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Hubbard
Imag. Voy.
PR
3403
•AI
1815
ROBINSON CRUSOE
THE Life and strange surprising adventures of ROBINSON CRUSOE Of
York mariner who lived eight-and-twenty years all-alone in an
uninhabited island on the coast of America near the mouth of the
great river Oroonoque having been cast on shore by shipwreck
wherein all the men perished but himself-With an account how
he was at last as strangely delivered by pirates-Also the farther
adventures of ROBINSON CRUSOE and the strange surprising account
of his travels round three parts of the globe-To which is
added a Map of the World in which is delineated the voyages of
ROBINSON CRUSOE
Written by Himself
A NEW EDITION
REVISED AND CORRECTED FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF NAUTICAL EDUCATION
ILLUSTRATED BY
TECHNICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ANNOTATION
AND EMBELLISHED WITH MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS
BY THE HYDROGRAPHER OF THE
Naval Chronicle

London
PRINTED BY J. GOLD NAVAL-CHRONICLE OFFICE SHOE-LANE FLEET-STREET
AND PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH MAWMAN 39 LUDGATE-STREET
1815
Кед
Regent L. R. Hubbard
9h
10-6-1924

SARGIA
Preface.
THERE can be no risk in affirming, that "the Life and Adven,
tures of Robinson Crusoe" possesses an intrinsic merit so excellent,
so superlative, and, in it's kind, so various, as to constitute this book
one of those rare productions which may appeal with unrivalled pre-
tensions, to the favor of persons of all conditions, and minds of every
construction and taste.
The original manuscript, it is authentically known, was purchased
in the year 1719, by one TAYLOR, after almost every bookseller had
declined the offer;-a circumstance, less demonstrative, perhaps, of the
superior discernment of that individual, than bespeaking a marvellous
lack of judgment and taste elsewhere. It was published in two separate
parts, successively. The first part* was ushered into the world by a
preface, chiefly remarkable for it's brevity and simplicity. The original
editor, DE FOE, anticipating, it seems, with the consciousness of de-
sert, and also with that modesty which attends it, the approbation of
the public, in his announcement says:-
"If ever the story of any private man's adventures in the world were worth
making public, and were acceptable when published, the Editor of this account
*Entered at Stationer's-ball for W. TAYLOR, the 23d April 1719.
iv
thinks this will be so. The wonders of this man's life exceed all that, he thinks,
are to be found extant; the life of one man being scarce capable of greater
variety. The story is told with modesty, with seriousness, and with a reli-
gious application of events to the uses to which wise men always apply them; vis.
to the instruction of others by example, and to justify and honor the wisdom of
Providence in all the variety of our circumstances, let them happen how they
will. The Editor believes the thing to be a just history of fact; neither is
there any appearance of fiction in it. However this may be (for all such things
are disputed), he is of opinion that the improvement of it, as well to the diversion
as to the instruction of the reader, will be the same; and as such, he thinks,
without farther compliment to the world, he does them a great service in the
publication.
Unquestionably, on this point, there can be no hesitation in pro-
nouncing, that there is as much internal evidence of the reality of the
circumstances which form the substance of this "strange, surprising,
history," as of numerous printed accounts of shipwrecks, and other
disastrous adventures, or hazardous escapes, which have been presented
to the public, under the sanction of names, the superior respectability,
and the authenticity of which, have never been called in question.*
This sentiment receives strong confirmation from a passage in the
preface to a publication which appeared the year after the Adventures;
namely, the "Serious Reflections." It is worthy of particular notice,
as presenting a declaration on this head, purporting to be a decisive
answer in direct terms to all insinuations of an opposite description.
"I ROBINSON CRUSOE, being at this time in perfect and sound memory (thanks
be to God therefore), do hereby declare their objection is an invention, scandal-
ous in design, and false in fact; and do affirm, that the story, though allegorical
is also historical; and that it is the beautiful representation of a life of unex-
ampled misfortunes; and of a variety not to be met with in the world: sincerely
adapted to, and intended for, the common good of mankind; and designed at
first, as it is now farther applied, to the most serious uses possible."
This deposition, countenanced as it was by the plain and honest com-
plexion of the narrative, and by what was yet more valid, the most abundant
*The Editor will particularise only three narratives, illustrative of his idea on this
subject, comprised in an interesting book, entituled "Naufragia :" they are, 1, that of
PIERRE VIAUD, (Vol. i, p. 191.) 2. Captain RICHARD FALCONER, (ibid, p. 259.)
3. That of Mr. RANDALL, (ib. p. 281.) Something pertinent to the question of pro-
babilities, and possibilities, might also be alleged with reference to the voyages of
SINBAD the sailor, in the "Arabian Nights" but that discussion would lead us too far
beyond the bounds of annotation.
↑ Serious Reflections, during the life and surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe; with
his vision of the angelic world. Entered at Stationers-hall for W.Tavlor, 3d August 1720,
favor of the public, and the rapid circulation of the work, (for TAYLOR
is said to have gained a thousand pounds, a marvellous profit in those days!)
appears to have speedily put down all invidious attempts to impeach the
credit and veracity of this delightful history in the same year at
the distance of only four months from the publication of the first
volume, a second was announced; and, although assailed like the
former, probably from the same quarter, and certainly with the same
malignity, it triumphed like it's predecessor, by the pure ascendancy of
exalted merit; the shafts of malevolence were levelled in vain; the
adversary was compelled to retire from the field, and ROBINSON CRUSOE,
with his man FRIDAY, were left in undisputed possession of the ground
which they had won by superior virtue.
In the preface to the second part,* we find the Editor complaining
of the continuance of envious attempts to the prejudice of the work,
and of practices detrimental to the best interests of literature, instigated
by the workings of a mercenary spirit. To complete this historical
sketch, we here transcribe that document also:
"The success the former part of this work has met with in the world, has
yet been no other than is acknowledged to be due to the surprising variety of
the subject, and to the agreeable manner of the performance. All the endea-
vours of envious persons to reproach it with being a romance, to search it for
errors in geography, inconsistency in the relation, and contradictions in the fact,
have proved ineffectual, and as impotent as malicious. The just application of
every incident, the religious and useful inferences drawn from every part, are
so many testimonies to the good design of making it public, and must legitimate
all the part that may be called invention, or parable in the story. The second
part, if the Editor's opinion may pass, is (contrary to the usage of second parts)
every way as entertaining as the first, contains as strange and surprising incidents,
and as great a variety of them; nor is the application less serious, or suitable ;
and doubtless will, to the sober, as well as ingenuous reader, be every way as
profitable and diverting; and this makes the abridging this work as scandalous as
it is knavish and ridiculous, seeing, while to shorten the book, that they may seem
to reduce the value, they strip it of all those reflections, as well religious as moral,
which are not only the greatest beauties of the work, but are calculated for the
infinite advantage of the reader. By this they leave the work naked of its
brightest ornaments; and if they would, at the same time, pretend, that the
author has supplied the story out of his invention, they take from it the improve-
ment, which alone recommends that invention to wise and good men.
injury these men do the proprietor of this work, is a practice all honest men
abhor; and he believes he may challenge them to show the difference between
that and robbing on the highway, or breaking open a house. If they cannot show
This was entered at Stationers-hall for W. TAYLOR, the 17th August 1719.
The
vi
any difference in the crime, they will find it hard to show why there should be
any difference in the punishment; and he will answer for it, that nothing shall
be wanting on his part to do them justice."
In thus bringing under the eye of the reader the original remarks
with which Robinson Crusoe was ushered into the world, it may not be
supposed that the present editor is answering objections which truth
never countenanced, and time has rendered obsolete; much less, that
he is courting approbation, where there already exists a broad founda-
tion of assured applause: rather let it be understood, that it was con-
sidered a desirable and proper thing to introduce the present undertak-
ing (which may be said to form, as it were, a new aera in the circula-
tion of the work) with something in the shape of a literary preamble,
illustrative of the publication, and of its public heralds from the date
of its first appearance.
In no other view do we stop to notice the superfluous importance
which has been attached to the old story of ALEXANDER SELKIRK'S
papers. Whether the original editor, DE FOE, did or did not, in any
shape, apply to the more perfect illustration of his own original
matter, any of the information imagined to have come from that source,
is one of those idle problems, the studious discussion of which affords
an eminent proof of the charm which attaches to mystery, and of the
propensity of scholars to indulge in speculations, which not all the wit
or power of man can bring to a sure conclusion. The real limits of
the enquiry are, in truth, extremely narrow. It is an undisputed fact,
that Captain WOODES-ROGERS revealed the whole of SELKIRK's story
to the world in the year 1712; and consequently that it had been full
seven years in print at the time when Robinson Crusoe was presented
unto the public: in common with all other printed information, it was
open to the consultation and familiar to the knowledge of thousands of
readers; and in its nature was such as every inquisitive and reflecting
mind must have received and retained a strong impression of: is it to
be charged, then, as a crime to a literary maxi of that day, if it should
appear, that he was not ignorant of what every other person in the
nation was acquainted with? or that, knowing it, should use the pri-
vilege never before or since denied to any other editor of adopting, for
the completion of what was imperfect in his MSS. any of the authentic
information that was current at the time, and which, in fact, had bc-
come the domain of literature, and was mixed up with the floating mass
of general knowledge? Or will any one seriously maintain, that there
any thing either strange or dishonorable in the circumstance of
vii
history, professing to detail the adventures of a shipwrecked mariner,
presenting, in its rough outline, a correspondence with the features of
some other narrative, recording the particulars of a similar catastrophe ?
But, indeed, we have bestowed more words than enough on a subject
so trite and unworthy of grave attention. We venture to think it is
high time that the learned trifling, so long expended on this point to so
little purpose, should at length give place to the influence of candor
and good-sense. It is only necessary to recollect that DE FOE was an
acute general satirist; that, as such, he had made for himself a multitudo
of enemies; and that these sought the gratification of their resentment
in depreciating, with the greatest zeal, whatever tended most to the
exaltation of his fame: this is amply sufficient to account for the origin
of the story about SELKIRK's papers, though not for the strange and
important way in which it has been countenanced, and ambitiously
discussed by the learned of later times: it might have been expected,
that the liberality, not to say the gratitude, of an age which calls itself
enlightened, might, in return for the rich entertainment bequeathed
unto it, at least have disdained to cherish the calumnies of the envious
cotemporaries of a learned and extraordinary man, a lively and instruc
tive writer.
Robinson Crusoe, in truth, is a narrative which has seen an old
age of honor and renown; which has not only outlived the feelings
of envy, but which it is impossible for any eulogium now to exalt.
During the lapse of nearly a century from the period of its coming
forth from the press, it has travelled, like its hero, into the most dis.
tant regions, and worn the costume of literature, and the garland of
fame in almost every civilized country of the globe: the eye of science
and of beauty has wandered over its pages with renewed delight: youth
and old-age have been enamoured of its simplicity, and have dwelt
with rapture on its heart-moving details; there is scarcely a language
in Europe that hath not been employed to multiply the knowledge of
these "surprising adventures;" scarcely a scholar of any celebrity, or
a preceptor of any distinction, who hath not, in one shape or other,
in writing, or in discourse, borne testimony to the matchless excellencies
of this attractive record of the most strange vicissitudes. The multiplied
grounds which have been taken by such persons for their commendation,
shew, indeed, by their very diversity how various and how vast are
the undisputed claims which it possesses to the high reputation that it
has secured. One has discovered its principal merit in the ingenious
display which it offers of the mechanical arts, and their adaptation to
viii
·
man's common necessities: thus Dr. BEATTIE:-" Robinson Crusoe
must be allowed, by the most rigid moralist, to be one of those
books which one may read not only with pleasure, but also with
profit. It breathes throughout a spirit of piety and benevolence: it
sets in a very striking light, as I have elsewhere observed, the impor
tance of the mechanical arts, which they who know not what it is to
be without them, are so apt to undervalue: it fixes in the mind a lively
idea of the horrors of solitude, and consequently of the sweets of
social life, and of the blessings we derive from conversation, and
mutual aid: and it shows, how by labouring with one's own hands,
one may secure independence, and open for ourself many sources of
health and amusement. I agree, therefore, with ROUSSEAU,* that this
is one of the best books that can be put in the hands of children.
* Je hais les livres; ils n' apprennent qu'à parler de ce qu'on ne suit pas.
On dit qu'
Hermès
grava sur des colonnes les élémens des sciences, pour mettre ses découvertes à l'abri
d'un déluge. S'il les eut bien imprimées dans la tête des homines, elles s'y seroient conser-
vées par trudition. Des cerveaux bien préparés sont les monumens où se gruvent le plus
surement les connoisances humaines. N'y auroit-il point moyen de rapprocher tant de
leçons éparses dans tant de livres, de les réunir sous un objet commun qui pût etre facile à
voir, interessant à suivre, et qui pût servir de stimulant, méme à cet àge? Si l'on peut
inventer une situation où tous les besoins naturels de l'homme se montrent d'une maniere
sensible a l'esprit d'un enfant, et où les moyens de pourvoir à ces mêmes besoins se deve-
loppent successivement avec la méme fucilité, c'est par la peinture vive & naïve de cet état
qu'il faut donner le premier exercice à son imagination. Philosophe ardent! je vois déjà
s'allumer la vóʻre. Ne vous mettez pas en frais; cette situation est trouvée, elle est décrite,
et sans vous faire tort, beaucoup mieux que vous ne la décriricz vous-mème; du moins
avec plus de vérité & de simplicité. Puisqu'il nous faut absolument des livres, il en existe
un qui fournit, à mon gré, le plus heureux traité d'éducation naturelle. Ce livre sera le
premier que lira mon EMILE: seul il composera durant long-tems toute sa bibliothéque, et il
y tiendra toujours une place distinguée. Il sera le texte auquel tous nos en retiens sur les
sciences naturelles ne serviront que de commentaire. Il servira d'épreuve, durant nos
progrès, à l'état de notre jugement, et tant que notre goût ne sera pas gûté sa lecture nous
plaira toujours. Quel est donc ce mervelleux livre? Est-ce Aristote? est-ce Pline?
est-ce Buffon? Non; c'est Robinson Crusoe. ROBINSON CRUSOE dans son isle, seul,
dépourvu de l'assistance de ses semblables et des instrumens de tous les arts, pourvoyant
cependant à sa subsistance, à su conservation, et se procurant même une sorte de bien-être ;
voilà un objet interessant pour tout age, et qu'on a mille moyens de rendre agréable aux
enfants. Voilà comment nous réalisons l'isle déserte qui me servoit d'abord de comparaison.
Cet état n'est pas, j'en conviens, celui de l'homme social; vraisemblablement il ne doit pas
étre celui d'EMILE; mais c'est sur ce même état qu'il doit apprécier tous les autres.
plus sûr moyen de s'elever au-dessus des prejugés, et d'ordonner ses jugemens sur les vrais
rapports des choses, est de se mettre à la place d'un homme isolé, et de juger de tout comme
eet homme en doit juger lui-même, en égard à sa propre utilité. (J. J. ROUSSEAU:
Emile ou de l'éducation. iii.)
Le
ix
The style is plain, but not elegant, nor perfectly grammatical." &c.*
-Another has expatiated on the lessons of piety and experience
which distinguish the happy sobriety of its page; whilst, in
the opinion of a third, it supplies one of the finest records of
resources for the shipwrecked, and of expedients under desertion
for the support and recreation of unassociated and unprotected man,
that have ever in any age or country been presented to mankind.
JOHNSON said to Piozzi, 66 was there ever any thing written
by mere man, that was wished longer by its readers, except Don-
Quixote, the Pilgrim's progress, and Robinson-Crusoe ? » Thus
diversified in its merits, and accomplished in each, is this extraordi-
nary history; to whose enchanting influence certainly England is
indebted for one of its ablest circumnavigators, the late Captain
FLINDERS, of the royal navy; and for one among the most brilliant
of its nautical worthies, Admiral Sir WILLIAM SIDNEY SMYTHE.
By merit thus manifold, and universally acknowledged, the "Adven-
tures" maintain their celebrity and attraction at th's day undiminished,
after the passing away of so many generations, during which, works
of great promise and capacity have fallen into oblivion or disrepute ;
whilst the name of ROBINSON CRUSOE Continues to be heard with fresh
delight, his history is found classed in the ranks of english literature,
and has even become a standard book of instruction in the school of
morals.
It has been with a view, therefore, of rendering it still more deserv◄
ing of the situation which it justly occupies, and more conducive to the
important uses which it is essentially qualified to serve, that the present
edition was at first projected. It is conceived that there is one pecu-
liarity of merit in this work, which, amidst all the notice and applause it
has received, has been much overlooked, if not undervalued; and it is
time that the attention of the reader should be called to it; this, to
specify it, is in a nautical point of view; under which aspect, the Adven-
tures of ROBINSON CRUSOE will be found to furnish allusions and facts
of a geographical, scientific, and historical nature, that only ask
for the aid of illustration in the places where they occur, to become
advantageous avenues to laudable curiosity and beneficial research.
That there are not merely occasions afforded for such explanatory com-
ments, but that they are really wanted to make the work accomplished,
to the full extent of that instruction and amusement which its nature
and execution prepare it to yield, sufficient evilence is supplied from
* See BEATIIE'S Dissertations moral and critical, 4.0. On fuble and romance, 556;
1
X
the text, or constituent matter of the volume. Thus in one place,* we
find the following observation :-" I shall not pester the reader with
descriptions of places, journals of our voyages, variations of the com.
pass, latitudes, meridian distances, trade-winds, and the like; such as
almost all the histories of long navigations are full of-" However
expedient, in the first instance such omissions might be thought, or
however (as was probably the idea) it might have tended to embarrass
the original account, and "pester the reader," had such digressions
been interwoven in the body of the narrative; it cannot be questioned,
on the score of general knowledge, that the entire absence of such tech-
nical descriptions is, in reality, a matter of just regret in a book of
education, and that the supply thereof has become an important deside-
ratum, in the present advanced state of the sciences and arts: this it
was imagined, might be commodiously furnished by annotations of an
apposite and popular nature, so contrived and introduced as to bring
the naval pupil gradually acquainted with a species of learning of the
highest consequence to his destination: the dryness of which, it was
imagined, would be effectually relieved by the familiar and unrepulsive
form in which it is presented to him, as it were by the way-side, in the
progress of his intellectual journey.
It is remarked in another place in allusion to an harbor somewhere
on the coast of China: +- I do not particularly remember the name of
the port, having lost this, together with the names of many other places
set down in a little pocket-book, which was spoiled by the water on an
accident which I shall relate in its order-" The deficiency which this
accident has created, in a topographical view, is really a gencral loss to
every reader; but it is especially so to a youth whose profession demands
an accurate and extensive acquaintance with the navigation, the havens,
islands, sholes, and other characteristics of the shores and waters of
the diversified ocean: hence the evident utility of the sea-chart, or
delineation of the surface of the earth in plano after MERCATOR's pra-
jection, which has been constructed for this edition with great care, and
is offered to the public with an assurance that it will be found, in every
instance, minutely faithful, according to the latest and most authentic.
discoveries. Hence, also, in connection with this department of know-
ledge, the engravings which have been provided to embellish the pages
of our interesting adventures, will appear to have an interest and value,
both for the utility of the objects which they delineate, and the exact
fidelity of the execution, which, it is presumed, will not be the less
* Page 543.
+ Page 397.
In wood by John Berryman.
xi
manifest, or the less appretiated, when contrasted with the rude and
unprofitable fictions which have hitherto disfigured this admirable work.
:
Again. To illustrate our argument and undertaking once more, on
the strength of what is literally advanced in the body of the work:
The hero of the "Adventures" makes it a distinct subject of notice,
in a passage of his history,* that he had not the advantage of any ac-
quaintance with botany, and deplores his ignorance in this respect as one
who was justly conscious of a prejudice hence resulting to the perfection
of his details the want thus created is undoubtedly a diminution of the
sources of pleasure and utility of which the subject matter is suscep-
tible, and strongly invites the application of a remedy this has been
attempted, by appropriate expositions collected from the best botanical
writers, with an assiduous regard to classification, to constituent distinct
tions, and to the natural and philosophical uses, and medicinal pro-
perties of plants; and it is conceived that hereby a source of
refined and animating improvement has been brought under the view of
the juvenile reader, calculated in itself not only to enlarge the mind, but
to clevate some of the best affections of the heart, and lift it up in
wonder of, and adoration to, an all-wise and beneficent creator; for, of
this science it may with truth be said, in the elegant language of the
academy,-Plantae numerosissimae quibus obvestit globum terraqueum
deus optimus maximus, sunt totidem documenta infinitae sapientiae,
natae in gloriam sui creatoris et in commodum hominis cujus est cas
intueri."+
It remains only to offer some explanation, or, if that be needful,
some apology, in so far as concerus the language, or phraseology, which
enters occasionally into the annotations, and as to the typographical
execution of this book.
Should any of his readers be tempted, in the first respect to object
to the frequent use of classical quotation in that department of the
Editor's labors, as savoring of learned conceit, or otherwise offensive,
we will beg leave to remind them briefly of the answer which was once
made by the greatest literary judge of the age, to a similar objector,
who, having charged this practice with pedantry, was silenced with this
reply: "No, sir," said JOHNSON, "it is a good thing: there is com-
munity of mind in it: classical quotation is the parole of literary men
all over the world." The study of the classics ought less to be re-
garded as an exercise of the intellect, than as a discipline of huma-
nity. The peculiar advantage of this mode of education, consists,
* Page 95,
† Aman. academ. vi. 40.
xii
not so much in strengthening the understanding, as in softening and
refining the taste. It gives men liberal views; it accustoms the mind to
take an interest in things foreign to itself: to love virtue for its own
sake, to prefcr fame to life, and glory to riches, and to fix our
thoughts on remote and permanent, instead of narrow and fleeting
objects. It teaches us to believe, that there is something really great
and excellent in the world, surviving, all the shocks of accident, and
fluctuations of opinion, and raises us above that low and servile fear,
which bows only to present power, to upstart authority, to the in-
terest and fashion of the moment. Rome and Athens filled a place in
the history of maukind, which can never be occupied again. They
were two cities set on a hill which could not be hidden; all eyes have
seen them; and their light shines, like a mighty sea-mark, into the
abyss of time.
"Still green with bays each antient altar stands,
Above the reach of sacrilegious hands:
Secure from flames, from envy's fiercer rage,
Destructive war, and all-involving age;
Hail! bards triumphant, born in happier days,
Immortal heirs of universal praise!
Whose honors with increase of ages grow,
As streams roll down, enlarging as they flow !"
It is this feeling, more than any thing else, which produces a marked
difference between the study of the antient and of the modern languages;
and which, from the weight and importance of the consequences attached
to it, stamps every word with a monumental firmness. By conversing with
the mighty dead, we imbibe sentiment with knowledge. We become
strongly attached to those who can no longer either hurt or serve us, ex-
cept through the influence which they exert over the mind. We feel the
presence of that power which gives immortality to human thoughts and ac-
tions, and we catch the sacred flame of enthusiasm from all nations and ages.
It is hard to find in minds otherwise formed, either a real love of
excellence, or a belief that any excellence exists, superior to their own.
Every thing is brought down to the vulgar level of their own ideas and
pursuits. Persons without education certainly do not want either acute-
ness or strength of mind in what concerns themselves, or in things
immediately within their observation; but they have no power of ab-
straction, no general standard of taste or scale of opinion. They see
their objects always near, and never in the horizon. Hence arises that
egotism which has been remarked as the characteristic of self-taught
men, and which degenerates into obstinate prejudice, or petulant fickle… ·
1
xili
ness of opinion, according to the natural sluggishness or activity of their
minds. For they become either blindly bigoted unto the first opinions
they have stricken out for themselves, and incorrigible to conviction;
or, dupes of their own vanity and shrewdness, are everlasting converts
to every crude suggestion that presents itself, and the last opinion is
always the true one. Each successive discovery flashes upon them with
equal light and evidence, and every new fact overturns their whole
system. It is among this class of persons whose ideas never extend
beyond the feeling of the moment, that we find individuals who are very
honest men, with a total want of principle; and who unite the most
hardened effrontery and intolerance of opinion to endless inconsistency
and self-contradiction.
If, in another view, any exception should be taken on the score
of perspicuity in the terms made use of, in places especially where
the notes are scientific, and still more where they embrace recent dis-
'coveries in chemistry; the Editor looks for his vindication in this in-
stance, to the essential expediency of the plan itself, and to the approved
practice of the most able writers, and only competent judges in the
case; which he cannot any otherwise illustrate so satisfactorily, as in
the words of a celebrated proficient in practical philosophy, and which
are applicable to the language of all the sciences universally. "We
have the approbation," says Dr. HENRY, " by the most distinguished
metaphysicians of the age, of the connection of new doctrines with
new and more accurate language: for my own part, I adopt them
[meaning the terms of the new nomenclature], not from a belief that
they are perfect; but because they are better adapted than any hitherto
offered, for explaining and classing phenomena; and with this qualifica-
tion, I strongly recommend them to general acceptance."*
In an age when every art, and especially that of typography, is car-
ried to a perfection and cost, which have generated a taste that savors
somewhat of fastidiousness, an apology may be deemed necessary for
presenting this edition to the public in a type less ostentatious and
fashionably broad, than is wont to greet the pampered eye of an english
reader in the present day; the offense, if such it be, is not surely pre-
cluded from all title to indulgence, though it might be presuming too
far, to look for a free and unreserved pardon: if the purchaser finds not
here all that gratification which may satisfy the luxurious habits of our
times, is it too much to express an hope that there are some things in our
* Flements of Chemistry: preface p. 32.
xiv
rolume, which, even in this respect, are not wholly divested of a claim
to his approbation? whilst, in another view, there is an advantage
perceptibly gained, too obvious to be particularized, although not too
small to be felt, which may prove no unsubstantial compensation to
him, for what is lost in splendor of type, or width of margin.
A tribute of liberal acknowledgment is due from the Editor, before
he closes his remarks, to the merits of that authentic record of maritime
facts and discoveries, "The Naval Chronicle ;"* to the rich and
various stores of nautical intelligence dispersed through the pages of
which, he has been largely and constantly indebted in the prosecution
of his extensive plan. The Editor takes this opportunity of recalling
to the recollection of sea-officers in particular, a part of the prospectus
by which that respectable miscellany was originally announced to public.
notice and patronage.
"In common with the rest of our countrymen we have long beheld with exul
tation the progress of our naval power. It has grown up with the dignity of the
british name, and has attained a colossal stature that appals our enemies, and
awes the surrounding nations. What the venerable CAMDEN, in the year 1605,
said concerning Britaine, is still, and we trust ever will be, descriptive of its
character:- It is walled and guarded with the ocean, most commodious for
trafficke to all parts of the world, and watered with pleasant, fishful, and naviga-
ble rivers, which yield safe havens and roads, and furnished with shipping and
sailers, that it may rightly be termed The Lady of the Sea!
"A work, therefore, comprehending all the naval circumstances of Great
Britain, must be interesting to its inhabitants. We have laid an extensive basis;
and the superstructure we shall raise upon it, will, at least, be such as every true
patriot shall approve. The literary department embraces every subject
connected with the navy; and, we presume, will often be enriched by the commu-
nications of naval friends. Biography shall be executed with delicacy and cor-
rectness, and possess all the variety which a periodical work will allow. Portraits
of naval officers will occasionally be introduced, when an opportunity occurs of
making engravings from original pictures. "The difficulty which a naval officer
experiences, when confined to the limits of his station, of becoming acquainted
with what is going on amid the literary and philosophical world, will induce
us to review the principal works that are published, interesting to the naval
profession. The leisure of the mariner will be cheered and improved by that
*The Mabal Chronicle, containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal
Navy of the United Kingdom; with a variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects.-
Under the guidance of several Literary and Professional Men. Published in Monthly
Numbers, price 3s. each, or in half-yearly Volumes, half-bound, 1l. 1s. by Joyce
GOLD, Naval-Chronicle Office, 103, Shoe-lane, London; where alo may be had single
Numbers, or Volumes, for the purpose of completing series.
XV
variety of information which we shall be enabled to furnish. Whatever tends to
elucidate the history of the navy, will be constantly brought forward; and we hope,
by this means, to preserve and make known many papers, that would be irrecove-
rably lost. Nautical poems, and lyric poetry on naval subjects, which have long
formed a peculiar feature in our national character, and come home to every british
heart, will be carefully collected. Commerce is intimately connected with the pre-
sent subject, and will occasionally come under consideration. To call the attention
of the mariner to such objects of natural history as may often present themselves
to him, will also be a part of our duty. Treatises, or essays, which relate to
naval architecture and the improvement of navigation, will be particularly consi-
dered. Nor will any subject that may reuder the Naval Chronicle an useful,
instructive, and interesting work, be omitted.
"Such are the outlines of our plan; and we shall leave the public to judge
from performance, and not by what we promise. Much of our success will neces-
sarily depend on the patronage and assistance of professional men; yet, as the
work comprises what is so calculated to invite a general attention, we trust its
pages will prove acceptable to all ranks. Designs of sea views and naval en-
gagements, will, from their accuracy, prove an excellent source of instruction
to all who wish to perfect themselves in naval perspective. They will also enable
others, whose avocations have not allowed them to contemplate the grandeur of
the ocean, and the wooden walls of old England, to form a more just idea of
these sublime objects.
"In the present critical situation of Great Britain, it behoves every one to
afford whatever assistance is in his power to promote the general welfare, that
the designs of turbulent and restless spirits may be defeated. Our principles
are from the old school: they are decided and firm:-and we trust that our
patrons will have no reason to disclaim then.”
The first number of that publication, (which in truth is the ground.
work of this,) appeared on the 1st of January 1799, and it has been
continued until the present time, without interruption. It occupies a
space in literature heretofore much neglected; the novelty of its
design and tendency, the meritorious exertions by which it has been
uninterruptedly continued down to the present time, and the liberal
mode in which the work is conducted, all combine, in the estimation
of the Editor of Robinson Crusoe, who has for some years supervised
the hydrographical section of the Naval Chronicle, to fairly entitle it
to a distinguished place in every nautical library, and to the steady
practical support of naval men; who,
"In native vigor bold, by freedom led,
No path of honor have they failed to tread:
But, while they wisely plan, and bravely dare,
Their own achievements are their latest care.”
xvi
:
Of the time and labor of research bestowed upon this present undertak
ing it becomes not the Editor to say much that they have neither been
inconsiderable, nor without anxiety, those will easily credit who are
best qualified to appretiate the task. If they shall prove at all
successful in rendering the admirable work on which they have
been expended more extensively useful, in revealing more perfectly its
intrinsic worth, its sources of knowledge and various delight; if espe-
cially, they may be found instrumental in advancing the interests of
nautical tuition, facilitating the science of hydrography to the juvenile
scholar, and scattering here and there a flower to enliven and embellish
the more rugged parts of his paths: if such should be the happy fruit
of those exertions which the Editor now commends finally to the favor
of his readers, the recompense of many waking, and some tedious,
hours, will reach him in a way of all the others the most grateful to
his mind.

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I
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
WAS born in the year 1632, at York, of a good family, though not of that
country, my father being a foreigner from Bremen ramed Kreutznaer, who
settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his
trade, retired to York; from whence he had married my mother, whose relatives
were named Robinson, and after whom I was so called, that is to say, Robin-
son-Kreutznaer; but by the corruption of words usual in England, we are
commonly called, as I now write my name, Crusoe.
I had two elder brothers; one of whom was lieutenant-colonel to an English
regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous colonel Lock-
hart, and was killed at the battle against the Spaniards near Dunkirk.* What
became of my second brother I never knew, any more than my parents did know
what was become of me.
1
Being the third sou of the family, and not bred unto any trade, my head began
to be filled early with rambling thoughts. My father, who was very aged, had
given me a competent share of learning, as far as house-education and a country
free school generally goes, and designed ine for the law; but I would be satisfied
with nothing but going to sea and my inclination to this led me so strongly
against the will, nay, the commands of my father, and against all the entreaties
and persuasions of my mother and other friends, that there seemed to be some-
thing fatal in that propension of nature, tending directly to the life of misery
which was to befall me.
My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel against
what he foresaw was my design. He called me one morning into his chamber,
where he was confined by the gout, and expostulated very warmly with me upon
this subject. He asked ine what reasons, more than a mere wandering inclina-
tion, I had for leaving my father's house, and my native country; where I might
be well introduced, and had a prospect of raising my fortune by application and
industry, with a life of ease and pleasure. He told me it was men of desperate
fortunes on one haud, or of superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad
upon adventures, aspiring to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in
undertakings of a nature out of the common road; that these things were all
either too far above me, or too far below me; that mine was the middle state,
or what night be called the upper station of low life, which he had found, by long
experience, was the best state in the world; the most suited to human happiness,
not exposed to the miseries and hardships, the labour and sufferings, of the me-
chanic part of mankind; and not embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition,
and envy of the upper part of mankind. He told me I might judge of the hap-
piness of this state by this one thing; namely, that this was the state of life which
all other people envied; that kings have frequently lamented the miserable
consequences of being born to great things, and wished they had been placed in
* Oliver Cromwell, being confirmed in his protectorship by parliament, concluded a
league with France, conditionally that the protector should assist the French with 6000
men; and that they should be put in possession of Mardyk aud Dunkirk when taken;
while on the other hand the princes of the house of Stuart and all persons who adhered
to their fortunes should be expelled from France. Cromwell sent his stipulated succours,
which wrought wonders in that expedition, not under the command of Reynolds and
Lockhart, two successive ambassadors at the court of France, as many historians have
erroneously recorded, but unde General Morgan; as that brave soldier has avouched
under his hand in a curious tract of the Harleian collection, entituled: A true and just
relation of Major-general Sir Thom is Morgan's progress in France and Flanders with the
six-thousand English in the years 1657 and 1658 at the taking of Dunkirk and other im
portant places as it was delivered by the general himself. (London 1699.)
Robinson Crusoc.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
B
?
the middle of the two extremes, between the little and the great; that the wise
man gave his testimony to this, as the just standard of true felicity, when he
prayed to have neither poverty nor riches.*
He bade me observe it, and I should always find, that the calamities of life
were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind; but that the middle
station had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes :
may, they were not subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses, either of
body or mind, as those were, who, by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances
on one hand, or by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean or insufficient
diet, on the other hand, bring distempers upon themselves by the natural con
sequences of their way of living; that the middle station of life was calculated
for all kind of virtues, and all kind of enjoyments; that peace and plenty were
the handmaids of a middling fortune; that temperance, moderation, quietness,
health, society, all agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were the
blessings attending the middle station of life; that this way men went silently
and smoothly through the world, and comfortably out of it, not embarrassed with
the labours of the hands or of the head, not sold to the life of slavery for daily
bread, or harassed with perplexed circumstances, which rob the soul of peace,
and the body of rest; not enraged with the passion of envy, or secret burning
lust of ambition; but in easy circumstances, gliding gently through the world,
and sensibly tasting the sweets of living, without the bitter; feeling that they are
happy; and learning, by every day's experience, to know it more sensibly.
ރ
After this he pressed me earnestly, and in the most affectionate manner, not
to play the young man, nor to precipitate myself into miseries which nature, and
the station of life I was born in, seemed to have provided against; that I was
under no necessity of seeking my bread; that he would do well for me, and
endeavour to enter me fairly into the station of life which he had been just re-
commending to me; and that if I was not very easy and happy in the world, it
must be my mere fate or fault that must hinder it and that he should have
nothing to answer for, having thus discharged his duty in warning me against
measures which he knew would be to my hurt: In a word, that as he would do
very kind things for me if I would stay and settle at home, as he directed, so he
would not have so much hand in my misfortunes as to give me any encourage-
ment to go away; and, to close all, he told me I had my elder brother for an
example, to whom he had used the same earnest persuasions to keep him from
going into the Low-country wars, but could not prevail, his young desires
prompting him to run into the army; and though, he said, he would not cease to
pray for me, yet he would venture to say to me, that if I did take this foolish
step, God would not bless me; and I would have leisure, hereafter, to reflect
upon having neglected his counsel, when there might be none to assist in my
recovery. In this last part of his discourse, which was truly prophetic, I ob-
served the tears ran down his face very plentifully, especially when he spoke of
my brother; and that, when he spoke of my having leisure to repent, and none
to assist me, he was so moved, that he broke off the discourse, and told me his
heart was so full he could say no more to me.
I was sincerely affected with this discourse: as, indeed, who could be other,
wise? and I resolved not to think of going abroad any more, but-to settle at
home, according to my father's desire. But, alas! a few days wore it all off:
and, in short, to prevent any of my father's further importunities, in a few weeks
after I resolved to run quite away from him. However, I did not act so hastily,
neither, as my first heat of resolution prompted; but I took my mother, at a
time when I thought her a little pleasanter than ordinary, and told her that my
thoughts were so entirely bent upon seeing the world, that I should never settle
to any thing with resolution enough to go through with it, and my father had
better give me his consent than force me to go without it; that I was now
eighteen years old, which was too late to go apprentice to a trade, or clerk to an
Proverbs: xxx. 8.
t
3
attorney; that I was sure if I did, I should never serve out my tine, and I
should certainly run away from my master before my time was out, and go to
sea; and if she would speak to my father to let me make but one voyage abroad,
if I came home again, and did not like it, I would go no more; and I would pro-
mise, by a double diligence, to recover the time I had lost.
This put my mother into a great passion: she told me, she knew it would be
to no purpose to speak to my father upon any such a subject; that he knew too
well what was my interest to give his consent to any thing so much for my hurt;
and that she wondered how I could think of any such thing, after such a dis-
course as I had from my father, and such kind and tender expressions as she
knew my father had used to me: and that, in short, if I would ruin myself, there
was no help for me; but I might depend, I should never have their consent to it;
that, for her part, she would not have so much hand in my destruction; and I
should never have it to say, that "my mother was willing, when my father was
not." Though my mother refused to move it to my father, yet, as I afterwards
heard, she reported all the discourse to him; and that my father, after shewing a
great concern at it, said to her with a sigh, "That boy might be happy, if he
would stay at home; but, if he goes abroad, he will be the most miserable wretch
that ever was born: I can give no consent to it.”
It was not till almost a year after this, that I broke loose; though, in the mean
time, I continued obstinately deaf to all proposals of settling to business, and
frequently expostulated with my father and mother about their being so posi-
tively determined against what they knew my inclinations prompted me to. But,
being one day at Hull, where I went casually, and without any purpose of
making an elopement at that time, and one of my companions then going to
London by sea in his father's ship, and prompting me to go with them by the
common allurement of seafaring men, "that it should cost me nothing for my
passage," I consulted neither father nor mother any more, nor so much as sent
them word of it; but left them to hear of it as they might, without asking even
my father's blessing, without any consideration of circumstances, or consequen-
ces, and in an ill hour, God knows.

* The true name of this place is Kingston-upon-Hull, meaning the King's town on
the river Hull, upon the banks of which, at its confluence with the river Humber
B 2
4
1651. On the first of September, I went on board a ship bound for London.
Never any adventurer's misfortunes, I believe, began younger, or continued
longer, than mine. The ship had no sooner got out of the Humber,* than the wind
began to blow, and the waves to rise, in a frightful manner; and, as I had never
been at sea before, I was most inexpressibly sick in body, and terrified in mind:
Hbegan now seriously to reflect upon what I had done, and how justly I was
overtaken by the judgment of heaven, for wickedly leaving my father's house.
All the good counsel of my parents, my father's tears, and my mother's
entreaties, came now fresh into my mind; and my conscience, which was not
yet come to the pitch of hardiness to which it has since, reproached me with the
contempt of advice, and the abandonment of my duty.

All this while, the storm encreased, and the sea, which I had never been
upon before, went very high, though nothing like what I have seen many times
Kingston was built by King Edward I. It is a large maritime borough-town in the east
riding of Yorkshire, with the most considerable trade, both domestic and foreign, of
any sea-port upon this coast of our island. The two principal branches of its foreign
navigation are the Baltic, and Groenland; in support of which, they have a guild or
fraternity, established upon a plan and for purposes, similar to that of the celebrated
"Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement in
the parish of Deptford-strond." The population of Kingston-upon-Hull, amounted
to 26700 persons of every age and sex, according to the latest parliamentary report
(1813). The latitude of King Henry VIIIth's tower in this town, has been observed to
be 53 degrees 45 minutes North; and that of the south-end battery about 20 seconds less.
The spring-tides flow here from 17 to 18 feet; the neap-tides only from 11 to 12 feet;
and the time of high water on the full and change days of the is at 6 o'clock. The
variation of the magnetic needle, from the north towards the west, was observed in
1752, to be 17 degrees 33 minutes, which, in 1760, had encreased to 19 degrees 52
minutes westward. The great importance and extent of the whale-fishery, prosecuted
from this port, is described in the Maval Chronicle, published in London by Mr.
J. GOLD, vol. ii. (for the year 1799), page 121; xxiv. (1810) 235; xxxi,(1814) 185.
The Humber is a large river which forms the boundary between Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire; in fact, it is rather the common, aestuary of the rivers Ouse (a Gaelic word,
signifying water in general), Trent, and Hull. It possesses two good anchorages,
namely: Grimsby, and the Hawke roads; of which the former, on the Lincoln side,
is preferable with southerly and westerly winds, while the latter, on that of York, is
best in northerly and easterly. The entrance to this inlet is denoted by a headland on
the York shore, called the Spurn, on which stands a light-house of great utility to ma-
riners, in latitude 33 deg. 55 min. N. longitude 19 deg. E. At the Spurn, on spring-
tide days, the time of high water is past 5 o'clock; but, in the offing, at the distance
of 7 or 8 miles, the tide flows till past 7. Of the Humber, it has been said, by com-
petent judges, that it is a good harbour for merchant vessels of any size, and has suffi-
cient depth of water for ships of war; but that the tides render its ingress and egress
somewhat too uncertain for it to be an advantageous station for a fleet, Fifty six miles
5
since; no, nor what I saw a few days after; but, such as it was, enough to affect
ine then, who was but a young sailor, and had never known any thing of the
matter. I expected every wave would have swallowed us up, and that every
time the ship fell down, as I thought, in the trough* or hollow of the sea, we
should never rise more; and in this agony of mind, I made many vows and
resolutions, that, if it would please God to spare my life this voyage, if ever I
got my foot once on dry land, I would go directly home to my father, and never
set it into a ship again while I lived; that I would take his advice, and never run
myself into such miseries as these any more. Now I saw plainly the goodness of
his observations about the middle station of life; how easy, how comfortable he
had lived all his days, and never had been exposed to tempests at sea, or troubles
on shore; and I resolved that I would, like a true repenting prodigal, go home
to my father.
These wise and sober thoughts continued during the storm, and indeed some
time after; but, the next day, as the wind was abated, and the sea calmer, I
began to be a little inured to it. However, I was very grave that day, being also
a little sea-sick still; but, towards. night, the weather cleared up, the wind was
quite over, and a charming fine evening followed; the sun went down perfectly
clear, and rose so the next morning; and having little or no wind, and a smooth
sea, the sun shining upon it, the sight was, as I thought, the most delightful that
I ever saw. I had slept well in the night, and was now no more sea-sick, but
very cheerful, looking with wonder upon the sea that was so rough and terrible
the day before, and could be so calm and pleasant in a little time after.
northward of the Spurn is the bold promontory called Flamborough-head; from whence
the Texel island on the coast of Holland is distant 181 nautical iniles, in a south-easterly
direction; and the Naes of Norway, 336, north-easterly.
But, see! in confluence borne before the blast,
Clouds roll'd on clouds the dusky noon o'ercast;
The blackening ocean curls, the winds arise,
And the dark scud, in swift succession, flies;
While the swol'n canvas bends the masts on high,
Low in the wave the lee-ward cannon lic.
*
Still in the yawning trough the vessel reels,
Ingulphed between two fluctuating hills;
On either side they rise, tremendous scene!
A long, dark, melancholy, vale between :
The balanc'd ship now forward, now behind,
Still felt the impression of the waves and wind.
FALCONER.-Shipwreck. Canto ii.
The gradual rising of a stormy wind is clearly, faithfully, and poetically described
in the foregoing lines. A preceding calm, treacherous; a watery sunset, alarming;
an agitation of the sea, gradually encreasing; until, at length-it comes, resistless, upon
the anxious mariner. Waves are soon formed, like immense ridges; they slowly move
along in dreadful grandeur; threatening instant destruction, as the magnitude of the
billow becomes more apparent by its approach to the ship; when, suddenly, the im-
mense mass sinks beneath her keel-whilst the ship, falling into a trough of the sea,
seems almost thrown upon her side; as she regains her balance, the sea rushes from
under her with incredible rapidity and force, and with the diffusion of its curling
ridge, covers the adjacent surface with foam. The scud is a name given by seamen to
the lighter clouds which are swiftly driven along the atmosphere by the winds. When
the wind crosses a ship's course either obliquely or directly, that side of the ship upon
which it acts is termed the weather side; and the opposite one which is then pressed
downwards is termed the lee side: consequently, all on one side of her is called "to
windward," and all on the other side is called "to leeward:" hence are also derived
the lee cannun of the preceding lines, &c. The same term is used by MILTON ;-
"The pilot of some small night-founded skiff,
With fixed anchor,
Moors by his side under the lee.”
6
•
And now, lest my good resolutions should continue, my companion, who had,
indeed, enticed me away, came to me, and said, "Well Bob !" clapping me ou
the shoulder," how do you do after it? I warrant you were frightened, wa'n't
you, last night, when it blew a capfull of wind ?"—" A capfull, do you call it ?”
said I, 'twas a terrible storm."-" A storm, you fool!" replies he, "do you
call that a storm? why, it was nothing at all; give us but a good ship and sea-
room, and we think nothing of such a squall as that; you are but a fresh water
sailor, Bob, come, let us make a bowl of punch, and we'll forget all that. D'ye
see what charming weather 'tis now?" To make short this sad part of my story,
we went the way of all sailors; the punch was made, and I was made drunk with
it; and, in that one night's debauch, I drowned all my repentance, all my reflec-
tions upon past conduct, and all my resolutions for the future. In a word, as
the sea was returned to its smoothness of surface and settled calmness by the
abatement of the storm, so the hurry of my thoughts being over, my fears and
apprehensions of being swallowed up by the sea, forgotten, and the current of my
former desires returned, I entirely forgot the vows and promises I had made in
my distress. I found, indeed, some intervals of reflection; and serious thoughts
did, as it were, endeavour to return again sometimes; but I shook them off, and
roused myself from them, as it were from a distemper, and, applying myself to
drink and company, soon mastered the return of those fits, for so I called them;
and I had, in five or six days, got as complete a victory over conscience as any
young sinner, that resolved not to be troubled with it, could desire. But I was
to have another trial for it still; and providence, as, in such cases, generally
it does, resolved to leave me without excuse; for, if I would not take this for a
deliverance, the next was to be such a one as the most hardened wretch would
confess both the danger and the mercy of. The sixth day of our being at sea,
we came into Yarmouth road. ;* the wind having been contrary, and the weather
calin, we had made but little way since the storm. Here we were obliged to
come to an anchor, and here we lay, the wind continuing adverse, that is,
south-westerly, for seven or eight days, during which time a great many ships from
Newcastle came into the same road as the common shelter where the ships might
await a wind for the river Thames.

mutta
We had not, however, rid here so long, and should have tided up the river,
but that the wind blew too fresh; and, after we had lain four or five days blew
*Yarmouth is a large maritime town on the coast of Norfolk, situated at the mouth
of the river Yare, in lat. 52° 55′ N. and long. 1° 35′ E. it has high water on full and
change days of (at before 10 o'clock. It has a population of 17970 persons according
to the late census; and it. had more than 1100 vessels belonging to it, 60 years ago,
besides ships that its merchants were owners of or concerned in, at other ports. It is 6
:
ity
very hard. However, the road being reckoned as good as a harbour, the an-
chorage good, and our ground-tackle* very strong, our men were unconcerned,
and not in the least apprehensive of danger, but spent the time in rest and mirth,
after the manner of the sea. But the eighth day, in the morning, the wind en-
creased, and we had all hands at work to strike our top-masts, and make every
thing snug and close, that the ship might ride as easy as possible.
By noon, the
sea went very high indeed, and our ship rode forecastle-in,† shipped several seas,
and we thought, once or twice, our anchor had come home; upon which, our
master ordered out the sheet-anchor; so that we rode with two anchors
a-head,§ and the cables veered out to their end.
+
By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed; and now I began to see terror
and amazement in the faces of even the seamen themselves. The master was
vigilant in the business of preserving the ship; but, as he went in and out of his
cabin by me, I could hear him softly say to himself several times, "Lord! be
merciful to us; we shall be all lost; we shall be all undone," and the like.
During these first hurries, I was stupid, lying still in my berth, which was in the
leagues to the N. of Southwold (vulgarly Sole) bay, and is the chief rendezvous of the
colliery navigation between London and the North of England. Its road, E. of the
town, within the dangerous sands and banks of the offing, is much frequented, although
ships have been frequently cast away upon those sands. Near 3000l. a-year is
expended to keep the harbour clear from silt aud mud. It has the principal herring-
fishery of the coast, and employs 150 vessels, besides 40 and 50 in the exportation ;
the numbers taken and cured here being almost incredible. The sea-coast, for two
miles each way, from the town, is nearly a level waste, elevated about two or three
yards above high water mark, and, from the edge of the verdure to the sea is a gentle
slope, being a deep fine sand with shingles. The tides are uncommonly low, not rising more
than 5 or 6 feet, and the distance from high to low water-mark, the shore being steep,
is but a few yards; but from high water to the turf of the country, it is somewhat far-
ther. Though the river will not admit ships of large burthen, it is extremely convenient,
as the vessels lie in the river, along one of the bandsomest and most spacious quays in
the world, perhaps, except those of Seville and Bordeaux; on to which persons inay
step directly from ship-board, and walk from one end to the other, for a quarter of a
mile. To sail into the haven, which is a mile or more southward of the town, run into
the river's mouth between the two pier heads near high water, when the strength of
the flood is spent, along by the S. head where is the deepest water. The reader
can consult the Baval Chronicle, vol. xxvi, 404; xxix, 218. 303; xxx, 331. for
the hydrography of this portion of the eastern coast of England, which the number
of shoals and shifting overfalls, together with the strength of the tides, render very
unsafe for the navigation of large ships, especially in the winter season. This coast
has recently been the theatre of some very interesting experiments, towards establish-
ing a preservative system for shipwrecked persons, by Geo.Wm. Manby, Esq. Honorary
Member of the Royal Humane Society. Although the means employed cannot strictly
claim the title of an original invention (inasmuch as they are founded upon prior
projects for the preservation of human life from the perils of shipwreck; by Lieuten-
ant Bell, of the royal artillery, recorded in the transactions of the Society for the En-
couragement of Arts, &c. volume x. (1808); yet the improvement upon the means
employed, and their more extensive application, entitle their author to the highest
praise and credit for the philanthropy of his design, and the ingenuity of its execution.
Upon this subject, see also .C. i. 417; ii. 428; iii. 64; xx. 360; xxi. 398; xxii. 188,
292; xxiv. 288, 452; xxv. 457; xxvii, 310; xxviii. 295, 298. The wood-cut presents
a general view of Yarmouth seen from the south.
* GROUND-TACKLE :-is a ship's anchors, cables, &c. and, in general, whatever is ne-
cessary to confine her securely at an anchorage.
+ FORECASTLE:-a short deck or floor on the headmost part of the ship, which, in
time of old, was castellated or fortified for defensive purpose; and has thence retained
the latter portion of its compound name.
SHEET-ANCHOR-The largest and heaviest of those a ship is provided with, which
are usually from 3 to 5 in number, of graduated dimensions for different purposes, ac-
cording to which they are classed and named.
A-HEAD: Before the ship's head externally, as its corresponding term
signifies towards the ship's head internally.
forward,”
;
8
1
steerage,* and cannot describe my temper. I could ill re-assume the first peni-
tence, which I had so apparently trampled upon, and hardened myself against;
I thought that the bitterness of death had been past, and that this, too, would
be nothing, like the first: but, when the master himself came by me, as I said
just now, and uttered such ejaculations, I was dreadfully frightened. I got up
out of my cabin, and looked out; but such a dismal sight I never saw; the sea
went mountains high, and broke upon us every three or four minutes. When
I could look about, I could see nothing but distress around us; two ships that
rid near us, we found, had cut their masts by the board, being deeply laden;
and our men cried out that a ship, which rid about a mile a-head of us, was
foundered. Two more ships, being driven from their anchors, were run out of
the road to sea, at all adventures, and that with not a mast standing. The light
ships fared the best, as not so much labouring in the sea; but two or three of them
drove, and came close by us, running away, with only their sprit-sailst out, before
the wind. Toward evening, the mate and boatswain begged the master of our ship
to let them cut away the foremast, which he was very loth to do; but the boat-
swain protesting to him, that, if he did not, the ship would founder, he con-
sented; and, when they had cut away the foremast, the mainmast stood so
loose, and shook the ship so much, they were obliged to cut it away also, and
make a clear deck.
Any one may judge what a condition I must be in at all this, who was but
a young sailor, and who had been in such a fright before at but a little. But
if I can express, at this distance, the thoughts I had about me at that time, I
was in tenfold more horror of mind upon account of my former convictions, and
the having returned from them to the resolutions I had wickedly taken at first,
than I was at death itself; and these, added to the terror of the storm, put me
into such a condition, that I can by no words describe it. But the worst was
not come yet; the storm continued with such fury, that the seamen themselves
acknowledged they had never known a worse. We had a good ship, but she
was deep laden, and so wallowed in the sea, that the seamen every now and
then cried out, she would founder. It was my advantage, in one respect, that
I did not then know what they meant by" founder," till I enquired. However,
the storm was so violent, that I saw, what is not often scen, the master, the
boatswain, and some others, more sensible than the rest, at their prayers, and
expecting every moment the ship would go to the bottom. In the middle of
the night, and under all the rest of our distresses, one of the men, that had
been down on purpose to see, cried out, "we had sprung a leak ;" another said,
"there was four feet water in the hold." Then all hands were called to the
pump. At that very word, my heart, as I thought, died within me, and I fell
backwards upon the side of the bed, where I sat in my cabin. However, the men
roused me, and told me, "that I" (who was able to do nothing before),
as well able to pump as another;" at which I stirred up, and went to the pump,
and worked very heartily. While this was doing, the inaster, seeing some light
colliers who, not able to ride out the storm, were obliged to slip their cables,
and run away to sea, and did not come near us, ordered us to fire a gun, as ą
signal of distress. I, who knew nothing what that meant, was so surprised, that
In a word,
I thought the ship had broken, or some dreadful thing had happened
I was so affected, that I fell down in a swoon. As this was a time when every
was
* STEERAGE in this sense, means an apartment immediately before the bulk-head,
or partition of the great cabin: it has also another sense as applied to the guidance
of the ship in her course, when it means the operation of steering with the rudder.
+ SPRIT-SAIL:-is a sail of square form, and, in point of dimensions, it is of the third
class used in the ship, that is to say, about the size of the top-gallant-sails. The sprit-
sail is extended upon a yard, or pole, suspended to the bow-sprit, whence it derives
its appellation; and is of much more utility, in many emergencies, than modern seamen
seem to be aware of; in going before the wind this sail serves to retain aud employ that
waste portion of it which escapes under the foot of the foresail.
A
1
9
1
body had his own life to think of, no one minded me or what was become of me ;
but another man stept up to the pump, and thrusting me aside with his foot,
let me lie, as though I had been dead; and it was a great while before I camne
to myself. We worked on, but the water encreasing in the hold, it was apparent
that the ship would founder; and though the storm began to abate a little, yet,
as it was not probable she could swim till we might run into a port, so the mas-
ter continued firing guns for help; and a light ship who had rid it out just a-head
of us, ventured a boat out to help us. It was with the utmost hazard the boat
came near us, but it was impossible for us to get on board, or for the boat to lie
near the ship's side; till at last the men rowing very heartily, and venturing their
lives to save ours, our men cast them a rope over the stern with a buoy to it, and
then veered it out a great length, which they, after great labour and hazard,
took hold of, and we hauled them close under our stern, and got all into their
boat. It was to no purpose for them or us, after we were in the boat, to think
of reaching their own ship; so all agreed to let her drive, and only to pull her
in towards shore as much as we could; and our master promised them, that,
if the boat was staved upon shore, he would make it good to their master; so
partly rowing, and partly driving, our boat went away to the northward, sloping
towards the shore almost as far as Winterton-ness.t
#
We were not more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship when we saw her
sink; and then I understood, for the first time, what was meant by a ship foun-
dering in the sea. I must acknowledge, I had hardly eyes to look up when the
seamen told me, "she was sinking" for they rather put me into the boat, than
that I might be said to go in. My heart was, as it were, dead within me, partly
Buoy: the root of the adjective buoyant, means generally any thing that is float-
able; but, as used here, means a hollow cask, hooped with iron, and tapering at each
end; which, being strapped with cordage, is fastened by a rope, thence called the
"buoy-rope," to an anchor, so as to float directly over it, and thereby serve as a guide
to its situation under water. These are technically named “
These are technically named "nun-buoys," to distinguish
them from another sort, called after their shape, can-buoys;" whose use is, to lie
for marks on shoals or other hidden dangers. Useful hints, respecting buoys, are to
be found in the Babal Chronicle, vol. viii. p. 60; and an improved form recom-
mended in a letter to the editor of that publication, is shewn in vol. ix. p. 309. The
same subject is farther pursued in vol. xviii. p. 472.
•
+ WINTERTON-NESS is nearly the extreme eastern land, on the coast of Norfolk, in
latitude 53 deg. 2 min. N. longitude, 1 deg. 17 min. E. the coast, from hence, bends
away north-westerly to Foul-ness, and thence more westerly along the northern coast
of Norfolk. On this promontory are placed two lights for the guidance of vessels
amid the dangerous shoals by which this coast is fronted; among the principal of
them is the Cockle-sand, at the distance of two miles, and of lamentable celebrity for
its manifold circumstances of destruction. The undermining of the cliffs hy land-springs,
and the consequent shooting down of their soil to the sea-shore, from whence it is swept
away by the storm-driven waves in high tides tends much to augment the banks alluded
to. To the uncommon flatness of the shore, causing such high and lengthened surfs
must be attributed the number of lives that annually have perished here. The outer
bank which runs parallel with the shore near Winterton has always been found to pre-
sent great danger to vessels stranded here, and to prove generally fatal unto their unfor-
tunate crews. In hard easterly gales, the violence of the surf prevents boats being
launched from the shore to render them assistance. In the note affixed to a preceding
page, (7) occasion has been taken to make that honourable mention of the philan-
thropic patriotism, and ingenious endeavours of Mr. G. W. Manby, towards establishing
and carrying into effect a system for saving lives from shipwreck, which those pursuits
so highly deserve; for certes, the riches of a country are its population, and the lives
of its people, one of the dearest possessions we have to protect. But, having satisfied
this claim of contemporaneous merit, justice towards the dead as well as the living, and
above all the sacred obligation of truth, renders it imperative on the editor, herein to
record the following lines extracted from the Transactions of the Society instituted at
London, A. D. 1754, for the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce;
volume xxv. [for the year 1807]:-
10
with fright, partly with horror of mind, and the contemplation of what was
yet before me.

tt
ملكة
While we were in this condition, the men yet labouring at the oar to bring
the boat near the shore, we could see (when, our boat mounting the waves, we
were able to get sight of the shore) a great many people running along the
strand, to assist us when we should come near; but we made slow way towards
the shore; nor were we able to reach it, till, being past the light-house at Win-
terton, the shore falls off to the westward, towards Cromer,* and so the land
broke off a little the violence of the wind.
"Publicity having been recently given to some experiments off the eastern coasts of this
island for preserving lives in case of shipwreck, by means of a rope, attached to a shell
thrown from a mortar, the society think it incumbent on them to remind the public, that,
so far back as the year 1792, a bounty of fifty guineas was given to Mr. John Bell, then
serjeant, afterwards lieutenant of the royal artillery, for his invention of throwing a rope
on shore, by means of a shell from a mortar on board the vessel in distress: the particulars
of which were published in the tenth volume of the society's Transactions; but a descriptive
engraving having been omitted at that time, it is thought expedient to insert it in the pre-
sent publication, with some further particulars then omitted, &c." Serjeant Bell's letter
to the society, in justification of his pretension to a reward, is dated" Woolwich, 4th
April, 1791." For the more particular elucidation of this subject, the reader is re-
ferred to the Babal Chronicle, xxvii. 310.
* CROMER is a town on the N. E. coast of Norfolk, where fishermen reside,
and are employed in catching lobsters. The coast is so dangerous from rocks
and shoals, that mariners call Cromer passage "the devil's throat." There is a light-
house on the headland called Foul-ness, E.S.E. of it; from whence Cromer is situated
at about one third of the distance towards Blakeney and Clay; that is, from Cromer
to Blakeney is W.N.W. 2 leagues, and to Foul-ness, eastward, near the light, about 4
miles. About 7 or 8 leagues from the coast athwart of Winterton, and Cromer, the
land may be seen in 18 or 19 fathoms water. It is high water here, at spring-tides,
about 7 o'clock; the flood setting S.S.E. and the ebb contrary wise. To the north-east-
ward of Cromer, there are so many shoals and shifting overfalls, as to render this part
of the north sea unsafe for shipping of burthen, except in neap-tides, and moderate
weather. The following description of the Leman and Oar, banks, may suffice in this
place to convey an idea of the principal dangers which impede this navigation. These
dangerous shoals have, for a long time been growing up (partly from the sediment of the
Lincolnshire waters, partly from the cause explained in the preceding note upon Win-
terton), and are now, in some places, dry at low water. The main body of them lies
E.b.N. from Foul-ness, distant 9 leagues, or 27 miles; E.S.E. 11 leagues from the
floating light of the Dudgeon sand and S.E.b.E. 22 leagues from the Spurn; the
geographical situation of which last head-land has been noticed in the note upon Hull,
(page 3). The Leman extends about 5 miles nearly S.E. b. S. and N.W. b. N. being
·
i
11
Here we got in, and, though not without much difficulty, got all safe on shore,
and walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth.*

Here, as unfortunate men, we were used with great humanity, as well by the
magistrates of the town, who assigned us good quarters, as by the particular
merchants and owners of ships; and had money given us, sufficient to carry us
either back to IIull, or to London, as we thought fit.
Had I now had the sense to have gone home, I had been happy; and my
father, an emblem of our gospel parable,+ had even killed the fatted calf for me;
for, hearing the ship I went in was cast away in Yarmouth road, it was a great
while before he had any assurance that I was not drowned.
But my fate pushed me on with an obstinacy that nothing could resist; and,
though I had several times loud calls from my reason and my more composed
judgment, to go home, yet I had no power to do it.
had no power to do it. I know not what to call
this, nor will I urge that it is a secret, over-ruling decree, that hurries us on to
be the instruments of our own destruction, even though it be before us, and that
we rush upon it with our eyes open. Certainly, nothing but some such decreed,
unavoidable, affliction, and which it was impossible for ine to escape, could have
pushed me forward against the calm reasonings, and persuasions of my most
retired thoughts, and against two such practical instructions as I had met with
in my first attempt.
My comrade, the master's son, who had helped to harden me before, was now
less forward than I: the first time he spoke to me after we were at Yarmouth,
which was not till two or three days, for we were separated in the town to seve-
ral quarters; I say, the first time he saw me, it appeared his tone was altered,
and, looking very melancholy, and shaking his head, asked me how I did; telling
his father who I was, and how I had come this voyage only for a trial, in order to
go farther abroad, His father, turning to me with a grave and concerned tone,
Young man," says he, " you ought never to go to sea any more; you ought
to take this for a plain and visible token, that you are not to be a seafaring man.”
near 2 miles broad. The Oar (or Ower) lies S. b. E. and N. b. W. about 4 miles, and
is 1 mile broad: between the sands is a channel of a depth from 15 to 18 fathoms.
Near the southern part of the shoals, are 9, and near the northern 15 fathoms. Near
the Oar on the east side are 17, and near the Leman on the west, are 20 fathoms at
low water. The wood-cut in page 10 represents Cromer light house on Foul-ness ;
with Robinson Crusoe and his shipmates driving in the boat before the sea off that
headland.
*This cut gives a north view of Yarmouth at the entrance by the road from Cromer;
after an original sketch from nature by the engraver of it,
f Luke, xv. 23.
12
"
"What
"Why, Sir," said I "will you go to sea no more?"-" That is another case,"
said he," it is my calling, and, therefore, ny duty; but, as you made this
voyage for a trial, you see what a taste heaven has given you of what you are
to expect if you persist. Perhaps, this has all befallen us on your account,
like Jonah, in the ship of Tarshish.* Pray," continues he, "what are you,
and on what account did you go to sea?" Upon that, I told him some of my
story; at the end of which he burst out with a strange kind of passion.
had I done" said he, "that such an unhappy wretch should come into my ship!
I would not set my foot in the same ship with thee again for a thousand pounds.
'This, indeed, was, as I said, an excursion of his spirits, which were yet agitated
by the sense of his loss, and was farther than he could have authority to go.
However, he afterwards talked very gravely to me; exhorted me to go back to
my father, and not tempt providence to my ruin; saying, "young man, depend
upon it, if you do not go back, wherever you go, you will meet with nothing but
disasters and disappointments, until your father's words are fulfilled upon you."
I made him little answer; we parted soon after, and I saw him no more; which
way he went I know not: as for me, having some money in my pocket, I travelled
to London by land; and there, as well as on the road, had many struggles with
myself what course of life I should take, and whether I should go home or go
to sea. As to going home, shame opposed the best motions that offered to my
thoughts; it seemed to me, how I should be laughed at among the neighbours,
and should be abashed to see, not my father and mother only, but even every
body else. From whence, I have often since observed, how irrational the com-
mon temper of mankind is, especially of youth: how incongruous to that reason
which ought to guide them; so that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are
ashamed to repent; not ashamed of the action, for which they ought justly to
be esteemed fools; but are ashamed of the returning, which only can make them
be esteemed wise.
In this state of life, however, I remained some time, uncertain what measures
to take, and what course of life to lead. An irresistible reluctance continued to
going home; and, as I stayed awhile, the remembrance of the distress I had been
în, wore off; and, as that abated, the little motion I had in my desires to a
return, wore off with it, till, at last, I quite laid aside the thoughts of it, and
looked out for a voyage. That evil influence which carried me first away from
my father's house, which hurried me into the wild and indigested notion of raising
my fortune, and which impressed those conccits so forcibly upon me, as to make
me deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties, and even the commands of my
father; I say, the same influence, whatever it was, presented the most unfortu-
nate of all enterprizes to my view; and I went on board a vessel bound to the
coast of Africa; or, as our sailors vulgarly call it, a voyage to Guinea.‡
* Jonah, i. 7. This oriental name would be more faithfully copied from the original
if expressed in English, Ionah; or still more correctly Yoonas.
† AFRICA:-Naturalized as this name has become, both in the scientific and the vul-
gar tongue, yet, as a principal object of these pages is the restoration of geography,
as well as sometimes placing in a proper light, the civil and natural history of the
countries mentioned in the text, the editor will venture to suggest, that this disjointed
adjective of the latin phrase Africa terra, african land, or the land of Afer, would be
anglicised more conformably to uniformity and truth, by the simpler word Afric; without
the roman termination. This seems to be the fit occasion to remind the reader that the
continent, so named in the text, was coasted as far as the southernmost extreme, now
called the "Cape of Good Hope," under Pharaoh-Necho, King of Egypt (IIERODOTUS,
iv. 42), by Hanno; (PLINY, nat. hist. ii. 67) by one Eudoxus in the time of King
Ptolomey Lathyrus. Caelius Antipater, an historian of credit, earlier than Pliny, tes-
tifies, that he had seen a merchant of Gades [Cadiz], who had sailed to Ethiopia. Con-
sequently, the Portuguese under Vasco De Gama, rather recovered than discovered this
navigation only about three centuries ago.
‡ GUINEA:—is strictly, that portion of the coast of Afric; trending nearly E. and W.
in the parallel of latitude about 5° N.; between longitude 17° W. and 10º E. or may
13
It was my great misfortune, that, in all these adventures, I did not ship myself
as a sailor; whereby, though I might, indeed, have worked a little harder than
ordinary, yet, at the same time, I had learned the duty and office of a foremast-
man, and, in time, might have qualified myself for a mate, if not a master. But,
as it was always my fate to choose for the worse, so I did here; for, having
money in my pocket, and good clothes upon my back, I would always go on board
in the habit of a gentleman; and so I neither had any business in the ship, nor
learned to do any. It was my lot, first of all, to fall into pretty good company
in London; which does not always happen to such loose and misguided young
fellows as I then was; the devil, generally, not omitting to lay some snare for
them very early. But it was not so with me: I first fell acquainted with the
master of a ship who had been on the coast of Guinea, and who, having had good
success there, was resolved to go again. Ile, taking a fancy to my conversation,
which was not at all disagreeable at that time, and hearing me say, "I had a mind
to see the world," told me, that, if I would go the voyage with him, I should be at
no expense; I should be his mess-mate; and, if I could carry any thing with ine, I
should have all the advantage of it, that the trade would admit; and, perhaps, I
might meet with some encouragement. I embraced the offer; and, entering into a
strict friendship with this captain, who was a worthy, plain dealing, man, I went the
voyage with him, and carried a small adventure with me; which, by the disin-
terested honesty of my friend the captain, I encreased very considerably;
for I carried about 40%. in such toys and trifles as the captain directed me to buy.
This 40%. I had mustered together by the assistance of some relatives whom I
corresponded with; and who, I believe, got my father, or at least my mother,
to contribute so much as that to my first adventure indirectly. This was the
only voyage that I may say was successful throughout, and which I owe to the
integrity of my friend the captain, under whom also I got a competent knowledge
of the mathematics, and the rules of navigation, learned how to keep an account
of the ship's course, take an observation,* and, in short, to understand some
generally be estimated as comprised between Cape Verde, and Cape Lopez. The name
become familiar to us, from association of ideas with commerce and coinage, seems to
be a corruption (so prevalent in England, as Robinson Crusoe says in the outset of his
life) of B'led-Geneva, otherwise, Ghineva-Sinney; by which names it is designated
among the principal trading nations of that continent; although not used locally upon
the coast in question; but the order and situation of districts and places have been so
variously set down by ancients and moderns, by foreigners and inhabitants, that the
geographer CELLARIUS finds himself reduced to say; Multa in Mauritania turbata et
confusa videntur quod ad loca singula demonstrabimus." The coin so denominated, took
its name from the gold brought from the coast of that name, by the african company,
who, as an encouragement to import the metal to be coined, was permitted, by the royal
charter, to have the company's stamp of an elephant upon the coin made of the african
gold. Of these guineas, forty-four and a half were coined out of the pound troy, at
the currency of twenty shillings each, although they never went for so little. From the
fifteenth year of King Charles II. we have these milled guineas and half guineas, with
graining on the edge like the milled shillings, having, on one side, the King's head
laureat, with the neck bare, which is the difference between the guinea and the shilling
stamp. CAROLVS II. DEI GRATIA. (Some of these guineas have the elephant
under the King's head, with a castle on his back; others, the elephant without the
castle.) Reverse :-Four shields in a cross, with the arms of the four kingdoms, as the
shillings; but having four Cs interlinked cross-wise in the centre, and the addition of
four sceptres in the quarters, surmounted with four badges, that is to say; the cross for
England, the thistle for Scotland, the fleur-de-lis for France, and the harp for Ireland.
The first importation of this gold has been attributed individually to Sir Robert Holmes,
of the Isle of Wight.
“
* TAKE AN OBSERVATION:-is a phrase by which is meant, to solve the problem of find-
ing the geographical place of a ship at sea, as to its distance from either pole of the world,
by measuring the meridional altitude of the sun with an instrument calied a quadrant; the
rule for which is as follows:-Take the sun's declination from the Nautical Almanac,
or other book of authority, and note whether it be north or south. Correct the
}
14
A
*
things that were needful to be understood by a sailor: for as he took delight to
instruct me, I took pains to learn; and, in a word, this voyage made me both a
sailor and a merchant: for I brought home 5lb. 90%. of gold-dust for my adventure,
which yielded me in London, at my return, almost 300l. and this filled me with
those aspiring thoughts which have since so completed my ruin. Yet even in
this voyage I had my sufferings too; particularly, that I was continually sick,
being thrown into a violent calenture * by the excessive heat of the climate; our
principal trading being upon the coast, from the latitude of 15 degrees north,
even to the line itself.+
altitude of the sun's edge (called its "limb") as indicated on the instrument employed,
by subtracting the dip of the horizon (according to the Requisite Tables), together with
the refraction of the atmosphere from it, and by adding the parallax in altitude to it;
also, by adding or subtracting from it the half diameter, according as the lower or upper
limb was observed; and you will then have the true altitude of the sun's centre. Take
the true altitude from 90 degrees, and it will leave the true distance from the zenith;
which is north, if the zenith was north of the sun at the time of observation, but south,
if it was south of the sun. If the sun's zenith distance, and its declination, be both
north or both south, add them together; but if one be north, and the other south, sub-
tract the less from the greater quantity, and the result of such operation will be the
geographical position required, being of the same denomination with the greater quantity,
that is to say, northerly or southerly. It has been usual to divide the rule for this
problem into different cases; but the necessity for such division arose from wholly but
improperly considering the zenith of the place, as a fixed point, instead of the sun.
The circumference of every circle is calculated as consisting of 360 equal parts called
degrees; each degree of 60 equal parts called minutes; and each minute of 60 minu-
ter parts called seconds; after which any still smaller quantity is denoted by fractional
numbers: these degrees, minutes, seconds, &c. are thus marked in writing: 1° 1' 1"
An angle is said to be of the same number of degrees with the arc that measures it:
thus a right angle being measured by an arc containing the quadrant (or quarter) of a
circle, is an angle of 90° or ninety degrees.
* CALENTURE :-an inflammatory fever, frequent at sea, attended with a delirium,
wherein the patients imagine the sea to be green fields; and, if not prevented, will leap
overboard. The word calenture is from the Spanish calentura, and signifies a heat,
fever, or ague; from the Latin calere to be hot. Calentures are chiefly found in sail-
ing towards the West Indies, as the tropic is approached. Those affected with them
have a fierce look, and are very unruly, being so eager to get to their imaginary
cool verdure, and so strong, that six men sometimes scarce suffice to detain them.
The disease chiefly seizes the young and strong, especially of a sanguine complexion
the pulse is extremely low. When taken in time, it rarely proves mortal. The seat
of this disorder is in the stomach, and its principal source seems to be the eating of salt
provisions for a long time together. The first step towards a cure is the giving of a
brisk emetic; this has the immediate effect of dispelling the fancy of the green leaves and
trees in the water; after this, salt of wormwood, diascordium, with conserve of roses
vitriolated, are proper; and bleeding in the arm; and, if that does not take effect, the
opening of the temporal artery is resorted to; a thin diet, and cream of tartar in water
gruel, after these things, generally remove the remains of the disease.
When they are
seized with this violent heat and disorder, which, for the most part happens in the night,
they steal privately overboard into the sea, imagining themselves to be going into the
green fields. Calentures happen oftener by night than by day, because ships are more
closely shut up by night, and are less airy than they are in the day-time. (Phil. Trans.
abr. by Dr. OLIVER, vol. iv.)
† LATITUDE: -on the earth, is the distance of any place N.or S. from that great central
circle of the globe called the equator or equinoctial line, and reckoned on the meridian.
Latitude in the heavens, is the distance of any star from that other great circle of the
globe called the ecliptic, and reckoned on the circle of latitude passing through
the star. The ecliptic is the sun's imaginary path around the globe in an oblique
circle which intersects the equator at an angle, described mathematically by 23 degrees
28 minutes; and the same distance from the equator is the amount of the sun's
greatest apparent deviation, northern or southern, from the great central circle; which
deviation is called declination.
15
I was now set up for a Guinea trader; and my friend, to my great misfortune,
dying soon after his arrival, I resolved to go the voyage again; and I embarked
in the same vessel with one who was his mate in the former voyage, and had now
got the command of the ship. This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man
made; for though I did not carry quite 1007. of my new-gained wealth, so that I
had 2001. left, and which I lodged with my friend's widow, who was very just to
me, yet I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage: and the first was this:
Our ship, making her course towards the Canary islands, or rather between those
islands and the african shore, was surprised, in the grey of the morning, by a
We
moorish rover, who gave chase to us with all the sail she could make.
crowded also as much canvas as our yards would spread, or our masts carry, to
get clear; but finding the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up
with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight, our ship having twelve guns, and the
rogue 18. About three in the afternoon he came up with us; and bringing to,
by mistake, just upon our quarter,* instead of athwart our stern, as he intended,
we brought eight of our guns to bear on that side, and poured in a broadside
upon him, which made him sheer off again, after returning our fire, and pouring
in also his small shot from near 200 men which he had on board. IIowever, we
had not a man touched, all our men keeping close. He prepared to attack us
again, and we to defend ourselves; but laying us on board the next time upon
our other quarter, he entered 60 men upon our decks, who inmediately fell to
cutting and hacking the sails and rigging. We plyed them with small shot, half-
pikes, powder-chests, and such like, and cleared our deck of them twice. How-
ever, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship being disabled, three
of our men killed and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield, and were all
carried prisoners into Salee,† a port belonging to Maroco.t
* QUARTER :—in naval architecture, is that end of the ship's side terminating at the
stern frame: in seamanship it signifies the relative situation of any external object on a
direct line prolonged from that corner of the ship, forming an angle of 45 degrees with
the keel, or the perpendicular between the stem and stern.
+ SALEE:-called by the antient geographer, ProLOMEY, Sula, by some other geo-
graphers, Sela, and by its present inhabitants Slah or Sla, is one of the most antient cities
of that northern division of the Marocan empire, denominated the kingdom of Fez. It
stands on the north bank of a river which disembogues into the ocean about 40 leagues
S.S.W. from Cape Spartel, 6 leagues from Mamora between that place and Fedala,
Salee, according to the authority of the late astronomer-royal, MASKELTNE, (Requisite
table, xxix.) is situated in latitude 34° 5' N. longitude 6° 43′ 30" W. the difference of
time between it and Greenwich being 26 minutes 4 seconds. On the opposite side
of the river stands the town of Rabad or New-Salue, which owes its origin to the Anda-
luzian moors, expelled from Spain in 1610 by K. Philip III. The river's mouth is for-
tilìed by a castle on one point and a high thick tower on the other, which, together with
a smaller tower at the town of Salee serve for pilotage marks, to anchor in the road or to
enter the river. Although this is one of the most spacious havens on the western coast
of Maroco (since the dilapidation of Tangier in the time of our King Charles II.) yet
its access is inconvenient owing to a shallow bar across its mouth, which occasionally
shifts and is passable only at high water; so that ships must unload by means of boats in
the road before they can enter. For an account of Tangier, see M. C. ix, 26, 198.
‡ Maroco :—is the country called by the romans Mauritania,with the addition of Tin-
gitana, from the city Tingis, now Tangier: it is vulgarly written among us Morocco;
but is called by the inhabitants, Maroc; which united with the kingdom of Fez, gives
name to the monarchical state that occupies the N.W. corner of Afric, extending upou
the sea coast from the frontier of Algier within the Mediterranean sea, to the maritime
termination of Mount Atlas, in the atlantic ocean, called cape Noon. The vicinage of
this promontory is said to be inhabited by a people called Breberi or the Breberians,
from whence some authors deduce the name "Barbary;" which is applied in common
parlance to all the maritime states of northern Afric: but others account for this appel-
lation in a different manner, for instance; THUANUS [DE THOU] says in his history
Africa veteribus proprie dicta, hodie Barbaria quibusdam vocutur, aliis Barbariae pars."
A spanish writer some time captive in Algier defines the epithet thus:-" Mores,
i
16
The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I apprehended; nor was
I carried up the country to the emperor's court, as the rest of our men were, but
was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize, and made his slave,
being young and nimble, and fit for his business. At this surprising change of
my circumstances, from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly over-
whelmed; and now I looked back upon my father's prophetic discourse to me,
"that I should be miserable, and have none to relieve me;" which I thought was
now so effectually brought to pass, that it could not be worse; and now the hand
of heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone, without redemption. But, alas !
this was but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will appear in the
sequel to this story. As-my new patron,* or master had taken me home to his
house, so I was in hopes he would take me with him when he went to sea again,
believing that it would, some time or other, be his fate to be taken by a spanish
or portuguese man of war, and that then I should be set at liberty. But this
hope of mine was soon taken away; for when he went to sea, he left me on shore
to look after his little garden, and do the common drudgery of slaves about his
house; and when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in
the cabin, to look after the ship. Here I meditated nothing but my escape, and
what method I might take to effect it, but found no way that had the least proba-
bility in it. Nothing presented to make the supposition of it rational; for I had
nobody to communicate it to that I could trust, no fellow countryman to embark
with me; so that for two years, though I often pleased myself with the imagina-
tion, yet I never had the least encouraging prospect of putting it in practice.
After about two years, an odd circumstance presented itself, which put the old
thought of making some attempt for my liberty again in my head. My patron
lying at home longer than usual, without fitting out his ship, which, as I heard,
was for want of money, he used constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes
oftener, if the weather was fair, to take the ship's pinnace, and go out into the
road a-fishing; and as he always took me and a young Morisco* with him to row
Alarbes, Cabayles, y algunos Turcos, todos gente puerca, suzia, torpe, indomita, incivil, inhu-
manu, bestiul: y por tanto tuuo ро cierto razon, el que da pocos anos aca acostumbro llamar
a esta tierra, Barbaria, pues, &c. (D. HAEDO de la captividad en su topogr. e histor, de
Argel: Valladolid, 1612.)–
HOFFMAN, in
bis lexicon universale, gives the following account of this region:-" Mauritania,
Africae regio extrema versus gaditanum fretum et occidentalem oceanum, in quo Antaeus
gigas regnasse dicitur ab Hercule victus. Est autem duplex, Caesariensis a Caesarea, et
Tingitana a civitate Tingi. Gignit simias, dracones, struthiones, et elephantes. Ejus incolae
Mauri dicuntur. Invaluit autem jum apud nostros consuetudo ut omnes Africae et Asiue
populi mahometanae superstitioni dediti, Mauri dicantur. Incolis Numidia vulgo Bar-
baria hodie." The same author, (art. Mauri) gives the following account of the Moors:
-" Mauri, populi qui Mauritaniam Africae regionem occidentalem versus Gaditanum fre-
tum incolunt. Eos fuisse Indos et Hercule duce cum innumerabile aliarum gentium multi-
tudine in haec loca pervenisse multi crediderunt, uti STRABO (1. ult.) scribit. Sane SAL-
LUSTIUS in Jugurthino (c. 18) Mauros et Numidas reliquosque qui maritimam Africae cul-
tiorem reddiderunt Medos, Armenios, Persas, & Phoenices fuisse indicat.
*
PATRONAS the states of Barbary possess those countries that formerly went by
the name of Mauritania and Numidia, the ancient language is still more or less pre-
served in some of the inland districts; and, as certain travellers assert, is retained
even by some of the inhabitants of Maroc. In the sea port towns and maritime coun-
tries, a bastard dialect of Arabic is spoken: but the prevalent idiom is that medley of
living and dead languages, composed of Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese,
so well known to sea-faring people along the shores of the Mediterranean, and deno-
minated lingua franca. Among other terms the one used in the text, has been borrowed
from the Italian, padrone, master; which has even been adopted in our own nautical
tongue so far as that, whereas the principal of a boat's crew is generally designated by
the title, cock-swain; that officer of the long-boat or launch belonging to a ship, par-
ticularly in the case of its being decked or rigged to serve as a "tender," (or attendant)
is often styled the patroon.
MORISCO:the spanish word for moor, or moorish, which as hath already been
17
F
the boat, we made him very merry, and I proved very dexterous in catching fish,
insomuch that sometimes he would send me with one of his kinsmen, and
the youth, to catch a dish of fish for him. It happened one time, that going
a fishing in a stark-calm morning, a fog arose so thick, that though we were not
half a league from the shore, we lost sight of it; and rowing, we knew not whither,
or which way, we laboured all day and all the next night, and when the morning
came, we found we had pulled off to sea, instead of pulling in for the shore, and
that we were at least two leagues from the land: however, we got well in again,
though with a great deal of labour, and some danger, for the wind began to blow
pretty fresh in the morning; but we were all very nearly famished.
Our master, warned by this disaster, resolved to take more care of himself for
the future; and having lying by him the long-boat* of our english ship he had
raken, he resolved he would not go a fishing any more without some provision
and a compass.t
noted (page 16) is an improper appellation, although so universally used as to be ex-
tended even to the moslem of Hindo'stan! The english antiquary will recognise in the
word morisco, the source from whence hath been derived the name of a sport well-known
to our fore-fathers, the moris-dance. The editor hopes to have thrown some light upon
the subject of african nomenclature in the preceding notes on this country: to which he
avails himself of the present recurrence of another example, to subjoin some farther
evidence from erudite authorities. Barbary, (to use the familiar though not the appro-
priate name) contains three classes of inhabitants; Kabyles, Arabs, and Moors. The
first are designated by the appellation of Benni, as the second have that of Weiled,
prefixed to the name of their respective founders. Both words mean offspring (as in
the case of the children of Israël), and denote such and such a tribe: thus Benni-
rashid and Welled-halfa equally signify what antient geographers would have deno-
minated Rashides or Halfades. The Kabyles usually live upon the mountains in
villages termed duskra made up of mud-walled hovels called gurbi; whereas the
arabs are in circular camps termed douwar, on the plains. The Moors, descendants from
the ancient Mauritanians, live in more permanent habitations. The word, "moor,"
generally conveys the idea of a dark or swarthy complexion, (witness the customary
personification of SHAKESPEARE'S Othello;) whereas the traveller, SHAW, says it only
denotes the situation of their country, from an antient word signifying a ferry, or arm
of the sea, like the latin fretum, trajectus, &c. Mav'ri consequently would be the same
as trajectaneus, or ad trajectum vivens, a person dwelling near a narrow part of the sea;
just as the people of Barbary are in fact situated with respect to the strait of Gibraltar,
the fretum gaditanum or herculeum, of the antients. But BоCHART deduceth the term
from another original; his words are :-" Mauri quasi postremi vel occidentales dicti ab
mauharin quod et posterius et occidentem sonat: plene scriberetur mauharin, sed guttu-
rales passim elidi nemo cst qui nesciat."
*
LONG-BOAT:- or launch, is the largest and strongest boat belonging to a ship,
constructed for carrying all weighty things belonging to her, such as water, provisions,
stores, cables; and for weighing or transporting anchors. The boat named "pinnace,"
in the preceding paragraph of the text, was formerly appropriated to the use of captains,
as the "barge" was to that of flag-officers; the former rowing 8 oars, as the latter does
10 or 12: but at present pinnaces have fallen nearly into disuse, and are superseded by
barges throughout the naval establishment, except perhaps in ships of the most inferior
rate, such as fire ships, bombs, sloops, cutters, &c. whose dimensions do not afford stowage
for the larger class of boats.
+ The mariner's compass is an artificial representation of the sensible horizon of that
place where it is, by means of a circular piece of paper, called, in nautical language, a
card; its circumference being divided into 32 equal parts called points or rhumbs. Be-
cause the whole circumference of any circle consists of three hundred and sixty degrees,
(as has been already explained, page 14) and the same is divided into 32 points: to find
how many degrees one point contains, divide 360 by 32, and the quotient will be 11,
that is eleven degrees, and fifteen-sixtieth parts of a degree denominated minutes, equal
to one point, or to that portion of the circumference between any two points. This card
thus divided being properly fixed upon a piece of steel cailed a needle (which by the
touch of a magnet is endued with polarity or the well-known property of pointing to-
ward the north pole of the world) and supported on a pivot whereon it can turn freely
round; the lines drawn from its centre to the north, south, and all other points on the
Robinson Crusoe.
C
[Naval Chronicle Edition.]
t
18
હૈ
NWIN
NNW
MIN
M12AIN
MNM
Nam
ISTM
MLSM.
M2MS'
ALS
MIN
NORTH
NBE

