run and
fetch'd me a cordial, I believe the fudden ſurpriſe of
joy had overfet nature, and 1 had dy'd upon the ſpot.
Nay, after that, I continu'd very ill, and was fo
fome hours, till a phyfician being fent for, and fome-
thing of the real caufe of my illneſs being known, he
order'd me to be let blood; after which I had relief,
and grew well; but I verily believe, if I had not been
eas'd by the vent given in that manner to the fpirits,
I ſhould have dy'd.
I was now maſter, all on a fudden, of above 50,000 1
fterling in money, and had an eſtate, as I might well
call it, in the Brafils, of above a thousand pounds a
year, as fure as an eftate of lands in England; and,
in a word, I was in a condition which I fcarce knew
how to underſtand, or how to compofe myſelf for the
enjoyment of.
The first thing I did, was to recompenfe my ori-
ginal benefactor, my good old captain, who had been
first charitable to me in my diftrefs, kind to me in the
beginning, and honeft to me at the end: I fhew'd him
all that was fent me; I told him, that, next to the
providence of heaven, which diſpoſes all things, it was
owing to him; and that it now lay on me to reward
him, which I would do an hundredtold: fo I first re-
turn'd to him the hundred moidores I had receiv'd of
him; then I fent for a notary, and caus'd him to draw
up a general releaſe or diſcharge for the 470 moidores,
which he had acknowledg'd he owed me, in the fulleft
and firmeſt manner poffible; after which, I caus'd a
procuration to be drawn inpo vering him to be my
receiver of the annual profits of my plantation, and
*
( 241 )
appointing my partner to account to him, and make
the returns by the ufual fleets to him in my name;
and a clauſe in the end, being a grant of 100 moidores
a year to him during his life, out of the effects; and
50 moidores a year to his fon after him, for his life:
and thus I requited my old man.
I was now to confider which way to fteer my courſe
next, and what to do with the eftate that providence
had thus put into my hands; and, indeed, I had more
care upon my head now, than I had in my filent ſtate
of life in the island, where I wanted nothing but what
I had, and had nothing but what I wanted; whereas I
had now a great charge upon me, and my buſineſs was
how to fecure it; I had never a cave to hide my mo-
ney in, or a place where it might lie without lock or
key, till it grew nouldy and tarniſh'd before any bo-
1.
would meddle with it: on the contrary, I knew
not where to put it, or whom to trust with it; my old
patron the captain, indeed was honeſt, and that was
the only refuge I had.
In the next place, my intereſt in the Brafils feem'd
to fummon me thither; but now I could not tell how
to think of going thither till I had fettled my affairs,
and left my effects in ſome ſafe hands behind me: at
first I thought of my old friend the widow, who I knew
was honeſt, and would be juſt to me; but then fhe was
in years, and but poor, and, for aught I knew, might
be in debt; fo that. in a word, I had no way but to
go back to England myfelf, and take my effects with
me
I was fome months, however, before I refolv'd upon
this; and therefore as I had rewarded the old captain
S
(272)
i
fully, and to fatisfaction, who had been my former be
nefactor, fo I began to think of my poor widow whoſe
husband had been my first benefactor, and ſhe, while
it was in her power, my faithful ſteward and inftruc-
tor: fo the first thing I did. I got a merchant in Lis-
bon to write to his correſpondent in London, not only to'
pay a bill, but to go find her out, and carry her in
money an hundred pounds from me, and to talk with
her, and comfort her in her poverty, by telling her,
fhe fhould, if I liv'd, have a farther fupply: at the
fame time I fent my two fifters in the country, each
of them, an hundred pounds, they being, though not
in want, yet not in very good circumftances; one hav-
ing been married and left a widow, and the other hav-
ing an husband not ſo kind to her as he ſhould be.
But among all my relations or acquaintances I could
not yet pitch upon one, to whom I durft commit the
grofs of my ſtock. that I might go away to the Brafils,
and leave things fafe behind me; and this greatly per-
plexed me.
I had once a mind to have gone to the Brafils, and
have fettled myfelf there; for I was, as it were, natu-
ralized to the place; but I had fome little fcruple in
my mind about religion, which infenfibly drew me
back, of which I fhall fay more prefently. However,
it was not religion that kept me from going thither
for the prefent; and as I had made no fcruple of be-
ing openly of the religion of the country. all the while
I was among them, fo neither did I yet; only that now
and then having of late thought more of it than for-
merly, when I began to think of living and dying a
mong them, I began to regret my having profefs'd my-
( 273 ):
t
felf a Papif, and thought it might not be the beſt re-
ligion to die in.
But, as I have faid, this was not the main thing that
kept me from going to the Brafils, but that really 1 did
not know with whom to leave my effects behind me;
fo I refolv'd at laſt to go to England with them, where,
if I arriv'd, I concluded I fhould make fome acquain-
tance, or find fome relations, that would be faithful to
me; and accordingly I prepar'd to go for England
with all my wealth.
!
In order to prepare things for my going home, I first
(the Brafil fleet being just going away) refolv'd to give
anſwers ſuitable to the juſt and faithful account of
things I had from thence; and first to the prior of St.