NNE
SSW
SWbS
NEUN
NE
NELE
ENE
EIN
ELS
EAST
IS
SELS
SSE
SVE
SOUTH
ᏚᏂᎳ
ESE
SELE
So he ordered the carpenter
of the ship, who was an european slave, to
build a little state room or cabin in the middle of the long-boat, like that of
an english river-barge, with a place to stand behind it, to steer and haul home
the main-sheet,* and room before for a hand or two to stand and work the
card, will point toward the corresponding places of the horizon; and therefore by the
tendency of this instrument a ship may be directed in any proposed course, The names
and order of the points, commencing at north, and proceeding round easterly are as
follows:-NORTE; North by East; North-North-East; North-East by North; North-
East; North-East by East; East-North-East; East by North; EAST; East by South ;
East-South-East; South-East by East; South-East; South-East by South; South-South-
East; South by East; SOUTH; South by West; South-South-West; South-West by
South; South-West; South-West by West; West-South-West; West by South; WEST;
West by North; West-North-West; North-West by West; North-West; North-West
by North; North-North-West; North by West; North. In practice these points are
usually indicated by their respective initial letters, as for North-N. for North by East.
-N. b. E. &c. as expressed in the accompanying delineation of this instrument.
"The watchful ruler of the helm, no more
With fixed attention eyes the adjacent shore;
But, by the oracle of truth below,
The wond'rous magnet guides the wayward prow."
FALCONER.
Shipwreck: canto ii.
• MAIN-SHEET :-It is necessary to remark that the sheets or sheats, which are
sometimes mistaken by english writers, more especially poets, for sails, are the ropes
that are used to extend the clues, or lower corners, of the sails.
Deep on her side the reeling vessel lies:
Brail up the mizen quick! the master cries,
Man the clue-garnets! let the main sheet ly!"
FALCONER Shipwreck: canto ii.
In the case of vessels denominated "fore-and-aft rigged" like the one described in
the text, the tack or fore corner of the mainsail is secured to the mast, the clue or after
19
A
sails. She sailed with what we call a shoulder of mutton sail, and the boom*
gibed over the top of the cabin, which lay very snug and low, and had in it
room for him to lie, with a slave or two, and a table to cat on, with some small
lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor as he thought fit to drink, and parti-
cularly his bread, rice, and coffee.
We went frequently out with this boat a fishing, and, as I was the most dex-
terous to catch fish for him, he never went without me. It happened that he had ap-
pointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for fish, with two or three
Moors of some distinction in that place, and for whom he had provided extraor-
dinarily, and had, therefore, sent on board the boat, over-night, a larger store
of provision than ordinary, and had ordered me to get ready three fusils, with
powder and shot, which were on board his ship, for that they designed some
sport of fowling, as well as fishing.
I got all things ready as he directed, and waited the next morning with the
boat washed clean, her ensign and pendant out, and every thing to accommodate
his guests; when, by-and-by, my master came on board alone, and told me his
guests had put off going, upon some business that fell out, and ordered me, with
the man and boy, as usual, to go out with the boat, and catch them some fish,
for that his friends were to sup at his house; and commanded, that, as
soon as I had got some fish, I should bring it home; all which I prepared
This moment, my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts; for
to do.
:
corner of the same, is made fast to the end of the boom, and the sheet serves to regulate
the angle at which the main-sail stands, as also to check the violent movements of the
boom during any change of manœuvres. In sloop-rigged vessels the main-sheet block
is double-strapped; the bights of the strap are put over the inner end of the boom and
placed between two cleats thereon, right over the vessel's stern: a round seizing is then
clapped on underneath; sometimes the bights of the strap are lashed together above
the boom, like the blocks on ships' yards. The end of the sheet is bent to a becket in
the strap of the upper sheet block, with a sheet bend reeved alternately through the upper
block and the lower one, which is also double; and the end is led in upon deck: the lower
block is strapped to a thimble either on an iron horse or in a ring-bolt at the sternpost.
*Вooмin the sea language, a long pole wherewith they spread out the clue or
foot of a sail, usually the mainsail, of sloops, cutters, and schooners, also of studding-
sails; but, sometimes, a temporary booming of other sails is resorted to for making them
broader, and receive more wind but booming of a square sail is never used but in quarter
winds, or before a wind. By a wind, studding-sails, and booming the sails is not ex-
pedient. Boom, also, may, in some cases, denote a pole, with a bush or basket at the
top, otherwise called a beacon, placed to direct ships how to steer into a channel;
Boom, likewise, is used in marine fortification, to denote a cable or cables stretched
athwart the mouth of a river, or harbour, with yards, top-masts, battlings, or spars of
wood, lashed to it, and girded with iron hoops rivetted together, and nailed to the spars,
to prevent an enemy's entering. Such a boom (being the most famous instance on
record) Mr. Chateau-Renault had, with diligence and art, prepared at Vigo, for the
defence of the Plate fleet lying there in 1702; but how strong soever, it was forced by
Sir Thomas Hopson. The cables of which the boom is formed, are bent to a pair of
the heaviest anchors on each side of the channel. Other cables are sometimes fastened
to that within the boom, and bent to anchors laid in the stream; and these cables
are prepared with spars like the other; where wood is scarce, the hoom is prepared
with old ropes, &c, and iron hoops; every part of it being well saturated with pitch
strewed with composition, such as is used for the preservation of out-buildings. The
boom is generally so contrived as to open at one end for the passage of vessels. The
"shoulder-of-mutton sail," connected with this article in the text, is a sail of which
the lower part resembles the ordinary boomed mainsail common to most small craft;
but it tapers to less than a quarter of the customary proportion at the head of the sail, which
is "bent" to, or spread upon, a smaller boom, the particular name for which is "gaft."
GIBE or jibe, is the action of a boom swinging across a vessel by the operation of
the wind blowing obliquely upon the stern, when it changes its direction from one to-
wards the other quarter of the vessel.
C 2
20
!
now I found I was like to have a little ship at my command; and, my master
being gone, I prepared to furnish myself, not for a fishing business, but for a
voyage; though I knew not, neither did I so much as consider, whither I should
steer; for any where, to get out of that place, was my way.
:
(6
(6
My first contriyance was, to make a pretence, to persuade this Moor to get
something for our subsistence on board; for I told him we must not presume
to eat of our master's bread; he said, that was true; so he brought a large
basket of rusk, or biscuit of their kind, and three jars with fresh water, into the
boat. I knew where my master's case of bottles stood, which it was evident
by the make, were taken out of some english prize, and I conveyed them into
the boat, while the Moor was ou shore, as if they had been there before for
Our master. I conveyed also a great lump of bees wax into the boat, which
weighed above half a hundred weight, with a parcel of twine or thread, a hatchet,
a saw, and a hammer, all of which were of great use to us, afterwards,
especially the wax, to make candles. Another trick I tried upon him, which
he innocently came into also: his name was Ismaël, with the titular addition of
Mooley so I called to him; Mouley" said I, our master's guns are on
board the boat, can you not get a little powder and shot? it may be, we may
kill some alcamis (fowls like our curlews) for ourselves, for I know he keeps the
gunner's stores in the ship."-"Yes," says he, "I'll bring some;" and, accord-
ingly, he brought a leather pouch, which held about a pound and a half of
powder, or rather more, and another with shot, perhaps five or six pounds, with
some bullets, and put all into the boat; at the same time, I found some
powder of my master's in the great cabin, with which I filled one of the
large bottles in the case; and thus furnished with every thing needful, we
sailed out of the port to fish. The guard at the castle, which is at the entrance
of the port, knew who we were, and took no notice of us; and we were not
above a mile out of the port, before we hauled in our sail, and set us down
to fish. The wind blew from N.N.E. which was contrary to my desire: for,
had it blown southerly, 1 had been sure to have made the coast of Spain,
and, at last, reached to the bay of Cadiz ;* but my resolutions were, blow
which way
it would, I would be gone from the horrid place, where I was, and
leave the rest to fate.
After we had fished some time, and catched nothing, for when I had fish
on my hook I would not pull them up, that he might not see them, I said
to the Moor, "This will not do; our master will not be thus served; we must
stand farther off." He, thinking no harm, agreed; and, being at the head of
the boat, set the sails; and, as I had the helm, I ran the boat near a mile
farther, and then brought-to, as if I would fish. Then, giving the boy the helm,
I stepped forward to where the Moor was; took him by surprise, with my arın
under his, waist; and tost him clear overboard into the sea. He rose immedi-
ately, for he swam like a cork, and called to me, begged to be taken in, and told
me he would go all the world over with me. He swam so strong after the boat,
that he would have reached me very quickly, there being but little wind; upon
which I stepped into the cabin, and fetching one of the fowling-pieccs, I presented
it at him, and told him, I had done him no hurt, and, if he would be quiet, I
* CADIZ :- Latitude 36° 31′ 7″ N. Longitude 6° 17′ 15″ W. difference of time be-
tween it and Greenwich 25 m. 9 s. Cadiz is a noted city and port, on the coast of
Spain, facing the atlantic ocean, at the N. W. end of the isle of Leon; which is con-
nected with the continent by the bridge of Suazo, over a creek of the sea, called the
river Sancti-Petri, navigable only for boats or small craft; the tide runs here N. E.
and S. W. and it is high water with spring-tides at past 4 o'clock. A picturesque
view of this place from the south is in the aval Chronicle vol. xxiii. a chart of
the harbour in vol. xxi, and a plan of the city in vol. xxii. accompanied by textual
descriptions. Cadiz has proved the ultimate bulwark of the kingdom against the un-
principled invasion of it by the French under the government of Napoleon Buonaparté,
in 1808, from which it was finally delivered in 1813, by the aid of England.
21
'would do him none: "L
But," said I," you swim well enough to reach the shore,
the sea is calin; make the best of your way to shore, and I will do you no harm:
but, if you come near the boat, I will shoot you through the head; for I am
resolved to have my liberty." So he turned himself about, and swam for the
shore; and I make no doubt but he reached it with ease, for he was an excellent
swimmer.
I could have been content to have taken this Moor with me rather than the boy;
but there was no venturing to trust him. When he was gone, I turned to the
boy, whom they called Xury, and said to him, " Xury! if you will be faithful to
me I will make you a great man; but if you will not swear by Allah and Moha-
med to be true to me, I must throw you into the sea too." The boy smiled in
my face, and spoke so innocently, that I could not mistrust him; and swore to
be faithful.
While I was in view of the Moor who was swimming, I stood out directly
to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that they might think me gone
towards the Strait's mouth (as indeed any one that had been in their wits must
have been supposed to do); for who would have supposed we were sailing on
to the southward, to the truly barbarian coast, where whole nations of wan-
dering Arabs or Negrost were sure to surprise and destroy us; where we could
never once go on shore but we should be devoured by savage beasts, or more
merciless savages of human kind.
* See note to page 15.
+ NEGRO-the black species of mankind, best known to us in a state of slavery ;
an african people forming a considerable article in the modern commerce. The direct
export traffic in Afric, called the "slave trade." is now abolished by act of parlament,
so far as concerns british subjects; but it is still carried on by other nations; and vast
numbers of this unfortunate race are employed to cultivate our insular colonies, in
bondage that has no termination but death.
The origin of negros, and the cause of that remarkable difference in complexion
from the rest of mankind, has much perplexed the naturalists; nor has any thing quite
satisfactory been yet offered on that head. Mr. BOYLE has observed, that the heat of
the climate cannot be the true cause of the colour of negros; for, though the ardour of
the sun may darken the colour of the skin, yet experience does not shew that heat is
sufficient to produce a true blackness, like that of negros. In Afric itself many nations
of Ethiopia are not negros, nor were there any blacks originally in the West Indies.
In many parts of Asia, under the same parallel with the african regions, inhabited by
blacks, the people are but tawny. He adds, that there are negros in Afric, beyond
the southern tropic, and that a river sometimes parts nations, one of which is black, and
the other but tawny. (BOYLE's Works, abr. vol. ii. p. 42. 44.) Dr. BARRERE alleges,
that the gall of negros is black, and being mixed with their blood, is deposited between
their skin and scarf skin. (Diss. on the Physical Cause of the Colour of Negros.) We
have a dissertation on this head by Dr. JouN MITCHELL, of Virginia, in the Phil.
Trans. (No. 476, sect 4.) where he advances these propositions, and enters into a
learned detail to support them :-1. The colour of white people proceeds from the
colour which the epidermis transmits; that is, from the colour of the parts under the
epidermis, rather than from any colour of its own.-2. The skins of negros are of a
thicker substance, and denser texture, than those of white people, and transmit no
colour through them.-3. The part of the skin which appears black in negros, is the
corpus reticulare cutis, and external lamella of the epidermis; all other parts are the
same colour in them with those of other people, except the fibres which pass between
those two parts.-4. The colour of negros does not proceed from any black humour or
fluid parts contamed in their skins; there being none such in any part of their bodies,
more than in white people.-5. The epidermis, especially its external lamella, is divided
into two parts by its pores and scales, two hundred times less than the particles of bodies
on which their colours depend. This is founded on LEUWENHOECK'S observation, that
a portion of the epidermis no bigger than what can be discerned by the naked eye, is
divided into 125000 pores, and these pores must divide such a portion of the skin
into as many particles.
Negros are brought from Guinea and other coasts of Afric, and sent into the spanish
22
But, as soon as it grew dusk, in the evening, I changed my course, and
steered directly S. by E. bending my course a little toward the east, that I
might keep in with the shore; and, having a fair fresh gale of wind, and a
smooth quiet sea, I made such sail, that I believe by the next day, in the
afternoon, when I made the land, I could not be less than 150 miles south
of Salee, quite beyond the Emperor of Maroco's dominions, or perhaps of
any other sovereign thereabout; for we saw no people.
Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful appre-
hensions I had of falling into their hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore,
or come to an anchor, the wind continuing fair, till I had sailed in that manner
five days; and then the wind shifting to the southward, I concluded, also, that, if
any of our vessels were in chase of me, they also would now give over: so I
ventured to make to the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little
river; I knew not what or where, neither what latitude, what country, what
nation, or what river. I neither saw, or desired to see, any people; the prin
cipal thing I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening,
resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was quite dark, and discover the country;
but, as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful noises of the barking,
and portuguese colonies in America, to cultivate sugar, tobacco, indigo, &c. and into Peru,
Mexico, and Brazil, to dig in the mines. This commerce, which is scarcely defensible
on the principles, either of morality or humanity, is now carried on by those nations.
See a subsequent note in this work, explanatory of the word Assiento, (page 39).
There are various ways of procuring these Negros ; some, to avoid famine, sell them-
selves, their wives, and children, to their princes, or great men, who have wherewithal
to subsist them. Others are made prisoners in war; and great numbers are kidnapped
in excursions made for that very purpose, by the petty chieftains, upon one another's
territories; in which it is usual to sweep away all, old and young, male and female ;
the Negros, also, make a frequent practice of surprising one another, while the european
vessles are at anchor on their coasts; of dragging those they have caught thither, and
selling them. This is called in the commercial jargon of the coast panear. In fact, it is no
extraordinary thing to see the son sell, after this manner, his father or mother, and the
parents their own children, for a bar of iron, or a few bottles of spirituous liquor. As soon
as the ship has its complement, it immediately makes off; the poor wretches, while yet
in sight of their country, falling into such deep grief and despair, that a great part of
them languish, fall into sickness, and die, during the passage: while others of them
despatch themselves. It has been calculated, that not less than one hundred thousand
slaves have, for many years, been exported by the Europeans from the coast of Afric,
Although the perversity of too many of our countrymen, shewn in the breach or
evasion of the Abolition Act, does not admit of this nefarious trade being said to be
totally suppressed among us; yet, being now classed among felonies on the statute
book, it can only be carried on by stealth, to a very limited extent compared with former
times; and under a liability to heavy pains and penalties. Negro-land is thus described
in a curious book entituled "Africa," compiled by JOHN OGILBY, master of H. M's
revels in Ireland (London, 1670); "This countrey spreading from the north to the
south, that is, from the desart of Lybia to the banks of the river Niger, is, at this day,
with a general name called Negro-land; or the countrey of the blacks or Negros; which
Marmot placeth in Nether Ethiopia, without adding, that the Arabians call it Beled-el-
Abid and Beled-Geneva, and Neuha. All the inhabitants of this province were called
by the ancients, as PLINY, and the geographer PTOLOMEY, ethiopian Nigrites, or, ac-
cording to the orthography of DIONYSIUS, in his book of the situation of the earth,
Negretes, as some have called them in Greek, Melanes; which, according to STEPHA-
NUS de urbibus, as the former name, signifieth blacks; perhaps derived from the colour
of the inhabitants, or nature of the soil, or because of the desarts, which spread from
the mountain Atlas to the river Niger, or else because Niger casts up blackish sediment,
some rocks appearing in the middle of the stream as if burat; the most will have it, that
the people have gotten their name from the river Niger, which moisteneth their countrey,
In this countrey are placed also PTOLOMEY'S ethiopian Aganginers, the Africans or
Gamfasantins, Perosers, Matirers, Ptoemfaners, Nubians, Atlanticans, Garamantins, and
other antient people besides." &c.
#
23
roaring, and howling, of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the
poor boy was ready to die with fear, and begged of me not to go on shore till
day. "Well, Xury," said I," then I will not; but it may be we may see men
by day, who will be as bad to us as those lions."" Then we may give them the
shoot-gun," says Xury, laughing; "make them run way." Such dialect Xury
spoke by conversing among the slaves. However, I was glad to see the boy so
cheerful, and I gave him a dram out of our master's case of bottles to cheer him
up. After all, Xury's advice was good, and I took it. We dropped our little
anchor,+ and lay still all night; I say, still, for we slept none; because, in two or
three hours, we saw vast creatures (we knew not what to call them), of many
sorts, come down to the sea-shore, and run into the water, wallowing and wash-
ing for the pleasure of cooling themselves: and they made such hideous how-
lings and yellings, that I never indeed heard the like.
'
Xury was frightened, and indeed so was I too; but we were both more dread-
fully frightened when we heard one of these mighty creatures swimming towards
our boat; we could not see him, but we might hear him, by his blowing, to be a
monstrous, huge, and furious beast. Xury said it was a lion, and it might be
so, for aught I know; but poor Xury cried to me to weigh the anchor and row
away. "No," says I, " Xury! we can slip our cablet with the buoy to it, and
go off to sea; they cannot follow us far." I had no sooner said so, but I per-
ceived the creature (whatever it was) within two oars length, which something
surprised me, however, I immediately stept to the cabin door, and, taking up
my gun, fired at him; upon which he immediately turned about, and swam
to the shore again. It is impossible to describe the horrible noises, and
cries that were raised, as well upon the edge of the shore as higher within
* The noise made by jackals and other ravenous beasts during the night, besides
denoting the pursuit of prey, is, perhaps, the means by which the different sexes find
out and correspond with their mates it recalls to remembrance Psalm civ. 20, and
Isaiah xiii. 22.
·
† ANCHOR:-Although the figure and use of this article of a ship's furniture must be so
familiar to readers of every class as to render any detailed description superfluous, beyond
the definition that has been given in a preceding page (7), yet the lover of historical re-
search may be interested by the following additional information. The first invention
of an anchor is ascribed by PLINY to the Tyrrhenians; by other writers to MIDAS,
son of GORDIAS, whose anchor PAUSANIAS declares was preserved until his time in a
temple dedicated unto Jupiter. The most ancient anchors were made of stone (accord-
ing to APOLLONIUS RHODIUS in his Argonautics, and to ARRIAN in his periplus of the
Pont'-Euxin), afterwards of wood ballasted by a quantity of lead; on some occasions
baskets filled with stones, and even sacks of sand were used. But the primitive an-
chor is stated to have had but one fluke: those made on a more improved plan by the
Greeks, when either EPILA MIUs Eupalamus], or the Scythian philosopher ANACHAR-
SIS had introduced the double fluke, are said by Dr. POTTER to have been much the
same with what are used at present, except that, like a boat's grapnel, the transverse
piece, called the stock was wanting. Each vessel had an anchor which surpassed the rest
in size, answering to our sheet-anchor, which was reserved for cases of extreme danger;
therefore esteemed sacred; and thus became the emblem of hope. See Maval Chro-
nicle, vol. i. p. 463. ii. 180. iv. 218. 370. xxvii. 305.
‡ CABLE a thick, long, three-strand rope, ordinarily of hemp, serving to hold ships
firm at anchor, in roads, harbours, or large rivers. In Europe, the cables are commonly
made of hemp; in Afric, of long straw, or rushes called bass; and in Asia, of peculiar kinds
of vegetable fibre, called coir and gumatty. The word cable comes from the Hebrew
word khebel cord. Du CANGE derives it from the Arabic, habl, cord, or habalų, vincire:
MENAGE, from capulum or cabulum; and that from the Greek xaμna, or the Latin
camelus. The term cable is sometimes also applied to the cordage used to raise massy
loads, by means of cranes, wheels, and other like engines; though, in strictness, cable
is not to be applied to ropes of less than three inches circumference. Every cable, of
whatever thickness it be, is composed of three strands; each strand of three twists;
and each twist of a certain number of caburas, or threads of rope yaru, more or less,
as the cable is to be thicker or smaller.
24
the country, upon the explosion of the gun; a thing, I believe, those creatures
had never heard before. This convinced me there was no going on shore
for us in the night upon that coast; and how to venture in the day was
another question too; for to have fallen into the hands of any of the savages,
had been as bad as to have fallen into the paws of lions and tigers; at least, we
were equally apprehensive of the danger of it.
Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on shore somewhere or other for
water, for we had not a pint left in the boat; when and where to get it was the
point. Xury said, if I would let him go on shore with one of the jars, he would
find if there was any water, and bring some to me. I asked him why he would
go; why I should not go, and he stay in the boat. The boy answered with so
much affection, that he made me love him ever after. Says he, "If wild mans
come, they eat me, you go way. "Well, Xury," said I, we will both go; and
if the wild mans come, we will kill them; they shall cat neither of us.'
gave Xury a piece of rusk bread to eat, and another dram out of our master's
case, which I mentioned before; and we hauled the boat in as near the shore as
we thought was proper, and so waded to land, carrying nothing but our weapons,
and two jars for water.
66
So I
I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the coming of canoes*
To make a cable; after forming the strands, they use staves; which they first pass
between the strands, that they may turn the better, and be intertwisted the more re-
gularly together. And, to prevent any entangling, a weight is hung at the end of each
strand. The cable being properly twisted, neither too much, so as to become stiff, nor
too little, so as to be flaccid, is untwisted again three or four turns, that the rest
may the better retain its state; the usual allowance for the diminution of length by
twisting is one third of the whole; so that, for a cable of the ordinary length,
120 fathoms, the rope-yarn must be 180 fathoms long. Every merchant vessel
has three cables; viz. the main or master-cable, called the sheet-cable, which is that
of the chief anchor; and the two bowers, best and small.
A long scope of cable is not so apt to break as a short one, because it draws more
horizontally on the anchor than the other; and a ship will ride more smoothly as well
as more safely with a long cable, because she will not be so liable to plunge deep in
the water with her fore-part.
* CANOE;-(from the French canot), a name given to the boat used by the savages in
both Indies, as well as by the Negros in Guinea, made chiefly of the trunks of trees
scooped hollow; sometimes of pieces of bark fastened together. The common canoes
among the Indians, are those made of trees hollowed; being either greater or less ac-
cording to the size of the tree they are made of. They are rowed with paddles
and rarely carry sails; the loading is laid at the bottom; but, having no ballast, they
are frequently turned upside down. They have no rudder, the want of which is sup-
plied by paddles. The Negros of Guinea use the same sort of canoes, though made
in a different manner. They are long shaped, having only room for one person in
width, and seven or eight in length; they shew little wood above the water; those
who row are extremely dexterous, not only in giving the strokes with cadence and uni-
formity, by which their canoes seem to fly along the surface of the water; but also in
balancing the vessel with their bodies, and preventing their overturning, which, other-
wise, on account of their lightness, would continually happen. Add, that, when they
are overturned, they have the address to turn them up again in the water itself, and
mount them a-new. They venture as far as four leagues to sea, but dare not venture
much farther. They are usually sixteen feet long, and a foot or two wide, though
there are some larger, as far as thirty-five feet long, five wide, and three high, used
for the ferrying of cattle and for expeditions in war. They are fitted with sails made
of rushes. On return from a voyage, the canoes are not left in the water, but presently
drawn a-shore, where they are hung by the two ends, and left to dry; in which state
they are so light, that two men will easily carry them on their shoulders. The canoes
of the north Americans are made of the bark of the birch-tree, sometimes large enough
to hold four or five persons. Those of the savages of Terra-del-Fuego, and the other
islands of the strait of Magelhaens, are also of bark, and fashioned with great skill, from
ten to sixteen feet long, and two wide, capable of holding eight men, who row standing,
25
with savages down the river; but the boy, seeing a low place, about a mile up
the country, rambled to it; and, by and by, I saw him come running toward
me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, or frightened by some wild
beast; and I, therefore, ran forwards to help him; but, when I came nearer
to him, I saw something hanging over his shoulders, which was a creature that he
had shot, like a hare, but different in colour, and longer legs; however, we were
very glad of it, and it was very good meat; but the great joy that poor Xury came
with was, to tell me he had found good water, and seen no wild mans.
But
we found afterwards, that we need not take such pains for water; for, a little
higher up the creek where we were, we found the water fresh when the tide
was out, which flowed but a little way up; so we filled our jars, and, having a
fire, feasted on the hare we had killed; and prepared to go on our way, having
seen no footsteps of any human creature in that part of the country.
As I had been a voyage to this coast before, I knew very well that the isles of Canary,*
and the Cape Verde isles,+ also, lay not far from the coast; but, as I had
with surprising swiftness. In the repository of the Royal Society is the model of a
Groenland canoe, covered with seal-skin, and resembling an oblong bladder; so as that,
however the waves dash over it, the person in it is safe. It is rowed with a single paddle.
* CANARY:-Is the english version of canaria, the proper name of a group of islands
in the north Atlantic ocean, which front the western coast of Afric, at the distance of
about 50 leagues from Cape Non, occupying a space comprised between latitude 27°
and 290 N. longitude 15° and 18° W. They are in number seven; viz. Lancerota,
Fuertaventura, Gran-Canaria, Teneriffe, Palma, Gomera, Fierro, besides several unin-
habited islots. They anciently bore the name of Fortunate isles, and are thus recorded
by the geographer POMPONIUS MELA (De situ orbis, b. iii. c. 17);-" Contra Fortunatue
insulae abundant sua sponte genitis, & subinde aliis super aliis innascentibus nihil solicitos
alunt, beatiùs quam aliae urbes excultae: una singulari duorum fontium ingenio muximé
insignis; alterum qui gustavere risu solvuntur in mortem; ita affectis remedium est ex
altero bibere." Athough the city of Palmas on Canaria is the proper metropolis of
these isles, being the episcopal see, and the seat of justice, yet Santa Cruz in Teneriffe
has obtained the pre-eminence, as being the residence of the governor-general, and also
the port most resorted to by foreigners. Celebrity attaches to this cluster, among mari-
ners and geographers, on the two-fold account of that conspicuous elevation of the
carth, the peaked mountain of Teneriffe; and of the first meridian of longitude having
formerly been reckoned from the most westerly island, called Fierro (or iron): a prac-
tice which, in fact, has not yet entirely ceased in certain european states, although, for the
most part, it is now customary to place the first meridian in the capital city, or principal
astronomical observatory of each kingdom respectively, thus english geographers compute
their longitude from Greenwich; the French from Paris; and other nations according to
the same rule; though, as has been already observed, the selection of Fierro still obtaining
in the construction of some of the continental maps, it becomes of so much importance.
to the navigator to be aware of, and attentive to this circumstance, that the editor is
solicitous to record in this place, that the observatory of Paris is situated 20 20′ 15″ E.
from that of Greenwich; Fierro (town) 17° 45′ 8" W. consequently the difference of
meridians between the latter and Paris is 20° 5' 23" according to the authority of the
english board of longitude,
ן
CAPE VERDE ISLES:-are a cluster so called from their vicinity to the african
headland of that name. They are in number ten; vis. Bona-vista, Sal, Mayo, St.
Lago, Fuego (or Fogo), Brava, St. Nicholas, Santa Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Antonio, besides
islots without names or inhabitants. Bonavista, the most easterly island, requires cau-
tious navigation to approach it, owing to certain dangers in its vicinity, which have
caused the loss of several ships and nearly proved fatal to our famed circumnavigator
Cook, on his outward bound voyage. Ships do not now frequent the channel between
this island and the continent so often as formerly; those which do, generally keep in
longitude between 19° and 200 W. the geographical site of Bonavista (N. end) is lati-
tude 16° 15′ N. longitude 22° 52′ W. St. Antonio, the N.-westernmost of the Cape
Verde isles, is often seen by ships in passing to the westward, and prior to the general
use of the present improved methods of ascertaining the longitude, it was almost always
deemed desirable to gain a sight of it, in order to correct the dead reckoning. Although
this is not now requisite, yet it is practicable without fear of delay; for the summit of
!
26.
no instruments, to take an observation, to find what latitude we
were in
and did not exactly know, or at least remember what latitude they were in; I
knew not where to look for them, or when to stand off to sea towards them,
otherwise I might now have easily found some of these islands. My hope was, that
if I stood along this coast till I came to the part where the English traded, I
should find some of their vessels upon their usual design of trade, that would
relieve and take us in.
By the best of my calculation, the place where I now was, must be that
country* which lying between the Emperor of Maroco's dominions and the
Negros, remains waste and uninhabited, except by wild beasts; the Negros having
abandoned it, and gone farther south, for fear of the Moors, and the Moors not
thinking it worth inhabiting, by reason of its barrenness; and, indeed, both
forsaking it because of the prodigious numbers of tigers, lions, leopards, and
other furious creatures, which harbour there: so that the Moors use it for their
hunting only, where they go like an ariny, one or two thousand men at a time
and, indeed, for near a hundred miles together upon this coast, we saw nothing
but a waste, uninhabited country by day, and heard nothing but howlings, and
roaring of wild beasts by night. In the day-time, once or twice, I thought I
saw the Pico of Teneriffe, being the top of a mountain in the Canaries,
and I had a great mind to venture out, in hopes of reaching thither; but,
having tried twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds; the sea also
going too high for my little vessel; so I resolved to pursue my first design, and
keep along the shore.
St. Antonio being 7400 feet above the surface of the sea (according to recent admea-
surement) it may be seen near 30 leagues from a ship's deck. The geographical site
of this eminence is latitude 17° 2' N. longitude 25° 25′ W. St. Iago is the most con-
siderable island of the group, and the most frequented by foreign shipping, on account of
its road on the S. E. side, called Porto-Praya. It is, however, as an anchorage or
place of refreshment, inferior to St. Vincent, the westernmost isle but one, as hath
been demonstrated by the hydrographical report of a naval officer who visited this
latter place a few years ago, inserted in the Daval Chronicle, (xxx. 61.) According to
which statement, it appears, that the harbour of St. Vincent is, on three sides, a perfect
basin, rendered complete by the isle St. Antonio in front, at four leagues distance,
capacious enough to contain, with the utmost safety, two hundred sail of shipping,
with good bottom, and regular soundings, from 35 fathoms to the very beach. Farther
interesting particulars concerning these isles can be collected by referring to B. C.
vii, 513. xxv, 233. xxix, 304.
"
* That belt of desert country, which separates the territories of Maroco, and
the other maritime states of Barbary, from Negro-land or the country of the blacks;
extending from Mount Atlas on the north, to Senegal on the south, is called Zahara or
Zaara. The mid-land, or eastern portion of this district is named Beled-el-jereed, or
the dry country," corruptly and unmeaningly rendered, in some maps and books,
"Biledulgerid." By the terms "desert," or "wilderness," applied to this and similar
tracts of country in Afric and in Asia, the reader is not always to understand a country
absolutely barren or unfruitful; but such as from want of cultivation is unproductive;
for, wherever fountains or rills of water exist, though but sparingly, herbage is still
more or less interspersed. Although the wilderness where Jesus is said, by the evan-
gelists to have been "tempted," is in a district of Syria where the soil is rocky, and the
ground mountainous; yet, in general, the desert is so called rather from its being a
solitude, than as being absolutely uninhabitable.
•
+ TENERIFFE:-is that island of the canarian cluster, the most familiarly known to
voyagers and to the generality of readers, owing to its famous peak; to its wines, either
under their proper names of Orotava, and Vidonia, or their not uncommonly assumed
title of Madeira; and to its capital, Santa-Cruz [Holy Cross], being the most frequented
port of any in the Canary isles, and the emporium of their trade with Europe and with
America. The peak is the summit of a mountain originally called Teydéh, nearly in
the centre of the island; it is estimated to be 12138 feet, or, in round numbers, 24
english miles above the level of the sea, and may be seen upwards of 100, in clear
weather. The geographical site of this mountain is in latitude 28° 15′ 38″ N. longitude
27

KESMESMIEST
Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water, after we had left this
place; and once, in particular, being early in the morning, we came to an an-
chor under a little point of land which was pretty high; and the tide beginning
to flow, we lay still, to go farther in. Xury, whose eyes were more about him
than, it seems, mine were, calls softly to me, and tells me, that we had best go
farther off the shore ; "for," says he, "look, yonder lies a terrible monster
on the side of that hill, fast asleep." I looked where he pointed, and I saw a
dreadful monster indeed, for it was a great lion,* that lay on the side of the
16° 45′ 33″ W. according to the Requisite Tables; but Captain Cook_places it in lati-
tude 28° 18′ N. The magnetic variation here was 16° W. in 1792. In the Requisite
Tables, Santa Cruz is stated to be in latitude 28° 29′ 4″ N. longitude 16° 22′ 30″ W.
and this an eminent hydrographer of the prescut day, after careful comparison with
the observations of Captains Cook and Vancouver, infers to be the true position of the
place, which must not be confounded with another Santa (or Sancta) Cruz, in the
Grand-Canary, whose latitude is 28° 10' 37" N. The primitive name of the island, or
the mountain is stated, in some books of repute, to have been Teydé: but the account
given by Glass (M. C. x, 204) says: "this island was named Thenerife, or the white
mountain,' by the natives of Palma; Thener, in their language, signifying mountain,
and ife, white; its peak or summit being always covered with snow, while Fahrenheit's
thermometer has been observed within sight of it to stand at 890 in the shade. In the
year 1656, the protector, Cromwell, having declared war against Spain, despatched
Admiral Blake to infest the coasts, and act against the shipping of that power. On the
20th April, 1657, he arrived at Santa-Cruz, where he found the south-american Plate
fleet; which he attacked with incredible resolution, and entirely destroyed. See the
biographical memoir of Admiral Robert Blake, in the Rabat Chronicle, (xxxi, 16) and
Andrew Marvell's lines on that achievement in a prior volume of the same publication
(viii, 329). Santa-Cruz has been, in our time, the object of an unsuccessful and dis-
astrous attempt, by Admiral Nelson, (D. C. iii, 178) A view of Santa-Cruz, taken
when about three miles off, eastward of it, in the autumn of 1803, exhibiting the sublime
elevation of the snow-capt peak, is also to be found in the useful work already quoted;
(3. C. vol. x, for the year 1803).
* LION :-(Felis leo, LINNE.) is eminently distinguished from the rest of the beasts
of prey, by his size, strength, form, and disposition. This animal is produced through-
out Afric, and in some parts of Asia. It is found in the greatest numbers in the sultry
regions of the torrid zone, particularly in the solitudes of Zahara and B'led-el-jerced,
where the lion seems to reign sole master, and his natural ardour of character is inflamed
28
shore.
((
??
;
Xury!" says I, you shall go on shore, and kill him." Xury looked
frightened, and said, "Me kill! he eat me at one mouth (one mouthful
he meant). However, I said no more to the boy, but bade him be still
and I took our biggest gun, which was almost musquet hore, loaded it, with
a good charge of powder, with two slugs, and laid it down; then I loaded
another gun with two bullets; and a third, for we had three pieces, I loaded
with five smaller bullets. I took the best aim I could with the first piece to
have shot him in the head; but he lay so, with his leg raised a little above his
nose, that the slugs hit his leg about the knee; he stared up, growling at first,
but finding his leg broken; fell down, then got up again, and gave the most
hideous roar that ever I heard.

I was a little surprised that I had not hit him on the head; however, I took
up the second piece immediately, and, though he began to move off, fired again,
shot him in the head, and had the pleasure to see him drop, and make
little noise, but lie struggling for life. Then Xury took heart, and would have
me let him go on shore. "Well, go," said I; so the boy jumped into the water,
and taking a little gun in one hand, swam to shore with the other hand, and
coming close to the creature, put the muzzle of the piece to his ear, and shot
him in the head again, which despatched him quite.
This was game, indeed, to us, but it was no food; and I was very sorry to lose
three charges of powder and shot upon a creature that was good for nothing to
However, Xury said he would have some of him; so he comes on board,
and asked me to give him the hatchet: "For what, Xury," said I.
us.
" Me cut
by the influence of a burning sun and a scorched soil. The length of the largest lion
is above eight feet, the tail about four, and its height from four to four and a half. The
female is about one-fourth part less than the male, who, besides his superior size, is at once
recognized by a large and shaggy mane, which he can erect at will, and which renders
his front peculiarly awful. Notwithstanding the passions of this animal are strong, its
appetites voracious, and its rage terrific, yet numberless accounts assure us, that, unlike
the rest of the cat kind, or the hyena, or the white bear of the polar regions, the lion's
courage is magnanimous, his temper accessible to gratitude, and his habits, to a certain
extent, susceptible of the impressions of education. That the anger of the lion is noble,
has been proverbial ever since the remotest antiquity of which we possess any literary
memorials; and the latin adage, nobilis est ira Jeonis, is still perpetuated amongst us under
the form of an heraldic motto, and by the chivalrous epithet of Cœur-de-Lion.
29
1
off his head," said he. However, he could not cut off his head; but he cut
off a foot, and brought it with him, and a monstrous great one it was, I be-
thought myself, however, that, perhaps, the skin of him might, one way or other,
be of some value to us; and I resolved to take off his skin, if I could
So Xury
and I went to work with him; but Xury was much the better workman at it,
for I knew very ill how to do it. Indeed, it took us both up the whole day;
but at last we got off the hide of him, and spreading it on the top of our cabin,
the sun effectually dried it in two days time, and it afterwards served me to lie
upon.
After this stop, we made on to the southward continually, for eight or
ten days, living very sparingly on our provisions, which began to abate
very much, and going no oftener to the shore than we were obliged
to for fresh water. My design in this, was to make the river Gambia,*
Senegal; that is to say, any where about the Cape Verde, where I was in
or
quest
* GAMBIA:-Gambea or Gambra, a river of western Afric, so called by the Portu-
guese after the example of the natives, who are said to call all the tracts of land reach-
ing from its mouth to the gold coast of Guinea, "Gambou;" its mouth is about three
leagues broad, and lies in about 13° 19' N. between the river Zenega, and Rio-Grande
[great river]; it has about five, fathoms water at its entrance, and pours forth its waters
with such abundance and strength, that, several miles in the sea, as they say, fresh
water may be drawn therefrom. Such is the account given of this stream by an author
(Ogilby), who wrote in 1670. More modern authorities describe the Gambea as naviga-
ble for 600 miles, according to the statement of those who have ascended it so far in
of gold, but unsuccessfully. It is added, that, at Joar, which is above 50 leagues up, it
is a mile in width; and, at Fatudinda, which is the highest factory, near 500 miles up
the river, is as broad as the Thames at Tilbury. James island, on which the fort stands,
is about 16 leagues from the river's mouth. The difference between high and low
water on the coast from Senegal hither, is seldom more than 2 feet; but about the
full and change of and particularly at the equinoxes, the waters are driven more.
impetuously, occasioning a great surf. The mouth of this river, according to the later
authoritics accessible to the editor, is situated in latitude 15° 28' N. longitude 16° 20' W.
that is to say, its eastern point, named by Europeans, Cape St. Mary, is in 13° 30' N.
There are soine accounts extant, which state the entrance of the Gambea to be in 13º N.
14° 50′ W. of which the editor thinks it his duty to apprzie the nautical reader. When
Cape St. Mary (known by a tall tree on the top of its point) is S.S.E. 3 leagues; it is
said that ships may ride in from 4 to 5 fathoms.
+ SENEGAL-Senliega, or Zenhega, the name of a river, which disembogues into
the north Atlantic ocean; about 5 leagues within the mouth of which, is an island occu-
pied by an european settlement generally called by the same name, though it has been
named St. Louis by the French. This place is in latitude 15° 33′ N. longitude
16° 31' 30" W. difference of time from Greenwich 1 h. 6 m. 6 s. high water, full and
change of at past 10 o'clock. The road of Senegal is a wild anchorage made
temporary use of by vessels opposite the entrance of the river, and within sight of the
bar; although open, and necessarily unsheltered, yet its bottom is good; sometimes,
however, when the weather is tempestuous, the waves run very high. In this road,
all vessels which draw more than 10 or 12 feet of water are obliged to come to an
anchor; those of a less draught are able to pass the bar, and enter the river. There
is another inconvenience attending this anchorage, namely, the want of sea-marks for
pilotage; so that ships are in danger of overshooting the mouth of the river, the ad-
jacent coast being extremely low. The mouth of the Senegal possesses some extra-
ordinary peculiarities. This river does not empty itself into the sea, according to the di-
rection of its course; its ejection is performed on one side; from whence it results,
that the waters, on entering the sea, have little or no impulsive force; the entrance
is barred by a sand, which is the prolongation of a tongue of sand, that runs in a direc-
tion rather from north to south, is not very wide, forms the right or eastern bank of
the river, and bears the name of the Tongue of Barbary, because it forms the continua-
tion and extremity of the coast of similar name. This bar is covered, particularly
during the dry season, with only 12 or 13 feet water. From this circumstance, it
happens, that the bar cannot be passed with safety by vessels that draw above 10 feet
water: all others must either remain in the road, or take the precaution of reducing
30
hopes to meet with some european ship: and, if I did not, I knew not what
course I had to take, but to seek for the islands, or perish among the Negros.
I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sailed either to the coast of
Guinea, or to Brazil, or to the East-Indies, made this cape, or those islands;
and, in a word, I put the whole of my fortune upon this single point, either
that I must meet with some ship or must perish. When I had pursued this
resolution about ten days longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land
was inhabited; and, in two or three places, as we sailed by, we saw people
stand upon the shore to look at us; we could also perceive they were quite black
and naked. I was once inclined to have gone on shore to them; but Xury was
my better counsellor, and said to me, "No go, no go." However, I hauled
in nearer the shore, that I might talk to them and I found they run along
the shore by me a good way. I observed they had no weapons in their hands,
except one, who had a long slender stick, which Xury said was a lance, and
that they would throw them a great way with good aim; so I kept at distance,
but talked to them by signs, as well as I could, and particularly made signs
for something to eat. They beckoned to me to stop my boat, and they would
fetch me some meat: upon this, I lowered the top of my sail and lay by, and
two of them run up into the country; in less than half an hour they came back,
and brought with them two pieces of dry flesh and some corn, such as is the
produce of their country; but we neither knew what the one or the other was;
however, we were willing to accept it. But how to come at it was our next
difficulty; for I was not for venturing on shore to them, and they were as
much afraid of us; but they took a safe way for us all, for they brought it to
the shore, and laid it down, and went and stood a great way off till we fetched
it on board, and then came close to us again.
We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing to make them amends;
but an opportunity offered that very instant to oblige them wonderfully: while
we were lying by the shore, came two mighty creatures, one pursuing the other
(as we took it) with great fury, from the mountains towards the sea; whether
it was the male pursuing the female, or whether they were in sport or in rage, we
could not tell, any more than we could tell whether it was usual or strange; but,
1 believe, it was the latter; because, in the first place, those ravenous creatures
seldom appear but in the night; and, in the second place, we found the people
terribly frightened, especially the women. The man that had the lance or dart
did not fly from them, but the rest did; however, as the two animals ran
directly into the water, they did not seem to offer to fall upon any of the Negros,
but plunged themselves into the sea, and swam about, as if they had come for
their diversion; at last, one of them began to come nearer our boat than at
first I expected; but I lay ready for him, for I had loaded my gun with all pos-
sible expedition, and bade Xury load both the others. As soon as he came
fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot him directly in the head; immediately
he sunk down into the water, but rose instantly, and plunged up and down, as
if he was struggling for life, and so indeed he was; he immediately made to the
shore; but, between the wound, which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling
of the water, he died just before he reached the shore.
It is impossible to express the astonishment of these poor creatures, at the
noise and fire of my gun; some of them were even ready to die for fear, and
fell down as dead with the very terror; but, when they saw the creature dead,
and sunk in the water, and that I made signs to them to come to the shore, they
their burthen by a sufficient discharge of cargo. The shallowness is not the only incon-
venience of this passage; it has, likewise, that of being always difficult, and sometimes
dangerous, from the violence with which the sea breaks upon it, owing to the coun-
teraction of a southerly current, as well as to the obstruction of the sand. The days
when the bar is absolutely free from agitation are extremely rare; on the contrary,
those, when the sea breaks with danger even to boats, are extremely frequent
See . C. x, 229.
&
31
took heart and came to the shore, and began to search for the creature. I found
him by his blood staining the water; and, by the help of a rope, which I slung
round him, and gave the Negros to haul, they dragged him on shore, and found
that it was a most curious leopard,* spotted, and fine to an admirable degree;
and the Negros held up their hands with admiration, to think what it was I had
killed him with. The other creature, frightened with the flash of fire and the
noise of the gun swam on shore, and ran up directly to the mountains from
whence they came.

I found quickly the Negros were for eating the flesh of this animal, so I was
willing to have them take it as a favour from me; which, when I made signs to
them that they might take him, they were very thankful for. Immediately they
fell to work with him; and, though they had no knife, yet, with a sharpened
piece of wood, they took off his skin as readily, and much more readily, than
we could have done with a knife. They offered me some of the flesh, which
I declined, making as if I would give it them, but made sigus for the skin, which
they gave me very freely, and brought me a great deal more of their provisions,
which, though I did not quite understand, yet I accepted. I then made signs to
them for some water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning it bottom
upward, to shew that it was empty, and that I wanted to have it filled. They
called immediately to some of their friends, and there came two women, and
brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt, as I suppose, in the sun; this
* LEOPARD :-(Felis pardus, LINNE). This is one of a sanguinary tribe, the bold
and intrepid enemies of man, that disdain to submit to his power, and carry on unre-
lenting hostility against him. They are distinguishable by sharp and formidable claws,
lodged in a sort of sheath, and capable of being extended or drawn in at pleasure.
They lead a solitary rapacious life, never uniting for mutual defence or support; and,
although differing in size and colour, they are allied in form and disposition, to the
well known domestic animal, whose name the celebrated northern naturalist has ap-
propriated to the whole kind, which haunts our dwellings with little or no attachment
to our persons, and whose fierce, ravenous, and artful character, justifies the popular
sentence that "a cat is an epitome of a tiger." The leopard is next in size to the
tiger, and has by many writers and travellers been confounded with that animal. Its
hair is short and smooth, but, instead of being streaked like the tiger, is beautifully
marked on its yellow back, sides, and flanks, with black spots. It is, on the other
hand, so little different from the panther, that some naturalists are inclined to suppose,
that the difference consists but in the name. However, the following distinction seems
warranted by close observation; the panther's spots are disposed on the body in
circles, from four to five in each, with one in the centre; on the face and legs the
spots are single; whereas the leopard, besides being somewhat smaller in size than
the other, has its spots more single and closer all over. Others, and amongst them
RAY, define the leopard as merely the female panther; its length from nose to tail is
about four feet.
32
1
·
they set down for me, as before, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and
filled them all three, the women were as stark naked as the men.
I was now furnished with roots, with corn, such as it was, and with water; and
leaving my friendly Negros, I made forward for about eleven days more, without
offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run out a great length into the
sea, at about four or five leagues before me; and the sea being very calm, I
kept a large offing, to make this point. At length, doubling the point, at some
distance from the shore, I saw land on the other side, to seaward; then I
concluded, as it was most certain, indeed, that this was the Cape Verde,* and
those the islands, called from thence, Cape Verde islands. However, they were
at a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had best to do; for if
I should be taken with a gale of wind, I might neither reach one nor the
other.
In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped into the cabin and sat
me down, Xury having the helm; when, on a sudden, the boy cried out, mas-
ter! master! ship with a sail;" and the foolish boy was frightened out of his
wits, thinking it must needs be some of his master's ships sent to pursue us,
when I was sure we were gotten far enough out of their reach. I jumped out
* CAPE VERDE-Cape Verdant, or, more literally, Green-head, is the most wes-
terly point of Afric, in latitude 14° 47' 13″ N. longitude 170 33′ 16″ according to
MASKELYNE; from whence the coast trends one way, E. N. E. then more northerly;
and the other way S. Easterly. The land about the cape is low and overgrown with
bushes, with abundance of palm trees, which are always green, and are supposed to
have contributed to obtain for the cape its present appellation. On the S. side of this
promontory, somewhat eastward, and about 3 miles from the continent, is the island of
Gorce, not more than 3 mile in length, and mile in breadth. This little spot has derived its
name from the european island of Goree or Goeree, on the coast of the Dutch Nether-
lands, and has been conquered by England. (M. C. xv, 220.) Robinson Crusoe's
doubts as to the sight of land to sea-ward, as well when he doubled Cape Verde, as
when he passed between the Canaries and the african continent, may have created
in the reader's mind speculations, both touching the powers of vision, and as
to mathematical possibility, with reference to the altitude of objects. With reference
to the first point, the editor takes this occasion to mention, that the view of the peak
represented in the wood cut (page 27) is after an original sketch made, by a naval
officer, at the distance of sixty nautical miles, when the object bore by compass south-
west. On the second point, the editor's researches furnish the following data:
The extent of a person's view, six feet in height, on a plane horison, is 15883
feet, 3 miles 43 feet; hence, there results, that two persons of the same height
can see one another at the distance of 6 miles 86 feet. By a like calculation, if
the height of the eye be 12 feet, the extent of view will be 4 miles 447 yards;
and such a spectator would see an object of the same height at the distance of
8 miles. If the height of the eye be 24 feet (which is about the elevation of a ship's
deck from the water), the extent of the view will be 6 miles 29 yards; and the hull
of a ship of the same size would be discernible at 12 miles 58 yards. If the height
be 48 feet (as on a ship's mast), the visible extent would be 8 miles 895 yards; and
a spectator, in this position would see a sail of similar height, at the distance of 17 miles
30 yards. In this calculation of the sensible horizon, the earth is assumed to be a
perfect globe, whose semi-diameter is=21024960+6 feet, or other given height of the
observer's eye from the surface. These memoranda will serve to explain to the reader
on shore, unacquainted with nautical affairs, the meaning and utility of going "aloft”
to look out; and may be found useful by the juvenile officer in expeditiously estimating
the distance of an object according to its appearance reported from the mast-head.
In the present instance, it may not prove devoid of interest and instruction, to apply
the solution of this question to the particular problem of the Cape Verde island of St.
Antonio, 7400 feet high, mentioned in a former note (page 26) or to that of Teneriffe
peak, whose height, as has already been stated in another note in the same page, is
12138 feet. The Mabal Chronicle (xviii, p. 24) contains an ingenious table and
rules for ascertaining the relative distances of ships in the same fleet or line of battle,
from 50 fathoms to 4 miles, composed by Admiral WALDEGRAVE, now Loud RADSTOCK,
by means of observations analogous to those herein before alluded to.
33
of the cabin, and immediately saw, not only the ship, but what she was: that
it was a portuguese ship, and, as I thought, at first, was bound to the coast of
Guinea for negros. But, when I observed the course she steered, I was soon
convinced they were bound some other way, and did not design to come any
nearer to the shore; upon which I stretched out to sea as much as I could,
resolving to speak with them, if possible.
With all the sail I could make, I found I should not be able to come in
their way, but that they would be gone by before I could make any signal to
them; however, after I had crowded to the utmost, and began to despair, they, it
seems, saw me by the help of their perspective glasses, and that it was some
european boat, which, they supposed, must belong to some ship that was lost;
so they shortened sail, to let me come up. I was encouraged with this, and as
I had my patron's ensign on board, I inade a waft* of it for a signal to them of
distress, and fired a gun, both which they saw; for they told me they saw the
smoke, though they did not hear the gun. Upon these signals, they very kindly
brought-to, and lay by for me; and, in about three hours' time, I came up
with them.
1
They asked me what I was in Portuguese and in Spanish, and in French,
but I understood none of them at last, a scotch sailor, who was on board,
called to me, and I answered him, that I was an Englishman, and that I had
made my escape out of slavery from the Moors, at Salee; they then bade me
come on board, and very kindly took me in, and all my goods. It was an inex-
pressible joy to me, which any one will believe, that I was thus delivered, as I
esteemed it, from such a miserable, and almost hopeless, condition as I was in;
and I immediately offered all I had to the captain of the ship, as a return for
my deliverance; but he generously told me, he would take nothing from me,
but that all I had should be delivered safe to me, when I came to Brazil;
"for," said he, "I have saved your life on no other terms than I would be glad
to be saved myself; and it may, one time or other, be my lot to be taken up in
the same condition: besides, when I carry you to Brazil, so great a way from
your own country, if I should take from you what you have, you will be starvėd
there, and then I only take away that life I have given. No, no, Senhor Inglez !+
(Mr. Englishman) I will carry you thither in charity, and these things will help
to buy your subsistence there, and your passage home again."
As he was charitable in this proposal, so he was just in the performance, to a
tittle; for he ordered the seamen, that none should offer to touch any thing I
had: then he took every thing into his own possession, and gave me back an
exact inventory of them, that I might have them, even so much as my three
earthen jars. As to my boat,
As to my boat, it was a very good one; that he saw; told me
he would buy it of me for the ship's use; and asked me what I would have for it?
I told him he had been so generous to me in every thing, that I could not offer
to make any price of the boat, but left it entirely to him; upon which he told
me he would give me a note of hand to pay me eighty pieces of eight for it at
:
*A WAFT is made by hoisting an ensign or other flag, rolled or tied up, instead
of flying at large it is the customary signal by which a ship recalls her own boats
or men on board; and, in some cases, may denote immediate want of assistance by the
boats of other ships, or from the shore.
+ SENHOR :-in the portuguese language, is like the corresponding titles, senor, in
the spanish, signor, in the italian, seigneur, and sieur, in the french, derived from, and pro-
nounced like, the latin, senior (populi being understood); meaning, in english, generally
"elder;" a word of which" alder-man" is but an anglo-saxon synonym, affording the
key to its more specific signification, “Sir," which serves to demonstrate, how closely
the idea of government or personal precedency, has, in all societies, originally been
coupled with that of age; in corroboration of which may be quoted the oriental word
shekh; that equally signifies a senior in age, an elder in magistracy, a master of a family
or household, and a title of honour when prefixed to a proper name. (B. C. xxiv, 294)
+ PIECE-OF-EIGHT:-(réales, or royals being understood) is a compound translation
of the spanish peso, or péso-duro ; literally piece or hard-piece; the name of a silver coin
Robinson Crusoe..
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
D
34
Brazil; and, when it came there, if any one offered to give more, he would make
it up. He offered me also sixty pieces of eight more for my boy Xury, which I
was loath to take; not that I was not willing to let the captain have him, but
I was very loath to sell the poor boy's liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully
in procuring my own. However, when I let him know my reason, he owned
it to be just, and offered me this medium, that he would give the boy an obli-
gation to set him free in ten years, if he turned Christian; upon this, and Xury
saying he was willing to go to him, I let the captain have him. We had a very
good voyage to Brazil, and in about twenty-two days after, arrived in the
Bahia de Todos los Santos,* I was thus once more delivered from the most
miserable of all conditions of life; and what to do next with myself I was now to
consider.
The generous treatment the captain gave me, I can never enough remember:
he would take nothing of me for my passage, gave me ten ducatst for the leo-
pard's skin, and twenty for the lion's skin, which I had in my boat, and caused
every thing I had in the ship to be punctually delivered to me; and what I was
willing to sell, he bought of me; such as the case of bottles, two of my guns,
and a piece of the lump of bees' wax, for I had made candles of the rest; in a
word, I made about two hundred and twenty pieces of eight of all my cargo,
and, with this stock, I went on shore in Brazil.
in Spain, and the dominions depending thercon; the division of which is into 8 reals,
and its sub-division into 34 maravedis. Although the old term " piece-of-eight" be now
become somewhat obsolete, yet it is a much more appropriate appellation than its modern
successor "dollar," derived from the german thaler [whereof the literal english equivalent
would be "daler"] between which and the coinage of Spain, or of its trans-atlantic
colonies, there is assuredly no relationship. This absurdity has been perpetuated by
the anglo-american United States. The crown-piece is the nearest english representa-
tive of this coin in value and appearance.
* BAHIA-DE-TODOB-LOS-SANTOS:-generally called in brief Bahia, and in english, All-
saints'-bay, is the principal harbour in the northern part of Brazil, as Rio de Janeiro
[January river] is to the southward: which, notwithstanding the coast of it con-
tains several good harbours, were the only two into which foreign shipping was admitted,
under the jealous colonial policy of Portugal, until of very late years. The entrance
into All-saints-bay is between a large island called Taporica, to the westward, and a
peninsula, on which stands the city of San-Salvador [St. Saviour], to the eastward. The
west side of the channel is bounded by shoal water and foul ground, extending from the
island. A shoal bank projects, also, from Cape St. Salvador (also called Cape St. Antonio)
the extremity of the peninsula, to the distance of 2 miles or more S. and S.E. from it.
By observations made on board the East-india-company's shipping, this cape is in
latitude 12° 58' S. longitude 38° 13′ W. according to the present hydrographer of that
corporation, the scientific HORSBURGH. The reader who is desirous of more detailed
information concerning the other parts of this coast in general, and of Rio de Janeiro
in particular, is referred to the following passages in the Maval Chronicle, vol. xix, 481;
xxi, 43, 198, 498; xxii, 30; xxiii, 483; xxv, 413; xxvi, 231; xxix, 123, 132; xxx,
49, 211.
† DUCAT:-a foreign coin, either of gold or silver, stricken in the dominions of a
duke, being about the same value with a spanish piece-of-eight, or a french crown,
that is, about five shillings sterling, when of silver, and twice as much when of gold.
The origin of ducats is referred to one Longinus, governor of Italy; who, revolting
against the emperor Justin the younger, made himself duke of Ravenna, and called
himself Exarcha, that is, without lord, or ruler; and to shew his independence, struck
pieces of money, of very pure gold, in his own name, and with his own stamp, which
were called ducati; as the greek historian PROCOPIUS relates. After him, the next
who struck ducats, were the Venetians, who called them also zecchini, or sequins from
zecca, the mint or place where they were struck. This was about the year 1280, in
the time of John Dandoli; but we have some evidence, that Roger, king of Sicily,
had coined ducats as early as 1240; and DU-CANGE affirms, that the first ducats were
@truck in the duchy of Apulia, in Calabria. The chief gold ducats, now current, are,
the single and double ducats of Venice, Florence, Genoa, Germany, Hungary, Sweden,
:
35
เ
I had not been long here, before I was recommended to the house of a good
honest man, like himself, who had an ingenio (as they call a plantation and a
sugar-house), I lived with him some time, and acquainted myself, by that means,
with the manner of planting, and of making, sugar:* and, seeing how well the
Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland. The heaviest of them weighs five penny weights,
seventeen grains, and the lightest five penny weights, ten grains; which is to be under-
stood of the double ducats, and of the single in proportion. The Spaniards have no
ducats of gold; but, in lieu thereof, they make use of the silver one; which, with them,
is no effective species, but only a money of accompt, like our pound. It is equivalent to
eleven réals.
* SUGAR :-(saccharum, latin; sucre, french ;) a solid, sweet, substance, obtained
from a species of cane, produced in various places of Asia, Afric, and America, but
most common in the east and west Indies; or, according to chemists, an essential salt,
susceptible of crystalization; which is contained, more or less, in almost every species
of vegetable, and in some animal secretions, but most abundantly in this cane. The
expressed juice of the cane is clarified and boiled down to a thick consistence: it is
then removed from the fire, and the saccharine part concretes into brown coloured
masses, and is the sugar in its raw state as we see it imported. The sugar-cane is a
smooth jointed reed, of a shining greenish colour; which, as the plant approaches
maturity, changes, by degrees, to a yellowish one. The sizes of the canes vary much,
according to the soil, season, and circumstances; the usual height is from four to seven
feet; the thickness of a middling sized cane is about an inch; the largest three or
four inches; and the smaller ones not more than half an inch. The distance of the
knots is no less various than the height; in some not above two inches; in others nine
or ten those canes which have the knots farthest apart are esteemed the best. The
saccharine juice is contained in a spongy pith, which the inside of the cane is filled
with. The pith of the smooth part of the cane is soft and of a whitish colour; that
of the joints harder, more compact, and darker-coloured. The first is by much the
more juicy; but the juice of the latter is sweetest, and seems to be more perfectly
elaborated. The sugar-cane being the principal source of profit in the west-indian
isles, giving employment to seamen, conferring wealth on the merchant, and furnishing
almost a necessary of life in Europe (the quantity consumed here being valued at
ten millions sterling), it may justly be esteemed one of the most useful and valuable
plants in the world. The following are the chemical characters of sugar :-It is soluble in
an equal weight of cold water, and almost to an unlimited amount in hot water.
latter solution affords a liquid called syrup; from which crystals of sugar, called sugar-
candy, separate by long repose. Alcohol dissolves, when heated, about of its weigh
4
of sugar. Lime-water renders sugar more soluble. Alkalis unite with it and destroy
its taste. It may, however, be recovered unchanged, by adding sulphuric acid, and
precipitating the sulphate by alcohol, which retains the sugar in solution. Sugar has
the property of rendering oils miscible with water. The sulphurets, hydro-sulphurets,
and phosphurets, appear to have the property of converting sugar into a substance
not unlike gum. It is converted by destructive distillation into acetous acid, carburetted-
hydrogen, carbonic-acid-gas, and charcoal. It is composed of 64 parts oxygen, 28
carbon, and 8 hydrogen. A french chemist, has proved, that sugar may be refined
and clarified in 24 hours. The process has been discovered by Edward Howard, Esq.
F.R.S. The following is an outline of the process :-
The
"Take brown sugar, sift it through a coarse sieve, then put it lightly into any conicat
vessel having holes at the bottom, like a coffee machine. Then mix some brown sugar
with white syrup, that is, syrup of refined sugar, to the consistency of batter or thick
cream, and pour it gently on the top of the
it gently on the top of the sugar in the vessel till the surface is covered.
The syrup will soon begin to percolate, and leave the surface in a state which will allow
more syrup to be poured upon it, which is to be done carefully. The treacle will be
found to come out at the bottom, having left the whole mass perfectly white. The
first droppings are to be kept apart, as the last will serve to begin another operation.
The sugar is now in a pure state, except as to its containing insoluble matter, which may,
of course be separated by a solution in water."
The use of this nutritive and agreeable article is of very high antiquity; the "sweet
cane" is mentioned in the bible (Isaiah: xliii, 24. Jeremiah, vi, 20.) as an article
of merchandise coming from a far country. The conquests of ALEXANDER of Macedon
seem to have opened the discovery of it to the western parts of the world; his admirok
D 2
36
planters lived, and how they got rich suddenly, I resolved, if I could get a
license to settle there, I would turn planter among them; endeavouring, in the
mean time, to find out some way to get my money, which I had left in London,
remitted to me. To this purpose, getting a kind of a letter of naturalization,
I purchased as much land that was uncured as my money would reach, and
formed a plan for my plantation and settlement; such a one as might be suit-
able to the stock which I proposed to myself to receive from England.
I had a neighbour, a Portuguese of Lisbon, but born of english parents, whose
name was Wells, and in much such circumstances as I was.
I call him my
neighbour, because his plantation lay next to mine; and we went on very
sociably together. My stock was but low, as well as his; and we rather planted
for food than any thing else, for about two years. Ilowever, we began to
encrease, and our land began to come into order; so that the third year we
planted some tobacco,* and made each of us a large piece of ground ready for
planting canes in the year to come: but we both wanted help; and now I found,
more than before, I had done wrong in parting with my boy Xury.
But, alas! for me to do wrong, who never did right, was no great wonder. I
had no remedy, but to go on: I had got into an employment quite remote to
my genius, and directly contrary to the life I delighted in, and for which I forsook
my home: nay, I was coming into the very middle station or upper degree
of low life, which my father advised me to before; and which, if I resolved to
go on with, I might as well have staid in England, among my friends, as have
gone five thousand miles off to do it among strangers and savages, in a wilder-
ness, and at such a distance as never to hear from any part of the world that
had the least knowledge of me.
In this manner, I used to look upon my condition with the utmost regret. I
had nobody to converse with, but now and then this neighbour; no work to
be done, but by the labour of my hands; and I used to say, I lived just like
a man cast away upon some desolate island, that bad nobody there but himself.
But how just has it been; and how should all men reflect, that when they
compare their present conditions with others that are worse, heaven may
oblige them to make the exchange, and be convinced of their former felicity
NEARCHVS, 325 years в. c. found the sugar cane in India, as appears from his account
of it quoted by STRABO. THEOPHRASTUS, who lived not long after, seems to be the
first who had a knowledge of sugar. In enumerating the different kinds of honey, he
mentions one found in reeds. ERATOSTHENES, 223, B. c. VARNO, 68 B. C. and Dros-
CORIDES, 35 B. c. also speak of it, and of its plant; but the necessary limits of annota-
tion forbid our pursuing the investigation any farther in this place.
* TOBACCO-Nicotiana, in botany, a genus of the pentandria-monogynia class; its
characters are these; the empalement of the flower is permanent, of one leaf, cut
into five acute segments; the flower has one funnel-shaped petal, with a long tube,
spread open at the brim, ending in five acute points; it has five awl-shaped stami, of
the length of the tube, a little inclined and terminated by oblong suminits; and an oval
germen, supporting a slender style, crowned by an indented stigma; the germen turns
to an oval capsule, with two valves, having two cells which open at the top, and filled
with rough seeds, growing from the partition. LINNE enumerates six, and MILLER,
eleven, species. Tobacco, or Tabacco, was not known in Europe till after the dis-
covery of America by the Spaniards, and first imported about the year 1560. The
Americans of the continent call it petun, those of the islands yoli. The Spaniards, who
gave it the name tobacco, took it from Tobaco, a province of Yucatan, where they first
found it, and first learned its use; or, as some say, it derived its name from the
island of Tabago, or Tobago. The French, at its first introduction among them, gave it
various names; as Nicotiana, or the "ambassador's herb" from JoHN NICOT, then
ambassador of King Francis II. in Portugal, who brought some of it with him from
Lisbon, and presented it to a grand prior of the house of Lorraine and to Queen
CATHARINE de MEDICIB; from whence it was also called "queçn's herb," and "grand
prior's herb." They also gave it other names, which are now all reduced in common
parlance to the original naine given it by HERNANDEZ de TOILDO, who first sent it
into Spain and Portugal.
·
37
by their experience: and thus, that the truly solitary life I reflected on, in an
island of desolation, should become my lot, who had so often unjustly com-
pared it with the life which I then led, in which, had I continued, I had, in all
probability, been prosperous and rich.
I was, in some degree, settled in my measures for carrying on the plantation,
before my kind friend, the captain of the ship that took me up at sea, went
back; for the ship remained at Bahia, iu providing his fading, and preparing for
his voyage, near three months; when, telling him what little stock I had left
behind me in London, he gave me this friendly and sincere advice: “ Senhor
Ingles" (for so he always called me), " if you will give me letters, and a pro-
curation here in form to me, with orders to the person who has your money in
London, to send your effects to Lisbon, to such persons as I shall direct, and
in such goods as are proper for this country, I will bring you the produce of
them, at my return: but, since human affairs are all subject to changes and
disasters, I would have you give orders for but one hundred pounds sterling,*
which, you say, is half your stock, and let the hazard be run for the first; so
that, if it come safe, you may order the rest the same way; and, if it miscarry,
you may have the other half to have recourse to for your supply." This was so
wholesome advice, and looked so friendly, that I could not but be convinced it
was the best course I could take; so I accordingly prepared letters to the gen-
tlewoman with whom I had left my money, and a procuration to the portuguese
captain, as he desired me.
I wrote the english captain's widow a full account of all my adventures; my
slavery, escape, and how I had met with the portuguese captain at sea, the
humanity of his behaviour, and what condition I was now in, with all other
necessary directions for my supply; and, when this honest captain came to
Lisbon, he found means, by some of the english merchants there, to send over,
not the order only, but a full account of my story to a merchant at London, who
represented it effectually to her; whereupon, she not only delivered the money,
but, out of her own pocket, sent the portuguese captain a very handsome present
for his humanity and charity to me.
The merchant in London, vesting this hundred pounds in english goods, such
as the captain had wrote for, sent them directly to him at Lisbon, and he brought
them all safe to me at Brazil: among which, without my direction (for I was
too young in my business to think of them), he had taken care to have tools,
iron work and utensils, necesssary for my plantation, and which were of great
use to me.
When this cargo arrived, I thought my fortune made, for I was surprised with
the joy of it; and my good steward, the captain, had laid out the five pounds,
which my friend had sent him as a present for himself, to purchase and bring
me over a servant, under bond for six years' service, and would not accept of
any consideration, except a little tobacco, which I would have him take, being
of my own produce. Neither was this all; but my goods being all english
manufactures, such as clothes, stuffs, haize, and things particularly valuable and
desirable in the country, I found means to sell them to a very great advantage ;
* STERLING :—is generally allowed to be derived from the Germans in the neigh-
bourhood of Denmark, who, from their eastern situation, had the name of Easterlings,
and, being the best refiners, were called in to perfect our english money. Nummi ester-
lingi became used in old deeds to signify sometimes pence, and sometimes the standard,
as probue mon tue among the civilians. So sterling and standard became nearly syno-
nymous, and the former has ever since been used to denote the certain proportion or
degree of fineness in bullion or coin. But our antiquaries are not so well agreed when
this adoption took place among us. The most common, though, by no means, the
most certain, opinion is, that King John first called in the Esterlings, and coined sterling
money. CAMDEN (in his remains) ascribes it to Richard I. Srow and COKE to Henry
II. but we meet with the phrase nummi sterilenses under Henry I. in short nearly as far
back as the time of William I, although not expressly in Domesday book.
38
so that I might say, I had more than four times the value of my first cargo, and
was now infinitely beyond my poor neighbour, I mean in the advancement of
my plantation; for the first thing I did, I bought me a negro slave, and an
european servant also; I mean another besides that which the captain brought
me from Lisbon.
But, as abused prosperity is oftentimes made the very means of our greatest
adversity, so was it with me. I went on the next year with great success in my
plantation; I raised fifty great rolls of tobacco on my own ground more than
I had disposed of for necessaries among my neighbours; and these fifty rolls,
being each of above 100lb, were well cured, and laid by against the return of the
fleet from Lisbon: and now encreasing in business and in wealth, my head
began to be full of projects and undertakings beyond my reach; such as are,
indeed, often the ruin of the best heads in business. Had I continued in the
station I was now in, I had room for all the happy things to have yet befallen
me, for which my father so earnestly recommended a quiet, retired, life, and
which he had so sensibly described the middle station of life to be full of; but
other things attended me, and I was still to be the wilful agent of all my own
miseries; and, particularly, to encrease my fault, and double the reflections upon
myself, which, in my future sorrows, I should have leisure to make, all these
miscarriages were procured by my obstinate adhering to my foolish inclination
to wandering abroad, and pursuing that inclination, in contradiction to the
clearest views of doing myself good in a fair and plain pursuit of those pros-
pects, and those measures of life, which nature and providence concurred to pre-
sent me with, and to make my duty.
As I had once done thus, in breaking away from my parents, so I could not
be content now, but I must go and leave the happy view I had of being a rich
and thriving man in my new plantation, only to pursue a rash and immoderate
desire of rising faster than the nature of the thing admitted; and thus I cast
myself down again into the deepest gulph of human misery that ever man
fell into.
To come, then, by just degrees, to the particulars of this part of my story;
you may suppose, that, having now lived almost four years in Brazil, and beginning
to thrive and prosper very well upon my plantation, I had not only learned the
language, but had contracted an acquaintance and friendship among my fellow
planters, as well as among the merchants at San Salvador, which was our port;
and that, in my discourses among them, I had frequently given them an account of
my two voyages to the coast of Guinea, the manner of trading with the negros
there, and how easy it was to purchase on the coast, for trifles (such as beads,
toys, knives, scissars, hatchets, bits of glass, and the like), not only gold-dust,
guinea grains,* elephant's-teeth,† &c. but negros, for the service of the brazilian
GUINEA-ORAINS :-it is apprehended here mean the greater cardamum of the
druggists; which, besides forming an article of african trade, are produced on Ceylon,
Java, and in some other parts of the East. The pods are large and long, triangular,
thick-skinned, and dark coloured; some approach nearly to black, the smell is less
acrid, and the taste more disagreeable than the smaller cardamums. The quantity of
cardamums of all sorts imported and sold at the east india sales in the year 1808, was
16335lb. amounting in value to 36021. averaging 4s. 5d. per lb. 12 cwt. of cardamums
are allowed to a ton: the permanent import duty in England is 1s. 5d. per lb. These
grains are sometimes called by the traders on tlie coast, "grains of paradise :" but,
among the natives, bear the name Melegeța.
* ELEPHANT'S TEETH or rather tusks, of which each animal has two pointing
forwards, and bending a little upwards, are of a yellowish, and, sometimes, brownish,
colour on the outside, internally white, hollow towards the root, and so far as was
inserted in the jaw, of a dark brown colour: they are procured from both the western
and eastern coasts of the continent of Afric, from various parts of India, &c, and should
be chosen large, strait, and white, without flaws, not very hollow in the stump,
solid and thick. The largest teeth are said to come from the african "ivory coast
and are more esteemed as being of a closer texture, and less liable to turn yellow, than
but
"
$9
1
'colonies, in great numbers. They listened always very attentively to my dis
courses on these heads, but especially to that part which related to the buying
negros; which was a trade at that time, not only not far entered into, but, as
far as it was, had been carried on by the assientos of the kings of Spain and of
Portugal, and engrossed from the public; so that few negros were bought, and
those excessive dear.
It happened, being in company with some merchants and planters of my
those which reach England through the east indian medium. The traders in London
divide elephants' teeth into 6 sorts; of which the first weighing 70lb. and upwards,
fetch from 251. to 30l. per cwt. and the sixth, otherwise called scrivelles, weighing under
18lb. sell for 10 to 12 per cwt. the intermediate classes bearing a proportionate value.
The permanent duty thereon in England is 2l. 10s. per cut. The importation for 12
years 1788 to 1799 inclusive was 18914 cwt. equal to 1576 annually. In purchasing
teeth, those that are very crooked, hollow, and fractured, or cracked and decayed
inside, should be rejected; and care be taken, that lead, or any other ponderous sub-
stance, has not been introduced into the cavity. At the East India company's public
sale, in the year 1808, there were-sold 169 cwt. for 37221. averaging 221. Os. 6d. per cwt.
The elephant is a distinct genus of animals, belonging to the order of brutae in the class
of mammalia; the distinguishing characters of which are these; that it has no cutting
teeth; the canine teeth of the upper jaw, are exceeding long; it has a long flexible
snout, and the body almost naked. The elephant is the most bulky of all animals now
known; its utmost dimensions may be judged from the following adineasurement
of one of the very largest: from the front to the origin of the tail, sixteen feet; the
proboscis or trunk, nine feet; height, fourteen feet; circumference of the neck, seven-
teen feet; that of the carcase at the thickest part, twenty-five feet and a half; circum-
ference of the leg, six feet; that of the tail at its origin, two feet and a half; length
of the tail, six feet. In many climates, however, its full growth does not exceed seven
feet in height. The eyes are very small in proportion to the size of the creature. The
muzzle is very different from that of any other quadruped, being formed by that long
trunk, for which the animal is so remarkable; and which hangs down between the two
tusks: this trunk is, therefore, the nose so prolonged, and terminated by a couple of
nostrils and a sort of finger. The average length of this instrument is about eight feet,
five inches and a half in circumference near the mouth; and eighteen inches near the
extremity. In a domestic state the elephant's power of labor is equal to six horses.
* ASSIENTO, or Assienta:-in matters of commerce, a contract or convention between
the king of Spain and other powers for furnishing the spanish dominions in America
with negro slaves. The term is originally Spanish, and signifies a bargain; accordingly
the first assiento was a treaty or contract made with the french Guinea company,
whereby they were put in possession of this privilege, in consideration of a certain
duty which they were to pay to the king of Spain's farms, for every negro thus fur-
nished. The Spaniards having almost destroyed the natural inhabitants of spanish
America, have been many years, and still are, obliged to perform the work of their
mines, and other laborious business, by negros, of whom they could scarce ever obtain
the number they have wanted; and it is certain, if they were fully supplied, they would
get yearly about twice the silver perhaps they now do, or have done for many years
past. It must be confessed, they have used variety of measures to obtain them. The
Genoese undertook to supply them at a concerted price between them; for which end
they formed a company called the assiento, who had their factors at Jamaica, Curazao,
and Brazil; but, by their ill management, made nothing of this contract; nor did their
successors the Portuguese. After them it fell into the hands of the French, who made
so much of it, that they were enabled, by a computation made from the registers of
Spain, to import into the french dominions no less than 204 millions of pieces of eight,
Yet they, at length, overglutted the market, and became sufferers towards the
conclusion.
By the treaty of Utrecht, Philip V. being declared king of Spain by the allies; it was
one of the articles of the peace between England and France, that the assiento contract
should be transferred to the English. Accordingly, a new instrument was signed in
May, 1715, to last thirty years; and the furnishing of negros to the spanish America
was committed to the South-sea Company, just then erected; though the first conven-
tion for this purpose was made in or about the year 1689. In virtue whereof they were
yearly to furnish 4800 negros; for which they were to pay at the same rate as the
1
40
!
¡
acquaintance, and talking of those things very earnestly, three of them came to
me the next morning, and told me, they had been musing very much upon what
I had discoursed with them of the last night, and they came to make a secret
proposal to me; and after enjoining me to secresy, they told me that they had
French, with this condition, that, during the first twenty-five years, only half the duty
shall be paid for such as they shall import beyond the stated number.
The last article gives them a farther privilege not enjoyed by the French; which
is, that the english assientists shall be allowed, every year, to send to the spanish
America a ship of five hundred tons. loaden with the same commodities as the
Spaniards usually carry thither; with a license to sell the same, concurrently with them,
at the fairs of Porto-Bello, Carthagena, and Vera-Cruz. This additional article was
supposed as advantageous to the company, as the whole contract besides; being granted
contrary to the usual spanish policy, which has ever solicitously preserved the commerce
of their America to themselves.
Some new articles have been since added to the ancient assiento; as that the English
shall send their register ship yearly, even though the spanish flota and galleons do not
go; and that, for the first ten years, the said ship may be of 650 tons. Finally, as the
South-sea Company had, on the whole, been losers by their trade, and as at the time
of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, they had only four years more of their assiento
term remaining (the war between Spain and England having commenced in 1739, and
interrupted the continuance of it), which Spain was determined not to renew, at least
not on any promising terms; for these, and other reasons, it was concluded, by the
british court, to instruct her minister at Madrid, to obtain the best equivalent that
could be procured for the remaining short time of the company's assiento contract.
But all these particulars are become mere matter of history; the abolition of the
slave trade here, coupled with the change introduced more or less into the foreign
relations of all maritime states of Europe, by the war of the french revolution just
now happily terminated, leaving this branch of commercial navigation to be perma-
nently regulated by common consent in the definitive treaty of peace and amity, about
to be concluded between all the belligerent powers.
The subject has recently been submitted to the re-consideration of parliament, with
such effect as to obtain the unanimous concurrence of both houses in recommending to
the executive government, that the present aera should be marked by our strenuous
endeavours to procure the practical adoption of our example, by the few remaining
powers in Europe, who still countenance that trade in their colonies. Some idea may
be formed of the aggregate of human misery that has been thereby caused in Brazil
alone, since the days of Robinson Crusoe, from the simple fact, that the importation of
negros into that colony, during the last year, has not fallen much shori of 80000.
The prospect of its cessation may be judged of from the following vote in the house
of Lords, 5th May, 1814-
Resolved, nemine dissentiente, that the following address be presented to H.R.H. the
Prince-Regent :-
"We humbly represent to your Royal Highness, that we have seen, with unspeak-
able satisfaction, the beneficial and happy consequences of the law, by which the
african slave trade has been, throughout all his Majesty's dominions, for ever prohi
bited and abolished; and that we rely, with the fullest confidence, on the gracious
assurances, which both his Majesty and your Royal Highness have condescended to give
to us, of your endeavours to obtain, from other powers, that co-operation which is still
necessary for the completion of this great work. It well became Great Britain, having
partaken so largely in the guilt of this inhuman and unchristian traffic, to stand forward
among the nations of Europe, and openly to proclaim its renunciation. This duty we
have discharged; but our obligations do not cease here. The crimes countenanced
by our example, and the calamities created or extended by our misconduct, continue
to afflict an unoffending people. Other european nations still carry on this commerce,
if commerce it can be called, in the lives and liberties of our fellow creatures. By their
intervention, its clandestine continuance is encouraged and facilitated in our own de-
pendencies. By the same cause, the desolation and barbarism of a whole continent
are prolonged; and, unless some timely prevention be applied, the returning tran-
quillity of Europe, the source of joy and ezultation to ourselves, will be the aera only
of renewed and aggravated miseries to the wretched victims of an unprincipled and
relentless avarice: With all humility, therefore, but with the utmost earnestness, we.
}
41
វ
a mind to fit out a ship to go to Guinea; that they had all plantations as well
as I, and were straitened for nothing so much as servants; that as it was a
trade that could not be carried on, because they could not publicly sell the
negros when they came home, so they desired to make but one voyage, to bring
the negros on shore privately, and divide them among their own plantations;
and, in a word, the question was, whether I would go their supercargo* in the
ship, to manage the trading part upon the coast of Guinea? and they offered me
that I should have an equal share of the slaves, without providing any part of
the investment. This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, had it been
made to any one that had not a plantation of his own to look after, which was
in a fair way of coming to be very considerable, and with a good stock upon
it. But for me, that was thus settled, and had nothing to do but go on as
I had begun, for three or four years more, and to have sent for the other
hundred pounds from England; and who, in that time, and with that little addi-
tion, could scarce have failed of being worth three or four thousand pounds ster-
ling, and that encreasing too; for me to think of such a voyage, was the most
preposterous thing that ever man, in such circumstances could be guilty of.
But I, who was born to be my own destroyer, could no more resist the offer,
than I could restrain my first rambling designs. In a word, I told them I would
go with all my heart, if they would undertake to look after my plantation in my
absence, and would dispose of it to such as I should direct, if I iniscarried. This
they all engaged to do, and entered into written covenants to do so: and I made
a formal will and testament, disposing of my plantation and effects, in case of
my death; making the captain of the ship that had saved my life, as before,
iny universal heir; but obliging him to dispose of my effects as I had directed
in my will; one half of the produce being to himself, and the other to be
shipped to England. In short, I took all possible caution to preserve my effects,
and to keep up my plantation: had I used half as much prudence to have looked
into my individual interest, and have made a judgment of what I ought to have
done and not to have done, I had certainly never gone away from so prosperons
an undertaking, leaving all the probable views of a thriving circunstance, and
gone upon a voyage to sea, attended with all its common hazards, to say nothing
of the reasons I had to apprehend particular misfortunes to myself.
supplicate your Royal Highness, that the whole weight and influence of the british
crown may be excited in the approaching negociations to avert this dreadful evil.
In the name of our country, and on the behalf of the interests of humanity, we entreat
that the immediate and total abolition of the slave trade may be solicited from all the
sovereigns of Europe. No moment, we think, was ever yet so favourable, for stipu-
lating a joint and irrevocable renunciation of those barbarous practices, and for promul-
gating, by the assembled authority of the whole civilized world, a solemn declaration,
that, to carry away into slavery the inhabitants of unoffending countries is, to violate
the universal law of nations, founded, as that law must ever be, on the immutable
principles of justice and religion. It is on those sacred principles, the safeguards of
all lawful government, the bulwarks of all national independence, that we wish our
proposal to be rested; on them we rely for its success; recommended, as it will be,
not by the exhortations only, but by the example of Great Britain, and addressed to
the rulers of those states, which have themselves so signally been rescued by Providence.
from danger and destruction; from internal desolation, and from subjection to a foreign
yoke. On all it must, we think, impress itself with equal force; whether they be
ranked among the deliverers or the delivered; among those whom a merciless oppres-
sion had already overwhelmed, or among those whose moderation and justice in success
have added lustre even to the firmness of their resistance, and to the glory of their
victories. No worthier thanks, we confidently believe, can be offered to Providence
for past protection; on no better grounds can future blessings be solicited, than by
the recognition and discharge of the great duties which we all owe alike, to the rights,
the liberty, and the happiness of our fellow-creatures.'
* SUPERCARGO:-an officer charged with the accounts of the cargo, and all other
commercial affairs in a ship. (Spanish.) One employed by the freighters of a ship to ge
a voyage to oversee the lading, and to dispose of it to their best advantage.
/
42
A
But I was hurried on, and obeyed blindly the dictates of my fancy, rather than
my reason: and, accordingly, the ship being fitted out, and the cargo furnished,
and all things done as by agreement, by my partners in the voyage, I went on
board in an evil hour again, the first of September, 1659, being the same day
eight years that I went from my parents at Hull.
The very same day that I went on board, we set sail, standing away to the
northward on the coast of Brazil, with design to stretch over for the african
shore, when we should come into the latitude of about ten or twelve degrees
north; (which, it seems was the manner of their course in those days :) we had
very good weather, only excessively hot all the way upon our own coast, until
we came to the height of Cape St. Augustino ;* from whence, keeping farther off
at sea, we lost sight of land, and steered as if we were bound for the isle
Fernando de Noronha,† holding our course N.E.b.E. and leaving that island on
the east. On this course, in about twelve days time, we passed the Line,‡ and
were by our last observation in latitude 7° 22′ N. when a violent tornado§ took
took us quite out of our knowledge: it began from the south-east, came about
north-west, and then settled north cast; from whence it blew in such a terrible
manner, that, for twelve days together, we could do nothing but drive, and
·
* CAPE ST. AUGUSTINO:-in latitude about 8° 28′ S. longitude 34° 30′ W. or,
by the best accounts, nearly on the same meridian as Phernambouco (otherwise Fernam-
buco, or Phernambocca) and Olinda; this port is in latitude about 8° 12′ S. is a place
of great trade, and a safe harbour; but the entrance is an intricate navigation to
persons unacquainted.
† FERNANDO NORONHA:-(the english pronunciation of the latter word being
Noronea) an island situated near the coast of Brazil in latitude 3° 55′ 15″ S. longitude
32° 25′ 20″ W. The island is, according to some accounts 7, to others, 10, miles in
length, and between 2 and 3 broad, and is remarkable by a high rocky peak called the
Pyramid, very barren and rugged, and appearing to lean or overhang eastward, when
seen from N.N.E. it is also known by its S.W. point, which sailors have named the
"hole in the wall," from its being pierced through, and giving a free passage to the
sea; off which is a dangerous sunken rock at a considerable distance. The S. point is
distinguishable by a little rocky islot, that appears like a statue. There are two harbours,
or rather roads, capable of receiving ships of any burthen; one is on the N. side,
the other on the N.W. The former is, in every respect, the principal for shelter,
capacity, and good bottom; but both are exposed to northerly, or north-westerly winds.
Three forts defend the anchorage, built of stone, spacious and well armed. Fernando
Noronha is a dependency on the government of Phernambuco, and is peopled with
exiles from Brazil and from Portugal; but, according to the assertion of the commander
of an english post-office packet, who visited the place in 1818, "a female was never
known to have set foot on this devoted spot"! (See Mabal Chronicle, for 1813; vol.
xxix, p. 451.) Cattle, sheep, poultry, vegetables, and water, are to be procured here;
the latter is rather a scarce article in the dry season, and watering is often rendered
an inconvenient operation by the surf. The wood is cut on a small island near the
north point of the principal one, and from thence called by mariners, Wood (or Wood-
ing) isle; but the getting it off is also attended with difficulty, from the surf produced by
the N.W. winds, which are said to prevail from December to April. The best anchorage
is in 13 fathoms off shore, about a mile with fort Antonio, E.b.S. S. fort Remedios,
S.b.W. fort Conception, S.S. W. W. Pyramid, S. 42° W. The tide is said to rise about
six feet on the springs, high water at 4 h. In 1807, there was very little magnetic variation
at this island. In the vicinity of Fernando-Noronha, is a dangerous shoal called
"Roccas;" which is particularly described in the Mabal Chronicle; xxiii, 481.
See page 14, last note.
S TORNADO a violent gust of wind rising suddenly from the shore, and afterwards
veering around all points of the compass like a hurricane, very frequent between
the tropics. The force of wind is as the square of its velocity, according to Mr.
FERGUSON'S experiments. The following is a table of the different velocities and
forces of the winds, constructed by Mr. Rouse, from a considerable number of facts
and experiments, and communicated to Mr. SMEATON; upon which considerable
dependance may be placed;
43
scudding* away before it, let it carry us whither the fury of the wind directed;
Perpendicular
Velocity of the wind. force on one
square foot in

Miles
in one
Fect
in one
avoirdupois
Apellations of the forces of winds.
pounds.
hour
second.
1
1.47
.005
Hardly perceptible.
2
2.93
.020
3
4.40
.044
Just perceptible.
4
5.87
.079
Gentle breeze.
5
7.33
.123
10
14.67
.492
15
22.00
1.107
Pleasant gale,
20
29.34
1.968
25
36.67
3.075
Brisk gale.
30
44.01
4.429
Wind.
35
51.34
6.027
40
58.68
7.873
45
66.01
9.963
High wind.
50
75.35
12.300
A storm.
60
88.02
17.715
A tempest.
80
117.36
31.490
A hurricane.
100
146.70
49.200
A hurricane that tears up trees, and
carries buildings, &c. before it.
It is observed, with regard to this table, that the evidence for those numbers, where
the velocity of the wind exceeds fifty miles an hour, does not secm of equal authority
with that of those of fifty miles, or under. (Phil. Trans. vol. li. p. 165.)
Dr. HALES found (Statical Ess. vol. 2. p. 326.) that the air rushed out of a smith's
bellows, at the rate of 6873 feet in a second of time, when compressed with a force
equal to the weight of one inch perpendicular depth of mercury, lying on the whole
upper surface of the bellows. The velocity of the air, as it passed out of the trunk of
his ventilators, was found to be at the rate of three thousand feet in a minute; which
is at the rate of thirty-four miles in an hour. Dr. HALES says, that the velocity with
which impelled air passes out at any orifice, may he determined, by hanging a light
valve over the nose of a bellows by pliant leather hinges, which will be much agitated
and lifted up from a perpendicular to a more than horizontal position by the force of
the rushing air. There is another more accurate way, he says, of estimating the
velocity of air, viz. by holding the orifice of an inverted glass siphon full of water,
opposite to the stream of air, whereby the water will be depressed in one leg, and
raised in the other, in proportion to the force with which the water is impelled
by the air. (Descript. of Ventilators, 1743. p. 12. &c.)
"Viewless through heav'n's vast vault your course ye steer,
Unknown from whence ye come of whither go,
Mysterious powers! I hear ye murmur low,
Till swells your loud gust on my startled ear,
And awful seeins to say, some god is near!
I love to list your midnight voices float,
In the dread storm that 'er the ocean rolls;
And while their charm the angry wave controls,
Mix with its sullen roar, and sink remote."
RADCLIFFE:-Address to the Winds.
* Scup-from the Swedish scutta, to sail before the wind in a storm. Suppose &
ship to be lying-to under the three lower stay-sails and the mizen, and that it be
thonght expedient to bear away and scud; then the main top-sail close reefed, must
be loosed and sheeted home, the fore sail loosed, its tack got down, and the sheet
hauled aft: the mizen must be brailed up, the main and mizen stay-sails hauled down,
but the fore stay-sail may be kept up as an off sail, and to assist in veering ship; the
main, and main top-sail braces hauled in to shiver the topsail, and the helm put up
4.4
and, during that time, I need not say, I every day expected to be swallowed
up; nor, indeed, did any in the ship expect to save their lives.