Augustine I wrote a letter full of thanks for his juft
dealings, and the offer of the 872 moidores, which
was undifpos'd of, which I defir'd might be given, 500
to the monaſtery, and 372 to the poor, as the prior
fhould direct, defiring the good Padres prayers for me,
and the like.
*
I wrote next a letter of thanks to my two truſtees,
with all the acknowledgment that ſo much juſtice and
honeſty call'd for; as for fending them any preſent,
they were far above having any occafion of it.
Lastly, I wrote to my partner, acknowledging his
induſtry in the improving the plantation, and his in-
tegrity in increafing the ſtock of the works, giving him
inſtructions for his future government of my part, ac-
cording to the powers I had left with my old patron,
to whom I defir'd him to fend whatever became due
to me, till he ſhould hear from me more particularly;
afluring him, that it was my intention, not only to come
S2
( 274 )
to him, bút to fettle myſelf there for the remainder of
my life: to this I added a very handfome prefent of
fome Italian filks for his wife and two daughters, for
fuch the captain's fon inform'd me he had; with two
pieces of fine Engliſh broad cloth, the beſt I could get
in Lisbon, five pieces of black bays, and fome Flanders
lace of a good value.
Having thus fettled my affairs, fold my cargo, and
turn'd all my effects into good bills of exchange, my
next difficulty was, which way to go to England: I
had been accuſtom'd enough to the fea, and yet I had
a ftrange averfion to go to England by fea at that time;
and though I could give no reafon for it, yet the dif
ficulty increas'd upon me ſo much, that though I had
once ſhipp❜d my baggage in order to go, yet I alter'd
my mind, and that not once, but two or three times.
It is true, I had been very unfortunate by fea, and
this might be one of the reafons; but let no man flight
the ſtrong impulfes of his own thoughts in caſes of
fuch moment: two of the fhips which I had fingled
out to go in, I mean, more particularly fingled out than
any other, that is to fay, fo as in one of them to put
my things on board, and in the other to have agreed
with the captain; I fay, two of theſe ſhips miſcarry'd;
viz. One was taken by the Algerines, and the other
was caft away on the Start near Torbay, and all the
people drowned except three; fo that in either of thofe
veffels I had been made miferable, and in which moſt,
it was hard to fay.
Having been thus harafs'd in my thoughts, my old
pilot, to whom I communicated every thing, prefs'd me
earneſtly not to go to fea; but either to go by land to
(275)
the Groyne, and crofs over the bay of Bifcayor Rochelle,
from whence it was but an eaſy and fafe journey by
land to Paris, and fo to Calais and Dover; or to
go up to Madrid, and fo all the way by land through
France.
In a word, I was fo prepoffefs'd againſt my going by
fea at all, except from Calais to Dover, that I refolv'd
to travel all the way by land; which, as I was not in
hafte, and did not value the charge, was by much the
pleaſanter way; and to make it more fo, my old captain
brought an English gentleman, the fon of a merchant
in Lisbon, who was willing to travel with me: after
which we pick'd up two who were English and mer-
chants alſo, and two young Portugueſe gentlemen, the
laft going to Paris only; fo that we were in all fix of us,
and five ſervants, the two merchants, and the two Por-
tugueſe, contenting themſelves with one fervant between
two, to fave the charge; and as for me, I got an Eng-
lih failor to travel with me as a fervant befides my man
Friday, who was too much a ſtranger to be capable
of supplying the place of a fervant upon the road.
In this manner I fet out from Lisbon; and our com-
pany being all very well mounted and arm'd, we made
a little troop, whereof they did me the honour to call
me captain, as well becauſe I was the oldeſt man, as
becauſe I had two fervants, and, indeed, was the origi-
nal of the whole journey.
As I have troubled you with none of my fea journals,
fo fhall I trouble you with none of my land journal :
but fome adventures that happen'd to us in this tedious
and difficult journey, I must not omit.
When we came to Madrid, we, being all of us ftrang-
$ 3
( 276 )
ers to Spain, were willing to ſtay fome time to fee the
court of Spain, and to fee what was worth obferving;
but it being the latter part of the fummer, we haften'd
away, and fet out from Madrid about the middle of
October: but when we came to the edge of Navarre,
we were alarm'd at feveral towns on the way, with an
account that fo much fnow was fallen on the French
fide of the mountains, that feveral travellers were oblig'd
to come back to Pampeluna, after having attempted,
at an extreme hazard, to paſs on.
When we came to Pampeluna itſelf, we found it ſo
indeed; and to me that had been always us'd to an hot
climate, and indeed to countries where we could fcarce
bear any cloaths on, the cold was unfufferable; nor,
indeed, was it more painful than it was furprifing, to
come but ten days before out of the old Caftile, where
the weather was not only warm, but very hot; and
immediately to feel a wind from the Pyrenean moun-
tains, ſo very keen, fo feverely cold, as to be intolera
ble, and to endanger benumbing and perishing of our
fingers and toes, was very ſtrange:
Poor Friday was really frighted when he faw the
mountains all cover'd with fnow, and felt cold weather
which he had never feen or felt before in his life."