1
Besides the terror of this storm, we suffered the distress of losing one of our
men by the calenture,* and another man and a boy washed overboard + About
the twelfth day, the weather abating a little, the master took an observation, as
well as he could, and found that he was in latitude about 11° N. but that he was in
a weather; when before the wind, the yards are to be squared, and both fore-sheets
hauled aft.
"Square fore and aft the yards," the master calls,
You timoneers! her motion still attend,
For on your steerage all our lives depend :
So, steady! meet her! watch the curving prow,
And from the gale directly let her go."
"Starboard again!" the watchful pilot cries,
"Starboard" the obedient timoneer replies:
Then back to port revolving at command,
The wheel rolls swiftly through each glowing hand.
The ship, no longer foundering by the lee,
Bears on her side th' invasions of the sea;
All lonely o'er the desert waste she flies,
Scourg'd on by surges, storms, and bursting skies.
*
*
*
So, with resistless haste, the wounded ship
Scuds from the chasing waves along the deep;
While dash'd apart by her dividing prow,
Like burning adamant the waters glow;
Her joints forget their firm elastic tone,
Her long keel trembles, and her timbers groan :
Upheav'd behind her, in tremendous height,
The billows frown, with fearful radiance bright;
Now quiv'ring o'er the topmost wave she rides,
While deep beneath th' enormous wave divides ;
Now launching headlong down the horrid vale,
Becalm'd she hears no more the howling gale;
Till up the dreadful height again she flies,
Trembling beneath the current of the skies.
*
*
E'en so she climbs the briny mountain's height,
Then down the black abyss precipitates her flight:
The masts, about whose tops the whirlwinds sing,
"With long vibration round her axle swing.
* CALENTURE:-see page 14, note.
+ Such a catastrophe is thus affectingly painted (ut pictura poesis), by the bard of
!
45
22 degrees of longitude* difference from Cape St. Augustino; so that he
judged according to the best estimation he could make,t we were gotten
beyond the coast of Brazil, upon that of Guiana,‡ between the great river
the dark sea, who, after having best sung its might, became its prey; he need scarcely
be named-FALCONER.
"the seamen strive in vain,
Through hostile floods their vessel to regain;
Weak hope alas! they buffet long the wave,
And grasp at life, though sinking in the grave;
Till, all exhausted, and bereft of strength,
O'erpower'd they yield to cruel fate at length;
The burying waters close around their head;
They sink-for ever number'd with the dead.”
* LONGITUDE:-on the earth, is the distance of any place, east or west, from the
first meridian, reckoned on the equator; or the longitude of any place is the arch of
the equator between such first meridian, and the meridian of that place. The first
meridian is not absolutely fixed, but chosen according to the system of different nations :
meridians are great circles passing through those two points on the earth's surface,
called its poles, and falling perpendicularly on the equator, or intersecting it at right
angles. Thus, longitude is reckoned upon the equatorial line, and its parallels, as
latitude is upon the meridional lines of the globe. Longitude is now commonly computed
east to 180°, and west to 1800, it has sometimes, though seldom, been reckoned east
or west to 360°, or the whole circumference of the globe. It is not very material
what mode be used; although in favour of 180° E. and 180° W. may he urged, that
the comparison of longitude in time, earlier or later than the first meridian, readily
applies; which is not the case in reckoning 360°. Longitude is occasionally expressed
in hours, minutes, and seconds; it would have been very convenient if that mode
of expression had been always adopted, instead of degrees, minutes, and seconds; for
the former is a true and uniform scale of time; whereas the latter is a variable index
of distance, according to the parallel of latitude in which the estimation is made; owing
to the gradual diminution of the degree of longitude from the equator to the pole :
thus in latitude 0, a degree of longitude is 60 miles; in latitude 45° it is 30 miles;
in latitude 90°, it is=0. The difference of longitude from Cape St. Augustino, stated
in the text, added to that of the cape itself, recorded in a preceding note, gives
56° 30′ W. as the ship's position when this observation was made, or nearly in the
parallel of Trinidad and the meridian of Surinam.
"Again the chief th' instructive chart extends,
And o'er the figur'd plane attentive bends;
To him the motion of each orb was known
That wheels around the sun's refulgent throne
But here alas! his science nought avails,
Skill droops unequal and experience fails:
The different traverses since twilight made,
He on the hydrographic circle laid;
Then in the graduated arch contained
The angle of lee-way, seven points remained;
Her place discovered by the rules of art,
Unusual terrors shook the master's heart.”
This is what is called in nautic language "dead reckoning;" founded on the courses
steered, and the direction of the winds, ascertained by the compass (see page 18),
measured by the log, and corrected by due allowance for lee-way, which is a term
synonymous to drift: the result of these traverses is discovered by collecting the
difference of latitude, and departure of each course, and reducing the whole into
one difference of latitude, and one departure, according to the rules of trigonometry.
This reduction will shew the base and perpendicular; or, in other words will give
the difference of latitude and departure, to discover the course and distance.
‡ GUIANA :—that country on the N. E. coast of South-America, bounded on the N.W.
by the river Orenoko, and on the S.E. by the Amazones. It has hitherto been divided
into dutch, french, and portuguese, Guiana. Of these, the former province is the
northernmost, and its chief city is called Surinam; in latitude about 6° N. longitude,
46
•·
Amazones, and that of Orenoco;t and he began to consult with me what route
he should take, for the ship was leaky and very much disabled. He was for going
directly back to the coast of Brazil: I was positively against that; and, looking over
the charts of America with him, we concluded there was no inhabited country
for us to have recourse to till we came within the circle of the Caribbee isles ;
55° 30′ W. The next in order, colonized by the French, is usually called Cayenne,
after its chief city, situated at the most prominent part of the coast, on an island of
the same name, formed by branches of rivers, or arins of the sea, whose geographical
site is latitude 4° 56′ 15″ N. longitude 52° 15' W. Concerning the portuguese pro-
vince, sometimes called Amazonia, we have not any particular information; it may
be considered generally as a continuation and dependency of Brazil. For Surinam see
Babal Chronicle, vol. xxvii (1812) p. 123.
* AMAZONES-a river of S. America; the southern boundary of Guiana, and the
northern limit of Brazil; which, after a course of more than 5000 miles, discharges
itself, by almost innumerable mouths, into the Atlantic ocean, nearly under the Line,
between longitude 47° 40′ and 49° 25′ W. It takes its rise among those alpinet
mountains which extend along the western coast under the general name of the cordillera,
or chain of the Andes. Consequently, the Amazones river traverses almost the whole
continent of S. America at its widest part; it receives many tributary streams, and, as
it approaches the Atlantic, its diffusion is so wide, that, in some of the mouths, the
navigator could only be led to suppose himself in the river, by the freshness and tumult
of the water. At a proper season, however, the navigation is not deemed excessively
hazardous; but is intricate from the sinuosity of the channels among such a prodigious
number of islands, between which the river expands its course, so as to form in several
places a real labyrinth ; many of them also being liable to shift their situations or change
their forms from periodical floods or occasional freshes. The prevalence and force of
the trade winds render it requisite for ships bound in, to make the river's main
entrance exactly by its latitude, so as to fall in with the coast, not much more to the
southward than 30'S. or at any rate not to be farther to the N.W. or leeward than
1° 58' N. as it would be difficult, and, sometimes, impossible to regain the Amazones,
by contending with both wind and current.
+ ORENOCO:-otherwise Orinoco, and popularly Oronoko, one of the largest rivers
in S. America, and remarkable for an annual tide, or for rising and falling once a year
only; that is, it gradually swells during five months, remains one month stationary,
subsides for five months, afterwards continues in that state about a month, and so
recommences. This is attributed to the periodical rains or thaws in the mountains of
the Andes. This river has many mouths, of which the principal and most westerly,
is in the bay of Paria opposite to the island of Trinidad [Trinity.] and called Boca del
Draco, or the Dragon's mouth, and may be considered as forming the strait between that
island and the main land. (See Maval Chronicle, xxii. 456.xxxi, 405.) We have stated,
that this river has many other mouths, which are formed by the islands that lie before
its opening towards the ocean; but they are so numerous, and the intermediate branches
so little known, that we pretend not to describe them hydrographically, or to allude
to them for any other purpose, than to fix the locality of this surprising story, by ob-
serving, that one of the outermost islots was the theatre of Robinson Crusoe's shipwreck
and seclusion. It is stated, that the Orenoco takes a course, including its windings
of 1380 miles; and at full flood there is a dreadful conflict between the current of
the river, and the waters of the ocean, rendering the entrance a perilous navigation,
so as to be, at particular periods, almost impracticable. The geographical position of its
greater mouth is generally stated in books of authority, as situated in latitude 8° 30′ N.
longitude 59° 50' W. For farther information concerning this river, consult the Mabal
Chronicle, viii, 338.
CARIBBEE the name under which are usually comprehended those islands
between Anguilla on the N. and Tobago (or more properly Tabago) on the S. This
name is derived from the original inhabitants called Caribs, or Caraïbs, long since nearly
exterminated. They are also sometimes called Antilles, from the spanish antillu, for-
ward or foremost; in fact, the continental geographers are accustomed to divide all
the west-indian isles into two general classes, the great, and the little, Antilles; but
mariners are more accustomed to classify them as "windward," or "leeward," islands;
with reference to the N.E. trade-winds, and to the usual track of ships bound from
Europe to Mexico.
47
ana, therefore, resolved to stand away for Barbados; which, by keeping off
to sea, to avoid the in-draft of the gulf of Mexico,t we might perform, as we
hoped, in about fifteen days' sail; whereas, we could not possibly make our voyage,
to the coast of Africa, without some assistance both to our ship and ourselves.
With this design, we changed our course, and steered away, N.W.b.W. in
order to reach some of our english islands, where I hoped for relief; but our voyage
was otherwise determined; for, being in the latitude of 12° 18′ N. a second storm
came upon us, which carried us away with the same impetuosity westward, and
drove us so out of the very way of all human commerce, that had all our lives
been saved, as to the sea, we were rather in danger of being devoured by
savages, than ever returning to our own country. In this distress, the wind
still blowing very hard, one of our men, early in the morning, cried out, "Land,
ho!" and we had no sooner run out of the cabin to look out, in hopes of seeing
whereabouts in the world we were, but the ship struck upon a shole, and in a
noment, her motion being so stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner,
that we expected we should all have perished instantly; and we were immedi-
ately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the foam and spray.‡
* BARBADOS the very easternmost of all those islands that have collectively and
improperly obtained the name of "West-Indies;" and, moreover, itself the subject
of frequent erroneous orthography, being vulgarly written Barbadoes; whereas, its
genuine appellation is Barbadas. This erratum is thus corrected in the fifth volume
of the Babal Chronicle (for the year 1801), page 520:- "Among many uncertain
conjectures, those who derive the name of this island from the portuguese language
are most probably in the right; for, as those people were the first discoverers of the
West-indian islands, if not of America in general, it is not unreasonable to suppose,
that they might give this, and the neighbouring islands, a name analogous to something
remarkable in their appearance. Now, nothing of this kind could be more surprising,
than to see the shores shaded with a species of fig-trees differing from all other trees
in the manner of their growth; filaments innumerable hanging from the branches,
striking into the earth, and there taking root. These fibrous shoots have been called
by the English, from their first settlement of the island until this time, the "beards”
of the fig-trees; it is reasonable, therefore, to suppose, that the Portuguese might
originally have the same notion of their resemblance, and from thence, called this and
the neighbouring islands conjunctively, las barbadas, that is, "the bearded [islands];
for consa barbada, in that language, signifies any thing bearded or barbed: and when
Barbadas came to be inhabited by the English, it retained the general name given
originally to the whole group; while the neighbouring islands since settled, were, for
distinction' sake, obliged to be called by specific names. If we consult the most antient
histories, sacred and profane, we shall find that the etymology of proper names hath,
in general, a relative meaning, expressive of nature, quality, or situation."
This island is about 21 miles long, and 15 in breadth where broadest; it lies nearly
E. from the island of Saint Vincent. It cannot be said to possess a single harbour
practicable for shipping; but its coast offers several good roads for anchorage, whereof
the principal is Carlisle bay, which lies (that is to say, Bridge-town on its shore), in
latitude 13° 5' N. longitude 59° 41' 15" W.
+ MEXICO-or New-Spain, is situated between latitude 80 and 300 N. longitude
83° and 110° W. its extent is about 2000 miles in length, and 600 in breadth. It
is bounded on the N. by New-Mexico, or Grenada; on the N.E. by that gulf of the
Atlantic bearing its name; on the E. by Tierra-firma; on the S. by the Pacific ocean,
or great South-sea. Its principal sea-port, on the Atlantic is La-Vera-Cruz [" the truc
cross"], in latitude 19° 9′ 36″ N. longitude 950 3' W. That on the Pacific is Acapulco,
in latitude 17° 10' N. longitude 101° 45′ W. The gulf of Mexico is that portion of
the Atlantic which washes the coasts of Florida, New-Leon, New-Galicia, and Mexico.
It is properly bounded by the cape of Florida, and the isthmus of Darien; or may
be considered, more comprehensively, as extending to the mouth of the Orenoco; and
is subdivided into the bays of Campechy, and of Honduras, besides minor inlets, and
receives several rivers, of which the most noted is the Mecha-sépi, commonly called
the Missisippi.
"It comes the dire catastrophe draws near,
Lash'd furious on by destiny severe ;
48

It is not easy for any one who has not been in the like condition, to describe
or conceive the consternation of men in such circumstances: we knew nothing
where we were, or upon what land it was we were driven, whether an island
or the main land; whether inhabited or not inhabited; and as the rage of the
wind was still great, though rather less than at first, we could not so much as
hope to have the ship hold many minutes, without breaking in pieces, unless
the wind, by a kind of miracle, should immediately turn about. In a word,
we sat looking upon one another, and expecting death every moment; and
every man acting accordingly, as preparing for another world, for there was little
or nothing more for us to do in this; that which was our present comfort, and
all the comfort we had, was, that, contrary to our expectation, the ship did not
break vet, and that the master said, the wind began to abate. Now, though
we thought that the wind did a little abate, yet the ship having thus stricken
upon the sand, and sticking too fast for us to expect her getting off, we were
in a dreadful condition indeed, and had nothing to do, but to think of saving our
lives as well as we could. We had a boat at our stern just before the storm,
but she was first staved, by dashing against the ship's rudder, and in the next
place, she broke away, and either sunk, or was driven off to sea; so there was
no hope from her we had another boat on board, but how to get her off into
the sea was a doubtful thing: however, there was no room to debate, for we
fancied the ship would break in pieces every minute, and some told us she was
actually breaking already. In this distress, the mate of our vessel laid hold of
The ship hangs hovering on the verge of death,
Hell yawns, rocks rise, and breakers roar beneath.
*
*
*
"In vain the cords and axes were prepar'd
For ev'ry wave now smites the quiv'ring yard:
High o'er the ship they throw a dreadful shade,
Then on her burst in terrible cascade;
Across the founder'd deck o'erwhelming roar,
And foaming, swelling, bound upon the shore.
Swift up the mountain billow now she flies,
Her shatter'd top half buried in the skies;
Borne o'er a latent reef the hull impends,
Then thund'ring on the stony crags descends :
Her pond'rous bulk the dire concussion feels,
And o'er up-heaving surges wounded reels ;
Again she plunges bark! a second shock
Bilges the splitting vessel on the ruck.
49
ANY
the boat, and, with the help of the rest of the men, they got her flung over the
ship's side; and getting all into her, let her go, and committed ourselves, being
eleven in number, to God's mercy, and the sea: for, though the storm was
abated considerably, yet the surf went dreadful high upon the shore, and might
be well called "den wild zer," as the Dutch call the sea in a storm.
And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly, that the
sea went so high, that the boat could not live, and that we should be inevitably
drowned. As to making sail, we had none; nor, if we had, could we have
done any thing with it; so we worked at the oar towards the land, though with
heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we all knew, that, when the boat
came nearer to the shore, she would be dashed in a thousand pieces by the
breach of the sea. However, the wind driving us towards the shore, we has-
tened our destruction with our own hands, pulling as well as we could towards
land.
What the shore was-whether rock or sand-whether steep or shoal-we
knew not; the only hope that could rationally give us the least shadow of
expectation was, if we might happen into some bay, or the mouth of some
river, where, by great chance, we might have run our boat in, or got under the
lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth water. But nothing of this appeared;
and, as we made nearer and nearer the shore, the land looked more frightful
than the sea.
After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a mile and a half,
as we reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain like, came rolling astern of us, and
plainly bade us expect the coup de grace.* In a word, it took us with such
fury, that it overset the boat at once; and separating us, as well from the
boat as from one another, gave us not time hardly to say, "O God!" for we
were all swallowed up in a moment.

كيم
* COUP-DE-GRACE-from the French; literally, "stroke of grace;" a figure of
speech, borrowed from the execution of the law upon criminals condemned in cases
of peculiar atrocity, to be broken upon the wheel (as it is called, although the apparatus
is strictly a frame made x-wise); when the executioner, to shorten the sufferings of the
patient gives the last blow of nine with his iron bar, across the breast, under a humane
connivance upon the part of the magistrate, at such a 'departure from the letter of the
Robinson Crusoc.
E
[Naval-Chronicle Edition,]
50
Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sunk; for,
although I swam very well, yet I could not deliver myself from the water, so as to
draw my breath, till that wave having driven me, or rather carried me, a vast way
on towards the shore, and having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the
land almost dry, but half-dead with the water I took in. I had so much presence
of mind, as well as breath left, that seeing myself nearer the main-land than I
expected, I got upon my feet, and endeavoured to make on towards the land as
fast as I could, before another wave should return and take me up again; but
I soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for I saw the sea come after me as
high as a hill, and furious as an enemy, which I had no means or strength to
contend with; my business was, to hold my breath, and raise myself upon the
water, if I could; and so, by swimming, to preserve my breathing, and pilot
myself towards the shore, if possible; my greatest concern now being, that
the wave, as it would carry me a great way towards the shore when it came on,
might not carry me off again with it, when it gave back towards the sea.*
The wave that came upon me again, buried me at once ten or twenty feet
deep in its own body; and I could feel myself carried with a mighty force and
swiftness towards the shore, a very great way; but I held my breath, and
assisted myself to swim still forward with all my might. I was ready to burst
with holding my breath, when, as I felt myself rising up, so, to my immediate
sentence; which usually runs in the words to be "broken alive." This metaphor
is now familiarly applied in most european languages, to describe an abridgement of
any suffering by the act of another, although the tendency thereof be fatal.
* The . C. for the year 1808, (vol. xix, page 475) contains the following practical
observations on the art of swimming, by the late Dr. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, F.R.S.—
"First, that, though the legs, arms, and head of a human body, being solid
parts, are specifically somewhat heavier than fresh water, yet the trunk, particularly
the upper part, from its hollowness, is so much lighter than water, as that the whole
of the body taken together, is too light to sink wholly under water, but some part will
remain above, until the lungs become filled with water; which happens from drawing
water into them instead of air, when a person in the fright attempts breathing while the
mouth and nostrils are under water.
<<
2dly. That the legs and arms are specifically lighter than salt water, and will be
supported by it; so that a human body would not sink in salt water, though the lungs
were filled as above, but from the greater specific gravity of the head.
3dly. That, therefore, a person throwing himself on his back in salt water, and
extending his arms, may casily lie so as to keep his mouth, and nostrils free for breath-
ing; and, by a small motion of his hands, may prevent turning, if he should perceive
any tendency to it.
4thly. That, in fresh water, if a man throws himself on his back, near the surface,
he cannot long continue in that situation but by a proper action of his hands on the
water. If he uses no such action, the legs and lower part of the body will gradually
sink, till he comes into an upright position, in which he will continue suspended, the
hollow of the breast keeping the head uppermost.
"
5thly. But if, in this erect position, the head is kept upright above the shoulders,
as when we stand on the ground, the immersion will, by the weight of that part of the
head that is out of water, reach above the mouth and nostrile, perhaps a little above the
eyes, so that a man cannot long remain suspended in water, with his head in that position,
6thly. The body continued suspended as before, and upright, if the head be
leaned quite back, so that the face looks upwards, all the back part of the head being
then under water, and its weight consequently, in a great measure, supported by it,
the face will repain above water quite free for breathing, will rise an inch higher every
inspiration, and sink as much every expiration, but never so low as that the water may
Come over th mouth,
7thly. If, therefore, a person, unacquainted with swimming, and falling acci-
dentally into the water, could have presence of mind sufficient to avoid struggling and
plunging, and to let the body take this natural position, he might continue long safe,
from drowning, till perhaps help would come. For, as to the clothes, their additional
weight, while immersed, is very inconsiderable, the water supporting it; though, when
he comes out of the water, he would find them very heavy indeed."
51
relicf, I found my head and hands shoot out above the surface of the water;
and though it was not two seconds of time that I could keep myself so, yet it
relieved me greatly, gave me breath, and new courage. I was covered again
with water a good while, but not so long but I held it out; and finding the water
had spent itself and began to return, I struck forward against the return of the
waves, and felt ground again with my feet. I stood still a few moments, to
recover breath, and till the water went from me; then took to my heels, and
ran with what strength I had farther towards the shore. But neither would
this deliver me from the fury of the sea, which came pouring in after me again;
and twice more I was lifted up by the waves, and carried forwards as before,
the shore being very flat.
The last time of these two had well nigh been fatal to me; for the sea having
hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me, against a piece of
a rock, with such force, that it left me senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my
own deliverance; for the blow taking my side and breast, beat the breath, as it
were, quite out of my body; and, had the wave returned again immediately,
I must have been strangled in the water; but I recovered a little before the
return of it, and seeing I should again be covered with the water, I resolved to
hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible, till the
surf went back. Now, as the waves were not so high as the first, being nearer
land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and then fetched another run, which
brought me so near the shore, that the next wave, though it went over me, yet
did not so swallow me up as to carry me away; and the next run I took, I got
to the main-land; where, to my great comfort, I clambered up the clifts of the
shore, and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger, and quite out of the
reach of the water.
I was now landed, and safe on shore; and began to look up and thank God
that my life was saved, in a case wherein there was, some minutes before,
scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express to the life, what
the ecstasies and transports of the soul are, when it is so saved, as I may say, out
of the grave; and I did not wonder any longer at the custom, that when a male-
factor, who has the halter about his neck, is tied up, just going to be turned off,
and has a reprieve brought to him; I say, I do not wonder that they bring a
surgeon with it, to let him blood that very moment they tell him of it, that the
surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart, and overwhelm him.
I
"For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first."
I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands; and my whole being, as
may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance; making a thousand
gestures and motions, which I cannot describe; reflecting upon all my comrades
that were drowned, and that there should not be one soul saved but myself;
for, as for them, I never saw them afterwards, or any sign of them, except three
of their hats, one cap, and two shoes that were not fellows. I cast my eyes
to the stranded vessel-when the breach and froth of the sea being so big I
could hardly see it, it lay so far off. I considered how was it possible I could get
on shore?
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition, I be-
gan to look round me, to see what kind of a place I was in, and what was next to
be done; and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, in a word, I had a
dreadful deliverance; for I was wet, had no clothes to shift me, nor any thing
either to eat or drink, to comfort me; neither did I see any prospect before
me, but that of perishing with hunger, or being devoured by wild beasts and
that which was particularly afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon, either to
hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any
other creature that might desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I had nothing
about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a little tobacco in a box. This was
all my provision; and this threw ine into such terrible agonies of mind, that,
for a while, I ran about like a madman. Night coming upon me, I began,
E 2
52
I
1
1
with a heavy heart, to consider what would be my lot, if there were any ravenous
beasts in that country, seeing at night they always come abroad for their prey.
All the remedy that offered to my thoughts, at that time, was, to get up into
a thick bushy tree, like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, and where I
-resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what death I should die, for,
as yet. I saw no prospect of life. I walked about a furlong from the shore, to
see if I could find any fresh water to drink, which I did, to my great joy; and,
having drank, and put a little tobacco in my mouth, to prevent hunger, I went
to the tree, and getting up into it, endeavoured to place myself so, as that, if
I should sleep, I might not fall; and, having cut me a short stick, like a
truncheon, for my defence, I took up my lodging; and, having been excessively
fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably, as I believe few could have
done in my condition; and found myself the most refreshed with it that I think
I ever was on such an occasion.
When I waked, it was broad day, the weather clear, and the storm abated,
so that the sea did not rage and swell as before; but that which surprised me
most was, that the ship was lifted off in the night from the sand where she lay,
by the swelling of the tide, and was driven up almost as far as the rock which
I first mentioned, where I had been so bruised by the wave dashing me against
it.
This being within half a mile from the shore where I was, and the ship
seeming to stand upright still, I wished myself on board, that at least I might
save some necessary things for my use.
When I came down from my apartment in the tree, I looked about me again,
and the first thing I found was the boat; which lay, as the wind and sea had
tossed her up, upon the land, about two miles on my right hand. I walked as
far as I could upon the shore to have got to her; but found a creek or inlet
of water, which was about half a mile broad, between me and the boat; so I
came back for the present, being more intent upon getting at the ship, where
I hoped to find something for my present subsistence.
A little after noon, I found the sea very calm, and the tide* ebbed so far out,
that I could come within a quarter of a mile of the ship: and here I found a
fresh renewing of my grief; for I saw evidently, that, if we had kept on board,
we had been all safe; that is to say, we had all got on shore, and I had not
been so miserable as to be left entirely destitute of all comfort and company,
as I now was. This forced tears from my eyes again; but as there was little relief
in that, I resolved, if possible, to get to the ship; so I pulled off my clothes,
for the weather was hot to extremity, and took the water: but, when I came
to the ship, my difficulty was still greater, to know how to get on board; for as
she lay aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing within my reach
to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and the second time I spied a small
piece of a rope, which I wondered I did not see at first, hang down by the
fore-chains, so low as that, with great difficulty, I got hold of it, and, by the
* TIDE a periodical motion of the waters of the sea; called also the flux and
reflux, or the ebb and flow. When the motion of the water is against the wind, it is
called a weather-tide; when wind and tide go the same way, lee-tide; when it runs
very strong, it is called a bore. To tide it over, or up into, any place, is to go with
tide, either ebb or flood, as long as that lasts; then to stay at anchor all the time of
contrary tide; and thus to set in again with the return of the next tide. It is said to
flow tide and half-tide, allowing six hours to a tide, when the tide runs three hours in
the offing longer than it does by the shore; but by longer, they do not mean its running
more hours; but that, if it be high'water ashore at twelve, it will not be so in the offing
till three. An hour and a half longer makes tide and quarter-tide, three-fourths of an
hour longer makes tide and half-quarter tide, &c. When the moon is in the first and
third quarter, i. e. when she is new and full, the tides are high and swift, and are
called spring-tides; when she is in the second and last quarter, the tides are lower aud
slower; and called neap-tides.
†
FORE-CHAINS:-in ship-building, are those irons whereby the shrouds of the
fore-mast are made fast to the chain-wales; which latter are the broad ledges made
53
help of that rope, got into the forecastle of the ship. Here I found that the
ship was bulged, and had a great deal of water in her hold; but that she laid
so on the side of a bank of hard sand, or rather carth, that her stern lay lifted
up upon the bank, and her head low, almost to the water. By this means, all
her quarter was free, and all that was in that part was dry; for you may be sure
my first work was to search and to see what was spoiled and what was free: and,
first, I found, that all the ship's provisions were dry and untouched by the water;
and, being very well disposed to eat, I went to the bread-room, and filled my
hands with biscuit, and eat it as I went about other things, for I had no time to lose.
I also found in the cabin some rum,* of which I took a large dram, and which,
indeed, I had need enough of, to inspirit me for what was before me. Now I
wanted nothing but a boat to convey many things, which I foresaw would be
very necessary to me.
It was in vain to sit still, and wish for what was not to be had, and this ex-
tremity roused my application; we had several spare yards, two or three large
spars of wood, and a spare top-mnast or two in the ship: I resolved to fall-to
are those
projecting horizontally from a ship's sides, to which with chains, the shrouds are fastened,
and by them spread out, the better to secure the masts. As the" fore-chains
of the above-described irons appertaining unto the rigging of the fore-mast, so there
are similar irons to which the shrouds of the other masts are extended, and which are
denominated main or mizen-chains, after the masts to which they respectively belong.
Shrouds, from the saxon scrud, consist of a range of thick ropes, stretching downwards
from the mast-heads, to the right and left sides of a ship, in order to support the masts,
and enable them to carry sail; they are also used as ladders, by which seamen ascend
to execute whatever is wanting to be done about the sails and rigging.
* RUM:-a vinous spirit, drawn by distillation from sugar-canes. The word rum
is the name it bears among native Americans. Rum is very hot and inflammable, and
is in the same use among the natives of the sugar countries, as brandy among the
French. Rum differs from what we simply call sugar-spirit, in that it contains more of the
essential oil of the sugar-cane; a great deal of raw juice and parts of the cane itself
being often fermented in the liquor, or solution, of which the rum is prepared. The
unctuous or oily quality of rum is often supposed to proceed from the quantity of fat
used in boiling the sugar; which fat, indeed, of course, will usually give a stinking flavour
to the spirit in distillations of the sugar-liquor or wash, from our refining sugar-houses;
but this is nothing like the genuine flavour of rum which is really the direct produce of
the cane. The method of making rum is this :-When a sufficient stock of the materials.
is got together, they add water to them, and ferment them in the common method,
although the fermentation is always carried on very slowly at first; because, at the
beginning of the season for making rum in the islands, they want yest, or some other
fermenting agent, to make it work; but, by degrees, after this, they procure a sufficient
quantity of the ferment, which rises up as a head to the liquor in the operation, and
thus they are able afterwards to ferment and make their rum with a great deal of
expedition, and in large quantities.
When the wash is fully fermented, or to a due degree of acidity, the distillation is
carried on in the common way, and the spirit is made up proof; although sometimes it
is reduced to a much greater strength, nearly approaching to that of alcohol, or rectified
spirit of wine, and is then called double distilled rum. It might be easy to rectify the
spirit, and bring it to much greater purity, than we usually find it to be of; for it brings
over in the distillation a very large quantity of the oil; and this is often so disagreeable,
that the rum must be suffered to lie-by a long time to mellow, before it can be used;
whereas, if well rectified, it would grow mellow much sooner, and would have a much
less potent flavour. The best state to keep rum in, both for exportation and other uses,
is doubtless that of alcohol. In this manner, it would be transportable in one half the
bulk it usually is, and might be let down to the common proof strength with water
when necessary. For the common use of making punch, it would likewise serve much
better in the state of alcohol, as the taste would be cleaner, and the strength might
always be regulated to a much greater exactness than in the ordinary way. The only
use to which it would not serve so well in this action, would be, the common practice,
of adulteration among our distillers ; for, when they want to mix a large portion of
cheaper spirit with the rum, their business is, to have it of the proof strength, and as
54
work with these, and flung as many overboard as I could manage for their
weight, tying every one with a rope, that they might not drive away. When
this was done, I went down the ship's side, and pulling them to me, I tied four
of them fast together at both ends, as well as I could, in the form of a raft,*
and laying two or three short pieces of plank upon them, cross-ways, I found I
could walk upon it very well, but that it was not able to bear any great weight,
the pieces being too light; so I went to work, and, with the carpenter's saw,
I
cut a spare top-mast into three lengths, and added them to my raft, with a
great deal of labour and pains. But the hope of furnishing myself with neces-
saries, encouraged me to go beyond what I should have been able to have done
upon another occasion.
My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight. My next care
was, what to load it with, and how to preserve what I laid upon it from the surf
of the sea; but I was not long considering this. I first laid all the planks or
boards upon it, that I could get, and having considered well what I most wanted,
I got three of the seamens' chests, which I had broken open and emptied, and
lowered them down upon my raft; these I filled with provisions, namely, bread,
rice, three dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goats' flesh (an article we lived
much upon), and a little remainder of european corn, that had been laid hy
for some fowls which we had brought to sea with us, but the fowls were killed.
There had been some barley and wheat together, but, to my great disappointment,
I found afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it. As for liquors, I found
several cases of bottles belonging to our skipper, in which were some cordial
full of the favouring oil as they can, that it may drown the flavour of the spirits they
may mix with it, and extend its own. If the business of rectifying rum was more nicely
managed, it seems a very practicable scheme to throw out so much of the oil, as to
have the liquor in the fine light state of a clear spirit, but lightly impregnated with it;
in this case, it would very nearly resemble arrac, as is proved by the mixing a very small
quantity of it with the tasteless spirit, in which case the whole bears a very near resem-
blance to arrac in flavour. Rum is usually very much adulterated in England; some are
so barefaced as to do it with malt spirit; but when it is done with molasses spirit, the
tastes of both are so nearly allied that it is not easily discovered. The best method of
judging of it is, by setting fire to a little of it; and, when it has burnt away all the inflam-
mable part, examining the phlegm, both by taste and smell. (SHAW's Essay on Distil.)
* RAFT:-a sort of float, formed by an assemblage of various planks or pieces of
timber, fastened together side by side, so as to be conveyed more commodiously to any
short distance in a harbour or road, than if they were separate. The timber and plank
with which merchant-ships are laden, in the different parts of the baltic sea, are attached
together in this manner, in order to float them off the shipping.
+ Rice:-oryza, in botany, a genus of the class hexandria-digynia. Its characters are
these: the chaff is small, acute-pointed, having two valves, nearly equal, enclosing a
single flower; the petal has two valves, which are boat-shaped, ending in a beard or
awn; it has a two-leaved nectarium, and six hairy stamina, the length of the petal,
terminated by summits, bifid at their base, and a turbinated germen, supporting two
reflexed hairy styles, crowned by feathered stigmas; the germen afterwards becomes
one large, oblong, compressed, seed, having two channels on each side, sitting on the
petal of the flower. There is but one species of this plant. This grain is greatly cul-
tivated in most of the eastern countries, where it is the chief support of the inhabited
land; and great quantities of it are annually brought into England, and other european
countries, where it is in great esteem for sundry culinary purposes. It is too tender to
be produced in these northern countries, without the assistance of artificial heat; but,
from some seeds, which were sent to South-Carolina, about the year 1697, there have
been great quantities produced, and it is found to succeed as well there, as in its
native country, which is a very great resource to the american settlers. This plant
grows upon moist soils, where the ground can be flowed over with water after it is
come up; so that, whoever would cultivate it in England for curiosity, should sow the
seeds upon a hot bed, and when the plants are come up, they should be transplanted
into pots, filled with light, rich, earth, and placed in pans of water, which should be
plunged into a hot-bed; and as the water wastes, so it must, from time to time be renewed
55
waters; and, in all, about five or six gallons of arac.* These I stowed by
themselves, there being no need to put them into the chests, nor any room
for them. While I was doing this, I found the tide began to flow, though very
calm; and I had the mortification to see my coat, shirt and waistcoat, which I
had left on shore upon the sand, float away; as for my breeches, which were
only linen, and open kneed, I swam on board in them and in my stockings.
However, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough,
but took no more than I wanted for present use; for I had other things which
my eye was more upon : as, first, tools to work with on shore; and it was after
long searching that I found the carpenter's chest, which was, indeed, a very
useful prize to me, much more valuable than a ship-lading of gold would have
been at that time. I got it down to my raft, even whole as it was, without losing
time to look into it, for I knew, in general what it contained. Besides the tools
which were in the chest, I also found two saws, an axe, and a hammer.
My next care was for some ammunition aud arms, There were two very good
again. In July, these plants may be set abroad in a warm situation, sull preserving the
water in the pans, otherwise they will not thrive. Towards the latter end of April, they
will produce their grain, which will ripen tolerably well, provided the autumn proves
favourable. The Chinese water their rice-fields by means of moveable mills, placed,
as occasion requires, upon any part of the banks of a river. The water is raised in
buckets to a proper height, and afterwards conveyed in channels to the destined places.
Rice is much used as food in the Roman Catholic countries in time of Lent. The ordi-
nary preparation is by first steeping it in water, then boiling it in milk. Some make
it into a sort of farina, or flour, by pounding it in a mortar, after having first put it into
hot water, and again washed it out in cold. Among the common kinds of grain, rice
is accounted the mildest and most nutritious; and is supposed to be particularly ser-
viceable in dysentery and diarrhoea. The northern nations eat their fowls and other
meats with rice and saffron. The Chinese make a wine of rice, which is of an amber
colour, tastes like spanish wine, and scrves them for their common drink. In some
parts of Europe they also draw a very strong brandy or spirit from rice. The following
is an approved recipe for rendering this grain subservient to making bread :
:-" To
every five pounds of flour add one pound of rice; but the rice must be previously
boiled over a slow fire till it becomes like a jelly. Then, when lukewarm, add the
barm, and mix up your bread, should the sponge be too thick, add a sufficiency of luke-
warm water. By this mode, 30 pounds of flour, and 6 pounds of rice will make 18
quartern loaves of 4 lb. each. The 5lb. of flour makes 8lb. of bread; but when mixed
with a pound of rice, 12 lb.
* ARAC :-rack, or raki, a spirituous liquor, imported from the East; chiefly used
by way of dram, and in punch. The nature and composition of this celebrated liquor
have been much controverted. The name raki, travellers assure us, is an oriental word
for strong waters of all kinds; for that they call our spirits and brandy, english arac.
But what we understand by the name arac, is really no other than a spirit procured by
distillation, from a vegetable juice called toddy, which flows by incision out of the cocoa-
nut tree, and some other trees, like the birch juice, procured aniong us. According to
the Cyclopædia, Mr. LOCKYER says, toddy is a pleasant drink of itself, when new, but
purges those not used to it; and, when stale, is heady; and finally makes good vinegar.
The English at Madras used it as leaven to raise their bread with. Others are of opinion
that arac or arrac is a vinous spirit obtained by distillation, in the East-Indies, from
rice or sugar, fermented with the juice of cocoa-nuts.
Goa arac is made from toddy; Batavia arac from rice and sugar. There is, likewise,
a kind of shrub from which arac is made. Goa and Ba'avia are the chief places for
arac. At Goa there are divers kinds; single, double, and treble distilled. The double
distilled, which is that commonly sent abroad, is but a weak spirit in comparison with
Batavia arac; yet, on account of its peculiar and agreeable flavour, is preferred to all
the other aracs of India. This is attributed to the earthen vessels which they use at
Goa to draw the spirit; whereas at Batavia they use copper stills.
The Pariar arac, made at Madras, and the Columbo, and Quilon arac, at those other
places, being fiery hot spirits, are little valued by the Europeans, and, therefore, rarely
imported, though highly prized among the natives. In the best Goa arac, the spirits
of the cocoa-juice do not make above a sixth or eighth part. The manner of making
56
fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols; these I secured first, with
some powder horns and a small bag of shot, and two old rusty swords. I knew
there were three barrels of powder in the ship, but knew not where our gunner
had stowed them; however, with much search, I found them, two were dry and
good, the third had taken water. Those two I got to my raft, with the arms.
And now I thought myself pretty well freighted, and began to think how I should
get to shore with them, having neither sail, oar, nor rudder; and the least cap-
full of wind would have overthrown all my navigation.
I had three encouragements: 1st. A smooth, calm, sea: 2d. The tide rising,
and setting in to the shore: 3d. What little wind there was, blew me towards
the land. And thus, having, at last, found two or three broken oars belonging
to the boat, with this cargo I put to sea. For a mile, or thereabouts, my raft
went very well, only that I found it drive a little distant from the place where I
had landed before; by which I perceived, that there was some indraft of the
water, and consequently I hoped to find some creek or river there, which I
might make use of as a port to get to land with my cargo. As I imagined, so
it was there appeared before me a little opening of the land, and I found a
strong current of the tide set into it; so I guided my raft, as well as I could, to
get into the middle of the stream. But here I bad like to have suffered a second
shipwreck, which, if I had, I think verily would have broken my heart; for,
knowing nothing of the coast, my raft ran aground at one end of it upon a shoal,
and not being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo
had slipped off towards that end that was afloat, and so fallen into the water.
I did my utmost, by setting my back against the chests, to keep them in their
places, but could not thrust off the raft with all my strength; neither durst I
the Goa arac is this: The juice of the trees is not procured in the way of tapping, as
we do; but the operator provides himself with a parcel of earthen pots, with bellies
and necks, like our ordinary bird-bottles; he makes fast a number of these to his girdle,
and any way else that he commodiously can about him. Thus equipped, he climbs up
the trunk of a cocoa tree; and, when he comes to the boughs, he takes out his knife,
and cutting off one of the small knots or buttons, he applies the mouth of the bottle to
the wound, fastening it to the bough with a bandage in the same manner he cuts off
other buttons, and fastens on his pots, till the whole number is used; this is done in the
evening, and descending from the tree, he leaves them till the next morning, when he
takes off the bottles which are mostly filled, and empties the juice into the proper
receptacle. This is repeated every night till a sufficient quantity is produced, and the
whole then being put together, is left to ferment, which it soon does. When the fer-
mentation is over, and the liquor or wash is become a little tart, it is put into the still,
and a fire being made, the still is suffered to work as long as that which comes over has
any considerable taste of spirit. The liquor thus procured, is the low wine of arac, and
this is so poor a liquor, that it will soon corrupt and spoil, if not distilled again, to sepa-
rate some of its phlegm; they, therefore, immediately after pour back this low wine into
the still, and rectify it to that weak state of proof-spirit, in which we find it. The arac we
meet with, notwithstanding its being of a proof-test, according to the way of judging by
the crown of bubbles, holds but a sixth, and, sometimes, but an eighth, part of alcohol,
or pure spirit; whereas our other spirits, when they shew that proof, are generally
esteemed to hold one half pure spirit. (SHAW's Essay on Distilling.) There is a paper
of observations on arac, in the Mélanges d'Histoire naturelle : (tome v. p. 302.) By fer-
menting, distilling, and rectifying, the juice of the american maple which has much
the same taste as that of the cocoa, the author says, he made arac not in the least infe-
rior 10 any that comes from the East Indies; and he thinks the juice of the sycamore,
and of the birch trees, would equally answer the end. Besides the common. sorts of
Goa and Batavia arac, there are two others less generally known: these are the bitter
srac, and the black arac. It is certain that the flavor of the several kinds of arac differ
as much from each other, as those of rum, or of brandy, or any other spirituous liquor
of Europe. It is said, that the Chinese import from their own country to Batavia, &
hot fiery spirit, called sam-chen, for the purpose of adulteration; but it may be that
this is only for the use of the chinese inhabitants of that settlement. (MILBURN'S
Oriental Commerce,-1813.)
57
stir from the posture I was in, but holding up the chests with all my might, I stood
in that manner near half an hour, in which time, the rising of the water brought
me a little more upon a level; and a little after, the water still rising, my raft
floated again, and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel, and then
driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of a little river, with
land on both sides, and a strong current or tide running up. I looked on both
sides for a proper place to get to shore, for I was not willing to be driven too
high up the river; hoping, in time, to see some ship at sea; and, therefore,
resolved to place myself as near the coast as I could.
At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, to which, with
great pain and difficulty, I guided my raft, and, at last, got so near, as that,
reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her directly in; but here I had like
to have dipped all my cargo into the sea again; for that shore, sloping pretty
steep, there was no place to land, but where one end of my float, if it ran on shore,
would lie so high, and the other sink lower, as before, that it would endanger iny
cargo again. All that I could do was, to wait till the tide was at the highest,
keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor, to hold the side of it fast to the shore,
near a flat piece of ground, which I expected the water would flow over; and
so it did. As soon as I found water enough, for my raft drew about a foot of
water, I thrust her upon that flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored
her, by sticking my two broken oars into the ground, one on one side, near one
end, and one on the other side, near the other end and thus I lay till the water
ebbed away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore.
My next work was, to view the country, and seck a proper place for my
habitation, and where to stow my goods, to secure them from whatever might
happen. Where I was, I yet knew not; whether on the continent or on an
island; whether inhabited or not inhabited; whether in danger of wild beasts,
or not. There was a hill, not above a mile from me, which rose up very steep
and high, and which seemed to overtop some other hills, which lay, as in a ridge
from it, northward. I took one of the fowling picces, one of the pistols, and a
horn of powder; and, thus armed, I travelled for discovery up to the top of
that hill; where, after I had, with great labour and difficulty, got up to the top,
I saw my fate to my great affliction, that I was in an island, environed every
way with the sea, no land to be seen, except some rocks, which lay a great
way off, and two islands, smaller than this, which lay about three leagues
to the west.
I found also that the island I was in was uncultivated, and, as I saw good
reason to believe, uninhabited, except by wild beasts, or fowls; of the former,
however, I discovered none; although I saw abundance of the latter; but knew
not their kinds; neither when I killed them, could I tell what was fit for food,
and what not. At my coming back, I shot at a great bird, which I saw sitting
upon a tree, on the side of a great wood. I belive it was the first gun that had
been fired there since the creation of the world; I had no sooner fired, but, from
all the parts of the wood there arose an innumerable number of fowls, of many
sorts, making a confused screaming, and crying, every one according to his usual
note: but not one of them of any kind that I knew. As for the creature I killed,
I took it to be a kind of a hawk, its colour and beak resembling that bird, but
it had no talons or claws more than common. Its flesh was carrion and fit
for nothing.
Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to work, to
*It should seem that R. C. here speaks with reference to himself, when entering
the creek; otherwise, in employing the terms right or left, to describe situation on the
banks of a river, it is almost invariably understood that the spectator's view is directed
down the stream, or with his back towards its source. This arbitrary mode of expression
is adopted to avoid ambiguity when the course of a river may become so very winding,
as to render geographical terms no longer strictly applicable.
58
bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that day; what to do
with myself at night, I knew not, nor, indeed, where to rest; for I was afraid to
lie down on the ground, not knowing, but some wild beast might devour me;
though, as I afterwards found, there was really no need for those fears. How-
ever, as well as I could, I barricadoed* myself around with the chests and boards
that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of hut for that night's lodging. As
for food, I yet knew not which way to supply myself, except that I had seen
two or three creatures like hares, run out of the wood where I shot the fowl.
I now began to consider, that I might still get a great many things out of the
ship, which would be useful to me, and particularly some of the rigging and sails,
and such other things as might come to land; and I resolved to make another
voyage on board the vessel, if possible. And, as I knew that the first storm that
blew must necessarily break her all in pieces, I resolved to set all other things
apart, until I got every thing out of the ship that I could. Then I called a
council, that is to say, in my thoughts, whether I should take back the raft; but
this appeared impracticable; so I resolved to go as before, when the tide was
down; and I did so, only that I stripped before I went from my hut; having
nothing on but a chequered shirt, a pair of linen drawers, and a pair of pumps
on my feet.
I got on board the ship as before, and prepared a second raft; and, having
had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy, nor loaded it so
hard; but yet I brought away several things very useful to me; as, first, in the
carpenter's stores, I found two or three bags full of nails and spikes, a great
screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets; and above all, that most useful thing,
called a grind-stone. All these I secured together, with several things belonging
to the gunner; particularly two or three iron crows, two barrels of musket bul-
lets, seven muskets, and another fowling-piece, with some small quantity of
powder more; a large bag-full of small-shot, and a great roll of sheet lead; but
this last was so heavy, I could not hoist it up to get it over the ship's side. Be-
sides these things, I took all the mens' clothes that I could find, and a spare fore-
top sail, a haminoc,t and some bedding; with this I loaded my second raft, and
brought them all safe on shore, to my very great comfort.
* BARRICADO:-(barricade, substantive; barricader, verb; French.) a partition,
screen, or fence, either such as is made in baste with timber, planks, barrels, sand-bags,
or any other materials, at hand, for temporary use; or of less rude formation, and for
more permanent purpose, such as are placed within, or raised around the gunwale of,
a ship for defence against musketry; into the construction of which enter irou-plates,
cork, rope, &c.
+ HAMMOC; or Hamaco, (hamac, branle, French) a kind of hanging bed, suspended
between two trees, posts, hooks, or the like; much used throughout the West Indies, as
also on board of ships. The Indians hang their hammocs to trees, and thus secure them-
selves from wild beasts and insects, which render lying on the ground there very dan-
gerous. The people of the Caribee Islands, are wonderfully superstitious with regard
to their hammocs, and do not make them without many ceremonies. According to F.
PLUMIER, who has often made use of the hammoc in the Indies, it consists of a large
strong coverlet, or sheet of coarse cotton, about six feet square; on two opposite sides
are loops of the same stuff, through which a string is run, and thereof other loops are
formed; all which are tied together with a cord; and thus is the whole fastened to
two neighbouring trees in the field, or on two hooks in houses. This kind of couch
serves, at the same time, for bed, quilts, sheets, pillow, &c. The hammoc used on
board of ships is made of a piece of canvas, six feet long, and three feet wide, gathered
or drawn together by clues, and suspended by a laniard at each end: there are usually
from fourteen to twenty inches in breadth allowed between decks for every hammoc in
a ship of war; but this space must, in some measure, depend on the number of the crew,
&c. In time of battle, the hammocs and bedding are firmly corded and fixed in the
nettings around the quarter deck, or wherever the men are too much exposed to the
view or fire of the enemy. Mr. LE-CAT contrived a hammoc of Turkey leather, which
may be easily raised or let down, with a sick person in it, by ropes and pullies. (Phil.
Trans. No. 468.)
59
"
I was under some apprehensions, lest, during my absence from the land, my
provisions on shore might be devoured: but, when I came back, I found no
sign of any visitor, only there sat a creature, like a wild cat, upon one of the
chests, which, when I came towards it, ran away a little distance, and then stood
still. She sat very composed and unconcerned, and looked full in my face, as
if she had a mind to be acquainted with me. I presented my gun at her, but
as she did not understand it, she was perfectly unconcerned at it, nor did she offer
to stir away; upon which I tossed her a bit of biscuit, although, by the way, I
was not very free of it, for my store was not great; however, I spared her a bit,
I say, and she went to it, smelled, ate it, and looked, as pleased, for more; but I
thanked her, and could spare no more; so she marched off.
Having got my second cargo on shore (though I was fain to open the barrels
of powder, and bring them by parcels, for they were too heavy, being large casks),
I went to work to make me a little tent, with the sail, and some poles, which I
cut for that purpose: and into this tent I brought every thing that I knew would
spoil either with rain or sun; and I piled all the empty chests and casks up in a
circle round the tent, to fortify it from any sudden attempt either from mian or
beast. When I had done this, I blocked up the door of the tent with some
boards within, and an empty chest set up on-end without; and spreading one
of the beds upon the ground, laying my two pistols just at my head, and my gun
at length by ine, I went to bed, for the first time, and slept very quietly all
night, as I was very weary and heavy; for the night before, I had slept little,
and had laboured very hard all day, as well to fetch all those things from the
ship, as to get them on shore.
I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now, that ever was laid up, I believe,
for one man; but I was not satisfied still; for, while the ship sat upright in that
posture, I thought I ought to get every thing out of her that I could: so every
day, at low water, I went on board, and brought away something or other but,
particularly, the third time I went, I brought away as much of the rigging as
I could, as also the small cordage, and twine, I could get, with a piece of spare
canvas, which was to mend the sails upon occasion, and the barrel of wet gun-
powder. In a word, I brought away all the sails first and last; only that I was
fain to cut them in pieces, and bring as much at a time as I could; for they were
no more useful to be sails, but as mere canvas only.
But that which comforted me still more was, that, last of all, after I had made
five or six such voyages as these, and thought I had nothing more to expect from
the ship that was worth my meddling with; I say, after all this, I found a great
hogshead of bread, three large runlets of rum or spirits, a box of sugar, and a
* SUGAR:-The re-mention of this saline substance affords opportunity for supplying
some additional memoranda to the former note on this article (p. 35), which could not
be introduced therein without exceeding the necessary bounds of annotation. Besides
the two biblical passages, referring to the "sweet cane," quoted in that note; there is
a third, wherein is said, "Take of sweet calamus 250 shekels." (Exodus, xxx, 25) which
has led the editor into the following researches concerning that plant also :-
Calamus aromaticus, in pharmacy, is a spicy bitterish root, produced by a peculiar
kind of water-plant, growing in the Levant, and even in some parts of England. The
best is that which is greyish without, reddish within, its pulp white, and taste somewhat
bitter; but its leaves, as well as roots, sweet-scented. The agreeable flavour and pecu-
liar taste of the root are owing to an essential oil. (NEUMANN.) Calamus odoratus, in
the Materia Medica, the name of a reed of the East Indies, of a very sweet smell. Our
calamus arometicus, which is the root of a water-plant, is a very different substance.
Acorus, a medicinal plant of the flag kind; frequently confounded by the antient, and
also by the modern apothecaries, with the calamus aromaticus. It appertains to the
class of hexandria monogynia, in the Linnæan system. They are distinguished by this,
that from the middle of some of the leaves of the latter, there arises a longish cluster of
an infinity of little flowers, the thickness of the little finger, and resembling macro-piper,
or long pepper. The other is a common flag-flower. It is the root only of the Acorus
that is used in physic; and to which we usually apply the name. The calomus aroma-
60
f
}
barrel of fine flour; this was surprising to me, because I had given over expecting
any more provisions, except what was spoiled by the water. I soon emptied
the hogshead of that bread, and wrapped it up, parcel by parcel, in pieces of
the sails, which I cut out; and in a word, I got all this safe on shore also. The
the same.
ticas is brought from Lithuania and Tartary; it is knotty, reddish without, and white
within, as thick as the little finger, and half a foot long. It is spicy and bitterish, and
used in cephalic and stomachic composition. It is also an ingredient in the Theriaca An-
dromachi. Its principal use is in internal obstructions; in the cholic, &c. Some rank
galangals as a species of acorus. Acorus adulterinus, or vulgaris, in the Materia Medica
the name of the root of the iris lutea palustris, or common yellow water flag-flower.
(Cyclopaedia) MILBURN (Oriental Commerce; i. 103), enumerates acorus or calamus
aromaticus, as one and the same thing, in a list of articles procurable at Moka; and
describes it as a reed or knotty root, about the size of a little finger, several inches long,
reddish externally, internally of a white colour, full of joints, somewhat flatted on the
side, and of a loose spongy texture; its smell strong, the taste warm, bitterish and aro-
matic," &c It is a question not yet decided among botanists, &c. whether the antients
were acquainted with this cane, and whether they knew how to express the juice from
What we can gather from the arguments advanced on either side is, that, if
they knew the cane and juice, they did not know the art of condensing, hardening, and
whitening it, and, of consequence, they knew nothing of our sugar. Some antient
authors, indeed, seem to mention sugar, under the name of "indian salt;" but they add,
that it oused out of the cane itself, and there hardened like a gum; and was even friable
between the teeth, like our common salt; whereas sugar is expressed by a machine, and
coagulated by fire. Theirs, SALMASIUS (Plinianae Exercit. tom. i. p. 716.) tells us,
was cooling and loosening; whereas ours, the same author asserts, is hot, and excites
thirst. Hence, some have imagined that the ancient and modern sugar plants were
different; but MALTHIOLUS on Dioscorides, c. 75, makes no doubt they were the same;
and others are even of opinion, that ours has a laxative virtue, as well as that of the
antients, and that it purges pituita. The generality of authors, however, agree, that
the ancient sugar was much better than the modern; as consisting of only the finest and
maturest parts, which made themselves a passage, and were condensed in the air. The
interpreters of EBN-SINNA, (whose name is latinized under that of Avicenna) and SERA-
PION call sugar spodium; the Persians tabaxir; and the Indians mambu. SALMASIUS
(Com. de Sacchar. apud Plin. Exercit. vol. ii. p. 257, A.D. 1689) assures us, that the
Àrabs have used the art of making sugar, such as we now have it, above nine hundred
years. Others produce the following verses of P. TERENTIUS VARRO ATACINUS, to
prove that it was known before Jesus Christ:
Indica non magna nimis arbore crescit arundo:
Illius e lentis premitur radicibus humor,
Dulcia cui nequeant succo contendere mella..
De. W. DOUGLAS, in his Summary, &c. of the first planting of our american settle-
ments, (printed, Boston, 1751, reprinted, London, 1755) affirms, that sugar was not
known among the antient Greeks and Romans, who used only honey for sweetening.
PAULUS EGINETA, he says, a noted compiler of medical history, and one of the last
Greek writers on that subject, about anno 1625, is the first who expressly mentions
sugar; it was, at first, called mel arundinaceum, that is, reed or cane honey. He adds,
that it came originally from China, by way of India and Arabia into Europe; and was
formerly used only in syrups, conserves, and such arabian medicinal compositions. An-
other question among the naturalists is, whether the sugar-canes be originally of the
West Indies, or whether they have been translated rather from the East? The learned
of these last ages have been much divided on the point; hut F. LABAT, a Dominican
missionary, in a dissertation published 1722, asserts, that the sugar-cane is as natural
to America as India, and that the Spaniards and Portuguese first learned from the
Orientals the art of expressing its juice, boiling and reducing it into sugar. Other
writers, however, have maintained, that it was not known in America till the Europeans
transplanted it thither. Its origin appears to have been from the inland continent of Asia,
very probably as far east as China, where it still greatly abounds. From that continent.
it was first transplanted to Cyprus, and thence (according to various authors) into Sicily,
where considerable quantities of it were produced about the year 1148, and whither,
some have asserted, it was brought from India by the Saracens. From Sicily it was
transplanted by the Portuguese to Madeira, about the year 1420, and from Sicily, or
1
1
61
next day, I made another voyage, and now, having plundered the ship of what
was portable and fit to hand out, I began with the cables, and cutting the great
cable into pieces, such as I could move, I got two cables and a hawser on shore,
with all the iron-work I could get; and, having cut down the sprit-sail yard,†
and the mizen-yard,‡ and every thing I could, to make a large raft, I loaded it
with all those heavy goods, and came away; but my good luck began now to
leave ine; for this raft was so unwieldy, and so overladen, that, after I
entered in the little cove, where I had landed the rest of my goods, not being
able to guide it so handily as I did the other, it oversat, and threw me and all
my cargo into the water; as for myself, it was no great harm, for I was near the'
shore; but as to my cargo, it was great part of it lost, especially the iron, which
I expected would have been of great use to me: however, when the tide was
out, I got most of the pieces of cable ashore, and some of the iron, though with
infinite labour, as I was fain to dip for it into the water, a work which fatigued
me very much. And thus, I went every day on board, and brought away what I
could get.
I had been now thirteen days on shore, and had been eleven times on board
the ship; in which time I had brought away all that one pair of hands could
well be supposed capable to bring; though I believe verily, had the calm wea-
ther held, I should have broken up the whole ship, piece by piece; but, pre-
paring the twelfth time to go on board, I found the wind began to rise; however,
at low water, I went on board; and, though I thought I had rummaged the cabin
so effectually, as that nothing more could be found, yet I discovered a locker
with drawers in it, in one of which I found two or three razors, and one
pair of large scissars, with some ten or a dozen of good knives and forks; in
the southern coasts of Africa, or as HERRERA, the american historian observes, from
Granada, which derived it from Valencia, whither it might have been transplanted by
the arabian Moors, it was brought to the Canary isles; from thence to Brazil, where,
indeed, some suppose, sugar was originally and spontaneously produced. Others are of
opinion, that the Portuguese, before they discovered, or, at least, planted in Brazil,
being in possession of the coast of Angola in Africa, first transplanted the sugar-cane from
Angola to Brazil. About the year 1506, sugar-canes were brought from Brazil and
the Canaries, and planted in the island of Hayti or Hispaniola, where many sugar-mills
were gradually erected. In 1641, they were transplanted from Brazil to Barbados, and
thence to our other West-indian isles: as from Brazil they were also carried to the spanish
West-indian isles, and also to the spanish dominions in Mexico, Peru, and Chili; and
Jastly to the french, dutch, and danish colonies. The boiling and baking of sugars, says
Dr. HEYLIN, in his cosmography, (printed 1624) as it is now used, is not above two
hundred years old; and the refining of it afterwards found out by a Venetian in the
days of our forefathers, who got one hundred thousand crowns by the invention. Be-
fore which art of boiling and refining it, our ancestors made use of it rough as it came
from the canes, but they most commonly used honey instead of it. The first
account we have of sugar-refiners in England is in the year 1659. (ANDERSON's Hist.
of Com. vol. i. p. 82. vol. ii. p. 72.)
*
HAWSER:or halser, belonging to a ship, is a rope, consisting of three strands.
being a kind of cablet or little cable, serving for many uses on board; as to fasten a
ship to another, or to the shore, to warp a ship in a channel, or over a bar, &c. Ropes,
according to a distinctive peculiarity in their manufacture, are said to be either" cable-
laid, hawser-laid," or " shroud-laid." For cable, see page 23.
+ SPRIT-SAIL:-see page 8.
MIZEN-YARD the only yard which does not hang square across the mast, but
slopes up and down, pointing fore and aft: the larboard yard-arm being forwards. The
upper portion of this yard which is abaft the mizen-mast, becomes the gaff to that
triangular sail denominated the mizen absolutely. Few or no ships have a square mizen-
sail, corresponding to the main and fore sails; but the yard, which would serve to bear
such sail, is called the cross-jack, and answers no other purpose than to spread and
haul home the mizen top-sail sheets, being slung without halyards or ties. In modern
rigging, the mizen-yard is seldom seen, except on board warhke ships of the larger rates,
although formerly used in vessels of all classes.
62
another I found about thirty pounds value in money; some european, some
american, some gold, and some silver, coin.
I smiled to myself at the sight of this money: O drug! I exclaimed, what
art thou good for? Thou art not worth to me, no, not the taking off the ground;
one of those knives is worth all this heap; I have no manner of use for thee;
e'en remain where thou art, and go to the bottom, as a thing not worth saving.
However, upon second thoughts, I took it away, and wrapping all this in a piece
of canvas, I began to think of making another raft; but, while I was preparing
this, I found the sky overcast, the wind began to rise, and, in a quarter of an
hour, it blew a fresh gale from the shore. It presently occurred to me, that
it was in vain to pretend to make a raft with the wind off shore; and that it
was my business to be gone before the tide of flood began, or otherwise I might not
be able to reach the shore at all. Accordingly, I let myself down into the
water, and swam across the channel which lay between the ship and the sands,
and even that with difficulty enough, partly with the weight of the things I had
about me, and partly the roughness of the water; for the wind rose very hastily,
and before it was quite high water, it blew a storm.
But I was got home to my little tent, where I lay, with all my wealth about
me, very secure. It blew very hard all that night, and in the morning, when I
looked out, behold! no more ship was to be seen; I was a little surprised; but
recovered myself with this satisfactory reflection, that I had lost no time, nor
abated my diligence, to get every thing out of her that could be useful; and, in
fact, there was little left in her, that I was able to bring away, if I had had
more time.
I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or of any thing out of her,
except what might drive on shore from her wreck; as, indeed, divers picces of
her afterwards did; but those things were of small use. My thoughts were now
wholly employed about securing myself against either savages, if any should
appear, or wild beasts, if any were in the island; and I had many thoughts of
the method how to do this, aud what kind of dwelling to make, whether I should
make me a cave in the earth, or a tent upon the earth; in short, I resolved upon
both; the manner and description of which, it may not be improper to give an
account of.
I soon found, the place I was in was not for my settlement, particularly be-
cause it was upon a low, moorish ground, near the sea, and I believed it would
not be wholesome; and more particularly because there was no fresh water near it :
so I resolved to find a more healthy and more convenient spot of ground.
I consulted several things in my situation, which I considered would be proper
for me: 1st. air and water: 2dly. shelter from the sun : 3dly. security from
ravenous creatures, whether men or beasts: 4thly, a view to the sea, that, if
any ship came in sight, I might not lose the advantage for any deliverance; of
which I was not willing yet to banish all expectation.
In search for a place proper for this, I found a little plat of rising ground, on
the side of a hill, whose front, towards this little plain, was steep as a house-side,
so that nothing could come down upon me from the top. On the side of this
rock there was a hollow place, worn a little way in, like the entrance or door of
a cave; but there was not really any cave, or way into the rock, at all. On the
flat of the green, just before this hollow place, I resolved to pitch my tent. This
plain was not above an hundred yards broad, and about twice as long, and lay
like a green before my door; and, at the end of it, descended irregularly every
way
down into the low ground by the sea-side. It was on the N.N.W. side of
the bill; so that it was sheltered from the heat every day, till it came to a W.b.S.
sun, or thereabouts, which, in those countries, is near the setting.
Before I set up my tent, I drew a half-circle before the hollow place, which
took in about ten yards in its semi-diameter from the rock, or twenty yards in
its diameter, from its beginning and ending. In this half-circle, I pitched
two rows of strong stakes, driving them into the ground till they stood firm like
piles, the biggest end being out of the ground about six feet and a half high,
63
and sharpened on the top. The two rows did not stand above six inches from
one another.
Then I took the junks or pieces of cable which I had cut in the ship, and laid
them in rows one upon another, within the circie, between these two rows of stakes
up to the top; placing other stakes in the inside, leaning against them about two
feet and a half like a spur to a post: this fence was so strong that neither man or
beast could get into it or over it. This cost me a great deal of time and labour,
especially to cut the piles in the woods, bring them to the place, and drive them
into the earth.
The entrance into this place I made to be not by a door, but by a ladder to go over
the top; which ladder, when I was in, I lifted over after me; and so I was com•
pletely fenced in and fortified, as I thought, from all the world, and consequently
slept secure in the night, which otherwise I could not have done; though, as it
appeared afterwards, there was no need of all this caution against the enemies
that I apprehended danger from.
Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labour, I carried all my riches, my
provisions, ammunition, and stores, of which you have the account above; and
I made me a large tent, which, to preserve me from the rains, that, in one part
of the year, are very violent here, I made double, that is, one smaller tent
within, and one larger tent above it, and covered the uppermost with a large
tarpaulin, which I had saved among the sails.
And now I lay no more for a while in the bed which I had brought on shore,
but in a hammock, which was indeed a very good one, and belonged to the mate
of the ship. Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and every thing that
would spoil by the wet; and having thus enclosed all my goods, I made up the
entrance, which, till now, I had left open, and so passed and repassed, as I said,
by a short ladder.†
When I had done this, I began to work my way into the rock, and, bringing
out through my tent, all the earth and stones that I dug down, I laid them up
* TARPAULIN-a piece of canvas, well pitched and tarred over, to cover the hatch-
ways of a ship at sea, in order to prevent the penetration of the rain or sea-water, which
may occasionally rush over the decks. The term is also used in derision for a person
bred at sea, and educated solely in the mariner's art. Pore, in one of his letters, speaks
contumeliously of what he styles the "tarpaulin phrase:" the reader need only be
referred to FALCONER, for a thorough conviction that this phrase, in the hands of a
master, can be made subservient to an almost magical effect.
+ LADDER ;—a machine for getting up to high places, so well known, that explana-
tory annotation would be superfluous, were it not for introducing to more general know-
ledge one of a simpler construction and more portable kind, than appears to have
occurred to our ROBINSON CRUSOE, and recommended in the Essay on the
preservation of shipwrecked persons, by G. W. MANBY, Esq. (London,
1812); from whence, both for the benefit of any future CRUSOE, and for that of
our contemporaries, the annexed delineation, and following description are

extracted:
"When a vessel is in that extreme and perilous situation driven under a
rugged and inaccessible cliff, and in danger of going soon to pieces, the most
prompt method of relief is, by lowering a rope with stiff loops, spliced into
it at the distance of a foot and a half from each loop, of sufficient size to
contain the foot, by which the crew can ascend as a ladder. It is capable of
being projected; and a ladder of this description, of an inch-and-half rope
was thrown from a mortar, 194 yards. It might, also, from the simplicity of
its structure, be extremely useful in escaping from a house on fire, by making
one end fast to the leg of a bed or a table; a person would come down from
the window in salety, with much less difficulty, and quicker than with the
common rope-ladder, which is heavier and more unwieldy. It has great
advantages, when employed in saving shipwrecked men in situations just
described; when, from extreme cold and benumbed limbs, it would be
impossible for them to climb up a rock, or ascend it even by the aid of a
common rope, The holds thus spliced in, will support both hands and feet.
64
within my fence, in the nature of a terrace, so that it raised the ground within
about a foot and a half; and thus I made me a cave, just behind my tent, which
served me like a cellar to my house. It cost me much labour and many days,
before all these things were brought to perfection; and, therefore, I must go
back to some other things which took up some of my thoughts. At the same
time, it happened, after I had laid my scheme for the setting up my tent, and
making the cave, that a storm of rain falling from a thick, dark cloud, a sudden
flash of lightning ensued, and after that, a great clap of thunder, as is naturally
the effect of it. I was not so much surprised by the lightning, as I was with a
thought, which darted into my mind, as swift as the lightning itself: O my pow-
der! My very heart sunk within me, when I thought, that, at one blast, all my
gun-powder* might be destroyed; on which, not my defence only, but my
food, as I thought entirely depended. I was nothing near so anxious about
my own danger, though bad the powder took fire, I had never known who had
Such impression did this make upon me, that, after the storm was
over, I laid aside all my works, my building and fortifying, and applied myself to
make bags and boxes, to separate the powder, and to keep it a little and a little
in a parcel, so a-part, that, come whatever might, it should not all take fire at
once; or be possible to cause one part fire another. I finished this work in
about a fortnight; and I think my powder, which in all was about 240lb. weight,
was divided in not less than a hundred parcels. As to the barrel that had been
wet, I did not apprehend any danger from that; so I placed it in my new cave,
which, in my fancy, I called my kitchen, and the rest I hid in holes up and down
among the rocks, so that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where,
I laid it.
hurt me.
* GUNPOWDER:-a composition of nitre or salt-petre, sulphur, and charcoal, mixed
together, which easily takes fire; and when fired, rarifies or expands with great vehe-
mence, by means of its elastic force. It is to this powder, we owe all the action and
effect of guns, &c. so that the modern military art depends wholly thereon. The
invention of gunpowder is ascribed, by POLYDORE VIRGIL, to a chemist, who, having
accidentally put some of this composition in a mortar, and covered it with a stone, it
happened to take fire, and blew up the stone. THEVET says, the person here spoken
of, was a monk of Friburg, named CONSTANTINE ANELZON; but BELLEFORET, and
other authors, with more probability, hold it to be BARTHOLD SCHWARTZ, who disco-
vered it, as some say, about the year 1320; and the first use of it is ascribed to the
Venetians, in the year 1380, during their war with the Genoese; and it is said to have
been first employed in a place antiently called Fossa Clodia, now Chioggia, against
LORENZO de MEDICIS; and that all Italy made complaints against it, as a manifest
contravention of fair warfare. But what contradicts this account, and shews gunpowder
to be of an older æra is, that PETER MEXIA, in his Various Readings, mentions, that
the Moors being besieged in 1343, by ALPHONSO XI. king of Castile, discharged a sort
of iron mortars upon them, that made a noise like thunder; which is seconded by what
Don PEDRO, hishop of Leon, relates in his chronicle of king ALPHONSO, who reduced
Toledo; viz. that, in a sea-combat between the king of Tunis, and the Moorish king
of Seville, above four hundred and fifty years ago, those of Tunis had certain iron tubs
or barrels, wherewith they threw thunder-bolts of fire. Du CANGE adds, that there is
mention made of gunpowder in the registers of the chambers of accompts in France as
early as the year 1338. Farther, it appears, that our ROGER BACON knew of gunpow-
der near a hundred years before SCHWARTZ was born. That excellent friar tells us, in
his treatise De Secretis Operibus Artis & Naturae, & de nullitate Magiae, supposed by
some to have been published at Oxford, in 1216, and which was undoubtedly written
before his Opus Majus, in 1267, “that, from salt-petre, and other ingredients, we are
able to make a fire that shall burn at what distance we please. Dr. PLOTT, in his
History of Oxfordshire, assures us, "that these other ingredients were explained in a
MS. copy of the same treatise, in the hands of Dr. G. LANGBAIN, seen by Dr. WALLIS
to be sulphur and wood-coal." The writer of the life of Friar BACON, in the Biographia
Britannica, says, that BACON himself has divulged the secret of this composition in a
cypher, by transposing the letters of the two words in chap. xi, of the above cited trea-
tise; where it is thus expressed; sed tamen salis petrae lura mope can ubré (i. e. carby-
num pulvere) et sulphuris; et sic facies tonitrum & coruscationem, si scias artificium, and
65
In the interval of time while this was doing, I went out at least once every day
with my gun, as well to divert myself, as to see if I could kill any thing fit for
food; and, as near as I could, to acquaint myself with what the island produced.
The first time I went out, I presently discovered that there were goats upon the
island, which was a great satisfaction to me; but then it was attended with this
misfortune to me, that they were so shy, so subtle, and so swift of foot, that it
was the most difficult thing in the world to come at them; but I was not discou-
raged at this, not doubting but I might now and then shoot one, as it soon hap-
pened; for, after I had found their haunts a little, I laid wait in this manner
for them; I observed, if they saw me in the valleys, though they were upon
the rocks, they would run away, as in a terrible fright; but, if they were feeding
in the valleys, and I was upon the rocks, they took no notice of me; from
whence, I concluded, that, by the position of their optical organs, their sight
was so directed downward, that they did not readily see objects that were above
them; so, afterwards, I took this method-I always climbed the rocks first,
to get above them, and then had frequently a fair mark. The first shot I made
among these creatures, I killed a she-goat, which had a little kid by her, which
she gave suck to; this grieved me heartily; but, when the old one fell, the kid
stood stock-still by her, till I came and took her up; and not only so, but, when
I carried the old one with me upon my shoulders, the kid followed me quite to
my enclosure; upon which I laid down the dam, and took the kid in my arms,
and carried it over my pale, in hopes to have bred it up tame; but it woulă
+
from hence, BACON's biographer apprehends the words carbonum pulvere were trans-
ferred to Dr. LANGBAIN'S MS. In this saine book, BACON expressly says, that sounds
like thunder, and coruscations may be formed in the air, much more horrible than those
that happen naturally. He adds, that there are many ways of doing this, by which a
city or an army might be destroyed; and he supposed that, by an artifice of this kind,
Gideon defeated the Midianites with only three hundred men, (Judges, vii. 16.) There is
also another passage to the same purpose, in the treatise De Scientiú experimentale. (See
Dr. JEBB's edition of the Opus Majus.) Mr. ROBINS apprehends (see the preface to
his Tracts), that BACON describes gunpowder not as a new composition, first proposed
by himself, but as the application of an old one to military purposes, and that it was
known long before his time. MARCUS GRECUs, an antient author, who probably
lived about the time of the arabian physician MESUE, in the beginning of the ninth
century, and mentioned by him in a treatise, entitled Liber Ignium, of which Dr.
MEAD had a Ms. copy, and cited by Dr. JEBB, in the preface to BACON's Opus Majus,
describes two kinds of fire works, one for flying, enclosed in a case or cartouche,
made long and slender, and filled with the composition closely rammed, like our
modern rocket; and the other thick and short, strongly tied at both ends, and half
filled, resembling our cracker; and the composition which he prescribes for both is, 2lb.
of charcoal, 1lb. of sulphur, and 6lb. of salt-petre, well powdered and mixed together
in a stone mortar. Mr. DUTENS carries the antiquity of gunpowder much higher;
and he refers to the accounts given by VIRGIL (En. vi. 585) HYGINUS Fabul.
EUSTATIUS, ad Odyss. VALERIUS FLACCUS, and by others of Salmoneus' attempt
to imitate thunder, presuming, from hence, that he used a composition of the nature
of gunpowder. He adds, that DION CASSIUS, in his history, Rom. in Caligul. and
JOHANNES ANTIOCHENUS, in Chronica, apud Peiresciana Valesii, (Paris, 1604), report the
same thing of Caligula. The Brahmans did the same, according to THEMISTIUS, Orat.
and also the Indians, whose practice is recorded by PHILOSTRATUS, Kita Apoll. DUTEN'S
Inquiry into the Origin of the Discoveries attributed to the Moderns. (Eng, ed. 1769.) See
the preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws, 1776; where it is asserted that gunpowder was
known to the inhabitants of Hindostau far beyond all periods of investigation. (Cyclopaedia.)
A mixture of powdered nitre, five parts, powdered charcoal, one part, sulphur, one part,
composes our common gunpowder. The materials must all be very finely powdered sepa
rately; then mixed up together, and beaten with a wooden pestle; adding a sufficient
quantity of water to prevent explosion. The misture must afterwards be granulated by
passing through sieves, and be dried. A mixture of three parts powdered mure, two parts
carbonate of potash, otherwise salt of tartar, and one part sulphur, all accurately
mixed together form the " fulminating powder," which explodes with a loud noise, when
laid on an iron heated below redness, HENRY. -Epitome of Chemistry, Edin, 1806.)
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval Clixonicle Edition,]
F
66
not eat; so I was forced to kill it, and eat it myself. These two supplied me
with flesh a great while, for I ate sparingly, and preserved my provisions (my
bread especially) as much as possibly I could.
Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely necessary to provide a
place to make a fire in, and fuel to burn, and what I did for that, as also how
I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I made, I shall give a full account
of it in its proper place; but I must first give some little account of myself, and of
my thoughts about living, which, it may well be supposed, were not a few.
I had a dismal prospect of my condition; for, as I was not cast away upon
that island without being driven, as it is said, by a violent storm, quite out of
the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, even some hundreds of
leagues, out of the ordinary course of the trade of mankind, I had great reason
to consider it as a determination of heaven, that, in this desolate place, and in
this desolate manner, I should end my life. The tears would run plentifully
down my face when I made these reflections; and, sometimes, I would expostu-
late with myself, why providence should thus ruin its creatures, and render them
so miserable, so abandoned without help, so depressed, that it could hardly be
rational to be thankful for such a life. But something always returned swift
upon me to check these thoughts, and to reprove me; and particularly, one day,
walking, with my gun in my hand, by the sea-side, I was very pensive upon the
subject of my present condition, when reason, as it were, expostulated with me
the other way thus. "Well, you are in a desolate condition, it is true : but,
pray remember, where are the rest of you? Did not you come eleven of you
into the boat? Where are the ten? Why were not they saved, and you lost?
Why were you singled out? Is it better to be here or there?" Then I pointed
to the sea. All evils are to be considered with the good that is in them, and
with what worse attends them. Then it occurred to me again, how well I was
furnished for my subsistence, and what would have been my case, if it had not
happened (which was a thousand to one) that the ship floated from the place.
where she first struck, and was driven so near to the shore, that I had time to
get all these things out of her; what would have been my case, if I had been
to have lived in the condition in which I at first came on shore, without necessa-
ries of life, or means to procure them? Particularly, said I aloud (though to
myself), what should I have done without a gun, without ammunition, without
tools to make any thing, or to work with; without clothes, bedding, tent,
or any manner of covering? that now I had all these to a sufficient quantity,
and was in a fair way to provide myself in such a manner, as to live without
my gun, when my ammunition was spent: so that I had a tolerable view of sub-
sisting, without any want, as long as I lived; for I considered, from the begin-
ning, how I would provide for the accidents that might happen, and for the time
that was to come, not only after my ammunition should be spent, but even after
my health or strength should decay. I confess, I had not entertained any notion
of my ammunition being destroyed at one blast, I mean, my powder being blown
up by lightening, until it lightened and thundered, as I observed just now.
And now, being about to enter into a melancholy relation of a scene of silent
life, such, perhaps, as was never heard of before, I shall take it' from its begin-
ning, and continue it in its order. It was the 30th of September, by my account,
when, in the manner as above said, I first set foot upon this horrid island; when
the sun, being to us in its autumnal equinox,* was almost just over my head;
for I reckoned myself, by observation, to be in the latitude of degrees 22 mi-
of
* EQUINOX :-(Æquinox, latin) in astronomy, the time when the sun enters one
the equinoctial points. The equinoxes happen when the sun is in the equinoctial circle,
when, of consequence, the nights are equal to the days, throughout the world, which
is the case twice a year, viz. about the 21st of March, and the 22d of September, the
Arst of which is the vernal, and the second the autunnal equinox.
"Now, in the southern hemisphere, the sun
Thro' the bright Virgin and the Scales, had run;
€7
nutes north of the line. After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it
came into my thoughts, that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of
pen and ink, and should even forget the sabbath days from the working days:
but, to prevent this, I cut it with my knife upon a large post, in capital letters;
viz. "I came on shore here on the 30th of September, 1659." and making it
into a great cross, I set it up on the shore where I first landed. Upon the sides
of this square post, I cut every day a notch, and every seventh notch was as long
again as the rest; and every first day of the mouth as long again as that long
one; and thus I kept my kalendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning
of time.
But it happened, that, among the many things which I brought out of the ship,
in the several trips which I made to it, I got several things of less value, but not
less useful, which I found, some time after, in rummaging the chests; as, in
particular, pens, ink, and paper; several parcels in the captain's, mate's, gun-
ner's, and carpenter's keeping; three or four compasses, some mathematical
instruments, dials, perspective-glasses,+ charts, and books of navigation; all
And, on th' ecliptic, wheels his winding way,
'Till the fierce Scorpion felt his flaming ray."
The scales or balance, is that sign of the zodiac called in latin, libra; and was so
named, because, when the sun arrives at this constellation, which is the time of the
autumnal equinox, the days and nights are equal as if weighed in a balance.
* LINE;-See page 14.
+ PERSPECTIVE-GLASS-or Telescope (formed of tλe, far, and exomew, I observe),
an optical instrument, consisting of several glasses or lenses fitted into a tube; through
which remote objects are seen as if nigh; or more generally, a telescope is an optical
instrument, which serves for discovering and viewing distant objects, either directly by
glasses, or by reflection, by means of specula, or mirrors. In refracting telescopes, the
lens or glass turned towards the object, is called the object glass; and that next the
eye, the eye-glass. The invention of the telescope is one of the noblest and most useful
these ages have to boast of; by means hereof the wonders of the heavens are discovered
to us, and astronomy is brought to a degree of perfection, which former ages could have
no notion of. Indeed the discovery was owing rather to chance than to thought; so
that it is the good fortune of the discoverer, rather than his skill or ability, we are
indebted to; on this account, it concerns us the less to know who it was first hit on
this admirable invention. It is certain it must be casual, since the theory it depends
on, was not then known. JOHANNES BAPTISTA PORTA, a noble Neapolitan, is
asserted by WoLFIUS, to be undoubtedly the first that made a telescope; from this
passage in his Magia Naturalis (1560). "If you do but know how to join the two
(viz. the concave and convex glasses), rightly together, you will see both remote and
near objects much larger than they otherwise appear, and withal very distinct. In this
way we have been of good help to many of our friends, who either saw remote things
dimly, or near ones confusedly, and have made them see every thing perfectly."
But it is apparent, PORTA did not understand his own invention, and, therefore, neither
troubled himself to bring it to greater perfection, nor ever applied it to celestial observa-
tion. What is more, the account PORTA gives of his concave and convex lenses is
so dark and indistinct, that KEPLER, who examined it by particular command of the
emperor RUDOLPH, declared to that prince, that it was perfectly unintelligible. Thirty
years afterwards, or in 1590, a telescope, sixteen inches long, was made and presented
to Prince MAURICE OF NASSAU, by a spectacle-maker of Middleburg; but authors are
divided about his name, SIRTURIAS, in a treatise of the telescope (anno 1618), will have
him to be JOHN LIPPERSHEIM; and BORELLUS, in an express volume on the inventor
of the telescope (1655), shews him to be ZACHARIUS JANSEN, or, as WOLFIUS has it,
HANSEN. The invention of LIPPERSHEIM is fixed by some in the year 1609, and by
others in 1605; FONTANA, in his Nova Observationes caelestium et terrestrium rerum
(Naples, 1646), claims the invention in the year 1608. But BORELLUS's account of
the discovery of telescopes is so circumstantial, and so well authenticated, as to render it
probable, that JANSEN was the original inventor. In 1620, JAMES METIUS, of
Alcmaer, brother of ADRIAN METIUS, professor of mathematics at Franeker, came with
DuEBEL to Middleburg, and there bought telescopes of ZACHARY'S children, who had
made them public; and yet A, METIUS has given his brother the honour of the inven.
F 2.
68
which I huddled together, whether I might want them or no; also I found three
bibles, which came to me in my cargo from England, and which I had packed
up among my things: some portuguese books also, and, among them, two or
three prayer-books, and several others, all which I carefully secured. And I
must not forget, that we had in the ship a dog, and two cats, of whose history
I may have occasion to say something, in its place; for I carried both the cats
with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship himself, and swam on
shore to me the day after I went on shore with my first cargo, and was a trusty
servant to me for many years; I wanted nothing that he could fetch me, nor any
company that he could make up to me; I only wanted to have him talk to me,
but that would not do. As I observed before, I found pens, ink, and paper, and
I husbanded them to the utmost; and I shall show, that, while my ink lasted,
I kept things very exact, but after that was gone,I could not; for I could not make
any ink, by any means that I could devise.*
tion, in which he is mistakingly followed by DESCARTES. But none of these artificers
made telescopes of above a foot and a half. SIMON MARIUS, in Germany, and
GALILEO, in Italy, first made long ones fit for celestial observations. LE Rossi relates,
that GALILEO, being then at Venice, was told of a sort of optic glass made in Holland,
which brought objects nearer; upon which setting himself to think how it should be,
he ground two pieces of glass into form as well as he could, and fitted them to the two
ends of an organ pipe; and, with these, shewed at once all the wonders of the invention,
to the Venetian nobility, on the top of the tower of St. Mark. That author adds, that
from this time, GALILEO devoted himself wholly to the improving and perfecting of the
telescope; and that he thereby almost deserved all the honour usually done him, of
being reputed the inventor of the instrument, and of its being denominated from him
GALILEO's tube. GALILEO himself, in his Nuncius Sidereus (1610), acknowledges, that
he first heard of the instrument from a German, and that, being merely informed of its
effects, first by common report, and a few days after, by letter from a French nobleman,
JAMES BADOVERE, at Paris, he himself discovered the construction, by considering the
nature of refraction. He adds, in his Suggiatore, that he was at Venice when he heard:
of the effects of Prince MAURICE's instrument, but nothing of its construction; that.
the first night after his return to Padua, he solved the problem, and made his instrument
the next day, and soon after presented it to the doge of Venice, who, in honour of his,
grand invention, gave him the ducal letters, which settled him for life in his lectureship
at Padua, and doubled his salary; which then became treble of what any of his pre-
decessors had enjoyed before. Accordingly, GALILEO may justly be considered as the.
second inventor of the telescope. F. MABILLON, indeed, relates, in his travels through
Italy, that, in a monastery of his own order, he saw a manuscript copy of the works of
COMMESTOR, Written by one CONRADUS, who lived in the 13th century; in the third
page whereof, was seen a portrait. of PTOLOMEY, viewing the stars through a tube of
4 joints or draws; but that father does not say, that the tube had glasses in it. In.
effect, it is more than probable, that such tubes were then used for no other purpose.
but to preserve and direct the sight, or to render it more distinct, by singling out the
particular object looked at, and shutting out all the foreign rays reflected from others,
whose proximity might have rendered the image less precise. Be this as it will, it is
certain, the optical principles whereon telescopes are founded, are contained in EUCLID;
were well known to the antient geometricians; and it is for want of attention thereto,
that the world was so long without that admirable invention; as no doubt there are
numerous others lying hidden in the same principles, only waiting for meditation or.
accident to bring them forth.
1
1
[
•
+
*INK that well-known liquor wherewith to write ou paper, &c. is commonly made
of copperas, galle, and gum-arabic; but other astringent plants may serve the same
purpose, such as oak-bark, red-roses, logwood, or sumach. Mr. BOYLE, however, seems
to doubt whether all astringent vegetables will do the same. Many are the proportions
and methods of compounding the materials for making of writing ink. The author of
the Chemical Dictionary gives the following recipe for making good ink. In four pints.
of common water or beer, let a pound of bruised galls be infused twenty-four hours,
without boiling; to this add six ounces of gum-arabic; and, when the gum is dissolved,
six ounces of green vitriol, which will soou give it the black colour; the liquor is then
to be strained through a hair-sieve. The following method has been recommended by
69
This put me in mind that I wanted many things, notwithstanding all that I
had amassed together; and of these this of ink was one; as also a spade,
pick-axe, and shovel, to dig, or remove the earth; needles, pins, and thread:
as for linen, I soon learned to want that without much difficulty. This want
of tools made every work go on heavily; and it was near a whole year before
I had entirely finished my little pale, or surrounded habitation. The piles or
stakes, which were as heavy as I could well lift, were a long time in cutting and
preparing in the woods, and more, by far, in bringing home; so that I spent
sometimes two days in cutting and bringing home one of those posts, and a third
day in driving it into the ground; for which purpose, I got a heavy piece of
wood at first, but at last bethought myself of one of the iron crows; which
however, though I found it, yet it made driving these posts or piles very laborious
and tedious work. Although what need I have been concerned at the tedious-
ness of any thing I had to do? seeing I had time enough to do it in; nor had
any other employment, if that had been over, at least, that I could foresee,
except the ranging the island to seek for food; which I did more or less,
every day.
I
I now began to consider seriously my condition, and the circumstance I was
reduced to; and I drew up the state of my affairs in writing, not so much to
leave them to any that were to come after me (for I was like to have but few
heirs), as to deliver my thoughts from daily poring upon them, and afflicting my
mind and, as my reason began now to master my despondency, I began to
comfort myself as well as I could, and to set the good against the evil, that I
experience, and is easily and speedily practised. To a gallon of boiling water, put
six ounces of galls, grossly pounded, and three ounces of copperas, stir the mixture
well together, and then add six ounces of gum arabic pounded. After stirring the whole
thoroughly, leave it to settle; and the next day strain it off from the dregs for use. This
is one of an extensive class of arts, forming, when viewed collectively, a great part of
the objects of human industry, which do not on a loose and hasty observation, present
any general principle of dependency or connection. But they appear thus disunited, be-
cause we have been accustomed to attend only to productions of these arts, which are,
in truth, subservient to widely different purposes. Who would conceive, for instance,
that iron and salt, the one a metal, the use of which results from its hardness, ductility,
and malleability; the other a substance, chiefly known from its acting as a preservative
and seasoner of food; are furnished by arts alike dependent on the general principles
of chemistry? The application of science in discovering the principles of these arts,
constitutes what has been termed, economical chemistry. Amongst the numerous objects
of which, the application of colouring matter to the purposes of writing, printing, painting,
and dyeing, stands distinguished. The chemical theory of ink, according to the lucid
arrangement and precise language of the modern school, is explained thus :-When
sulphate of iron is mixed with an infusion of galls, we obtain a black solution, which is
a new combination of oxid of iron, with the gallic acid and tan. The gallate and tannate
of iron are, therefore, essential constituents of inks; the other ingredients of which are
chiefly added with a view to keep these suspended. In order that iron may unite with
the gallic acid and tan, it must be combined with the sulphuric acid in the state of red
oxid; for the less oxidized iron in the green salt does not form a black compound
with these substances. Iron filings, however, dissolve in an infusion of galls, with an
extrication of hydrogen-gas; but the compound is not black until after exposure to air,
which oxidizes the iron still farther. This solution, with a sufficient quantity of gum
forms a very good ink. On the same principle may be explained the effect of metallic
iron in destroying the colour of ink; and also the agency of an infusion of galls in
restoring written characters defaced by acids, alkalis, or time. HENRY gives the
following recipe for an indelible ink:-"Take oil of lavender 200 grains; gum copal,
in powder, 25 grains; lamp-black, 3 grains; with the aid of a gentle heat, dissolve the
copal in the oil of lavender in a small phial; and then mix the lamp-black with the solu-
tion, on a marble slab or other smooth surface. After a repose of some hours, the ink,
before use, must be shaken, or stirred with an iron wire, and, if too thick, must be
diluted with oil of lavender." This ink has been found extremely useful in writing
labels for bottles containing acids, or which are exposed to acid fumes in a laboratory
or manufactory; in fact, its basis is similar to that of printing ink.
70
might have something to distinguish my case from worse; and I stated it very
impartially, like debtor and creditor, the comforts I enjoyed, against the miseries
I suffered, thus:
EVIL.
I am cast upon a horrible, desolate,
island, void of all hope of recovery.
I am singled out and separated, as
were, from all the world, to be
miserable.
I am divided from mankind, a so-
litary; one banished from human so-
ciety.
I have no clothes to cover me.
!
I am without any defence, or means
to resist any violence of man or beast.
I have no soul to speak to, or re-
lieve mc.
Good.
But I am alive and not drowned,
as all my ship's company were.
But I am singled out too from all
the ship's crew, to be spared from death:
and He who miraculously surved me
from death, can deliver me from this
condition.
But I am not starved, and perish-
ing in a barren place, affording no
sustenance.
But I am in a hot climate, where,
if I had clothes, I could hardly wear
them.
But I am cast on an island where
I see no wild beasts to hurt me, as I
saw on the coast of Africa; and what
if I had been shipwrecked there?
But God wonderfully sent the ship
in near enough to the shore, that I
have got out so many necessary things
as will either supply my wants,
enable me to supply myself, even as long
as I live.
ΟΤ
Upon the whole, here was an undoubted testimony, that there was scarce any
condition in the world so miserable, but there was something negative, or some-
thing positive, to be thankful for in it: and let this stand as a direction, from
the experience of the most miserable of all conditions in this world, that we may
always find in it something to comfort ourselves from, and to set, in the descrip-
tion of good and evil, on the credit side of the account. Having now brought
my mind a little to relish my condition, and giving over looking out to sea, to
see if I could spy a ship: I say, giving over these things, I began to apply myself
to accommodate my way of living, and to take things as easy as I could.
I have already described my habitation, which was a tent under the side of
a rock, surrounded with a strong pale of posts and cables; but I might now
rather call it a wall, for I raised a kind of embankment against it of turfs, about
two feet thick on the outside: and, after some time (I think it was a year
and a half), I raised rafters from it, leaning to the rock, and thatched or covered
it with boughs of trees, and such things as I could get, to keep out the rain;
which, I found, at some times of the year, very violent.
I have already obscrved, how I brought all my goods into this pale, and into.
the care which I had made behind me. But I must observe, too, that, at first,
this was a confused heap of goods, which, as they lay in no order, so they took
up all my place; I had no room to turn myself; so I set myself to enlarge my
cave, and work farther into the earth; for it was a loose, sandy, rock, which
yielded easily to the labour I bestowed on it: and, when I found I was pretty
safe as to the beasts of prey, I worked sideways to the right hand, into the rock,
and then, turning to the right again, worked quite out, and made me a door to
come out in the outside of my pale or fortification. This gave me not only egress
and regress, as it were, a back-way to my tent and to my storehouse, but gave
sne room to stow my goods.
And now I began to apply myself to make such necessary things as I found I
most wanted, particularly a chair and a table; for, without these, I was not able
1
71
to enjoy the few comforts I had in the world; I could not write, or eat, or do
several things with so much pleasure, without a table; so I went to work. And
here I must needs observe, that as reason is the substance and original of the
mathematics, so by stating and squaring every thing by reason, and by
making the most rational judgment of things, every man may be, in time,
master of every mechanic art. I had never handled a tool in my life; and yet,
in time, by labour, application, and contrivance, I found, at last, that I wanted
nothing but I could have made, especially if I had had tools. However, I
made abundance of things, even without tools; and some with no more tools
than an adze and a hatchet, which, perhaps, were never made that way before,
and that with infinite labour. For example, if I wanted a board, I had no other
way but to cut down a tree, set it on an edge before me, and hew it flat on either
side with my axe, till I had brought it to be as thin as a plank, and then dub it
smooth with my adze. It is true, by this method, I could make but one board
out of a whole tree; but this I had no remedy for but patience, any more than
I had for the prodigious deal of time and labour which it took me up to make
a plank or board but my time or labour was little worth, and so it was as
well employed one way as another.
:
However, I made me a table and and a chair, as I observed above, in the first
place; and this I did out of the short pieces of boards that I brought on my
raft from the ship. But, when I wrought out some boards, as above, I made
large shelves, of the breadth of a foot and a half, one over another, all along one
side of my cave, to lay all my tools, nails, and iron-work on; and, in a word,
to separate every thing at large in their places, that I might easily come at them.
I knocked pegs into the wall of the rock, to hang my guns, and all things that
would hang up; so that, had my cave been seen, it looked like a general maga
zine of all necessary things; and I had every thing so ready at my hand, that it
was a great pleasure to me to see all my goods in such order, and especially to
find my stock of all necessaries so great.
And now it was, that I began to keep a journal of every day's employment ;
for, indeed, at first, I was in too much hurry, and not only hurry as to labour,
but in much discomposure of mind; and my journal would, too, have been full
of many dull things; for example, I must have said thus:-Sept. 30th.-After
I had got to shore, and had escaped drowning, instead of being thankful for my
deliverance, having first discharged the great quantity of salt water which was
gotten into my stomach, and recovering myself a little, I ran about the shore,
wringing my hands, and beating my head and face, exclaiming at my misery,
and crying out, I was undone, undone, till, tired and faint, I was forced to lie
down on the ground to repose; but durst not sleep, for fear of being devoured.”
Some days after this, and after I had been on board the ship and got all that
I could out of her, I could not forbear getting up to the top of a little mountain,
aud looking out to sea, in hopes of seeing a ship; then fancy that, at a vast
distance, I spied a sail; please myself with the hopes of it; and, after looking
steadily, till I was almost blind, lose it quite; sit down and weep like a child;
and thus encrease my misery by my folly.
But, having gotten over these things in some measure, and having settled
my household-stuff and habitation, made me a table and a chair, and all as hand-
some about me as I could, I began to keep my journal; of which I shall here
give you the copy (though in it will be told all these particulars over again) as
long as it lasted; for, having no more ink, I was forced to leave it off.
Journal.
1659. September 30th. I, poor miserable ROBINSON CRUSOE, being ship-
wrecked, during a dreadful storm, in the offing, came on shore, on this dismal,
unfortunate island, which I called the ISLAND OF Despair-all the rest of
I
:
72
the ship's company being drowned, and myself almost dead. All the rest of
that day I spent in afflicting myself at the dismal circumstances I was brought
to, that is to say, I had neither food, house, clothes, weapon, nor place to fly to;
and, in despair of any relief, saw nothing but death before me that I should
either be devoured by wild beasts, murdered by savages, or starved to death.
At the approach of night, I slept in a tree, for fear of wild creatures; but slept
soundly, though it rained all night.
October 1. In the morning I saw, to my great surprise, the ship had floated
with the high tide, and was driven on shore again much nearer the island; which,
as it was some comfort on one hand (for seeing her sit upright, and not broken
in pieces, I hoped, if the wind abated, I might get on board, and get some food
and necessaries out of her, for my relief), so, on the other hand, it renewed my
grief at the loss of my comrades, who, I imagined, if we had all staid on board,
might have saved the ship, or, at least, that they would not have been all drowned,
as they were; and that, had the men been saved, we might, perhaps, have built
us a boat, out of the ruins of the ship, to have carried us to some other part of
the world. I speut great part of this day in perplexing myself on these things;
but, at length, seeing the ship almost dry, I went upon the sand as near as I
could, and then swam on board. This day also it continued raining, though
with no wind at all.
From the 1st of October to the 24th. All these days entirely spent in many
several voyages, to get all I could out of the ship; which I brought on shore
every tide of flood, upon rafts. Much rain also in these days, though with some
intervals of fair weather; but, it seems, this was the rainy season.
October 20. I oversat my raft, and all the goods I had got upon it; but,
being in shoal water, and the things being chiefly heavy, I recovered many of
them when the tide was out.
October 25. It rained alt night and all day, with some gusts of wind; during
which time, the ship broke in pieces (the wind blowing a little harder than
before), and was no more to be seen, except the mere wreck of her, and that
only at low water. I spent this day in covering and securing the goods which
I had saved, that the rain might not spoil them.
October 26. I walked about the shore, almost all day, to find out a place to
fix
my
habitation; greatly concerned how to secure myself from any attack in
the night, either from wild beasts or from men. Towards night, I fixed upon a
proper place, under a rock, and marked out a semicircle for my encampinent,
which I resolved to strengthen with a wall, or fortification, made of double piles,
lined within with cables, and without with turf,
From the 26th to the 30th, I worked very hard in carrying all my goods to my
new habitation, though, some part of the time, it rained exceedingly hard.
The 31st, in the morning, I went out into the island with my gun to see for
some food, and discover the country; when I killed a she-goat, and her kid
followed me home, which I afterwards killed also, because it would not feed.
November 1. I set up my tent under a rock, and lay there for the first night;
making it as large as I could, with stakes driven in to swing my hammock upon.
November 2. I set up all my chests and boards, and the pieces of timber
which made my rafts; and with them formed a fence round me, a little within
the place I had marked out for my fortification.
November 3. I went out with my gun, and killed two fowls like ducks, which
were very good food. In the afternoon I went to work to make me a table.
November 4. This morning I began to order my times of work, of going out
with my gun, time of sleep, and time of diversion; viz. every morning I walked
out with my gun for two or three hours if it did not rain; then employed myself
to work till about eleven o'clock; then ate what I had to live on; and, from
twelve to two, I lay down to sleep, the weather being excessive hot; and then, in
the evening, to work again. The working part of this day and the next was wholly
employed in making my table, for I was yet but a very sorry workman: though
1
1
}
78
time and necessity made me a complete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe
they would any one else.
November 5. This day went abroad with my gun and dog, and killed
a wild-cat; * her skin pretty soft;
soft; but
but her flesh good for nothing:

* WILD-CAT:-(felis catus, LIN. chat sauvage, BUF.) The history of this animal is
so connected with that of the domestic kind, that they may be both considered under
the present general description. The domestic cat, if suffered to escape into the
woods, contracts the habits of the wild breed, with which it also engenders. It is by
these means, that some of our domestic cats so perfectly resemble those of the wild
kind in fact, it is not uncommon for females of the tame sort to go in quest of the
male wild-cats, and return, impregnated, to their habitations. The hair of the wild-
cat is soft and fine, of a pale, yellowish, colour, mixed with grey; a dusky list runs
along the middle of the back from head to tail, the sides are streaked with grey, pointing
from the back downwards; the tail is thick, and marked with alternate bars of black
and white. It is larger and stronger than the tame cat, and its fur much longer. It
inhabits most parts of Britain, particularly woodland districts, and those abounding in
game; among which it frequently makes great havoc. It hunts also for small birds,
poultry, rats, mice, moles; will even kill lambs, kids, and fawns; and is the fiercest
and most destructive beast of prey in this island. There even is said to be danger in
attacking it, for, if the creature be only slightly wounded, it will become the assailant
in its turn, and is not easily repelled. Some of this species have been taken in this
country of enormous size. One was killed in Cumberland which measured from its
nose to tip of tail, five feet. The editor has seen one of not much inferior dimensions,
in Norfolk. These animals are particularly to be dreaded in a rabid state; and their
extermination is to be recommended on every occasion, Wild cats are found, with
little variety, in almost every climate. They existed in America, before its discovery
by the Europeans. One of them was brought to Columbus, which was of the ordinary
size, of a brownish grey colour, with a long tail. The domestic cat is distinguishable
from the wild stock, by being somewhat less, and by a great variety of shades; instead
of being uniformly of the same colour. It is generally remarked, that cats can see in
the dark this is not the case absolutely; yet it is certain they can see with much less
light than most other animals, owing to a peculiar structure of the eye; the pupil of
which is capable of being contracted or dilated, in proportion to the degree of
light by which they are affected. The pupil, during the day, is perpetually contracted
30 as apparently to form a mere crevice; and it is with difficulty that a cat can see by
a strong light; but, in twilight, the pupil resumes its natural roundness; the animal
enjoys perfect vision; and takes advantage of this superiority to discover and surprise
its prey. Although to a certain degree useful in destroying the vermin that infest our
dwellings, the cat seems little attached to our persons. It acts only for itself, under no
discipline, All its views are confined to the place where it has been brought up; if
carried elsewhere, even by those who afford it protection, it seems as if bewildered;
nor can caresses, nor attention, nor society it has been accustomed to, reconcile it
easily to its new situation, whereas, at home, it pays its court, with almost equal confi-
dence, to inmates and strangers, and haunts those persons about a house, whose office
gives them the disposal of food, without much individual discrimination or partiality,
74
of every creature that I killed, I took off the skins, and preserved them. Coming
back by the sea-shore I saw many sorts of sea-fowl, which I did not understand;
but was surprised, and almost frightened, with two or three seals;* which,
while I was gazing at them (not well knowing what they were), got into the sea,
and escaped me for that time.