To mend the matter, after we came to Pampeluna,
it continu'd fnowing with fo much violence, and fo long;
that the people faid, winter was come before its time,
and the roads which were difficult before, were now
quite impaffable; in a word; the fnow lay in fome
places too thick for us to travel; and being not hard
frozen, as is the cafe in northern countries, there was
no going without being in danger of being bury'd a-
( 279 )
live every ftep: we ftaid no less than twenty days at
Pampeluna; when (feeing the winter coming on, and
no likelihood of its being better, for it was the fevereſt
winter all over Europe that had been known in many
years) I propos'd that we ſhould all go away to Font-
arabia, and there take shipping for Bourdeaux, which
was a very little voyage.
But while we were confidering this, there came in
four French gentlemen, who, having been ſtopp'd on
the French ſide of the paffes, as we were on the Spaniſh,
had found out a guide, who, traverfing the country near
the head of Languedoc, had brought them over the
mountains by fuch ways, that they were not much in-
commoded with the fnow; and where they met with
fnow in any quantity, they ſaid it was frozen hard e-
nough to bear them and their horſes.
We fent for this guide, who told us, he would un-
dertake to carry us the fame way, with no hazard from
the fnow, provided we were arm'd fufficiently to pro-
tect us from wild beafts; for, he faid, upon thefe great
fnows, it was frequent for fome wolves to fhew them-
felves at the foot of the mountains, being made rave-
nous for want of food, the ground being cover'd with
fnow: we told him we were well enough prepar'd for
fuch creatures as they were, if he would inſure us
from a kind of two legged wolves, which we were told
we were in moſt danger from, eſpecially on the French
fide of the mountains
He fatisfy'd us there was no danger of that kind in
the way that we were to go: fo we readily agreed to fol-
low him; as did alfo twelve other gentlemen, with their
fervants, fome French, ſome Spaniſh, who, as I ſaid,
+
$ 4
(278)
had attempted to go, and were oblig'd to come back a
gain.
Accordingly we all fet out from Pampeluna, with
our guide, on the fifteenth of November; and indeed,
I was furpris'd, when, inſtead of going forward, he
came directly back with us, on the fame road that we
came from Madrid, above twenty miles; when having
pafs'd two rivers, and come into the plain country, we
found ourſelves in a warm climate again, where the
country was pleaſant, and no fnow to be feen; but on
a fudden, turning to the left, he approach'd the moun-
tains another way; and tho' it is true, the hills and the
precipices look'd dreadful, yet he made fo many tours,
fuch meanders, and led us by fuch winding ways, we
infenfibly pafs'd the height of the mountains, without
being much incumber'd with the fnow; and all on a
fudden he fhew'd us the pleaſant fruitful provinces of
Languedoc and Gafcoigne, all green and flouriſhing;
tho' indeed they were at a great diſtance, and we had
fome rough way to pass yet.
We were a little uneafy however, when we found it
fnow'd one whole day, and a night, fo faft, that we
could not travel; but he bid us be eaſy, we thould foon
be paft it all: We found, indeed, that we began to de-
fcend every day, and to come more north than before,
and fo depending upon our guide,
guide, we went on.
It was about two hours before night, when our guide
being fomething before us, and not just in fight, out
rufh'd three monftrous wolves, and after them a bear,
out of an hollow way, adjoining to a thick wood; two
of the wolves flew upon the guide, and had he been
half a mile before us, he had been devour'd indeed, be
( 279 )
forewe could have help'd him; one of them faſten'd upon
his horſe, and the other attack'd the man with that vi-
olence, that he had no time, or not preſence of mind
enough, to draw his piftol, but halloo'd and cry'd out
to us moſt luftily; my man Friday being next to me,
Į bid him ride up, and fee what was the matter: as
foon as Friday came in fight of the man, he halloo'd as
loud as t'other, O Master! O Master! But like a bold
fellow, rode directly up to the man, and with his pif-
tol fhot the wolf that attack'd him, into the head.
}
It was happy for the poor man, that it was my man
Friday; for he, having been us'd to that kind of crea-
tures in his country, had no fear upon him, but went
cloſe up to him, and ſhot him, as above; whereas any
of us would have fir'd at a farther diſtance, and have
perhaps either miſs'd the wolf, or endanger'd ſhooting
the man.
But it was enough to have terrify'd a bolder man
than 1, and indeed it alarmed all our company, when,
with the noife of Friday's piltol, we heard on both fides
the diſmalleſt howling of wolves, and the noile redoubl-
ed by the echo of the mountains, that it was to us as if
there had been a prodigious multitude of them; and
perhaps indeed there were not fuch a few, as that we
had no cauſe of apprehenfions.
However, as Friday had kill'd this wolf, the other,
that had faſtened upon the horſe, left him immediately,
and fled, having happily faftened upon his head, where
the boffes of the bridle had ftuck in his teeth, ſo that
he had not done him much hurt; The man, indeed,
was moft hurt: For the raging creature had bit him
( 280 )
twice, once on the arm, and the other time a little
above his knee; and he was just as it were tumbling
down by the diforder of the horſe, when Friday came
up, and fhot the wolf.
It is eaſy to ſuppoſe, that at the noife of Friday's
piſtol we all mended our pace, and rid up as faſt as the
way (which was very difficult) would give us leave, to
fee what was the matter; As foon as we came clear
of the trees, which binded us before, we faw plainly
what had been the cafe, and how Friday had difen-
gaged the poor guide; though we did not prefently
difcern what kind of creature it was he had killed.