November 6. After my morning walk, I went to work with my table again,
and finished it, though not to my liking; nor was it long before I learned to
mend it.
November 7. Now it began to be settled fair weather. The 7th, 8th, 9th,
10th, and part of the 12th (for the 11th was Sunday, according to my reckoning),
I took wholly up to make me a chair, and with much ado, brought it to a tolera-
Too many, by far, of these animals are suffered to multiply in our habitations. To
describe an animal so generally known as the domestic cat might seem a superfluous
task; the editor, therefore, has selected only such of its characteristic peculiarities as
are least obvious, or are apt to escape the notice of inattentive observers.
* SEAL:-or sea-calf (phoca vitulina, LINN. phoque, Burr.) an animal of the amphi-
bious class, found, with some variety, in almost every quarter of the globe. Its usual
length is from five to six feet, although some have been caught measuring near eight:
the body is closely covered with short, smooth, and shining hair, of various colours,
but mostly dusky, or brindled; its head is flat; nostrils oblong, with whiskers; the
tongue is bifid or forked, like that of a serpent; it has two canine teeth in each jaw,
six cutting teeth in the upper, and four in the lower, jaw it has five palmated toes on
each foot, furnished with strong, sharp, claws, which enable it to climb the rocks on
which it frequently basks it has four feet, but the two hinder ones are so disposed
backwards close to the tail, to which they are almost united, that they appear more
like fins. It is frequently seen near the northern coasts of Britain in pursuit of its prey.
The seal brings forth its young on the land, sits up, supported by its fore-legs, while
suckling; and, as soon as the young ones are able, carries them to sea, and teaches them
to swim and search for food, which is fish of various kinds. A full grown seal yields
above eight gallons of oil, partaking of the quality of the whale's: the skin is valuable
as leather for covering trunks, making pouches, &c. The seal is destitute of external
ears, but has a large, round, dark, eye. The body is thickest at the junction of the
neck, from whence it tapers gradually to the tail, like a fish, which renders its move-
ments on the land slow and awkward like a reptile: but it swims with strength and
swiftness; is very playful; and sports about without fear, which PENNANT suggests,
may have given rise to the fabulous tradition of tritons, nereids, syrens, mermaids, &c.
The flesh of seals is eatable; and, though now seldom partaken of but by navigators,
restricted in variety and choice of food, was formerly admitted to the tables of the
great among us, as may be seen in the bill-of-fare for a sumptuous entertainment in the
reign of King EDWARD IV. Its voice, according to age and circumstances, has been
likened to barking or mewing; and, when in flocks, sometimes resembles the bleating of
sheep. Seals are stated by naturalists and travellers, to have been found in the Medi-
terranean sea; and in the Caspian, Arral, Baïkal, and other large lakes; the fresh-water
seal is smaller than that of the sea.
75
ble shape, but never to please me; and even in the making, I pulled it in pieces
several times. I soon neglected my keeping Sundays; for, omitting my mark
for them on my post, I forgot which was which.
November 13. This day it rained, which refreshed me exceedingly, and
cooled the earth; but it was accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning,
which frightened me dreadfully, for fear of my powder. As soon as it was over,
I resolved to separate my stock of powder into as many little parcels as possible,
that it might not be in danger.
November 14, 15, 16. These three days I spent in making little square boxes,
which might hold about a pound, or two pounds, at most, of powder; and so,
putting the powder in, I stowed it in places as secure and as remote from one ano-
ther as possible. On one of these three days, I killed a large bird that was good
to eat; but I knew not what to call it.
November 17. This day I began to dig behind my tent, into the rock, to
make room for my farther convenience. Three things I wanted exceedingly for
this work, viz. a pick-axe, a shovel, and a wheel-barrow, or basket; so I desisted
from my work, and began to consider how to supply these wants, and make me
some tools.
As for a pick-axe, I made use of the iron crows, which were proper
enough, though heavy but the next thing was a shovel or spade; this was so
absolutely necessary, that, indeed, I could do nothing effectually without it; but
what kind of one to make I knew not.
November 18. In searching the woods, I found a tree of that wood, or like
it, which, in Brazil, they call the iron tree, from its exceeding hardness; of this,
with
great labour, and almost spoiling my axe, I cut a piece, and brought it home
too, with difficulty enough, for it was exceeding heavy. The excessive hardness
of the wood, and my having no other way, made ine a long while upon this
machine; for I worked it effectually, by little and little, into the form of a shovel
or spade, the handle shaped like ours in England, only that the broad part
having no iron shod upon it at bottom, it would not last me so long: however,
it served well enough for the uses which I had occasion to put it to; but never
was a shovel, I believe, made after that fashion, or so long a making.
I was still deficient; for I wanted a basket or a wheel-barrow. A basket I
could not make by any means, having no such things as twigs that would bend to
make wicker-ware; at least none yet found out; and, as to the wheel-barrow,
I fancied I could make all but the wheel, but that I had no notion of; neither
did I know how to go about it: besides, I had no possible way to make iron
gudgeous* for the spindle or axis of the wheel to run in so I gave it over: and,
for carrying away the earth which I dug out of the cave, I made me a thing like
a hod which the labourers carry mortar in for the bricklayers. This was not
so difficult to me as the making the shovel: and yet this and the shovel, and the
attempt which I made in vain to make a wheel-barrow, took me up no less
than four days; I mean, always excepting my morning walk with my gun,
which I seldom omitted, and very seldom failed also bringing home something
fit to eat.
November 23. My other work having now stood still, because of my mak-
ing these tools, when they were finished, I went on; and, working every day,
as my strength and time allowed, I spent eighteen days entirely in widening and
deepening my cave, that it might hold my goods commodiously. During all this
time, I worked to make this room, or cave, spacious enough to accommo-
date me as a warehouse or magazine, a kitchen, a dining-room, and a cellar. As
for a lodging, I kept to the tent; except that, sometimes, in the wet season of
the year, it rained so hard, that I could not keep myself dry; which caused me
afterwards to cover all my place within my pale with long poles, in the form of
* GUDGEON :—a metallic clasp, embracing the steru-post of a ship, with an eye to
receive and support the pintel or hook of the rudder by which the same is hung.
Gudgeons are usually of iron, except for copper-sheathed ships, which require a com
posite metal to resist the corrosion by verdegris.
76
rafters, leaning against the rock, and load them with flags and large leaves of
trees, like a thatch.
December 10. I began now to think my cave or vault finished; when on &
sudden (it seems I had made it too large), a great quantity of earth fell down
from the top and one side, so much, that, in short, it frightened me, and not
without reason too; for, if I had been under it, I should never have wanted a
grave-digger. Upon this disaster, I had a great deal of work to do over again;
for I had the loose earth to carry out; and, which was of more importance, I had
the ceiling to prop up, so that I might be sure no more would come down.
December 11. This day I went to work with it accordingly; and got two
shores or posts pitched upright to the top, with two pieces of board across, over
each post this I finished the next day; and setting more posts up with boards,
in about a week more I had the roof secured; and the posts, standing in rows;
served me for partitions to part off my house.
December 17. From this day to the 20th, I placed shelves, and knocked up
nails on the posts, to hang every thing up that could be hung up; and now I
began to be in some order within doors.
:
December 20. I carried every thing into the cave, and began to furnish my
house, and set up some pieces of boards, like a dresser, to order my victuals upon 3
but boards began to be very scarce with me: also I made me another table.
December 24, 25. Much rain all night and all day: no stirring out.
December 26. No rain; the earth cooler than before, and pleasanter.
December 27. Killed a young goat; and lamed another, so that I catched it,
and led it home in a string: when I had it home, I bound and splintered up its
leg, which was broke. I took such care of it that it lived; and the leg grew well,
and as strong as ever; but, by nursing it so long, it grew tame, and fed upon the
little green at my door, and would not go away. This was the first time that I
entertained a thought of breeding up some tame creatures, that I might have food
when my powder and shot was all spent.
December 28, 29, 30, 31. Great heats and no breeze; so that there was no
stirring abroad, except in the evening, for food; this time I spent in putting all
my things in order within doors.
1660. January 1. Very hot still; but I went abroad early and late with
my gun, and lay still in the middle of the day. This evening, going farther into
the valleys which lay towards the centre of the island, I found there was plenty
of goats, though exceeding shy, and hard to come at; however, I resolved to try,
if I could not bring my dog to hunt them down. Accordingly, the next day,
I went out with my dog and set him upon the goats: but I was mistaken, for
they all faced about upon the dog; and he knew his danger too well, for he
would not come near them.
Jan. 3. I began my fence or wall; which, being still jealous of my being
attacked by somebody, I resolved to make very thick and strong. This wall
being described before, I purposely omit what was said in the Journal: it is
sufficient to observe, that I was no less time than from the 3d of January, to the
14th of April, working, finishing, and perfecting, this wall; though it was no
more than about 25 yards in length, being a half circle, from one place in the
rock to another place, about twelve yards from it, the door of the cave being in
the centre, behind it. All this time, I worked very hard; the rains hindering
me many days, nay, sometimes, weeks together: but I thought I should never be
perfectly secure till this wall was finished; and it is scarce credible what inex-
pressible labour every thing was done with, especially the bringing piles out of
the woods, and driving them into the ground; for I made them much bigger than
I needed to have done. When this wall was finished, and the outside double-
fenced, with a turf-wall raised up close to it, I persuaded myself that, if any
people were to come on shore there, they would not perceive any thing like a
habitation; and it was very well I did so, as may be observed hereafter. Du-
ing this time, I made my rounds in the woods for game every day, when the
rain permitted me, and made fréquent discoveries, in these walks, of something
or other to my advantage; particularly, I found a kind of wild pigeons, who
build, not as wood-pigeons, in a tree, but rather as house-pigeons, in the holes
of the rocks: and, taking some young ones, I endeavoured to breed them up
tame, and did so; but, when they grew older, they flew all away; which, per-
haps, was, at first, for want of feeding them, for I had nothing to give them ;
however, I frequently found their nests, and got their young ones, which were
very good meat. And now, in the managing my household affairs, I found my-
self wanting in many things, which I thought, at first, it was impossible for me to
make; as, indeed, as to some of them, it was: for instance, could never make
a cask to be hooped. I had a small runlet* or two, as I observed before; but
I could never arrive to the capability of making one by them, though I spent
many weeks about it: I could neither put in the heads, nor join the staves so
true to one another, as to make them hold water; so I gave that also over.
the next place, I was at a great loss for candle;t so that, as soon as it was
In
* RUNLET-rundlet, or, properly, roundlet, in wine-measure, usually understood
to mean a cask holding about 48 gallons; although it is defined, in BAILEY'S universal
etymological Dictionury (1733), a cask for liquors, from 3 to 20 gallons."
† CANDLE:(chandelle, french.) a cotton or linen wick, loosely twisted, and covered
with tallow, wax, or spermaceti, in a cylindrical figure; which, being lighted at the end,
serves to illuminate a place in the absence of the sun. The word candle comes from
the latin candela, and that from candor, of candeo, I burn ; whence, also, the middle-
age Greek xavdnλa. A tallow candle, to be good, must be half sheep's tallow, and half
bullock's; the fat of hogs makes them gutter, give an ill smell, and a thick black smoke.
Tallow candles are of two kinds; the one dipped, the other moulded: the first, which
are those in ordinary use, are of an old standing; the latter are said to be the invention.
of the Sieur LE-BREZ, at Paris. The manufacture of the two kinds is very different,
excepting in what relates to melting of the tallow, and making the wick, which is the
same in both. The tallows being weighed and mixed in their due proportion, are cut
or hacked into pieces, to facilitate their melting, and thrown into a pot or boiler, having
a cavity of some depth running round the top to prevent its boiling over. Being thus
perfectly melted and skimmed, a certain quantity of water is thrown in, proportioned
to the quantity of tallow; this serves to precipitate the impurities of the tallow which
had escaped the skimmer, to the bottom of the vessel. The tallow, however, intended
for the first three dips, must have no water, because the dry wick, imbibing the water
readily, makes the candles spit and crackle in the burning. The melted tallow is now
emptied through a sieve into a tub, having a tap for letting it out, as occasion requires.
The tallow, thus prepared, may be used after having stood three hours; and will
continue fit for use twenty-four hours in summer, and fifteen in winter. For the wicks,
they are made of spun cotton, which the chandlers buy in skeins, and wind off three or
four together, according to the intended thickness of the wick, into bottoms or clues,
whence they are cut out with an instrument contrived for that purpose, into pieces of
the length of the candle required; then put on sticks called broches, or else placed in
the moulds, as the candles are intended to be either dipped or moulded. The machine
before-mentioned for cutting the cotton is a piece of smooth board made to be fixed
upon the knees; on the upper surface are the blade of a razor and a round piece of
cane, placed at a certain distance from one another, according to the required length
of the wick the cotton being carried round the cane and brought to the razor, is
instantly separated from the several balls by one operation. The next operation is
denominated pulling the cotton, by which the threads are laid smooth, all knots and
unevenesses removed, and the cotton thus rendered fit for use. It is now spread, that
is (for dipped candles), placed at equal distances on the broches which are about half
an inch in diameter; and about a yard long. Next, as to what concerns the tal-
low; after it is melted in a copper of proper size, as already described, and after
being well skimmed and refined it is transfered to a cistern for dipping. The workman
holds three broches at a time Letween his fingers, and immerses the cotton perpendicu-
larly in the cistern; they are then hung on a frame for the purpose, till they become
cold and hard, during which others are dipped: when sufficiently cooled, they are
dipped a second and third time, and so on in succession, until the candles be of the
proper size. During the operation, the tallow is stirred from time to time, and the
78
dark, which was generally by seven o'clock, I was obliged to go to bed. I re-
membered the lump of bees' wax, with which I made candles in my african
adventure; but I had none of that now: the only remedy I had was, that, when
I had killed a goat, I saved the tallow, and with a little dish made of clay, which
I baked in the sun, to which I added a wick of some oakum,* I made me a lamp;
and this gave me light, though not a clear steady light like a candle. In the
middle of all my labours, it happened, that, in rummaging my things, I found a
little bag, which, as I hinted before, had been filled with corn, for the feeding
of poultry; not for this voyage, but before, as I suppose, when the ship came
from Lisbon. What little remainder of corn had been in the bag was all
devoured with the rats, and I saw nothing in the bag but husks and dust; and,
being willing to have the bag for some other use (I think it was to put powder
in, when I divided it for fear of the lightning, or some such use), I shook the
husks of corn out of it, on one side of my fortification, under the rock. It was
a little before the great rain just now mentioned, that I threw this stuff away;
taking no notice of any thing, and not so much as remembering that I had thrown
any thing there; when, about a month after, I saw some few stalks of something
green shooting out of the ground, which I fancied might be some plant I had not
seen; but I was surprised, and perfectly astonished, when, after a little longer time, I
saw about ten or twelve ears come out, which were perfect green barley, of the
same kind as our european, nay, as our english barley.†
It is impossible to express the astonishment and confusion of my thoughts on
this occasion: I had hitherto acted upon no religious foundation at all; indeed,
I had very few notions of religion in my head, nor had entertained any sense of
any thing that had befallen me, otherwise than as a chance, or, as we lightly say,
"what pleases God," without so much as inquiring into the end of providence
cistern supplied with fresh tallow, which is kept to a certain heat by a small fire under
it. Such was the simple method of making cominon candles, until within these twenty
years, when the progress of invention and the aid of machinery became applied to the
art of candle-making, as well as to others, by which the process is rendered less laborious,
as well as more certain and expeditious; but these contrivances are foreign to the
object of the present note; which is to direct any individual how to manufacture for
himself in case of need, this most useful substitute for day-light. The same reason
serves for not going into the details of making that superior sort of candles, denominated
"moulded,” from being cast in pewter cylinders called moulds; in the shaft of which
the wick is previously introduced, Besides these, there are other candles intended
exclusively to burn during the night without the need of snuffing, and free from danger
from sparks, &c. These are called rush-lights, from the wick having been usually made
of split rushes; but lately cotton wicks, of very slender proportion, have been substi-
tuted for the rush with success; they are lighted easier; are less liable to extinguish
of themselves than the rush; and, owing to the smallness of the ignited portion, which
consumes itself to ashes, do not require the use of snuffers. In the process of reducing
the animal fat to the state of tallow, the dregs are subjected to the operation of a strong
iron press, to extract the whole of their juice, which pressure forms these grossser par-.
ticles into a solid cake that bears the name of "greaves," and is used for feeding dogs,
and, as some will have it, even a part of the poultry and pigs which are reared to supply
the inordinate demand of the London markets.
OAKUM:-
* ОAKUM;—or ockham (etoupe, french) in the sea-language, denotes the matter
of old ropes untwisted, and pulled out again into loose hemp, to be used in the cauking
of ships to keep out the water. White oakum is formed of untarred ropes or comes
from the flyings of dressed hemp, and serves the same purpose, or to make small lines for
common uses. Cauking, or calking, KENNET derives from the barbarous latin calciatura.
↑ BARLEY; —(hordeum, in botany), a gramineous frumentaceous herb; whose seeds
are of the larger sort, being covered with a husk, growing in a spike, and the grains
bearded. Barley, through neglect and poverty, is said to degenerate into oats and
darnel. Dr. PLOTT speaks of barley and rye growing on the same ear alternately!
The principle use of barley among us is, for making beer, in order to which it is first
malted. Barley has also its medicinal virtues, in which it resembles oats; the wort of
malt is an antiscorbutic. All the sorts of barley are sown in the spring of the year, in
+
79
in governing events in the world. But, after I saw barley grow there, in a climate
which I understood was not proper for corn, and especially as I knew not how
it came there, it startled me strangely; and I began to suggest, that God had
miraculously caused this grain to grow without any help of seed sown, and that
it was so directed purely for my sustenance, on that wild miserable place. This
touched my heart a little, so as to bring tears out of my eyes; and I began to
bless myself that such a prodigy of nature should happen upon my account:
and this was the more strange to me, because I saw near it still, all along by the
side of the rock, some other straggling stalks, which proved to be stalks of rice,
and which I knew, because I had seen it grow in Africa. I not only thought
these the pure productions of providence for my support; but, not doubting that
there was more in the place, I went over all that part of the island where I had
been before, searching in every corner, and under every rock, for more of it;
but I could not find any. At last, it occurred to my thoughts, that I had shaken
out a bag of chickens'-meat in that place, and then the wonder began to cease;
and I must confess, my religious thankfulness began to abate too, upon the dis-
covering that all this was nothing but what was ordinary; though I ought to
have been as thankful for so unforeseen a dispensation, as if it had been mira-
culous; for it was really the work of providence, as to me, that should order or
dry weather; in light dry land, it is sown early in March; but in strong clayey lands,
it is not sown until April, and, sometimes, not until the beginning of May: but, when
it is sown so late, if the season does not prove favourable, it is very late in autumn before
it is fit to mow; unless it be a particular sort, which is often ripe in nine weeks from
the time of sowing. Some people have steeped the seed before it is sown. Some sow
barley upon land where wheat grew the former year; but, where this is practised, the
ground should be ploughed in October, that the frost may mellow it; which will
improve the land greatly; and, if it can be ploughed again in January, or the beginning
of February, it will break and prepare the ground better. In March, it should be
ploughed again deeper, and be laid even, where it is not very wet; but, in strong wet
land, the ground should be laid round, and the furrows be made deep to receive the
wet. When this is finished, the common method is, to sow the barley seed with a broad
cast at two sowings, the first being harrowed in once, the second is harrowed until the
seed be buried. The common allowance of seed is four bushels to an acre, and its produce
about three quarters. When the barley is sown and harrowed in, the ground should be
rolled after the first shower of rain, to break the clods, and lay the earth smooth; which
will render it better to mow the barley, and also cause the earth to lie closer to the
roots of the corn, which will be of great service to it in dry weather. Where barley is
sown upon new broken up land, the usual method is, to plough up the land in March,
and let it lie fallow until June, at which time it is ploughed again, and sown with turnips,
which are eaten by sheep in winter, by whose dung the land is greatly improved; and
then, in March following, the ground is ploughed again, and sown with barley as
before. There are many people who sow clover with their barley; and some have
sown lucern with it; but neither of those methods is to be commended; for where is a
good crop of barley, the clover or lucern will be so weak as not to pay for standing.
The better way is, to sow the barley alone, and then the land will be at liberty for any
other crop when the barley is taken off the ground. The clover has been sometimes
sown a month after the barley, and found to answer very well. When the barley has
been up three weeks or a month, it will be a good method to roll it with a heavy roller,
which will press the earth close to the roots, and keep the sun from penetrating the
ground in dry seasons; and this rolling it, will cause it to send out a greater number
of stalks; so that, if the plants should be thin, this will cause them to spread, so as to
fill the ground, and likewise strengthen the stalks. The time for cutting of barley is,
when the red colour of the ears is off, when the straw turns yellow, and when the ears
begin to hang down. In the north of England they always reap their barley, and
make it up into sheaves, as is practised here for wheat; by which method they do not
lose near so much corn, and it is also more convenient for stacking; but this method
cannot be so well practised where there are many weeds among the corn, which is too
frequently the case in the rich lands near London, especially in moist seasons. There-
fore, when this is the case, the barley must lie on the swarth, until the weeds be dead;
but be wellshaken up after rain.
•
!
80
appoint that ten or twelve grains of corn should remain unspoiled, when the rats
had destroyed all the rest, as if it had been dropt from heaven; as, also, that
I should throw it out in that particular place, where, it being in the shade of
a high rock, it sprang up immediately; whereas, if I had thrown it any where
else, at that time, it would have been burnt up and destroyed. I carefully saved the
ears of this corn, you may be sure, in their season, which was about the end
of June, and laying up every corn, I resolved to sow them all again; hoping,
in time, to have some quantity sufficient to supply me with bread. But it was
not till the fourth year, that I could allow myself the least grain of this corn to
eat, and even then but sparingly, as I shall show afterwards, in its order; for
I lost all that I sowed the first season, by not observing the proper time; as I
sowed just before the dry season, so that it never came up at all, at least not
as it would have done : of which in its place. Besides this barley, there were, as
above, twenty or thirty stalks of rice, which I preserved with the same care ; and
whose use was of the same kiud, or to the same purpose, viz. to make me bread
or rather food, for I found ways to cook it up without baking; though I did that
also after some time: but to return to my Journal-I worked excessively
hard these three or four months, to get my wall done; and, the 14th of April,
I closed it up; contriving to get into it, not by a door, but over the wall, by a
ladder, that there might be no sign on the outside of my habitation.
April 16. I finished the ladder; so I went up with the ladder to the top, and
then pulled it up after me, and let it down in the inside: this was a complete
enclosure to me; for within I had room enough, and nothing could come at me
from without, unless it could first mount my wall. The very next day after this
wall was finished, I had almost all my labour overthrown at once, and myself
killed; the case was thus :-As I was busy in the inside of it, behind my tent,
just at the entrance into my cave, I was terribly frightened indeed; for, all on a
sudden, I found the earth come crumbling down from the roof of my cave, and
from the edge of the hill over my head, and two of the posts I had set up in the
cave, cracked in a frightful manner. I was heartily scared; but thought nothing
of what really was the cause, only thinking that the top of my cave was falling in,
as some of it had done before: and, for fear I should be buried in it, I ran
forward to my ladder; and, not thinking myself safe there neither, I got over my
wall for fear of the pieces of the hill, which I expected might roll down upon me.
I had no sooner stepped down upon the firm ground, but I plainly saw it was a
terrible earthquake: for the ground I stood on shook three times, at about eight
minutes distance, with three such shocks as would have overturned the strongest
building that could be supposed to have stood on the earth; and a great piece
of the top of a rock, which stood about half a mile from me, next the sea, fell
down with such a terrible noise as I never heard in all my life. I perceived
also that the very sea was put into a violent motion by it; and I believe the
shocks were stronger under the water than on the island. I was so much amazed
with the thing itself (having never felt the like, nor discoursed with any one that
had) that I was like one dead or stupified; and the motion of the earth made
my stomach sick, like one that was tossed at sea: but the noise of the falling of the
rock awaked me, as it were; and, rousing me from the stupified condition I was
in, filled me with horror, and I thought of nothing but the hill falling upon my
tent and my household goods, and burying all at once; this sunk my very soul
within me a second time. After the third shock was over, and I felt no more
for some time, I began to take courage; yet I had not heart enough to go over
my wall again, for fear of being buried alive, but sat still upon the ground, greatly
cast down and disconsolate, not knowing what to do. All this while, I had not
the least religious thought; nothing but the common
Lord have mercy upon
me!" and when it was over, that went away too. While I sat thus, I found
the air overcast, and grow cloudy, as if it would rain; soon after, the wind arose
by little and little, so that, in less than half an hour, it blew a hurricaue; the sea
was, all on a sudden, whiteued with foam and froth; the shore was covered
પ
81
with surf of the water; trees were torn up by the roots; and a terrible storm
it was. This held about three hours, and then began to abate: in two hours
more it was quite calm, and began to rain very hard. All this while, I sat upon
the ground, very much terrified and dejected; when, on a sudden, it came into
my thoughts, that these winds and rain being the consequence of the earthquake,*
the earthquake itself was spent and over, and I might venture into my cave again.
With this thought my spirits began to revive; and the rain also helping to
persuade me, I went in, and sat down in my tent; but the rain was so violent,
that my tent was ready to be beaten down with it; and I was forced to get into my
cave, though very much afraid and uneasy, for fear it should fall on my head.
This violent rain forced me to a new work, that was, to cut a hole through my
fortification, like a sink, to let out the water, which would else have drowned my
cave. After I had been in my cave for some time, and found no more shocks
of the earthquake follow, I began to be more composed. And now, to support
my spirits, which, indeed, wanted it very much, I went to my little store, and
took a small sup of rum; which, however, I did then, and always, very sparingly,
knowing I could have no more when that was gone. It continued raining all
that night, and great part of the next day, so that I could not stir abroad: but,
my mind being more composed, I began to think of what I had best do; con-
cluding, that, if the island was subject to these earthquakes, there would be no
living for me in a cave, but I must consider of building me some little hut in an
open place, which I might surround with a wall, as I had done here, and so make
myself secure from wild beasts or men: for, if I staid where I was, I should
certainly, one time or other, be buried alive. With these thoughts, I resolved
to remove my tent from the place where it now stood, being just under the hang-
ing precipice of the bill, and which, if it should be shaken again, would certainly
fall upon my tent. I spent the two next days, being the 19th and 20th of
April, in contriving whither, and how, to remove my habitation. The fear of
being swallowed alive, affected me so, that I never slept in quiet; and yet the
apprehension of lying abroad without any fence, was almost equal to it: but,
still, when I looked about, and saw how every thing was put in order, how
pleasantly I was concealed, and how safe from danger, it made me very loath
to remove. In the mean time, it occurred to me, that it would require a vast
deal of time for me to do this; and that I must be contented to run the risk
where I was, till I had formed a convenient camp, and had secured it so as to
remove to it. With this conclusion, I composed myself for a time; and resolved
that I would go to work with all speed to build me a wall with piles, and cables,
&c. in a circle, as before, and set up my tent in it when it was finished; but
that I would venture to stay where I was until it was ready, and fit to remove to.
April 22. The next morning, I began to consider of means to put this
measure into execution; but I was at a great loss about the tools. I had three
large axes, and abundance of hatchets (for we carried the hatchets to traffic
with the Indians) ;† but, with much chopping and cutting knotty hard wood,
* EARTHQUAKE :-in natural history, a vehement shake or agitation of some consi-
derable place or part of the earth, from natural causes, attended with a noise like thun-
der, and frequently with an eruption of water, or fire, or else of smoke or wind. Earth-
quakes are the greatest and most formidable phenomena of nature. ARISTOTLE and
PLINY, distinguish two kinds, with respect to the manner of the shake, viz. a tremor and
a pulse; the first being horizontal, in alternate vibrations, compared to the shaking of
a person in an ague; the second being perpendicular, up and down; which latter kind
are also called, by ARISTOTIE, Bpassai, from the resemblance of their motion to that
of boiling. A paste of iron filings, sulphur, and water, if in sufficient quantity, will burst,
after some time, into flame: an experiment that has tended to elucidate the theory of
earthquakes, and volcanos, by referring them to well-understood chemical agency. The
great earthquake that destroyed Port-royal, Jamaica, was in June, 1692.
INDIANS: the anglo-americans, copying their forefathers, call the savages of the
continent by this appellation (which they pronounce something like indigens, and, in
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
G
82
!
they were all full of notches, and dull: and, though I had a grindstone, I could
not turn it and grind my tools too. This cost me as much thought as a states-
man would have bestowed upon a grand point of politics, or a judge upon the
life and death of a man. At length, I contrived a wheel with a string, to turn
it with my foot, that I might have both my hands at liberty. I had never seen
any such thing in England, or, at least, not to take notice how it was done,
though since I have observed it is very common there; besides that my grind-
stone was very large and heavy. This machine cost me a full week's work to
bring it to perfection.
April 28, 29. These two whole days I took up in grinding my tools, my
machine for turning my grindstone performing very well.
April 30. Having perceived that my bread had been low a great while, I
now took a survey of it, aud reduced myself to one biscuit-cake* a day, which
made my heart very heavy.
May 1. In the morning, looking towards the sea-side, the tide being low,
I saw something lie on the shore bigger than ordinary, and it looked like a cask:
when I came to it, I found a small barrel, and two or three pieces of the wreck
of the ship, which were driven on shore by the late hurricane; and, looking
towards the wreck itself, I thought it seemed to lie higher out of the water than
it used to do. I examined the barrel that was driven on shore, and soon found
it was a barrel of gunpowder; but it had taken water, and the powder was
caked as hard as a stone; however, I rolled it farther on the shore for the
present, and went on upon the sands, as near as I could, to the wreck of the
ship, to look for more. When I came down to the ship, I found it strangely
removed. The forecastle,† which before lay buried in the sand, was heaved up
fact, had better keep to this term). It is absurd to have given the name of people on
the banks of the river Indus in Asia, first to those of Amazonia, and then to those of
all America, because an carly portuguese navigator got so far to the west, that he
Janded on the coast of Brazil, and, to console himself for his mistake, gave it the name
of the West Indies!
* BISCUIT:(bis-coctum, latin; bis-cuit, french.) commonly pronounced bisket; a
sort of bread, much dried, to make it keep for the service of the sea. For long voyages
they bake it twice (hence its name), and prepare it several months before the embark-
ation. It will keep good a couple of years. To preserve sea-biskets from insects Dr.
HALES advises to make the fumes of burning brimstone pass through the casks full
of bread. Bisket may he likewise preserved a long time, by keeping it in casks well
calked, and lined with tin. The antients had their bisket, or rusk, prepared
for the like use as the moderns. The Greeks called it αρτον δι πυρον, bread put
twice to the fire. The Romans gave it the name of panis nauticus or capta. PLINY
denominates it vetus aut nauticus panis tusus atque iterum coctus.
By which it
appears, that, after the first baking, they ground or powdered it down for a second.
In some middle-age writers, it is called pazimas paarmus, and panis paximatus. Among
the Romans, we also meet with a kind of land bisket for the camp-service, called
buccellatam, sometimes cxpeditionalis annona; which was baked much, both to make it
lighter for carriage, and less liable to corrupt, the coction being continued till the bread
was reduced one fourth of its former weight. The process of sea-biscuit baking as
practised on a great scale for the navy victualling service is curious. The dough, which
consists of flour and water only, is worked by a machine. It is then handed over to a
second workman, who slices it with a large knife for the nioulder, who forms the
biscuits, two at a time; the marker then stamps and throws them to the splitter, who
separates the two pieces, and puts them under the hand of the chucker, who supplies
the oven, and whose work of throwing the bread on the peel must be so exact, that he
cannot look off for a moment: the depositor receives the biscuits on his peel, and
arranges them in the oven, at the rate of exactly 70 biscuits in a minute. All these
men work with the regularity of a clock, so that they seem like parts of one machine.
There are 12 ovens at Deptford, that can each furnish daily bread for 2040 men.
+ FORECASTLE:-see page 7. The wood cut annexed serves no less by way of
diagram to the note affixed unto the same word in that page, than as an illustration of
the present text.

several feet: and the stern (which was broken to pieces, and parted from the
rest by the force of the sea, soon after I had left rummaging of her), was tossed,
as it were, up, and cast on one side; and the sand was thrown so high on that
side next her stern, that I could now walk quite up to her when the tide was
out; whereas, there was a great piece of water before, so that I could not
come within a quarter of a mile of the wreck without swimming. I was surprised
with this at first, but soon concluded it must be done by the earthquake; and
as by this violence the ship was more broken open than formerly, so many things
came daily on shore, which the sea had loosened, and which the winds and water
rolled, by degrees, to the land. This wholly diverted my thoughts from the
design of removing my habitation; and I busied myself mightily, that day
especially, in searching whether I could make any way into the ship: but I
found nothing was to be expected of that kind, for all the inside of the ship was
choaked up with sand. However, as I had learned not to despair of any thing,
I resolved to pull every thing to pieces that I could of the ship, concluding that
every thing I could get from her would be of some use or other to me.
May 3. I began with my saw, and cut a piece of a beam through, which I
thought held some of the upper part or quarter-deck together; and when
I had cut it through, I cleared away the sand as well as I could from the side
which lay highest; but, the tide coming in, I was obliged to give over for
that time.
May 4. I went a fishing, but caught not one fish that I durst eat of, till I
was weary of my sport; when, just going to leave off, I caught a young dolphin.*

* DOLPHIN :-The name improperly given, by modern mariners, to a voracious fish,
distinguished, in the Linnaan system of ichthyology, by that of coryphæna-hippuris :
very different creature from that friendly fish which Ovip makes the preserver of his
G 2
84
}
I had made me a long line of some rope-yarn, but I had no hooks; yet I fre-
quently caught fish enough, as much as I cared to eat; and sometimes more,
which I dried in the sun and eat when dry.
ARION (Fasti; ii, 113.) and also differing from the dolphin of naturalists. In order
to elucidate this matter, we will begin by the zoological description of the fish named in
the text, represented in the accompanying cut, and which is called, by some authors,
auratus piscis, besides being also farther confounded with the dorado (so fruitful is error),
ROBINSON CRUSOE's dolphin is between four and seven feet long, and as thick as a large
salmon; it has a flat roundish snout; its head being the largest part of the fish, and
from thence tapering to the tail. Its dorsal fin is remarkable for extending the whole
length of its back, being more than six inches high in the middle, consisting of a coria-
ceous membrane with soft spines, and usually standing upright when swimming: op-
posite to this, there is a smaller, extending from the vent to the tail: it, besides, has a
pectoral, and two lateral fins, which are sometimes a foot and a half long, in dolphins
of the largest size. The tail is extremely forked, not less than two feet and half long:
the scales are so small and smooth, as to be hardly pefceptible. This fish is celebrated
by voyagers for its beauty, which consists rather in the colour than the shape, being a
bright bluish green, ornamented with brilliant spots, appearing like rich gems of various
hues, set in a dark ground; the tail and fins appear as if made of gold or silver, according
to the accidental effects of light and shade. In a word, its appearance is deservedly
praised; and this fish is a most agreeable object to view either in or out of the water:
but this effulgence ceases with life; changing, at the point of death, to dull yellow, and
then to pale white, like a mullet. A mutation well rendered in a late Cambridge tripos
on fishing, when speaking of the trout,-leti variabilis umbra. Before proceeding in the
comparative description of the other fishes, which have obtained the name of dolphin among
the antients and moderns, the editor, in order somewhat to enliven a dull topic, indulges
himself, and hopes to amuse his reader by quoting FALCONER'S enthusiastic account
of the dying dolphin
But now, beneath the lofty vessel's stern,
A shoal of sportive dolphins they discern,
Beaming, from burnish'd scales, refulgent rays,
Till all the glowing ocean seems to blaze:
In curling wreaths they wanton on the tide,
Now bound aloft, now downward swiftly glide;
Awhile beneath the waves their tracks remain,
And shine in silver streams along the liquid plain."
After a description of the harpooning one of these fishes by the crew, the poet
proceeds:-
"But, while his heart the fatal javelin thrills,
And flitting life escapes in sanguine rills,
What radiant changes strike th' astonish'd sight!
What glowing hues of mingl'd shade and light '
Not equal beauties gild the lucid west ·
With parting beams all o'er profusely drest:
Not lovelier colours paint the vernal dawn,
When orient dews impearl th' enamell'd lawn,
Than from his sides in bright suffusion flow,
That now with gold empyreal seem to glow;
Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view,
And emulate the soft celestial hue;
Now beam a flashing crimson on the eye,
And now assume the purple's deeper dye:
But here description clouds each shining ray;
What terms of art can nature's power display?
In the Linnæan system of ichthyology, delphinus makes a distinct genus of fishes, of
the order of cetae, and class of mammalia; the characters of which are, that there are teeth
in both jaws, and a blow pipe on the head. In the Artedian system of ichthyology, del
phinus is also the name of a genus of the plagiuri, or cetaceous fishes, the characters of which
are these; the teeth are placed in both the jaws, the pipe or opening is in the middle of the
head, and the back is always pinnated. The various species of this genus are these :-~~-~
1. the dolphin with a coniform body, with a broad back, and a sub-obtuse snout; this is.
t
85
May 5. Worked on the wreck; cut another beam asunder, and brought
three great fir-planks off from the decks; which I tied together, and made swim
to shore when the tide of flood came on.
May 6. Worked on the wreck; got several iron bolts out of her, and other
pieces of iron-work; worked very hard, and came home very much tired, and
had thoughts of giving it over.
May 7. Went to the wreck again, not with an intent to work; but found
the weight of the wreck had broke itself down, the beams being cut; that se-
veral pieces of the ship seemed to lie loose, and the inside of the hold lay so
open that I could see into it; but almost full of water and sand.
May 8. Went to the wreck, and carried an iron crow to wrench up the deck,
which lay now quite clear of the water and sand. I wrenched up two planks,
and brought them on shore also with the tide. I left the iron crow in the wreck
for next day.
May 9. Went to the wreck, and with the crow made way into the body of
of the wreck; felt several casks, and loosened them with the crow, but could
not break them up. I felt also a roll of english lead, and could stir it; but it
was too heavy to remove.
May 10, to 14. Went every day to the wreck; got a great many pieces
of timber, and boards or plank, and two or three hundred weight of iron.
May 15. I carried two hatchets,* to try if I could not cut a piece off the
roll of lead, by placing the edge of one hatchet, and driving it with the other;
but as it lay about a foot and a half in the water, I could not make any blow to
drive the hatchet.
the phocana, or porpesse proper, 2. The dolphin with an oblong, sub-cylindric body,
with a long acute snout, this is the delphinus of the generality of authors, and is called
the porpesse also by the English. 3. The dolphin with the back ridged upwards, and
with broad serrated teeth: this is the orca of authors, called by us the grampus, and
north capor: the body of this fish is so thick, that its breadth is equal to half its length.
The name delphinus is of Greek origin, and is supposed by some to be derived from the
word dɛλpɑg, a hog; according to others, from the word Sexpos, vulva; this fish being of
the viviparous kind, and one of those few which have the vulva and penis in the differ-
ent sexes, like those of land animals. All the nations who have given this fish their
several names, have derived them from its resemblance to the same creature, a hog;
and this is not without reason, as there is much analogy between the two animals;
the dolphin being as fat as the hog, and having his entrails extremely like those of the
quadruped; but in this there has as yet been some confusion, as the common porpesse,
which much resembles the dolphin in many respects, has also been indiscriminately
called by the same name with that fish. The difference between the two is, that the
dolphin has a longer snout or nose, sticking out somewhat in form of a goose's bill,
and is in the whole, a longer, slenderer, more fleshy, and less fat, fish, and is the
larger of the two. The phocana, or porpesse, is fatter, smaller, broader backed, and has
a more obtuse, and shorter snout. This is the french marsouin. The cetaceous dolphin is
covered with a smooth, but very tough and firm skin; its body is long and rounded,
and its back prominent. Above the snout it has a pipe, by which it throws out the
water necessarily taken in with the food. These fish are supposed to live a great
number of years. The unnatural figures on some antique marbles and coins which
represent them crooked, must have been conceived originally by persons who have
only seen them playing about on the surface of the water, in which case they sometimes
deceive the eye, and appear curved: from these probably our heraldic painters took
their idea of the dolphin. These fishes are extremely swift-swimming, and are able to
live a long time out of the water, though they can continue but a little while under it
without air; hence they are sometimes taken up dead by fishermen in their nets, hav-
ing been suffocated by being forcibly kept under water; they have been known to
live two days on dry ground. (WILLOUGHBY, Hist. Pis.) This last-mentioned is
the fish that was consecrated by the antients to the gods, and called the sacred fish.
Scarce an accident could happen at sea, but the dolphin offered himself to convey to
sbore the unfortunate.
* HATCHET:-
a little axe, from the french, hachette, the diminutive of hache, an axe.
86
May 16. It had blown hard in the night, and the wreck appeared more
broken by the force of the water; but I stayed so long in the woods, to get pigeons
for food, that the tide prevented my going to the wreck that day.
May 17. I saw some pieces of the wreck blown on shore, at a great distance,
two miles off me, but resolved to see what they were, and found it was a piece of
the head, but too heavy for me to bring away.
May 24. Every day, to this day, I worked on the wreck; and, with hard
Jabour, I loosened some things so much with the crow, that the first blowing tide,
several casks floated out, and two of the seamen's chests; but, the wind blowing
from the shore, nothing came to land that day but pieces of timber and a hogs-
head, which had some brazil pork in it; but the salt water and the sand had
spoiled it. I continued this work every day to the 15th of June, except the time
necessary to get food; which I always appointed, during this part of my employ.
ment, to be when the tide was up, that I might be ready when it was ebbed out ;
and, by this time, I had gotten timber, and plank, and iron work enough to have
built a good boat, if I had known how: and I also got, at several times, and in
several pieces, near one hundred weight of the sheet-lead.
June 16. Going down to the sea-side, I found a large tortoise,* or, as our
sailors call it, turtle. This was the first I had seen; which, it seems, was only

TORTOISE:-testudo, in zoology, makes a distinct genus of animals of the amphibious
class, and order of reptiles; the characters of which are, that the body has four feet
is defended by a thick crust, and is furnished with a tail; the mouth has naked man-
dibles without teeth. It is a well known animal, of which LINNAEUS enumerates fifteen
species, viz. the coriaceous tortoise; the green turtle; hawk's-bill turtle; common
grecian or african tortoise; tessellated tortoise, &c. The shell which covers this crea-
ture's body is composed of a number of variously shaped pieces, usually pentangular,
these are affixed to a bony substance, like the skull of some animals, which surrounds the
animal, and has two apertures; one before, which gives way to the going out of the head,
and the fore-legs; and the other, behind, through which the hinder legs and thighs are
protruded. This bony substance is, in different parts, of very different thicknesses,
in some places, an inch and a half, in others, not an eighth part of an inch. It is com-
posed of two pieces, the one covering the creature's back, the other its belly; these are
joined at the sides with very strong ligaments, but not so rigidly closed but that they
easily give way to the creature's motions. (RAY. Syn. Quad.) This is the general order
of nature in the structure of the shell of this creature; of which we have several
species in different parts of the world, the shells of which are of different value. The
sea-tortoise is popularly called turtle, which supplies a well-known delicious food. Dr.
PARSONS has remarked a singularity in the structure of the wind-pipe of the land-
tortoise, which, for a few inches from the epiglottis, is single, but soon divides into two,
and, as it descends with the esophagus, forms a folded ring outward on each side, and
turns down again to enter the lungs ; so that this animal has the advantage of a double
aspera arteria, with a volution in each; which shews that this provision is intended to
contain a greater portion of air than ordinary, while he is under ground in winter. It
has been observed, likewise, that the principal use of the lungs in tortoises is, to render
them specifically lighter or heavier in the water, by their inflation and compression at
i
87
my misfortune, not any defect of the place, or scarcity; for had I happened to
be on the other side of the island, I might have had them every day, as I found
afterwards; but, perhaps, had paid dear enough for them.
June 17. I spent in cooking the turtle. I found in her threescore eggs; and
her flesh was to me, at that time, the most savoury and pleasant that ever I tasted
my life; having had no flesh, but of goats and fowls, since I landed in this
horrid place.
in
June 18. Rained all that day, and I stayed within. I thought, at this time,
the rain felt cold, and I was somewhat chilly, which I knew was not usual in
that latitude.
pleasure, as fishes do by their swimming bladders; and such a power of long inspiration
seems to be as necessary in the land-tortoise as in that of the sea; because, in many
countries where they breed, they are known to lie concealed in the ground for several
monthis, and several species of land-tortoises go into ponds or canals in the gardens,
where they are kept, and remain long under water. (Phil. Trans. vi .213.) RONDELET
observes, that, in generation, the embraces of the male and female sea tortoises continue
for a whole lunar month; and that they squirt water out of the nostrils in the same
manner as the dolphin. On the brazilian shore, they are said to be so big as sometimes
to dine fourscore men; and in the indian sea, the shells are said to serve the natives for
boats. DE LAET notes, that, in the island of Cuba, they are of such a bulk, that they
will creep along with five men on their backs. The very largest brought to England
from Ascension island weigh from five to six cwt. To cook a turtle-Fill a boiler or
kettle with a quantity of water sufficient to scald the calapash and calupee, the fins, &c.
About 9 o'clock, hang up your turtle by the hind fins, cut off its head, and save the
blood; then, with a sharp pointed knife, separate the calapash from the calapee (that
is, the back from the belly), down the shoulders, so as to come at the entrails, which
take out, and clean as you would those of any other animal, and throw them into a
tub of clean water, taking great care not to break the gall, but to cut it from the liver,
and throw it away. Then separate each distinctly, and put the intestines into another
vessel, open them with a small knife from end to end, wash them clean, and draw
them through a woollen cloth, in warm water, to clear away the slime, and then put
them into clean cold water, until they are used, with the other part of the entrails, which
must all be cut up small, to be mixed in the baking-dishes with the meat. This done,
separate the back and the belly pieces entirely, cutting away the four fins by the upper
joint, which scald; peel off the loose skin, and cut them into sma pieces, laying them
by themselves, eitlier in another vessel, or on the table, ready to be seasoned. Then
cut off the nieat from the belly part, clean the back from the lungs, kidneys, &c.
and cut that meat into pieces as small as a walnut, laying it likewise by itself. After
this, you are to scald the back and belly pieces, pulling off the shell from the back, and
the yellow skin from the belly, when all will be white and clean; and, with the kitchen
cleaver, cut those up, likewise, into pieces, about the bigness or breadth of a card. Put
these pieces into clean cold water, wash them out, and place them in a heap on the
table, so that each part may lie by itself. The meat, being thus prepared and laid sepa-
rate; for seasoning, mix two third parts of salt, or rather more, and one third part of
Cayenne pepper, black pepper, a nutmeg, and mace pounded fine, all mixed toge-
ther; the quantity to be proportioned to the size of the turtle, so that, in each dish there
may be about three spoonfuls of seasoning to every twelve pounds of meat. Your meat
being thus seasoned, get some sweet herbs, such as thyme, savory, &c. Let them be
dried, and rubbed fine; and having provided some deep dishes to bake in (which should
be of the most common brown ware), put in the coarsest part of the meat at bottom,
with about a quarter of a pound of butter in each dish, and then some of each of the
several parcels of meat, so that the dishes may be all alike, and have equal proportions
of the different parts of the turtle; and, between each laying of the meat, strew a little
of the mixture of sweet herbs. Fill your dishes within an inch and a half, or two inches
of the top; boil the blood of the turtle, and put into it; then lay on force-meat balls
made of veal or fowl, highly seasoned with the same seasoning as the turtle; put in each
dish a gill of Madeira or Teneriffe wine, and as much water as it will conveniently hold:
then break over it five or six eggs, to keep the meat from scorching at the top, and over
that shake a handful of shred parsley, to make it look green: when done, put your dishes
into an oven, made hot to bake bread; and, in an hour and a half, or two hours (accord-
ing to the size of your dishes), the turtle will be sufficiently done.
เ
88
June 19. Very ill, and shivering, as if the weather had been cold.
June 20. No rest all night; violent pains in my head, and feverish.
June 21. Very ill; frightened almost to death with the apprehensions of my
sad condition; to be sick and no help: prayed to God, for the first time since
the storm of Hull; but scarce knew what I said, or why, my thoughts being all
confused.
June 22. A little better; but under dreadful apprehensions of sickness.
Very bad again; cold and shivering, and then a violent head-ache.*
Better.
June 23.
June 24.
June 25. An ague,t very violent: the fit held me seven hours; cold fit and
hot, with faint sweats after it.
* ACHE: -from the anglo-saxon ace. It has become customary to pronounce the ch
in this word ask: but there is ample authority for believing the more correct articulation
to be as in church.
† AGUE:-a periodical disease, of the fever kind, consisting in a cold shivering fit,
succeeded by a hot one, and going off in a diaphoresis, or sweating. If the coldness and
shivering be inconsiderable, and only the hot fit felt, the disease is called an intermitting
fever. According to the periods of the fit, the disease is either a quotidian, tertian, or
quartan ague or fever. The causes of agues seem to be, an obstructed perspiration:
or whatever, by overloading the juices, retards their motion, or occasions a disorder in
the circulation of the blood. The proximate cause seems to be a corruption of the
humours of the body; which is sometimes produced by impure air. The symptoms are,
heaviness and retching; a weak, slow, pulse; coldness and shivering felt first in the
joints, thence creeping over the whole body; pain in the loins, and an involuntary
chattering of the under jaw. A vernal ague is easily cured; but an autumnal one is more
obstinate, especially in aged and cachectical persons; particularly if complicated with
other diseases. When an ague proves fatal, it is usually in the cold fit, through the
depression of the animal spirits. The cure is usually begun with an emetic of ipecacu-
anha, an hour before the access, and completed with the cortex, or peruvian bark,
administered in the interval between two fits; and continued, at times, to prevent a
relapse. We meet with divers other methods of curing agues, besides that by the
bark; as by means of tea, which, taken an hour before the access, is said to remove
the obstruction, and correct the acidity; by sal volatile, which acts by attenuating the
blood; and by an infusion of flowers of little centaury, &c. (Phil. Trans. No. 145.)
ETMULLER gives instances of agues cured by putting the patient in a fit of passion.
Others have been effected by a fright, by a fit of drunkenness, &c. "Do we not often
see agues cured by amulets and pericarpia? I myself (says Mr. BOYLE), was cured
of a violent quotidian, by applying to my wrists a paste made of bay salt, new hops, and
blue currants, which has also relieved many others." (Phil. Works abr. i.) BACON
says, "It is often tried, that juices of stock-july flowers, rose-campion, garlick, and
other things, applied to the wrists, and renewed, have cured chronical agues." Ha
likewise recommends, in the heats of agues, to hold eggs of alabaster, and balls of
crystal, in the hands. PRINGLE accounts for them by means of the principle of putre-
faction. The heat of the body, he observes, varies little; and, therefore, the corrup-
tion produced in any of the humours must happen in a determinate time. If we sup-
pose, that, in the paroxysm, the more corrupted particles of the blood do not all pass
off through the skin with the sweat, but that some part of them is discharged with the
bile; their particles coming into the intestines, and being from thence taken up by
the lacteals, and carried into the blood, may there act as a new ferment, and occasion
a return of the fit. Thus the corruption of the bile may be the cause of the first fit,
as well as of those that follow. He farther adds, that, though all moist countries are subject
to agues of some kind or other, yet, if the moisture is pure, and the summers are not close
and hot, they will mostly be regular tertian agues, and admit an easy cure. But, if
the moisture arises from stagnating water, in which plants, fishes, and insects, decay,
then the damps, being of a putrid nature, occasion not only more frequent, but more
dangerous fevers, which more commonly appear in the form of quotidians, and double
tertians, than that of single ones. Accordingly they are found to vary with the season,
on which the degree of putrefaction in a great measure depends. Though the bark be
the most effectual remedy in this distemper, yet it has been known to cause worse
disorders. It is not an unfrequent practice in the navy to administer this medicine as
89
June 26. Much better; and, having no victuals to eat, took my gun, but
found myself very weak: however, I killed a she-goat, and, with much difficulty,
got it home; broiled some of it and ate. I would fain have stewed it, and
made some broth, but had no pot.
June 27. The ague again so violent, that I lay a-bed all day, and neither ate
nor drank. I was ready to perish for thirst; but so weak I had not strength
to stand up, or to get myself any water to drink. Prayed again, but was light-
headed; and when I was not, I was so ignorant, that I knew not what to say;
only lay and cried, "Lord! look upon me; Lord! pity me; Lord! have mercy
upon me." I suppose I did nothing else for two or three hours; till the fit wear-
ing off, I fell asleep, and did not awake till far in the night. When I awoke, I
found myself much refreshed, but weak, and exceeding thirsty; however, as I
had no water in my whole habitation, I was forced to lie till morning, and went
to sleep again. In this second sleep I had this terrible dream-I thought that
I was sitting on the ground, on the outside of my wall, where I sat when the
storm blew after the earthquake, and that I saw a man descend from a great
black cloud, in a vivid flame of fire, and alight upon the ground; he was all
over as bright as a flame, so that I could but just bear to look towards him;
his countenance was most indescribably dreadful: when he stepped upon the
ground with his feet, I thought the earth trembled, just as it had done before
in the earthquake; and all the air looked, to my apprehension, as if it had been
filled with flashes of fire. He had no sooner landed upon the earth, but he
moved forward towards me, with a long spear or weapon in his hand, to kill me;
and, when he came to a rising ground, at some distance, he spoke to me, or
I heard a voice so terrible, that it is impossible to express the terror of it; all
that I can say I understood, was this: "Seeing all these things have not
brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt die :" at which words, I thought he
lifted up the spear that was in his hand, to kill me. No one who shall ever read
this account, will expect that I should be able to describe the horrors of my
soul at this terrible vision; I mean, that even while it was a dream, I even
dreamed of those horrors; nor is it any more possible to describe the impression
that remained upon my mind when I awaked, and found it was but a dream.
a preventive of fever, by giving a glass of the vinous infusion to boats' crews, &c,
before or after any extraordinary exertions or exposure to weather: whatever counter-
ance medical practitioners may give to this practice, the editor cannot help thinking
it savours of hocus-pocus or of Mr. BOYLE's amulet; and had better be deferred until
a stage of ailment, when tonic medicines can be exhibited with efficacy. The corter
had better be preserved until critical opportunity, and the dose of plain wine be
doubled. The sailor would be more immediately benefited, and the doctor would hus-
band a valuable material in countries, perhaps, where it cannot be replaced for money.
The editor is in possession of the following well authenticated prescription, by which
an ague of 18 months standing was cured :-R. As soon as the hot and cold fits, as
also the sweat, be over, take three drachms of rock, or roche, alum, dissolved with 4
large spoonfuls of white wine in a silver or very well tinned sauce-pan over the fire.
When this emetic operates, drink a goblet-glass-full of warm water that has been poured,
when boiling, over a handful of oat meal; 2 hours after the emetic has ceased to
operate, and the stomach begins to feel settled, take oz. of freshly powdered peru-
vian bark; repeat the dose at the end of six hours; and (if the ague does not return)
every 8 or 12 hours until 2 oz. shall have been thus taken. By way of precaution
2 drachms more may be taken twice; then 1 drachm twice; lastly drachm twice ;
adding 12 or 15 drops of laudanum in each nightly dose of the bark, and 5 drops in the
morning doses. The least disagreeable form of exhibiting the bark is in coffee, Be-
sides the bark, a table-spoonful of ginger in powder, filled flush with the edge of the
spoon may be taken in water or wine twice a day between the hours of the bark, and
be afterwards continued for a month." The individual subject of the present case took
the alum again about the fifth or sixth day after the first dose; and was thus radically
cured in nine days. In the course of the following autumu, this patient resumed the
*se of the ginger for ten days only.
·
;
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I had, alas! no divine knowledge: what I had received by the good instruction
of my father was then worn out by an uninterrupted series, for eight years, of
seafaring wickedness, and a constant conversation with none but such as were,
like myself, immoral and profane: I do not remember that I had, in all that
time, one thought that so much as tended either to looking up towards God, or
in towards a reflection upon my own evil ways: but a certain stupidity of soul,
without desire of good, or consciousness of evil, had entirely overwhelmed me;
and I was all that the most unthinking creature among our sailors, can be sup-
posed to be; not having the least sense, either of the fear of God, in danger,
or of thankfulness to him in deliverances. In the relating what is already past
of my story, this will be the more easily believed, when I shall add, that through all
the variety of miseries that had to this day befallen mc, I never had so much as one
thought of its being the hand of God, or that it was a just punishment for my
sin against my father; or even for the general course of my wicked life. When
I was on the desperate expedition on the desert shores of Africa, I never had so
much as one thought of what would become of me ; or one wish to God to direct me
whither I should go, or to keep me from the danger which apparently surrounded
me, as well from voracious creatures, as cruel savages; but I was quite thoughtless
of a providence; acted like a mere brute, from the principles of nature, and by
the dictates of common sense only, or indeed hardly that. When I was delivered
and taken up at sea by the portuguese captain, well used, and dealt with justly
and honourably, as well as charitably, I had not a true thankfulness in my
thoughts. When, again, I was shipwrecked, ruined, and in danger of drowning,
on this island, I was as far from remorse; I only said to myself often, that "I
was always an unfortunate dog." It is true, when I first got on shore here, and
found all my ship-mates perished, and myself spared, I was surprised with a
kind of ecstasy, and some transports of soul, which ended in a mere common
flight of joy; or, as I may say, being glad I was alive, without the least reflection
upon the distinguishing goodness of the hand which had preserved me, and had
singled me out to be preserved when all the rest were destroyed: just the same
common sort of gladness which seamen generally have, after they are got safe
ashore from a shipwreck; which they drown all in the next bowl of punch, and
forget almost as soon as it is over; and all the rest of my life was like.
it. Even when I was, afterwards, on due consideration, made sensible of
my condition; how I was cast on this place, out of the reach of human
kind, out of all hope of relief or prospect of redemption; as soon as, I saw but
a prospect of living, and that I should not starve and perish for hunger, the sense
of my
affliction wore off, and I began to be more easy, applied myself to the
works proper for my preservation and supply, and was far enough from being
afflicted at my condition as a judgment from heaven against me; which very
seldom entered into my head. The growing up of the corn had, at first, some
little serious influence upon me, as long as I thought it had something miraculous
in it; but, as soon as that part of the thought was removed, all the impression
which was raised from it wore off also, as I have noted already. Even the earth-
quake, though nothing could be more terrible in its nature, or more immediately
directing to the invisible power which enacts such things, yet no sooner was the
fright over, but the impression it had made went off also. But now, when I
began to be sick, and a leisurely view of death came to place itself before me;
when my spirits began to sink under the burthen of a strong distemper, and
nature was exhausted with the violence of the fever; conscience, that had slept
so long, began to awake; and I reproached myself with my past life, in which
I had so evidently provoked the supreme justice of the deity to deal with me in so
vindictive a manner. These reflections oppressed me for the second or third
day of my distemper; and in the violence, as well of the fever as of the reproaches
of my conscience, extorted from me some words, like prayer; though
I cannot say it was a prayer attended either with desire or hopes; it was rather
the voice of mere fright and distress; my thoughts were confused; and the
horror of dying in such a miserable condition raised vapours in my head with
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the mere apprehension; and, in these hurries of my soul, I knew not what my
tongue might express: but it was rather exclamation, such as, “Lord! what a
miserable creature am I. If I should be sick, I shall certainly die for want of
help; and what will become of me?" Then the tears burst out of my eyes, and
I could say no more for a good while. In this interval, my father came to my
mind, and presently his prediction, which I mentioned at the beginning of this
story; that if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless me; and I would
have leisure hereafter to reflect upon having neglected his counsel, when there
might be none to assist in my recovery.
"Now," said I aloud, "my dear
father's words are come to pass; justice has overtaken me, and I have none to
help or hear me. I rejected the voice of Providence, which had put me in a
station of life wherein I might have been happy; but I would neither see it my-
self, nor learn from my parents to know the blessing of it. I left them to mourn
over my folly, and now I am left to mourn under the consequences of it: I refused
their assistance, who would have pushed me in the world, and would have made
every thing easy to me; and now I have difficulties to struggle with, too great for
even nature itself to support; and no help, no advice, no comfort." Then I cried
out, "Lord! be my help, for I am in great distress." This was the first prayer, if
I may call it so, that I had made for many years. But I return to my Journal.*
June 28. Having been somewhat refreshed with the sleep I had had, and
the fit being entirely off, I got up; and though the fright and terror of my
dream was very great, yet I considered that the fit of the ague would return
again the next day, and now was my time to get something to refresh and sup-
port myself when I should be ill. The first thing I did was to fill a square case-
bottle with water, and set it upon my table, in reach of my bed: and to take
off the chill or aguish disposition of the water, I put about a quarter of a pint of
rum into it, and mixed them together. Then I got me a piece of the goat's
flesh, and broiled it on the coals, but could eat very little. I walked about; but
was very weak, and withal very sad and heavy-hearted in the sense of my mi-
serable condition, dreading the return of my distemper the next day. At night,
I made my supper of three of the turtle's eggs; which I roasted in the ashes, and
ate in the shell, as we call it: and this was the first bit of meat I had ever asked
God's blessing to, as I could remember, in my whole life. After I had eaten, I
tried to walk; but found myself so weak, that I could hardly carry the gun (for
I never went out without that); so I went but a little way, and sat down upon
the ground, looking out upon the sea, which was just before me, and very calm
and smooth. As I sat here, some such thoughts as these occurred to me; What
is this earth and sea, of which I have seen so much? Whence is it produced?
And what am I, and all the other creatures, wild and tame, human and brutal?
Whence are we? Surely, we are all made by some secret power, who formed
the earth and sea, the air and sky. And who is that? Then it followed most na-
turally, it is God that has made all.
God that has made all. Well, but then
Well, but then it came on, if God
has made all these things, he guides and governs them all, and all things
that concern them; for the power that could make all things, must certainly
* JOURNAL:-from the french jour, a day; synonymous with "diurnal" from the
latin diurnus, daily.
"He was by birth some authors write
A Russian, some a Muscovite,
And 'mong the Cossaks had been bred
Of whom we in diurnals read."
Hudibras I. ii.
"And register'd by fame eternal
In deathless pages of diurnal."
Ibid. I. iii.
* Diurnals writ for regulation
Of lying, to inform the nation."
Ibid, II. i.
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have power to guide and direct them: if so, nothing can happen in the cir
cuit of his works, either without his knowledge or appointment. And if no
thing happens without his knowledge, he knows that I am here, and am in this
dreadful condition and if nothing happens without his appointment, he has
appointed all this to befall me. Nothing occurred to my thought, to contradict
any of these conclusions: and therefore it rested upon me with the greatest
force, that it must needs be God who hath appointed all this to befall me; that
I was brought to this miserable circumstance by his direction, he having the
sole power, not of me only, but of every thing that happens in the world. Immedi-
ately it followed; what have I done to be thus used? My conscience presently
checked me in that inquiry, as if I had blasphemed; and methought it spoke to
me like a voice, Wretch! dost thou ask what thou hast done? Look back upon
a dreadful mispent life, and ask thyself, what thou hast not done? Ask, why
is it that thou wert not long ago destroyed? Why wert thou not drowned in Yar-
mouth road; killed in the fight when the ship was taken by the Salee man of
war; devoured by the wild beasts on the coast of Africa; or drowned here, when
all the crew perished but thyself? Dost thou ask what thou hast done? I was
struck dumb with these reflections, as one astonished, and had not a word to
say; no, not to answer to myself; so, rising up pensive and sad, walked back
to my retreat, and went over my wall, as if I had been going to bed: but my
thoughts were sadly disturbed, and I had no inclination to sleep; so I sat down
in the chair, and lighted my lamp, for it began to be dark. Now, as the ap-
prehension of the return of my distemper terrified me very much, it occurred to
iny thought, that the Brazilians take their tobacco for almost all distempers:
and I had a piece of a roll of tobacco in one of the chests, which was quite
cured; and some also that was green, and not quite cured. I went, directed
by Heaven no doubt: for in this chest I found a cure both for soul and body. I
opened the chest, and found what I looked for, the tobacco; and as the few
books I had saved lay there too, I found a bible,* one of those which I men-
tioned before, and which at this time I had not found leisure, or so much as
inclination, to look into. I say, I took it out, and brought both that and the
tobacco with me to the table. What use to make of the tobacco I knew not,
as to my distemper; nor whether it was good for it or not; but I tried several
experiments with it, as if I was resolved it should hit one way or other. I
first took a piece of a leaf, and chewed it in my mouth; which, indeed, at
first, almost stupified my brain; the tobacco being green and strong, and such
as I had not been much used to. Then I took some and steeped it an hour
or two in some rum, and resolved to take a dose of it when I lay down:
and, lastly, I burnt some upon a pan of coals, and held my nose close over the
smoke of it as long as I could bear it; as well for the heat, as almost for suffo-
cation. In the interval of this operation, I took up the bible, and began to read;
but my head was too much disturbed with the tobacco to bear reading, at least
at that time; only, having opened the book casually, the first words that occurred
to me were these: "Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee,
❤
* BIBLE :—Those who are intelligent in biblical literature are of opinion, so great
a number of the sacred writings have been lost, that we are deprived of as much or
more than we possess: among the supposed losses have been enumerated, a book of
the Chronicles of the kings of Judah, the 3rd epistle of PAUL to the Corinthians, and
a 3rd epistle of PETER. We are told that SOLOMON spake 3000 proverbs, and 1005
songs, and compiled treatises on the nature of plants, "from the cedar to the hyssop;"
of beasts, fowl, creeping things and fishes; which are also lost-For the history of his
reign (I, Kings xi, 41,) concludes with these words :-"And the rest of the acts of
Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the
acts of Solomon?" It was ESDRAS who wrote or edited what are called the books of
Moses; whose death being therein mentioned (Deuteronomy, xxiv, 5,) shews the legis-
lator himself could not have been the author. Our first english translation was A.D. 1541.
1
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and thou shalt glorify me."* These words were very apt to my case; and made
some impression upon my thoughts at the time of reading them, though not so
much as they did afterwards; for, as to being delivered, the thing was so
remote, so impossible in my apprehension of things, that, as the children of
Israel said when they were promised flesh to eat,
"Can God furnish a table in
the wilderness ?"+ so I began to say, "Can even God himself deliver me from
this place?" And as it was not for many years that any hopes appeared, this
prevailed very often upon my thoughts: Eut, however, the words made a great
impression upon me, and I mused upon them very often. It now grew late; and
the tobacco had, as I said, dozed my head so much, that I inclined to sleep: so
I left my lamp burning in the cave, lest I should want any thing in the night,
and went to bed. Before I laid down, I did what I never had done in all my
life; I kneeled down, and prayed to God to fulfil the promise to me,
"That if
I called upon him in the day of trouble, he would deliver me." After my broken
and imperfect prayer was over, I drank the rum in which I had steeped the
tobacco; which was so strong and rank of the tobacco, that indeed I could scarce
get it down immediately upon this I went to bed. I found presently the rum
flew up into my head violently; but I fell into a sound sleep, and waked no more
till by the sun, it must necessarily be near three o'clock in the afternoon the next
day: nay, to this hour I am partly of opinion, that I slept all the next day and
night, and till almost three the day after; for otherwise, I know not how I
should lose a day out of my reckoning in the days of the week, as it appeared
some years after I had done; for if I had crost or re-crost the meridian-line, I
should have been aware of the difference of time; but certainly I lost a day in
my account, and never knew how. Be that, however, one way or the other,
when I awaked I found myself exceedingly refreshed, and my spirits lively and
cheerful: when I got up, I was stronger than I was the day before, and my
stomach better, for I was hungry; and in short I had no fit the next day, but
continued much altered for the better. This was the 29th,
The 30th was my well day, of course; and I went abroad with my gun, but
did not care to travel too far. I killed a sea fowl or two, something like a brand-
goose, and brought them home; but was not very forward to eat them; so I
+
+
* Psalm 1, 15.
+ Psalm lxxviii, 19.
‡ BRAND GOOSE:-(Anas vernicla, LINN. Le cravant, BUFF. brand gaus, Teu-
tonic.) This is nearly the same shape but somewhat larger than the Bernacle,
(clakis, or tree-goose; Anas erythropus, LINN. la bernache, BUFF.) from which it dif
fers in the colours of its plumage, being mostly of an uniform brown, the feathers
edged with ash: the upper parts, breast and neck, are darker than the belly, which is
more mixed and dappled with paler cinerous and grey; the head and upper half of
the neck are black, excepting a white patch on each side of the latter, near the throat:
the lower part of the back and rump are also black: the tail covers above and below,
and the vent, white; tail, quills, and legs, dusky; the hill is dark, rather of a narrow
shape, and only about an inch and a half long: the irides are light hazel. In the fe-
males and the younger birds, the plumage is not so distinctly marked, and the white
spots on the sides of the neck are often mixed with dusky; but such varyings are
discernible in many other birds; for it seldom happens that any two are found exactly
alike. The Brand, otherwise called Brent, geese, like other species of the same genus,
quit the rigours, of the north in winter, and spread themselves southward in greater or
less numbers, impelled forward according to the severity of the season, in search of
milder climates. They are then met with on the british shores, and spend the winter
months among the rivers, lakes, and marshes in the interior parts, feeding mostly on
the roots, and also on the blades, of the long coarse grasses and plants which grow in
the water: but indeed their varied modes of living as well as their other habits and
propensities, and their migrations, haltings, breeding places, &c. do not materially
differ from those of the other numerous families of the wild geese. The Brent and
the bernacle were formerly by some ornithologists looked upon as being of the same
species; later obscivers, however, have decided differently; and they are now classed
as distinct kinds.
1
1
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ate some more of the turtle's eggs, which were very good. This evening I re-
newed the medicine, which I had supposed did me good the day before, viz.
the tobacco steeped in rum; only I did not take so much as before, nor did I
chew any of the leaf, or hold my head over the smoke: however, I was not so
well the next day, which was the 1st of July, as I hoped I should have been for
I had a little of the cold fit, but it was not much.
July 2. I renewed the medicine all the three ways; and dozed myself with
it as at first, and doubled the quantity which I drank.
July 3. I missed the fit for good and all, though I did not recover my full
strength for some weeks after. While I was thus gathering strength, my thoughts
ran exceedingly upon the scripture, "I will deliver thee;" and the impossibility
of my deliverance lay upon my mind, in bar of my ever expecting it: but as I
was discouraging myself with such thoughts, it occurred to my mind that I pored
so much upon my deliverance from the main affliction, that I disregarded the
deliverance I had received; and I was, as it were, made to ask myself such ques-
tions as these ;-Have I not been delivered, and wonderfully too, from sickness;
from the most distressed condition that could be, and that was so frightful to me?·
and what notice have I taken of it? Have I done my part? God has delivered
me, but I have not glorified him; that is to say, I have not owned and been
thankful for that as a deliverance: and how can I expect a greater? This
touched my heart very much; so I knelt down immediately, and gave thanks
aloud for my recovery from my sickness.
July 4. In the morning I took the bible; and beginning seriously to read it,
I imposed upon myself to read a-while every morning and every night; not bind-
ing myself to the number of chapters, but as long as my thoughts should engage
me. It was not long after I set seriously to this work, that I found my heart
more deeply and sincerely affected with the wickedness of my past life. The im-
pression of my dreamn revived; and the words, "all these things have not
brought thee to repentance," ran seriously in my thoughts: when it happened,
the same day, that, reading the scripture, I came to these words, "He is exalted
a Prince and a Saviour; to give repentance and forgiveness."* I threw down
the book; and with my heart as well as my hands lifted up to heaven, in a kind
of extasy of joy, I cried out aloud, "Exalted Prince! give me repentance." This
was the first time in all my life I could say, in the true sense of the words, that
I prayed with a sense of my condition, and with a true hope God would hear
me. Now I began to construe the words mentioned above," Call on me, and
I will deliver thee," in a different sense from what I had ever done before; for
then I had no notion of any thing being called deliverance, but my being de-
livered from the captivity I was in: for although I was indeed at large in the place,
yet the island was certainly a prison to me, and that in the very worst sense
possible in the world. But now I learned to take it in another sense: now I
Ĵooked back upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so dread-
ful, that my soul sought nothing but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore
down all my comfort. As for my solitary life, it was nothing; it was all of
no consideration, in comparison with this. And I add this part here, to hint to
whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of things, they
I will find deliverance from sin a greater comfort than deliverance from mere
affliction.
1
、
My condition began now to be, though not less miserable as to my way of
living, yet easier to my mind: and my thoughts being directed, by reading the
scripture, to things of a higher nature, I had a great deal of composure within,
which, till now, I knew nothing of; also, as my health and strength returned, I
bestirred me to furnish myself with every thing that I wanted, and make my way
of living as regular as I could.
From the 4th of July to the 14th, I was chiefly employed in walking about
* Acts v, 31.
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:
with my gun in my hand, a little and a little at a time, as a man that was gather-
ing up his strength after a fit of sickness for it is hardly to be imagined how
low I was, and to what weakness I was reduced. The application which I made
use of was perfectly new, and, perhaps, what had never cured an ague before:
neither can I recommend it to any one to practise, by this experiment; and,
though it did carry off the fit, yet it rather contributed to weakening me; for I
had frequent convulsions in my nerves and limbs for some time. I learned from
it also this, in particular; that being abroad in the rainy season was the most
pernicious thing to my health that could be, especially in those rains which came
attended with squalls and storms of wind; for as the rain which came in the
dry season was almost always accompanied with such tempests, so I found this
rain was much more dangerous than that which fell seasonably in September and
October. I had a great desire to take a more particular survey of the island,
and to make a more perfect discovery of its productions; so having secured
my habitation, as I thought, fully to my mind, I now resolved to begin.
July 15. I went first up the creek, where, as I mentioned, I brought my
rafts on shore. I found, after I came about two miles up, that the tide did not
flow any higher, and that it was no more than a little brook of running water,
very fresh and good; but, this being the dry season, there was hardly any water in
some parts of it, at least not any stream. On the banks of this brook I found many
pleasant savannahs, as our people in the western colonies call meadows, plain,
smooth, and covered with grass; and on the rising parts of them, next to the higher
grounds (where the water, as it might be supposed, never overflowed), I found a
great deal of tobacco, green, and growing to a very great and strong stalk; and
there were divers other plants, which I had no knowledge of, or understanding
about, and that might, perhaps, have virtues of their own, which I could not
find out. I searched for the cassava root,* which the Indians, in all that climate,
make their bread of; but I could find none. I saw large plants of
*
CASSAVA :—or cassada, munioc or jatropha, in botany, a genus of the monoecia-mona-
delphia class; its characters are these-It hath male and female flowers on the same
plant; the male flowers are salver-shaped, of one petal, whose brim is cut into five
roundish segments, which spread open; they have ten awl-shaped stamina, five alter-
nately shorter than the other; the female flowers, which are situated in the same umbel,
have five petals spreading over like a rose; in the centre is a roundish germen with three
deep furrows, which afterwards becomes a roundish capsule with three cells, each con-
taining one seed. There are eight species. All these plants are natives of the warm
parts of America, so are too tender to thrive in the open air in England. The first
sort is cultivated in the West Indies for food; when it is propagated by cutting the
stalks into lengths of seven or eight inches, which take root when planted. They plant
this shrub in new grounds designed for cacao walks, not only because they are absolutely
necessary for a planter for food for his negros; but also to prevent the growing of
weeds, and to shade the young cacao plants as they come up, which would not other-
wise be able to bear the excessive heat of the sun; for which reason they delay planting
the cacao nuts, until the cassada shruh be grown high enough to shade them. They
generally take up the cassada roots within a year or thereabout after planting; at the
foot of every shrub are found several roots of a fleshy substance, without any sensible.
fibres. They wash these roots well in water, and having scraped them as we do carrots,
they rasp them with large copper rasps. The raspings arc afterwards put into a bag made
of coarse cloth or rushes, and placed under a press, to express all the moisture, which
is hurtful to animals, and even poisonous: they then dry the remaining matter over the
fire, and when it is sufficiently dressed, they make it into cakes, which, being dried
either in the sun, or by artificial heat, are the cassada bread, which is very nourishing,
and will keep without moulding, as well as biscuit. The use of it is apt to contract
the throat, if eaten dry, and, sometimes brings on a danger of choaking; the best
method is, to moisten it in broth, or otherwise, before it is eaten, or else to have a bottle
of water at hand to wash down every mouthful. The juice expressed in preparmg this
root for bread, will kill any animal that drinks it crude: but it may be boiled over the
fire till a great part is evaporated, and the remainder, if it be far evaporated, will be
96
aloes,*
* but did not understand them. I saw several sugar-canes, but wild; and, for
want of cultivation, imperfect. I contented myself with these discoveries for this
sweet, and serve in the place of honey; if less evaporated, and set by to ferment,
it will make a good and wholesome vinegar. The juice of the roucou or unnotto is said
to be a counter poison for it. The thicker cakes of cassava bread are eaten by the
poorer sort the thinner, called sciam, are eaten by the rich. There is a kind of it
which may be eaten raw, and which is now getting into use; instead of the other,
which is a speedy poison, if eaten with its juice. The cassava, correctly speaking, is
the farina of the root; whereas the proper name of the plant is manioc. An old book,
relating a series of adventures that have long been deemed interesting (indeed, few
works have enjoyed a greater share of popularity), JOSEPH EsQUEMELING's His-
tory of the Bucaniers of America, contains the following description of this production :—
"The third fruit the newly cultivated land [Hespaniola] afforded was mandioca, which
the Indians called cazavé. This root comes not to perfection until after eight or nine
months, or perhaps a year. Being thoroughly ripe, it may be left in the ground for
eleven or twelve months, without fear of corruption; but, this time past, they must be
used one way or other, otherwise they rot. Of these roots is made a sort of granulous
flour or meal, dry and white, which supplies the want of common bread of wheat,
whereof the fields are altogether barren. For this purpose, they have certain graters
made either of copper or tin, wherewith they grate these roots, just as they do mirio
in Holland. (By the bye, mirio is a root of a very biting taste like strong mustard,
wherewith they make sauces for some sorts of fish.) When they have grated as much
cazavé roots as will serve the turn, they put the gratings into bags of coarse linen,
and press out all the moisture; they then sieve the gratings, leaving them very like
saw-dust. The meal, thus prepared, they lay on planches [sic] of iron made very hot,
on which it is converted into very thin cakes: these are placed in the sun, on the tops
of houses to be thoroughly dried, and, lest they should lose any part of their meal,
what did not pass the sieve, is made up in rolls five or six inches thick; these are placed
one upon another, and left so till they begin to corrupt. Of this they make a liquor
called veycou, which they find very excellent, and which certainly is not inferior to our
english beer." A modern writer gives this additional information on the same subject:
« Manioc, or jucca, is particularly mentioned by P. MARTYR (decud. i. which bears
date November, 1493, seven months after the return of Columbus from his first voyage)
as furnishing great part of the food of the islanders; and he describes their manner of
making the cassavi bread from it, observing that the raw juice is as strong a poison as
aconite. Negros were not imported into the islands until many years after this account
was published." (BRYAN EDWARDS.)
* ALOE -aname applied to three different things: 1. To a precious and scarce tree.
2. To a plant, from the roots and leaves of which a drug useful in medicine is extracted.
3. To that drug itself. Most authors mistake the plant and tree for each other; be-
cause, no doubt, we have but little knowledge of the tree; and the drug which the
plant produces, is much better known, and of much greater use. The aloe-tree grows
in China, in Cochin-china, and in Siam. It is about the same height and form as the
olive-tree; its trunk is of three colours, and contains three sorts of wood; the heart is that
of agallochum tambac or calambac, which is as dear in the Indies as even gold itself; it
serves to perfume clothes and apartments, and is a sovereign cordial in fainting fits and
against the palsey. It destroys the tince and ascarides in children. It is used as incense
by the Chinese, the ottoman Turks, and the Moors. It is also used to set the most
precious jewels that are worked in the Indies. It is called in Turkish ood aghaz, is very
highly valued, and divers strange fables have been invented as to the origin of the
tree that yields it; some feign that it grew in Paradise, and was only conveyed to us
by means of the rivers overflowing their banks, and sweeping off the trees in their way.
Others suppose it to grow on inaccessible mountains, where it is guarded by certain
wild beasts, &c. The Siamese ambassadors to the court of France, in 1686, who
brought a present of this wood from their emperor, first gave the Europeans any con-
sistent account of it. The characters of the aloe plant are these: the flower is liliaceous
and consists of one petal, which is of a tubular form, and is divided into six segments
at the edge. In some specics of this genus, the cup, and, in others, the pistil, finally
becomes a fruit, or seed-vessel, of an oblong cylindric form, divided into three cells,
and containing flat and semi-circular seeds, TOURNEFORT ranges this plant in his
لد
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time; and came back musing with myself what course I might take to know the
virtue and goodness of any of the fruits or plants which I should discover; but could
bring it to no conclusion; for, in short, I had made so little observation while
I was in Brazil, that I knew little of the plants in the field; at least, very little
that might serve me to any purpose now in my distress.*
The next day, the 16th, I went up the same way again; and, after going
something farther than I had gone the day before, I found the brook and the
savannahs begin to cease, and the country become more woody than before. In
this part, I found different fruits; and particularly, I found melons upon the
ground, in great abundance, and grapes upon the trees; the vines, indeed, had
spread over the trees, and the clusters of grapes were now just in their prime,
very ripe and rich. This was a discovery; I was exceedingly glad; but I was
warned by my experience to cat sparingly of them: reinembering that, when I
was ashore in Barbary, the eating of grapes killed several of our Englishmen,
who were slaves there, by throwing them into fluxes and fevers. I found, how.
ever, an excellent use for these grapes; and that was, to cure or dry them in the
sun, and keep them as dried raisins; which I thought would be (as indeed they
were) as wholesome and as agreeable to eat, when no grapes were to be had.
I spent all that evening there, and went not back to my habitation; which,
by the way, was the first night, as I might say, I had lain from home. At night,
I took my first contrivance, and got up into a tree, where I slept well; and, the
next morning, proceeded on my discovery, travelling near four miles, as I might
judge by the length of the valley; keeping still due north, with a ridge of hills
on the south and north sides of me. At the end of this march I came to an
opening, where the country seemed to descend to the west; and a little spring of
fresh water, which issued out of the side of the hill by me, ran the other way that is
due east ; and the country appeared so fresh, so green, so flourishing, every thing
being in a constant verdure, or flourish of spring, that it looked like a planted gar-
den. I descended a little on the side of that delicious vale, surveying it with a secret
kind of pleasure (though mixed with other afflicting thoughts), to think that this
ninth class; and LINNAEUS in his sixth, called hexandria-monogynia; because the flowers
have six stamina and one style. MILLER enumerates twenty-five species of this plant,
which grows in divers parts of the East and West-indies; and are also found in some
countries of Europe, as Italy and Spain, particularly the mountains named Sierra Morena.
Its leaves are green, very thick, hard, and prickly, yielding a kind of strong threads,
whereof laces may be made. The soil in which these plants thrive best, is one half
fresh, light, earth, from a common; and, if the turf is taken with it, and rotted, it is
much better; the rest should be white sea-sand, and sifted line-rubbish, each of these
two a fourth part; mix these together six or eight months, at least, before it is used,
observing to turn it over often in this time. The middle of July is a very proper sea-
son to shift the plants; whose subsequent horticultural treatment is much the same as
that of the citron kind, or other tender greenhouse plants. With this management they
will thrive and increase; and such of them as usually blossom, may be expected to
produce their flowers in beauty at their seasons: but the american sort seldom flowers
in cold climates. Some alocs are arborescent, inclining to make large trees, breaking
forth into branches; others are so small, that a whole plant does not exceed the bigness
Some grow close to the ground, others are more aspiring, and have their
crown of leaves raised upon a stem, somewhat above the earth. The kinds most common
in our gardens, with some few other sorts, are brought from America; but the choicest
varieties, come from Afric, chiefly from the Cape of Good Hope. The two kinds of
most consideration, the one for curiosity, the other for use are, Aloe Americana,
or the flowering aloe, and Aloe Asiatica, or the drug aloc. The drug produced therefrom
is a resinous, gummy, bitter, juice, with strong cathartic properties, and of which there
are four sorts called respectively, socotrine, hepatic, horse or caballine, and cape, aloes.
*The editor refers to these reflections of R. C. himself for a justification of the
propriety and utility of certain of the notes in botany and other branches of natural
knowledge affixed to the present edition; which, but for such an explanation, might
be deemed by some readers either too numerous, minute, prolix, or superfluous.
of a saucer.
Robinson Crusoe.
(Naval Chronicle Edition.]
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1
was all my own; that I was king and lord of all this country indefeasibly,* that I
had a right of possession; and could convey a right of inheritance as completely
as any lord of a manor in England. I saw here abundance of cocoa-trees,† citron,
* INDEFEASIBLE:-or indefeasable; from the old french indéfaisable (of in and
défaire), that cannot be undone, made void, or defeated.
+ Cocos:-coccos or cocus, in botany; the name of a genus of plants of the palm
class, called teuga, in the Hortus Malabaricus. It produces male and female flowers
on the same plant: the male flowers have the whole ear for their cup, which is divided
into three segments; the corolla has three petals: the stamina are six single filaments,
of the length of the flower; the apices are oblong and incumbent; the germen of the
pistil is so small in these flowers, as to be scarce visible; the style is short and thick,
and is obscurely trifid, and the stigma is small; these flowers never produce any fruit,
yet they are not simply male flowers, but a sort of hermaphrodite ones, the female organs
of which are always abortive; the female flowers grow on the same spike with the
male; the calyx is divided into five parts, but the segments are very small; the corolla
has three petals; the germen of the pistil is of an oval figure, and terminates in a short
pointed style; the stigma is small, and is divided into three parts. The fruit is very
large and membranaceous, it is of a somewhat rounded figure, but with some obscure
traces of a trigonal form; the seed is a very large nut, of an oval form, pointed, trivalve,
and obtusely trigonal, as the fruit is; it has three holes in the base, and the kernel is
hollow. The teuga grows straight, without any branches, and ordinarily is thirty or
forty feet high; its wood is too spongious to be used in carpentry, At the top it bears
twelve leaves, ten feet long, and half a foot broad, used in the covering of houses, making
mats, &c. Above the leaves grows a large excrescence, in form of a cabbage, excellent
to eat; but the taking this off is mortal to the tree. Between the leaves and the top
arise several shoots of the thickness of the arm; which, when cut, distil a white, sweet,
agreeable liquor, serving as a wine, and intoxicating; it becomes acid, if kept a few
hours, and, at the end of twenty-four hours, is converted into a strong vinegar; but it
may be prepared into brandy. While this liquor distils, the tree yields no fruit; but,
when the suckers are let grow, it puts forth a large cluster or branch, wherein the coco-
nuts are fastened to the number of ten or twelve. While they are yet new, and the
bark tender, they yield each about half a pint of cooling water, like whey. It begins
bearing at seven or eight years old; and the tree yields fruit thrice a year, and those
sometimes as big as a man's head. Many travellers aver, from the size, and the many
useful products of it, that, from the coco-tree, and its fruit, a ship might be built,
equipped, laden, and victualled. The cocos of the Antilles are not so large as those of
Afric and Asia; the trees seldom exceed twenty-five feet in height, and the fruits are
in proportion; these are used among us. In some oriental countries, the coco-nut-shell
dried, and emptied of its pulp, sorves as a measure, both for things liquid and dry. As
these shells are not all of the same capacity, but are some larger, others less; their
content is first measured with cauris, those little Maldiva shells, which serve as small
money. Some cocos contain a thousand cauris, others five hundred, &c. The shell is
likewise used by carvers, &c. in divers works, receiving as fine a polish as cbony. Coir
of which cordage is manufacted in India, is procured from the fibrous part of the husks
of the cocoa-nut. The cables of this substance are preferred to european hemp from
the property of floating rather than sinking in the water.
CITRON -citrus, in botany, a genus of the polyadelphia-icosandria class; its
characters are these: the flower hath five oblong thick petals, and ten stamina, which
are not equal, joining in three bodies at their base; the oval germen in the centre after-
wards becomes an oblong fruit, with a thick fleshy skin, filled with a succulent pulp,
having many cells, each containing two oval seeds. There are several varieties of this
fruit, with which the english gardens have been supplied from Genoa, where is the
great nursery that supplies the several parts of Europe with this, as well as orange and
lemon trees. Their culture and management are the same with that of the orange; but
they are tenderer, and should have a warmer situation in winter; otherwise they are
subject to cast their fruit; they should also continue a little longer in the house in
spring, and be carried sooner into it in autumn. The citron is an agreeable fruit in
colour, taste, smell, &c. resembling a lemon, and serving, like that, to cool, and quench
thirst. The citron is distinguished from the lemon, in that it is bigger, and its pulp
firmer, its smell brisker, and colour higher. It is held excellent against certain poisons;
and ATHENEUS relates an extraordinary story of two persons said to be preserved
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lemon,* orange,+ and lime-trees; but all wild, and few bearing any fruit, at
least, not then. However, the green limes that I gathered were not only pleasant
thereby safe from the most dangerous aspics. Distillers, perfumers, confectioners, &c.
apply citrons to various purposes; and obtain from them essences, oils, confections,
odoriferous waters, &c.
* LEMON :-limon, in botany, derives its name from heay, a meadow; because the
leaves of this tree, and its fruit, before it comes to maturity, are of a green colour.
LINNEUS has joined this genus to the citrus, or citron tree. Indeed, the terms citron
and lemon have been often confounded together. What is commonly called citron by
the French and Germans being our lemon, and their lemon our citron. Its characters.
are these the flower is composed of five oblong thick petals, which are a little concave
and spread open; these sit in a small empalement of one leaf, indented in five parts
at the top it has about ten or twelve stamina, which are joined in three or four bodies,
terminated by oblong summits, and an oval germen, which becomes an oval fruit, with
a fleshy rind, inclosing a thin pulp with several cells, each having two hard seeds; there
are three species. There are great varieties of this fruit, which are preserved in some
of the Italian gardens: and in both the Indies there are several which have not yet been
introduced into the european gardens; but these, like apples and pears, may be mul-
tiplied without end from seeds. The common lemon and the sweet lemon, are brought
to England from Spain and Portugal in great plenty but the fruit of the latter is not
much esteemed. The lime is not often brought to England, nor is that fruit much cul-
tivated in Europe: but in the West Indies it is preferred to the lemon, the juice being
reckoned wholesomer, and the acid more agreeable to the palate. The lemon and
lime appear to be of different species. The culture of the lemon is much the same
with that of the orange; but, being somewhat hardier, they will bring their fruit better,
to maturity with us, and require a greater share of fresh air in winter.
+ ORANGE:-aurantium, in botany; this genus is joined by LINNEUS to the citron.
Its characters are these: the impalement of the flower is small, of one leaf, and indented
into five parts; the flower has five oblong spreading petals, and many stamina, which
are frequently joined in small separate bodies at the bottom; in the centre is situated
the germen, which becomes a globular, fleshy, fruit, compressed at both ends, having
a thick, fleshy, pulp, and divided into several cells, each containing two oval, callous
seeds. There are five species, including several varieties. Those in the english gar-
dens are the yellow and white-striped leaved orange; the curved-leaved orange; the
horned orange; the double flowering orange; and the hermaphrodite orange. The manner
of raising them from seeds is this; when you purpose to raise stocks for budding, they
should be raised from citron seeds taken out of the rotten fruit in spring; because the
stocks of this kind are preferable to any other, both for their quickness of growth, and
their readily taking buds either of oranges, lemons, or citrons. A hot-bed must be
prepared, either of horse-dung or tanner's bark. The last is preferable; the seeds
must be sown in pots of rich earth, and these, when the bed is of a due temper, inust be
put rather deeply into it. The pot must be watcred frequently, and the glasses of the hot-
bed shaded with mats in the heat of the day, and at times raised to give air. The
seeds will come up, in three weeks and a month after this, the plants will be fit to
transplant into single pots. The bed must be now renewed, and some pots of about
five inches over at the top, must be filled half full with fresh earth, mixed with very
rotten cow dung. Place one plant in the middle of each of these pots, and then fill
it up with the same earth; then place these pots in the new hot-bed, and water the
plants every day. By July, the plants will be two feet high, and must then be hardened
gradually, by raising more and more the glasses. In September, they must be taken
into the greenhouse; in the winter season, they must have frequent small waterings,
and in spring, their heads must be washed to cleanse them. In spring, they must have
again a gentle hot-bed, but, in June, they must be hardened again; and, in August,
they will be fit to bud. At this time, you are to make choice of cuttings from thriving
and fruitful trees, chusing such buds as are round. When the stocks are budded, they
must be removed into the greenhouse, to shelter them from wet, turning their buds from
the sun, but letting them enjoy as free air as possible, and refreshing them often with
water. They must remain in the greenhouse all winter, and, in the spring, must have
another bark hot-bed; then, cutting off the stocks about three inches above the huds,
observe to give them as much water as they require. The buds, with this management,
will be by July, two or three feet high; and they must then be hardened by degrees,
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1
to eat, but wholesome; and I mixed their juice afterwards with water, which
mnade it very cool and refreshing. I found now I had business enough, to gather
that they may bear the greenhouse in the winter; and, as this will be a sufficient height
for the stems, it is proper, at this time, to stop the leading branch, to force out lateral
shoots. This first winter, they will be tender, and must be taken great care of; and,
after this, they require no more care than full grown trees. This is a regular and cer-
tain way of supplying a green-house with orange-trees; but there is a much more expe-
ditious one, which is the purchasing such trees as are brought over every year from
Italy. These are as large when we receive them, as those of our own produce will be
in eighteen or twenty years growth; and though they have but small heads then, will
be brought to have very good ones in three years, and to procure very fine fruit. In
the choice of these trees, those which have two buds in stock, are preferable to those
which have only one: and the straightness of the stem, freshness of the branches, and
plumpness of the bark are greatly to be regarded. When you have purchased a proper
number of these trees, each of them is to be set in a tub of water, with its head and
half its trunk above the surface; they are to stand in this a day or two, when they are
to be taken out, their roots picked, and brushed clean, and the tops of the branches
cut off, and they are to be planted singly, in pots large enough to contain their roots
with ease, in a mixture of fresh earth and rotten cow-dung. These are to be set in a
moderate hot tanner's-bark bed, and some pot shreds must be always put at the bottom
of the pots to keep their holes from being stopped, and give a free passage to the water.
They are to be moderately watered at proper times, and by the month of June they will
shoot out pretty long shoots, which must be stopped, in order to produce the lateral
branches. They must now be farther hardened by degrees, and in the middle of July
must be brought into the open air, in some well-sheltered situation, not exposed to the
too great heat of the sun. In September, they must be removed into the greenhouse,
and watered gently during the winter. In the succeeding summer, the branches must be
stopped from growing to their lengths, to furnish a good head; and they must be fre-
quently watered, and, after this, they will require no farther management, but to be new
potted every year; which should be done in April, and the earth prepared for it a year
before hand, of cow-dung and fresh earth, the roots should be soaked a quarter of an hour
in water, and afterwards scrubbed very clean, before they are put into the new pot.-(Cy-
clopaedia.) Oranges were originally brought to Europe from China, by the Portuguese.
At Lisbon was to be seen,so lately as 1776, according to the Abbate SESTINI, the first tree
from which have been propagated all those that ornament our gardens, or furnish our
tables; it was in the garden of a Count de SAINT-LAURENT. The editor saw at Versailes
in 1802, an orange tree,which had been presented by the republic of Venice to King FRAN-
Is I. (who died 1547) and which, at the recent period alluded to, did not exhibit signs of
decrepitude. At that orangery, the trees stand in square boxes; the inner angles whereof
are cut off by slight partitions so as to render the internal figure that of an octagon; in order
to confine the roots from spreading towards the corpus which are fastened by the planks
locking into corresponding notches, much after the manner of the log or block-houses
in the Tyrol and adjoining alpine countries; thus requiring little or no carpentry to put
together or take to pieces. This mode seems preferable to the english pots, tubs, or
any circular receptacle, in as much as the square box can be shifted so as to afford room
for the growth of the plant, without disturbing its roots, simply by lifting the existing
box on to a new bottom of the requisite size, prepared with 8 iron cleats to hold it to
the sides; then unlocking and removing the lateral boards, and building up a fresh
box around the earth according to the increased dimensions wanted to accommodate the
plant; connecting the same to the new bottom by nailing up the cleats; the boxes'
thus economically serving a number of trees in succession as long as the boards last.
SESTINI says, in his Letters on Sicily, that the Genoese use similar cases for the shrubs
that decorate their gardens and terraces; but, instead of wood, employ a species of
slate or schist called lavagna, sawn into slabs of 8 or 10 feet long, by 4 or 5 in breadth,
and 1 or 2 inches thick. The corners like those of the wooden cases at Versailles
are mortised or dove-tailed: but, on account of the weight of the material, are farther
secured by a couple of iron bolts which traverse the case from side to side through
corresponding holes, having, at one end, a broad head; and, at the other, either a screw
to hold a nut, or an aperture to receive a key. In Somersetshire, there is a sort of
stone employed for stiles among the walled enclosures around Bath, that, perhaps, might
serve the same purpose as the lavagna.
101
and carry home; and I resolved to lay up a store, as well of grapes as limes
and lemons to furnish myself for the wet season, which I knew was approaching.
In order to this, I gathered a great heap of grapes in one place, a lesser heap in
another place, and a great parcel of limes and melons in another place; and,
taking a few of each with me, I travelled homeward, and resolved to come again,
and bring a bag or sack, or what I could make, to carry the rest home. Accord-
ingly, having spent three days in this journey, I came home (so I must now call
my tent and my cave): but, before I got thither, the grapes were spoiled; the
richness of the fruits, and the weight of the juice, having broken and bruised
them, they were good for little or nothing: as to the limes, they were good, but
I could bring only a few.
The next day, being the 19th, I went back, having made me two small bags
to bring home my harvest; but I was surprised, when, coming to my heap of
grapes, which were so rich and fine when I gathered them, I found them all
spread about, trod to pieces, and dragged about, some here, some there, and
abundance eaten and devoured. By this, I concluded, there were some wild
creatures thereabouts which had done this, but what they were I knew not.
However, as I found there was no laying them up in heaps, and no carrying
them away in a sack; but that one way they would be destroyed, and the other
way they would be crushed with their own weight; I took another course; I
then gathered a large quantity of the grapes, and hung them upon the out
branches of the trees, that they might cure and dry in the sun; and as for the
limes and lemons, I carried as many back as I could well stand under.
When I came home from this journey, I contemplated with great pleasure the
fruitfulness of that valley, and the pleasantness of the situation: the security
from storms on that side; the water and the wood; and concluded that I had
pitched upon a place to fix my abode in, which was by far the worst part of the
country. Upon the whole, I began to consider of reinoving my habitation, and
to look out for a place equally safe as where I was now situate; if possible, in
that pleasant fruitful part of the island. This thought ran long in my head; and
I was exceeding fond of it for some time, the pleasantness of the place tempting
me; but, when I came to a nearer view of it, I considered that I was now by
the sea-side, where it was at least possible that something might happen to my
advantage; and, by the same ill fate that brought me hither, might bring some
other unhappy wretches to the same place; and, though it was scarce probable
that any such thing should ever happen, yet, to enclose myself among the hills
and woods in the centre of the island, was to anticipate my bondage, and to
render such an affair not only improbable, but impossible; and that, therefore, I
ought not, by any means, to remove. However, I was so enamoured of this
place, that I spent much of my time there for the whole remaining part of the
month of July; and though, upon second thoughts, I resolved, as above-stated,
not to remove, yet I built me a little kind of a bower,* and surrounded it at a
distance with a strong fence, being a double hedge, as high as I could reach, well
staked, and filled between with brush-wood. Here I lay very secure, sometimes
two or three nights together; always going over it with a ladder, as before; so
that I fancied now I had my country and my sea coast house. This work took
me up till the beginning of August. I had but newly finished my fence, and
began to enjoy my labour, when the rains came on, and made me stick close to
my first habitation; for, though I had made a tent like the other, with a
piece of sail, and spread it very well, yet I had not the shelter of a hill to keep
me from storms, nor a cave behind me to retreat into when the rains were
extraordinary.
About the beginning of August, as I said, I had finished my bower, and began
* BOWER:-either from bur, or bure, saxon; an arbour made of trees: or else
bougher, from the saxon bog, of bogan, to bend; a shoot or branch of a tree. Our
ancestors used the word "bower" much in the sense we now do villa.
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102
to enjoy myself. The 3d of August, I found the grapes I had hung up were
perfectly dried, and, indeed, were excellent good raisins of the sun; so I began
to take them down from the trees; and it was very happy that I did so, as the
rains which followed would have spoiled them, and I should have lost the best
part of my winter food; for I had above two hundred large bunches of them.
No sooner had I taken them all down, and carried most of them home to my
cave, but it began to rain; and, from hence, which was the 14th of August, it
rained, more or less, every day, till the middle of October; and, sometimes, so
violently, that I could not stir out of my cave for several days. In this season,
I was much surprised with an increase of my family. I had been concerned for
the loss of one of my cats, who ran away from me, or, as I thought had been
dead; and I heard no more of her, till, to my astonishment, she came home
with three kittens. This was the more strange to me, because, about the end
of August, though I had killed a wild-cat as I called it, with my gun, yet I
thought it was quite a different kind from our european cats; nevertheless, the
young cats were the same kind of house breed as the old one; and, both of my
cats being females, I thought it very strange. But, from these three, I after-
wards came to be so pestered with cats, that I was forced to kill them like ver-
min, or wild beasts, and to drive them from my house as much as possible.
From the 14th of August to the 26th, incessant rain; so that I could not
stir, and was now very careful not to be much wet. In this confinement, I
began to be straightened for food; but venturing out twice, I one day killed a
goat, and the last day, which was the 26th, found a very large tortoise, which
was a treat to me. My food was now regulated thus: I ate a bunch of raising
for my breakfast; a piece of the goat's flesh, or of the turtle, broiled for my
dinner (for, to my great misfortune, I had no vessel to boil or stew any thing);
and two or three of the turtle's eggs for my supper. During this confinement in
my cover by the rain, I worked daily two or three hours at enlarging my cave;
and, by degrees, worked it on towards one side, till I came to the outside of the
bill; and made a door, or way out, which came beyond my fence or wall: and
so I came in and out this way. But I was not perfectly easy at lying so open :
for as I had managed myself before, I was in a perfect enclosure: whereas now,
I thought I lay exposed; and yet I could not perceive that there was any living
thing to fear, the biggest creature that I had yet seen upon the island being
a goat.
September 30. I was now come to the unhappy anniversary of my landing.
I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore three hundred
and sixty-five days. I kept this day as a solemn fast: setting it apart for religious
exercise, prostrating myself on the ground with the most serious humiliation,
confessing my sins to God, acknowledging his righteous judgments upon the,
and praying to him to have inercy on me; then, having not tasted the least
refreshment for twelve hours, even till the going down of the sun, I ate a biscuit
and a bunch of grapes, and went to bed, finishing the day as I began it. I had
all this time observed no sabbath-day;t because I had, after some time, omitted
to distinguish the weeks, by making a longer notch than ordinary for the sabbath-
day, and so did not really know what any of the days were; but now, having
cast up the days, as above, I found I had been there a year; so I divided it into
* See page 78, note.
+ SABBATH :-(Sabbatum.) Saturday, the seventh day of the week, held as a festival
among the Jews, in memory of the Creator's resting on the seventh day of the creation,
according to the Mosaic system. The word is pure Hebrew, na, and signifies ces-
sation, or rest. PHILO calls it, ru xooμe qeveria, the world's birth-day. The sabbath
was appointed, Genesis, ii. 2. 3. and it was set apart for the commemoration of the great
work of the creation: When it had fallen into neglect after the flood, it was re-estab-
lished by Moses, upon the settling of the Jewish polity, after the return out of Egypt.
Our observance of Sunday is of comparatively modern institution; dating only from
the third century of the christian æra.
!
*
103
weeks, and set apart every seventh day for a sabbath: though I found, at the
end of my account, I had lost a day or two in my reckoning. A little after
this, my ink* beginning to fail me, I contented myself to use it more sparingly;
and to write down only the most remarkable events of my life, without continuing
a daily memorandum of other things.
:
The rainy season and the dry season began now to appear regular to me, and
I learned to divide them so as to provide for them accordingly but I bought
all my experience before I had it; and what I am going to relate was one of
the most discouraging experiments that I had made at all. I have mentioned
that I had saved the few ears of barley and rice, which I had so surprisingly
found sprung up, as I thought, of themselves. I believe there were about thirty
stalks of rice, and about twenty of barley; and now I thought it a proper time to
sow it after the rains; the sun being in its southern position going from me. Aca
cordingly, I dug a piece of ground, as well as I could, with my wooden spade;
and, dividing it into two parts, I sowed my grain: but, as I was sowing, it casually
occurred to my thoughts, that I would not sow it all at first, because I did not
know when was the proper time for it; so I sowed about two thirds of the
seed, leaving about a handful of each and it was a great comfort to me after-
wards that I did so, for not one grain of what I sowed this time came to any
thing; for the dry month following, and the earth having thus had no rain after
the seed was sown, it had no moisture to assist its growth, and never came up
at all till the wet season had come again, and then it grew as if it had been but
newly sown. Finding my first seed did not grow, which I easily imagined was
from the drought, I sought for a moister piece of ground to make another trial
in; and I dug up a piece of ground near my new bower, and sowed the rest of
my seed in February, a little before the vernal equinox. This having the rainy
month of March and April to water it, sprung up very pleasantly, and yielded
a very good crop; but, having only part of the seed left, and not daring to sow
all that I had, I got but a small quantity at last, my whole crop not amounting
to above half a peck of each kind. But by this experiment, I was made master
of my business, and knew exactly when was the proper time to sow; and that
I might expect two seed times, and two harvests, every year. While this COTA
was growing, I made a little discovery, which was of use to me afterwards. As
soon as the rains were over, and the weather began to settle, which was about
the mouth of November, I made a visit up the country to my bower; where,
though I had not been some months, yet I found all things just as I left them.
The circular double hedge that I had made was not only firm and entire, but the
stakes which I had cut out of some trees that grew thereabouts, were all shot
out and grown with long branches, as much as a willow tree usually shoots the
first year after lopping its head; but I could not tell what tree to call it that
these stakes were cut from, I was surprised, and yet very well pleased, to see
the young trees grow: I pruned them, and led them them to grow as much
*INK-The recurrence of this word has suggested the following additions to the
inforination already given upon this subject at page 68 :-An indelible writing ink more
economically and easily composed than the one there recommended, may be made by
boiling 1 oz, of brazil wood with 12 oz. of water, and oz. alırım; continue boiling until
the fluid be reduced unto 8 oz, add 1 oz. black oxid of manganese reduced to extreme
fineness, The stains of ink on cloth, paper, or wood, may be removed by almost all
acids; but those acids are to be preferred which are least likely to injure the texture
of the stained substance. The most potent chemical re-agent is the muriatic acid,
diluted with five or six times its weight of water; which may be applied to the spot,
and, after a minute or two, may be washed off, repeating its application as often as
necessary. But the vegetable acids are attended with less risk, and are equally effec-
tual. A solution of the oxalic, citric, or tartaric, acids in water, may be applied to the
most delicate fabrics, without any danger of injury; and the same solutions discharge
from paper, written but not printed ink. Hence, they may be employed in cleaning
pooks which have been defaced by writing on the margin, without impairing the text.
1
104
1
alike as I could; and it is scarce credible how beautiful a figure they grew into
in three years: so that, though the hedge made a circle of about twenty-five yards
in diameter, yet the trees, for such I might now call them, soon covered it, and
it was a complete shade, sufficient to lodge under all the dry season. This made
me resolve to cut some more stakes, and make me a hedge like this, in a semi-
circle round my wall (I mean that of my first dwelling), which I did, and placing
the trees or stakes in a double row, at about eight yards distance from my first
fence, they grew presently; and were at first a fine cover to my habitation, and
afterwards served for a defense also, eventually.
I found now that the seasons of the year might generally be divided, not into
summer and winter, as in Europe, but into the rainy seasons and the dry sea-
sons, which were generally thus: From the middle of February to the middle
of April, rainy; the sun being then on, or near, the equinox. From the middle
of April till the middle of August, dry; the sun being then north of the line,
From the middle of August till the middle of October, rainy; the sun being then
come back to the line. From the middle of October till the middle of February,
dry; the sun being then to the south of the line. The rainy seasons held some-
times longer and sometimes shorter, as the winds happened to blow; but this
was the general observation I made.
made. After I had found, by experience, the ill
consequences of being abroad in the rain, I took care to furnish myself with
provisions beforehand, that I might not be obliged to go out: and I sat within
doors as much as possible during the wet months. This time I found much em-
ployment, and very suitable also to the time; for I found great occasion for
many things which I had no way to furnish myself with but by hard labour and
constant application: particularly, I tried many ways to make inyself a basket;+
but all the twigs I could get for the purpose proved so brittle, that they would
* This northing and southing of the sun is called declination; as has been explained
in a note affixed to page 14; and when that luminary appears at his greatest distance
from the equator, which is 23 degrees, that position is termed in astronomy the
Solstice, from solstitium, in latin, as much as to say solis statio; thus called, because he
then appears to stand still, and not to change his place in the degrees of the zodiac:
an appearance owing to the obliquity of our sphere; and that part of the ecliptic where
the sun so seems stationary is called the solstitial point. The solstices are two, in each year;
the æstival or summer solstice, and the hyemal or winter solstice. The summer solstice
is when the sun is in the northern tropic of Cancer; which is on the twenty-first of June,
when he makes the longest day. The winter solstice is when he enters the first degree
of Capricorn, which is on the twenty-second of December, when he begins to return
towards us, and makes the shortest day. This is to be understood, as in our northern
hemisphere; for in the southern, the sun's entrance into Capricorn makes the summer
season, and that into Cancer the winter season.
+ BASKET:-an utensil made of willows, rushes, or the like, of different figures and
sizes, according to the use it is intended for. Baskets have their uses, not only in œco-
nomical, but military affairs; as at sieges, &c. The willows of which baskets are made,
obtain according to the manner of their growth, the names of osiers or sallows they
thrive best in moist places, and consequently form a beneficial article in the produce
of marsh-lands: to particularize their culture, however, would be foreign to our pro-
vince. Suffice it to say, that the common osier is cut down at three years, but that
with yellow bark at a year older. Those that are intended for white-work, such as bas-
kets used in washing, are stripped of their rinds while green: this is done by a sharp
instrument fixed into a groove-like space upon a firm block: the osiers are conducted
over this, and their covering thereby scraped off with great velocity. They are then
dried and put in bundles for use: before they are worked up, they must be previously
soaked in water, to give them flexibility. Hampers, and other coarse wicker-work, are
made of osiers unstripped, and without any previous preparation except soaking. The
basket-maker usually sits on the ground to his work, unless the baskets are too large
for him to reach their upper parts in that position. The mode of operation cannot so
well be described within the compass of a note, as it can be conceived from an attentive
view of this well-known utensil itself, whose present name BAILEY's Dictionary gives as
derived from the Cambro-british bagawd.
105
do nothing. It proved of excellent advantage to me now, that when I was a boy,
I used to take great delight in standing at a basket-maker's in the town where my
father lived, to see thein make their wicker-ware; and being, as boys usually are,
very officious to help, and a great observer of the manner how they worked those
things, and sometimes lending a hand, I had by these means full knowledge of
the methods of it, so that I wanted nothing but the materials; when it came into
my mind, that the twigs of that tree from whence I cut my stakes that grew
might possibly be as tough as the sallows, willows, and osiers, in England; and
I resolved to try. Accordingly, the next day, I went to my country-house, as
I called it; and cutting some of the smaller twigs, I found them to my purpose
as much as I could desire: whereupon I came the next time prepared with a
hatchet to cut down a quantity, which I soon found, for there was great plenty of
them. These I set up to dry within my circle, or hedge; and when they were
fit for use, I carried them to my cave: and here, during the next season, I em-
ployed myself in making as well as I could, several baskets, both to carry earth,
or to carry or lay up any thing, as I had occasion for. Though I did not finish
them very handsomely, yet I made them sufficiently serviceable for my purpose:
and thus, afterwards, I took care never to be without them; and as my wicker-
ware decayed, I made more; especially strong deep baskets, to place my corn in,
instead of sacks, when I should come to have any quantity of it.
Having mastered this difficulty, and employed a world of time about it, I
bestirred myself to see, if possible, how to supply two other wants.
I had no
vessel to hold any thing that was liquid, except two rundlets, which were almost
full of rum; and some glass bottles, some of the common size, and others (which
were case-bottles) square, for the holding of water, spirits, &c. I had not so
much as a pot to boil any thing, except a great kettle, which I saved out of the
ship, and which was too big for such use as I desired it; to make broth, and
stew a bit of meat. The second thing I would fain have had, was a tobacco-
pipe; but it was impossible for me to make one; however, I found a contrivance
for that too at last. I employed myself in planting my second row of stakes or
piles, and also in this wicker-working, all the summer or dry season; when
another business took me up more time than it could be imagined I could spare.
I mentioned before, that I had a great mind to see the whole island; and
that I had travelled up the brook, and so on to where I had built my bower, and
where I had an opening quite to the sea, on the other side of the island. I now
resolved to travel quite across to the sea-shore, on that side: so, taking my gun,
a hatchet, and my dog, and a larger quantity of powder and shot than usual;
with two biscuit cakes, and a great bunch of raisins in my pouch, for my store,
I began my journey. When I had passed the vale where my bower stood, as
above, I came within view of the sea, to the west; and it being a very clear
day, I fairly descried land, whether an island or continent I could not tell; but
it lay very high, extending from W. to W. S. W. at a very great distance; by my
guess, it could not be less than ten or fifteen leagues off. I could not tell what
part of the world this might be; otherwise than that I knew it must be part of
America; and, as I concluded, by all my observations, must be near the spanish
dominions; and perhaps was all inhabited by savages, where, if I should have.
landed, I had been in a worse condition than I was now. I therefore acquiesced
in the dispositions of Providence, which I began now to own, and to believe
ordered every thing for the best; I say, I quieted my mind with this, and left
off afflicting myself with fruitless wishes of being there. Besides, after some
pause upon this affair, I considered that if this land was the spanish coast, I
should certainly, one time or other, see some vessel pass or repass one way or
other; but if not, then it was the savage coast between the spanish country and
Brazil, whose inhabitants are indeed the worst of savages; for they are canibals,*
* CANNIBAL; or CANIBAL, is `used by modern writers for ANTHROPOPHAGUS, OF
man-eater, more especially of the West Indies. But the more recent geographical
100
}
and fail not to murder and devour all human beings that fall into their hands.
With these considerations, walking very leisurely forward, I found this side of
the island, where I now was, much pleasanter than mine; the open savannah
fields, sweetly adorned with flowers, grass, and very fine woods. I saw abun-
dance of parrots;* and fain would have caught one, if possible, to have kept it
to be tame, and taught it to speak to me. I did, after taking some pains, catch
a young parrot; for I knocked it down with a stick, and, having recovered it, I
brought it home: but it was some years before I could make him speak; however,
at last I taught him to call me by my name very familiarly. But the accident
that followed, though it be a trifle, will be diverting in its place. I was exceed-
ingly amused with this journey. I found in the low grounds hares, as I thought
them to be, and foxes:t but they differed greatly from all the other kinds I had
discoveries in the Pacific Ocean, shew that this disgusting practice is not confined to
the regions before-mentioned.
* PARROT:-in ornithology, the english name expressing in general the whole
psittacus kind, but appropriated by use to that class only of them which is of a middle
size, between the macau and the parroket. The parrot, in the Linnæan system of or-
nithology, makes a particular and distinct genus of birds, of the order of the picæ; the
distinguishing characters of which are, that the beak is hooked; that the upper mandible
is furnished with a moveable cere; that the nostrils are in the base of the beak; that
the tongue is fleshy, obtuse, and entire; and that the feet are formed for climbing.
Linnæus enumerates forty-seven species. The parrot is a very well-known bird, of
which there are several species. Its head is large, and beak and skull extremely hard
and strong. It might seem a wonder why nature has destined to this, which is not na-
turally a bird of prey, but feeds on fruits and other vegetable substances, the crooked
beak, allotted to the hawk and other carnivorous birds; but the reason seems to be,
that the parrot, being a heavy bird and its legs not very fit for service, it climbs up
and down trees by the help of this sharp and hooked bill, with which it lays hold of any
thing, and secures itself before it stirs a foot; and besides this, it helps itself forward
very much, by pulling its body on with this hold. Of all animals, the parrot and
crocodile are the only ones which move the upper jaw: all creatures else moving the
lower only. As some particular animals besides are fond of particular foods, so that
the parrot loves nothing so much as the seeds of the carthamus, or bastard saffron; and
eats them without any hurt, though they are a purge when given to other creatures.
The parrots are common both in the East and West Indies: they are a very brisk and
lively bird in the warmer countries, but with us lose much of their vigour. They lay
two or three eggs in the hollow of a tree. In all the known parrots the nostrils are
round, and very near one another. Parrots are divided into three kinds. 1. The
larger, which are as big as a moderate fowl, called macaos and cocketoons; the former
have very long tails; the latter, a crest: 2. The middle-sized ones, commonly called par-
rots, which have short tails, and are little larger than a pigeon. And, 3. The small
ones, which are called parroquets, perroqueti, and have long tails, and are not larger
than a lark or blackbird.-RAY,
+ Fox :-(Vulpes, in zoology), an animal of the dog kind, much resembling the com-
mon dog in its internal conformation, but more like the wolf externally, only smaller,
being of the size of the spaniel. It is chiefly distinguished, however, from the dog by
the length, dense disposition, and softness of the hairs, especially those about its long
strait tail, which is bushy, much admired by the animal itself, and in cold weather
wrapped round its nose; as also by its smell, which is peculiarly rank and disagree-
able. The smell of its urine is remarkably fœtid, insomuch that the animal covers it
in the earth. It is said that the fox makes use of its urine as an expedient to force the
cleanly badger from its habitation; it certainly makes use of the badger's hole. Its
usual colour is a reddish tawny, though it is sometimes found white, and sometimes
black. Its manner of digging itself a hole in the earth, is also a custom different from
all the dog kind; and it is far from the tameness of that animal, being with difficulty
made to lose its fierceness. Of all animals, the fox has the most significant eye, by
which it expresses every passion of love, fear, hatred, &c. The fox is a crafty, lively,
libidinous, animal: it breeds only once a year, unless some accident befalls its first
litter, and brings four or five young, which, like puppies, are born blind. The fox is w
107
met with; nor could I satisfy myself to eat them, though I killed several. But I
had no need to be venturous; for I had no want of food, and of that which was
very good too; especially these three sorts, viz. goats, pigeons, and turtle. With
these, added to my grapes, Leadenhall market could not have furnished a table
better than I, in proportion to the company; and though my case was deplorable
enough, yet I had great cause for thankfulness; as I was not driven to any ex-
tremities for food, but had rather plenty, even to dainties. I never travelled on
this journey above two miles outright in a day, or thereabout; but I took so
many turns and returns, to see what discoveries I could make, that I came weary
enough to the place where I resolved to sit down for the night; and then I either
reposed myself in a tree, or surrounded myself with a row of stakes, set upright
in the ground, either from one tree to another, or so as no wild creature could
come at me without waking ine. As soon as I came to the sea-shore, I was
surprised to see that I had taken up my lot on the worst side of the island: for
here, indeed, the shore was covered with innumerable turtles: whereas, on the
other side, I had found but three in a year and a half. Here was also an infinite
number of fowls of many kinds some of which I had seen, and some of which I
had not seen before, and many of them very good meat; but such as I knew not
the names of, except those called Penguins.*