But never was a fight managed fo hardily, and in
fuch a ſurpriſing manner, as that which followed be-
tween Friday and the bear, which gave us all (though
at firſt we were ſurpriſed and afraid for him) the great-
eft diverfion imaginable: As the bear is an heavy, clum-
fy creature, and does not gallop as the wolf does,
which is fwift and light; fo he has two particular qua-
lities, which generally are the rule of his actions: First,
As to men, who are not his proper prey, I ſay, not
his proper prey, becaufe, tho' I can't fay what excef
five hunger might do, which was now their cafe, the
ground being all covered with fnow; yet as to men,
he does not uſually attempt them, unless they first at-
tack him: On the contrary, if you meet him in the
woods, tho? if you don't meddle with him, he won't
meddle with you; yet then you must take care to be
very civil to him, and give him the road; for he is
a very nice gentleman, he won't go a step out of the
way for a prince; nay, if you are really afraid, your
beſt way is to look another way, and keep, going on;
!
( 281 )
you.
for fometimes, if you ftop, and stand ftill, and look
ftedfaftly at him, he takes it for an affront; but if you
throw or toſs any thing at him, and it hits him, though
it were but a bit of tick as big as your finger he takes
it for an affront, and fets all other buſineſs aſide to pur-
fue his revenge; for he will have fatisfaction in point
of honour, and this is his first quality: The next is,
that if he be once affronted, he will never leave you
night or day, till he has his revenge, but follow at a
good round rate till he overtakes
My man Friday had delivered our guide, and when
we came up to him, he was helping him off from his
horfe; for the man was both hurt and frighted, and
indeed the laſt more than the firft; when, on a fud-
den, we ſpy'd the bear come out of the wood, and a
vaft monstrous one it was, the biggest by far that ever
I faw: We were all a little furpriſed when we faw
him; but when Friday faw him, it was eafy to fee joy
and courage in the fellow's countenance: Q! O! O!
fays Friday, three times, pointing to him 'O master!
You give me te leave, me hakee te band with him, me
makee you good laugh.
5
I was ſurpriſed to ſee the fellow ſo pleaſed; you fool
you, ſaid I, he will eat you up: Eatee me up! eatee me
up! fays Friday, twice over again; me eatee him up:
Me makee you good laugh. You all ſtay here me fhew
you good laugh So down he fits, and gets his boots off
in a moment, and put on a pair of pumps (as we call
the flat fhoes they wear) and which he had in his poc-
ket, gives my other fervant his horie, and, with his
gun, away he flew, Twift like the wind.
The bear was walking foftly on, and offered to med-
(282)
dle with noboy, till Friday, coming pretty near, calls
to him, as if the bear could underftaud him: Hark ye,
hark ye fays Friday, me peakee wit you: We follow-
ed at a distance; for now being come down to the
Gascoigne fide of the mountains, we were entered a vaſt
great forest, where the country was plain, and pretty
open, tho' many trees in it fcattered here-and-there.
Friday, who had, as we fay, the heels of the bear,
came up with him quickly, and takes up a great ſtone,
and throws at him, and hit him just on the head; but
did him no more harm, than if he had thrown it a-
gainst a wall; but it anfwered Friday's end; for the
rogue was ſo void of fear, that he did it purely to
make the bear follow him, and fhew us fome laugh,
as he called it.
As foon as the bear felt the ftone, and faw him, he
turns about. and comes after him, taking devilish long
ftrides, and fhuffling along at a ſtrange rate, fo as
would put an horfe to a middling gallop, away runs
Friday and takes his courſe, as if he ran towards us
for help; fo we all refolved to fire at once upon the
bear, and deliver my man; though I was angry at him
heartily for bringing the bear back upon us, when he
was going about his own buſineſs another way; and e-
ſpecially I was angry that he had turned the bear up-
on us, and then run away; and I called out, You dog,
faid I, is this your making us laugh? Come away, and
take your horfe, that we may shoot the creature,
He
hears me, and cries out, No hoot, no fhoot, ftand fill,
you get much laugh: And as the nimble creature ran
two feet for the beaft's one, he turned on a fudden, on
one fide of us, and feeing a great oak-tree, fit for his
( 283 )
purpoſe, he beckoned us to follow, and, doubling his
pace, he gets nimbly up the tree, laying his gun down
upon the ground, at about five or fix yards from the
bottom of the tree.
The bear foon came to the tree, and we followed
at a distance; the first thing he did, he ftopt at the
gun, fmelt to it, but let it lie, and up he fcrambles in-
to the tree, climbing like a cat, though ſo monftrouf-
ly heavy: I was amazed at the folly, as I thought it,
of my man, and could not for my life fee any thing
to laugh at yet, till, ſeeing the bear get up the tree,
we all rode nearer to him.
When we came to the tree, there was Friday got
out to the ſmall of a large limb of the tree, and the
bear got about half way to him: As foon as the bear
got out to that part where the limb of the tree was
weaker, ha, fays he to us, now you fee me teachee the
bear dance: fo he falls a jumping, and fhaking the
bough, at which the bear began to totter, but ſtood
ftill, and began to look behind him, to fee how he
fhould get back: then indeed we did laugh heartily:
But Friday had not done with him by a great deal;
when he fees him ftand ftill, he calls out to him again,
as if he had ſuppoſed the bear could ſpeak English,
What, you no come farther? Pray you come farther.