-
-
劇
​..、,·.
____
native of most northern countries, and there are three varieties of it, differing a little
in form, but not in colour. They are distinguished by different names.
The grey.
hound fox is the largest, tallest, and boldest, and will attack a grown sheep; the
mastiff fox is less, but more strongly built; the cur fox is the least, lurks about hedges,
out-houses, &c. and is the most pernicious to the feathered tribe. The first of these
has a white tip to the tail; the last a black. The skin of this animal is furnished with
a soft
* PENGUIN :-a name given by sailors to two different specics of water-fowl, both
web-footed, and both wapting the hinder toe. The penguin of the English is the bird
A
more
1
108
I could have shot as many as I pleased, but was very sparing of my powder
and shot; and therefore had more mind to kill a she-goat, if I could, which I
could better feed on. But though there were many goats here, more than on my
side the island, yet it was with much more difficulty that I could come near
them; the country being flat and even, and they saw me much sooner than when
I was upon a hill. I confess this side of the country was much pleasanter than
mine; yet I had not the least inclination to remove; for as I was fixed in my
habitation, it became natural to me, and I seemed all the while I was here to
be as it were upon a journey, and from home. However, I travelled along the
sea-shore towards the east, I suppose about twelve miles; and then setting up
a great pole upon the shore for a mark, I concluded I would go home again; and
that the next journey I took should be on the other side of the island, east from
my dwelling, and so round till I came to my post again: of which in its place.
I took another way to come back than that I went, thinking I could easily keep so
much of the island in my view, that I could not miss finding my first dwelling by
viewing the country: but I found myself mistaken; for being come about two or
three miles, I found myself descended into a very large valley, but so surrounded
with hills, and those hills covered with wood, that I could not see which was my
way by any direction but that of the sun, nor even then, unless I knew very well
the position of the sun at that time of the day. And it happened to
happened to my farther
misfortune, that the weather proved hazy for three or four days while I was in
this valley; and not being able to see the sun, I wandered about very uncom-
a soft and warm fur, which in many parts of Europe is used to make muffs and fine
cloths. A fox in the first year is called a cub; in the second, a fox; and afterwards
an old fox: it is a beast of chase, usually very prejudicial to the husbandman, by
taking away and destroying lambs, geese, and poultry. It will feed on flesh of any
kind; and when urged by hunger eat certain vegetables, fruits, and insects; and, near
the sea-coasts, for want of other food, eat shell-fish. In France and Italy it does incredible
damage in the vineyards, by eating the grapes, of which it is very fond. The fox is
a great destroyer of rats, and field animals. It secures its booty by digging holes in
several places; and if a whole stock of poultry should happen to be its prey, will bring
them one by one, thrust them in with its nose, and conceal them by ramming the loose
earth upon them, till the calls of hunger induce him to devour them. The common
way to catch him is by gins, which being baited, and a train made by drawing raw
flesh across his usual paths or haunts to the gin, it proves an inducement to lure him to
the place of destruction. They are also taken with hounds, terriers, and nets; it is
a commendable exercise to hunt this mischievous beast, the nature of which, in many
respects is like that of the wolf. He possesses all the senses as exquisitely as the latter;
but he has a far greater modulation of voice. That of the wolf is only one uniform
hideous howl; but the fox yelps, and utters a mournful cry something like a peacock;
which he can vary according to the different sensations of his mind. He possesses a
considerable degree of courage, and defends himself to the last extremity. His bite is
dangerous, and obstinately tenacious.
more commonly known among the northern nations of the continent by the name of
gar-fugel, or the alea impennis of ornithologists. It grows to the size of a common
goose; is black on its back, or upper part, and white on the belly; its wings are very
small, and by no means fit for flying; its beak is somewhat broad and long, compressed
on the sides and back, and has toward the extremity several furrows, seven or eight on
the upper side, and about ten on the under; and the lower chap swells into a protube
rance; its head has two white lines reaching from the beak to the eyes; its tail is very
short, and it has no hinder toe. This bird is observed by seamen never to wander
beyond soundings; and, according to its appearance, theiy direct their measures, being
then assured that land is not very remote. This bird breeds in the island of St. Kilda,
appearing there in the beginning of May, and retiring in the middle of June. It lays
one egg about six inches long, of a white colour. The penguin of the Dutch is the
anser magellanicus of CLUSIUS; and is the largest of the kind. They are all very
awkward inactive birds when on land, and are rendered by their conformation still
more unfit for flight: they, however, possess considerable advantage in the water;
which seems to be their proper element. Auk, is a name also given to this class of
aquatic birds, as well as Penguin; which latter is Welch, and means literally "whi
head."
109
1
fortable, and at last was obliged to find out the sea-side, look for my post, and
come back the same way I went; and then by easy journies, I turned homeward,
the weather being exceedingly hot, and my gun, ammunition, hatchet, and other
things very heavy.
In this journey my dog surprised a young kid, and seized upon it; and run-
ning to take hold of it, I caught it, and saved it alive from the dog. I had a
great mind to bring it home if I could; for I had often been musing whether it
might not be possible to get a kid or two, and so raise a breed of tame goats,
which might supply me when my powder and shot should be all spent. I inade
a collar for this little creature, and with a string which I had inade of some
rope-yarn, which I always carried about me, I led him along, though with some
difficulty, till I came to my hower, and there I enclosed him and left him;
I was very impatient to be at home, from whence I had been absent above a
month.
for
I cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me to come into my old hutch,
and lie down in my hammock-bed. This little wandering journey, without a
settled place of abode, had been so unpleasant to me, that my own house, as I
called it to myself, was a perfect settlement to me, compared to that; and it
rendered every thing about me so comfortable, that I resolved I would never go
a great way from it again, while it should be my lot to stay on the island. I
reposed myself here a week, to rest and regale myself after my long journey:
during which, most of the time was taken up in the weighty affair of making a
cage for my Poll, who began now to be more domestic, and to be mighty well
acquainted with me. Then I began to think of the poor kid which I had penned
within my little circle, and resolved to fetch it home, or give it some food: ac-
cordingly I went, and found it where I left (for indeed it could not get out),
but was almost starved for want of food. I went and cut boughs of trees, and
branches of such shrubs as I could find, and threw it over, and having fed it, I
tied it as I did before, to lead it away; but it was so tame, with being hungry,
that I had no need to have tied it, for it followed me like a dog: and as I con-
tinually fed it, the creature became so loving, so gentle and so fond, that it
was from that time one of my domestics also, and would never leave me
afterwards.
The rainy season of the autumnal equinox was now come, and I kept the 30th
of September in the same solemn manner as before, being the anniversary of
my landing on the island; having now been there two years, and no more pros-
pect of being delivered than the first day I came there. I spent the whole day
in thankful acknowledgments for the many wonderful mercies which my solitary
condition was attended with, and without which it might have been infinitely
more miserable. I gave humble and hearty thanks to God for having been
pleased to discover to me, that it was possible I might be more happy even in
this solitary condition, than I should have been in the enjoyment of all the plea-
sures of the world: that he could fully make up to me the deficiencies of iny
solitary state, and the want of human society, by supporting, comforting, and
encouraging me to depend upon his providence here, and to hope for his eternal
presence hereafter. It was now that I began sensibly to feel how much more
happy the life I now led was, with all its miserable circumstances, than the
wicked life I led during the past part of my days: and now I changed both my
sorrows and my joys; my very desires altered, my affections changed their objects,
and my delights were perfectly new from what they were at my first coming, or
indeed for the two years past.
Before, as I walked about, either on my hunting, or for viewing the country,
the anguish of my soul at my condition would break out upon me on a sudden,
and my very heart would die within me, to think of the woods, the mountains,
the desarts I was in; and how I was a prisoner, locked up with the eternal
bars and bolts of the ocean, in an uninhabited wilderness, without redemption.
In the midst of the greatest composures of my mind, this would break out upon
me like a storm, and make me `wring my hands, and weep like a child: suïne-
110
times it would take me in the middle of my work, and I would immediately sit
down and sigh, and look upon the ground for an hour or two together: this was
still worse to me; but if I could burst into tears, or give vent to my feelings by
words, it would go off; and my grief being exhausted, would abate. But now
I began to exercise myself with new thoughts; I daily read the word of God,
and applied all the comforts of it to my present state. One morning, being
very sad, I opened the bible upon these words, "I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee"* immediately it occurred that these words were to me; why
else should they be directed in such a manner, just at the moment when I was
mourning over my condition, as oue forsaken of God and man? Well then, said
I, if God does not forsake me, of what ill consequence can it be, or what mat-
ters it, though the world should forsake me; seeing, on the other hand, if I had
all the world, and should lose the blessing of God, there would be no com-
parison in the loss? From this moment, I never opened the bible, or shut it,
but my soul within me blessed God for directing my friend in England, without
any order of mine, to pack it up among my goods; and for assisting me after-
wards to save it out of the wreck of the ship.
Thus, and in this disposition of mind, I began my third year; and though I
have not given the reader the trouble of so particular an account of my works
this year as the first, yet in general it may be observed, that I was very seldom
idle; but having regularly divided my time, according to the several daily em-
ployments that were before me; such as, first, the reading the scriptures, which
I constantly set apart some time for, thrice every day: secondly, going abroad
with my gun for food, which generally took me up three hours every morning,
when it did not rain: thirdly, ordering, curing, preserving, and cooking what I
had killed or catched for my supply: these took up great part of the day; also,
it is to be considered, that in the middle of the day, when the sun was in the
zenith, the violence of the heat was too great to stir out; so that about four
hours in the evening was all the time I could be supposed to work in; with this
exception, that sometimes I changed my hours of hunting and working, and
went to work in the morning, and abroad with my gun in the afternoon. To
this short time allowed for labour, I desire may be added the laboriousness of
my work; the many hours which, for want of tools, for want of help, and want
of skill, every thing I did took up out of my time: for example, I was full two
and forty days making me a board for a long shelf, which I wanted in my cave;
whereas, two sawyers, with their tools and a saw-pit, would have cut six of
them out of the same tree in half a day.
My case was this; it was a large tree which was to be cut down, because my
board was to be a broad one. This tree I was three days cutting down, and
two more in cutting off the boughs, and reducing it to a log, or piece of timber.
With inexpressible hacking and hewing, I reduced both the sides of it into chips,
till it was light enough to move; then I turned it, and made one side of it
smooth and flat as a board from end to end; then turning that side downward,
cut the other side, till I brought the plank to be about three inches thick, and
sinooth on both sides. Any one may judge the labour of my hands in such a
* Hebrews, xii. 5.
↑ ZENITH :—in astronomy, the vertical point; or a point in the visible heavens
directly over our head; or, is a point on the surface of the sphere; through which a
right line, drawn through from the centre of the earth is prolonged. Hence, there are
as many zeniths as there are different places on earth, where the heavens may be seen?
and, upon the changing of our place, we also necessarily change our zenith. The ze-
nith is also called the pole of the horizon, because it is ninety degrees from cach point
thereof. It is also the pole of all the parallels of the horizon, whereby the altitude of
the stars is estimated. Through the zenith pass the vertical circles of azimuths. The
point diametrically opposite to the zenith is called the nadir; which is the point directly
under our fect. The nadir is the zenith to our antipodes; as our zenith is the nadir to
them.
1
111
piece of work; but patience carried me through that, and many other things: I
only observe this in particular, to shew the reason why so much of my time
went away with so little work; that what might be a little to be done with help
and tools, was a vast labour, and required a prodigious time to do alone, and
by hand. Notwithstanding this, with patience and labour I went through many
things; and, indeed, every thing that my circumstances made necessary for me to
do, as will appear by what follows.
I was now in the months of November and December, expecting my crop of
barley and rice. The ground I had manured or dug up for them was not great;
for, as I observed, my seed of each was was not above the quantity of half a peck,
having lost one whole crop by sowing in the dry season: but now my crop
promised very well; when, on a sudden, I found I was in danger of losing it
all again by enemies of several sorts, which it was scarce possible to keep from
it; as, first, the goats, and wild creatures which I called hares, who, tasting the
sweetness of the blade, lay in it night and day, as soon as it came up, and ate
it so close, that it could get no time to shoot up into stalk. I saw no remedy
for this, but by making an enclosure about it with a hedge, which I did with a
great deal of toil; and the more, because it required speed. Ilowever, as my
arable land was but small, suited to my crop, I got it tolerably well fenced
in about three weeks time; and, shooting some of the creatures in the day-time,
I set my dog to guard it in the night, tying him up to a stake at the gate, where
he would stand and bark all night long; so, in a little time, the enemies forsook
the place, and the corn grew very strong and well, and began to ripen apace.
But as the beasts ruined me before, while my corn was in the blade, so the
birds were as likely to ruin me now, when it was in the ear; for, going along
by the place to see how it throve, I saw my little crop surrounded with fowls,
I know not of how many sorts, who stood, as it were, watching till I should he
gone. I immediately let fly among them (for I always had my gun with me);
I had no sooner shot, but there rose up a little cloud of fowls, which I had not
seen at all from anong the corn itself. This touched me sensibly, for I foresaw
that, in a few days, they would devour all my hopes; that I should be starved,
and never be able to raise a crop at all; and what to do I could not tell; how-
ever, I resolved not to lose my corn, if possible, though I should watch it night
and day. In the first place, I went among it, to see what damage was already
done, and found they had spoiled a good deal of it; but that, as it was yet too
green for them, the loss was not so great, but that the remainder was likely to be a
good crop, if it could be saved. I stayed by it to load my gun, and then, coming
away, I could easily see the thieves sitting upon all the trees about me, as if
they only waited till I was gone away; and the event proved it to be so; for,
as I walked off, as if gone, I was no sooner out of their sight, than they dropt
down, one by one, into the corn again. I was so provoked, that I could not have
patience to stay till more came on, knowing that every grain they eat now, was,
as it might be said, a peck-loaf to me in the consequence; so, coming up to the
hedge, I fired again, and killed three of them. This was what I wished for;
so I took them up, and served them as we serve notorious thieves in England,
viz. hanged them in chains, for a terror to others. It was impossible to imagine
that this should have such an effect as it had; for the fowls not only never came
to the corn; but, in short, they forsook all that part of the island, and I could
never see a bird near the place as long as my scare-crows hung there. This
I was very glad of; and, about the latter end of December, which was our
second harvest of the year, I reaped my corn.
I was sadly put to it for a scythe or sickle to cut it down; and all I could do
was, to make one, as well as I could, out of one of the broad-swords, or cutlasses,
which I saved among the arms out of the ship. However, as my first crop was
but small, I had no great difficulty to cut it down: in short, I reaped it my way,
for I cut nothing off but the ears, and carried it away in a great basket which
I had made, and so rubbed it put with my hands; and at the end of all my
112
harvesting. I found that, out of my half peck of seed I had near two bushels of
rice, and above two bushels and a half of barley; that is to say, by my guess,
for I had no measure.*
However, this was great encouragement to me; and I foresaw that, in time,
it would supply me with bread: yet here I was perplexed again; for I neither
knew how to grind or make meal of my corn, or indeed how to clean it and part
it; nor, if made into meal, how to make bread of it; and, if how to make it,
yet I knew not how to bake it: these things being added to my desire of having
a good quantity for store, and to secure a constant supply, I resolved not to
taste any of this crop, but to preserve it all for seed against the next season ;
and, in the mean time, to employ all my study and hours of working to accom-
plish this great work of providing myself with corn and bread. It might be
literally said, that now I worked for my bread. It is wonderful, and what, I
believe, few people have thought much upon, the strange multitude of little
things necessary in the providing, producing, dressing, making, and finishing, this
one article of bread.†
• BUSHEL :—a measure of capacity for things dry; as grans, pulse, salt, fruits, &c.
containing four pecks or eight gallons, or one eighth of a quarter. Du CANGE derives
the french word boisseau from bussellus, bustelius, or bissellus, a diminutive of buz, or
buza, used, in the corrupt latin, for the same thing: others derive it from bussulus,
an urn, wherein lots were cast; which seems to be a corruption from buxulus. Bussellus
appears to have been first used for a liquid measure of wine, equal to eight gallons.
Ocio libræ faciunt galonem vini, &c. octo galones vini faciunt bussellum London.; quæ est
octavo pars quarterii. The word was soon after transferred to the dry measure of corn
of the same quantity. Pondus octo librarum. frumenti facit bussellum; de quibus octo
consistit quarterium. By 12 HEN. VII. a bushel is to contain 8 gallons of wheat;
the gallon 8 pounds of wheat, troy weight; the pound 12 ounces troy weight; the
ounce 20 sterlings; and the sterling 32 grains, or corns of wheat growing in the midst
of the ear. This standard bushel is kept in the exchequer; when being filled with
common spring water, and the water measured before the House of Commous in 1696, in
a regular parallelopiped, it was found to contain 2145.6 solid inches; and the said water
being weighed, amounted to 1131 ounces and 14 penny weights troy. (GREAVES, Origin
of Weights.) Besides the standard or legal bushel, we have the inconsistency of
several local bushels, of different dimensions at different places in England; varying
no less than from 8 to 40 gallons, according to the nature of the commodity; the
smallest being that of Kingston-upon-Thames, and the largest that of Chester, for oats.
(Houghton collect. 1,) A true Winchester bushel is a truncated cylinder of 18-
inches diameter in the clear, and 8 deep it ought to contain 77lb. 12 oz. 7 dr. (avoir-
du-pois) weight of common water.
:
BREAD-the flour or meal of some farinaceous vegetable, ground, and kneaded
with water. Bread is usually made of the seeds, sometimes also of the roots, and even
of the piths of plants. The Greeks attribute the invention of bread to Ceres, the Egyp-
tians to Isis, others to Menes, The first bread is supposed to have been made of the
plant lotus. The poor Tartars, near Sherazoul, still live upon acorn bread. (Phil. Trans.)
In the islands of Banda and Amboyna, they make a kind of bread called saegem or sago,
of the pith of a farinaceous tree, whose trunk is the thickness of a man's thigh, ten foot
high, and having a round-headed top like a cabbage; in the middle whereof is a white
mealy substance, which, being kneaded with water, fermented and baked on the coals
serves the poorer sort for bread. (Phil. Trans. No. 26.) In the Caribbee islands they
make bread of the root of a poisonous plant called maninc ; the same with the cassada
bread which is made of the root of the yucca mexicana. (Phil. Trans. No. 33. and No.
311.) In BENZONI's time, all the ships bound from Spain to Mexico, when they
returned, were victualled with cassada bread, instead of biscuit. To the class of breads
made of roots may also be added potatoe bread, used in Ireland, and turnip-bread in
some parts of England. It is made by boiling the roots, and expressing the juice, till
they become dry, then beating them in a mortar, and adding wheat, flour, aniseeds,
and yeast, moulding up the dough in the usual form, and baking it. It looks and tastes
like other bread, and is even considered by some as good against consumptions. (Phil
Trans. No. 205.) Among us, bread is chiefly divided into white or wheaten, and
household, differing only in degrees of purity. In the first, all the bran is separated
t
113
•
I, who was reduced to a mere state of nature, found this to my daily discou
ragement, and was made more sensible of it every hour, even after I had got the
first handful of seed-corn, which, as I have said, came up unexpectedly, and,
indeed, to a surprise. First, I had no plough to turn up the earth; no spade
nor shovel to dig it: well, this I conquered, by making a wooden spade, as I
observed before: though this did my work in but a wooden manner; and, although
it cost me a great many days to make it, yet, for want of iron, it not only wore
out the sooner, but made my work the harder, and performed it much worse.
However, this I bore with, and was content to work it out with patience, and
bear with the badness of the performance. When the corn was sown, I had
no harrow, but was forced to go over it myself, and drag a great heavy bough
of a tree over it, to scratch it, as it may be called, rather than rake or harrow
it. When it was growing and grown, I have observed already how many things
I wanted to fence it, secure it, now, or reap it, cure and carry it home, thresh,
in the second, only the coarser, and to these may be added a third for military
use, from which none is separated; so that the finest wheaten bread is made only of
flour; household bread of flour, with a mixture of the finer bran; and ammunition
bread of the whole substance of the grain, (Stat. 8 ANN.) We also meet with symuel
bread, manchet or roll bread, and french bread; which are only so many denominations
of the finest or whitest bread, made of the purest flour; except that in roll bread there
is the addition of milk, or sometimes of eggs and butter also. To which may be added,
ginger-bread, made of white flour, with almonds, liquorice, aniseed, ginger, and sugar;
and mastisi bread, panis mixtus, made of wheat and rye, or sometimes of wheat and
barley. The process of making household bread among us is thus: to a peck of meal
they add a handful of salt, a pint of yest, and three quarts of water, cold in summer,
hot in winter, and temperate between the two; the whole being kneaded in a bowl
or trough by the fire in winter, away from it in summer, will rise in about an hour;
they then mould it into loaves, and put it into an oven to bake. For leavened bread,
part of the flour intended for it being made into dough with warm water and a little
`salt, is laid in the rest of the flour an hour or more, in which time it rises to three times
the bulk; then they mix and knead the whole with more water, till it be brought into
a stiff dough, which, being formed into loaves is baked in the oven; though the more
usual way is to take a piece of dough kneaded, and leave it in the tub till next time,
when they break it small, and mix it with the meal, adding some yest. (Hought. collect.
i. No. 90.) For french rolls they take a bushel of fine flour, ten eggs, and a pound and
a half of fresh butter into which they put as much yest, with a manchet; and tempering
the whole mass with new milk, pretty hot, let it lie half an hour to rise; which done,
they make it into loaves or rolls, and wash it over with an egg beaten with milk: care
is taken the oven be not too hot. In Lancashire, and several other northern counties
of England, the people have several sorts of Gaten bread; as, 1. The bannock, which is
an oat-cake, kneaded only with water, and baked in the embers. 2. Clup-bread, which
is made into thin hard cakes. 3. Bitchiness-bread, which is made of thin batter, and
formed into thin soft oat-cakes. 4. Riddle cakes, which are thick and sour, and very
little different from the hand-hover bread, which has but little leaven, and kneaded stiff.
5. Jannock, which is oaten bread made up into loaves. In the statute of assize of bread
and ale, 51 HEN. III. mention is made of wastel-bread, cocket-bread, and bread
of treet; which answers to the three sorts of bread now in use, called wheaten, household,
and ammunition bread. In religious bouses, they heretofore distinguished bread
by the names, esquire's-bread, monk's-bread, boy's bread, and servant's-bread. A like
distribution obtained in the households of nobles and princes; where, however, we
find some other denominations, as messenger's-bread, that given to messengers, as a
reward of their labour; court-bread, that allowed by the lord for the maintenance of
´his household; eleemosynary-bread, that distributed to the poor in the way of alıns.
(DU-CANGE, Gloss. Lat. tom. iv.) This distribution of loaves by the nobility is the
origin of our english title, "Lord;" which comes from the saxon hlafond, or lovend,
tantamount to loaf-afford." The english word, "bread," comes from the saxon
breod, of bredan, to nourish. The oven takes rather more than an hour to heat properly;
loaf bread about three hours, and roll-bread about twenty minutes to bake properly.
The common baker, from a sack of 280lb. of wheaten flour, with yest or barm, salt
and water, produces 80 quarteru loaves of assize, weighing 347lb. It is probable, that,
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
I
114
part it from the chaff, and save it: then I wanted a mill to grind it, sieves to
dress it, yest* and salt to make it into bread, and an oven to bake it; and yet
all these things I did without, as shall be observed; and the corn was an inesti-
with good dry flour, and skilful management, he can produce from two to six loaves
more than 80. Thus the flour increases in substance nearly 108lbs. by the addition of
yest and water only, with a little salt. An addition of rice, or of rye flour, is both an
improvement and an economy at most times. With a small addition of rice, a sack of
wheaten flour will produce 140 quartern loaves, of equal appearance, substance, and
sufficiency of nutriment, as of wheaten flour only. When the quartern loaf was at 17d.
this loaf could have been sold at 12d. A great deal of laborious science has been
applied to butterflies and to fireworks; but, for the last 500 years how little to the art
of bread-making! which, in the metropolis at least, has probably improved backwards.
The manufacture and the trade both alike misunderstood and mismanaged, and both
made worse by impotent regulation.
* YEST the head, foam, or froth of beer, or other liquid in fermentation. It is
used for a ferment orleaven in the making of bread, as serving to swell or puff it up consider
ably, in a little time; and to make it lighter, softer, and more delicate; but, when
there is too much of it, it renders the bread bitter. The use of yest in bread is but
of late standing among us; it is not much above a century since the bakers first intro-
duced it, and then it was only done by stealth; althougli PLINY witnesses it to have
been used by the ancient Gauls. The faculty of medicine at Paris, by a decree of
the year 1688, solemnly condemned it as noxious to the health of the people; yet even
that censure could not prevent its progress. This produce from the working of fresh
made malt-liquor is also called " barm;" which BAILEY deduces from the saxon heoɲm.
It is also not uncommonly written yeast; but, if BAILEY be right in its derivation from
the saxon gert, then the more correct spelling is as herein used yest. Such is the
established importance of this article, that its preservation, perpetuation, and substitu-
tion, have been the objects of much speculation and experiment 'among philanthro-
pists and chemists. In the midst of much variety, the reader's attention may be
usefully directed to the following examples. For a premium offered to encourage the
discovery of a substitute; see Maval Chronicle, vol. ii, p. 140; two recipes for that
purpose, ibid. 220; german and swedish method of making an artificial kind, x, 193 ;
STORCK'S Substitute, ib. 293. To perpetuate yest :-Mix 2 quarts of soft water with
wheat flour to the consistence of paste; let it boil slowly for half an hour; when cold,
stir into it ½ lb. of sugar, and 4 spoons-full of new yest; put it into a large jug, or other
vessel with a small mouth; place it before the fire that it may ferment; this will raise
up a thin liquor, which must be thrown away; the remainder to be kept in a bottled
jar for use, in a cool place, observing to secure the mouth of the vessel by tying leather
over it the same quantity of this yest will answer the purpose as of the common sort.
However, bread made with this, ought to be prepared over night, or some hours sooner
than with the other. Four spoons-full of this yest will serve as the ground-work of a
fresh supply, and so on whenever wanted. Another substitute To a pint of beer put
a table spoon-full of brown sugar, and as much flour as will convert it into the con-
sistence of batter; put the mixture into a small jar or bottle, corking it close as it is
apt to fly; shake it well twice a day for six days it will then be fit for use. The above
will work 14lb. of flour. Leave about a tea-cup-full in the bottle, and add similar
quantities of the several ingredients; it will then become fit for use in 3 days. When
employed, beat the yest up with a little warm water, and leave it to spunge with the
flour sometime in the day for 6 hours, before the dough be kneaded; make the bread
at night, and bake it early next morning. Common ale-jest may be kept fresh and
fit for use several months, by the following method: put a quantity of it into a close
canvas bag, and gently squeeze out the moisture in a screw-press, until the remaining
matter be as firm and stiff as clay. In this state it may be close packed up in a tight
cask for securing it from the air; and will keep fresh, sound, and fit for use for a long
time. This is a process that might be of great use to the brewers and distillers here,
who, though they employ very large quantities of yest, seem to know no method of
preserving it, or raising nurseries of it ; for want of which they sustain a loss; whereas the
brewers in Flanders make a very great advantage of supplying the malt distillers of
Holland with yest, which is rendered lasting and fit for carriage, by this easy expedient.
(SHAW's Lectures.) An artificial yest has been prepared by impregnating flour and
water with fixed air, with which has been made very good bread, without the assistance
115
mable comfort and advantage to me; all this, as I said, made every thing labori
ous and tedious to me, but that there was no help for; neither was my time so
much loss to me, because, as I had divided it, a certain part of it was every day ap-
pointed to these works; and, as I resolved to usc none of the corn for bread until I
had a greater quantity by me, I had the next six months to apply myself wholly, by
invention and labour, to furnish myself with utensils proper for the performing
all the operations necessary for making corn fit for my use.
But now I was to prepare more land: for I had seed enough to sow above an acre
of ground. Before I did this, I had a week's work, at least, to make me a spade;
which, when it was done, was but a sorry one indeed, and very heavy, and
required double labour to work with it; however, I went through that, and
sowed my seed in two large flat pieces of ground, as near my house as I could
find them to my mind, and fenced them in with a good hedge; the stakes of
which were all cut off that wood which I had set before, and knew it would
grow; so that, in one year's time, I knew I should have a quick or living
hedge, that would want but little repair. This work took me up full three months:
because a great part of the time was in the wet season, when I could not
go abroad. Within doors, that is, when it rained, and I could not go out, I found
employment on the following occasions: always observing, that, while I was
at work, I diverted myself with talking to my parrot, and teaching him to speak;
and I quickly learned him to know his own name, and, at last, to speak it out
pretty loud," Poll," (which was the first word I ever heard spoken in the island
by any mouth but my own). This, therefore, was not my work, but an assistance
to my work; for now, as I said, I had a great employment upon my hands, as
follows: I had long studied, by some means or other, to make myself some
earthen vessels, which, indeed, I wanted much, but knew not where to come at
them: however, considering the heat of the climate, I did not doubt, but, if
I could find out any clay, I might botch up some such pot as might, being dried
in the sun, be hard and strong enough to bear handling, and to hold any thing
that was dry, and required to be kept so; and as this was necessary in the pre-
paring corn, meal, &c. which was the thing I was upon, I resolved to make some
as large as I could, and fit only to stand and serve like jars. It would make the
of any other ferment; and this method has been proposed for procuring fresh fer-
mented bread at sea. The process is as follows: boil flour and water together unto the
consistence of treacle; when the mixture has become cold, fill a small cask with it.
This cask is to be filled up in the manner, as described in the Cyclopaedia, for the im-
pregnation of water with fixed air; and the process is to be conducted in a similar way,
except that the cask is to be agitated, as often as the mixture rises to about two-thirds
of the capacity of the funnel; and after each agitation, which should continue during
several minutes, the unabsorbed air is to be let out, by withdrawing the plug from
the orifice till that part of the mixture which remained in the funnel has returned into
the cask. The orifice should also be larger than is necessary in the other operation, on
account of the superior viscidity of the mixture. When, after repeated agitation, the
mixture which has ascended into the funnel, does not subside into the cask, it may be
supposed incapable of absorbing more air. Pour the mixture, thus saturated, into one
or more large bottles, or narrow-mouthed jars; cover it over loosely with paper, and
upon that lay a slate or board, with a weight to keep it steady. Place the vessel in a
situation where the thermometer will stand from 70° to 80°, and stir up the mixture two
or three times in twenty-four hours. In about two days, such a degree of fermentation
will have taken place, as to give the mixture the appearance of yest. When the yest
is in this state and before it has acquired a thoroughly vinous smell, mix the quantity of
flour intended for bread in the proportion of six pounds of flour to a quart of the yest,
and a sufficient portion of water. Knead them well together in a proper vessel, and
covering it with a cloth, let the dough stand for twelve hours, or until it appears to be
sufficiently fermented in the forementioned degree of warmth. It is then to be formed
into loaves and baked. Perhaps the yest would be more perfect if a decoction of malt
were used instead of simple water. When the operation is finished, the cask, in order
to prevent its contracting a disagreeable taint, should be well washed.
I 2
116
reader pity, or rather laugh at me, to tell how many awkward ways I took to raise
this pastil; what odd, mis-shapen, ugly, things I made; how many of them
fell in, and how many fell out, the clay not being stiff enough to hear its
:
* PASTIL:(pustille, french, of pustillus, latin.) This foreign word, of which the
meaning is generally limited to a crayon for painting, to a composition of perfumery, and
to a sort of confectionary ware, seems somewhat improperly employed by the author or
original editor of these adventures, to describe potter's clay; but as the first edition of
ROBINSON CRUSOE belong to what has been usually esteemed the " augustan age
of english literature, the present editor has not ventured upon the correction of a term
that appears to have passed muster so long. However, the pause which has been
caused in the perusal of the text by this remark affords opportunity for some illustration
of the art of making vessels of baked earth, called pottery. The anticnt Greeks and
Etruscans, and the Chinese almost from time immemorial, have particularly excelled
in it but the art is now extensively diffused throughout Europe, where it has attained
a great degree of perfection. The most perfect species of earthen-ware called porcelain,
is manufactured in Germany and France; but England successfully emulates, and, in
some degree, surpasses, the nations of the continent in producing those sorts of pottery
the most required for the purposes of domestic life. Clay and flint are the substances
of which every kind of earthen-ware is made; the former alone shrinks and cracks;
the latter gives solidity and strength. Before, however, we proceed to give an idea
of the manufacture, it may be instructive to take a limited view of the natural history
of those two materials. Clay, in its purest form, is named in chemistry "alumine," and has the
following properties alumine is destitute of taste and smell; when moistened with
water, it forms a cohesive and ductile mass, susceptible of being moulded into regular
form; it is not soluble in water; but retains a considerable quantity; it does not affect
blue vegetable colours; it is dissolved by the liquid fixed alkalis, and is precipitated
unchanged by acids: in ammonia it is very sparingly soluble; alumine may be united
by fusion with fixed alkalis, and with most of the earths: it has a strong affinity for
colouring matter; it shrinks considerably in bulk when exposed to heat, and its contrac-
tion is in proportion to the heat applied. Flint, of which the scientific name is siler,
or siliceous earth, is, in its purest form, obtained from the calcination, and certain other
treatment of gun-flints; and, thus obtained, has the following qualities:-siler is per-
fectly white and tasteless; when mixed alone with water it does not form a cohesive
mass like alumine, and has a dry, harsh, feel; it is generally considered as insoluble in
water, yet, when fresh precipitated, has the property of retaining, in solution, about
Toto of its weight; that silex, however, is dissolved in water by processes of nature,
can scarcely be doubted, when we recollect that it is found crystalized in considerable
quantities. It is not acted upon by any acid except the fluoric. When pulverized, silex is
taken up by a solution of pure potash, or of soda, but not by ammoniac; in the aggre-
gated state of fints, nevertheless, it is perfectly insoluble in this way; when mixed
with an equal weight of carbonate of potash, and exposed to strong heat in a furnace,
it forms a glass insoluble, and identical in its properties with that commonly manufac-
tured. In preparing the two substances just described, for the purpose of making the
finer sorts of earthen-ware, the clay must first be much beaten in water; by this process,
the finer parts of it remain suspended in the fluid, while the coarser particles fall to the
bottom. The thick liquor may be farther purified by passing it through sieves; after
which it is mixed with another liquid, consisting of flints calcined, ground, and suspended
in water. The mixture is then evaporated and dried in a kiln, when, being afterwards
beaten with water to a proper temper, it becomes fit for being moulded into bowls,
plates, or other utensils; in order to which the potter takes a lump of the composition,
of the required size, and places it on a horizontal wheel, before him, usually turned by
the action of his own foot, while, with his finger and thumb inserted in the clay, he
forms the cavity of the vessel, reducing the inside into the required dimensions with
one hand, while he regulates the external shape with the other; the wheel being kept,
the whole time, in rotary motion; mouldings, feet, handles, spouts, &c. are the subjects
of distinct manipulation, and are then stuck, piece by piece, on the outside of the vessel,
When finished, the workman cuts the fashioned part from the remainder of the lump,
and sets it aside to dry; and when sufficiently hardened for removal without danger,
it is covered with a glazing: but the details of that process, as well as the colouring,
and other decorative branches of this manufacture being foreign to the specific object
of the present note are, therefore, not herein described,
·
117
wn weight; how many cracked by the over-violent heat of the sun, being
set out too hastily; and how many fell in pieces with only removing, as well
before as after they were dried and, in a word, how, after having laboured
hard to find the clay, to dig it, to temper it, to bring it home, and work it, I
could not make above two large earthen ugly things (I cannot call them jars) in
about two months' labour. However, as the sun baked these two very dry and
hard, I lifted them very gently up, and set them down again in two great wicker
baskets, which I had made on purpose for them, that they might not break;
and as between the pot and the basket, there was a little room to spare, I stuffed
it full of the rice and barley-straw; and these two pots being to stand always
dry, I thought would hold my dry corn, and perhaps the meal, when the corn
was bruised. Though I miscarried so much in my design for large pots, yet I
made several smaller things with better success; such as little round pots, flat
dishes, pitchers, and pipkins, or any thing my hand turned to, and the heat of
the sun baked them very hard.
But all this would not answer my end, which was, to get an earthen pot to
hold liquids, and bear the fire, which none of these could do. It happened some
time after, making a pretty large fire for cooking my meat, when I went to put
it out after I had done with it, I found a broken piece of one of my earthen-
ware vessels in the fire, burnt as hard as a stone, and red as a tile, I was
agreeably surprised to see it; and said to myself, that certainly they might be
made to burn whole, if they would burn broken. This set me to study how
to order my fire, so as to make it burn some pots. I had no notion of a kiln
such as the potters burn in, or of glazing* them with lead, though I had some lead
to do it with; but I placed three large pipkins and two or three pots in a pile,
one upon another, and placed my fire-wood all round it, with a great heap of
embers under them. I plied the fire with fresh fuel round the outside, and
upon the top until I saw the pots in the inside red-hot quite through, and observed
that they did not crack at all; when I saw them clear red, I let them stand
in that heat about five or six hours, till I found one of them, though it did not
crack, did melt or run; for the sand, which was mixed with the clay, melted
by the violence of the heat, and would have run into glass, if I had gone on;
so I slacked my fire gradually, till the pots began to abate of the red colour;
and watching them all night, that I might not let the fire abate too fast, in the
morning I had three very good, I will not say handsome, pipkins, and two other
earthen pots, as hard burnt as could be desired; and one of them perfectly
glazed with the running of the sand. After this experiment, I need not say,
GLAZE :-The roman method of glazing some of their urns, might give our workmen
a hint toward a method greary superior to any thing now in practice for the glazing
earthen ware. There is a sort of red urns found in Yorkshire, which are, instead of
glazing, covered all over inside and out, with a fine coral-coloured varnish, that gives
them a beauty which no earthen ware of our times can attain; and is not only far more
durable than our way of doing it with lead, which is apt to crack and fly, both with
wet and with heat, but far more safe and wholesome; lead being well known to be
corroded by acids, and to be a vapourable metal, whose fumes are very noxious, there
is great reason to suspect that it must be unwholesome when brought to the fire. This
antient glazing seems to have been done either by the brush, or else by dipping; for
both the inside and outside are varnished with equal regularity; and something may be
guessed at as to the materials they used in it, from what PLINY has left us. This author
occasionally observes, that such earthen ware as was painted with bitumen never lost
its beauty; and afterwards that it was a custom to cover over whole statues with this
sort of glazing, which, he observes, did not only make a smooth cont, but sink into the
matter of the stone or earth, and, therefore, this could not be likely to crack and fly off
like our lead-coats on plates, &c, which is merely a crust laid over them."(Hoox's Philos.
Collect) Common glazing for any kind of earthenware may be made of white sand
forty pounds, of red lead twenty pounds, of pearl-ashes twenty pounds, and of common
salt twelve pounds, Powder the sand by grinding it, and then add it unto the other ingre
118
1
that I wanted no sort of earthen-ware for my use; hut I must needs say, as to
the shapes of them, they were very indifferent, as any one may suppose, when I
had no way of making them but as the children make dirt pies, or as a woman
would make pies that never learned to raise paste. No joy at a thing of so
mean a nature was ever equal to mine, when I found I had made an earthen pot
that would bear the fire; and I had hardly patience to stay till they were cold,
before I set one on the fire again, with some water in it, to boil me some meat,
which it did admirably well; and with a piece of a kid I made some very good
broth, although I wanted oatmeal, and several other ingredients requisite to make
it so good as I would have had it been.
My next concern was, to get a stone mortar to stamp or beat some corn in;
for, as to the mill, there was no thought of arriving to that perfection of art with
one pair of hands. To supply this want I was at a great loss; for, of all trades
in the world, I was as perfectly unqualified for a stone-cutter as for any what-
ever; neither bad I any tools to go about it with. I spent many a day to find
out a great stone big enough to cut hollow, and make fit for a mortar; but could
find none at all, except what was in the solid rock, and which I had no way to
dig or cut out; nor, indeed, were the rocks in the island of sufficient hardness,
ns they were all of a sandy, crumbling stone, which would neither bear the
weight of a heavy pestle, nor would break the corn without filling it with sand;
so, after a great deal of time lost in searching for a stone, I gave it over, and
resolved to look out a great block of hard wood, which I found indeed much
easier; and getting one as big as I had strength to stir, I rounded it, and formed
it on the outside with my axe and hatchet; and then, with the help of fire and
infinite labour, made a hollow place in it as the Indians in Brazil make their
canoes. After this, I made a great heavy pestle, or beater, of the wood called
iron-wood ;* and this I prepared and laid by against I had my next crop of corn,
when I proposed to myself to grind, or rather pound, my corn into meal, to make
my bread.
dients, and grind them together; after which calcine them for some time with a mode-
rate heat; when the mixture is cold, pound it to powder; and when wanted for use
temper it with water. The proportion of these ingredients may be occasionally varied.
We may observe, in general, that lead ought to be excluded from the composition of
glazings; and other fluxes ought to be substituted in its stead. A transparent glazing
may be prepared, without lead, by calcining forty pounds of white sand, twenty-fivè
pounds of pearl-ashes, fifteen pounds of common salt, and proceeding as before; a more
perfect transparent glazing may be made of sand forty pounds, of wood ashes perfectly buruk,
fifty pounds, of pearl-ashes, ten pounds, and of common salt, twelve pounds. The pro-
portions of these ingredients may be varied occasionally for, where the glazing can
be fluxed conveniently with a very strong fire, the quantity of sand may be encreased
to 60 or 70lbs, which not only renders the glazing stronger, but makes a saving in the
expense. The proportion of pearl-ash, which is the dearest ingredient, may likewise
be diminished, or even be wholly omitted, when the ware be designed for very coarse
purposes.
* IRON WOOD :-(sideroxylon, in botany.) A genus of the pentandria-monogynia class.
Its characters are these; the empalement of the flower is permanent, and is cut into
five segments; the flower is bell-shaped, divided into five parts at the brim; it has five
awl-shaped stamina the length of the petal, terminated by single summits; and a round
germen, supporting an awl-shaped style, crowned by a single stigma; the germen after-
wards becomes a roundish berry, having one cell, containing four seeds. There are
two species natives of the Cape of Good Hope. LINNEUS enumerates eight. The
wood of these trees being very close and solid, has given occasion for this name being
applied to them, it being so heavy as to sink in water and the title of iron-wood
having been applied to the wood, by the inhabitants of the countries where it grows, has
occasioned the botanists to constitute a genus by this name. But as the characters of
the plants have not been so well examined as could be wished, occasioned by their
seldom flowering in Europe, it is very probable, that the plants which have been ranged
under this genus, do not properly belong to it. (MILLER,)
119
My next difficulty was, to make a search,* or sieve, to dress my meal, and to
part it from the bran and the husk, without which I did not see it possible I
could have any bread. This was a difficult thing even to think on; for I had
nothing like the necessary thing to make it; I mean fine thin canvas or stuff
to search the meal through. Here I was at a full stop for many months; nor
did I really know what to do; linen I had none left but what was mere rags;
I had goat's hair, but neither knew how to weave it or spin it; and had I known
how, here were no tools to work it with all the remedy I found for this was,
at last recollecting I had, among the seamen's clothes which were saved out of
the ship, some neck-cloths of calico or muslin ; with some pieces of these I made
three small sieves, proper enough for the work; and thus I made shift for some
years.
The baking part was the next thing to be considered, and how I should
make bread when I came to have corn: for, first I had no yest; as to that
part there was no supplying the want, so I did not concern myself much about
it; but, for an oven, I was indeed puzzled. At length I found out an expedient
for that also, which was this; I made some earthen vessels, very broad, but not
deep, that is to say, about two feet diameter, and not above nine inches
deep these I burned in the fire as I had done the other, and laid them by;
and, when I wanted to bake, I made a great fire upon my hearth, which I had
paved with some square tiles, of my own making and burning also; but I should
not presume to call them square. When the fire-wood was burned into embers
or live coals, I drew them forward upon the hearth, so as to cover it all over,
and there let them lie till the hearth was very hot; then sweeping away all the
embers, I set down my loaf, or loaves, and covering them with the earthen pot,
drew the embers all round the outside of the pot, to keep in and add to the heat
and thus, as well as in the best oven in the world, I baked my barley-loaves,
and became, in a little time, a good pastry-cook into the bargain; for I made
myself several cakes and puddings of the rice; but I made no pies, as I had
nothing to put into them except the flesh of fowls or goats.
It need not be wondered at, if all these things took me up most part of the
third year of my abode here; for it is to be observed, in the intervals of these
things, I had my new harvest and husbandry to manage : I reaped my corn in
its season, carried it home as well as I could, and laid it up in the ear, in my large
baskets, until I had time to rub it out; for I had no floor to thresh it on, or instru-
ment to thresh it with. And now, indeed, my stock of corn increasing, I really
wanted to build my barns bigger; I wanted a place to lay it up in; for the
increase of the corn now yielded me so much, that I had of the barley about
twenty bushels, and of rice as much, or more; insomuch that now I resolved
to begin to use it freely; for my biscuit-bread had been quite gone a great
while; I resolved also to see what quantity would be sufficient for me a whole
year, and to sow but once a year. Upon the whole, I found that the forty
bushels of barley and rice were much inore than I could consume in a year;
so I resolved to sow just the same quantity every year that I sowed the last, in
hopes that such a quantity would fully provide me with bread, &c.
All the while these things were doing, you may be sure my thoughts ran
many times upon the prospect of land which I had seen from the other side of
* SEARCH :-searse, surse, searce, or sieve (sas, tamis, french), an utensil serving to
separate the fine from the coarse parts of powders, liquors, and the like; or to cleanse
pulse from dust, light grains, &c. It is made of a rim of wood, the circular space
whereof is filled with a plexus of silk, hair, linen, wire, or thin slices of wood. Sieves
which have very large holes, are also called riddles; such is the coal or lime sieve, the
garden sieve, &c. When drugs, apt to evaporate, or whose dust is pernicious, are to
be passed through a sieve, it is usual to have it covered with a lid.
The sifting
of flour from its bran is effected by a somewhat different process called "bolting," in
which a coarse cloth of a peculiar fabric, is used instead of a sieve, and thence called
a“ bolting cloth."
:
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1
the island; and I was not without some secret wishes that I was on shore there;
fancying that, seeing the main-land,* and an inhabited country, I might find
some way or other to convey myself farther, and perhaps at last find some incans
of escape.
But all this while I made no allowance for the dangers of such a condition,
and that I might fall into the hands of savages, and perhaps such as I might have
reason to think far worse than the lions and tigers of Africa; that if I once came
in their power, I should run a hazard of more than a thousand to one of being
killed, and perhaps of being caten; for I had heard that the people of the Carib
beant coast were canibals or man-eaters; and I knew, by the latitude, that I
could not be far off from that shore. Then supposing they were not canibals,
yet they might kill me, as they had many Europeans who had fallen into their
hands, even when they have been ten or twenty together; much more I who
was but one, and could make little or no defense; all these things, I say, which I
ought to have considered well of, and did turn up in my thoughts afterwards,
took up none of my apprehensious at first; yet my head rau mightily upon the
thought of getting over to the shore.
Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long-boat with the shoulder-of-mutton
sail, with which I sailed above a thousand miles on the coast of Africa; but this
was in vain then, I thought I would go and look at our ship's boat, which, as
I have said, was blown up, a great way upon the shore in the storm, when we
were first cast away. She lay nearly where she did at first, but not quite, having
turned, by the force of the waves and the winds, almost bottom upward, against
a high ridge of beachy rough sand; but no water about her as before. If I had
had hands to have refitted her, and to have launched her into the water, the boat
would have done very well, and I might have gone back to Brazil with her easily
enough; but I might have foreseen, that I could no more turn her and set her
upright upon her bottom, than I could remove the island; however, I went to
the woods, cut levers and rollers, and brought them to the boat, resolving to try
what I could do; suggesting to myself, that, if I could but turn her down, and repair
the damage she had received, she would be a very good boat, and I might venture
to sea in her, I spared no pains, indeed, in this piece of fruitless toil, and spent,
* MAIN :-(mague, old french; magnus, latin;) chief, principal. magan, saxon,
signifies may or can from whence muegan, might, power. Thus, among mariners,
the ocean is called the main-sea; the continent the main-land; or either of them for
brevity's sake, the “ main,” simply in like manner, the principal mast, and its append-
ages are distinguished by the epithet main.
†
+ CARIBEAN:-The mexican gulf is properly subdivided into three distinct basins:
the gulf of Mexico, the bay of Honduras, and the Caraibean sea. The latter takes its
name from that class of islands which bound this portion to the east. Most of these
were formerly possessed by a nation of canibals, the scourge and terror of the mild and
inoffensive natives of Hespaniola, who expressed to Columbus their dread of those
fierce and warlike invaders, styling them Caraïbs or Caribees. The old spanish navi-
gators speaking of the west-indian isles in general distinguish them in two classes by
the terms barlo-vento and solo vento; from whence our "windward" and "leeward'
islands. The caraïbean constitute in strict propriety the former class, and the four
large isles of Cuba, Jamaica, Hespaniola, and Porto-rico, the latter class. But our
english mariners appropriate both terms to the caribee islands only; sub-dividing them
according to their situation in the course of the trade-wind; the windward islands by
this arrangement terminating with Martinico; the leeward cominencing at Dominica,
and extending to Porto-rico. The Caraïbes of the continent are the Galibis of ROBERT-
sox, inhabiting the district between the Orenoko and Essequibo rivers, or perhaps
throughout the whole of Guiana. These were certainly canibals. The caraïb
complexion is of a spanish olive disguised by a painted coat of crimson. These Galibis
of America from whom the insular Caraïbes are supposed to descend, call the supreme
being Tamoussi, or "universal father." The caraïbs depress in infancy the sinciput,
or fore-head from the eye-brows to the coronal suture; which gives an unnatural thick-
ness or clevation to the occiput, or hinder part of the skull.
1
121
1
I think, three or four weeks about it; at last, finding it impossible to heave her
up with my little strength, I fell to digging away the sand, to undermine her, and
so to make her fall down, setting pieces of wood to thrust and guide her right in
the fall. But, when I had done this, I was unable to stir her up again, or to get
under her, much less to move her forward towards the water; so I was forced
to give it over: and yet, though I gave over the hopes of the boat, my desire to
venture over unto the main encreased, rather than diminished, as the means for
it seemed impossible,
At length, I began to think whether it was not possible to make myself a canoe,
or periagua, such as the natives of those climates make, even without tools, or,
as I might say, without hands, of the trunk of a great tree. This I not only
thought possible, but easy, and pleased myself extremely with the idea of making
it, and with my having much more convenience for it than any of the negros or
Americans; but not at all considering the particular inconveniences which
lay
under more than they did; viz. the want of hands to move it into the water when
it was made, a difficulty much harder for me to surmount than all the conse-
quences of want of tools could be to them; for what could it avail me, if, after
I had chosen my tree, and with much trouble cut it down, and might be able
with my tools to hew and dub the outside into the proper shape of a boat, and
burn or cut out the inside to make it hollow, so as to make a boat of it; if, after
all this, I must leave it just where I found it, and was not able to launch it into
the water?
One would imagine, if I had had the least reflection upon my mind of my
circumstances while I was making this boat, I should have immediately thought
how I was to get it into the sea; but my thoughts were so intent upon my voyage
in it, that I never once considered how I should get it off the land; and it was
really, in its own nature, more easy for me to guide it over forty-five miles of
sea, than the forty-five fathoms of land, where it lay, to set it afloat in the water.
I went to work upon this boat the most like a fool that ever man did, who had any
of his senses awake. I pleased myself with the design, without determining
whether I was able to undertake it; not but that the difficulty of launching my
boat cape often into my head; but I put a stop to my own enquiries into it, by
this foolish answer: Let us first make it; I warrant I will find some way or other
to get it along when it is done.
This was a most preposterous method: but the eagerness of my fancy pre-
* PERIAGUA:~(spanish) a sort of large canoe used in the gulf of Mexico and
among the american isles; but differing from that species of vessel, as being composed
of the trunks of two or more trees hollowed and united together; whereas the canoe
is a single tree scooped out and reduced externally somewhat into the shape of a boat,
πληθει μονοξυλων εμβιβάσαντες. (Zosimus, iv.)
Ausi Danubium quondam tranare Gruthurgi,
In lintres fregere nemus, ter mille rucbant,
Per fluvium plenae cuneis immanibus alni.
CLAUDIAN, in iv. Cons. Hon.
In fact, the boat thus rudely fashioned, and used at the present day on the Bosporus,
for nearly the same purposes as fishing punts serve in England, is still called by the modern
Greeks monoxylan. It is a most remarkable coincidence in the annals of navigation, to
find such a community of origin among widely separated nations (the Scythians and
Americans), as is exhibited by this floating trunk; which is thus described in the History
of the Bucaniers of America:-" Canoes are like little wherry-boats, being made of
only one tree, hollowed and fitted for the sea: they are so swift that they may be well
called Neptune's post-borses. The Indians make these canoes without any iron instru-
ments, by only burning the trees nigh the root, and then so governing the fire that nothing
is burnt more than what they would have. Some have hatchets of flint, with which they
scrape or pare off whatsoever was burnt too far; and thus by fire only, they give them
that shape, which renders them capable of navigating sixty or eighty leagues with
ordinary security."
122
vailed, and to work I went. I felled a cedar-tree,* and I question much whether
Solomon ever had such a one for the building of the Temple at Jerusalem ; it wa,
* CEDAR :-(pinus cydrus, LINN. monadelphia.) Of all the varieties of this kind, the
most valuable as well as celebrated is, doubtless, the cedar ofLebanon, and,what is remark -
able, this particular species has not been found as a native in any other part of the world,
so far as hath yet come to knowledge. This tree is much named in the scriptures, both in
a natural and a mystical sense. The cedar of Lebanon shoots out its branches at 8 10
12 feet from the ground; they are large, and at a distance from one another : its
leaves are something like those of rose-mary: it is an evergreen and distils a kind of
gum, to which divers qualities are attributed: the wood is inclining to a brown colour,
solid, beautiful, and incorruptible: it bears a conical apple like that of the pine, but
rounder. The antient inhabitants of Syria made use of this wood for the beams and
planks of edifices; for the ceiling of apartments, and also placed them in the substance
of walls, so disposed, that there were three rows of stone and one of cedar-wood. The
cedar of Lebanon is allegorically used in scripture to mean the king of Israël; and also
the felicity and growth of the faithful. Cedar, and its co-relatives occur in the following
places: II. Samuel, v, 11. viii, 2, 7; I. Kings, iv, 33. v, 6, 8, 10; II. Kings, xiv, 9. xix,
23; II. Chronicles, i, 15. ii, 3, 8. ix, 27. xxv, 18; Job, xl, 17; Psalms, xcii, 12; Canticles,
i, 17.jv. 15. viii, 9; Isaiah, ix, 10, xli, 19; Jeremiah, xxii, 7, 14, 15, 23; Ezekiel, xvii, 3, 22,
23. xxvii, 24. xxxi. 3, 8; Zephaniah. ii, 14; Zechariah, xi, 1, 2; Numbers, xix, 6. xxiv.
6: I. Chronicles, xvii, 1. xxii, 4; Ezra, iii, 7; Leviticus, xiv, 4; 1. Kings, x, 27; Psalms,
xxix, 5. lxxx, 10. civ, 16. cxlviii, 9; Isaiah, xxxvii, 24. xliv, 14; Amos, ii, 9; Judges, ix,
15; Isaiah, ii, 13. xiv, 8. Ezekiel xxvii, 5. Besides the cedar, there are named in scrip-
ture the gopher, the shittim, and the almug. The first is the wood of which Noah's ark
was built, Genesis, vi, 14; and has been supposed, by some biblical scholars, to mean
the larch, or some tree of the pine kind. The second is mentioned in Exodus and Deu-
teronomy as the wood employed in the mosaic ark, &c. and supposed generally to be
mahogany or some of the finer hard woods used by the cabinet makers. The third is
named but twice, I.Kings, x, 11, 12; and as having been brought from Ophir by Hiram's
navy, may perhaps be taken to mean teak, or tik, tectona grandis. The cedar of Lebanon
bears the openest exposures so well, that it is a wonder it is not more cultivated in
England. The cones of this tree are brought from the Levant, and, if preserved entire,
will keep their seeds many years. These cones are to be split open, and the seeds
picked out these are to be sown and propagated in the same manner as the fir, only
that, when the plants begin to shoot strong, the leading shoot generally inclines to one
side, and must, therefore, be supported by tying it to a stake driven upright by its side.
These trees spread greatly, and the ends of their branches bending down, they shew
very beautifully their upper surface, which looks like a green carpet, and, as it
plays in the wind makes a very elegant appearance; and is, therefore, a fine tree for
planting on an eminence to terminate a vista. They thrive best of all in a poor soil,
and are of very steady growth, as appears by those fine ones in the Apothecaries' garden at
Chelsea, which were planted in the year 1683, and were then not above three feet high;
and in the year 1762, measured near twelve feet in the girth, at two feet above the
ground. The incorruptibility of cedar-wood is a prerogative it owes chiefly to its bitter
taste, which the worms cannot endure. For this reason it was, the antients made use
of cedar-tables to write on, especially for things of importance; as appears from that
expression of PERSIUS, Et cedro digna locutus. (Sat. i.). A juice was also drawn from
cedar, with which they smeared their books and writings, or other matters, to preserve
them from rotting; which is alluded to by HORACE. (Ar. Poet.) by means of which it
was that NUMA's books, written on papyrus, were preserved entire to the year 535, as
we are informed by PLINY. (Natur. Histor. xi. 13.) CORTEZ is said to have
erected a palace at Mexico, in which were 7000 beams of cedar, most of them 120 feet
Jong, and 12 in circumference, as we are informed by HERRERA. Some tell us of a cedar
felled in Cyprus 130 feet long, and 18 in diameter; which was used for the main-mast in
the galley of king DEMETRIUS. LE BRUYN assures us that the two biggest he saw on
Mount Lebanon measured one of them 57 palms, and the other 47 in circumference.
In the temple of APOLLO at Utica, there were cedar timbers of near 2000 years old;
which yet were nothing to that beam in an oratory of Diana, at Saguntum in Spain, said
to have been brought thither 200 years before the destruction of Troy! Cedar is of
dry a nature, that it will not endure to be fastened with iron nails, from which it usually
shrinks, so that they commonly fasten it with pins of the same wood. The cedar brought
SQ
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five feet ten inches diameter at the lower part next the stump, and four feet eleven
inches diameter at the end of twenty-two feet, where it lessened, and then parted
into branches. It was not without infinite labour that I felled this tree; I was
twenty days hacking and hewing at the bottom, and fourteen more getting the
branches, and the vast spreading head of it, cut off; after this, it cost me a month
to shape it and dub it to a proportion, and to something like the bottom of a
boat, that it might swim upright as it ought to do. It cost me near three months
more to clear the inside, and work it out so as to make an exact boat of it: this
I did indeed without fire, by mere mallet and chissel, and by the dint of hard
labour, until I had brought it to be a very handsome periagua, and big enough to
have carried twenty men, and consequently big enough to have carried me and
all my cargo. When I had gone through this work, I was extremely delighted
with it. The boat was really much bigger than ever I saw a canoe that was made
of one tree, in my life. Many a weary stroke it had cost, you may be sure;
and there remained nothing but to get it into the water; which, had I accom-
plished, I make no question but I should have begun the maddest voyage, and
the most unlikely to be performed, that ever was undertaken.
•
from Barbados and Jamaica is a spurious sort of a porous nature. That produced in
New-England is a lofty grower, and makes excellent planks, and flooring that is ever-
lasting. They shingle their houses with it, and use it in all their buildings. This is the
oxycedrus of Lycia, which VITRUVIUS describes as having its leaves resembling those
of cypress. The cedar of Greece and Asia was no other than a smaller kind of juniper,
which, having prickly leaves, was by some called oxycedrus; and the common juniper
was, at that time, called also by the name of cedar. The lycian cedar of the Greeks
was this juniper kind; but the cedrium and cedralium, which were a kind of pitch and
an oil separated from it by melting, were not prepared from this cedar, but from the
syrian cedar, which was a larger shrub, and resembled the cypress; and, therefore, was
confounded with that tree, being called by some the wild cypress. The cedrium was
always made from this species; but the oleum de cada, or cade oil, was made from the
fruit of the oxycedrus, or prickly-leaved juniper, called cedar by the Greeks,
and growing in their own country. B. EDWARDS, in his History of the West Indies, &c.
gives an animated and interesting account of the abundance and size of cedars in those
countries as forming an immensity of forest, a boundless amphitheatre of wood; the
outline of which melts into the distant blue hills; and these again lost in the clouds.
<<
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar; and branching palm.”
In the History of the Bucaniers of America, after a detailed description of the trees of
Hespaniola, the author adds :-" Divers other sorts of trees are natives of this island.
Of these, I shall omit to name several, knowing there are learned authors who have
described and searched them with greater attention and curiosity; but I shall mention
some few more in particular: such are the cedars which this part of the world produces
iu prodigious quantities. The French call them acajou, and they find them useful for
building ships and canoes." The cedar of Lebanon, which LINNAUS makes a species
of pine is by TONNEFORT referred to genus of lariz, and all the berry-bearing cedars
are joined to the junipers, so the little cedrus is given to this genus, of which there are
several species, viz. the cedar of the american islands; to which allusion has been
already made: mahogany, of which LINNÆUS has made a distinct genus, under the name
swieteria, in the class pentandria-monogynia; whose botanical characters are these: the
flower is of one leaf divided at the top into five parts, with five short stamina, which
adhere at bottom to the germen; in the centre is situated the roundish germen, which
afterwards becomes an oval pod having five cells, opening from the bottom upward with
five valves, having a double cover, the outer being thick and woody, the inner very thin,
which immediately surrounds the seeds; these are thick at the base, but upward are
flat and thin, like the wings adhering to the seeds of firs and pines. Besides these two
principal kinds, there is the cedar of Bermudas (juniper); the white cedar (cypress)
the bastard cedar of Jamaica, Theobroma, in botany, a genus of the class polyadelphia-pen-
tandria, &c. The cypress proper (cupressus) and the pine (pinus) are of the class and
order denominated monoccia-monadelphia.¸·
#
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But all my devices to get it into the water failed me; though they cost mɛ
inexpressible labour too. It lay about one hundred yards from the water, and
not more; but the first inconvenience was,-it was up hill towards the creek.
Well, to take away this discouragement, I resolved to dig into the surface of the
earth, and so make a declivity; this I begun, and it cost me a prodigious deat
of pains (but who grudge pains that have their deliverance in view?) when this
was worked through, and this difficulty managed, it was still much the same, for
I could no more stir the canoe than I could the other boat. Then I measured the
distance of ground, and resolved to cut a dock or canal, to bring the water up to
the canoe, seeing I could not bring the canoe down to the water. Well, I began
this work; and when I began to enter upon it and calculate how deep it was to
be dug, how broad, how the stuff was to be thrown out, I found, by the number
of hands I had, having none but my own, that it must have been ten or twelve
years before I could have gone through with it; for the shore lay so high, that
at the upper end it must have been at least twenty feet deep; this attempt,
though with great reluctancy, I was at length obliged to give over also.
ሃ
This grieved me heartily; and now I saw, though too late, the folly of beginning
a work before we count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our own strength
to go through with it. In the middle of this work, I finished my fourth year
in this place, and kept my anniversary with as much comfort as before; for, by a
constant study of, and serious application to, the word of God, 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 nothing to do with,
no expectation from, and, indeed, no desires about; in a word, I had nothing to
do with it, nor was ever likely to have: I thought it looked, as we may perhaps
look upon it hereafter, as a place I had lived in, but was come out of it; and well
might I say,as father Abraham to Dives," Between us and you is a great gulf fixed.'
In the first place, I was here removed from all the wickedness of the world; I
had neither the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, nor the pride of life.+ I
had nothing to covet, for I had all that I was now capable of enjoying: I was
lord of the whole manor; or, if I pleased, I might call myself king or emperor
over the whole country which I had possession of; there were no rivals; I hadh
no competitor, none to dispute sovereignty or command with me: I might have
raised ship-loads of corn, but I had no use for it; so I let as little grow as I
thought enough for my occasion. I had turtle enough, but one now and then
was as much as I could put to any use: I had timber enough to have built a fleet
of ships; and I had grapes enough to have made me wine, or to have cured into
raisins, to have loaded that fleet, when it had been built.
But all I could make use of was all that was valuable: I had enough to eat and
to supply my wants, and what was the rest to me? If I killed more flesh than I
could eat, the dog must eat it, or vermin; if I sowed more corn than I could
cat, it must be spoiled; 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 other
occasion for but to dress my food. In a word, the nature and experience of
things dictated to me, upon just reflection, that all the good things of this world
are of no farther good to us than for our use; and that whatever we may heap
up to leave for others, we enjoy only as much as we can use, and no more. The
most griping miser in the world would have been cured of the vice of covetous
ness, if he had been in my case; for I possessed infinitely more than I knew
what to do with. I had no room for desire, except it was for things which I had
not, and they were comparatively but trifles, though, indeed, of great use to me.
I had, as I hinted before, a parcel of money, as well gold as silver, about thirty
pounds sterling: alas! there the sorry, useless stuff lay: I had no manner or
business for it; and I often thought within myself, that I would have given a
handful of it for a gross of tobacco-pipes, or for a band-mill to grind my corn;
+ First Epistle general of St. John, ii, 16.
* Luke, xvi, 26.
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1
nay I would have given it all for sixpenny-worth of turnip and carrot seed from
England, or for a handful of peas and beans, and a bottle of ink. As it was,
I had not the least 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 seasons; and
if I had had the drawer full of diamonds, it had been the same case, they had
been of no manner of value to me, because of no use.
I had now brought my state of life to be much more comfortable in itself than
it was at first, and much easier to my mind, as well as to my body. I frequently
sat down to meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand of Providence,
which had thus spread my table in the wilderness: I learned to look more upon
the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider
what I enjoyed, rather than what I wanted: and this gave me sometirnes such
secret comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take notice of here,
to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably
what God has given them, because they see and covet something that he has
not given them. All our discontents about what we want, appeared to me to
spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.
Another reflection was of great use to me, and doubtless would be so to any
one that should fall into such distress as mine was; and this was, to compare my
present condition with what I at first expected it would be; nay, with what it
would certainly have been, if a good providence had not wonderfully ordered the
ship to be cast up near the shore, where I not only could come at her, but could
bring what I got out of her to the shore, for my relief and comfort; without
which, I had wanted for tools to work, weapons for defense, and gunpowder and
shot for getting my food.
I spent whole hours, I may say whole days, in representing to myself, in the
most lively colours, how I must have acted if I had got nothing out of the ship.
I could not have so much as got any food, except fish and turtles; and that, as
it was long before I found any of them, I must have perished; that I should have
lived, if I had not perished, like a mere savage; that if I had killed a goat or a
fowl, by any contrivance, I had no way to flay or open it, or part the flesh from
the skin and the bowels, or to cut it up; but must gnaw it with my teeth, and
pull it with my claws, like a beast.
These reflections made me very thankful for my present condition, with all its
hardships and misfortunes; and this part also I cannot but recommend to the
reflection of those who are apt, in their misery, to say, Is any affliction like
mine?" Let them consider how much worse the cases of some people are, and
their case might have been.
I had another reflection, which assisted me also to comfort my mind with
hopes; and this was, comparing my present condition with what I had deserved,
and had therefore reason to expect. I had lived a dreadful life, destitute of
the knowledge and fear of God. I had been well instructed by father and
mother; neither had they been wanting to me, in their endeavours to infufe
into my mind, an early religious sense of my duty, and what the nature and end
of my being required of me. But alas! falling early into the seafaring life, and
into seafaring company, all that little sense of religion which I had entertained
was laughed out of me by my messmates; or worn out by a hardened despising
of dangers, and the views of death, which grew habitual to me; by my long
absense from all manner of opportunities to converse with any person but who
was like myself, or to hear any thing that was good, or tending towards it.
So void was 1 of the sense of every thing that was good, that in the greatest
deliverances I enjoyed, I never had once the words, "thank God," so much as
on my mind, or in my mouth; nor in the greatest distress had I so much as a
thought to pray to him, or so much as to say, "Lord! have mercy upon ine," no,
nor to mention the naine of God, unless to blaspheme it. I had terrible reflec
tions upon my mind for many months, as I have already observed, on-account
of my hardened life past; and when I looked about me, and considered what
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126
particular providences had attended me since my coming into this place, and
how God had dealt bountifully with me,-had not only punished me less than
my iniquity had deserved, but had so plentifully provided for me, this gave me
great hopes that my repentance was accepted, and that God had yet mercies in
store for me. With these reflections, I worked my mind up, not only to a resig-
nation unto the present disposition of my circumstances, but even to a sincere
thankfulness for my condition; and that I who was yet a living man, ought not
to complain, seeing that I enjoyed so many mercies which I had no reason to
have expected in that place, that I ought never more to repine at my condition,
but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks for that daily bread, which nothing but a
crowd of wonders could have brought; that I ought to consider I had been fed
by a miracle, even as great as that of feeding Elijah by ravens; * nay by a long
series of miracles; and that I could hardly have named a place in the unin-
habitable part of the world where I could have been cast more to my advantage;.
a place where, as I had no society, which was my affliction on one hand, so I
found no ravenous beasts, no furious wolves or tigers, no venomous or poisonous
creatures, no savages, to hurt, murder, or devour me. In a word, as my life
was a life of sorrow one way, so it was a life of mercy another; and I wanted
nothing to make it a life of comfort, but to make myself sensible of God's good-
ness to me, and care over me in this condition; and after I did make a just
improvement in these things, I went on and was no more sad.
I had now been here so long, that many things which I brought on shore for
my help were either quite gone, or very much wasted, and near spent.
My ink
as I observed, had been gone for some time, all but a very little, which I eked
out with water, until it was so pale, it scarce left any appearance of black upon
the paper.
As long as it lasted, I made use of it to minute down the days of
the month on which any remarkable thing happened to me: and, first, by casting
up times past, I remember that there was a strange concurrence of days in
the various providences which befel me, and which, if I had been superstitiously
inclined to observe days as fatal or fortunate, I might have had reason to have
looked upon with a great deal of curiosity.
First, I had observed, that the same day that I broke loose from my home and
ran away to Hull, the same day of the year afterwards I was taken by the Salee
man of war, and made a slave: the same day that I escaped out of the wreck of
the ship in Yarmouth Road, the same day-year afterwards I made my escape
from Salee in the boat: and the same day of the year I was born on, viz. the
30th of September, that same day I had my life so miraculously saved twenty-
six years after, when I was cast on shore in this island: so that my wicked life
and my solitary life began both on one day.
The next thing to my ink being wasted, was that of my bread, I mean the
biscuit which I brought out of the ship; 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 near a year before I got any corn of my own; and great
reason I had to be thankful that I had any at all, the getting it being, as has been
already observed, next to miraculous.
My clothes, too, began to decay mightily: as to linen, I had none for a great
while, except some chequered shirts which I found in the chests of the other
seamen, and which I carefully preserved, because many times I could bear no
clothes on but a shirt; and it was a very great help to me that I had, among all
the men's clothes of the ship, almost three dozen of shirts. There were also,
indeed, several thick watch-coats of the seamen's which were left, but they were
too hot to wear; and though it is true that the weather was so violently hot that
there was no need of clothes, yet I could not go quite naked, no, though I had
been inclined to it, which I was not, nor could I abide the thought of it, though
I was all alone. The reason why I could not go quite naked was, I could not
* I. Kings xvii, 4, 6.
127
bear the heat of the sun so well when quite naked as with some clothes on; nay,
the very heat frequently blistered my skin: whereas, with a shirt on, the air
itself made some motion, and whistling under the shirt, was twofold cooler than
without it. No more could I ever bring myself to go out in the heat of the sun
without a cap or hat; the heat of the sun beating with such violence as it does
in that place, would give me the head-ache presently, by darting so directly upon
my head, without a cap or hat on, so that I could not bear it; whereas, if I put
on my hat, it would presently go away.
Upon these views, I began to consider about putting the few rags I had, which
I called clothes, 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 that I had by me, and with such other materials as I had; so I set to work
a tailoring, or rather, indeed, a botching, for I made most piteous work of it.
However, I made shift to make two or three new waistcoats, which I hoped
would serve me a great while: as for breeches or drawers, I made but a very
sorry shift indeed, until afterwards.
I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all the creatures that I killed, I
mean four-footed ones; and I had hung them up, stretched out with sticks, in
the sun, by which means some of them were so dry and hard that they were fit
for little, but others I found very useful. The first thing I made of these was a
great cap for my head, with the hair on the outside, to shoot off the rain; and
this I performed so well, that after this I made me a suit of clothes wholly of the
skins, that is to say, a waistcoat and breeches, open at the knees, and both loose;
for they were rather wanting to keep me cool than warm. I must not omit to
acknowledge that they were wretchedly made; for if I was a bad carpenter, I
was a worse tailor. However, they were such as I made very good shift with;
and when I was abroad, if it happened to rain, the hair of my waistcoat and cap
being uppermost, I was kept very dry.
After this I spent a great 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 seen
them made in Brazil, where they were very useful in the great heats which are
there; and I felt the heats every jot as great here, and greater too, being nearer
the equinoctial line: besides, 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 spoiled two or three before I made one to my mind;
but 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 too, and draw in, it was not portable for ine any way but just over my
head, which would not do. However, at last, as I said, I made one to answer,
and covered it with skins, the hair upwards, so that it cast off the rain like a pent-
house, and kept off the sun so effectually, that I could walk out in the hottest
of the weather with greater advantage than I could before in the coolest; and
when I had no nced of it, could close it, and carry it under my arm:
Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being entirely composed by resign-
ing to the will of God, and throwing myself wholly upon the disposal of his pro-
vidence. This made my life better than sociable; for when I began to regret
the want of conversation, I would ask myself, whether thus conversing mutually
with my own thoughts, and by ejaculations, was not better than the common
enjoyment of human society in the world?
I cannot say that after this, for five years, any extraordinary thing happened
to me, but I lived on in the same course, in the same posture and place, just as
before; the chief things I was employed in, besides my yearly labour of planting
my barley and rice, and curing my raisins, of both which I always kept up just
enough to have sufficient stock of one year's provision beforehand; I say, besides
this yearly labour, and my daily pursuit of going out with my gun, I had one
labour, to make me a canoe, which at last I finished; in such a situation that by
198
digging a canal to it, of six feet wide and four feet deep, I brought it into the
creek, almost half a mile. As for the first, which was so vastly big, as I made it
without considering beforehand, as I ought to do, how I should be able to launcha
it, so, never being able to bring it into the water, or bring the water to it, I was
obliged to let it lie where it was, as a memorandum to teach me to be wiser the
next time: indeed, the next time, though I could not get a tree quite proper for
it, in a place where I could get the water to it at any less distance than, as
I have said, near half a mile, yet as I saw it was practicable at last, I never gave
it over: and although I was near two years about it, yet I never grudged my
labour, in hopes of having a boat to go off to sea at last.
However, though my little periagua was finished, yet the size of it was not at all
answerable to the design which I had in view when I made the first; I mean, of
venturing over to the terra-firma, where it was above forty miles broad; accord-
ingly, the smallness of my boat assisted to put an end to that design, and now I
thought no more of it. As I had a boat, my next design was to make a cruise
round the island; for, as I had been on the other side in one place, crossing, as I
have already described it, over the land, so the discoveries I made in that little
journey made me very eager to see other parts of the coast; and now I had a
boat, I thought of nothing but sailing around the island.
For this purpose, that I might do every thing with discretion and consideration,
I fitted up a little mast in my boat, and made a sail to it out of some of the pieces
of the ship's sails which lay in store, and of which I had a great stock by me.
Having fitted my mast and sail, and tried the boat, I found she would sail vety
well: then I made little lockers, or boxes, at each end of my boat, to put provi
sions, necessaries, 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 inside 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 also in a step at the stern, like a mast, to stand over my
head, and keep the heat of the sun off me, like an awning; and thus I every now
and then took a little voyage upon the sea, but never went far out, nor far from
the little creek. At last, being eager to view the circumference of my little
kingdom, I resolved upon my cruise; and accordingly I victualled my ship for
the voyage, putting in two dozen of loaves (cakes I should rather call thein) of
barley-bread, an earthen pot full of parched rice (a food I ate a great deal of), a
little bottle of rum, half a goat, with powder and shot for killing more, and two
large watch-coats, of those which, as I mentioned before, I had saved out of the
seamen's chests; these I took, one to lie upon, and the other to cover me in
the night.
It was the 6th of November, in the sixth 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 although the island itself was not very large, yet when I came to
the east side of it, I found a great ledge of rocks lie out about two leagues into the
sea, some above water, some under it; and beyond that a shoal of sand, lying dry
half a league more, so that I was obliged to go a great way out to sea to double
the point. When first I 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 sea,
and, above all, doubting how I should get back again; so I came to an anchor;
for I had made me a kind of an anchor, with a piece of a broken grappling which
I got out of the ship.
Having secured my boat, I took my gun and went on shore, climbing up on a
hill, which seemed to overlook that point, whence I saw the full extent of it, and
resolved to venture. In my viewing the sea from that hill where I stood, I per-
ceived a strong, and indeed a most furious current, which ran to the east, and
even came close to the point; and I took the more notice of it, because I saw
there might be some danger, that when I came into it, I might be carried out to
sea by the strength of it, and not be able to make the island again: and, indeed,
bad I not got first upon this hill, I believe it would have been so, for there was
the same current on the other side the island, only that it set off at a farther
129
!
distance, and I saw there was a strong eddy* under the shore; so I had nothing
to do but to get out of the first current, and I should presently be in an eddy. I'
lay here, however, two days, because the wind blowing pretty fresh at E.S.E. and
that being just contrary to the said current, made a great breach of the sea upon
the point; so that it was not safe for me to keep too close to the shore, for the
breach, nor to go too far off, because of the stream.
The third day, in the morning, the wind having abated over-night, the sea was
calm, and I ventured; but I am a warning-piece again to all rash and ignorant
pilots; for no sooner was I come to the point, when I was not even my boat's
length from the shore, but I found myself in a great depth of water, and a current
like the sluice of a mill; it carried my boat along with it with such violence, that
all I could do would not keep her so much as on the edge of it; but I found it
hurried me farther and farther out from the eddy, which was on my left hand.
There was no wind stirring to help me, all I could do with my paddles signi
fied nothing; and now I began to give myself over for lost; because as the current
was on both sides of the island, I knew in a few leagues distance they must join
again, and then I was irrecoverably gone; nor did I see any possibility of avoid
ing it; so that I had no prospect before me but of perishing, not by the sea, for
that was calm enough, but of starving for hunger. I had, indeed, found a tor-
toise on the shore, as big almost as I could lift, and had tossed it into the boat;
and I had a great jar of fresh water, that is to say, one of my earthen pots; but
what was all this to being driven into the vast ocean, where, to be sure, there was
Ho shore, no main land or island, for a thousand leagues at least?
And now I saw how easy it was for Providence to make even the most miser-
able condition of mankind worse. Now I looked back upon my desolate, solitary
island, as the most pleasant place in the world; and all the happiness my heart
could wish for was to be but there again. I stretched out my hands to it with
eager wishes: "O happy desert!" said I, "I shall never see thee more. O mi-
serable creature! whither am I going!" Then I reproached myself with my
unthankful temper, and how I had repined at my solitary condition; and now
what would I give to be on shore there again! Thus we never see the true state
of our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries, nor know how to value
what we enjoy, but by the want of it. It is scarce possible to imagine the con-
steruation I was in, being driven from my beloved island (for so 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, indeed until my
strength was almost exhausted, and kept my boat as much to the northward, that
is, towards the side of the current which the eddy lay on, as possibly I could;
when, about noon, as the sun passed the meridian, I thought I felt a little breeze
of wind in my face, springing up from the S.S.E. This cheered my heart a little,
and especially when, in about half an hour more, it blew a pretty gentle gale.
By this time, I was got at a frightful distance from the island, and, had the least
cloudy or hazy weather intervened, I had been undone another way too; for I
had no compass on board, and should never have known how to have steered
towards the island, if I had but once lost sight of it; but the weather continuing
clear, I applied myself to get up my mast again, and spread my sail, standing
away to the north as much as possible, to get out of the current.
Just as
I had set my mnast and sail, and the boat began to stretch away, I saw
even by the clearness of the water, some alteration of the current was near; for,
where the current was so strong, the water was foul: but, perceiving the water
clear, I found the current abate; and presently I found to the east, at about half
* EDDY :-(of the Saxon eb, backward, and ea, water) in sea-language, is when the
water, at any place, runs back, contrary to the tide, or stream, and so falls into the cur
rent again. The seamen call the eddy-water which falls back, as it were, on the rudder
of a ship under sail, the dead-water. An eddy-wind is that which returns, or is beat
back from any sail; &c.
Robinson Crusoe.
Naval-Obronicle Edition.]
K
$1
C
130
a mile, a breach of the sea upon some rocks these rocks I found caused the
current to part again, and, as the main stress of it ran away more southerly, leav
ing the rocks to the north-east, so the other returned by the repulse of the rocks,
and made a strong eddy, which ran back again to the north-west, with a very
sharp stream.
They who know what it is to have a reprieve brought to them upon the ladder,
or to be rescued from thieves just going to murder them, or who have been in
such like extremities, may guess what my present surprise of joy was, and how
gladly I put my boat into the stream of this eddy; and the wind also freshening,
how gladly I spread my sail to it, running cheerfully before the wind, and with a
strong tide under foot. This eddy carried me about a league in my way back
again, directly towards the island, but about two leagues more to the northward
than the current which carried me away at first; so that when I came near the
island, I found myself open to the northern shore of it, that is to say, the other
end of the island opposite to that which I went out from.
When I had made something more than a league of way by the help of this
current or eddy, I found it was spent, and served me no farther. However, I
found that being between two great currents, viz. that on the south side, which
had hurried me away, and that on the north, which lay about a league on the
other side; I say, between these two, in the wake of the island, I found the water
at least still, 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 such fresh way as
I did before.
About four o'clock in the evening, being then within a league of the island, I
found the point of the rocks which occasioned this disaster, stretching out, as is
described before, to the southward, and casting off the current more southerly,
had, of course, made another eddy to the north; and this I found very strong,
but not directly setting the way my course lay, which was due west, but almost
full north. However, having a fresh gale, I stretched across this eddy, slanting
north-west; and in about an hour, came within about a mile of the shore, where
it being smooth water, I soon got to land.
When I was on shore, I fell on my knees, and gave thanks for my safety,
resolving to lay aside all thoughts of deliverance by my boat; and refreshing
myself with such things as I had, I brought my boat close to the shore, in a little
cove that I had spied under some trees, and laid me down to sleep, being quite
spent with the labour and fatigue of the voyage.
I was now at a great loss which way to get home with my boat; I had run so
much hazard, and knew too much of the case, to think of attempting it by the
way I went out; and what might be at the other side (I mean the west side) I
knew not, nor had I any mind to run any more ventures; so I only resolved in
the morning to make my way westward along the shore, and to see if there was
no creek where I might lay up my frigate in safety, so as to have her again, if
I wanted her. In about three miles, or thereabout, coasting the shore, I came
to a very good inlet or bay, about a mile over, which narrowed till it came to a
very little rivulet or brook, where I found a very convenient harbour for my boat,
and where she lay as if she had been in a little dock made on purpose for her.
Here I put in, and having stowed my boat very safe, I went on shore to look
about me, and see where I was.
I soon found I had but a little passed 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 umbrella, for it was exceeding hot, I began my march. The way was
comfortable enough after such a voyage as I had been upon, and I reached my
old bower in the evening, where I found every thing standing as I left it: for I
always kept it in very good order, it being, as I said before, my country-house.
I got over the fence, and laid me down in the shade, to rest my limbs, for
was very weary, and fell asleep; but judge you, if you can, that read my story,
what a surprise I must be in, when I was was awaked out of my sleep by a voice
131
calling me by my name several times," Robin ! Robin ! RobinCrusoe! poor Robin
Crusoe! Where are you, Robin Crusoe? Where are you? Where have you been?
I was so dead asleep at first, being fatigued with rowing, or paddling, as it is
called, the first part of the day, and with walking the latter part, that I did not
wake thoroughly; but, dozing between sleeping and waking, thought I dreamed
that somebody spoke to me; but as the voice continued to repeat Robin Crusoe!
Robin Crusoe! at last I began to wake more perfectly, and was at first dreadfully
frightened, and started up in the utmost consternation; but no sooner were my
eyes open but I saw my Poll sitting on the top of the hedge; and immediately
knew it was he that spoke to me; for just in such bemoaning language I
had used to talk to him, and teach him; and he had learned it so perfectly, that
he would sit upon my finger, and lay his bill close to my face, and cry,
Robin Crusoe! Where are you? Where have you been? How caine you here?"
and such things as I had taught him.
"Poor
However, even though I knew it was the parrot, and that indeed it could be
nobody else, it was a good while before I could compose myself; first, I was
amazed how the creature got thither, and then, how he should just keep about
the place, and no where else: but, as I was well satisfied it could be nobody but
honest Poll, I got over it; and holding out my hand, and calling him by his name,
Poll! the sociable creature came to me, and sat upon my thuinb, as he used to
do, and continued talking to me, Poor Robin Crusoe! and how did I come here?
and where had I been? just as if he had been overjoyed to see me again; and so
I carried him home along with me.
I now had enough of rambling to sea for some time, and had enough to do for
many days, to sit still, and reflect upon the danger I had been in. I would have
been very glad to have had my boat again on my side of the island; but I knew
not how it was practicable to get it about. As to the east side of the island,
which I had gone round, I knew well enough there was no venturing that way;
my very heart would shrink, and my very blood run chill, but to think of it; and
as to the other side of the island, I did not know how it might be there; but sup-
posing the current ran with the same force against the shore at the east, as it
passed by it on the other, I might run the same risk of being driven down the
stream, and carried by the island, as I had been before of being carried away
from it; so, with these thoughts, I contented myself to be without any boat,
though it had been the product of so many months labour to make it, and of so
many more to get it into the sea.
In this government of my temper I remained near a year, lived a very sedate,
retired, life, as you may well suppose; and my thoughts being very much com-
posed, as to my condition, and fully comforted in resigning myself to my fortune,
I thought I lived really very happily in all things, except that of society. I im-
proved myself in this time in all the mechanic exercises which my necessities put
me upon applying myself to; and I believe I could, upon occasion, have made a
very good carpenter, especially considering how few tools I had.
Besides 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 shapable, which before were filthy
things indeed to look on. But I think I was never more vain of my own per-
formance, or more joyful for any thing I found out, than for my being able to
make a tobacco-pipe; and, though it was a very ugly clumsy thing when it was
done, and only burnt red, like other earthenware, yet as it was hard and firm,
and would draw the smoke, I was exceedingly comforted with it, for I had been
always used to smoke; and there were pipes in the ship, but I forgot them at
first, not thinking that there was tobacco in the island; and afterwards, when I
searched the ship again, I could not come at any pipes at all.
In my wicker-ware also I improved much, and made abuudance of neces-
sary baskets, as well as my invention showed me; though not very handsome, yet
they were such as were very handy and convenient for my laying things up in,
K 2
132
or fetching things home. For example, if I killed a goat* abroad, I could hang
it up in a tree, flay it, dress it, 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 rest behind me. Also large deep baskets were the receivers of my corn,
which I always rubbed out as soon as it was dry, and cured, and kept it in
such baskets.
I began now to perceive my powder abated considerably; this was a want
which it was impossible for me to supply, and I began seriously to consider what
I must do when I should have no more powder; that is to say, how I should do
to kill any goats. I had, as is observed, in the third year of my being here, kept
a young kid, and bred her up tame, and I was in hopes of getting a he-goat; but
I could not by any means bring it to pass, till my kid grew an old goat; and as
I could never find in my heart to kill her, she died at last of mere age.
But being now in the eleventh year of my residence, and, as I have said, my
ammunition growing low, I set myself to study some art to trap and snare the
goats, to see whether I could not catch some of them alive; and particularly, I
wanted a she-goat great with young. For this purpose, I made snares to hamper
them; and I do believe they were more than once taken in them; but my tackle
was not good, for I had no wire, and I always found them broken, and my bait
devoured. At length I resolved to try a pit-fall; so I dug several large pits in
the earth, in places where I had observed the goats used to feed, and over those
pits I placed hurdles, of my own making too, with a great weight upon them;
and several times I put ears of barley and dry rice, without setting the trap, and
I could easily perceive that the goats had gone in and eaten up the corn, for I
could see the marks of their feet. At length, I set 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 discouraging. However, I altered my traps, and, not to
trouble you with particulars, going one morning to see 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 so fierce, I durst
not go into the pit to him; that is to say, to go about to bring him away alive,
which was what I wanted: I could have killed him, but that was not my business,
nor would it answer my end; so I even let him out, and he ran away, as if he
had been frightened out of his wits. But I had forgoten then, what I had learned,
(that is to say that hunger will tanie a lion. If I had let him stay there three or
four days without food, then have carried him some water to drink, and then
a little corn, he would have been as tame as one of the kids, for they are saga-
cious, tractable, creatures, where they are well used. However, for the present
* GOAT:-(capra) in the Linnaan system of zoology, makes a distinct genus of
animals of the order of pecoru; the distinguishing characters of which are, that its horns
are hollow, turned upward, and not smooth, but annulated on their surface; that it
has eight cutting teeth in the lower jaw, and none in the upper, and that the male is
generally bearded. This genus comprehends all the goat kind, the gazella, ibex, rupi-
capra, &c. The characters of which, according to RAY, are these; that it is covered with
hairs, not with wool; that its horns are less crooked than those of the sheep; that it has
a beard hanging down from its chin; and is of a strong smell. This genus of animals
are all able to run and climb about the rugged parts of mountains without falling,
although their legs seem by no means contrived by nature for any such purposes. LIN-
NEUS enumerates twelve known species of this animal: 1 Capra hircus, or common
kind, sufficiently known. 2. Capra mambrina, or syrian goat. 3. Capra depressa
africana, or african goat. 4. Capra reversa. 5. Ibex, or wild goat. 6. Rupicapra.
7. Capra gazella, or indian antelope. 8. Capra cervicapra, or african antelope. 9. Capra
bezoartica. 10. Cupra dorcas, or african gazel. 11. Capra Tartarica, scythian antelope,
iber imberbis, or saiga of BurroN. 12. Capra ammon, the musimon of PLINY, the tra- -
gelaphus of BELON, or siberian goat.
153
I let him go, knowing no better at that time: then I went to the three kids
and, taking them one by one, I tied them with strings together, and with some
difficulty brought them all home. It was a good while before they would feed;
but throwing them some sweet corn, it tempted them, and they began to be taine.
And now, I found that, if I expected to supply myself with goat's flesh when I
had no powder or shot left, breeding up some tame was my only way; when,
perhaps, I might have them about any house like a flock of sheep. But then it
occurred 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 some
enclosed piece of ground, well fenced, either with hedge or pale, to keep them
in so effectually, that those within might not break out, or those without break in.
This was a great undertaking for one pair of hands; yet, as I saw there was
an absolute necessity for doing it, my first work was, to find out a proper piece
of ground, where there was likely to be herbage for them to eat, water for them
to drink, and cover to keep them from the sun. Those who understand such
enclosures, 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,
which had two or three little rills* of fresh water in it, and, at one end was very
woody; I say, they will smile at my forecast, when I shall tell them, I began my
enclosing this piece of ground in such a manner, that my hedge or pale must have
been at least two miles about. Nor was the madness of it so great as to the com-
pass, for, had it been ten miles about, I was like to have time enough to do it
in; but I did not consider, that my goats would be as wild in so much compass
as if they had had the whole island, and I should have so much room to chase
them in, that I should never catch them.
My hedge was begun and carried on, I believe about fifty yards, when this
thought occurred to me; so I presently stopped short, and, for the first beginning,
I resolved to enclose a piece of about 150 yards in length, and 100 yards in
breadth; which, as it would maintain as many as I should have in any reasona-
ble time, so, as my stock increased, I could add more ground to my enclosure.
This was acting with some prudence, and I went to work with courage. I was
about three months hedging in the first piece; and, till I had done it, I tethered
the three kids in the best part of it, and used them to feed as near me as possible,
to make them familiar; and very often I would go and carry them some ears of
barley, or a handful of rice, and feed them out of my hand: so that, after my
enclosure was finished, and I let them loose, they would follow me up and down,
bleating after me for a handful of corn. This answered my end; and in about a
ycar and a half I had a flock of about twelve goats, kids and all; and, in two
years more, I had three and forty, besides several that I took and killed for my
food. After that, I enclosed five several pieces of ground to feed them in, with
little pens to drive them into, to take them as I wanted, and gates out of one
picce of ground into another.
But this was not all; for now I not only had goat's flesh to feed on when I
pleased, but milk too; a thing which, indeed, in the beginning, I did not so much
as think of, and which, when it came into my thoughts, was really an agreeable
surprise for now I set up my dairy, and had sometimes a gallon or two of milk
in a day. And as nature, who gives supplies of food to every creature seems to
dictate also even how to make use of it, so I who had never milked a cow, much
less a goat, or seen butter or cheese made, only when I was a boy, after a great
many essays and miscarriages, made both butter and cheese at last, (and also
salt (though I found it partly made to my hand by the heat of the sun upon
*RILL (contraction of rivulet from rivulus, latin) a little brook of rapid descent.
† SALT:-That well-known ingredient in the food of man, and useful auxiliary of the
arts, is, in the language of chemistry, a muriate of soda; whose composition may be
proved by the direct union of soda with muriatic acid. Its purest form is that denomi
nated bay-salt, or fishery-sal. Its purification may be effected by adding to a solution
of the common sult of the shops in water, a solution of carbonate of soda, as long as ang
134
t
some of the rocks of the sea), and never wanted it afterwards. How mercifully
can our Creator treat his creatures, even in those conditions in which they seemed
to be overwhelmed in destruction! How can he sweeten the bitterest providences!
What a table was here spread for me in a wilderness, where I saw nothing at first,
but to perish for hunger!
It would have made a stoic* smile, to have seen me and my little family sit
milkiness ensues; filtering the solution, and evaporating it, until it crystalizes. Its
qualities are as follows:-It crystalizes in regular cubes, which, when the salt is pure,
are unchanged by exposure to the air: the common salt, however, acquires an encrease
of weight, in consequence of the absorption of moisture by the impurities which it
contains. Common salt is scarcely ever found free from other salts with earthy bases,
chiefly muriates of magnesia, and lime; which are contained in the brine, and adhere
to the crystals. The earths may be precipitated by carbonate of soda; and the preci-
pitated lime and magnesia may be separated from each other by a farther process of
evaporation, &c. which it is not the object of this note to particularize. It requires for
solution twice and a half its weight of water at 60° of FAHRENHEIT'S thermometer, and
hot water takes up very little more: hence, its solution crystalizes, not like that of nitre,
by cooling, but by evaporation. When heated gradually it fuses, and forms, when
cold, a solid compact mass. If suddenly heated, as by throwing it on red-hot coals,
it decrepitates. It is not decomposed when ignited in contact with inflammable sub-
stances. When mixed with powdered charcoal, or sulphur, and fused in a crucible, it
does not undergo any decomposition or essential change; because the muriatic acid, if
it contain any oxygen, holds that basis more strongly combined than it is attracted by
combustible bodies. It is decomposed by the carbonate of potash; the alkali of which
combines with the muriatic acid of the salt, and the carbonic acid is transferred to the
soda. Hence, we obtain muriate of potash, and carbonate of soda. It is decomposed
by the sulphuric acid in the mode already described. Nitric acid also separates the
muriatic acid. The specific gravity of distilled water being taken as 1.0000, that of
sea-water is 1.0263.
* STOIC-the name of a sect of ancient philosophers, the followers of ZENO; thus
called from the Greek aroa, portico, in regard ZENO used to teach under a portico or
colonade. The author of this sect was of Cittium, a town in Cyprus, inhabited by a
colony of Phoenicians, whence he is supposed to have borrowed many of his dogmata
from phoenician philosophy, which some learned men maintain was itself borrowed
from the jewish: though, it must be allowed, there appear as many things in the stoic
philosophy borrowed from the schools of PLATO and SOCRATES as from that of Moses.
LENO, making a trading voyage from Cittium to Athens, richly freighted with tyrian
purple, was shipwrecked not far from port; upon which, we are told, consulting the
oracle how he should best spend the rest of his life, he was answered učvyxgwTICOITO
TOIS VEXOIS, by becoming of the same colour with the dead; upon which he appled
himself to the study of the ancient philosophers, and became a hearer of CRATES, the
cynic. But LAERTIUS tells us, he had too much natural modesty to suffer him to give
into the cynic impudence. From CRATES he had recourse to STILPO and XENO-
CRATES, then to DIODORUS, CRONUS, and POLEMON, and, at length, began to think of
instituting a new sect. To this purpose, a portico, 50%, called from the pictures of Po-
LIGNOTUS therein, the painted portico, was pitched on. Here using to walk and philo-
sophize, he was attended by a great number of disciples, hence called Erwixo1, Stoici. The
philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the nature of man rather than from
that of God. They meditated, however, on the divine nature as a very curious and
important speculation; and, in the profound enquiry, they displayed the strength and
the weakness of the human understanding. The admirable work of Cicero de natură
deorum, is the best clue we have to guide us through the dark and deep abyss. He re-
presents with candour, and confutes with subtlety, the opinions of the philosophers. Of
the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics and the Platonists endeavoured to reconcile
the jarring interests of reason and piety. They have left us the most sublime proofs of
the existence and perfection of the first cause; but, as it was impossible for them to
conceive the creation of matter, the workman in the stoical philosophy was not suffi-
ciently distinguished from the work; whilst, on the contrary, the spiritual god of PLATO
and his disciples, resembled an idea rather than a substance. TACITUS has character-
iged in a few words the principles of the portico; doctores sapientiue secutus est, qui sola
135
Harrier.
[Terrier.
down to dinner; there was my majesty, the prince and lord of the whole island;
I had the lives of all my subjects at my absolute command; I could condemn,
give liberty, or take it away; and no rebels among all my subjects. Then to
see how like a king I dined too, all alone, attended by my servants; Poll, as if
he had been my favourite, was the only person permitted to talk to me. My
dog, who was now grown very old and crazy, and had found no species to mul
tiply his kind, sat 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 favour. But these were not the two cats which I brought on shore at first,
for they were both of them dead, and had been interred near my habitation by
bona quae honesta, mala tantum quae turpia; potentiam, nobilitatem, caeteraque extra
animum, neque bonis neque malis adnumerant.
"JUBA: To strike thee dumb-turn up thy eyes to Cato; there may'st thou see to
what a god-like height the roman virtues lift up mortal man. While good and just,
and anxious for his friends, he's still severely bent against himself; renouncing sleep, and
rest, and food and ease, he strives with thirst, and hunger, toil, and heat; and, when his
fortune sets before him all the pomps and pleasures that his soul can wish, his rigid