So he left jumping and fhaking the bough; and the
bear, just as if he had underſtood what he faid, did
come a litte farther; then he fell a jumping again, and
the bear ſtopped again.
We thought now was a good time to knock him on
the head, and called to Friday to stand ftill, and we
would fhoot the bear; but he cried out earnestly, O
(284)
pray! O pray! no shoot, me foot by and then; he would
have ſaid by-and-by. However, to ſhorten the ſtory,
Friday danc'd fo much, and the bear ftood fo ticklish,
that we had laughing enough indeed, but ſtill could
not imagine what the fellow would do; for firft we
thought he depended upon fhaking the bear off; and we
found the bear was too cunning for that too; for he
would not go out far enough to be thrown down, but
clings faft with his great broad claws and feet, fo that
we could not imagine what would be the end of it, and
where the jeft would be at laft.
But Friday put us out of doubt quickly; for feeing
the bear cling faft to the bough, and that he would not
be perfuaded to come any farther; Well, well, faid
Friday; you no come farther, me go, me go; you no come
to me, me come to you: and upon this he goes out to the
Imalleft end of the bough, where it fhould bend with
his weight, and gently lets himfelf down by it, fliding
down the bough, till he came near enough to jump
down on his feet, and away he ran to his gun, takes it
up and stands ftill.
2
Well, faid I to him, Friday, What will you do now?
Why don't you fhoot him? No shoot, fays Friday, no
yet, me shoot now, me no kill; me ftay, give you one more
laugh; and indeed fo he did, as you will fee prefently;
for when the bear faw his enemy gone, he comes back
from the bough where he flood, but did it mighty lei-
furely, looking behind him every flep, and coming back-
ward till he got into the body of the tree: then. with
the fame hinder end foremoſt, he came down the tree,
grafping it with his claws, and moving one foot at a
time very leiturely; at this juncture, and just before
he could fet his hind feet upou the ground, Friday ſtep-
3
( 285 )
1
ped cloſe to him, clapped the muzzle of his piece into
his ear, and hot him dead as a ſtone.
Then the rogue turn'd about, to ſee if we did not
laugh; and when he faw we were pleas'd by our looks,
he falls a laughing himſelf very loud: So we kill bear
in my country, fays Friday; fo you kill them, faid I,
why you have no guns: No, fays he, no gun, but foot
great much long arrow.
This was, indeed, a good diverfion to us; but we
were ſtill in a wild place, and our guide very much hurt,
and what to do we hardly knew; the howling of wolves
ran much in my head; and indeed, except the noiſe I
once heard on the fhore of Africa, of which I have
faid ſomething already, I never heard any thing that
filled me with fo much horror.
Theſe things, and the approach of night, called us
off, or elfe, as Friday would have had us, we fhould
certainly have taken the fkin of this monstrous crea-
ture off, which was worth faving; but we had three
leagues to go, and our guide haften'd us; ſo we left
him, and went forward on our journey.
The ground was ftill covered with fnow, tho' not
fo deep and dangerous as on the mountains; and the
ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards, were come
down into the foreft, and plain country, prefs'd by
hunger, to feek for food; and had done a great deal of
miſchief in the villages, where they furprifed the coun
try-people, killed a great many of their fheep and hor-
fes, and fome people too.
We had one dangerous place to paſs, of which our
guide told us, if there were any more wolves in the
country, we should find them there; and this was a
5
( )
186)
286 fmall plain, furrounded with woods on every fide, and
à long narrow defile or lane, which we were to paſs
to get through the wood, and then we fhould come to
the village where we were to lodge.
It was within half an hour of fun-fet when we en-
tered the first wood; and a little after fun-fet when
we came into the plain. We met with nothing in the
first wood, except that in a little plain within the wood,
which was not above two furlongs over, we faw five
great wolves crofs the road, full fpeed one after ano-
ther, as if they had been in chace of fome prey, and
had it in view; they took no notice of us, and were
gone, and out of our fight, in a few moments.
Upon this our guide, who, by the way, was a
wretched faint-hearted fellow, bade us keep in a ready
poſture; for he believed there were more wolves a-
coming.
ว
We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us;
but we ſaw no more wolves till we came through that
wood, which was near half a league, and entered the
plain; as foon as we came into the plain, we had oc-
cafion enough to look about us; the first object we met
with, was a dead horſe; that is to fay, a poor horſe
which the wolves had killed, and at least a dozen of
them at work; we could not fay eating of him, but
picking of his bones rather; for they had eaten up all
the flesh before.
We did not think fit to difturb them at their feast,'
neither did they take much notice of us; Friday would
have let fly at them, but I would not fuffer him by a-
ny means; for I found we were like to have more bu-
We
finefs upon our hands than we were aware of.