virtue will accept of none.
"SYPHAX:-Believe me, Prince there's not an African that traverses our vast
numidian deserts, in quest of prey, and lives upon his bow, but better practises these
boasted virtues. Coarse are his meals, the fortune of the chase; amidst the running
stream he slakes his thirst; toils all the day; and, at the approach of night, on the first
friendly bank he throws him down, or rests his head upon a rock till morn; then rises
fresh, pursues his wonted game, and, if the following day he chance to find a new repast,
or an untasted spring, blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury.
"JUBA :-Thy prejudices, Syphax! won't discern what virtues grow from ignorance
and choice; nor how the hero differs from the brute: but grant that others could with
equal glory look down on pleasures and the baits of sense; where shall we find the man
that bears affliction, great and majestic in his griefs, like Cato? Heavens! with what
strength, what steadiness of mind, he triumphs in the midst of all his sufferings !
How does he rise against a load of woes, and thank the gods that threw the weight
upon him!
"SYPHAX: 'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul-I think the Romans
call it stoicism.". -ADDISON. Cato.
* Doo :-(canis, in zoology) a large genus of quadrupeds. The dog, in its wild.
state lives in the woods in many parts of the east; it does not attack a man, neither does
it discover any of that familiarity which we find in tame ones. Indeed, many other
animals may be made as tame as the dog by the same treatment, as has been tried on
the other, and even on the hog, with success. Authors mention many species of this
animal, as the mastiff, wolf-dog, hound, grey-hound, spaniel, water-spaniel, bull-dog,
lap-dog, &c. but these are only varieties of the original wild kind, which is of a middle
size between the mastiff and greyhound, and distinguished by a tail bending upwards.
R. C. has not afforded us a specification of his canine companion; but the reader who
is interested in zoology, or is addicted unto rural sports, may exercise conjecture, if not
gratify curiosity, by referring to the following synopsis of british dogs, extracted from
a modern and approved publication.
3. Mongrels. 2 Rustic Dogs,
Farm.
1. The more generous kinds,
Chace.
Domestic. Fowlers.
Tumbler.
Grey-hound.
Leviner or Lyemmer.
Gaze-hound.
Blood-hound.
Setter.
Spaniel.
Water-spaniel, or
Finder.
Spaniel-gentle,
or
Comforter.
Ban-dog.
Mastiff, or
Shepherd-dog.
Dancer.
Turn-spit.
Wappe.
136
1
ny own hand; but one of them having multiplied by I know not what kind of
creature, these were two which I had 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, till, at last, I was obliged to
shoot them, and did kill a great many at length, they left me. With this
attendance, and in this plentiful manner, I lived; neither could I be said to
want any thing but society; and of that, some time after this, I was like to have
too much.
I was something impatient, as I have observed, to have the use of my boat,
though very loth to run any more hazards; and, therefore, sometimes I sat con-
triving ways to get her about the island, and, at other times, I sat myself down
contented enough without her. But I had a strange uneasiness in my mind to
go down to the point of the island, where, as I have said, in my last ramble, I
went up the hill to see how the shore lay, and how the current set, that I might
see what I had to do; this inclination increased upon me every day, and, at
Jength, I resolved to travel thither by land, following the edge of the shore. I
did so; but, had any one in England been to meet such a man as I was, it must
either have frightened him, or raised a great deal of laughter; and, as I frequently
stood still to look at myself, I could not but smile at the notion of my travelling
through Yorkshire, with such an equipage, and in such a dress. Be pleased to
take a sketch of my figure, as follows:
I had a great, high, shapeless, cap, made of a goat's skin, with a flap hanging
down behind, as well to keep the sun from me, as to shoot the rain off from
running into my neck; nothing being so hurtful in these climates, as the rain
upon the flesh, under the clothes. I had a short jacket of goat's skin, the skirts
coming down to about the middle of the thighs, and a pair of open-kneed breeches
of the same; the breeches were made of the skin of an old he-goat, whose hair
hung down such a length on either side, that, like pantaloons, it reached to the
middle of my legs; stockings and shoes I had none, but had made me a pair of
somethings, I scarce know what to call them, like buskins, to flap over my legs,
and lace on either side like spatterdashes; but of a most barbarous shape, as
indeed were all the rest of my clothes. I had ou a broad belt of goat's skin
dried, which I drew together with two thongs of the same, instead of buckles;
and, in a kind of a frog on either side of this, instead of a sword and dagger, hung
a little saw and a hatchet; one on one side, and one on the other. I had another
belt, not so broad, and fastened in the same manner, which hung over my shoul-
der; and, at the end of it, under my left arın, hung two pouches, both made of
goat's skin too in one of which hung my powder, in the other my shot. At
my back I carried my basket, and on my shoulder my gun; and over my head
a great clumsy goat's skin umbrella, but which, after all, was the most necessary
thing I had about me, next to my gun. As for my face, the colour of it was
really not so mulatto-like as one might expect from a man not at all careful of
it, and living within nine or ten degrees of the equator. My beard I had once
suffered to grow till it was about a quarter of a yard long; but, as I had both
scissars and razors sufficient, I had cut it pretty short, except what grew on my
upper lip, which I had trimmed into a large pair of turkish mustachos or whiskers,
such as I had seen worn at Salee; of these, I will not say they were long enough
to hang my hat upon them, but they were of a length and shape monstrous
enough, and such as, in England, would have passed for frightful.
:
But all this is by the bye; for, as to my figure, I had so few to observe me,
that it was of no manner of consequence; so I say no more to that part. In this
kind of figure I went my new journey, and was out five or six days. I travelled
first along the sea shore, directly to the place where I first brought my boat to
an anchor, to get upon the rocks; and, having no boat now to take care of, I
went over the land, a nearer way, to the same height that I was upon before;
when, looking forward to the point of the rocks which lay out, and which I was
obliged to double with my boat, as is said above, I was surprised to see the sea
137
all smooth and quiet; no rippling, no motion, no current there, any more than
in any other places. I was at a strange loss to understand this, and resolved to
spend some time in the observing it, to see if nothing from the sets of the tide
had occasioned it; but I was presently convinced how it was, namely, that the
tide of ebb setting from the west, and joining with the current of waters from
some great river on the shore, must be the occasion of this current; and that,
according as the wind blew more forcibly from the west, or from the north, this
current came nearer, or went farther from the shore; for, waiting thereabouts till
evening, I went up to the rock again, and then, the tide of ebb being made, I
plainly saw the current again as before, only that it ran farther off, being near
half a league from the shore; whereas, in my case, it set close upon the shore,
and hurried me and my cauoe along with it; which, at another time, it would
not have done. This observation convinced me, that I had nothing to do but to
observe the ebbing and the flowing of the tide, and I might very easily bring my
boat about the island again; but, when I began to think of putting it in practice,
I had such a terror upon my spirits 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 resolution, which was more safe, though more laborious; and
this was, that I would build, or rather make me another periagua, and so have
one for one side of the island, and one for the other.
1
You are to understand, that now I had, as I may call it, two plantations in the
island, one, my little fortification or tent, with the wall about it, under the rock,
with the cave behind me, which, by this time, I had enlarged into several apart-
ments or caves, one within another. One of these, which was the driest and
largest, and had a door out beyond my wall, that is to say, beyond where
my wall joined to the rock, was all filled up with the large earthen pots, of which
I have given an account, and with fourteen or fifteen great baskets, which would
hold five or six bushels each, where I laid up my stores of provision, especially
my corn, some in the ear, cut off short from the straw, and the other rubbed out
with my hand.
As for my wall, made, as before, with long stakes or piles, those piles grew all
like trees, and were, by this time, grown so big, and spread so very much, that
there was not the least appearance, to any one's view, of any habitation behind
them. Near this dwelling of mine, but a little farther within the land, and upon
lower ground, lay my two pieces of corn land, which I kept duly cultivated and
sowed, and which duly yielded me their harvest in its season; and, whenever I
had occasion for more corn, I had more land adjoining as fit as that.
Besides this, I had my country seat; and I had now a tolerable plantation
there also for, first, I had my little bower, as I called it, which I kept in repair;
that is to say, I kept the hedge which encircled it in constantly fitted up to its
usual height, the ladder standing always in the inside: I kept the trees, which
at first were no more than my stakes, but were now grown very firm and tall,
always cut so, that they might spread and grow thick and wild, and make the
more agreeable shade; which they did effectually to my mind. In the middle
of this, I had my tent always standing, being a piece of a sail spread over poles
set up for that purpose, and which never wanted any repair, or renewing; and
under this, I had made me a squab or couch, with the skins of the creatures I
had killed, and with other soft things; and a blanket laid on them, such as be-
longed to our sea-bedding, which I had saved, and a great watch coat to cover
me; and here, whenever I had occasion to be absent from my chief seat, I took
up my country habitation.
Adjoining to this, I had my enclosures for my cattle, that is to say, my goats;
and as 1 had taken an inconceivable deal of pains to fence and enclose this
ground, I was so anxious to see it kept entire, lest the goats should break through,
that I never left off until, with infinite labour, I had stuck the outside of the
hedge so full of small stakes, and so, near to one another, that it was rather a
pale than a hedge, and there was scarce room to put a hand through between
138
them; which afterwards, when those stakes grew, as they all did in the next
rainy season, made the enclosure strong like a wall, indeed, stronger than
any wall. This will testify for me that I was not idle, and that I spared no pains
to bring to pass whatever appeared necessary for my comfortable support; for I
considered 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
entirely upon my perfecting my enclosures to such a degree, that I might be
sure of keeping them together; which, by this method, indeed, I so effectually
secured, that, when these little stakes began to grow, I had planted them so very
thick, that I was forced to pull some of them up again.
grew
In this place also I had my grapes* growing, which I principally depended on
GRAPE :-If we refer to sacred writ, we shall find that the vine was in existence
after the deluge, for Noah is said to have planted a vineyard: and as this phenomenon
did not destroy the vegetable world, which may be inferred from the dove bringing
back a branch of olive to the ark, we may presume that this generous plant was not of
post-diluvian creation, but must have existed in the former world; its ancient and
modern botanical name is vitis, supposed to be derived from the word viere, to tie,
or vincire, to bind these etymologies, however, are uncertain, but it is generally sup-
posed that Europe is indebted for it to the more genial regions of the east; a fact
which we are inclined to doubt, as even as far back as the days of HOMER, it
wild in the Island of Sicily, though not improved by culture, a secret which the rude
inhabitants were not likely to have lost, any more than they would have been ignorant
of the art of extracting wine from it, if they had once known it; it must therefore
have been indigenous, for if it had been imported, its qualities and uses would certainly
have been imported at the same time. This is also the more probable from the fact
that at the present day, the woods of North America, in the southern states, are over-
run with a species of wild vine. Yet though a native of Sicily, and most probably of
Italy, it was not until many ages afterwards that its culture became improved; at length,
however Italy had it in her power to boast, that of fourscore kinds of the then most cele-
brated wines, she produced more than the half of them on her own soil. From Italy
this fascinating plant found its way to the southern parts of France; yet it is a curious
fact in the history of the atmosphere, that those parts of that country which now
produce the finest wines, were so cold in the days of STRABO, the geographer, that it
was found impossible to ripen the vines there. It is not impossible that the progressive
clearing of the country, then over-run with forests may have gradually improved the
temperature, so that we may now consider the vines of Burgundy as the legitimate
descendants of those which were planted in the reign of the beneficent Antoninus. So
remote, indeed, is its antiquity in all countries, where it is in common cultivation, that
many modern botanists laying all historical research aside, consider it now as a native
of the temperate zone generally speaking, although it will not grow at all in the more
northern limits, nor will produce fruit of any flavour if to the southward of thirty
degrees of north latitude, or nearer to the equator in corresponding parallels of the
southern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere, how-ever, as far at least as regards
the old world, we may reckon the wine countries as between 30° and 51° north; yet
in Japan, which is within these limits, the vine will not flourish, and at the same time
in Jamaica, in the new world, which is beyond the warın limit, there is a rich muscadine
grape, which, if carefully cultivated, it has been ascertained would produce a mellow
wine. The island of Madeira is considerably within the limit, but much of the per-
fection of its wine arises from the volcanic nature of its soil, from the regular warmth
of its insular situation, from the southern aspect of the vinc-yards, and above all, from
the mode of culture, many of the vine-yards being so arranged with stone pillars six
feet high, with horizontal wood frames spread along their tops, that the grapes having
a cieling of leaves whose luxuriance Tenders them impervious to the direct rays of
the sun, thus the juices of the fruit have time to concentrate. In the new world,
however, although the vine is spontaneous throughout Virginia and Carolina, yet the
planters have never succeeded in any of their attempts in making wine which can be
compared with european produce of corresponding latitudes. This is, however, in
some measure to he accounted for from the well known fact, that the temperature of
equal parallels does not correspond, and also from the fact, that even in Virginia
139
for my winter store of raisins, and which I never failed to preserve very carefully,
as the best dainty of my whole diet; and, indeed, they were not only agreeable,
the nights are so cold in the autumn as to produce thin ice, whilst the days are almost
as hot as in the West Indies. Yet so luxuriant is the growth of the American vine,
even in its wild state, that it renders the woods in many parts impassable, and runs
up to the tops of the highest trees of the forest. Many reasons have been given for
supposing that the vine was early in common cultivation in England. The advocates
for this position tell us that it is extremely probable the Romans must have introduced
it during their establishment here; at least, say they, there is little doubt but that
vineyards were common appendages to abbies and monasteries which were frequently
filled with monks, who were foreigners, or had lived much in Italy, and had there
acquired such a habit of drinking wine at their meals, as to render the cultivation of
the grape not only a luxury, but even a necessary of life. All this, however, is
little more than conjecture; but we know that PLINY who was a very minute, though
perhaps not very accurate botanist, says nothing of the vine being in Britain; and
also that TACITUS expressly says, that it was not here in the time of Agricola. But
then, say the advocates for its existence here, vines might have been introduced into
Britain before the time of Agricola, although they did not exist then, for it is well
known that Domitian ordered all the vineyards in the provinces to be destroyed,
both because they prevented in some measure the cultivation of corn, and because
they were considered as an excitement to sedition, also the encouragement which they
gave to drunkenness, so that from his time until the repeal of the edict by Probus
in 276, they may be considered as having had no existence. Without pretending to
decide this point, which is more a matter of curiosity than of usefulness, we may
still observe that the frequent occurrence of the word vineyard in the topography
of this country, affords a very plausible ground for believing that even as far back
as the time of the Edwards, they were more frequent in exposed cultivation than at
present. This is more particularly shewn at a later period by our immortal poet, when
at the baptism of the infant Elizabeth, he makes the Archbishop say,
"In her days, every man shall eat in safety under his own vine which he plants."
An allusion which SHAKESPEARE would certainly not have adopted, unless, it
had been both a correct and familiar one. WILLIAM of Malmesbury, a monkish
historian, who lived in the twelfth century asserts that England afforded as good
vineyards as many provinces of France, and he particularly mentions Gloucester-
shire, and the Isle of Ely. It was not, however, until the middle of the seven-
teenth century that the shelter of the hot-house was considered as likely to answer for
the ripening of grapes, though it is now become so frequent. As an instance of what
may be done by cultivation, it is on record that some years since, the Duke of Portland
sent a large cluster of grapes as a present to the Marquis of Rockingham. It was
suspended on a staff, and carried a distance of more than twenty miles by four labour-
ers, who took it in pairs by turns. Its greatest diameter was nineteen and a half
inches; its circumference four and a half feet; its length twenty-two inches; and
weight about fifty pounds. But to consider this much admired plant uuder a more
scientific point of view, we must state that it is classed amongst the Pentandria-Monogy-
nia, and in the natural order of Hederace; in generic character, it has a calyx with
the perianth five toothed, and very small, whilst the corolla has five small, rude, and
caducous petals; the stamen has five filaments, which are awl-shaped, caducous
and spreading, and the anthers are simple the pistil has an ovale germ; the stigma
is obtuse headed; but there is no style: the pericarp has a globular or ovate berry;
this is two celled, and the seeds are two in number, turbinate, cordate, and contracted.
In essential character there is little to notice, except the petals adhering at the top;
but a late botanist has asserted that which would be a very curious fact if true, which is,
that the unripe grape is five celled, whilst the ripe one is one celled and five seeded.
Of this genus there are twelve species, all again divided into a number of varieties;
the most remarkable of the species are the common and current vine, palmate-leaved
Indian, Japanese, fox-grape, various-leaved, parsley-leaved, ivy-leaved, pepper-vine,
&c. To describe it minutely is unnecessary, but we may observe that every body
knows the common vine which is so frequent in cultivation here, to have a thick
irregular stem, generally twisted, and covered with a thick bark; whilst the branches
it sends out are long, flexible yet tough, and will trail along the ground unless they
meet with support, when they will rise to a very great height. As it is not often seen
140
but wholesome, nourishing, and refreshing to the last degree. As this was also
about half-way between my other habitation and the place were I had laid up my
boat, I generally stayed and lay here in my way thither; for I used frequently to
visit my boat; and I kept all things about, or belonging to her, in very good
order sometimes I went out in her to divert myself, but no more hazardous
voyages would I go, nor scarce ever above a stone's-cast or two from the shore,
I was so apprehensive of being hurried out of my knowledge again by the currents
or winds, or any other accident. But now I come to a new scene of my life.
:
It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly
surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, very plain to be seen
in the sand. I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition;
I listened, I looked round me, but I could hear nothing, nor see any thing; I
went up to a rising ground, to look farther; I went up the shore, and down the
shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression 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 print of a foot;
toes, heel, and every part of a foot: how it came thither I knew not, nor could I
in the least 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 say, the ground I went on, but terrified to the last degree; looking behind
me at every two or three steps, mistaking every bush and tree, and fancying
every stump at a distance to be a man. Nor is it possible to describe how many
various shapes my affrighted imagination represented things to me in, how many
wild ideas were found every moment in my fancy, and what strange unaccount-
able whimsies came into my thoughts by the way. When I came to my castle
(for so I think I called it ever after this), I fled into it like one pursued; whether
I went over by the ladder, as first contrived, or went in at the hole in the rock,
which I had called a door, I cannot remember; no, nor could I remember the
next morning; for never frightened hare fled to cover, or fox to earth, with more
terror of mind than I to this retreat.
I slept none that night; the farther I was from the occasion of my fright, the
greater my apprehensions were; which is something contrary to the nature of
such things, and especially to the usual practice of all creatures in fear; but I'
was so embarrassed with my own frightful ideas of the thing, that I formed nothing
but dismal imaginations to myself, even though I was now a great way off it.
Sometimes I fancied it must be the devil, and reason joined in with me upon
*
in flower, we must notice that its blossoms are herbaceous or whitish, and are on a
racemc, close to each of which is a tendril with a leaf opposite. These flowers are
trifling in appearance, but have a very agreeable odour; and though their fruit may
often produce a contrary effect, yet these may be called the most modest of the
botanical calendar, as the petals cohere at the top, and thus like a veil conceal the
whole fructification. Though this genus is not generally considered as deserving the
name of a tree; yet we must not omit a curious dissonance between it and other
plants. They improve in size, by cultivation, whilst the vine in its wild state has
been found of the most considerable size; on the banks of the Caspian sea, they
have been found as thick as a man's body, and some reputable travellers assert, that
in Barbary they have been found nine or ten feet in circumference! This, indeed,
appears mcredible, and the writer of this article must confess, that, although he has
seen them there of a size to justify a little of the marvellous, yet still he will not
assume the traveller's privilege to vouch for dimensions so extravagant. Mr. LANG, a
Janded proprietor in Styria, has been extremely successful in extracting oil from grape-
stones. He calculates that all the vines in the Austrian monarchy will furnish yearly
300,000lbs. of good oil.
1
* DEVIL:-This word is formed from the French diable italian diavole, or of the Latin
diabolus, which comes from the Greek diaCoλos, accuser, or calumniator, or from the
ancient British diafol. The Ethiopians paint the devil white, to be even with the Euro-
peans who paint him black. We find no mention of the word "devil" throughout
the Old Testament; but only of devils in the plural number, nor do we meet with the
1
141
}
this supposition; for how should any other thing in human shape come into the
place? Where was the vessel that brought them? What marks were there of
any other footsteps? And how was it possible a man should cone there? But
then to think that Satan should take human shape upon him in such a place,
where there could be no manner of occasion 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
should see it, this was an amusement the other way. I considered that the
devil might have found out abundance of other ways to have terrified me thau
this of the single print of a foot; that as I lived quite on the other side of the
island, he would never have been so simple as to leave a mark in a place where it
was ten thousand to one whether I should ever see it or not, and in the sand too,
which the first surge of the sea, upon a high wind, would have defaced entirely:
all this seemed inconsistent with the thing itself, and with all the notions we
usually entertain of the subtilty of the devil. Abundance of such things as these
assisted to argue me out of all apprehensions of its being the devil; and I pre-
sently concluded then, that it must be some more dangerous creature; that it
must be some of the savages of the main land over against me, who had wandered
out to sea in their canoes, and either driven by the currents or by contrary winds,
had made the island, and had been on shore, but were gone away again to sea;
being as loath, perhaps, to have stayed in this desolate island as I would have
been to have had them.
While these reflections were rolling upon my mind, I was very thankful in my
thoughts that I was so happy as not to be thereabouts at that time, or that they
did not see my boat, by which they would have concluded that some inhabitants
had been in the place, and perhaps have searched farther for me: then terrible
thoughts racked my imagination about their having found my boat, and that there
were people here; and that if so, I should certainly have them come again in
greater numbers, and devour me; that if it should happen so that they should not
find me, yet they would find my enclosure, destroy all my corn, carry away all
my flock of tame goats, and I should perish at last for mere want.
Thus my fear banished all my hope, all that former confidence, which was
word "devil," in any heathen authors, in the signification attached to it among Chris-
tians; that is as a celestial creature: their demonology went no farther than to evil
genii, or spirits, who harassed and persecuted mankind. Thus the Chaldeans believed
both a good principle, and an evil principle, which last was inimical to mankind.
The relations we have of the religion of the Americans assure us of some idolatrous
nations, who worship the devil: but the term devil must not be here taken in the vulgar
sense: those people have an idea of two collateral independent beings; one whereof
is good, and the other evil. And they place the earth under the guidance and direction
of that evil being, which our authors with some impropriety, call the devil. Con-
cerning this word the editor has made a careful scrutiny of the Bible, which presents
the following results. "Devil" occurs in Matthew, iv, 1, 5, 8, 11; ix, 32; xi, 18;
xii, 22; xiii, 39; xv, 22; xvii, 18; xxv, 41. Mark, v, 15, 16, 18; vii, xxix. Luke;
iv, 2, 3, 5, 6, 13, 33, 35; vii, 33; viii, 12, 29; ix, 42; xi, 14; John, vi, 70; vii, 20;
viii, 44, 48, 49 52; x, 20, 21; xiii, 2; Acts, x, 38; xiii, 10; Ephesians, iv, 27; vi, 11,
I. Timothy, iii, 6, 7; II. Timothy, ii, 26; Hebrews, ii, 14; James, iv, 7, I. Peter, v, 8;
I. John, iii, 8, 10; Jude, 9; Revelation, ii, 10; xii, 9, 12; xx, 2, 10.
"Devils" are
mentioned in Leviticus, xvii,7; Deuteronomy, xxxii, 17; II Chronicles, xi, 15; Psalm, cvi,
37; Matthew, iv, 24; viii, 16, 28, 33; Mark, i 32; v, 12; ix, 38; xvi, 17; Luke, viii.
2, 30, 33, 36;. ix, 1, 49; iv, 41; x, 17, xiii, 32; I Corinthians, x, 20, 21; I. Timothy,
iv, 1; James, ii, 19, Revelation, ix, 20; xvi, 14; xviii, 2. Although these are the only
places of the Bible where Devil, or Devils, are expressly mentioned, yet this being is
alluded to in comparative terins or synonymously in sundry other places: but it is
foreign to our present purpose to pursue biblical quotation any farther than relates
specifically to the word used in our text. Suffice it to observe that Satan, or Sathapas,
is the other descriptive appellation most frequently employed in scripture; this how-
ever, is not in the original Hebrew a proper name, but a substantive, merely signifying
an adversary, ur opponent,
•
142
founded upon such wonderful experience as I had had of the divine goodness and
power. I reproached myself with my laziness, that would not sow any more corn
one year than would just serve me till the next season, as if no accident would
intervene to prevent my enjoying the crop that was upon the ground; and this I
thought so just a reproof, that I resolved for the future to have two or three years
corn beforehand; so that whatever might come, I might not perish for want of
bread.
How strange a chequer-work is the life of man! and by what different springs
are the affections hurried about, as different circumstances present! To-day we
love what to-morrow we hate; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day
we desire what to-morrow we fear, nay, even tremble at the apprehensions of:
this was exemplified in me, at this time, in the most lively manner imaginable;
for I, whose only affliction was, that I seemed banished from human society, that
I was alone, circumscribed by the boundless ocean, cut off from mankind, and
condemned to what I called silent 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 species would have seened to me a
raising me from death to life, and the greatest blessing that heaven itself could
bestow; I say, that I should now tremble at the very apprehensions of seeing a
man, and was ready to sink into the ground at but the shadow or silent appear-
ance of a man's having set his foot in the island. Such is the uneven state of
human life; and it afforded me a great many curious speculations afterwards,
when I had a little recovered my first surprise. I considered that this was the
station of life the infinite providence of God had determined for me; that as I
could not foresee what the ends of divine wisdom might be in all this, so I was
not to dispute his sovereignty, who, as I was his creature, had an undoubted right
by creation, to govern and dispose of me absolutely as he thought fit; and who, as
I was a creature that had offended him, had likewise a judicial right to condemn
me to what punishment he thought fit; and that it was my part to submit to bear
his indignation, because I had sinned against him. I then reflected, that as God,
who was not only righteous, but omnipotent, had thought fit thus to punish and
afflict ine, so he was able to deliver me; that if he did not think fit to do so, it
was my unquestioned duty to resign myself absolutely 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. These
thoughts took me up many hours, days, nay, I may say, weeks and months; and
one particular effect of my cogitatious on this occasion I cannot omit: One morn
ing early, lying in my bed, and filled with thoughts about my danger from the
appearances of savages, I found it discomposed me very much; upon which these
words of the scripture came into my thoughts, "Call upon me in the day of trouble,
and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Upon this, rising cheerfully
my bed, my heart was not only comforted, but I was guided and encouraged
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 presented to me were,
"Wait
on the Lord be of good courage; and he shall strengthen thy heart: wait, I
say, on the Lord."* It is impossible to express the comfort this gave me. In
answer, I thankfully laid down the book, and was no more sad, at least on that
occasion. In the middle of these cogitations, apprehensions, and reflections, 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 persuade myself it was
all a delusion; that it was nothing else but my own foot: and why might I not
come that way from the boat, as well as I was going that way to the boat? Again,
I considered also, that I could by no means tell, for certain, where I had trod,
and where I had not; and that if, at last, this was only the print of my own foot,
out of
* Psalm xxvi, 14.
14.3
I had played the part of those fools who try to make stories of spectres and ap
paritions, and then are frightened at them more than any body.
Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad again, for I had not stirred
out of my castle for three days and nights, so that I began to starve for provi-
sions; for I had little or nothing within doors but some barley-cakes and water:
then I knew that my goats wanted to be milked too, which usually was my even-
ing diversion; and the poor creatures were in great pain and inconvenience for
want of it; and, indeed, it almost spoiled some of them, and almost dried up
their milk. Encouraging myself, therefore, with the belief that this was nothing
but the print of one of my own feet, and that I might be truly said to start at
my own shadow, I began to go abroad again, and went to my country house to
milk my flock; but to see with what fear I went forward, 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 any one thought I was haunted with an evil
conscience, or that I had been lately most terribly frightened; and so, 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 own imagination; but I could not persuade myself fully of this until
1 should go down to the shore again, see this print of a foot, measure it by my
own, and examine if there was any similitude of fitness, that I might be assured 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 possibly be on shore any where
thereabout: secondly, when I came to measure the mark with my own foot, I
found my foot not so large by a great deal. Both these things filled my head
with new imaginations, and gave me the vapours again to the highest degree, so
that I shook with cold like one in an ague; and I went home again, filled with
the belief that some man or men had been on shore there; or, in short, that the
island was inhabited, and I might be surprised before I was aware; and what
course to take for my security I knew not.
O what ridiculous resolutions men take when possessed with fear! It deprives
them of the use of those means which reason offers for their relief. The first thing
I proposed to myself was, to throw down my enclosures, and turn all my tame
cattle wild into the woods, lest the enemy should find them, and then frequent the
island in prospect of the same or the like booty; then to the simple thing of
digging up my two coru fields lest they should find such a grain there, and still
be prompted to frequent the island: then to demolish my bower and tent, that
they might not see any vestiges of habitation, and be prompted to look farther,
in order to find out the persons inhabiting.
These were the subject of the first night's cogitations after I was come home
again, while the apprehensions which had so overrun 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 burthen of anxiety greater, by much, than the evil which we
are anxious about: and, which was worse than all this, I had not that relief in
this trouble from the resignation I used to practise that I hoped to have. I
looked I thought like Saul, who complained not only that the Philistines were
upon him, but that God had forsaken him; * for I did not now take due ways to
compose my mind, by crying to God in my distress, and resting upon his provi
dence, as I had done before, for my defence and deliverance; which if I had
done, I had at least been more cheerfully supported under this new surprise, and
perhaps carried through it with more resolution.
This confusion of my thoughts kept me awake all night; but in the morning I
fell asleep; and having, by the amusement of my mind, been, as it were, tired,
and my spirits exhausted, I slept very soundly, and waked much better composed
than I had ever been before. And now I began to think sedately; and, upon the
* I. Samuel, xxviii, 15.
144
1
utmost debate with myself, I concluded that this island, which was so exoceding
pleasant, fruitful, and no farther from the main land than as I had seen, was not
so entirely abandoned as I might imagine; that although there were no stated
inhabitants who lived on the spot, yet that there might sometimes come boats
off from the shore, who, either with desigu, or perhaps never but when they
were driven by cross winds, might come to this place; that I had lived here
fifteen years now, and had not met with the least shadow or figure of any
people yet; and that if at any time they should be driven here, it was probable
they went away again as soon as ever they could, seeing they had never thought
fit to fix here upon any occasion; that the most I could suggest any danger froin,
was from any casual accidental landing of straggling people from the main,
who, as it was likely, if they were driven hither, were here against their wills,
so they made no stay here, but went off again with all possible speed; seldom
staying one night on shore, lest they should not have the help of the tides and
day-light back again; and, that therefore, I had nothing to do but to consider of
some safe retreat, in case I should see any savages land upon the spot.
Now I began sorely to repent that I had dug my cave so large as to bring a
door through again, which door, as I said, came out beyond where my fortification
joined to the rock: upon maturely cousidering this, therefore, I resolved to draw
me a second fortification, in the same manner of a semi-circle, at a distance from
my wall, just where I had planted a double row of trees about twelve years
before, of which I made mention: these trees having been planted so thick be-
fore, they wanted but few piles to be driven between them, that they might be
thicker and stronger, and my wall would be soon 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 seven little
holes, about as big as I might put my arm out at. In the inside of this, I thick-
ened my wall to about ten feet thick, with continually bringing earth out of my
cave, and laying it at the foot of the wall, and walking upon it; and through the
seven holes I contrived to plant the muskets, of which I took notice that I had
got seven on shore out of the ship; these I planted like iny cannon, and fitted
them into frames, that held them like a carriage, so that I could fire all the seven
guns in two minutes time: this wall I was many a weary month in âuishing, and yet
never thought myself safe till it was done. When this was done, I stuck all the
ground without my wall for a great length every way, as full with stakes or sticks of
the osier-like wood, which I found so apt to grow, as they could well stand;
iusomuch that I believe I might set in near twenty thousand of them, leaving a
pretty large space between them and my wall, that I might have room to see an
enemy, and they might have no shelter from the young trees, if they attempted
to approach my outer wall. In two years time, I had a thick grove; aud in
five or six years time I had a wood before my dwelling, growing so monstrously
thick and strong, that it was indeed perfectly impassable; and no men, of what
kind soever, would ever imagine that there was any thing beyond it, much less
a habitation. As for the way which I proposed to myself to go in and out (for
I left no avenue), it was by setting 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;
so, when the two ladders were taken down, no man living could come down to
me without doing himself mischief; and, if they had come down, they were still
on the outside of ny inner wall.
Thus I took all the measures human prudence could suggest for my own pre
servation; and it will be seen, at length, that they were not altogether without
just reason; although I foresaw nothing at that time more than my mere fear
suggested to me.
While this was doing, I was not altogether careless of my other affairs; for
I had a great concern upon me for my little herd of goats; they were not only
a ready supply to me on every occasion, and began to be suflicient for me without
the expense of powder and shot, but also without the fatigue of hunting after the
145
wild ones; and I was loath to lose the advantage of them, and to have them all
to nurse up over again.
For this purpose, after long consideration, 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 enclose
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;
so that, if any disaster happened to the flock in general, I might be able to raise
them again with little trouble and time: and this, though it would require a
great deal of time and labour, I thought was the most rational design.
Accordingly, I spent some time to find out the most retired parts of the island;
and I pitched upon one, which was, as private, indeed, as my heart could wish
for; it was a little damp piece of ground, in the middle of the hollow and thick
woods, where, as is observed, I almost lost myself 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, so surrounded with woods, that it was almost
an enclosure by nature; at least, it did not want near so much labour to make
it so, as the other pieces of ground I had worked so hard at.
I immediately went to work with this piece of ground, and, in less than a
month's time, I had so fenced it round, that my flock or herd, call it which
you
please, who were not so wild now as at first they might be supposed to be, were
well enough secured in it; so, without any farther delay, I removed ten young
she-goats and two he-goats to this piece; and when they were there, I continued
to perfect the fence, till I had made it as secure as the other; which, however,
I did at more leisure, and it took me up more time by a great deal. All this
labour I was at the expense of, purely froin my apprehensions on the account of
the print of a man's foot which I had seen; for, as yet, I never saw any human
creature come near the island; and I had now lived two years under this uneasi-
ness, which, indeed, made my life much less comfortable than it was before,
as may be well imagined by any who knows what it is to live in the constant
fear of the snare of man. And this I must observe, with grief too, that the dis-
composure of my mind had too great impressions also upon the religious part of
my thoughts; for the dread and terror of falling into the hands of savages and
canibals, lay so upon my spirits, that I seldom found myself in a due temper for
application to my maker, at least, not with the sedate calmness and resignation.
of soul which I was wont to do: I rather prayed to God as under great affliction
and pressure 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, thankfulness, love, and affection, is much
the more proper frame for prayer, than that of terror and discomposure; and
that, under the dread of mischief impending, a man is no more fit for a comfort-
ing performance of the duty of praying to god, than he is for a repentance on a
sick-bed; for these discomposures affect the mind, as the others do the body:
the discomposure of the mind must necessarily be as great a disability as that of
the body, and much greater; prayer being properly an act of the mind, not of
the body.
But to go on after I had thus secured one part of my little living stock, I
went about the whole island, searching for another private place to make such
another deposite ;* when, wandering more to the west point of the island than
I had ever done yet, and looking out to sea, I thought I saw a boat upon the sea,
at a great distance. I had found a perspective-glass or two in one of the seamen's
chests, which I saved out of our ship, but I had it not about me; and this was
so remote, that I could not tell what to make of it, although I looked at it until my
* DEPOSITE :—this old english term is now almost generally, but improperly super-
seded by the gallicism, dépôt. Depositary is the trustee or keeper of a thing; dei
pository, the place where a thing is kept or lodged,
L
Robinson Crusoe.
Naral-Chronicle Edition.]
146
eyes were not able to hold to look any longer; whether it was a boat or not,
I do not know, but as I descended from the hill, I could see no more of it; so
I gave
it over; only I resolved to go no more out without a perspective-glass in
my pocket. When I was come down the hill to the end of the island, where,
indeed, I had never been before, I was presently convinced that the seeing the
print of a man's foot was not such a strange thing in the island as I imagined;
and (hut that it was a special providence that I was cast upon the side of the
island where the savages never came) I should 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 sea, to shoot over to that side of the island for harbour;
likewise as they often met and fought in their canoes, the victors having taken
any prisoners, would bring them over to this shore, 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 shore, as I said above, being
the S.W. point of the island, I was perfectly confounded and amazed; nor is it
possible for me to express the horror of my mind, at seeing the shore spread
with skulls, hands, feet, and other bones of human bodies; and, particularly, I
observed a place where there had been a fire made, and a circle dug in the earth,
like a cock-pit, where I supposed the savage wretches had set down to their
inhuman feast.
I was so astonished with the sight of these things, that I entertained no notions
of any danger to myself from it for a long while; all my apprehensions were
buried in the thoughts of such a pitch of inhuman, hellish, brutality, and the
horror of the degeneracy of human nature, which, though I had heard of it often,
yet I never had so near a view of before; in short, I turned away my face from the
horrid spectacle; my stomach grew sick, and I was just at the point of fainting,
when nature, discharging the disorder from my stomach with uncommon violence,
I was a little relieved, but could not bear to stay in the place a moment; so I
got me up the hill again with all the speed I could, and walked on towards my
habitation. When I came a little out of that part of the island, I stood still
awhile, as amazed, and then, recovering myself, I looked up with the utmost affec-
tion of my soul, and, with a flood of tears in my eyes, gave God thanks, that had
cast my first lot in a part of the world where I was distinguished from such
dreadful creatures as these; and that, though I had esteemed my present condi-
tion very miserable, had yet given me so many comforts in it, that I had still
more to give thanks for, than to complain of. In this frame of thankfulness, I
went home to my castle, and began to be much easier now, as to the safety of
my circumstances, than ever I was before; for I observed that these wretches
never came to this island in search 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 saw the least foot-
steps of human creature there before; and I might be eighteen years more as
entirely concealed as I was now, if I did not discover myself to them, which I
had no manner of occasion to do; it being my only business to keep myself
entirely concealed where I was, unless I found a better sort of creatures than
canibals to make myself known to. Yet I entertained such an abhorrence of
the savage wretches that I have been speaking of, and of the wretched inhuman
custom of their devouring and eating one another up, that I continued pensive
and sad, and kept close within my own circle, for almost two years after this:
when I say my own circle, I mean by it my three plantations, viz. my castle,
my country-seat, which I called my bower, and my enclosure in the woods
nor did I look after this for any other use than as an enclosure for my goats;
for the aversion which nature gave me to these hellish wretches was such, that
I was as fearful of seeing them as of seeing the devil himself. I did not so much as go
to look after my boat all this time, but began rather to think of making me ano-
ther; for I could not think of ever making any more attempts to bring the other
;
{
147
boat round the island to me, lest I should meet with some of these creatures at
sea; in which, if I bad happened to have fallen into their hands, I knew what
would have been my lot.
Time, however, and the satisfaction I had that I was in no danger of being
discovered by these people, began to wear off my uneasiness about them; and
I began to live just in the same composed manner as before, only with this dif
ference, that I used more caution, and kept my eyes more about me than I did
before, lest I should happen to be seen by any of them; and, particularly, I was
more cautious of firing my gun, lest any of them being on the island should hap-
pen to hear it. It was, therefore, a very good providence to me that I had fur-
nished myself with a tame breed of goats, and that I had no need to hunt any
more about the woods, or shoot at them; and, if I did catch any of them after
this, it was by traps and snares, as I had done before; so that, for two years after
this, I believe I never fired my gun once off, though I never went out without it;
and, which was more, as I had saved three pistols out of the ship, I always car-
ried them out with me, or, at least two of them, sticking them in my goat's-skin
belt. 1 also furbished up one of the great cutlasses that I had out of the ship,
and made me a belt to hang it on also; so 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-sword hanging at iny side
in a belt, but without a scabbard.
Things going on thus, as I have said, for some time, I seemed, excepting these
cautions, to be reduced to my former calm, sedate, way of living. All these
things tended to show me more and more, how far my condition was from being
miserable, compared to some others; nay, to many other particulars of life, which
might have been my lot. It put me upon reflecting how little repining there
would be among mankind at any condition of life, if people would rather com-
pare their condition with those that were worse, in order to be thankful, than
be always comparing them with those which are better, to assist their murmur-
ings and complainings.
As in my present condition there were not really many things which I wanted,
so, indeed, I thought that the frights I had been in about these savage wretches,
and the concern I had been in for my own preservation, had taken off the edge
of my invention for my own conveniences; and I had dropped a good design,
which I had once bent my thoughts too much upon, and that was, to try if I could
not make soine of my barley into malt, and then try to brew myself some beer.
This was really a whimsical thought, and I reproved myself often for the simplicity
of it; for I presently saw there would be the want of several things necessary
to the making my beer, that it would be impossible for me to supply; as, first,
casks to preserve it in, which was a thing that, as I have observed already, I could
never compass; no, though I spent not only many days, but weeks, nay, months,
in attempting it, but to no purpose. In the next place; I had no hops to make
it keep, no yest* to make it work, no copper or kettle to make it boil; and yet,
:
YEST since the former note on this word (page 114) was printed, the editor
has obtained the following additional information on the subject of perpetuating so
useful and necessary an article in domestic economy. 1. To make yest from hop-liquor.
Put one ounce of hops into four quarts of cold water, and let them boil slowly for ten
minutes. Then take out one pint of this liquor, and strain it through a hair sieve, and,
when cool, stir in half a pound of fine flour. When the remaining liops and water have
boiled ten minutes more, take them off, and strain them, and while hot, mix the two
quantities well together in a large bason. When as cold as liquor ought to be for
setting on yest, put in two table-spoonfuls of good fresh yes, and place the mixture
before the fire. Keep it covered till it just begins to ferment (which will be in a few
hours), and then immediately put it into a very dry and sweet stone or earthen bottle,
which will hold six quarts. Fit it close with a good cork, over which tie a piece of
bladder to exclude all air. Keep this bottle in a moderate warm place, and when it has
stood two or three days, you may begin to make yest. It is not necessary to empty the
L 2
148
with all these things wanting, I verily believe, had not the frights and terrors
I was in about the savages intervened, I had undertaken it, and, perhaps, brought
it to pass too; for I seldom gave any thing over without accomplishing it, when
once I had it in my head 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 some
of these monsters in their cruel, bloody, entertainment, and, if possible, save
the victim they should bring hither to destroy. It would take up a larger volume
than this whole work is intended to be, to set down all the contrivances I hatched,
or rather brooded upon, in my thoughts, for the destroying these creatures, or,
at least, frightening them, so as to prevent their coming hither any more; but
all this was abortive; nothing could be possible to take effect, unless I was to
be there to do it myself; and what could one man do among them, when, per
haps, there might be twenty or thirty of them together, with their darts, or their
bows and arrows, with which they could shoot as true to a mark as could
with my gun
?
Sometimes I thought of digging a hole under the place where they made their
fire, and put in five or six pounds of gunpowder, which, when they kindled their
fire, would consequently take fire, and blow up all that was near it; but as, in
the first place, I should be unwilling to waste so much powder upon them, my
store being now within the quantity of one barrel, so neither could I be sure of
its going off at any certain time, when it might surprise them; and, at best,
that would do little more than just blow the fire about their ears, and fright
them, but not sufficient to make them forsake the place; so I laid it aside; and
then proposed that I would place myself in ambush in some convenient place,
with my three guns all double-loaded, and, in the middle of their bloody cere
mony, let fly at them, when I should be sure to kill or wound perhaps two or
three at every shot; and then, falling in upon them with my three pistols, and
my sword, I made no doubt, but that, if there were twenty, I should kill them all.
This fancy pleased my thoughts for some weeks; and I was so full of it, that I
often dreamed of it, and, sometimes, that I was just going to let fly at them in my
sleep. I went so far with it in my imagination, that I employed myself several
days to find out proper places to put myself in ambuscade, as I said, to watch
for them; and I went frequently to the place itself, which was now grown more
familiar to me; but while my mind was thus filled with thoughts of revenge, and
bottle, but, when about a pint remains, make fresh liquor, as at first: only, instead of
two spoonfuls of yest, you may use the same quantity of the yest prepared as below; or
the pint of hop-liquor alone will answer the purpose. 2. To make yest with the preced-
ing liquor; boil or steam some very mealy potatoes with the skins on (if boiled, dry
them well in the pan), peel and mash them down to a fine powder. To every tea-cup-
ful of mashed potatoes, put a tea-cupful of fine flour, and when these are well mixed,
shake up the bottle of hop liquor, and add to them a tea-cupful of it. Mix the whole
well together, and it will be about the consistence of hasty pudding. Put it into a
large jug, which must be covered, and placed near the fire for twenty-four hours. If
right, the yest will rise very light and high. Thus prepared, it may be used immedi-
ately, but it is better for being kept a day in the cellar closely covered, and will con-
tinue good a week. It will be found to produce a never-failing supply, at the least
possible trouble and expense. It is easily understood, and the necessary materials are
readily procured. The yest is simple in the preparation, and superior in quality and
wholesomeness. For the bread made with it is always white, is improved in white-
ness, and keeps moist. It is free from all bitterness, and is more encreased in quantity,
than bread made with common yest. 3. To make fine, or coarse, bread, or rolls, with
this yest To 10 pounds of course kitchen flour use about three tea-cupfuls of yest. (One
tea-cupful makes three pounds of fine flour into very light bread.) To make rolls, mix
the flour with milk instead of water, and, to six pounds of flour, put two and a half cups
of yest, as the milk, being heavier, requires more yest. In each of these cases, a little
experience will shew how much yest is necessary. The dough rises best, if it be made
the last thing at night, and placed before the kitchen fire, on account of the evenness
of the warmth. In no case will it rise in less than six hours.
149
a murderous putting twenty or thirty of them to the sword, as I may call it, the
horror I had at the place, and at the signals of the barbarous wretches devouring
one another, abetted my malice. Well, at length, 1 found a place in the side of
the hill, where I was satisfied I might securely wait until I saw any of their boats
coming; and might then, even before they would be ready to come on shore,
convey myself, unseen, into some thickets of trees, in one of which there was a
hollow large enough to conceal me entirely; and there I might sit and observe
all their bloody doings, and take my full aim at their heads, when they were so
close together as that it would be next to impossible that I should miss my shot,
or that I could fail wounding three or four of them at the first shot. In this
place then, I resolved to fix my design; and, accordingly, I prepared two mus-
kets, and my ordinary fowling-piece. The two muskets I loaded with a brace
of slugs each, and four or five smaller bullets, about the size of pistol-bullets; and
the fowling-piece I loaded with near a handful of swan-shot, of the largest size:
I also loaded my pistols with about four bullets each: and, in this posture, well
provided with ammunition for a second and third charge, I prepared myself for
my expedition.
After I had thus laid the scheme of my design, 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 sea, 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,
constantly 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
shore, but on the whole ocean, so far as my eyes or glasses could reach every way.
As long as I kept my daily tour to the hill to look out, so long also I kept up
the vigour of my design, and my spirits seemed to be all the while in a suitable
form for so outrageous an execution as the killing twenty or thirty naked savages,
for an offense which I had not at all entered into a discussion of in my thoughts,
any farther than my passions were at first fired by the horror I conceived at the
unnatural custom of the people of that country; who, it seems, had been suf-
fered by providence, in his wise disposition of the world, to have no other guide
than that of their own abominable and vitiated passions; and, consequently,
were left, and perhaps had been so for some ages, to act such horrid things,
and receive such dreadful customs, as nothing but nature, entirely aban-
doned by heaven, and actuated by some hellish degeneracy, could have run
them into. But now, when, as I have said, I began to be weary of the fruit-
less excursion which I had made so long and so far every morning in vain, so
my opinion of the action itself began to alter; and I began, with cooler and
calmer thoughts, to consider what I was going to engage in; what authority
or call I had to pretend to be judge and executioner upon these men as criminals,
whom heaven had thought fit, for so many ages, to suffer, unpunished, to go on,
and to be, as it were, the executioners of its judgments one upon another. How
far these people were offenders against me, and what right I had to engage in the
quarrel of that blood which they shed promiscuously upon one another; I debated
this very often with myself, thus: How do I know what God himself judges in
this particular case? It is certain these people do not commit this as a crime;
it is not against their own consciences reproving, or their light reproaching them ;
they do not know it to be an offense, and then commit it in defiance of divine
justice, as we do in almost all the sins we commit. They think it no more a
crime to kill a captive taken in war, than we do to kill an ox; nor to eat human
flesh, than we do to eat mutton.
When I considered this a little, it followed necessarily that I was certainly in
the wrong in it; that these people were not murderers in the sense that I had
before condemned them in my thoughts, any more than those Christians were
murderers who often put to death the prisoners taken in battle; or, more fre
quently, upon many occasions, put whole troops of men to the sword, without
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giving quarter, although they threw down their arms and submitted. In the next
place, it occurred to me, that, although the usage they gave one another was thus
brutish and inhuman yet it was really nothing to me; these people had done me no
injury; that, if they attempted me, or I saw it necessary, for my immediate pre-
servation, to fall upon them, something might be said for it; but that I was yet
out of their power; that they really had no knowledge of me, and consequently
no design upon me; and, therefore, it could not be just for me to fall upon them;
that this would justify the conduct of the Spaniards in all their barbarities prac-
tised 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, such as sacrificing human bodies to their idols, were yet, as to
the Spaniards, very innocent people; and that the rooting them out of the
country is spoken of with the utinost abhorrence and detestation by even the Spa-
niards themselves at this time, and by all other christian nations in Europe, as
a mere butchery, a bloody, unjustifiable, and unnatural piece of cruelty; and
for which the very name of a Spaniard is reckoned to be frightful and odious to
all people of humanity, or of compassion; as if the kingdom of Spain were par-
ticularly eminent for the produce of a race of men who were without principles
of tenderness, or the common bowels of pity to the miserable, which is reckoned
to be a mark of generous temper in the mind.
These considerations really put me to a pause, and to a kind of a full stop;
and I began, by little and little, to be off my design, and to conclude I had taken
wrong measures in my resolution to attack the savages; and that it was not my
business to meddle with them, unless they first attacked me; and this it was my
business, if possible, to prevent; but that if I were discovered and attacked by
them, I knew my duty. On the other hand, I argued with myself, that this really
was the way not to deliver myself, but entirely to ruin and destroy myself; for,
unless I was sure to kill every one that not only should be on shore at that time,
but that should ever come on shore afterwards, if but one of them escaped to tell
their country people what had happened, they would come over again by thou-
sands 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 occasion for. Upon
the whole, I concluded, that, neither in principle or in policy, I ought, one way
or other, to concern myself in this affair; that my business was, by all possible
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
shape. Religion joined in with this prudential resolution; and I was convinced
now, many ways, that I was perfectly out of my duty, when I was laying all my
bloody schemes for the destruction of innocent creatures, I mean innocent as
As to the crimes they were guilty of towards one another, I had nothing
to do with them; they were national, and I ought to leave them to the justice of
God, who is the governor of nations, and knows how, by national punishments,
to make a just retribution for national offences, and to bring public judgments
upon those who offend him in a public manner, by such ways as best please him.
This appeared so clear to me now, that nothing was a greater satisfaction to me
than that I had not been suffered to do a thing which I now saw so much reason
to believe would have been no less a sin 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-guiltiness; beseeching him to grant me the protection of
his providence, that I might not fall into the hands of the barbarians, or that I
might not lay my hands upon them, unless I had a more clear call from heaven
to do it, in defense of my own life.
to me,
In this disposition I continued for near a year after this; and so far was I from
desiring an occasion for falling upon these wretches, that in all that time, I never
once went up the hill to see whether there were any of them in sight, or to know
whether any of them had been on shore there or not, that I might not be
tempted to renew any of my contrivances against them, or be provokod, by any
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advantage which might present itself, to fall upon them: only this I did, I went
and removed my boat, which I had on the other side of the island, and carried
it down to the east end of the whole island, where I ran it into a little cove,
which I found under some high rocks, and where I knew, by reason of the cur-
rents, the savages durst not, at least, would not, come with their boats, upon any
account whatever. With my boat, I carried away every thing that I had left
there belonging to her, although not necessary for the bare going thither, such as
a mast and sail which I had made for her, and a thing like an anchor,* but which
indeed, could not be called either anchor or grapnel; 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 human habi-
tation upon the island. Besides this, I kept myself, as I said, more retired than
ever, and seldom went from my cell, other than upon my constant employment,
to milk my she-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 savage people, who sometimes haunted this island, never came with
any thoughts of finding any thing berc, and consequently never wandered off from
the coast; and I doubt not but they might have been several times on shore after
my apprehensions of them had made me cautious, as well as before. Indeed, I
looked back with some 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 unarmed, except with one gun, and that loaded often only with small
shot, I walked every where, peeping and peering about the island to see what I
could get; what a surprise should I have been in, if, when I discovered the print
of a man's foot, I had, instead of that, seen fifteen or twenty savages, and found
them pursuing me, and by the swiftness of their running, no possibility of my
escaping them? The thoughts of this sometimes sunk my very soul within me,
and distressed my mind so much, that I could not soon recover it, to think what
should have done, and how I should not only have been unable 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 consideration and preparation, I might
be able to do. Indeed, after serious thinking of these things, I would be very
melancholy, and sometimes it would last a great while; but I resolved it all, at
last, into thankfulness unto that providence which had delivered me from so many
unseen dangers, and had kept from me those mischiefs which I could have no way
been the agent in delivering myself from, because I had not the least notion of
any such thing depending, or the least supposition of its being possible. This
renewed a contemplation which often had come to my thoughts in former time,
when first I began to see the merciful dispositions of heaven, in the dangers we
run through in this life; how wonderfully we are delivered when we know no-
thing of it; how, when we are in a doubt or hesitation, (a quandary as we call it)
whether to go this way, or that way, a secret hint shall direct us this way, when
we intended to go that way: nay, when sense, our own inclinations, and perhaps
business, has called to go the other way, yet a strange impression upon the mind,
from we know not what springs, and by we know not what power, shall over-rule us
to go this way; and it shall afterwards appear, that, had we gone that way which
we should have gone, and even to our imagination ought to have gone, we should
have been ruined and lost. Upon these, and many like reflections, I afterwards
made it a certain rule with me, that, whenever I found those secret hints or press-
ANCHOR an instrument used to retain and fasten a vessel by. The word comes
from the latin anchora, or ancora, of the Greek afxva, which comes from afxyλos, incurvus,
crooked. An anchor is a large piece of iron, crooked at one end, and formed into twọ
barbs, resembling a double book; and fastened at the other end by a cable. The good-
ness of the anchor is a point of great importance; the safety and conservation of
the vessel depending principally upon it. Great care is to be taken, that the metal
it is made of be neither too soft nor too brittle; the latter rendering it liable to break,
and the former to straiten. See pages 7, 23,
t
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A
ings of mind, to doing or not doing any thing that presented, or going this way
or that way,
I never failed to obey the secret dictate; though I knew no other
reason for it than that such a pressure, or such a hint hung upon my mind. I
could give many examples of the success of this conduct in the course of my life,
but more especially in the latter part of my inhabiting this unhappy island; be-
sides many occasions which it is very likely I might have taken notice of, if I
had seen with the same eyes that I see with now. But it is never too late to be
wise; and I cannot but advise all considering men, whose lives are attended
with such extraordinary incidents as mine, or even, although not so extraordinary,
not to slight such secret intimations of providence, let them come from what
invisible intelligence they will; that I shall not discuss, and perhaps cannot ac-
count for; but certainly they are a proof of the converse of spirits, and a secret
communication betwech those embodied and those unembodied, and such a proof
as can never be withstood; of which I shall have occasion to give some very
remarkable instances in the remainder of my solitary residence in this dismal
place.
I believe the reader of this will not think it strange if I confess, that these
anxieties, these constant dangers I lived in, and the concern that was now upon
me, put an end to all invention, and to all the contrivances that I had laid for
my future accommodations and conveniences. I had the care of my safety now
more upon my bands than that of my food. I cared not to drive a nail, or chop
a stick of wood now, for fear the noise I might make should be heard; much
less would I fire a gun for the same reason; and, above all, I was intolerably
uneasy at making any fire, lest the smoke which is visible at a great distance in
the day, should betray me. For this reason, I removed that part of my business
which required fire, such as burning of pots and pipes, &c. to my new apartment
in the woods; where, after I had been some time, I found, to my unspeak❤
able consolation, a natural cave in the earth, which went in a vast way, and
where, I dare say, no savage, had he been at the mouth of it, would be so hardy
as to venture in; nor, indeed, would any man else, but one who, like me, wanted
nothing so much as a safe retreat.
The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of a great rock, where, by merc
accident (I would say, if I did not see abundant reason to ascribe all such things
now to providence), I was cutting down some thick branches of trees to make
charcoal;* and, before I go on, I must observe the reason of my making this
* CHARCOAL:- artificial coal, or fuel consisting of wood half burnt; chiefly used
where a clear, strong fire, without smoke, is required; the humidity of the wood being
here mostly dissipated and exhaled in the fire wherein it was prepared. The microscope
discovers a surprising number of pores in charcoal; they are disposed in order, and
traverse it lengthwise; so that there is no piece of charcoal, how long soever, but may
be easily blown through. If a piece be broken pretty short, it may be seen through
with a microscope. In a range, the eighteenth part of an inch long, Dr. Hook reckoned
one hundred and fifty pores; whence he concludes, that, in a charcoal of an inch
diameter, there are no less than five-million-seven-hundred-twenty-four-thousand
pores. It is to this prodigious number of pores, that the blackness of charcoal is owing;
for the rays of light striking on the charcoal, are received and absorbed in its pores,
stead of being reflected; whence the body must of necessity appear black, blackness
in a body being no more than a want of reflection. Dr. PRIESTLY conjectures, that
this is owing to the oil of the wood, made empyreumatic, and burnt to a certain degree;
and that it is connected with the phlogiston united to the earth of the plant, when the
union is strengthened by an intense heat. The same philosopher has discovered that
charcoal is a conductor of electricity; and that the degree of its conducting power de-
pends on the degree of heat with which it is prepared; and he ascribes this power to the
phlogiston united with it in the process, intimating that the strength of the conducting
power may depend more on the perfect union between the inflammable principle and its
base, which results from the degree of heat only, than on the quantity of phlogiston thus
united to the earth. He adds, that, as charcoal, when separated from the external air,
will bear a greater degree of heat, without being dissipated into vapour, than silver or
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​charcoal, which was thus: I was afraid of making a smoke about my habitation,
as I said before; and yet I could not live there without baking my bread, cook-
gold, it may be possible to make this substance a better conductor of electricity than
the most perfect metals. Wood, in the process of being reduced to charcoal, is dini-
nished both in weight and bulk: nevertheless wood and charcoal expand by a certain
degree of heat, but the latter in the greatest proportion; and a greater degree of heat
makes them contract. The noxiousness of air infected with the fumes of burning char-
coal is well known: the cause of this has been sufficiently explained by Dr. PRIESTLY,
and others, who account for it by the diminution of the air, in consequence of being over-
charged with phlogiston, and the deposition of fixed air. According to the more approved
modern doctrine of chemistry, the only form of absolute purity in which the carbonic
principle of charcoal is presented to us is that of the diamond; which has been proved
by recent experiments to be pure carbon in a crystalized state. However, charcoal,
although far from being pure, is yet sufficiently so for the purpose of exhibiting its com-
bination with oxygen. To obtain it free from contamination, pieces of wood, particu-
larly oak, willow, or hazel, deprived of their bark, must be covered with sand in a cru-
cible, which is to be exposed (closed up) to the strongest heat of a wind-furnace. For
purposes to which charcoal is applied in a powdered state, it may be purified by washing
it when pulverised, with diluted muriatic acid, and afterwards with distilled water. In
its aggregated state, charcoal is black, perfectly insipid, free from smell, brittle, and
easily pulverized. It has the singular property of absorbing gas without alteration.
Fill a jar with common air, or any other gas, and place it over a bath of dry mercury:
take a piece of charcoal red-hot from the fire, and plunge it into the mercury; when
cold, let it be passed into the vessel of gas, without bringing into contact with the
atmosphere, a considerable diminution of the gas will be speedily effected. From the
experiments of RoUPPE (Annales de chimie), it appears, that, if charcoal which has
imbibed oxygen gas, be brought into contact with hydrogen gas, water is generated.
Charcoal, by long exposure to the atmosphere, absorbs of its weight, of which are
water. Charcoal resists the putrefaction of animal substances. A piece of flesh meat
which has begun to be tainted, may have its sweetness restored, by rubbing it daily
with powdered charcoal; and it may be preserved sweet for some time, by burying it
in powdered charcoal, which is to be renewed daily. Putrid water also is restored by
the application of the same substance; and water may be kept unchanged at sea by
charring the inner surface of the casks which are used to contain it. Charcoal is a very
slow conductor of caloric, or the matter of heat. The experiments of GUYTON-MOR-
VEAU have determined, that caloric is conveyed through charcoal more slowly than
through sand, in the proportion of 3 to 2. Hence, powdered charcoal may be advan-
tageously employed to surround substances which are to be kept cool in a warm atmos-
phere; and also to confine the caloric of heated bodies. The union of carbon with
oxygen, whatever may be the source of the latter, affords carbonic acid. To procure
this gas in the easiest manner, and sufficiently pure for the exhibition of its properties,
the chemical student may put a little powdered marble or chalk, into a common glass
bottle, and pour on this sulphuric acid, diluted with 5 or 6 times its weight of water: a
gas will be produced, which is fatal to animals, and may be more advantageously used
than the fumes of sulphur, for suffocating insects, &c. intended to serve as cabinet
specimens of natural history, whose colours it may be particularly desirable to preserve.
(HENRY.) Mathematical instrument makers, engravers, &c. find charcoal of great use
to polish their brass and copper plates, after they have been rubbed clean with powder of
pumice-stone. Mr. BoYLE says, that the more curious burn it a second time, and
quench it in a convenient fluid. Plates of horn are polishable the same way, and
a gloss may be afterwards given with tripoly. Charcoal and soot-black are the two most
durable and useful blacks of the painter, and of the varnish maker; those of the
former kind are used both as pigments and pencils; and charcoal crayons prepared
from the willow are preferred on account of their softness. Charcoal tinges glass, in
fusion, yellow, reddish, &c. and, by baking, stains it yellow. Charcoal was antiently
used to distinguish the bounds of estates and inheritances; as being a supposed incor
ruptible, when let very deep within the ground. In effect, it preserves itself so long,
that there are many pieces found entire in the antient tombs of the northern nations.
Mr. DODART says, there is sometimes found charcoal made of corn, probably as old as
the days of Cesar: he adds, that it has kept so well, that the wheat may be still distin
guished from the rye which he looks on as a proof of its incorruptibility.
154
ing my meat, &c.; so I contrived to burn some wood here, as I had seen done
in England, under turf, till it became chark, or dry coal; and then, putting the
fire out, I preserved the coal to carry home, and perform the other services for
which fire was wanting, without danger of smoke: but this is by the bye. While
I was cutting dowir some wood here, I perceived that, behind a very thick branch
of low brush-wood, or under-wood, there was a kind of hollow-place: I was
curious to look in it, and getting with difficulty into the mouth of it, I found it
was pretty large; that is to say, sufficient for me to stand upright in it, and per-
haps another with me; but, I must confess to you, that I made more haste out
than I did in, when looking farther into the place, and which was perfectly dark,
I saw two broad shining eyes of some creature, whether devil or man I knew
not, which twinkled like two stars: the dim light from the cave's mouth shining
directly in, and making the reflection. However, after some pause, I recovered
myself, and began to call myself a thousand fools, and to think, that he who was
afraid to see the devil, was not fit to live twenty years in an island all alone; and
that I might well think there was nothing in this cave that was inore frightful
than myself. Upon this, plucking up my courage, I took up a firebrand, and in
I rushed again, 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 very loud
sigh, like that of a man in some pain, and it was followed by a broken noise,
as of words half expressed, and then a deep sigh again. I stepped back, and
was, indeed, struck with such a surprise, 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 still plucking up my spirits as well as I could, and encou-
raging myself a little with considering, that the power and presence of God was
every where, and was able to protect me; upon this I stepped forward again,
and, by the light of the fire-brand, holding it up a little over my head, I saw
lying on the ground, a most monstrous, frightful old he-goat, just making his
will (as we say), gasping for life, and dying, indeed, of mere old age. 1 stirred
him a little to see if I could get him out, and he essayed to get up, but was not
able to raise himself; and I thought with myself he might even lay there; for,
if he had frightened me so, he would certainly fright any of the savages, if any
of them should be so hardy as to come in there, while he had any life in him.
I was now recovered from my surprise, and began to look round me, when I
found the cave was but very small, that is to say, it might be about twelve feet
over, but in no manner of shape, neither round nor square, no hands having ever
been employed in making it but those of mere nature. I observed also that there
was a place at the farther side of it that went in farther, but was so low, that
it required me to creep upon my hands and knees to go into it, and whither it
went I knew not; so, having no candle, I gave it over for that time; but re-
solved to come again the next day, provided with candles and a tinder-box, which
I had made of the lock of one of the muskets, with some wild-fire in the pan.
Accordingly, the next day, I came provided with six large candles of my own
making (for I made very good candles now of goat's tallow, but was hard set
for candle-wick, using sometimes rags or rope-yarn, and sometimes the dried rind
of a weed like nettles), and going into this low place, I was obliged to creep
upon all-fours, as I have said, almost ten yards; which, by the way, I thought
was a venture bold enough, considering that I knew not how far it might go, nor
what was beyond it. When I had got through the strait, I found the roof rose
higher up, I believe near twenty feet; but never was such a glorious sight seen
in the island, I dare say, as it was, to look round the sides and roof of this vault
or cave the walls reflected an hundred thousand lights to me from my two can,
dles. 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, although
perfectly dark; the floor was dry and level, and had a sort of a small loose
gravel upon it, so that there was no nauseous or venomous creature to be seen,
155
neither was there any damp or wet on the sides or roof; the only difficulty in
it was the entrance; which, however, as it was a place of security, and such
a retreat as I wanted, I thought that was a convenience; so that I was really
rejoiced at the discovery, and resolved, without any delay, to bring some of
those things which I was most anxious about to this place; particularly, I resolved
to bring hither my magazine of powder, and all my spare-arms, viz. two fowling.
pieces, for I had three in all, and three muskets, for of them I had eight in all: so I
kept at my castle 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 occasion of removing my ammunition, I happened to open the barrel of
powder which I took up out of the sea, and which had been wet; and I found
that the water had penetrated about three or four inches into the powder on
every side, which, caking and growing hard, had preserved the inside like a kernel
in the shell; so that I had near sixty pounds of very good powder in the centre
of the cask this was a very agreeable discovery to me at that time; so I carried
all away thither, never keeping above two or three pounds of powder with me
in my castle, for fear of a surprise of any kind: I also carried thither all the lead
I had left for bullets.
:
I fancied myself now like one of the antient giants, which were said to live in
caves and holes in the rocks, where none could come at them; for I persuaded
myself, while I was here, if five hundred savages 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, whom I found expiring, died in the mouth of the cave the next
day after I made this discovery; and I found it much easier to dig a great bole
there, and throw him in, and cover him with earth, than to drag him out; so I
interred him there, to prevent offense to my nose.
I was now in the twenty-third year of my residence in this island; and was
so naturalized to the place, and the manner of living, that, could I have but en-
joyed the certainty that no savages would come to the place to disturb me,
I could have been content to have capitulated for spending the rest of my time
there, even to the last moment, till I had laid me down and died, like the old goat
in the cave. I had also arrived to some little diversions and amusements, which
made the time pass a great deal inore pleasantly with me than it did before: as,
first, I bad taught my Poli, as I noted before, to speak; and he did it so familiarly,
and talked so articulately and plain, that it was very pleasant to me; for I be-
lieve no bird ever spoke plainer: and he lived with me no less than six and
twenty years: how long he might have lived afterwards I know not, although I
know they have a notion in Brazil that they live an hundred years. My dog was
a very pleasant and loving companion to me for no less than sixteen years of my
time, and then died of mere old age.* As for my cats, they multiplied, as I
* Dog :—so much has been said of the services of this creature in all ages, and of
the predominancy of its friendship towards man, that to compile its history would be
to mark the progress of civilization, and to mark the progress of that order which has
placed man at the head of the animal creation. Man, deprived of this ally, would
unsuccessfully resist the brutish foes that on all sides surround him in the savage state,
against whose rapacity and speed, neither his own vigilance, nor his utmost exertions,
could secure his property or person. Some animal uniting zeal, fidelity, boldness,
docility, and obedience, was essential to ensure his safety, and this happy association
has been found exclusively in the Dog. To most animals nature has been more bounti-
ful in the distribution of the senses than to man: to instance only that of scent, suffices
for demonstration that, to have conciliated unto our service a tractable race, endowed
with this sense to such an exquisite degree, is to have acquired a new faculty. In fine,
it is the dog alone among aninials, in whom social virtue is instinctive, and whose education
is ever successful. Although the dog is subject to alterations occasioned by physical
influence and domestic management, so that, in the same country, dogs greatly differ,
and, in-different climates, the varieties are so numerous, that the very species seem to
be changed; yet their internal organization, and the faculty of procreating and pros
156
have observed, to that degree, that I was obliged to shoot several of thein at first,
to keep them from devouring me and all I had; but, at length, when the two
old ones I brought with me were gone, and after some time continually driving
them from me, and letting them have no provision with me, they all ran wild into
the woods, except two or three favourites, which I kept tame, and whose young,
ducing fertile offspring, cominon to the most dissimilar individuals of the canine race,
prove that, however diversified, dogs constitute but one species; and keeping in view
this position, we may, with fair probability, suppose, that the shepherd's dog constitutes
the parent-stock, the true dog of nature. It would lead us beyond the bounds of anno-
tation to pursue any farther the researches of origin, which some naturalists extend even
to the jackal; but it may tend to the entertainment and instruction of the reader to note
that there is such an undoubted community of organization between the dog, the fox,
and the wolf, corroborated by the fecundity of the hybrids, ar mongrels, produced from
such intermixture, that naturalists have, with one accord, classed them under the same
genus, or kind, denominated in the language of zoological science, canis. At the arrival of
the Europeans in America, the wolf was the half-reclaimed dog of the indigenes; it is well
ascertained that the kamtshatkan dogs are of wolfish descent or alliance: the copulation of
the wolf and the bitch has been experimentally demonstrated in this country; the same re-
marks, including that of the further continuance of the mixed breed, apply to the fox ; so
that those two wild animals may be added to the jackal as supposed original ancestors
of our faithful domestic. In the north-eastern provinces of Russia they add the labour
of common draught animals to their other services towards man. Captain KING, the
editor of Cook's last voyage, relates, that a courier with despatches, drawn by them,
performed a journey of 270 english miles in 4 days. In China, in the isles of the Pacific
ocean, and at the southern extremity of the american continent, the dog is an article
of food for man. Mr. WHITE particularly describes a chinese dog and bitch brought
from Cantong, where they are fattened for the table, with rice-meal, and other farina.
ceous food: their principal characters are thus stated the size about that of a spaniel;
colour pale yellow; cars sharp, erect; head peaked, and fox-like; with coarse bristling
hairs on the back; hind legs, with no bend at the hock, and so strait as to cause an
aukward gait in trotting; tail curved high over the back, with a place on the outside
naturally bare of hair; eyes, lips, and mouth, black; tongue blue. A Voyage to the
South-Seas, in the Years 1740-1, containing a faithful Narrative of the Loss of H.M.S. the
Wager, &c. compiled by JOHN BULKELEY, and JOHN CUMMINS (gunner and carpenter
of that ship), contains the following authentic annals of dog-eating on the coast of
Patagonia :-
Monday, the 7th September, I was invited to a dog-feast, at Mr. Jones's tent:
there were present at this entertainment, the lieutenant (Beans), the honourable John
Byron, Mr. Cummins, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Young, Lieutenants Ewers and Fielding, and
Dr. Oakley, of the army. It was exceeding good eating; we thought no english mut-
ton preferable to it.--24th, 1 was sent on a week's cruise in the barge; six indian
canoes came in our absence. The people bought dogs of the Indians, which they killed and
ate, esteeming the flesh very good food.-12th, November. Again saw the two Indians
making signs to follow, which we did, to the place where the canoe lay with four Indians
in her. They had a mangey dog, which they parted with to one of the people for a pair
of cloth trowzers; this dog was very soon killed, dressed and devoured.---6th De-
cember. At 3 this morning, abreast of Cape Munday; at 6, abreast of Cape Quad,
opposite to which on the south shore [of Magelhaëns' streight] saw a smoak, on which,
we went a-shore to the Indians, who came out on a point of land, hollowing and crying,
Bona! Bona! endeavouring to make us understand that they were our friends: when
ashore, we traded with them for two dogs, three brant-geese, and some seal; which
'supply was very acceptable to us; we supped on the dogs, and thought them equal in
goodness to the best mutton in England." The reader will find the brant-goose described at
page 93, and the seal delineated at page 74, of this edition. Dr. Carus, an english
physician in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, wrote a tract on british dogs, for the use of
his learned friend GESNER, and added a synopsis or systematic table (which has been
already given in the former note on the subject of this animal affixed to puge 135)
BUFFON also formed a table of descent, which the reader, interested in the investigation
of the canine race, will find in the appendix to this volume, only so far curtailed as to
explain the pedigree solely of those dogs that have been herem-beforc alluded to, as
immediate descendants of the shepherd-dog.
1
157
When they had any, I always destroyed: and these were part of my family.
Besides, I always kept two or three household kids about me, whom I taught
to feed out of my hand; and I had two more parrots, which talked pretty well,
and would all call "Robin Crusoe," 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 sea-fowls, whose names I knew not, that I caught upon the shore, and cut
their wings; and the little stakes which I had planted before my castle wall
being now grown up to a good thick grove, these fowls all lived among these low
trees, and bred there, which was very agreeable to me; so that, as I said above,
I began to be very well contented with the life I led, if I could but have been
secured from the dread of the savages. But it was otherwise directed; and it
may not be amiss for all people who shall meet with my story, to make this just
observation from it: how frequently, in the course of our lives, the evil which
in itself we seek most to shun, and which, when we are fallen into, is the most
dreadful to us, is oftentimes the very means or door of our deliverance, by which
alone 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
last
was it more particularly remarkable than in the circumstances of my years
of solitary residence in this island.
It was now the month of December, as I said above, in my twenty-third year;
and this being the southern solstice (for winter I cannot call it), was the particular
time of my harvest, and required my being pretty much abroad in the fields:
when, going out pretty early in the morning, even before it was thorough day-
light, I was surprised with seeing a light of some fire upon the shore, at a dis-
tance from me of about two miles, towards the end of the island where I had
observed some savages had been, as before, and not on the other side; but, to
my great affliction, it was on my side of the island. I was, indeed, terribly sur-
prised at the sight, and stopped short within my grove, not daring to go out,
lest I might be surprised; and yet I had no more peace within, from the appre-
hensions I had that, if these savages, in rambling over the island, should find my
corn standing or cut, or any of my works and improvements, they would immedi
ately conclude that there were people in the place, and would then never give
over, till they had found me out. In this extremity, I went back directly to my
castle, pulled up the ladder after me, and made all things without look as wild
and natural as I could.
Then I prepared myself within, putting myself in a posture of defence: I
loaded all my cannon, as I called them, that is to say, my muskets, which were
mounted upon my new fortification, and all my pistols, and resolved to defend
myself to the last gasp; not forgetting seriously to commend myself to the divine
protection, for deliverance out of the hands of the barbarians. I continued in
this posture about two hours; and began to be mighty impatient for intelligence
abroad, for I had no spies to send out. After sitting a while longer, and musing
what I should do in this case, I was not able to bear sitting in ignorance any
longer; so setting up my ladder to the side of the hill, where there was a flat place,
as I observed before, and then pulling the ladder up after me, I set it up again,
and mounted to the top of the hill; and 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 presently found there were no less than nine
naked savages sitting round a small fire they had made, not to warm them, for
they had no need of that, the weather being extremely hot, but, as I supposed,
to dress some of their barbarous diet of human flesh, which they had brought
with them, whether alive or dead I could not tell. They had two canoes which
they had hauled up upon the shore; and as it was then tide of ebb, they seemed
to me to wait for the return of the flood to go away again. It is not easy to
imagine what confusion this sight put me into, especially seeing them come on
my side of the island, and so near me too; but, when I considered their coming
must be always with the current of the ebb, I began, afterwards, to be more
158
;
sedate in my mind, being satisfied that I might go abroad with safety all the
time of the tide of flood, if they were not ou shore before; and having made
this observation, I went abroad about my harvest work with the more composure.
As I expected, thus it proved; for, so soon as the tide made to the westward, I
saw them all take boat, and row (or paddle) away. I should have observed, that
for an hour or more before they went off, they went a dancing; and I could easily
discern their postures and gestures by my glass. I could not perceive, by my
nicest observation, but that they were stark naked, and had not the least covering
upon them; but whether they were men or women, I could not distinguish. As
soon as I saw them shipped and gone, I took two guns upon my shoulders,
two pistols in my girdle, and my great sword by my side, without a scabbard,
and with all the speed I was able to make, went away to the bill where I had
discovered the first appearance of all; and as soon as I got thither, which was
not in less than two hours (for I could not go space, being so laden with arms
as I was),I perceived there had been three canoes more of savages at that place, and
looking out farther, I saw they were all at sea together, making over for the main.
This was a dreadful sight to ine, especially as, going down to the shore, I could
see the marks of horror, which the dismal work they had been about had left
behind it, the blood, the bones, and part of the flesh of human bodies, eaten and
devoured by those wretches with merriment and sport. I was so filled with
indignation at the sight, that I now began to premeditate the destruction of the
next that I saw there, let them be whom or how many soever. It seemed evident
to me, that the visits which they made thus to this island 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 neither saw them, nor auy footsteps or signals of them
in all that time; for, as to the rainy seasons, then they are sure not to come abroad,
at least not so far: yet all this while I lived uncomfortably, by reason of the
constant apprehensions of their coming upon me by surprise from whence I
observe, that the expectation of evil is more bitter than the suffering. 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 aud
fall upon them, the very next time I should see them; especially if they should
be divided, as they were the last time, into two parties; nor did I consider at
all, that if I killed one party, suppose ten or a dozen, I was still the next day or
week, or month, to kill another, and so another, even unto infinity, till I should
be at length, no less a murderer, than they were in being man-eaters, and per-
haps much more so. 1 spent my days now in great perplexity and auxiety of
mind, expecting that I should, one day or other, fall into the hands of these mer-
ciless creatures; and if I did, at any time, venture abroad, it was not without
looking round me with the greatest care and caution imaginable. And now I
found, to my great comfort, how happy it was that I provided a tame herd of
goats; for I durst not, upon any account, fire my gun, especially near that side
of the island where they usually came, lest I should alarin the savages; and if
they had fled from me now, I was afraid to have them come again, with perhaps
two or three hundred canoes, in a few days, and then I knew what to expect.
However, I wore out a year and three months more before I ever saw any more
of the savages, and then I found them again, as I shall soon observe. It is true,
they might have been there once or twice, but either they made no stay, or at
least I did not see 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 sixteen months interval,
was very great; I slept unquiet, dreamed always frightful dreams, and often
started out of my sleep in the night in the day, great troubles overwhelmed
my mind; and in the night I dreamed often of killing the savages, and of the
reasons why I might justify the doing of it. But, to waive all this for a while.
It was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth day, I think, as well as my poor
159
wooden calendar" would reckon, for I marked all upon the post still; I say, it
was on the sixteenth of May that it blew a very great-storm-of-wind-all-day with
a great deal of lightning and thunder, and a very foul night it was after it. I
knew not what was the particular occasion of it, but, as I was reading in the bible,
and taken up with serious thoughts about my present condition, I was surprised
with the noise of a gun, as I thought, fired at sea. This was, to be sure, a sur-
prise quite of a different nature from any I had met with before; for the no-
tions this put into my thoughts were quite of another kind. I started up in the
greatest haste imaginable, and, in a trice, clapped my ladder to the middle place
of the rock, and pulled it after me; and mounting it the second time, got to the
top of the hill the very moment that a flash of fire bid me listen for a second gun,
which, accordingly, in about half a minute,t I heard; and, by the sound, knew
•
* CALENDAR --(Kalendarium, Calendarium, latin.) a distribution of time accommo-
dated to the uses of life; also a table or almanac, containing the order of days, weeks,
months, festivals, &c. happening throughout the year. It is called calendar from the
word calendo, antiently written in large characters at the head of each month. The
days in calendars were originally divided into octo-ades, or eighths; but, afterwards,
in imitation of the jews, into hebdomades, or sevens: which custom, SCALIGER observes,
was not introduced among the Romans, until after the time of THEODOSIUS. There
are divers calendars, according to the different forms of the year, and distributions of
time, established in different countries. Hence, the roman, the jewish, the persian, the
julian, the gregorian, &c. calendars. The antient roman calendar is given by RICCIOLUS,
STRUVIUS, DANET, and others; wherein we see the order and number of the roman
holy-days, and work-days. The three christian calendars are given by WOLFIUS in
his Elements of Chronology. The jewish calendar was fixed by rabbi HILLEL about the
year 360, from which time the days of their year may be reduced to those of the julian
calendar. The julian, or old style, agrees with the julian year, which contains three
hundred and sixty-five days, six hours. The gregorian, or new style, agrees with the
true solar year, which contains only three hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-
nine minutes. In the year of Christ 200, there was no difference of styles, but there
has since arisen a difference of eleven days, now become twelve, between the old style
and the new, the latter being so much before hand with the former, so that when the catho-
lics reckon the twenty-first of May, those who use the old style reckon the ninth. At the
diet of Ratisbon, in 1700, it is decreed by the protestant part of the germanic body, that
eleven days should be retrenched from the old style to accommodate it, for the future, to
the new. And the same regulation has since passed into Sweden, Denmark, and into Eng-
land, where it was established by 24 GEORGE II. 33, which enacts; that, in all dominions
belonging to the crown of Great Britain, the supputation, according to which the year
of our Lord begins on the twenty-fifth day of March, shall not be used from and after
the last day of December, 1751; and that, from thenceforth, the first day of January
every year, shall be reckoned to be the first day of the year: and that the natural day
next immediately following the second day of September, 1752, shall be called and
reckoned the fourteenth day of September, omitting the eleven intermediate nominal
days of the common calendar, and that the several natural days succeeding the four-
teenth, shall be called and reckoned forwards in numerical order from the fourteenth
day of September. Moreover, it is enacted, that all kinds of writings, &c. shall bear
date according to the new method of supputation, and that all courts, and meetings,
&c. feasts, fasts, &c. shall be held and observed accordingly. And for preserving the
calendar in the same regular course for the future, it is enacted, that the several years
of our Lord, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300, &c. except only every four hundredth year
of our Lord, of which the year 2000 shall be the first, shall be common years of three
hundred and sixty-five days, and that the years 2000, 2400, 2800, &c. and every other
four hundredth year from the year 2000 inclusive, shall be leap years, consisting of
366 days. According to the early writers, J. C. suffered under the consulship of the
two GEMINI, in the year 29 of our present æra.
·
* SOUND-the space through which sound is propagated in a given time has been
very differently estimated by authors who have written concerning this subject. Ro-
BERVAL gives it at the rate of 560 feet in a second; GASSENDUS at 1473; MER-
SENNE at 1474; DU-HAMEL (in the History of the Academy of Sciences at Paris), at
1172; the academy del Pimento at 1148; BOYLE at 1200; ROBERTS at 1300; WAL-
:
160
that it was from that part of the sea where I was driven down the current in my
KER at 1338; Sir ISAAC NEWTON at 968; Dr. DERHAM (in whose measure Mr. FLAM-
STEED, and Dr. HALLEY acquiesced) at 1142. The reason of which variety Dr. DIR-
HAM ascribed partly to some of those gentlemen using strings and plummets instead of
regular pendulums,; partly to there not being distance enough between the sonorous
body and the place of observation; and partly to there being no regard had to the
winds. But, by the account, since published by Mr. CASSINI-DE-THURY, in the
Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris (for the year 1738), where cannon
were fired at various distances, under variety of weather, wind, and other circumstances,
and where the measures of the different places had been settled with the utmost exact-
ness, sound was propagated at a medium at the rate only of 1038 french feet in a
second. According to CHAMBERS's Cyclopaedia, the french foot exceeds the english by
nearly seven lines and a half, or is as 107 to 114; and consequently 1038 french feet
are equal to 1106 english feet. The difference, therefore, between the measures of Dr.
DERHAM and of Mr. CASSINI, is 34 french, or 36 english feet, in a second. According
to this latter measure, the velocity of sound, when the wind is still, is settled at the rate
of a mile, or 5280 english feet in seconds. Acording to the proportions set-
ö 77
tled by the french royal academy of sciences, the paris foot, called pied-de-roi, being
divided into 12 inches, each inch into 12 lines, and each line supposed to be
divided into 310 parts; the paris foot will contain 1440 of such parts, and the
london foot 1350. According to DELALANDE, as quoted by TILLOCH, the french
foot is to the english as 1068 to 1000. Some of the most considerable queries,
relating to the law of sounds, Dr. DERIIAM proposes, and answers several of them
accurately, from experiments made for that purpose by himself, as follow:-How far
does a sound move in a second of time? Sound moves 1142 feet, or 380 yards in a
second, which is just an english mile in 94 or 9.25 half seconds; two miles in 183; three
miles, or a league, in 274, &c. and about 13 miles in one minute. But sea-miles are
to land-miles nearly as 7 to 6; and, therefore, sound runs a sea-league in about 12
seconds of time. It is a common observation, that persons in good health have about
75 pulsations, or beats, of the artery at the wrist, in a minute; consequently, in 75 pul-
sations, sound flies about 13 land-miles, and about 11 sea-miles, which is about one
land-mile in 6 pulses, and about one sea-mile in near seven pulses, or a league in 20
pulses. And hence the distance of objects may be found, by knowing the time which
sound takes to move from those objects to an observer; for instance: upon seeing the
flash of a gun at sea, if 56 beats of the pulse at the wrist were counted before the report
was heard, the distance of that gun may easily be found by dividing 56 by 20, which
gives 2.8 leagues, or about 8 miles. Does the report of a gun, discharged with its
mouth towards us, come sooner than when the muzzle is from the observer? By repeated
experiments, it appears, there is no difference in the sound from this different direction.
Do sounds move in the same time, through the same spaces, in all states of the atmos
phere, and heights of the barometer, by day and by night, in summer and in winter, in
snowy and in clear weather, in this or that climate? By repeated experiments, it does
not appear there arises any difference from any of these different circumstances. Do the
winds affect the motion of sounds? By repeated experiments, it appears there is some,
though a very small, difference in the velocity of sounds, with or against the wind ;
which is proportionably augmented or diminished by the strength or weakness of the
wind. Do a great and intense sound, and a small or languid one, move with the same
velocity? It appears that they do. For, by experiments, a cannon fired with a half-
pound charge of powder was heard at about the distance of 17½ miles in the same time
after the flash was seen, as when fired with a charge of 6lb. Does the sound of a gun move
equally swift at all elevations of the gun? It does. Do different quantities or strengths of
gun-powder occasion any difference as to the velocity of the sound? None. Does
sound move in a right line the nearest way, or does it sweep along the earth's surface?
And is there any difference in the time, if the piece be discharged in an acclive and
a declive position? Sound moves the nearest way; and the velocity appears to be the
same in acclivities as in declivities. Have all kinds of sounds, as those of guns, bells,
&c. the same velocity? And are sounds equally swift in the beginning of their motion
and in the end? There appears no inequality in either of these respects; and there.
fore, the times in which sound is heard are proportional to the distances; that is, at a
double distance it is heard in twice the time, According to the aval Chronicle,
(vol, xix, for 1808) sound is conveyed 173 toises (french) in one second of time. The
result of this investigation gives about 6 miles as R. C.'s distance from the shipwreck.
161
boat. Timmediately considered that this must be some ship in distress, and that
they had some comrade, or some other ship in company, and fired these guns for
signals of distress, to obtain help. I had the presence of mind, at that minute,
to think, that although I could not help them, it might be they could help me: so
I brought together all the dry wood I could get at hand, and making a good
handsome pile, I set it on fire upon the hill. The wood was dry, and blazed
freely;
and although the wind blew very hard yet it burnt fairly out; so that I was
certain if there was any such thing as a ship, they must needs see it; and no doubt
they did; for as soon as ever my fire blazed up I heard another gun, and after
that several others, all from the same quarter. I plied my fire all night long,
until day-break; and when it was broad day, and the air cleared ap, I saw some-
thing at a great distance at sea, full east of the island, whether a sail or a hull
I could not distinguish, no, not with my glass; the distance was so great, and
the weather still something hazy also; at least, it was so out at sea.
I looked frequently at it all that day, and soon perceived that it did not move;
so I presently concluded that it was a ship at anchor; and being eager, you may
be sure, to be satisfied, I took my gun in my hand, and ran towards the south
side of the island, to the rocks where I had formerly been carried away with the
current; and getting up there, the weather by this time being perfectly clear,
I could plainly see to my great sorrow, the wreck of a ship, cast away in the
night upon those concealed rocks which I found when I was out in my boat; and,
which rocks as they checked the violence of the stream, and made a kind of
counter stream, or eddy, were the occasion of my recovering from the most
desperate, hopeless condition that ever I had been in all my life. Thus, what
is one man's safety is another man's destruction; for it seems these men, who-
ever they were, being out of their knowledge, and the rocks being under water,
had been driven upon them in the night, the wind blowing hard at E. N. Ë.
Had they seen the island, as I necessarily suppose they did not, they must,
as I thought, have endeavoured to have saved themselves on shore by the help
of their boat; but their firing off guns for help, especially when they saw, as I
imagined, my fire, filled me with many thoughts: First I thought that upon
seeing my light, they might have put themselves into their boat, and endeavoured
to make the shore; but that the sea going very high, they might have been cast
away: other times I imagined that they might have lost their boat before, as might
be the case, many ways; as, particularly, by the breaking of the sea upon their
ship, which many times staves or breaks in pieces the boat, and sometimes
obliges men to throw it overboard with their own hands: other times I imagined
they had some other ship or ships in company, who upon the signals of distress
they had made, had taken them up and carried them off: other times I fancied
they were all gone off to sea 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 misery and perishing; and that, perhaps, they might by this
time be starving, and be in a condition to think of eating one another.
As all these were but conjectures at best; so, in the condition I was in, I
could do no more than look on upon the misery of the poor men, and pity
them; which had still this good effect on my side, that it gave me more and
more cause to give thanks unto God, who had so happily and comfortably pro-
vided for me in my desolate condition; and also that of two ship's companies
who were now cast away upon this part of the world, not one life should be
spared but mine. I learned here again to observe, that it is very rare that pro-
vidence casts us into any condition of life so low, or any misery so great, but
we may see something or other to be thankful for, and may see others in worse
circumstances than our own. Such certainly was the case of these meu, of
whom I could not so much as see room to suppose any of them were saved;
nothing could make it rational so much as to hope or expect that they did not
all perish there, except the possibility only of their being taken up by another
ship in company; and this was but mere possibility indeed, for I saw not the
Robinson Crusoe.
Naval Chronicle Edition.]
M
162
least sign or appearance of any such thing. I cannot explain, by any possible
energy of words, what a strange longing or hankering of desires I felt in my souÏ
upon this sight, breaking out sometimes thus: O! that there had been but
one or two; nay, or but one soul saved out of this ship, to have escaped to
me, that I might but have had one companion, oute creature to have spoken
to me, and to have conversed with! In all the time of my solitary life,
I never felt so earnest, so strong a desire after society, or so deep a regret
at the want of it. There are some secret moving springs in the affections,
which, when they are set a-going by some object in view, or, although not in
view, yet rendered present to the mind by the power of imagination, that
motion carries out the soul, by its impetuosity, to such violent, eager embracings
of the object, that the absence of it is insupportable, Such were these earnest
wishings, that but one man had been saved. I believe I repeated the words,
O! that it had been but one! a thousand times; and my desires were so moved
by it, that when I spoke the words my hands would clinch together, and my
fingers would press the palms of my hands, that if I had any soft thing in my
hand, it would have crushed it involuntarily; and the teeth in my head would
strike together, and set against one another so strong, that for some time I could
not part them again. Let the naturalists explain these things, and the reason
and manner of them: all I can say to them is to describe the fact, which was
even surprising to me, when I found it, although I knew not from whence it pro-
teeded: it was doubtless the effect of ardent wishes, and of strong ideas formed
in my mind, realizing the comfort which the conversation of one of my fellow
creatures would have been to me.-But it was not to be; either their fate or
mine, or both, forbade it; for until the last year of my being on this island, I
never knew whether any were saved out of that ship or no; and had only the
affliction, some days after, to see the corps of a drowned boy come on shore at
the end of the island which was next the shipwreck. He had on no clothes but
a seaman's waistcoat, a pair of open-kneed linen drawers, and a blue linen shirt;
but nothing to direct me so much as to guess what nation he was of: he had
nothing in his pockets but two pieces-of-eight and a tobacco pipe;-the last was
to me of ten times more value than the first.
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 press me, so much as the possibility that there
might be yet some living creature on board, whose life I might not only save, but
might, by saving that life, comfort my own to the last degree; and this thought
clung so to my heart, that I could not be quiet night or day, but I must venture
out in my boat on board this wreck; and committing the rest to providence, I
thought the impression was so strong upon my mind that it could not be resisted,
that it must come from some invisible direction, and that I should be wanting
to myself if I did not go. Under the power of this impression, I hastened 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 ram (for I had still a
great deal of that left), and a basket of raisins; and thus loading myself with
every thing necessary, I went down to my boat, got the water out of her, put
her afloat, loaded all my cargo in her, and then went home again for more. My
second cargo was a great bag of rice, the umbrella to set up over my head for
a shade, another large pot of fresh water, and about two dozen of my small
loaves, or barley-cakes, more than before, with a bottle of goat's milk and a
cheese: all which, with great labour and exertion, I carried to my boat; and
praying to God to direct my voyage, I put out; and rowing, or paddling, the
canoe along the shore, came at last to the utmost point of the island on the north
east side. 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
sides of the island at a distance, and which were very terrible to me, from the
remembrance of the hazard Į had been in before, and my heart began to fail me;
163
for I foresaw that if I was driven into either of those currents, I should be
carried a great way out to sea, and perhaps out of my reach, or sight of the
island again; and that then, as my boat was but sinall, if any little gale of wind¨´
should arise, I should be inevitably lost.
These thoughts so oppressed my mind, that I began to give over my enter-
prise; and having hauled my boat into a little creek on the shore, I stepped out,
and sat me down upon a rising bit of ground, very pensive and anxious, between
fear and desire, about my voyage; when as I was musing, I could perceive that
The tide was turned, and the food come on; upon which my going was imprac-
ticable for so many hours. Upon this presently
Upon this presently it occurred to me, that I should
go up to the highest piece of ground I could find, and observe, if I could, how
the sets of the tide, or currents, lay when the flood came in, that I might judge
whether, if I was driven one way out, I might not expect to be driven another
way home, with the same rapidness of the currents. This thought was no sooner
my head than I cast my eye upon a little hill, which sufficiently overlooked
the sea 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 set out close by the south point of the island, so
the current of the flood set in close by the shore of the north side; and that I
had nothing to do but to keep to the north side of the island in my return, and I
should do well enough.
in
Encouraged with this observation, I resolved, the next morning, to set out with
the first of the tide; and reposing myself for the night in my canoe, under the
great watch-coat I mentioned, I launched out. I first made a little out to sea,
full north, until I began to feel the benefit of the current, which set eastward, and
which carried me at a great rate; and yet did not so hurry me as the current
on the south side had done before, so as to take from me all government of the
boat; but having a strong steerage with my paddle, I went directly for the wreck,
and in less than two hours I came up to it.