(287)
were not half gone over the plain, but we began to hear
the wolves howl in the wood on our left, in a fright-
ful manner; and prefently after we faw about an hun-
dred coming on directly towards us, all in a body, and
moſt of them in a line, as regularly as an army drawn
up by experienced officers: I fcarce knew in what man-
ner to receive them; but found, to draw ourfelves in
a cloſe line, was the only way: So we formed in a mo-
ment: But, that we might not have too much interval,
İ ordered, that only every other man ſhould fire; and
that the others, who had not fired, ſhould ſtand ready
to give them a fecond volley immediately, if they con-
tinued to advance upon us; and that then thoſe who
had fired at firſt, ſhould not pretend to load their fufils
again, but ſtand read, with every one a piſtol, for we
were all armed with a fufil, and a pair of piftols, each
man; fo we were by this method able to fire fix vol-
leys, half of us at a time: however, at prefent we had
no neceffity; for, upon firing the first volley, the ene-
my made a full ftop, being terrified, as well with the
noife, as with the fire; four of them, being shot in
the head, dropped; feveral others were wounded, and
went bleeding off, as we could fee by the fnow: I
found they ſtopped, but did not immediately retreat;
whereupon, remembring that I had been told, that
the fierceft creatures were terrified at the voice of a
man, I cauſed all our company to halloo as loud as we
could, and I found the notion not altogether miſtaken;
for, upon our ſhout, they began to retire. and turn a-
bout; then I ordered a fecond volley to be fired in their
rear, which put them to the gallop, and away they
went to the woods.
T
&
( 288 )
This gave us leifure to charge our pieces again, and
that we might lofe no time, we kept doing; but we
had but little more than loaded our fufils, and put our-
felves into a readinefs, when we heard a terrible noife
in the fame wood, on our left; only that it was farther
onward the fame way we were to go.
The night was coming on, and the night began to
be dulky, which made it the worfe on our fide; but,
the noiſe increaſing, we could eaſily perceive, that it
was the howling and yelling of thoſe helliſh creatures;
and, on a fudden, we perceived two or three troops of
wolves, one on our left, one behind us, and one on our
front; fo that we feemed to be furrounded with them;
however as they did not fall upon us, we kept our
way forward, as faft as we could make our horfes go,
which the way being very rough, was only a good
large trot; and in this manner we only came in view
of the entrance of the wood, through which we were
to paſs, at the farther fide of the plain; but we were
greatly ſurpriſed, when, coming near the lane, or pafs,
we faw a confus'd number of wolves ſtanding juſt at
the entrance..
}
On a fudden, at another opening of the wood, we
heard the noiſe of a gun; and, looking that way, out
ruſhed an horſe, with a faddle and a bridle on him, fly-
ing like the wind, and fixteen or feventeen wolves af-
ter him full ſpeed; indeed the horfe had the heels of
them; but as we fuppofe, that he could not hold it at
that rate, we doubted not but they would get up with
him at laft; and no queſtion but they did,
Here we had a moſt horrible fight; for, riding up
to the entrance where the horſe came out, we found the
carcafe of another horſe, and of two men devoured by
( 289 )
the ravenous creatures, and one of the men was no
doubt the fame whom we heard fire the gun; for
there lay a gun juſt by him fir'd off; but, as to the
man, his head, and the upper part of his body, were
eaten up.
This filled us with horror, and we knew not what
courſe to take; but the creatures refolved us foon;
for they gathered about us preſently, in hopes of prey;
and I verily believe there were three hundred of them:
it happened very much to our advantage, that at the
entrance into the wood, but a little way from it, there
lay fome large timber-trees, which had been cut down
the fummer before, and I ſuppoſe lay there for car-
riage: I drew my little troop in among theſe trees, and
placing ourſelves in a line behind one long tree I ad-
viſed them all to alight, and, keeping that tree before
us, for a breaſt-work, to ſtand in a triangle, or three
fronts, incloſing our horfes in the centre.
We did fo, and it was well we did; for never was a
more furious charge than the creatures made upon us
in this place: they came on us with a growling kind
of a noiſe, aud mounted the piece of timber (which, as
I faid, was our breaſt-work,) as if they were only ruſh-
ing upon their prey; and this fury of theirs, it ſeems,
was principally occafion'd by their feeing our horfes be-
hind us, which was the prey they aimed at: I order-
ed our men to fire as before, every other man; and
they took their aim ſo fure, that indeed they killed
ſeveral of the wolves at the firft volley; but there was'
a neceffity to keep a continual firing, for they came on
like devils, thoſe behind puſhing on thoſe before.
When we had fired our fecond volley of our fufils,
L
T 2
( 290 )
we thought they ftopped a little, and I hoped they
would have gone off, but it was but a moment, for o-
thers came forward again; fo we fir'd our volleys of
our piftols, and I believe, in theſe four firing, we kil-
led ſeventeen or eighteen of them, and lamed twice as
many; yet they came on again.
I was loth to ſpend our laft fhot too hastily; fo I
call'd my fervant, not my man Friday, for he was bet-
ter employed; for, with the greateſt dexterity imagi-
nable, he charged my fufil, and his own, while we were
engaged; but, as I faid, I called my other man; and,
giving him a horn of powder, I bade him lay a train,
all along the piece of timber. and let it be a large train;
he did fo, and had but juſt time to get away, when the
wolves came up to it, and fome were got up upon it;
when I, fnapping an uncharged piftol, cloſe to the pow-
der, fet it on fire; and thofe that were upon the tim-
ber were ſcorched with it, and fix or feven of them
fell, or rather jumped in among us, with the force and
fright of the fire; we difpatched theſe in an inftant,
and the reſt were ſo frighted with the light, which the
night, for now it was very near dark, made more ter-
rible, that they drew back a little.
Upon which I order'd our laft piftols to be fir'd off
in one volley, and after that we gave a fhout; upon
this, the wolves turn'd tail, and we fally'd immediately
upon near twenty lame ones, which we found ftruggling
on the ground, and fell a cutting them with our fwords,
which anſwer'd our expectation; for the crying and
howling they made were better underſtood by their
fellows; fo that they fled, and left us.
Whe had, firſt and laſt, kill'd about threefcore of
f
( 291 )
them; and had it been day-light, we had kill'd' many
more: the field of battle being thus clear'd; we made
forward again; for we had ftill near a league to go:
we heard the ravenous creatures howl and yell in the
woods as we went, feveral times; and fometimes we
fancied we faw fome of them, but the fnow dazzling
our eyes we were not certain; fo in about an hour
more, we came to the town, where we were to lodge,
which we found in a terrible fright, and all in arms;
for it feems, that, the night before, the wolves and
fome bears had broken into that village, and put them
in a terrible fright; and they were oblig'd to keep
guard night and day, but eſpecially in the night to pre-
ferve their cattle, and indeed their people.
The next morning our guide was fo ill, and his limbs
ſo ſwell'd with the rankling of his two wounds, that he
could go no farther; fo we were oblig'd to take a new
guide there, and go to Tholoufe, where we found a warm
climate, a fruitful pleafant country, and no fnow, no
wolves, or any thing like them; but when we told our
ſtory at Tholouſe, they told us it was nothing but
what was ordinary in the great foreft at the foot of the
mountains, eſpecially when the fnow lay on the ground;
but they inquir'd much what kind of a guide we had
gotten, that would venture to bring us that way in fuch
a ſevere ſeaſon; and told us, it was very much we were
not all devour'd: When we told them how we plac'd
ourfelves, and the horſes in the middle, they blam'd us
exceedingly, and told us, it was fifty to one but we
had been all deſtroy'd; for it was the fight of the hor-
fes that made the wolves fo furious, feeing their prey;
and that at other times they are really afraid of a gun;
!
( 292 )
but they being exceffive hungry, and raging on that
account, the eagerness to come at the horſes had made
them fenfeleſs of danger; and that if we had not by
the continued fire, and at laſt by the ftratagem of the
train of powder mafter'd them, it had been great odds
but that we had been torn to pieces; whereas, had we
been content to have fat ftill on horfeback, and fir'd
as horſemen, they would not have taken the horſes fo
much for their own, when men were on their backs,
as otherwife; and withal they told us, that at laſt, if
we had ftood all together, and left our horfes, they
would have been ſo eager to have devour'd them, that
we might have come off fafe, eſpecially having our
fire-arms in our hands and being ſo many in number,
For my part, I was never fo fenfible of danger in
my life; for ſeeing above three hundred devils come
roaring and open-mouth'd to devour us, and having
nothing to fhelter us, or retreat to, I gave myſelf
over for loft; and as it was, I believe, I fhall never
care to cross thoſe mountains again; 1 think I would
much rather go a thouſand leagues by fea, though I
were fure to meet with a storm once a week.
I have nothing uncommon to take notice of, in my
paffage through France; nothing but what other tra-
yellers have given an account of, with much more ad-
vantage than I can; I travell'd from Tholoufe to Paris,
and without any confiderable ſtay came to Calais, and
landed fafe at Dover, the fourteenth of January, after
having had a fevere cold feafon to travel in.
I was now come to the centre of my travels, and
had in a little time all my new diſcover'd eftate fafe
about me, the bills of exchange, which I brought with
me having been very currently paid.
-,,
( 293 )
My principal guide, and privy counſellor, was my
good antient widow, who, in gratitude for the money
I had fent her, thought no pains too much, or care too'
great, to employ for me; and I truſted her fo intiré-
ly with every thing, that I was perfectly eafy as to the
fecurity of my effects; and indeed I was very happy
from my beginning, and now to the end, in the unfpot-
ted integrity of this good gentlewoman.
And now I began to think of leaving my effects with
this woman, and fetting out for Lisbon, and fo to the
Brafils: but now another fcruple came in the way, and
that was religion; for as I had entertained fome doubts
about the Roman religion, even while I was abroad,
eſpecially in my 'ſtate of folitude; fo I knew there was
no going to the Brafils for me, much lefs going to fet-
tle there, unleſs I refolved to embrace the Roman ca-
tholic religion, without any referve; except on the o-
ther hand I refolved to be a facrifice to my principles,
be a martyr for religion, and die in the inquifition; ſo
I reſolved to ſtay at home, and, if I could find means
for it, to diſpoſe of my plantation.
To this purpoſe I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon,
who in return gave me notice, that he could eafily dif
poſe of it there: but that if I thought fit to give him
leave to offer it in my name to the two merchants, the
furvivors of my trustees who lived in the Brafils, who
muſt fully underſtand the value of it, who lived juſt
upon the ſpot, and whom I knew to be very rich, fo
that he believed they would be fond of buying it; he
did not doubt, but I fhould make 4 or 5000 pieces of
eight the more of it.
Accordingly I agreed, gave him orders to offer it
(294)
}
?
}
}
to them, and he did fo; and, in about eight months
more, the fhip being then return'd, he ſent me an ac-
count, that they had accepted the offer, and had remit-
ted 33,000 pieces of eight to a correfpondent of theirs
at Lisbon, to pay for it.
In return, I figned the inftrument of fale in the
form which they fent from Lisbon, and fent it to my
old man, who ſent me the bills of exchange for 32,800
pieces of eight for the eftate; referving the payment
of 100 moidores a year to him, the old man, during
his life, and 50 moidores afterwards to his fon for his
life, which 1 had promiſed them; and which the plan-
tation was to make good as a rent-charge. And thus I
have given the firſt part of a life of fortune and adven-
ture, a life of providence's chequer-work, and of a va-
riety which the world will feldom be able to fhew the
like of: beginning foolishly, but clofing much more hap-
pily than any part of it ever gave me leave fo much as
to hope for.
Any one would think, that in this ftate of compli-
cated good fortuine, I was paſt running any more ha-
zards; and fo indeed I had been, if other circumftan-
ces had concurred; but I was inur'd to a wandering
life, had no family, nor many relations; nor, however
rich, had I contracted much acquaintance; and tho' I
had fold my eſtate in the Brafils, yet I could not keep
that country out of my head, and had a great mind to
be upon the wing again; efpecially I could not refiſt
the ſtrong inclination I had to fee my ifland, and to
know if the poor Spaniards were in being there; and
how the rogues I left there had ufed them.
}
My true friend, the widow earneftly diffuaded me
( 295 )
from it, and fo far prevail'd with me, that almoſt for
feven years ſhe prevented my running abroad; during
which time I took my two nephews, the children of
one of my brothers, into my care: the eldeft, having
fomething of his own, I bred up as a gentleman, and
gave him a fettlement of fome addition to his eſtate
after my deceaſe; the other I put out to a captain of
à fhip; and after five years, finding him a ſenſible, bold
enterprising young fellow, I put him into a good ſhip,
and ſent him to fea : and this young fellow afterwards
drew me in, as old as I was, to farther adventures my-
felf.
In the mean time, I in part fettled my felf here: for,
first of all I marry'd, and that not either to my difad-
vantage or diffatisfaction; and had three children, two
fons and one daughter: but my wife dying, and my
nephew coming home with good fuccefs from a voyage
to Spain, my inclination to go abroad, and his importu-
nity, prevailed, and engaged me to go in his fhip as a
private trader to the Eat-Indies; this was in the year
1694.
In this voyage I vifited my new colony in the iſland,
faw my fucceffors the Spaniards, had the whole ftory
of their lives, and of the villains I left there; how at
firſt they infulted the poor Spaniards, how they after-
wards agreed, diſagreed, united, feparated, and how at
laft the Spaniards were obliged to uſe violence with
with them; how they were fubjected to the Spaniards;
how honeſtly the Spaniards ufed them; an hiftory,
if it were entered into, as full of variety and wonder-
ful accidents, as my own part; particularly alfo as to
their battles with the Caribbeans, who landed feveral
U
(296)
times upon the iſland, and as to the improvement they
made upon the iſland itſelf; and how five of them made
an attempt upon the main land, and brought away e-
leven men and five women prifoners; by which, at my
coming, I found about twenty young children on the
inland.
Here I ſtayed about twenty days, left them fupplies
of all neceffary things, and particularly of arms, pow-
der, ſhot, cloaths, tools, and two workmen, which I
brought from England with me; viz. a carpenter and
a fmith.
Beſides this, I fhar'd the iſland into parts with them,
referv'd to myſelf the property of the whole, but gave
them fuch parts, refpectively, as they agreed on; and,
haying fettled all things with them, and engaged them
not to leave the place, I left them there.
From thence I touch'd at the Brafils, from whence
I fent a bark, which I bought there, with more peo-
ple, to the iſland; and in it, befides other fupplies, I
ſent ſeven women, being fuch as I found proper for
ſervice, or for wives to fuch as would take them: as to
the Engliſhmen, I promiſed them to fend them fome
women from England, with a good cargo of neceffa-
ries, if they would apply themſelves to planting, which
I afterwards could not perform: the fellows proved
very honest and diligent, after they were maſter'd, and
had their properties fet apart for them. I fent them
allo from the Brafils five cows, three of them being
big with calf, ſome ſheep, and fome hogs, which, when
I came again, were confiderably increaſed.
But all theſe things, with an account how 300 Carib-
bees came and invaded them, and ruin'd their plantati •
(297)
ons, and how they fought with that whole number
twice, and were at firft defeated, and one of them
kill'd; but at laſt a ſtorm destroying their enemies ca-
noes, they famiſh'd or deſtroy'd almoſt all the reſt, and
renew'd and recovered the poffeffion of their plantati-
on, and ſtill liv'd upon the iſland.
All theſe things, with fome very furpriſing incidents
in fome new adventures of my own, for ten years more,
I may, perhaps give a farther account of hereafter:
*
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одством