It was a dismal sight to look at; the ship, which, by its building, was Spanish,
stuck fast, jammed in between two rocks; the stern and quarter of her were beaten
to pieces with the sea; and as her forecastle, which stuck in the rocks, had run ou
with great violence, her mainmast and foremast were brought by the board, that is to
say, broken short off; but her bowsprit was sound, and the head and bow appeared
firm. When I came close to her, a dog appeared upon her, who seeing me coming,
yelped and crieo ;and as soon as I called him, jumped into the sea to come to me; I
took him ino the boat, but found him almost dead with hunger and thirst. I
gave him a cake of my bread, and he devoured it like a ravenous wolf that had
been starving a fortnight in the snow: I then gave the poor creature some fresh
water, with which, if I had let him, he would have burst himself. After
this, I went on board; but the first sight I met with was two men drowned in the
cook-room or forecastle of the ship, with their arms fast about one another... I
concluded as is indeed probable, that when the ship struck, it being in a storm the
M 2
164
Tea broke so high, and so continually over her, that the men were not able to bear it,
and were strangled with the constaut rushing in of the water, as much as if they had
been under water. Besides the dog, there was nothing left in the ship that had
life, nor any goods, that I could see, but what were spoiled by the water. There
were some casks of liquor, whether wine or brandy I knew not, which lay lower
in the hold, and which the water being ebbed out, I could see; but they were
too big to meddle with. I saw several chests, which I believed belonged to some
of the seamen; and I got two of them into the boat, without examining what was
in them. Had the stern of the ship been fixed, and the forepart broken off, I am
persuaded I might have made a good voyage; for, by what I found in these two
chests, I had room to suppose the ship had a great deal of wealth on board;
and, if I may guess from the course she steered, she must have been bound from
Buenos-Ayres * or the Rio de la Plata, in the south part of America, beyond
* BUENOS-AYRES:-the capital city of the vice-royalty of Paraguay, is situated on
the south side of the Rio de la Plata, in latitude 34° 35′ 26″ S. longitude 58° 23′ 38" W.
from Greenwich, according to the Requisite-Tables: with which the Connaissance-des-
ems, (1808) agrees in point of latitude, but makes the longitude 7' 22' more westerly.
Buenos-Ayres derives its name from the salubrity of its atmosphere: it is bounded on
its eastern side by a small river, over which is a wooden bridge the northern and west-
ern sides are surrounded with gardens and orange groves, enclosed with strong hedges
of the aloe, (see p. 96) and the prickly-pear. In the centre of the town, on the face
next the river, stands the castle, a square work flanked with small bastions; the walls
are about 15 feet high, with a ditch on the front towards the town only, over which is
draw-bridge. In this fortress is the usual residence of the governor. The great square,
La Plasa, serves as esplanade to detach the castle from the town on its southern side
is a large church with a lofty dome. At the N. W. angle of the town is another
extensive opening called Plaza de Toros, in which is the amphitheatre for the favorite
national exhibition of bull-fights. The houses in this neighbourhood are substantial
elevated edifices, and their roofs surrounded by parapets at least four feet high. The
streets generally intersect each other at right angles. This place has been recently
brought into notice by the easy success of a small english expedition sent against it
from the Cape of Good-hope in 1806; a success remarkably contrasted with its no less
easy loss a few months afterwards; and the inglorious failure of an attempt to recover
possession of it the following year; the result of which was a treaty between the English
and the Spaniards, dated 7th July 1807, to evacuate the shores of the river Plata
within a limited period, which was accordingly done; and thus terminated disastrously
an unauthorised enterprise from which the british nation was misled to expect too much;
and which affords practical demonstration that an army of stags commanded by a lion, is
more formidable than an army of lions commanded by a stag. See Mabal Chronicle ;
ivi, 216 where is a chart and descriptive account of the river, 249, 373; xvii, 506:
xviii, 236. The rio de la Plata (or Silver river) is very shallow rear the city: vessels
of burthen cannot approach nearer than three leagues but unload at a bay called
ensenada de Barragon; from whence their cargoes are conveyed in small craft. Buenos-
Ayres derives its great wealth from being the intermediate repository for the precious
metals which are forwarded through it to Spain, as well as for the merchandise from
the latter for the use and consumption of most of her colonies southward of the equator.
It is difficult to state the exact quantity of gold and silver drawn by Spain from her
colonial mines: but MILBURN (Oriental Commerce: i, 31,) states that according to
official registers, the following coinage appears to have taken place in the year 1790:-
Mexico..
Lima.
Potosi.
St. Iago
Dollars
Gold
.628,044
.821,168.
.299,846.
.721,754.
17,435,644.
4,341,071.
3,988,176.
146,132..
.18,063,688.
..
5,162,239.
4,288,022.
867,886.
2,470,812........25,911,023........ 28,381,835.
If to the above sums be added the value fabricated into utensils and ornaments, and
the quantity exported clandestinely without coinage, the annual produce may be
estimated at an average of 9 millions sterling. From the present unsettled state of the
province 'commerce is dull, the charges uncertain, and the result subject to many risks,
ト
​165
Brazil, to the Havanna,* in the Gulph of Mexico; and so perhaps to Spain. She
had, no doubt, a great treasure in her, but of no use, at that time, to any body;
and what became of her crew, I then knew not.
I found besides these chests, a little cask full of liquor, of about twenty gallons,
which I got into my boat with much difficulty. There were several muskets in
the cabin, and a great powder-horn, with about four pounds of powder in it; as
for the muskets, I had no occasion for them, so I left them, but took the powder-
horn. I took a fire-shovel and tongs, which I wanted extremely; as also two
little brass kettles, a copper pot to make chocolate,† and a gridiron; and with
*HAVANNA :the maritime metropolis of Cuba, one of the four large islands of
the West Indies, which are strictly and correctly denominated "leeward;" the name
of this island is stated by B. EDWARDS, to be primitive or vernacular: it was first cir-
eumnavigated in 1508. The geographical site of the Havanna according to the Requisite
Tables, is in latitude 23° 11' 52" N. longitude 82° 8' 36" W. from Greenwich. By the
C. des Tems it (the Moro castle) is placed in 23° 10′ N. and in longitude (reduced to
the meridian of Greenwich) 82° 13' 41" W. MALHAM'S Naval Gazetteer (which is
seldom right) makes the city 23° 12′ N. 82° 18′W. It is 64 leagues S. from Cape
Florida, and so situated that with the known permanency of winds and carrents in that
quarter, it inay be said to command the navigation of the gulph so named. The har-
bour is stated in the Gazetteer to have been originally called the port of Carenas:
it is formed by the extended mouths of the river Lagida. The entrance is by a channel
of about half a mile in length, but so narrow as to present great difficulty of access to
any enemy, though of safe navigation; for if a ship keeps in mid-channel so as to avoid
a small shoal that extends a little way from each point at the entrance there can be no
danger; when in, the general depth of water is 6 fathoms soft ooze, and with space
enough to accommodate a thousand vessels commodiously, so that it is justly deemed
one of the finest ports in the known world. The Havanna is 18 leagues from Cape de
Sed, the most northern promontory of Cuba; and about 50 leagues from Cape St.
Antonio the western extremity of the island. The Havanna was reduced by the English
in 1762, but restored to Spain at the general peace of 1763. For particular directions
how to sail into the Havanna; see Daval Chronicls: iii, 86. For a plate and des
criptive account xviii, 392.
·
•
+ CHOCOLATE:-a kind of cake, or confection, prepared of certain drugs; the basis
or principal whereof, is the cacao-nut. The name chocolate is also given to a drink,
prepared from this cake, of a dusky colour, soft, and oily; usually drank hot, and
esteemed not only a very nourishing food, but also a good medicine, for keeping up the
warmth of the stomach, and assisting digestion. Although this useful and valuable
preparation is in a great measure familiarly known to most readers as an article of
diet and commerce, yet there are some details in its manipulation the knowledge
of which is not so generally diffused. The Spaniards were the first who brought
chocolate into use in Europe; and that perhaps as much out of interest, to have
the better market for their cacao-nuts, vanilla, and other drugs which their West
Indies furnish, and which enter the composition of chocolate as out of regard to those
extraordinary virtues which their authors so amply attribute to it. The qualities above
mentioned are all that the generality of physicians, and others, allow it. The original
manner of making it, first used by the Spaniards, was very simple, and the same with
that in use among the indigenous Americans: they only used cacao-nut, maize, and
raw sugar, as expressed from the canes, with a little achiath, or rocou, to give it a
colour: of these four drugs, ground between two stones, and mixed together in a
certain proportion, they made a kind of bread, which served them equally for solid
food, and for drink; eating it dry when hungry, and steeping it in hot water when
thirsty. This drink the Mexicans called chocolate, from chacao, sound; and alte or atte,
water; q. d. water that makes a noise: from the noise made in the water by the
instrument used to mill and prepare the liquor. But the Spaniards and other nations,
afterwards added a number of other ingredients to the composition of chocolate ; all
of which however, vanilla alone excepted, spoil, rather than mend it. The method
of making chocolate now in use among the Spaniards of Mexico is thus:-The fruit
being gathered from the cacao-tree, is dried in the sun, the kernel taken out, and
noasted at the fire, in an iron pan pierced full of holes; then pounded in a mortar;
then ground on a marble stone, with a grinder of the same matter, until it be brought
166
this cargo and the dog, I came away, the tide beginning to make home again;
and the same evening, about an hour within night, I reached the island again,
weary and fatigued to the last degree. I reposed that night in the boat; and in
the morning I resolved to harbour what I had got in my new cave, and not
carry it home to my castle. After refreshing myself, I got all my cargo on
shore, and began to examine the particulars. The cask of liquor I found to
be a kind of rum, but not such as we had at Brazil, and, in a word, not at all
good; but when I came to open the chests, I found several things of great use to
me; for exampleg I found in one a fine case 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 silver. I found two pots of very good succades, or
sweetmeats, so fastened also on the top, that the salt water had not hurt them
and two more of the same, which the water had spoiled. I found some 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, being exceeding refreshing to wipe my face in a hot day. Besides this,
when I came to the till in the chest, I found there three great bags of pieces
of eight, which held about eleven hundred pieces in all; and in one of
them, wrapped up in paper, six doubloons,* and some small bars or wedges of
into the consistence of a paste; mixing with it more or less sugar, as it is required
to be more or less sweet. In proportion as the paste advances, they add some long
pepper, a little achiotl, and, lastly, vanilla: some add cinnamon, cloves, and anis;
and those who love perfumes, musk and ambergris. There is also a kind of Mexican
chocolate, in the composition whereof there enter almonds and filberts; but it is rather
to spare the cacao, than to render the chocolate better; accordingly, this is looked on
as sophisticated chocolate, &c. Chocolate made in Spain differs somewhat from that
made in Mexico: for besides the drugs used in this last, the usual method and propor-
tions at Madrid, is, to add unto an hundred kernels of cacao, two grains of chilé (or
Mexican pepper), or in lieu thereof Indian pepper; a handful of anis, as many flowers,
called by the natives vinacaxtlides (or little ears), six white roses in powder; a little
machusia; a pod of campeché; two drachms of cinnamon, a dozen almonds, and as
many hazel nuts; with achiot enough to give it a reddish tincture; the sugar and
vanilla are mixed at discretion; as also the musk and ambergris. They frequently
work their paste with orange-water, which they think gives it a greater consistence
and firmness. The paste is usually made up into cakes, sometimes into large rolls;
and sometimes the cakes are made up of pure chocolate, without any admixture; those
who use it being to add what quantity they please of sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla,
when in the water. In England, the chocolate is chiefly made thus simple and
unmixed, (though perhaps not always unadulterated) of the kernel of the cacao;
excepting that often sugar, and sometimes vanilla is added; any other ingredients
being scarcely known among us. The newest chocolate is esteemed the best; the
drug never keeping well above two years, but usually degenerating before that time.
It is to be kept in brown paper, put up in a box; and that in another, in a dry place.
Mr. HENLEY, an ingenious electrician, has discovered that chocolate fresh from the
mill, as it cools in the tin-pans, into which it is received, becomes electrical; and that
it retains this property for some time after it has been turned out of the pan but soon
loses it by handling. (Phil. Trans. vol. lxvii.) The manners of preparing the mass
into a liquor, with the proportions are various; ordinarily, the chocolate is boiled in
water, sometimes in milk; and sometimes by good œconomists, in water-gruel; when
boiled, it is milled, or agitated with a wooden machine for the purpose, and boiled
again, till it be of the proper consistence for drinking; then sugared, if the mass were
pure; then milled afresh and poured off. Note, the best chocolate is that which
dissolves entirely in the water; leaving no ground or sediment at the bottom of the
pot. The Spaniards esteem it the last misfortune that can befall a man to be reduced
to want chocolate, they are seldom known to leave it, even for liquors that will
intoxicate.
* DOUBLOON:-a Spanish and a Portuguese coin; being the double of a pistole, and of
which the proper name is dublon, There are also double doubloons formerly current anong
us for three pounds twelve shillings. In the Spanish colonies accompts are kept in pesos
167
gold; I suppose they might all weigh near a pound. In the other chest were some
clothes, although of little value; but by the circumstances, it must have belonged to
the gunner's mate, though there was no powder in it, except two pounds of fine
glazed powder, in three small flasks, kept I suppose, for charging their fowling-
pieces on occasion. Upon the whole, I got very little by this voyage that was
of any use to me; for, as to the money, I had no manner of occasion for it;
is was to me as the dirt under my feet; and I would have given it all for three
or four pair of English shoes and stockings, which were things I greatly wanted,
of 8 reals, (royals,) subdivided into 16 parts, and farther into 34 maravedis, The gold
coins are doubloons of 8 escudos, with halves and quarters in proportion. The silver
coins are pesos (or dollars) mexicanos of 8 reals, with halves, quarters, eighths (reals)
and sixteenths. (MILBURN: Oriental Commerce.)
GOLD:-in the chemical arrangement of metals stands at the head of those of the
first class, which from having the property of being extended under the hammer are
termed malleable. Gold may be melted by a moderate red heat; and when the heat
is greatly encreased, the metal is in part volatilized. Pure gold is not oxydized by
exposure to heat with the access of air. It is not acted on by sulphuric, nitric, or
muriatic acid, even at the boiling temperature; it is, however, dissolved by nitro-muri-
atic acid, and also by the oxygenized-muriatic acid. A thin sheet of gold introduced
into the latter acid when in a gaseous state takes fire and burns. The nitro muriate of
gold gives a purple stain to the skin, and is susceptible of crystalization. It is decom-
posed by alkalis. A solution of pure ammonia separates an oxide of gold, and a portion
of ammonia uniting with the oxide forms a compound which detonates very loudly in
a gentle heat, and is termed " fulminating gold." To obtain this compound, add a
solution of ammonia to diluted muriate of gold; a precipitate will appear, which will
be re-dissolved if too much alkali be used. Let the liquid be filtered, and wash the
sediment which remains on the filter with several portions of warm water. Dry it by
exposure to the air, without any artificial heat; and preserve it in a bottle closed, not by
a glass stopper but merely by a cork. A small portion of this powder less than a grain
in weight, being placed on the point of a knife, and held over a lighted candle, explodes
violently. This detonation is explained as follows:-Fulminating gold is composed of
an oxide of that metal combined with ammonia: when its temperature is raised the
ammonia is decomposed; the hydrogen of the alkali unites with the oxygen of the
oxide, and reduces the gold to a metalic state; azotic gas and probably aqueous vapour
are liberated in a highly expanded state; the violent impulse of these aëriform products
on the surrounding atmosphere appears to be the cause of the loud noise attending the
explosion of this compound. The solution of gold is also decomposed by certain com-
bustible bodies, which attract the oxygen from the gold, and render it insoluble.
(The nitro-muriate of gold employed in such experiments should be previously evapo-
rated to dryness in order to expel the superfluous acid, and be afterwards re-dissolved in
distilled water.) Into a dilute solution of gold contained in a glass jar, put a long
narrow slip of charcoal, and expose the whole to the direct light of the sun. The gold
will be revived and will appear on the charcoal in a metalic state, exhibiting a beautiful
appearance. The same change ensues without light if the solution be exposed to a
temperature of 212 degrees. Again, moisten a piece of white taffeta ribband with
the dilute solution of gold, and expose it to a current of hy drogen gas from iron filings
and dilute sulphuric acid: the gold will be reduced, and the ribband be gilt with the
metal: by means of a camel's-hair pencil the gold may be so applied as to exhibit regular
figures when reduced. The same experiment may be repeated, substituting phosphor-
eted hydrogen for common hydrogen gas. Gold is precipitated from muriatic acid,
in a metalic form, by a solution of green sulphate of iron. When a sheet of tin is im
mersed in a solution of nitro-muriate of gold, the oxide of gold is precipitated of a purple
colour and when scraped off and collected forms the "purple powder of Cassius," much
employed in enamelling. The same precipitate is obtained by mixing a solution of
gold with a solution of tin in muriatic acid. Gold is precipitated from its solvent by
ether; but the oxide of gold is instantly re-dissolved by the ether, and forms the ethe-
rial solution of gold, Sulphurets of alkalis unite with gold both in the dry and the
humid way to exhibit this, some leaf-gold may be digested with heat in a solution of
sulphuret of potash. The methods of purifying gold, by the operations of cupeling
and quartation, would lead into details too long for the design of this note.
168
but had none on my feet for many years. I had now indeed got two pair of
shoes, which I took off the feet of the two drowned men whom I saw in the wreck,
and I found two pair more in one of the chests, which were very welcome to me;
but they were not like our English shoes, either for ease or service, being rather
what we call pumps than shoes, I found in this seaman's chest about fifty
pieces of eight in reals, but no gold: I supposed this belonged to a poorer man
than the other, which seemed to belong to some 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 ship: but it was a great pity, as I said, that the other
part of this ship had not come to my share; for I am satisfied I might have
loaded my canoe several times over with money; and, thought I, if I ever escape
to Eugland, it might lie here safe enough until I may come again and fetch it.
Having now brought all my things on shore, and secured them, I went back
unto my boat, and paddled her along the shore 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 safe and quiet. I began now to repose myself, live after my old
fashion, and take care of my family affairs; for a while, I lived easy enough, only
that I was more vigilant than I used to be, looked out oftener, and did not go
abroad so much; and if at any time I did stir with any freedom, it was always
to the east part of the island, where I was pretty well satisfied the savages never
came, and where I could go without so many precautions, and such 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 miserable, was all these two
years filled with projects and designs, how, if it were possible, I night get away
from this island: for, sometimes 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: sometimes for a ramble one way, sometimes another; and I believe
verily, if I had had the boat that I went from Salee in, I should have ventureḍ
to sea, bound any where, I knew not whither. I have been, in all my circumstan-
ces, a memento to those who are touched with the general plague of mankind,
whence, for ought I know, one half of their miseries flow; I mean that of not
being satisfied with the station wherein nature hath placed then: for, not to
look back upon my primitive condition, and the excellent advice of my father,
the opposition to which was, as I may call it, my original sin, my subsequent
mistakes of the same kind had been the means of my coming into this miserable
condition; for had that providence, which so happily seated me at Brazil, blessed
me with confined desires, and I could have been contented to have gone on
gradually, I might have been, by this time, I mean in the time of my being in this
island, one of the most considerable planters in Brazil; nay, 1 am persuaded,
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 remained, I might have been
worth an hundred thousand moidors* and what business had I to leave a settled
* MOJDOR :—the english corruption of the portuguese moëda-d'oro, of which the
spelling is sometimes still farther corrupted into moidore. This is a gold coin, to estimate
the value of which it is necessary to premise that in Portugal and its colonies, accompts
are kept in réas and mil-réas: 1000 of the former making 1 of the latter, as it's name
implies. They are separated in expressing sums thus: 166,208 166 mil-réas, 208 réus
The moëda-d' oro contains 4,800 réus; its weight i6ds. 22grs. its current value is 1, 7.
sterling it's intrinsic value=1. 6s. 11ḍ. The portuguese have besides in gold the
coin so familiarly known to merchants and mariners under the title of doubloon" or
"double-Jo." containing 2 Joannes 12,800 régs which passes current at al. 128. ster-
ing. We likewise often read in their financial statements of Cruaudos; which MILBURNE
states to exist both in gold and silver, and to contain 480 réas, (Maval Chronicle: xxi,
389.) GUTHRIE estimates the réa at of a penny sterling; and the mil-réa at 58, 744.
sterling. In forming the preceding estimates, gold is calculated at the standard price of“
31. 17s. 10d. per qunce; silver at 5s, 24.-Money, has been aptly termed “ Firma-
mentum belli et ornamentum pacis.”
27
169
fortune, a well-stocked plantation, improving and increasing, to turn supercargo
to Guinea to fetch negros, when patience and time would have so increased out
stock at home, that we could have bought them at our own door from those
whose business it was to fetch them; and although it had cost us something more
yet the difference of that price was by no means worth saving at so great a
hazard? But as this is usually the fate of young heads, so reflection upon the
folly of it is as commonly the exercise of more years, or of the dear-bought
experience of time: thus it was with me now; and yet so deep had the mistake
taken root in my temper, that I could not satisfy myself in my station, but was
continually poring upon the means and possibility of my escape from this place a
and that I may, with the greater pleasure to the reader, bring on the remaining
part of my story, it may not be improper to give some account of my first con-
ceptions on the subject of this foolish scheme for my escape, and how, and upon
what foundation, I acted..
I am now to be supposed retired into my castle, after my late voyage to the
wreck, my frigate laid up and secured under water, as usual, and my condition
restored to what it was before; I had more wealth, indeed, than I had before,
but was not at all the richer; for I had no more use for it than the Peruvians had
before the Spaniards came among them. It was one of the nights in the rainy
season in March, the four and twentieth year of my first setting foot in this island
of solitude, I was lying in my bed, awake; very well in health, had no pain, no distem,
per, no uneasiness of body, nor any uneasiness of mind, more than ordinary, but
could by no means close my eyes, that is, so as to sleep ;* no not a wink all night
-
:
* SLEEP-that state wherein the body appearing perfectly at rest, external objects
move the organs of sense as usually without exciting the usual sensations. Sleep, ac-
cording to RONAULT, cousists in a scarcity of spirits, which occasions the orifices or pores
of the nerves in the brain, whereby the spirits used to flow into the nerves, being no
longer kept open by the frequency of the spirits, to shut of themselves. For, this being
supposed, as soon as the spirits, now in the nerves, shall be dissipated, the capillaments
of those nerves, having no supplement of new spirits, will become lax, and cohere as if
cemented together; and so be unfit to convey any impression to the brain besides,
the muscles, being now void of spirits, will be unable to move, or even to sustain the
members thus will sensation and motion, be both for the time destroyed: Sleep is
broken off unnaturally when any of the organs of sense are so briskly acted on that
the action is propagated to the brain for, upon this, the few spirits remaining in the
brain are all called together, and unite their forces to unlock the pores of the nerves,
&c. But if no object should thus affect the organ, yet sleep would in some time be
broken off naturally; for the quantity of spirits generated in sleep would at length
be so great, that stretching out the orifices of the nerves, they would open themselves
a passage. With regard to medicine, sleep is defined, by BOERHAAVE, to be that state of
the medulla of the brain, wherein the nerves do not receive so copious, nor so forcible
an influx of spirits from the brain, as is required to enable the organs of sense, and
voluntary motion, to perform their offices. The immediate cause hereof appears to be
the scarcity of animal spirits, which being spent, and requiring some time to be re-
cruited, the minute vessels, before inflated, become flaccid, and collapse; or else, it is
owing to such a pressure of the thicker blood against the cortex of the brain, as that
the medulla, becoming likewise compressed by its contiguity with the cortex, the
passage of the spirits is obstructed. The natural cause of sloep, then, is any thing
that may contribute to these two. And hence its effects may be understood: for in
sleep several functions are suspended, their organs and muscles are at rest, and the
spirits scarce flow through them; therefore there is a less consumption of them; but
the solid villi and fibres of the nerves are but little changed, and an equilibrium obtains
throughout, there is no difference of pressure on the vessels, nor of velocity in the
humours: the motion of the heart, lungs, arteries, viscera, &c. is increased. The
effects of which are, that the vital humours circulate more strongly and equably
through the canals, which are now freer, laxer, and opener, as not being compressed
by the muscles. Hence, the blood is driven less forcibly, indeed, into the lateral
vessels, but more equably; and through the greater vessels hath more strongly, and
more equably. Thus are the lateral fibres seusibly filled, as being less traversed and at
·
170
long, otherwise than as follows:-It is impossible to set down the innumerable
crowd of thoughts that whirled through that great thorough-fare of the brain, the
memory, in this night's time: I ran over the whole history of my life in minia-
ture, or by abridgment, as I may call it, to my coming to this island, and also
of that part of my life since I came to this island. In my reflections upon the
state of my case since I came on shore on this island, I was comparing the happy
posture of my affairs in the first years of my habitation here, compared to the
life of anxiety, fear and care which I had lived in ever since I had seen the print
of a foot in the sand; not that I did not believe the savages had frequented the
island even all the while, and might have been several hundreds of them at times
on shore there, but I had never known it, and was incapable of any apprehensi-
ons about it; my satisfaction was perfect, though my danger was the same, and
I was as happy in not knowing my danger as if I had never really been exposed
to it. This furnished my thoughts with many very profitable reflections, and
particularly this one: How infinitely good that Providence is, which has provided,
in its government of man, such narrow bounds to his sight and knowledge of
things: and although he walks in the midst of a thousand dangers, the sight of
which, if discovered to him, would distract his mind and sink his spirits, he is
kept serene and calm, by having the events of things hidden from his eyes, and
knowing nothing of the dangers which surround him. After these thoughts had
for some time entertained me, I came to reflect seriously upon the real danger
I had been in for so many years in this very island, and how I had walked about
in the greatest security, and with all possible tranquility, even when perhaps
nothing but the brow of a hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night,
had been between me and the worst kind of destruction, that of falling into the
hands of canibals and savages who would have seized on me with the same view
as I would on a goat or a turtle, and have thought it no more a crime to kill and
devour me, than I did a pigeon or curlew. I would unjustly slander myself,
if I should say I was not sincerely thankful to my great Preserver, unto whose
singular protection I acknowledged, with great huinility, all these unknown deli-
verances were due.
:
length they remain at rest, with the juices they have collected and hence the lateral
adipose cells become filled and distended with an oily matter. By this means the
circulation, being almost wholly performed in the larger blood-vessels, becomes gradu-
ally slower, and at length scarce sensible, if the sleep be too long continued; thus, in
moderate sleep, is the matter of the chyle best converted into serum; that into thinner
humours; and that into nourishment. The attrition of the solid parts is less consider-
able; the cutaneous secretion is increased, and all the rest diminished. The parts
worn off are now best supplied as an equable, continual repletion restores the humours,
and repairs the solids, the preventing and disturbing causes being then at rest. In the
mean time, while the nutritious matter is best prepared, there is an aptitude in the
vessels to receive, and the humours to enter, and the means of application and con-
solidation, are at liberty: hence a new production and accumulation of animal spirits.
in all the humours, as to matter; and in the minutest vessels, as to repletion: the
consequence of which is, an aptitude for waking, and an inaptitude for sleep; so that
upon the first occasion the man awakes. For instances of extraordinary sleep, Seo
Phil. Trans. Abr. vol. v. Mem. Ac. Abr. vol. iv. Med. Obs. vol. 1. Some of the more
extraordinary phenomena of sleep yet to be accounted for, are, that when the head
is hot, and the feet cold, sleep is impracticable: that spirituous liquors first bring on
drunkenness, then sleep; that perspiration, during the time of sleep, is twice as great
as at other times; that, upon sleeping too long, the head grows heavy, the senses dull,
the memory weak, with coldness, pituitousness, an indisposition of the muscles for
motion, and a want of perspiration; that much sleeping will sustain life a long time,
without either meat or drink; that, upon a laudable sleep there always follows an ex-
pansion of all the muscles, frequently a repeated yawning, and the muscles and nerves
acquire a new agility; that foetuses always sleep; children often; youth more than
grown persons; they more, than the aged; and that people, recovering from violent.
distempers, sleep much more than when perfectly in health.
4
171
When these thoughts, were over, my head was for some time taken up in
considering the nature of these wretched creatures, I mean the savages, and how
it came to pass in the world, that the wise governor of all things should give up
any of his creatures to such inhumanity, nay, to something so much below even
brutality itself, as to devour its own kind: but as this ended in some (at that
time fruitless) speculations, it occurred to me to inquire, what part of the world
these wretches lived in? How far off the coast was from whence they came?
What they ventured over so far from home for? What kind of boats they had?
And why I might not order myself and my business so, 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 consider what I should do with myself
when I went thither; what would become of me, if I fell into the hands of the
savages; or how I should escape from them, if they attacked me; no, nor so
much as how it was possible for me to reach the coast, and not be attacked by
some or other of them, without any possibility of delivering myself; and if I
should not fall into their hands, what I should do for provision, or whither I
should bend my course: none of these thoughts, I say. so much as came in my
way; but my mind was wholly bent upon the notion of my passing over in my
boat to the main-land. I looked upon my present condition as the most miserable
that could possibly be; that I was not able to throw myself into any thing, but
death, that could be called worse; and if I reached the shore of the main, I
might perhaps meet with relief, or I might coast along, as I did on the african
shore, till I came to some inhabited country, where I might find some relief;
and after all, perhaps, I might fall in with some ship that might take me in; and
if the worst came to the worst, I could but die, which would put an end to all
these miseries at once. Pray note, all this was the fruit of a disturbed mind, an
inpatient temper, made desperate, as it were, by the long continuance of my
troubles, and the disappointments I had met in the wreck I had been on board
of, and where I had been so near obtaining what I so earnestly longed for,
that is, somebody to speak to, and to learn some knowledge from them of the
place where I was, and the probable means of my deliverance. I was agitated
wholly by these thoughts; all my calm of mind, my resignation, and waiting
the issue, seemed to be suspended; and I had, as it were, no power to turn
my thoughts to any thing but to the project of a voyage to the main; which came
upon me with such force, and such an impetuosity of desire, that it was not
to be resisted.
When this had agitated my thoughts for two hours or more, with such violence
that it set my very blood into a ferment, and my pulse beat as if I had been in
a fever, merely with the extraordinary fervor of my mind about it, nature, as if
I had been fatigued and exhausted with the very thought of it, threw me into
a sound sleep. One would have thought I should have dreamed of it, but I did
not, nor of any thing relating to it: but I dreamed that as I was going out in the
morning, as usual, from my castle, 1 saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven
savages coming to land, and that they brought with them another savage, whom
they were going to kill, in order to eat him; when, on a sudden, the savage
that they were going to kill jumped away, and ran for his life; and I thought,
in my sleep, that he came running into my little thick grove before my fortifica-
tion to hide himself; and that I, seeing him alone, and not perceiving that the
others sought him that way, showed myself to him, and smiling upon him, en-
couraged him; that he kneeled down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him;
upon which I showed him my ladder, made him go up, and carried him into my
cave, and he became my servant; and that as soon as I had got this man, I said
to myself, now I may certainly venture to the main land; for this fellow will
serve me as a pilot, and will tell me what to do, and whither to go for provisions,
and whither not to go for fear of being devoured; what places to venture into,
and what to shun. I waked with this thought; and was under such inexpressible
impressions of joy at the prospect of my escape in my dream, that the disap
172
pointments which I felt upon coming to myself, and finding that it was no morề
than a dream,* were equally extravagant the other way, and threw me into a
very great dejection of spirits. However, I made this conclusion; that my only
way to go about to attempt an escape was, if possible, to get a savage into my
possession; and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners whom they had
DREAM According to WOLFIUS every dream takes its rise from some sensation,
and is continued by the succession of phantasms in the mind. His reasons are, that
when we dream we imagine something, or the mind produces phantasms; but none
can arise without a previous sensation: hence neither can a dream arise without some
previous sensation. He observes farther, that though it be certain à priori, from the
nature of the imagination, that dreams must begin by some sensation, yet that it is
not easy to confirm this by experience; it being often difficult to distinguish those
slight sensations which give rise to dreams, from phantasms, or objects of imagination.
Yet this is not impossible in some cases, as when the weak sensation sufficient to give
rise to a dream gradually becomes stronger, so as to put an end to it, as it often hap-
pens in uneasy and painful sensations. (WOLF. Psychol. Empir. § 123.) The series
of phantasms, or objects of imagination, which constitute a dream, seem to be suffici-
ently accounted for from the law of imagination, or of association; although it may be
extremely difficult to assign the cause of every minute difference, not only in different
subjects, but in the same, at different times, and circumstances.
We have an
essay on this subject by Mr. FORMY, in the Mem. del' Acad. de Berlin: wherein be,
expressly adopts WOLFIUS's proposition above mentioned, that every dream begins with.
a sensation, and is continued by a series of acts of imagination, or phantasms; and.
that the cause of this series is to be found in the law of the imagination. Si naturale
somnium est, initium capere debet per legem sensationis, & continuare per legem imaginationis
Hence he concludes those dreams to be supernatural, which either do not begin by sen-
pation, or are not continued by the law of the imagination. This opinion is as antient as
ARISTOTLE, who expressly asserted, that a dream is only the avraoua, or appearance
of things, arising from the previous motions excited in the brain, and remaining after the
objects are removed. HOBBES has adopted this hypothesis: he ascribes different
dreams to different distempers of the body, and whimsically enough observes, that
lying cold breedeth dreams of fear, and raiseth the thought or image of some fearful,
object. Thus he accounts for that which was in reality the waking vision of BRUTUS;
which addressed him the night before the battle of Philippi :- "I am, Brutus
thine evil genius; thou shalt see me again near Philippi." And Locke, though
he does not expressly declare how dreams are excited during sleep, seems to ascribe
the perfection of rational thinking to the body; and traces their origin to previous,
sensations, when he says, "The dreams of sleeping men are all made up of the
waking man's ideas, though for the most part oddly put together." He urges the
incoherence, frivolousness, and absurdity, of many of our dreams, as well as the
supposed fact that some persons sleep without dreaming, as objections to the notion
that men think always to which it has been replied, that dreams may be entirely,
imperfectly, or not at all remembered, according to the various degrees in which the
nerves are impressed by the motion given to the animal spirits in sleep. (ARIST. de
Insomn, cap. 3. HOBA. Lev. ii, xiv, Locke, Ess. ii. &c. WATT's Essay ii, &c.) Dr.
HARTLEY explains all the phenomena of the imagination by his theory of vibrations
and associations. Dreams he says, are nothing but the imaginations or reveries of
sleeping men, and they are deducible from three causes, viz. the impressions and
ideas lately received, and particularly those of the preceding day, the state of
the body, and particularly of the stomach and brain, and association.
Obs. on
Man, vol. i. DEMOCRITUS and LUCRETIUS account for dreams, by supposing that
spectres and simulacra of corporeal things, constantly emitted from them, and floating up.
and down in the air, come and assault the soul in sleep. (LUCRETIUS De Rer. Nat.
iv.) Those who have maintained the essential difference between soul and body
bave solved the common phenomena of dreams by the union of these two substances,
and the necessary connection arising thence between ideas in the mind, and certain
mations in the body, or in those parts more immediately united to the soul, whilst
others who have denied the existence of matter, account for them in the same,
manner as for our other ideas, which may not be improperly called waking,
dreams: of which very lively hope seems to be one sort,
173
condemned to be eaten, and should bring hither to kill. But these thoughts still
were attended with this difficulty, that it was impossible to effect this without
attacking a whole gang of them, and killing them all; and this was not only a
very desperate attempt, and might miscarry; but, on the other hand, I
greatly scrupled the lawfulness of it to myself; and my heart trembled at the
thoughts of shedding so much blood, although it was for any deliverance. I need
not repeat the arguments which occurred to me against this, they being the
same mentioned before: but although I had other reasons to offer now, viz. that
those men were enemics to my life, and would devour me, if they could; that
it was self-preservation, in the highest degree, to deliver myself from this death
of a life, and was acting in my own defence as much as if they were actually
assaulting me, and the like; I say, though these things argued for it, yet the
thoughts of shedding human blood, even for my deliverance were very terrible
to me, and such as I could by no means reconcile myself to for a great while.
However, at last, after many secret disputes with myself, and after great per-
plexities about it (for all these arguments, one way and another, struggled in my
head a long time), the eager, prevailing desire of deliverance at length mastered
all the rest; and I resolved, if possible, to get one of those savages into my
bands, cost what it would. My next thing was, to contrive how to do it; and
this indeed was very difficult to resolve on: but as I could pitch upon no probable
means for it, so I resolved to put myself upon the watch, to see them when they
caine on shore, and leave the rest to the event; taking such measures as the
opportunity should present, let what would be.
With these resolutions in my thoughts, I set myself upon the scout as often as
possible, and indeed so often, that I was heartily tired of it; for it was above
a year and a half that I waited; aud for great part of that time went out to
the west end, and to the south-west corner of the island, almost every day, to
look for canoes but none appeared. This was very discouraging, and began to
trouble mie much; though I cannot say that it did in this case (as it had done
some time before) wear off the edge of my desire 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
so careful to shun the sight of these savages, and avoid being seen by them, as I
was now eager to be upon them. Besides I fancied myself able to manage one,
nay, two or three savages, if I had them, so as to make them entirely slaves to
me, to do whatever I should direct them, and to prevent their being able at any
time to do me any hurt. It was a great while I pleased myself with this affair ;
but nothing still presented; all my fancies and schemes came to nothing, for
no savages came near me for a great while.
About a year and a half after I entertained these notions (and by long musing
had, as it were, resolved them all into nothing, for want of an occasion to put
them into execution), I was surprised one morning early, with seeing no less
than five canoes all on shore together on my side the island, and the people who
belonged to them all landed, and out of my sight. The number of them broke
all my measures; for seeing so many, and knowing that they always came four
or six, or sometimes more, in a boat, I could not tell what to think of it, or
how to take my measures, to attack twenty or thirty men single-handed; so lay
still in my castle, perplexed and discomforted: however, I put myself into all
the same postures for an attack that I had formerly provided, and was just ready
for action, if any thing had presented. Having waited a good while, listening
to hear if they made any noise, at length, being very impatient, I set my guns
at the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to the top of the hill, by my two
stages as usual; standing so, however, that my head did not appear above the
hill, so that they could not perceive me by any means. Here I observed, by
the help of my perspective glass, that they were no less than thirty in number;
that they had a fire kindled, and that they had meat dressed. How they had
cooked it I knew not, or what it was; but they were all dancing their own way,
in I know not how many barbarous gestures and figures around the fire.
174
While I was thus looking on them, I perceived, by my perspective, two
wretches dragged from the boats, where, it seems, they were laid by, and were
now brought out for the slaughter. I perceived one of them immediately fall,
being knocked down, I suppose, with a club or wooden sword, for that was
their way, and two or three others were at work immediately, cutting him
open for their cookery, while the other victim was left standing by himself, untit
they should be ready for him. In that very moment, this poor wretch seeing
bimself a little at liberty, and unbound, nature inspired him with hopes of life;
he started away from them, and ran with incredible swiftness along the
sands, directly towards me, I mean towards that part of the coast where my
habitation was. I was dreadfully frightened, I must acknowledge, when I per-
ceived him run my way, and especially, when, as I thought, I saw him pursued by
the whole body and now I expected that part of my dream was coming to pass,
and that he would certainly take shelter in my grove; but I could not depend,
by any means, upon my dream for the rest of it, that the other savages would
not pursue him thither, and find him there. However, I kept my station,
and my spirits began to recover, when I found that there was not above three
men that followed him; and still more was I encouraged when I found that he out-
stripped them exceedingly in running, and gained ground of them; so that if
he could but hold it for half an hour, I saw easily he would fairly get away
from them all.
:
There was between them and my castle the creek, which I mentioned often
in the first part of my story, when I landed my cargoes out of the ship; and
this I saw plainly he must necessarily swin over, or the poor wretch would be
taken there: but when the savage escaping came thither, he made nothing of it,
although the tide was then up, but plunging in, swam through in about thirty
strokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran on with exceeding strength and swift-
ness. When the three persons came to the creek, I found that two of them
could swim, but the third could not, and that, standing on the other side he;
looked at the others, but went no farther, and soon after went softly back again;
which, as it happened, was very well for him in the end. I observed,
that the two who swam were yet more than twice as long swimming over the
creek as the fellow was that fed from them. It came now very warmly upon
my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was the time to get me a servant,
and perhaps a companion or assistant, and that I was called plainly by Provi-
dence to save this poor creature's life. I immediately ran down the ladder with
all possible expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were both at the foot of
the ladders, as I observed above, and getting up again with the same haste, to
the top of the hill, I crossed toward the sea, and having a very short cut, and
all down hill, placed myself in the way between the pursuers and the pursued,
hollowing aloud to him that fled, who, looking back, was at first, perhaps, as
much frightened at me as at them; but I beckoned with my hand to him to
come back, and, in the mean time, I slowly advanced towards the two that fol
lowed; then rushing at once upon the foremost, I knocked hin down with the
stock of my piece. I was loath to fire, because I would not have the rest bear;
though, at that distance, it would not have been easily heard, and being out of
sight of the smoke too, they would not have easily known what to` make of it.
Having knocked this fellow down, the other who pursued him stopped, as if he
had been frightened, and I advanced apace towards him: but as I came nearer,
I perceived presently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at me;
so I was then necessitated to shoot at him first, which I did, and killed him at
the first shot. The poor savage who fled, but had stopped, although he saw
both his enemies fallen and killed, as he thought, yet was so frightened with the
fire and noise of my piece, that he stood stock-still, and neither came forward
nor went backward, though he seemed rather inclined still to fly, than to come
on. I hollowed again to him, and made signs to come forward, which he easily
understood, and came a little way;-then stopped again, and then a little farther,
*
175
and stopped again; and I could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he
had been taken prisoner, and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies.
were. I beckoned to him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of
encouragement that I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer, kneeling
down every ten or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for saving his life.
I smiled 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, kissed
the ground, and laid his head upon the ground, and taking me by the foot, set
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 savage whom
I knocked down was not killed, but stunned with the blow, and began to come.
to himself: so I pointed to him, and showed him the savage, that he was not
dead; upon this, he spoke some words to me, and though I could not understand
them them, yet I thought they were pleasant to hear; for they were the first
sound of a man's voice that I had heard, my own excepted, for above twenty-five
years. But there was no time for such reflections now; the savage who was
knocked down recovered himself so far as to sit up upon the ground, and I per-
ceived that my savage began to be afraid; but, when I saw that, I presented my
other piece at the man, as if I would shoot him: upon this, my savage, for so
I call him now, made a motion to me to lend him my sword, which hung naked
in a belt by my side, which I did. He no sooner had it, but he runs to his
enemy, and, at one blow, cut off his head so cleverly, no executioner in Germany
could have done it sooner or better; which I thought very strange for one who,
I had reason to believe, never saw a sword in his life before, except their owI'
wooden swords: however, it seems, as I learned afterwards, they make their
wooden swords so sharp, so heavy, and the wood is so hard, that they will cut off
heads even with them, aye, and arms, and that at one blow too. When he had
done this, he comes laughing to me, in sign of triumph, and brought me the
sword again, and with abundance of gestures, which I did not understand, laid
it down with the head of the savage that he had killed, just before ine.
which astonished him most, was to know how I killed the other Indian so far,
But that
off: so pointing to him, he made signs to me to let him go to him; so I bade him go,
as well as I could. When he came to him, he stood like one amazed, looking at
him, turning him first on one side, then on the other, looked at the wound the
bullet had made, which it seems, was just in his breast, where it had made a
hole, and no great quantity of blood had followed; but he had bled inwardly,
for he was quite dead. He took up his bow and arrows, and came back; so I
turned to go away, and beckoned him to follow me, making signs to him that more
might come after them. Upon this, he made signs to me that he should bury
them with sand, that they might not be seen by the rest, if they followed; and
so I made signs to him again to do so. He fell to work, and in an instant, he had
scraped a hole in the sand with his hands, big enough to bury the first in, and
then dragged him into it, and covered him; and did so by the other also; L.
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 farther
part of the island: so I did not let my dream cone to pass in that part, wherein
became into my grove for shelter. Here I gave him bread and a bunch of raisins,
to eat, and a draught of water, which I found he was indeed in great distress for,
by his running; and, having refreshed him, I made signs for him to go and lie.
down to sleep, shewing him a place where I had laid some rice-straw, and a
blanket upon it, which I used to sleep upon myself sometimes; so the poor crea-
ture lay down, and went to sleep.
He was a comely, handsome, fellow, perfectly well made, with strait, strong,
limbs, not too large, tall, and well-shaped; and, as I reckon, about twenty years
of age. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce and surly aspect, but
seemed to have something very manly in his face; and yet he had all the sweet,
170
1
mess and softness of an European in his countenance too, especially when he
smiled. His hair was long and black, not curled like wool; his foreliead very
high and large; and a great vivacity and sparkling sharpness in his eyes. The
colour of his skin was not quite black, but very tawny; and yet not of an ugly,
yellow, nauseous tawny, as the Brazilians, Virginians, and other natives of Ame
rica are, but of a bright kind of a dun or olive colour, that had in it something very
agreeable, though not very easy to describe. His face was round and plump; his
nose small, not flat like the negros; a very good mouth, thin lips, teeth fine and
well-set, and as white as ivory.
·
After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half an hour, he awoke again,
and came out of the cave to me, for I had been milking my goats, which I had in,
the enclosure just by: when he espied me, he came running to me, laying himself
down again upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an humble, thankful,
disposition, making a great many antic gestures to show it. At last, he lays his
head flat upon the ground, close to my foot, and sets my other foot upon his
head, as he had done before; and after this, made all the signs to me of subjec-
tion, servitude, and submission, imaginable, to let me know how he would serve
ine so 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 let him know his name should be FRIDAY,
which was the day I saved his life; I called him so for the memory of the time.
I likewise taught him to say, " Master;" and then let him know that was to be
my name: I likewise taught him to say, yes, and no ; and to know the meaning of
them. I gave him some milk in an earthen pot, and let him see me drink it be-
fore him and sop my bread in it; and gave him a cake of bread to do the like,
which he quickly complied with, and made signs that it was very good for him.
I kept there with him all that night; but, as soon as it was day, I beckoned to
him to come with me, and let him know I would give him some clothes; at which
he seemed very glad, for he was stark-naked. As we went by the place where
he had buried the two men, he pointed exactly to the place, and showed me the
marks that he had made to find them again, making signs to me that we should
dig them up again and eat them. At this I appeared very angry, expressed my
abhorrence of it, made as if I would vomit at the thoughts of it, and beckoned
with my hand to him to come away; which he did immediately, with great sub-
mission. I then led him up to the top of the hill, to see if his enemies were
gone; and, pulling out my glass, I looked, and saw plainly the place where they
had been, but no appearance of them or their canoes; so that it was plain they
were gone, and had left their two comrades behind them, without any search
after them.
However, I was not content with this discovery; but, having now more courage,
and consequently more curiosity,I took my manFriday with me, giving him the sword
his hand, with the bow and arrows at his back, which I found he could use very
dexterously, making him carry one gun for me, and I two for myself: and away
we marched to the place where these creatures had been; for I had a mind now
to get some fuller intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my very
blood ran chill in my veius, and my heart sunk within me, at the horror of the
spectacle; indeed it was a dreadful sight, at least it was so to me, though Friday
made nothing of it. The place was covered with human bones, the ground dyed
with their blood, and great pieces of flesh left here and there, half-eaten, mangled,
and scorched; and, in short, all the tokens of the triumphaut feast they had been
making there, after a victory over their enemies. I saw three sculls, five hands,
the bones of three or four legs and feet, and abundance of other parts of the
bodies: Friday, by his signs, made me understand, that they brought over four
prisoners to feast upon; that three of them were eaten up, and that he, pointing
to himself, was the fourth; that there had been a great battle between them and
their next king, whose subjects, it seems, he had been one of, and that they had
anken a great number of prisoners; all which were carried to several places by
177
those who had taken them in the fight, in order to feast upon them, as was done
here by these wretches upon those they brought hither.
I caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever remained,
and lay them together in a heap, and make a great fire upon it, and burn them
all to ashes. I found Friday had still a hankering stomach after some of the flesh,
and was a canibal in his nature; but I discovered so much abhorrence at the very
thoughts of it, and at the least appearance of it, that he durst not discover it;
for I had, by some means, let him know, that I would kill him if he offered it.
When he had done this, we came back to our castle; and there I fell to work
for my man; and, first of all, I gave him a pair of linen drawers, which I had
out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, which I found in the wreck; and
which, with a little alteration, fitted him very well: and then I made him a jer.
kin of goat's-skin, as well as iny skill would allow (for I was now grown a tolera-
ble good tailor); and I gave him a cap, which I had made of hare's-skin, very
convenient, and fashionable enough: and thus he was clothed for the present,
tolerably well, and was mightily pleased to see himself almost as well clothed
as his master. It is true, he went aukwardly in these clothes at first; wearing the
drawers was very aukward to him, and the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his
shoulders, and the inside of his arms; but after a little casing them where he com-
plained they hurt him, and using himself to them, he took to them at length
very well.
The next day after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to consider
where I should lodge him; and that I might do well for him, and yet be per-
fectly easy myself, I made a little tent for him in the vacant place between my
two fortifications, in the inside of the last, and in the outside of the first. As
there was a door or entrance there into my cave, I made a framed door-case, and
a door to it of boards, and set it up in the passage, a little within the entrance;
and causing the door to open in the inside, I barred it up in the night, taking in
my ladders too; so that Friday could no way come at me in the inside of my
innermost wall, without making so much noise in getting over, that it must needs
waken me; for my first wall had now a complete roof over it of long poles,
covering all my tent, aud leaning up to the side of the hill; which was again
laid across with smaller sticks, instead of laths, and then thatched 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 outside, would not have opened at
all, but would have fallen down and made a great noise; as to weapons, I took
thern all into my side every night. But I nceded note of all this precaution; for
never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere, servant, than Friday was to me;
without passion, sullenness, or design, perfectly obliged and engaged his very
affections were tied unto me, like those of a child to a father; and, I dare say,
he would have sacrificed his life for the saving mine, upon any occasion whatso-
ever: the many testimonies he gave me of this, put it out of doubt, and soon
convinced me, that I needed to use no precautions, as to my safety, on his
account.
·
This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and that with wonder, that,
however it had pleased God, in his providence, and in the government of his
works, to take from so great a part of his creatures in the world, the best uses
to which their faculties and the powers of their souls are adapted, yet that he
has bestowed upon them the same powers, the same reason, the same affections,
the same sentiments, the same passions, and resentments, the same capacities of
doing and receiving good, that he has given to us; and that when he pleases to
offer them occasions of exerting these, they are as ready to apply them to the
right uses for which they were bestowed, as we are. This made me very melan-
choly sometimes, in reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a
use we make of all these, even although we have these powers enlightened by the
great lamp of instruction, added to our understanding; and why it has pleased
Robinson Crusoe.
Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
N
178
+
God to hide knowledge from so many millions of souls, who, if I might judge
by this poor savage, would make a much better use of it than we did. From
hence, I sometimes was led too far, to impeach the sovereignty of providence, and,
as it were, arraign the justice of so arbitrary a disposition of things, that should
hide light from some, and reveal it unto others, and yet expect a like duty from
both; but I gave it up, and checked my thoughts with this conclusion: first, That
we did not know by what light and law these should be condemned; but that,
as God was necessarily, and by the nature of his being, infinitely holy and just,
so it could not be, but if these creatures were all sentenced to absense from him-
self, it was on account of sinning against that light, which, as the Scripture says,
was a law to themselves, and by such rules as their consciences would acknow-
ledge to be just, although the foundation was not discovered to us; and, secondly,
that still, as we all are the clay in the hands of the potter, no vessel could say
to him, Why bast thou formed me thus ?+
But, to return to my new companion :-I was greatly delighted with him, and
made it my business to teach him every thing that was proper to make him
useful, handy and helpful; but especially to make him speak, and understand
me when I spoke he was the aptest scholar that ever was; and particularly was
so merry, so constantly diligent, and so pleased when he could but understand
me, or make me understand him, that it was very pleasant to me to talk to him,
Now my life began to be so easy, that I began to say to myself, that could I but
have been safe from more savages, I cared not if I was never to remove from the
place where I lived.
After I had been two or three days returned to my castle, I thought, that, in
order to bring Friday off from his horrid taste of feeding, and from the relish of
a canibal's stomach, I ought to let him taste other flesh; so 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 dress it; but, as I was going, I saw a she-goat
lying down in the shade, and two young kids sitting by her. I catched hold of
Friday: Hold, stand still," says I, and made signs to him not to stir: imme-
diately I presented my piece, shot, and killed one of the kids. The poor crea-
ture, who had, at a distance, indeed, seen me kill the savage, his enemy, but
did not know, nor could imagine, how it was done, was sensibly surprised, trem-
bled, and shook, and looked so amazed, that I thought he would have sunk down.
He did not see the kid I shot at, or perceived I had killed it, but ripped up his
waistcoat, to feel whether he was not wounded; and, as I found presently,
thought I was resolved to kill him: for he came and kneeled down to me, and,
embracing my knees, said a great many things I did not understand; but I could
easily see the meaning was, to pray me not to kill him. I soon found a way to
convince him that I would do him no harm; and taking him up by the hand,
laughed at him, and pointing to the kid which I had killed, beckoned to him to
run and fetch it, which he did: and, while he was wondering and looking to see how
the creature was killed, I loaded my gun again. By and by, I saw a great fowl,
like a hawk, sitting upon a tree, within shot; so, to let Friday understand a little
what I would do, I called him to me again, pointed at the fowl (which was
indeed a parrot, although I thought it had been a hawk), to my gun, and to the
ground under the parrot, to let him see I would make it fall, I made him under-
stand that I would shoot and kill that bird; accordingly, I fired, and bade him
look, and immediately he saw the parrot fall. He stood like one frightened
again, notwithstanding all I had said to him; and I found he was the more
amazed, because he did not see me put any thing into the gun, but thought that
there must be some wonderful fund of death and destruction in that thing, able
to kill man, beast, bird, or any, thing near or far off; and 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 worshipped me and my gun. As for the
†
* Romans ;'ii, 14. Ephesians ; ▼, 13,
Isaiah; xlv, 9,
}
179
gun itself, he would not so much as touch it for several days after; but he would
speak to it, and talk to it, as if it had answered him, when he was by himself;
Which, as I afterwards learned of him, was to desire it ipt to kill him. Well,
after his astonishment was a little over at this, I pointed to him to run and fetch
the bird I had shot, which he did, but staid some time; for the parrot, not being
quite dead, had fluttered away a good distance from the place where she fell :
however, he found her, took her up, and brought her to me; and, as I had per-
ceived his ignorance about the gun before, I took this advantage to charge the
gun again, and not to let him see me do it, that I might be ready for any other
mark that might present; but nothing more offered at that time so I brought
home the kid, and, the same evening, I took the skin off, and cut it out as well
as I could; and, having a pot fit for that purpose, I boiled or stewed some of
the flesh, and made some very good broth. After I had begun to eat some, I
gave some to my man, who seemed very glad of it, and liked it very well; but
that which was strangest to him, was to see me eat salt with it. He made a
sign to me that the salt was not good to eat; and putting a little into his own
mouth, he seemed to nauseate it, and would spit and sputter at it, washing his
mouth with fresh water after it; on the other hand, I took some meat into my
mouth without salt, and I pretended to spit and sputter for want of salt, as fast
as he had done at the salt, but it would not do ; he would never care for salt with
his meat or in his broth; at least not for a great while, and then but a very
little.
Having thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, I was resolved to feast him
the next day with roasting a piece of the kid this I did, by hanging it before.
the fire on a string, as I had seen many people do in England, setting two poles
up, one on each side of the fire, and one across on the top, and tying the string
to the cross-stick, letting the meat turn continually. This Friday admired very
much; but, when he came to taste the flesh, he took so many ways to tell me how
well he liked it, that I could not but understand him; and, at last, he told me as
well as he could, he would never eat man's flesh any more, which I was very glad
to hear. The next day, I set him to work to beating some corn out, and sifting
it in the manner I used to do, as I observed before; and he soon understood
how to do it as well as I, especially after he had seen what the meaning of it was,
and that it was to make bread of it; for, after 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 consider, 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
used to do; so I marked out a larger piece of land, and began the fence in the
same manner as before, in which Friday worked not only very willingly and very
hard, but did it very cheerfully; and I told him what it was for; that it was for
corn to make more bread, because he was now with me, and that I might havė
enough for him and myself too. He appeared very sensible 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 this place; Friday began
to talk pretty well, and understand the names of almost every thing I had occa-
sion to call for, and of every place I had to send him to, and talked a great deal
to me; so that, in short, I began now to have some use for my tongue again, which,
indeed, I had very little occasion for before, that is to say, about speech. Be-
sides the pleasure of talking to him, I had a singular satisfaction in the fellow
himself his simple, unfeigned, honesty appeared to me more and more every
day, and I began really to love the creature; and, on his side, I believe he loved
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 taught him English so well that he could answer mé almost any ques
N 2
180
dion, I asked him whether the nation that he belonged to never conquered in
battle? At which he smiled, and said, "Yes, yes, we always fight the better
that is, he meant, always get the better in fight; and so we began the following
discourse :
MASTER. You always fight the better; how came you to be taken prisoner
then, Friday?
FRIDAY. My nation beat much, for all that.
MASTER. How beat? If your nation beat them, how came you to be
taken?
FRIDAY. They more many than my nation in place where me was; they take
one, two, or three, and me; my nation over beat them in the yonder place,
where me no was; there my nation take one, two, great thousand.
MASTER. But why did not your side recover you from the hands of your
enemies then?
FRIDAY. They run one, two, three, and me, and make go in canoe; my
nation have no canoe that time.
MASTER. Well, Friday, and what does your nation do with the men they
take? Do they carry them away and eat them, as these did?
FRIDAY. Yes, my nation eat mans too; eat all up.
MASTER. Where do they carry them?
FRIDAY. Go to other place, where they think.
MASTER. Do they come hither?
FRIDAY. Yes, yes, they come hither; come other else place.
MASTER. Have you been here with them?
FRIDAY. Yes, I have 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 formerly been among the
savages who used to come on shore on the farther part of the island, on the
same man-eating occasions he was now brought for as a sufferer; and some
time after, when I took the courage to carry him to that side, being the same I
formerly mentioned, he presently 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 numbered them by laying so many stones 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 discourse with him, I asked him how far it was from our island to the shore,
and whether the canoes were not often lost. He told me there was no danger, nó
canoes ever lost; but that, after a little way out to sea, there was a current and
wind, always one way in the morning, the other in the afternoon. This I under-
stood to be no more than the sets of the tide, as going out or coming in; but I
afterwards understood it was occasioned by the great draft and reflux of the
mighty river Oronoko, in the mouth or gulph of which river, as I found after-
wards, our island lay and that this land which I perceived to the W. and N. W
was the great island Trinidad * on the north point of the mouth of the river.
1
* TRINIDAD :—“an island near the coast of Terra-firma in the northern part of South-
America. It partly forms the strait or gulf of Paria, or Bocca del Drago, and is much
larger than any other upon the coast. It is 36 leagues in length, and from 18 to 20 in
breadth; but the climate is very unhealthy, the island being often obscured by thick fogs.
The N. É. point lies in latitude 10° 28′ Ñ. longitude 59° 37′ W. Its northern part is
high land, but the soil is good, and fit for tobacco, sugar-canes, &c. The port of St.
Joseph on the west side is the principal one on the island. The current sets so exceed-
ingly strong along the coast from E. to W. as to render most of its bays and roads
nseless. Cape Salinas on the main, and the N. W. point of this island make the
western passage of the river Oronoko, by which it discharges a considerable part of its
waters, that in consequence of their interruption by the island are impelled very
rapidly out to the northward into the ocean." (MALHAM'S Naval Gazetteer.) The
geographical site of the Port of Spain in Trinidad is given in the Connaissance des tems
181
I asked Friday a thousand questions about the country, the inhabitants, the sea,
the coast, and what nations were near: he told me all he knew, with the greatest
openness imaginable. I asked him the names of the several nations of his sort
of people, but could get no other name than Caribs: from whence I easily
understood, that these were the Caribees, which our maps place on the part of
America which reaches from the mouth of the river Oronoko to Guiana, and
onwards to St. Martha.* He told me that up a great way beyond the moon,
thus: latitude 10° 38′ 40″ N. longitude 63° 49′ 30″ W. from Paris 61° 29′ 15″ from
Greenwich. Concerning Trinidad, the Maval Chronicle may be instructively consulted
as follows:-for a descriptive account, vol. vii, p. 332; for its capture in the year
1792, xxiv, 181; for its hydrography, xxii, 456; xxxi, 405.
Trinidad was discovered by COLON, (otherwise called Columbus) on his third voy-
age. HERRERA says it was so named because the discoverer, having been in great
danger during a storm, made a vow to dedicate to the Holy-Trinity the first land he
should find after that peril; soon after which a sailor aloft saw three points of land
whereby the name and the vow every way fitted each other. The original inhabitants of
Trinidad were not Caraïbs, but Arwaks, or Arrocaoks, of Guiana, a harmless people.
In 1626, Sir DODMORE COTTON sailing unto his Persian embassy, was forced by contrary
winds within a few leagues of Trinidad. Sir THOMAS HERBERT in his account of that
voyage, says: "On 1st. June when they were by observation in latitude 24° 22′ S.
they met with many sudden gusts and storms, which rendered them unable to pursue
their course, and drove them to leeward 100 leagues on the coast of Brazil.”
* St. MARTHA.-The Naval Gazetteer (1795) gives the following account of this
place:"St. Martha on the northern coast of South America to the eastward of Made-
lena river, has a harbour at the mouth of Guayra river, about 42 leagues N. E.
from Carthagena. This harbour is large, convenient, and safe; the place had a con-
siderable trade,, with a valuable pearl-fishery, which employed a great number of
slaves. These are very expert in procuring the oysters; some of them will remain
under water for a quarter of an hour; [incredible. ED.] and rise with a basket full.
The town has lately much declined. Its latitude is 11° 27′ N. and longitude 74° 4′ W.
The bay is a very good road for ships, and well secured from northerly winds; the best of
it lies behind two small islands that break off the sea, and shelter the ships from the effects
of tornados. The ground is every where good, so that the Spaniards frequently careen
their vessels here; and what is still more agreeable, it supplies wood and water in
abundance, an advantage which but few of the ports on this coast possess. Its river
also runs far up into the country, and receives many smaller ones, some of which are
navigable for boats and canoes farther than the main river. The entrance of this river
is difficult to find on coming to it from sea. Its appearance is only that of a long point
stretching off from the coast like a head-land, and forming a bay. This cape must be
passed and ships must proceed to the westward of it, when the opening of the river
will be seen on the larboard side within the point. It is advisable, for a ship to keep
out a little to seaward as soon as she makes the point, which will be known by a great
hill called Sierra-Lamba, that is situated on the W. side of the river. When a ship
is round the point and has opened the river, an island will be seen which appears to
block up the entrance, but discovers itself to be an island on approaching nearer; there
is a fair channel around it on either side, and it is known by the name of isla Verde,
or Green isle. Sometimes the wind will blow so hard at E. that a ship cannot get
Tound this island; in which case come to an anchor under the off point of the island,
between that and the point of the main already mentioned: and if it blows from the
W. or S. W, go under the inner side of the said island, within the mouth of the river.
In both situations there is good riding in from 5 to 7 fathoms.” The Mabal Chronicle
(vol .xxxi, p. 411,) contains the following well authenticated statement concerning the
duration of immersion in the oriental pearl fishery:
"The period the divers continue under water, in the depth of 7 fathoms seldom ex-
ceeds a minute, sometimes a minute and half; but persons who are willing to allow the
greatest latitude say they never knew a diver remain under water more than two minutes.”
The geographical site of St. Martha is stated in the Requisite Tables, thus: latitude
11° 19′ 2″ N, longitude 74° 4′ 30″ W. difference of time from Greenwich 4h. 56m, 18s.
The same is thus differently recorded in the Connaissunce, des tems: 11° 19′ 537 N.
76° 24′ 30″ W, from Paris 74° 4' 15" W. from Greenwich,
d
182
that was, beyond the setting of the moon, which must be west from their cour
try, there dwelt white bearded men, like me, and pointed to my great whiskers,
which I mentioned before; and that they had killed much mans, that was his
word by all which I understood he meant the Spaniards, whose cruelties in
America had been spread over the whole country, and were remembered by all
the nations, from father to son.
I inquired if he could tell me how I might go from this island and get among
those white men: he told me, "Yes, yes, you may go in two canoe.
"> I could
not understand what he meant or make him describe to me. what he meant by
two canoe; till, at last, with great difficulty, I found he meant it must be in
large boat, as big as two canoes. This part of Friday's discourse began to relish
with me very well: and from this time I entertained some hopes that, one
time or other, I might find an opportunity to make my escape froin this place,
and that this poor savage might be a means to help me.
During the long time that Friday had now been with me, and that he began
to speak to me, and understand me, I was not wanting to lay a foundation of
religious knowledge in his mind: particularly I asked him one time, who made
him? The poor creature did not understand me at all, but thought I had asked
him who was his father: but I took it up by another handle, and asked him who
made the sea, the ground we walked on, and the hills and woods? He told me,
it was one old Benamuckee,* that lived beyond all; he could describe. nothing
of this great person, but that he was very old, much older, he said, than the sea
or the land, than the moon or the stars. I asked him then, if this old person had
made all things, why did not all things worship him? He looked very grave, and
with a perfect look of innocence said," All things say O! to him," I asked him
if the people who die in his country went away any where? He said, yes;
they all went to Benamuckee: then I asked him whether these they eat up went
thither too? He said, yes. From these things I began to instruct him in the
knowledge of the true God: I told him that the great Maker of all things lived
up there, pointing up towards heaven; that he governed the world by the same
power and providence, by which he made it; that he was omnipotent, and could
do every thing for us, give every thing to us, take every thing from us; and thus,
by degrees, I opened his eyes. He listened with great attention, and received
with pleasure the notion of Jesus-Christ being sent to redeem us, and of the man-
ner of making our prayers to God, and his being able to hear us, even in heaven.
He told me one day, that if our God could bear us up beyond the sun, he must
needs be a greater God than their Benamuckee, who lived 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 asked him if ever he went thither to speak to him? He said,
no; they never went that were young men ; none went thither but the old men,
whom he called their Oowokakee; that is, as I made him explain it to me, their
religious, or clergy; and that they went to say O! (so he called saying prayers,)
and then came back, and told them what Benamuckce said. By this I observed,
that there is priestcraft even among the most blinded, ignorant pagans in the
world; and the policy of making a secret of religion, in order to preserve the
Tamoosi, is the Caraïb name for their supreme deity. See page 120 note an
word, Caribean,
† PAGAN:-(pagonus latin), a heathen, gentile, or idolater, one who adores false gods.
BARONIUS derives the word paganus, from pagis, villages; because, when Christians bes
came masters of the cities, the heathens were obliged, by the edicts of CONSTANTINE and
his sons, to go and live in the country villages, &c. SAIMASIUS will have the word come
from pagus, considered as originally signifying gens, or nation: whence he observes, we
say indifferently, pagans, or gentiles. The abbot de FLEURY gives another origin of pagan:
he observes, that the emperor CONSTANTINE going from Antioch, against MAXENTIUS, in
350, assembled all his troops, and advised such as had not received baptism to receive it
immediately; declaring withal, that such as were found unbaptized should quit the service,
ì
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veneration of the people to the clergy, is not only to be found in the Roman
but perhaps among all religions in the world, even among the most brutish and
barbarous savages.
I endeavoured to clear up this fraud to my man Friday; and told him, that
the pretence of their old men going up to the mountains to say O! to their god
Benamuckee was a cheat; and their bringing word from thence what he said
was much more so; that if they met with any answer, or spake with any one
there it must be with an evil spirit: and then I entered into a long discourse
with him about the Devil, the origin of him, his rebellion against God, his en-
inity to man, the reason of it, his setting himself up in the dark parts of the
world to be worshipped instead of God, and as God, and the many stratagems
he made use of to delude mankind to their ruin; how he had a secret access to
our passions and to our affections, and to adapt his snares so to our inclinations, as
to cause us even to be our own tempters, and run upon our destruction by our
own choice. I found it was not so easy to imprint right notions in his mind
about the Devil,* as it was about the being of a God: nature assisted all my
arguments to evidence to him even the necessity of a great First Cause, and
an overruling, governing power, a secret, directing Providence, and of the equity
and go home. Hence, perhaps, says that author the name pagan might be given to those
who chose the latter; the latin word paganus properly signifying a person who does not
bear arms, in opposition to miles, a soldier. And hence it might in time, extend to all
heathens or, continues he, the word might come from pagus, village, in regard the pea-
sants were those who adhered longest to the idolatry of the heathens. Pagan is used
by our antient dramatic writers to signify one who does not credit a fact related to
him. BEAUMONT and FLETCHER in the Woman's prize (act v, scene 3) use it in that
sense:-" Row. I have lost them, and heaven knows I'm glad on't. Let's go, and tell:
me all, and tell me how; for "yet I'm pagan in't." In like manner G. RUGGLE,
employs it in Ignoramus (a. iv, s. 5,):-ANT. This fellow will not believe you. CUPES.
Is he an infidel? let me come to the pagan."
}
1
* DEVIL :-R.C.'s embarrassment in this part of his religious teaching is not singular;
in fact the subject is one of much difficulty: some light has been endeavoured to be
thrown upon it in the philological note appended unto page 140: with which if the
reader thinks fit he may connect the following additional remarks upon the same
word. Devils are considered as the enemies and seducers of the human race, and as
perpetually busied in drawing them into sin. (The plural number is here used on the par-
ticular authority of Matthew: xii, 24; xxv, 41; Murk : v, 9.) A power is attributed unto
them of performing miracles similar to those wrought by the Almighty; and even
a power that counteracts and renders abortive the benevolence of the creator. Although
the primitive christian religion did not formerly allow the same power unto the devil.
as to the Most-high, it supposed that malevolent being prevented mankind from
entering into the enjoyment of the felicity destined for them by the goodness of God,
and led most of them into eternal perdition. Modern christians however virtually
attribute to the devil an empire more extensive than that of the celestial deity. The
former (according to certain calvinistic tenets) carries off the greater part of the
human race who are destined to listen to his destructive temptation, rather than to the
commands of the latter; who by the exclusive professors alluded to is allowed with
difficulty only to save a few elect. The doctrme of two antagonist principles is
borrowed from ZOROASTER: (as the modern europeans call ZERDUSHT the celebrated
legislator of the Persians who flourished under DARIUS HYSTASPES; (another mis-
nomer !) Of these the good principle was named OROMANDES OF ORomazus, the
antient of days, the name which the Magi and Chaldæans give to the supreme
being; and which in the chaldaic language is said to signify, burning light. He is
represented by them as surrounded by fire; that his body is like to light, and his soul,
unto truth. The other bad principle they called ARIMANES or ARIMANUS, that is,
in Chaldaïe, my enemy, or cunning and deceitful: opposed to OROMAZUS who how-
ever was to destroy it at last. This is the OSIRIS and TYPHON of the Egyptians; this,
the PANDORA of the Greeks: and this strongly resembles the JEHOVAH and SATAN
of Jews and Christians. Such are the efforts of all the sages to explain the origin
of good and evil!
·
184
and justice of paying homage to him that made us, and the like; but there
appeared nothing of this kind in the notion of an evil spirit; of his original, his
being, his nature, and, above all, of his inclination to do evil, and to draw us
in to do so too: and the poor creature puzzled me once in such a manner, by
a question merely natural and innocent, that I scarce knew what to say to him.
I had been talking a great deal to him of the power of God, his omnipotence,
his aversion to sin, his being a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity; how,
as he had made us all, he could destroy us and all the world in a moment; and
he listened 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 designs of Providence and the like.
"Well," says Friday, "but you say God is so strong, so great; is he not much
strong, much might as the Devil?"-"Yes, yes" says I, "Friday, God is stronger
than the Devil: God is above the Devil, and therefore we pray to God to tread
him down under our feet, and enable us to resist his temptations, and quench
his fiery darts,"" But," says he again," if God much stronger, much might
as the Devil, why God no kill the Devil, so make him no more do wicked?" I
was strangely surprised at this question; and after all, although I was now an
old man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill qualified for a casuist, or a solver
of difficulties; and, at first, I could not tell what to say; so I pretended not
to hear him, and asked him what he said; but he was too earnest for an answer
to forget his question, so that he repeated it in the very same broken words as
above. By this time I had recovered myself a little, and I said, "God will at
last punish him severely; he is reserved for the judgment, and is to be cast into
the bottomless pit, to dwell with everlasting fire." This did not satisfy Friday;
but he returns upon me, repeating my words, " Reserve at last: Me no under-
stand; but why not kill Devil now; not kill great ago?"—" You may as well
ask me,” said I,“ why God does not kill you and me, when we do wicked things
here that offend him? We are preserved to repent and be pardoned." He
mused some time on this: "Well, well," says he, affectionately," that well: so
you, I, Devil, all wicked, all preserve, repent, God pardon all." Here I 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 consequence of our nature, yet nothing but divine revelation can
form a knowledge of the peculiar mysteries of the christian religion. I therefore
diverted the present discourse between me and my man, rising up hastily, as upon
some sudden occasion of going out; then sending him for something a good way
off, I seriously prayed to God that he would enable me to instruct savingly this
poor savage; assisting, by his spirit, the heart of the poor ignorant creature to
receive the light of the knowledge of God, reconciling him to himself, and would
guide me to speak so to him as his conscience might be convinced, his eyes
opened, and his soul saved. When he came again to me, I entered into a long
discourse with him upon the subject of the doctrine of the gospel of repentance
towards God, and faith, &c. I then explained to him, as well as I could why
our Redeemer took not on him the nature of angels; and how, for that reason,
the fallen angels had no share in the redemption; that he came only to the lost
of mankind, and the like. I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge
in all the methods I took for this poor creature's instruction, and must acknow.
ledge, that I believe all that act upon the same 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 considered before, but which occurred
naturally to my mind upon searching into them, for the information of this poor
savage; and I had more affection in my inquiry after things upon this occasion
than ever I felt before: so that, whether this poor wild wretch was the better
for me or no, I had great reason to be thankful that ever he came to me; my
grief sat lighter upon me; my habitation grew comfortable to me beyond mea.
185
sure; and when I reflected, that in this solitary life which I had been confined
to, I had not only been moved to look up to Heaven myself, and to seek to the
hand that had brought me here, but was now to be made an instrument, under
providence, to save the life, and, for aught I knew, the soul of a poor savage, and
bring him to the true knowledge of religion: I say, when I reflected upon all
these things, a secret joy ran through every part of my soul, and I frequently
rejoiced that ever I was brought to this place, which I had so often thought the
most dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have befallen me.
I continued in this thankful frame all the remainder of my time; and the con-
versation which employed the hours between Friday and me was such, as made
the three years which we lived there together perfectly and completely happy,
if any such thing as complete happiness can be formed in a sublunary state. This
savage was now a much better Christian than I, though I have reason to hope,
that we were equally comforted and restored penitents. We had here the word
of God to read, and no farther off from his Spirit to instruct, than if we had been
in England. I always applied myself, in reading the scriptures, to let him know,
as well as I could, the meaning of what I read; and he again, by his serious en-
quiries and questionings, made me, as I said before, a much better scholar in the
scripture knowledge than I should ever have been by my own mere private read-
ing. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing here also, from experience,
in this retired part of my life, how infinite and inexpressible a blessing it is, that
the knowledge of God is so plainly laid down in his word, so easy to be received,
and understood, that, as the bare reading of the scripture made me capable of
understanding enough of my duty to carry me directly on to the great work of
repentance for my sins, to a stated reformation in practice, and obedience to all
God's commands, and this without any teacher or instructor, I mean human; so,
the same plain instruction sufficiently served to the enlightening this savage crea-
ture, and bringing him to be such a Christian, as I have known few equal to
him in my life. As to all the disputes, wrangling, strife, and contention, which
have happened in the world about religion, whether niceties in doctrines, or
schemes of church-government, they were all perfectly useless to us, and for aught I
can yet see, they have been so to the rest of the world. We had the sure guide to
heaven, the word of God; and we had wholesome views of the heavenly Spirit,
teaching and instructing us.by his word, leading us into all truth, and making
us both willing and obedient to the instruction of his word. And I cannot see
the least use that the greatest knowledge of the disputed points in religion, which
have made such confusions in the world, would have been to us, if we could have
obtained it. But I must go on with the historical part of things in order.
After Friday and I became more intimately acquainted, and that he could
understand almost all I said to him, and speak pretty fluently, although in broken
English, to me, I acquainted him with my own history, or, at least, so much of
it as related to my coming to this place; how I had lived here, and how long :
Ikt him into the mystery, for such it was to him, of gunpowder and bullet, and
taught him how to shoot. I gave him a knife, which he was wonderfully delighted
with; and I made him a belt, with a frog hanging to it, such as in England we
wear hangers in; and, in the frog, instead of a hanger, I gave him a hatchet,
which was not only as good a weapon, in some cases, but much more useful upon
other occasions. I described to him the continent of Europe, and the country
of England, which I came from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, how
we behaved to one another, and how we traded in ships to all parts of the world.
I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on board of, and showed
him, as near as I could, the place where she lay; but she was all beaten in pieces
before, and gone. I showed him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we
escaped, and which I could not stir with my whole strength then; but was now
fallen almost all to pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood musing a great
while, and said nothing. I asked him what it was he studied upon? At last,
says he, "Me see such boat like come to place at my nation." I did not under-
186
stand him a good while; but, at last, when I had examined farther into it, I un
derstood by him, that a boat, such as that had been, came on shore upon the
country where he lived; that is, as he explained it, was driven thither by stress
of weather. I presently imagined that some european ship must have been cast
away upon their coast, and the boat might get loose, and drive ashore; but I was
so dull, that I never once thought of men making their escape from a wreck
thither, much less whence they might come; so I only enquired after a descrip-
tion of the boat. Friday described the boat to me well enough; but brought
me better to understand him, when he added, with some warmth, "We save
white maus from drown." Then I presently asked him, if there were any white
mans, as he called them, in the boat? "Yes," he said;" boat full of white mans.
I asked him how many? He told upon his fingers seventeen. I asked him
then what became of them? He told me, "they live at my nation.”
This put new thoughts into my head; for I presently imagined that these
might be the men belonging to the ship that was cast away in the sight of my
island, as I now called it; and who, after the ship was struck on the rock,
and they saw her inevitably lost, had saved themselves in their boat, and were
landed upon that wild shore among the savages. Upon this, I enquired of him
more critically what was become of them; he assured me they lived still there;
that they had been there about four years; that the savages let them alone, and
gave them victuals to live on. I asked him how it came to pass they did not kill
them, and eat them? He said, "No, they make brother with them; that is,
as I understood him, a truce; and then he added, "They no cat mans but when
make the war fight; "that is to say, they never eat any men but such as come
to fight against them, and are taken in battle.
199
It was after this some considerable time, that, being upon the top of the hill,
at the east side of the island, from whence, as I have said, I had, in a clear day,'
discovered the main, or continent of America, Friday, the weather being very
serene, looks very earnestly towards that land, and, in a kind of surprise, falls
a jumping and dancing, and calls out to me, for I was at some distance from him:
I asked him what was the matter? "Ojoy!" says he, "O glad!" there see my
country, there my nation!" I observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure ap
peared in his face, and his eyes sparkled, and his countenance discovered a
strange eagerness, as if he had a mind to be in his own country again. This ob-
servation of mine put a great many thoughts into me, which made me at first not
so easy about my new man 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 obligation to me, and would be forward enough to give
his countryman an account of me, and come back perhaps with an hundred or
two of them, and make a feast upon me, at which he might be as merry as he'
used to be with those of his enemies, when they were taken in war. But I
wronged the poor honest creature very much, for which I was very sorry after-
wards. However, as my jealousy increased, and held me some weeks, I was a
little more circumspect, and not so familiar and kind to him as before: in which'
I was certainly in the wrong too; the honest, grateful, creature, having no
thought about it, but what consisted with the best principles, both as a religious
man, and as a grateful friend; as appeared afterwards, to my full satisfaction.
:
While my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure I was every day pumping
him, to see if he would discover any of the new thoughts which I suspected were in
him but I found every thing he said was so honest, and so innocent, that I could
find nothing to nourish my suspicion; and, in spite of all my uneasiness, he
made me, at last, entirely his own again; nor did he, in the least, perceive that
I was uneasy, and, therefore, I could not suspect him of deceit. One day, walk-
ing up the same hill, but the weather being hazy at sea, so that we could not see
the continent, I called to him, and said, "Friday, do not you wish yourself in'
your own country, your own nation?" "Yes," he said, "I be much O glad to
be at my own nation." "What would you do there?" said I; « Would you
་་
187
turn wild again, eat men's fleshi again, and be a savage, as you were before?
He looked full of concern, and shaking his head, said, “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," said I to him," they will kill you.
He looked grave at that, and then said, "No, no, they no kill me, they willing
love learn." He meant, by this, they would be willing to learn. He added, they
learned much of the bearded maus that came in the boat. Then I asked him
if he would go back to them? He smiled at that, and told me that he could not
swim so far. I told him, I would make a canoe for him. He told me he would
"I go
go, if I would go with him. go!" says I," why, they will eat me, if I come
there." No, no," says he, me make they no eat you; me make they much
love you. He meant, he would tell them how I had killed his enemies, and saved
his life, and so he would make them love me. Then he told me as well as he
could, how kind they were to seventeen white men, or bearded men, as he called
them, who came on shore there in distress.
66
(6
From this time, I confess, I had a mind to venture over, and see if I could
possibly join with those bearded men, who, I made no doubt, were Spaniards or
Portuguese; not doubting, but, if I could, we might find some method to escape
from thence, being upon the continent, and a good company together, better
than I could from an island forty miles off the shore, and alone, without help.
So, after some days, I took Friday to work again, by way of discourse; and told
him, I would give him a boạt to go back to his own nation; and, accordingly, I
carried him to my frigate, which lay on the other side of the island, and having
cleared it of water (for I always kept it sunk in water), I brought it out, showed,
it him, and we both went into it. I found he was a most dexterous fellow at
managing it, and would make it go almost as swift again as I could; so, when he
was in, I said to him, "Well, now, Friday, shall we go to your nation?" He
looked very dull at my saying so; which, it seems, was because he thought the
boat too small to go so far. I then told him I had a bigger; so, 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 said that was big enough: but then, as I had takeu
no care of it, and it had lain two or three and twenty years there, the sun had
split and dried it that it was, in a manner, rotten. Friday told me such a boat
would do very well, and would carry much enough vittle, drink, bread; that was
his way of talking.
46.
16
Upon the whole, I was, by this time, so fixed 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 answered not one word, but looked very
grave and sad. I asked him what was the matter with him? He asked me again,
Why you angry mad with Friday? What me done? I asked him what he
meant? I told him I was not angry with him at all. "No angry?" says he,
repeating the words several times; "Why send Friday home away to my nation?"
Why," says I," Friday, did not you say, you wished you were there?' “Yes,
yes," says he, "wish be both there; no wish Friday there, no master there.
In a word, he would not think of going there without me. "I go there, Friday!"
says I," what shall I do there?" He returned very quick upon me at this; "You
do great deal much good," says he, "you teach wild mans be good, sober, tame,
mans; you tell them know God, pray God, and live new life." "Alas! Friday,"
says I, "thou knowest not what thou sayest; I am but an ignorant man myself."
"Yes, yes," says he, you teachee me good, you teachee them good." "No,
no, Friday," says I, " you shall go without me; leave me here to live by myself,
as I did before." He looked confused again at that word; and running to one
of the hatchets which he used to wear, he takes it up hastily, and gives it to me.
"What must I do with this?" says I to him. "You take kill Friday," says he,
"What must I kill you for?" said I again. He returns very quick, "What
you send Friday away for? Take kill Friday, no send Friday away." This he
spoke so earnestly, that I saw tears stand in his eyes: in a word, I so plainly dis-
188
covered the utmost affection in him to me, and a firm resolution in him, that
I told him then, and often after, that I would never send him away from me, if
he was willing to stay with me.
Upon the whole, as I found, by all his discourse, a settled affection to me, and
that nothing should part him from me, so I found all the foundation of his desire
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, so
I had not the least thought, or intention, or desire of undertaking it. But still
I found a strong inclination to my attempting an escape, as above, founded on
the supposition gathered from the discourse, viz. that there were seventeen
bearded men there: and, therefore, without any more 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 such boats, but even of good large vessels; but the main
thing I looked at was, to get one so 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
fittest 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 fustic, or between that and the Ni-
caraguat wood, for it was much of the same colour and smell. Friday was for
burning the hollow or cavity of this tree out, to make it for a boat, but I showed
him how to cut it with tools; which, after I had showed him how to use, he did
very handily; and, in about a month's hard labour, we finished it, and made it
very handsome; especially when with our axes, which I showed him how to
handle, we cut and hewed the outside 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 rollers, into the water; but when she was in, she would have carried
twenty men with great ease.
*
When she was in the water, and although she was so big it amazed me to see
with what dexterity, and how swift, my man Friday would manage her, turn her,
and paddle her along; so I asked him if he would, and if we might, venture over
in her?"Yes," he said, "we venture over in her very well, though great blow
wind." Ilowever, I had a farther design, that he knew nothing of, and that was
to make a mast and a sail, and to fit her with an anchor and cable. As to a mast,
hat was easy enough to get; so I pitched upon a straight young cedar-tree, which
I found near the place, and which there was great plenty of in the island: and
1 set Friday to work to cut it down, and gave him directions how to shape
and order it. But as to the sail, that was my particular care. I knew I
had old sails, or rather pieces of old sails enough: but, as I had had them now
* FUSTIC —or fustock, a yellow wood used by the dyers. The colour it yields is
a fine golden yellow; but there should be some other ingredient mixed with it to make
it lasting. The tree that yields it grows in all the caribee islands: particularly in Bar-
bados and Tobago, where it rises to a great height. The dyers use it chiefly for black;
but some of the ablest and honestest among them, who would dye none but the best
and most lasting colours, are of opinion it should be absolutely excluded out of all dy-
ing. Besides this, there is another kind of fustick or fustel, growing in Italy, Provence,
&c. which is used to dye a coffee-colour. (CHAMBERS's Cyclopaedia.)
+ NICARAGUA is the name of a lake and river in the province of New-Spain so
called. The lake is 117 leagues in circumference. Its western part is not more than
20 miles from the S.W. coast of Mexico, near the north Pacific ocean. On the banks
of this lake are several good towns or cities, particularly those of Grenada and Leon,
The former of these is on the S. side in latitude 11° 8' N. longitude, 85° 12′ W. and is
45 miles westward from the city of Nicaragua, that stands at some distance S. from the
lake; the latter is at the west end, in latitude 12° N. longitude 87° W. The river,
which rises in the lake, directs its course E. until it falls in the North sea, opposite the
island of Monglaras, in latitude 11° 40′ N. longitude 82° 47′ W. having a large expan-
sive course of water, which divides the province of Nicaragua from Costa-rica, "and
renders the towns upon its banks of considerable importance.
189
six and twenty years by me, and had not been very careful to preserve them, not
imagining that I should ever have this kind of use for them, I did not doubt but they
were all rotten, and indeed most of them were so: however, I found two pieces, which
appeared pretty good, and with these, I went to work; and with a great deal of pains,
and aukward stitching, you may be sure, for want of needles, I, at length, made a
three-cornered ugly thing, like what we call in England a shoulder-of-mutton
sail, to go with a boom at bottom, and a little short sprit at the top, such as
usually our ship's long-boats sail with, and such as I best knew how to manage,
as it was such a one I had to the boat in which I made my escape from Barbary,
as related in the first part of my story. I was near two months performing this
last work, viz. rigging and fitting my mast and sails; for I finished them very
complete, making a small stay, and a sail, or fore-sail, to it, to assist if we should
turn to windward; and, which was more than all, I fixed a rudder to the stern
of her to steer with. I was but a bungling shipwright, yet, as I knew the use
fulness, and even necessity of such a thing, I applied myself with so much pains
to do it, that, at last, I brought it to pass; though, considering the many dull
contrivances I had for it that failed, I think it cost me almost as much labour as
making the boat.
After all this was done, I had my man Friday to teach as to what belonged to
the navigation of iny boat; for, though he knew very well how to paddle a canoe,
he knew nothing what belonged to a sail and a rudder; and was the most amazed
when he saw me work the boat to and again in the sea by the rudder, and how
the sail gibed and filled this way, or that way, as the course we sailed changed;
Is say, when he saw this, he stood like one astonished and amazed. However,
with a little use, I made all these things familiar to him, and he became an ex-
pert sailor, except that, as to the compass; I could make him understand very
little of that. On the other hand, as there was very little cloudy weather, and
seldom or never any fogs in these parts, there was the less occasion for a com-
pass, seeing the stars were always to be seen by night, and the shore by day,
except in the rainy seasons, and then nobody cared to stir abroad, either by land
or sea.
I was now entered 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 the time. I kept the anniversary of my landing here with the same
thankfulness as at first; and, if I had such cause of acknowledgement at first,
I had much more so now, having such additional testimonies of the care of pro-
vidence over me, and the great hopes I had of being effectually and speedily
delivered; for I had an invincible impression upon my thoughts that my deli-
verance was at hand, and that I should not be another year in this place. I went
on, however, with my husbandry; digging, planting, and fencing, as usual; I ga-
thered and cured my grapes, and did every necessary thing, as before.
The rainy season was, in the mean time, upon me, when I kept more within
doors than at other times. We had stowed our new vessel as secure as we could,
bringing her up into the creek, where, as I said in the beginning, I landed my
rafts from the ship; and hauling her up to the shore, at high water mark, I
made my man Friday dig a little dock, just big enough to hold her, and just
deep enough to give her water enough to float in; and then, when the tide was
out, we made a strong dam across the end of it, to keep the water out; and so
she lay dry, as to the tide from the sea; and to keep the rain off, we laid a great
many boughs of trees, so thick, that she was as well thatched as a house; and
thus we waited for the months of November and December, in which I designed
to make my adventure.
When the settled season began to come in, as the thought of my design re-
turned with the fair weather, I was preparing daily for the voyage; and the first
thing I did was to lay by a certain quantity of provisions, being the stures for our
voyage, and intended, in a week or a fortnight's time, to open the dock, and
น
190
66
66
launch out our boat. I was busy one morning upon something of this kind, when I
called to Friday, and hid him go to the sea-shore, and see if he could find a turtle,
or tortoise, a thing which we generally got once a week, for the sake of the eggs
as well as the flesh. Friday had not been long gone, when he came running
back, and flew over my outer wall or fence, like one that felt not the ground, or
the steps he set his feet on : and before I had time to speak to him, he cries out
to me, “O master! O master! O sorry! O bad!" "What's the matter, Fri-
day?" says I. "O yonder, there," says he, one, two, three canoe; one, two,
three." By this way of speaking, I concluded there were six; but on inquiry,
I found it was but three." Well, Friday," says I, "do not be frightened !"
So I heartened him up as well as I could; however, I saw the poor fellow was
most terribly scared; for nothing ran in his head, but that they were come to
look for him, and would cut him in pieces, and eat him; and the poor fellow
trembled so, that I scarce knew what to do with him. I comforted 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," says I, “ Friday, we must resolve to fight them. Can
I,"
you fight, Friday?""Me shootɛe," says he," but there come many great num-
ber." "No matter for that," said I again, our guns will fright them that we
do not kill." So I asked him whether, if I resolved to defend him, he would
defend me, and stand by me, and do just as I bid him. He said, “Me die, when
you bid die, master." So I went and fetched a dram of rum and gave him; for
I had been so good a husband of my rum, that I had a great deal left. When
he had drank it, I made him take the two fowling-pieces, which we always carried,
and load them with large swan-shot, as big as small pistol-bullets; then I took
four muskets, and loaded them with two slugs, and five small bullets each; and
my two pistols I loaded with a brace of bullets each: I hung my great sword,
as usual, naked by my side, and gave Friday his hatchet. When I had thus
prepared myself, I took my perspective-glass, and went up to the side of the hill,
to see what I could discover; and I found quickly, by my glass, that there were
one and twenty savages, three prisoners, and three canoes; and that their whole
business seemed to be the triumphant banquet upon these three human bodies;
a barbarous feast, indeed: but nothing more than, as I had observed, was usual
with them. I observed also, that they were landed, not where they had done
when Friday made his escape, but nearer to my creek; where the shore was low,
and where a thick wood came almost close down to the sea. This, with the
abhorrence of the inhuman errand these wretches came about, filled me with
such indignation, that I came down again to Friday, and told him I was resolved
to go down to them, and kill them all; and asked him if he would stand by me.
He had now got over his fright, and his spirits being a little raised with the dram
I had given him, he was very cheerful, and told me, as before, he would die when
I bid die.
•
In this fit of fury, I took and divided the arms which I had charged, as before,
between us: I gave Friday one pistol to stick in his girdle, and three guns upon
his shoulder; and I took one pistol, and the other three guns myself; and in this
posture we marched out. I took a small bottle of rum in my pocket, and gave
Friday a large bag with more powder and bullets; and, as to orders, I charged
him to keep close behind me, and not to stir, or shoot, or do any thing, till I
bid him; and, in the mean time, not to speak a word. In this posture, I fetched
a compass to my right hand of near a mile, as well to get over the creek as to
get into the woud, so that I might come within shot of them before I should
be discovered, which I had seen by my glass, it was easy to do.
While I was making this march, my former thoughts returning, I began to
abate of my resolution: I do not mean that I entertained any fear of their num
ber; for, as they were naked, unarmed wretches, it is certain I was superior
to them; nay, though I had been alone. But it occurred to my thoughts, what
call, what occasion, much less what necessity I was in, to go and dip my hands
in blood, to attack people who had neither done or intended me any wrong?
191
Who, as to me, were innocent, and whose barbarous customs were their own
disaster; being, in them, a token indeed of God's having left them, with the
other nations of that part of the world, to such stupidity, and to such inhuman
courses, but did not call me to take upon me to be a judge of their actions, much
less an executioner of his justice; that, whenever he thought fit, he would take
the cause into his own hands, and, by national vengeance, punish them, as a
people, for national 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 declared
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 say the same with respect to myself.
These things were so warmly pressed upon my thoughts all the way as I went,
that I resolved I would only go and place myself near them, that I might
observe their barbarous feast, and that I would act then as God should direct;
but that, unless something offered that was more a call to me than yet I knew
of, I would not meddle with them.
With this resolution I entered the wood; and, with all possible wariness and
silence, Friday following close at my heels, I marched until I came to the skirt of
the wood, on the side which was next to them, only that one corner of the wood
lay between me and them. Here I called softly to Friday, and shewing him a
great tree, which was just at the corner of the wood, I bade him go to the tree,
and bring me word if he could see there plainly what they were doing. He did
60; and came immediately back to me, and told me they might be plainly
viewed there; that they were all about their fire, eating the flesh of one of their
prisoners, and that another lay bound upon the sand, a little from them, which,
he said, they would kill next, and which fired all the very soul within me.
told me it was not one of their nation, but one of the bearded men he had told
Ine of, that came to their country in the boat. I was filled with horror at the
very naming the white bearded man; and going to the tree, I saw plainly, by
my glass, a white man, who lay upon the beach of the sea, with his hands and
his feet tied with flags, or things like rushes, and that he was an European, and
had clothes on.
He
There was another tree, and a little thicket beyond it, about fifty yards nearer
to them than the place where I was, which by going a little way about, I saw
I might come at undiscovered, and that then I should be within half a shot of
them; so I withheld my passion, though I was indeed enraged to the highest
degree; and going back about twenty paces, I got behind some bushes, which
held all the way till I came to the other tree; and then came to a little rising
ground, which gave me a full view of them, at the distance of about eighty
yards.
I had now not a moment to lose, for nineteen of the dreadful wretches sat upon
the ground, all close huddled together, and had just sent the other two to butcher
the poor European, and bring him, perhaps, limb by limb, to their fire; and they
were stooping down to untie the bands at his feet. I turned to Friday-" Now,
Friday," said I," do as I bid.". Friday said he would.
"Then Friday," says
I, "do exactly as you see me do: fail in nothing." So I set down one of the
muskets and the fowling-piece upon the ground, and Friday did the like by his;
and with the other musket I took my ain at the savages, bidding him to do the
like; then asking him if he was ready, he said yes.. "Then fire at them," said
I; and the same moment I fired also,
Friday took his aim so much better than I, that on the side that he shot, he
killed two of them, and wounded three more; and on my side, I killed one, and
wounded two. They were you may be sure, in a dreadful consternation; and
all of them who were not hurt jumped upon their feet, but did not immediately
know which way to run, or which way to look, for they knew not from whence
their destruction came. Friday kept his eyes close upon me, that, as I had bid
him, he might observe what I did; so, as soon as the first shot was made, I
threw down the piece, and took up the fowling-piece, and Friday did the like::
·
192
he saw me cock and present; he did the same again. "Are you ready, Friday?"
said I.—“Yes,” says he, "Let fly, then," says I, "in the name of God!” and
with that, I fired again among the amazed wretches and so did Friday, and as
our pieces were now loaden with what I called swan-shot, or small pistol-bullets,
we found only two drop, but so many were wounded, that they ran about
yelling and screaming like mad creatures, all bloody, and most of them miserably
wounded, whereof three more fell quickly after, though not quite dead.
Now, Friday," says I, laying down the discharged pieces, and taking up
the musket which was yet loaden, "follow me;" which he did, with a great
deal of courage: upon which I rushed out of the wood, and showed myself, and
Friday close at my foot. As soon as I perceived they saw me, I shouted as loud
as I could, and bade Friday do so too; and running as fast 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 said, lying upon the beach, or shore,
between the place where they sat and the sea. The two butchers, who were
just going to work with him, had left him at the surprise of our first fire, and fled
in a terrible fright to the sea-side, and had jumped into a canoe, and three
more of the rest made the same way. I turned to Friday, and bade him step
forwards, and fire at them; he understood me immediately, and running about
forty yards, to be nearer them, he shot at them, and I thought he had killed
them all, for I saw them all fall of a heap into the boat, although I saw two of
them up again quickly: however, he killed two of them, and wounded the third
so, that he lay down in the bottom of the boat as if he had been dead. While
my man Friday fired at them, I pulled out my knife and cut the flags that bound
the poor victim; and loosing his hands and feet, I lifted him up, and asked him
in the Portuguese tongue, what he was. He answered, in Latin, Christianus;
but was so weak and faint that he could scarce stand or speak. I took my bottle
out of my pocket, and gave it him, making signs that he should drink, which he
did; and I gave him a piece of bread, which he ate. Then I asked him what
Countryman he was: he said, Espaniol; and being a little recovered, let me
know, by all the signs he could possibly make, how much he was in my debt for
his deliverance. “Senior!" said 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 pistol and sword, and lay about you." He took them very thankfully; and
no sooner had he the arms in his hands, but, as if they had put new vigour into
him, he flew upon his murderers like a fury, and had cut two of them in pieces
in an instant, for the truth is, as the whole was a surprise to them, so the poor
creatures were so much frightened with the noise of our pieces, that they fell
down for mere amazement and fear, and had no more power to attempt their
own escape than their flesh had to resist our shot; and that was the case of those
five that Friday shot at in the boat; for as three of them fell with the hurt they
received, so the other two fell with the fright.
4
I kept my piece in my hand still, without firing, being willing to keep my
charge ready, because I had given the Spaniard my pistol and sword: so I called
to Friday, and bade him run up to the tree from whence we first fired, and fetchi
the arms which lay there that bad been discharged, which he did with great
swiftness; and then giving him my musket, I sat down myself to load all the rest
again, and bade them come to me when they wanted. While I was loading
these pieces, there happened a fierce engagement between the Spaniard and
one of the savages, who made at him with one of their great wooden swords,
the same like weapon that was to have killed him before, if I had not prevented
it. The Spaniard, who was as bold and brave as could be imagined, though
weak, had fought this Iudian a good while, and had cut him two great wounds
´on his head; but the savage being a stout lusty fellow, closing in with him, had
thrown him down, being faint, and was wringing my sword out of his hand;
when the Spaniard though undermost, wisely quitting the sword, drew the pistol
from his girdle, shot the savage through the body, and killed him upon the spot,
before 1, who was running to help could come near himı.
193
Friday being now left to his liberty, pursued the flying wretches, with no
weapon in his hand but his hatchet; and with that he despatched those three,
who, as I said 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 fowling-pieces, with which he pursued two of the savages, and wounded
them both; but, as he was not able to run, they both got from him into the
wood, where Friday pursued them, and killed one of them; but the other was
too nimble for him; and though he was wounded, yet had plunged himself into
the sea, and swam, with all his might, off to those two who were left in the
canoe; which three in the canoe, with one wounded; that we knew not whether
he died or no, were all that escaped our hands of one and twenty; the account
of the whole is as follows: 3 killed at our first shot from the tree; 2 killed at the
tree; 2 killed at the next shot; 2 killed by Friday in the boat 2 killed by Friday
of those at first wounded; 1 killed by Friday in the wood; 3 killed by the Spani-
ard; 4 killed, being found dropped here and there of their wounds, or killed by
Friday in his chase of them; 4 escaped in the boat, whereof one wounded, if
not dead.-in all twenty-one.
}
Those that were in the canoe worked hard to get out of gun-shot, and although
Friday made two or three shots at them, I did not find that he hit any of them.
Friday would fain have had me take one of their canoes, and pursue them; and,
indeed, I was very anxious about their escape, lest carrying the news home to
their people, they should come back perhaps with two or three hundred of the
canoes, and devour us by mere multitude; so I consented to pursue them by
sea, 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, bound hand and foot as the Spaniard was, for the slaughter, and almost
dead with fear, not knowing what was the matter; for he had not been able to
look
up over the side of the boat, he was tied so hard neck and heels, and had
been tied so long, that he had really but little life in him.
I immediately cut the twisted flags or rushes, which they had bound him with,
and would have helped him up; but he could not stand or speak, but groaned
most piteously, believing, it seems, still, that he was only unbound in order to be
killed. When Friday came to him, I bade him speak 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 sat up
in the boat. But when Friday came to hear him speak, and look in his face, it
would have moved any one to tears to have seen how Friday kissed him, embra-
ced him, hugged him, cried, laughed, hollowed, jumped about, danced, sung;
then cried again, wrung his hands, beat his own face and head; and then sung
and jumped about again, like a distracted creature. 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 is not easy for me to express how it moved me to see what ecstacy and filial
affection had worked in this poor savage at the sight of his father, and of his
being delivered from death; nor, indeed, can I describe 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 sit down by him, open his
breast, and hold his father's head close to his bosom for many minutes together,
to nourish it; then he took his arms and ankles, which were numbed and stiff
with the binding, and chafed and rubbed them with his hands; and I, perceiving
what the case was, gave him some rum out of my bottle to rub them with, which
did them a great deal of good.
This affair put an end to our pursuit of the canoe with the other savages, who
were now got almost out of sight; and it was happy for us that we did
not, for it blew so hard within two hours after, before they could be got a
quarter of their way, and continued blowing so hard all night and that from the
north-west, which was against them, that I could not suppose their boat could
live, or that they ever reached their own coast.
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
Q
194
But to return to Friday; he was so busy about his father, that I could not find
in my heart to take bin off for some 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 said," None; ugly dog eat all up self." I then gave
him a cake of bread, out of a little pouch I carried on purpose; I also gave him
a dram for himself, but he would not taste it, but carried it to his father. I had
in my pocket two or three bunches of raisins, so I gave him a handful of them
for his father. He had no sooner given his father these raisins, but I saw him
come out of the boat, and run away, as if he had been bewitched he ran at such
a rate; for he was the swiftest fellow on his feet that ever I saw: I say, he ran
at such a rate, that he was out of sight, as it were, in an instant; and although I
called, and hollowed out too, after him, it was all one, away he went; and in a
quarter of an hour I saw him come back again, although not so fast as he went;
and as he came nearer, I found his pace was slacker, because he had something
in his hand. When he came up to me, I found he had been quite home for au
earthen jug, or pot, to bring his father some 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 sup of it. The
water revived his father more than all the rum or spirits I had given him, for
he was just fainting with thirst.
an
When his father had drank, I called to him to know if there was any water
left: he said yes; I bade him give it to the poor Spaniard, who was in as much
want of it as his father; and I sent one of the cakes that Friday brought to the
Spaniard too, who was indeed very weak, and was reposing himself upon a green
place under the shade of a tree; and whose limbs were also very stiff, and very
much swelled with the rude bandage he had been tied with. When I saw that
upon Friday's coming to him with the water he sat up and drank, and took the
bread, and began to eat, I went to him and gave him a handful of raisins: he
looked up in my face with all the tokens of gratitude and thankfulness that could
appear in any countenance; but was so weak, notwithstanding he had so exerted
himself in the fight, that he could not stand up upon his feet; he tried to do it
two or three times, but was really not able, his ankles were so swelled and so
painful to him; so I bade him sit still, and caused Friday to rub his ankles, and
bathe them with rum, as he had done his father's.
I observed the poor affectionate creature, every two minutes, or perhaps less,
all the while he was here, turn his head about, to see if his father was in the same
place and posture as he left him sitting; and at last he found he was not to be
seen; at which he started up, and, without speaking a word, flew with that swift-
ness 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 case
his limbs, so Friday came back to me presently; and then I spoke 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
Justy strong fellow, took the Spaniard quite up upon his back, and carried him
away to the boat, and set him down softly upon the side or gunnel of the canoe,
with his feet in the inside of it; and then lifting him quite in, he set him
close to his father; and presently stepping out again, launched the boat off,
and paddled it along the shore faster than I could walk, although the wind
blew pretty hard too: so he brought them both safe into our creek, and
leaving them in the boat, ran away to fetch the other canoe. As he passed me,
I spoke to him, and asked him whither he went. He told me,
"Go fetch more
boat:" so away he went like the wind, for sure never man or horse run like
him; and he had the other canoe in the creek almost as soon as I got to it by land;
so 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, so that poor Friday
knew not what to do.
To remedy this, I went to work in my thought, and calling to Friday to bid
195
them sit down on the bank while he came to me, I soon made a kind of a hand-
barrow to lay them on, and Friday and I carried them both up together upon
it, between us. But when we got them to the outside of our wall, or fortification,
we were at a worse loss than before, for it was impossible to get them over, and
I was resolved not to break it dowu: so I set to work again; and Friday and I,
in about two hours time, made a very handsome tent, covered with old sails, 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 them two beds of such things as I had, viz. of good rice-straw, with
blankets laid upon it, to lie on, and another to cover them, on each bed.
My island was now peopled, and I thought myself rich in subjects and it
was a merry reflection, which I frequently made, how like a king I looked.
First of all, the whole country was my own mere property, so that I had an un-
doubted right of dominion. Secondly, my people were perfectly subjected; I
was absolutely lord and lawgiver; they all owed their lives to ine, and were ready
to lay down their lives, if there had been occasion for it, for me. It was remark-
able, too, I had but three subjects, and they were of three different religions:
my man Friday was a Protestant, his father was a Pagan and a canibal, and the
Spaniard was a Romanist: however, I allowed liberty of conscience throughout
my dominions. But this is by the way.
As soon as I had secured my two weak rescued prisoners, and given them
shelter, and a place to rest them upon, I began to think of making some
provision for them; and the first thing I did, I ordered Friday to take a
yearling goat, betwixt a kid and a goat, out of my particular flock, to be
killed; when I cut off the hinder-quarter, and chopping it into small pieces,
I set Friday to work to boiling and stewing, and made them a good dish, I
assure. you, of flesh and broth, having put some barley and rice also into the
broth and as I cooked it without-doors, for I made no fire within my inner
wall, so I carried it all into the new tent, and having set a table there for
them, I sat down, and cat my own dinner also with them, and, as well as
could, cheered them, and encouraged them. Friday was my interpreter,
especially to his father, and, indeed, to the Spaniard too; for the Spaniard spoke
the language of the savages pretty well. After we had dined, or rather supped
I ordered Friday to take one of the canoes, and go and fetch our muskets and
other fire-arms, which, for want of time, we had left upon the place of battle:
and, the next day, I ordered him to go and bury the dead bodies of the savages,
which lay open to the sun, and would presently be offensive. I also ordered him
to bury the horrid remains of their barbarous feast, which I knew were pretty
much, and which I could not think of doing myself; nay, I could not bear to
see them, if I went that way; all which he punctually performed, and cffaced
the very appearance of the savages being there; so that when I went again, I
could scarce know where it was, otherwise than by the corner of the wood point-
ing to the place.
I then began to enter into a little conversation with my two new subjects:
and, first, I set Friday to inquire of his father what he thought of the escape of
the savages in that canoe, and whether we 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 never could live out the storm which blew that night they went
off, but must, of necessity, be drowned, or driven south to those other shores,
where they were as sure to be devoured as they were to be drowned, if they
were cast away: but, as to what they would do, if they came safe on shore,
he said he knew not; but it was his opinion, that they were so dreadfully
frightened with the manner of their being attacked, the noise, and the fire,
that he believed they would tell the people they were all killed by thunder and
lightning, not by the hand of man; and that the two which appeared, namely
Friday and I, were two heavenly spirits, or furies, come down to destroy them,
and not men with weapons. This, he said, he knew; because he heard them all
cry out so, in their language one to another; for it was impossible for them to
0 2
196
conceive that a man could dart fire, and speak thunder, and kill at a distance,
without lifting up the hand, as was done now: and this old savage was in the
right; for, as I understood since, by other hands, the savages never attempted to
go over to the island afterwards, they were so terrified with the accounts given
by those four men (for it seems, they did escape the sea), that they believed
whoever went to that enchanted island would be destroyed with fire from the
gods. This, however, I knew not: aud therefore was under continual appre
hensions for a good while, and kept always upon my guard, with all my army:
for, as there were now four of us, I would have ventured upon a 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
consideration; being likewise assured, by Friday's father, that I might depend
upon good usage from their nation on his account, if I would go. But my
thoughts were a little suspended when I had a serious discourse with the Spaniard,
and when I understood that there were sixteen more of his countrymen and
Portuguese, who having been cast away, and made their escape to that side,
lived there at peace, indeed, with the savages, but were very sore put to it for
necessaries, and indeed for life. I asked him all the particulars of their voyage,
and found they were a Spanish ship, bound from the Rio de-la-Plata* to the
* RIO DE-LA-PLATA:-("River of Silver," in English; or vulgarly, “river Plate.")
To the N. Eastward of Cape St. Mary, a bank of soundings extends a great way out
from the coast of Paraguay not placed in the charts. An English ship of war, had 75
fathoms, mud, on it in latitude 33° 4′S. and 4° 9' E. from the island of Lobos by chro-
nometers, and carried regular soundings on a S. S. W. course made good, to 33° 25' S.
and 3° 55′ E. of Lobos; had then 100 fathoms; shortly after in 33° 44′ S. and 3° 49′ E,
of Lobos, had no bottom. The captain of that ship thinks it probable that this bank
may begin somewhere about the mouth of Rio Grande, and extend as far southward
as the soundings on it above specified. The bank of soundings at the entrance of Rio-
Plata, stretches from Cape St. Mary about 95 or 100 miles eastward; and from 92
fathoms on the edge of it nearly on the parallel of Lobos, the soundings, gradually
though not regularly, decrease over a bottom of various quality to 17 and 15 fathoms,
within 5 or 6 miles of the island. To the southward the water is much deeper, and
the bottom generally dark sand. Cape St. Mary on the northern side of the river's
entrance lies several leagues eastward of Maldonado; but the land having a regular
convexity towards the sea is not easily known. Punta de Este (point East) forming
the east side of Maldonado harbour in latitude 34° 58′ S. longitude 54° 46' W. is by
some considered as the head-land of the north bank of the river; but the island Lobos,
situated S. Eastward of the point, and distant a few miles from the shore, may be called
the leading mark for entering the river by the northern channel. This island is in
latitude 35° 5' S. longitude 54° 41′ W. or 1° 20′ E. from Monte-Video by chrono-
meters, being 10 miles less than delineated in the Spanish charts. Maldonado harbour is
safe, with good depths of water for ships of any size, and is partly sheltered from the
sea by an island at the entrance. Monte-Video, in 34° 53′ S. 56° 1′ W. from modern
observations of repute, about 22 leagues westward of Maldonado, is elevated 450
feet above the sea, having a building on its summit. The harbour, where ships moor
in different depths, 24 or 3 fathoms, soft ground, is on the east side of the mount, and the
town of the same name is on the east side of the harbour. The island Flores lies about
5 leagues eastward of point Braba, and this point is a few miles eastward of Monte-
Video harbour. The Archimedes bank, on which the English ship of war Diomede
struck, is nearly three miles in extent E. b. S. and W. b. Ñ. having 3 fathoms on it,
when the river is high; its centre is in 35° 12′ S. and bears from Monte-Video S. 22° E.
true. The English bank," on which the Leda, english frigate, grounded, lies near
the former. An english transport named the Walker, was wrecked on it in 35° 15′ S.
where the bank is nearly dry at low river; and from this place to the distance of 5 miles
northward there is from 1 to 3 fathoms water; and mile westward of it there are
4 and 5 fathoms. The sholest part of this bank, where the transport was wrecked
bears from the Mount, S. 36º E. 26 or 27 miles. The coasts of the river are generally
level plains, but between Maldonado and Monte-Video there are some hills inland of
considerable height. In the entrance of the river there are no regular tides; nor is
there any considerable elevation or depression of the sea, unless the winds blow strong
"
197
Havanna being directed to leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides and
silver, and to bring back what european goods they could meet with there;
that they had five Portuguese seamen on board, whom they took out of another
wreck; that five of their own men were drowned, when first the ship was lost,
and that these escaped, through infinite dangers and hazards, and arrived, almost
starved, on the canibal coast, where they expected to have been devoured every
moment. Ile told me they had some arms with them, but they were perfectly
useless; for that they had neither powder or ball, the washing of the sea having
spoiled all their powder, except a little, which they used, at their first landing,
to provide themselves some food.
I asked him what he thought would become of them there,and if they had formed
no design of making any escape. He said they had many consultations about it;
but that having neither vessel, or tools to build one, or provisions of any kind,
their councils always ended in tears and despair. I asked 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 feared mostly their treachery and ill usage of me, if I put my life in
;
into, or out of the river, which in the first case swell it, and in the latter diminish it
whence the appellation of high or low river used here. The currents are variable,
setting with the wind, generally preceding it; but in calm weather they set up and
down the river alternately, resembling weak tides. A southerly wind forces an accu-
mulated quantity of water around Cape St. Anthony, which flows N. Westward, and
striking against the northern shore makes a high-river on that side, though the
outset be then constant and strong along the north bank. When a N. Easterly wind
prevails the current runs in around Cape St. Mary, and sets westward along the
northern bank to Monte-Video, and then is thought to be setting out to seaward along
the southern shore round Cape St. Anthony. When the river blows from N. W, the
current runs out strong with the wind, making a low river. With a strong S. W. wind
the current runs sometimes 2 or 3 miles in an hour N. Eastward off Lobos, and sets in
the same direction as far out as the edge of soundings. The depths near Lobos are 14
and 15 fathoms, decreasing to 64 regularly in steering along the north side by the time
Flores is bearing N. about 2 or 3 miles; and after rounding the former the course is
due W. to Flores, This channel is better known and appears safer than that on the
other side of the river; it ought in general to be chosen as the land is a good guide,
and the soundings regular in passing along it to Monte-Video; but the following
instructions may be useful to persons unacquainted, when about to enter this great
river. Should the wind be any where between N. N. E. and S. S. F. it will be proper
for a ship to make Cape St. Mary; for if the wind shift it may be expected to veer
round by N. to westward, but probably not before that wind and the inset together
shall have carried the ship up to Monte-Video. On the contrary should the wind be
to Westward of N. at making the land, the first shift will most probably be to W, and
S. W. therefore she ought not to strive to beat round Lobos, and along the northern
shore, but at once stand over toward Cape St. Anthony, which by the time she has
stretched across will most probably become a weather-shore; where a N. W, current
and a S. S. W. wind may be experienced to run up with between the Ortiz and the Chica
banks, or over to Monte-Video, passing to westward of the Archimedes bank in not less
than 5 or 5 fathoms water. N. E. winds prevail much off the entrance of the Rio
Plata in many months but particularly in September, which winds oblige ships depart-
ing from it to stand far out eastward, beyond the influence of the land, before they are
enabled to make progress northward.-This river is said to have its rise in the Andes
mountains; three large fivers unite their streams in this, besides a vast number of
smaller streams which afford their tribute to it in its progress towards the south Atlantic
ocean. It does not take the name of Plata, till it is joined by the Patana, and the
Paraguay. There is frequently a tempestuous sea in the river occasioned by the violent
winds that blow from the naked level country beyond Buenos-Ayres, called the Pam-
pos plains: these are said to extend as far as to the cordillera (chain) of the Andes,
without mountains or woods to check the impetuosity of the winds, These circum-
stances together with the lowness in general of the circumjacent shores, offering few
eligible situations for anchorage, and also the sand-banks which embarrass the channel
render the navigation of the Rio-Plata extremely insecure and hazardous,
198
their hands; for that gratitude was no inherent virtue in the nature of man, nor
did men always square their dealings by the obligations they had received, so
much as they did by the advantages they expected. I told him it would
be very hard that I should be the instrument of their deliverance, and that
they should afterwards make me their prisoner in New-Spain, where au
Englishman was certain to be made a sacrifice, what necessity, or what
accident soever brought him thither; and that I had rather be delivered up to
the savages, and be devoured alive, than fall into the merciless claws of the
priests, and be carried into the Inquisition.* I added, that otherwise I was
* INQUISITION:-this infernal tribunal, long since condemned by the public opinion of
all Europe, and in the abolition of which both the French and English, as they became
successively masters of the Iberian peninsula, during the last war, were unanimous, has
been most unexpectedly re-established by the following choice monument of bigotry
and absurdity:
Decree for re-establishing the Inquisition.
« The glorious title of catholic, which distinguishes us from among all other christian
princes, is owing to the perseverance of the kings of Spain, who would never tolerate in
their states any other religion than the catholic, apostolic and Roman. This title
imposes upon me the duty to render myself worthy of it by all the means which heaven
has placed within my power. The late troubles, and the war which has desolated,
during six years, every province in the kingdom; the long abode which has been made
in Spain by troops of different sects, almost all of whom were infected with sentiments
of hatred towards our religion; the disorder which has been the infallible result of this,
and the inattention with which the affairs of our holy religion have been treated during
this unfortunate period; all these circumstances united have laid the field open to
wicked persons, who have never experienced any check; dangerous opinions have been
introduced, and have taken root in our states by the same means as they are spread in
other countrics. Wishing then to remedy so grievous an evil, and to preserve among
my subjects the holy religion of Jesus Christ, which they have always revered, and in
which they have lived and always wish to live, either on account of the personal obliga-
tion of having no other imposed on the princes who reign over them by the funda-
mental laws, which I have promised and sworn to observe, or because this religion is
the most certain means of sparing my people from intestine dissentions, and ensuring to
them that tranquillity of which they stand in need, I have judged it necessary, under
the present circumstances, that the tribunal of the holy-office should resume its jurisdic-
tion. Upon this subject, learned and virtuous prelates, many respectable corporations
and grave personages, ecclesiastics and seculars, have represented to me that Spain is
indebted to this tribunal for the good fortune of not having fallen, in the 16th century,
into errors which have caused so many misfortunes among other nations; and that, on
the contrary, at that period, the sciences were here cultivated with distinction, and
Spain produced a multitude of great men, distinguished by their knowledge and their
piety. It has farther been represented to me, that the oppressor of Europe has not
neglected to employ, as an efficacious method of introducing the corruption and
discord which supported so well his projects, the suppression of this tribunal, under
the vain pretext that it could exist no longer in consequence of the enlightened state of
the present age, and that the pretended cortes, general and extraordinary, under the same
pretext, and under the favour of the constitution, which they tumultuously decreed,
abolished also the holy office, to the regret of the whole nation. For these causes,
I have been earnestly supplicated to re-establish it in the exercise of its functions;
and yielding to considerations so just, and to the wish manifested by my people, whose
zeal for the religion of our ancestors has anticipated my orders, by hastening to recall
spontaneously the subaltern inquisitors of some provinces, I have, therefore, resolved,
that for the moment, the supreme council of the Inquisition, and the other tribunals
of the holy office, shall resume their authorities conformable to the concessions which
have been made to them by the sovereign pontiffs, at the instance of my august pre-
decessors, and by the prelates of the dioceses, and by the kings who have assured to
them the full exercise thereof, observing in this double jurisdiction, ecclesiastical and
civil, the ordinances which we re-imposed in the year 1808, and the laws which have,
on different occasions, been made for obviating certain abuses. But, as independent of
These ancient laws it may be proper to add new ones on this subject, and my intention
being to perfect that establishment in such manner as to render it eminently useful to my
199
persuaded, if they were all here, we might, with so many hands, build a bark
large enough to carry us all away, either to Brazil, southward, or to the islands,
subjects, it is my desire that, so soon as the said supreme council of the inquisition shall
be assembled, two of the members who compose it, joined to two of the members
of the council of Castile, both appointed by me, shall examine the forms and mode of
proceeding of the holy office, in its processes, and with respect to the censure and pro-
hibition of books; and if they find that the interests of my subjects, or the claims of
sound justice, require any reform or change, they will make a report to me, supported
by their observations, in order that I may take the necessary resolutions.
Madrid, July 21, 1814."
I, the King."
This decree is countersigned by Don Pedro Macanaz, whose grandfather passed the
greater part of his life in prison, at the commencement of the last century, and died in
exile for having written against the inquisition!
At a time when such an unlooked-for act of despotism on the part of FERDINAND VII.
must give occasion to much discussion, and may possibly also lead to a fresh revolution
in Spain, the subjoined sketch of the origin, history, and practice of this institution will
not be unacceptable to the reader:-
This tribunal has been known in Europe since the beginning of the 13th century.
Before that time, the bishops and civil magistrates inquired after heretics, and either
condemned them to banishment, or to the forfeiture of their goods and estates, or else
to some other penalties, which seldom extended to death: but the vast number of
heresies which appeared towards the end of the 12th age, caused this tribunal to be
established. The Pope sent several religious persons to the catholic princes and
bishops, to exhort them to take an extraordinary care in the extirpation of heresies, and
to bring obstinate heretics to punishment: and thus things continued until the year 1250.
In the year 1251, INNOCENT IV. authorized the dominican friars, with the assistance of
the bishops, to take cognizance of this sort of crime. CLEMENT IV. confirmed these
tribunals in the year 1265. Afterwards, there were several courts erected in Italy, and
in the kingdoms dependent on the crown of Arragon, till such time that the inquisition
was established in the kingdoms of Castille, in the reign of FERDINAND and ISABELLA, and
after that in Portugal, by king JOHN III. in the year 1557. To that time the inquisitors
had a limited power, and it was often contested by the bishops, to whom the cognizance
of heretic crimes belonged. According to the canons, it was contrary to the rules of the
church for priests to sentence criminals to death, much more for those crimes which the
civil law often punished with far less severe penalties: but antient right yielding to new
power, the dominican friars, by the Pope's bulls, have been for these two ages in
session of the extraordinary jurisdiction, from which the bishops were excluded; the
pos-
inquisitors now only wanted the authority of the prince, to enable them to execute their
sentences. Before ISABELLA of CASTILLE came to the crown, the dominican, JOHN
DE TORQUEMADA, her confessor, and afterwards cardinal, made her promise to prose.
cute all infidels and heretics, as soon as it should be in her power to do so.
She pre-
vailed over FERDINAND, her husband, to obtain, in the year 1483, bulls from Pope
SIXTUS IV. to constitute an inquisitor-general over the kingdoms of Arragon and
Valentia, for these two kingdoms were his feehold in capite: and it is to be noted, that
FERDINAND disposed of the places in his estates, and ISABELLA of those that were in her's;
but the queen got this place for TORQUEMADA. Afterwards the Pope extended his
jurisdiction over all the states and countries of the catholic kings, and then FERDINAND
and ISABELLA established a supreme council of the inquisition, of which they made him
president. It was composed of an inquisitor-general (who was nominated by the king
of Spain, and confirmed by the Pope), of five counsellors, (whereof one was to be a
dominican, by a privilege granted to this order in the year 1616, by PHILIP III.) of a
procurator, two secretaries of the king's chamber, two secretaries of the council, an
alguazil-mayor, a receiver, two reporters, and two qualificators and consulters. The
number of the familiars and inferior officers was very great, because all that belonged to
the inquisition not being subject or amenable to any other jurisdiction, sheltered them-
selves from the ordinary courts of justice.
"The supreme council had a full and sole authority over the other inquisitions, which
could not perform any auto or execution, without leave from the great and general-
inquisitor. The particular inquisitions were those of Seville, Toledo, Grenada, Cordova,
200
or to the Spanish coast, 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 used for my kindness to them, and make my case worse than it
was before.
He answered, with a great deal of candour and ingenuousness, that their con-
dition was so miserable, and that they were so sensible of it, that, he believed,
they would abhor the thought of using any man unkindly that should contribute
Cuenza, Valladolid, Murcia, Llerena, Logrono, St. Jago, Saragoza, Valentia, Barce-
lona, Majorca, Sardinia, Palermo, the Canaries, Mexico, Carthagena, and Lima. Every
one of these inquisitions was composed of three inquisitors, three secretaries, one algua
zil mayor and of three receivers, qualificators, and consulters. All persons who took any
of these employments upon them, were obliged to make out their proofs de causa limpia,
that is, that their family was not stained with any thing of judaism or heresy, and that
they were catholics from the beginning. The proceedings of this tribunal were very
peculiar-A man was arrested and put in prison, without knowing the crime he was
accused of, or the witnesses who were to depose against him. He could not come out
from thence, unless he owned the fault, of which often he was not guilty, and which the
desire of liberty forced him to confess; for they did not put any one to death for the
first crime; but then the family was marked with infamy, and this, the first judgment,
made the persons incapable of any employment. There was no confronting of wit-
nesses, nor any means for a man to defend himself, because this tribunal, above all
things, affected an inviolable secrecy. It proceeded against all heretics, but chiefly
against judaïzing christians and secret mahometans, with whom the expulsion of Jews
and Moors, by FERDINAND and ISABELLA, had filled all Spain. The severity of this
court was so excessive, that the inquisitor TonQUEMADA tried above 100,000 persons,
of whom 12,000 were condemned to be burnt in the compass of 14 years. It
is pretended that the sight of so many criminals, condemned to so terrible a death,
without any regard to their sex or quality, confirmed and kept the people in the romish
religion; and that it was the inquisition alone, that hindered the most wicked heresies
from spreading themselves in Spain, even in that time when all Europe was infected with
them. For this reason, the kings have given such arbitrary authority to this tribunal,
which was called the tribunal of the holy-office. The general acts of the inquisition,
which, by the greatest part of Europe were looked upon as a bare execution of criminals,
amongst the Spaniards, were esteemed a religious ceremony, by which his catholic
majesty gave public proofs of his zeal for religion, and therefore were called by them
Autos-da-Fé, "Acts of Faith:" commonly they were performed either at the accession
of the kings to the crown, or at their coming of age, that so they might be the more
authentic, The last was in the year 1632."
An unprejudiced moral protestant must feel more deeply scandalized at the single
exccution of SERVET, than at the hecatombs which have blazed in the Autos-da-Fé of
Spain and Portugal. The zeal of CALVIN seems to have been envenomed by personal
malice, and perhaps envy. He accused his adversary before their common enemies,
the judges of Vienna; and betrayed for his destruction, the sacred trust of a private
correspondence. The deed of cruelty was not varnished by the thread-bare pretence
of danger to the church or state. In his passage through Geneva, SERVET, was an
harmless stranger, who neither preached, nor printed, nor made proselytes. A catholic
inquisitor yields the same obedience which he requires; but CALVIN violated the
golden rule of doing as he would be done by a rule which we read in a moral treatise
of SeCRATES, four centuries before the publication of the gospel, ä maaxorres VO'
Στερων οργίζεσθε, ταυτά τοις άλλοις μη ποιείτε. ΒLACKSTONE, (Commentaries, vol. iv.
explains religious toleration, according to the law of England as it was fixed at the
Revolution. The exceptions of papists, and (until last year, 1813) of those who
deny the Trinity, would still leave a tolerable scope for persecution if the national spirit
were not more effectual than an hundred statutes. (See, Anno quinquagesimo tertio
GEORGII III regis. clx: “An act to relieve persons who impugn the doctrine of the holy
Trinity from certain penalties.” 21 July 1813.) The acts (Liber sententiarum) of the
inquisition of Thoulouze (A.D. 1307-1323) have been published at Amsterdam in
1692, with a previous history of the inquisition in general. And, as we ought not to
calumniate even Satan or the "Holy-office," the editor must observe that, of a list of
criminals which fills 19 folio pages, only 15 men and 4 women were delivered unto the
secular arm;
A
}
201
1
A
to their deliverance; and that, if I pleased, he would go to them with the old
man, and discourse with them about it, and return again, and bring me their
auswer; that he would make conditions with them upon their solemn oath, that
they should be absolutely under my leading, as their commander and captain;
and that they should swear upon the holy gospel and sacraments, to be true to
me, and go to such christian country as that I should agree to, and no other; and
to be directed wholly and absolutely by my orders, till they were landed safely
in such country as I intended; and that he would bring a contract from them,
under their hands for that purpose. Then he told me he would first swear to
nie himself, that he would never stir from me as long as he lived, until I gave
him orders; and that he would take my side to the last drop of his blood, if
there should happen the least breach of faith among his countrymen. He told
me they were all of them very civil, honest men, and they were under the great-
est distress imaginable, having neither weapons or clothes, nor any food, but at
the mercy and discretion of the savages; out of all hopes of ever returning to
their own country;, and that he was sure, if I would undertake their relief, they
would live and die by me.
Upon these assurances, I resolved to venture to relieve them, if possible, and
to send the old savage and this Spaniard over to them to treat. But when we
had got all things in readiness to go, the Spaniard himself started an objection,
which had so much prudence in it, on one hand, and so much sincerity, on the
other hand, that I could not but be very well satisfied in it; and, by his advice,
put off the deliverance of his comrades for at least half a year. The case was
thus: he had been with us now about a month, during which time I had let
him see in what manner I had provided, for my support; and he saw evidently
what stock of corn and rice I had laid up; which, although it was more than
sufficient for myself, yet it was not sufficient, without good husbandry, for my
family, now it was increased to four; but much less would it be sufficient if his
countrymen, who were, as he said, sixteen still alive, should come over; and,
least of all, would it be sufficient to victual our vessel, if we should build one,
for a voyage to any of the european colonies of America; so he told me he
thought it would be more advisable to let him and the other two dig and culti
vate some more land, as much as I could spare seed to sow, and that we should
wait another harvest, that we might have a supply of corn for his countrymen,
when they should come; for want might be a temptation to them to disagree, or
not to think themselves delivered, otherwise than out of one difficulty into
another. "You know," says he, "the children of Israel, though they rejoiced
at first for their being delivered out of Egypt, yet rebelled even against God
himself, that delivered them, when they came to want bread in the wilderness."*
His caution was so seasonable, and his advice so good, that I could not but
very well pleased with his proposal, as well as I was satisfied with his fidelity:
so we fell to digging all four of us, as well as the wooden tools we were furnish-
ed with permitted; and in about a month's time, by the end of which it was
sced-time, we had got as much land cured and trimmed up as we sowed two
and twenty bushels of barley on, and sixteen jars of rice; which was, in short,
all the seed we had to spare: nor, indeed did we leave ourselves barley sufficient for
our own food, for the six months that we had to expect our crop; that is to say,
reckoning from the time we set our seed aside for sowing; for it is not to be
supposed it is six months in the ground in that country.
be
Having now society enough, and our number being sufficient to put us out
of fear of the savages, if they had come, unless their number had been very
great, we went freely all over the island, whenever we found occasion; and as
here we had our escape or deliverance upon our thoughts, it was impossible, at
least for me, to have the means of it out of mine. For this purpose I marked
out several trees which I thought fit for our work; I set Friday and his
father to cutting them down; and then I caused the Spaniard, to whom I im-
→ Exodus, xvi, 3.
202
+
parted my thought on that affair, to oversee and direct their work. I showed
them with what indefatigable pains I had hewed a large tree into single planks,
and I 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 inches to
four inches thick: what prodigious labour it took up, any one may imagine.
:
At the same time, I contrived to increase my little flock of tame goats
as much as I could; and, for 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 twenty young kids to breed up with the rest;
for whenever we shot the dam, we saved the kids, and added them to our
Rock. But, above all, the season for curing the grapes coming on, I caused
such a prodigious quantity to be hung up in the sun, that, I believe, had we been
at Alicant, where the raisins of the sun are cured, we could have filled sixty or
eighty barrels and these, with our bread, was a great part of our food, and
was very good living too, I assure you, for it is excceding nourishing. It was
Row 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 answer our end; for
from twenty-two bushels of barley we brought in and threshed out above two
hundred and twenty bushels, and the like in proportion of the rice; which was
store enough for our food to the next harvest, even although all the sixteen
Spaniards had been on shore with me; or if we had been ready for a voyage, it
would very plentifully have victualled our ship to have carried us to any part of
America. When we had thus housed and secured our magazine of corn, we fell
to work to make more wicker-ware, that is to say, great baskets, in which we kept
it; the spaniard was very handy and dexterous at this part, and often blamed me
that I did not make some things for defence of this kind of work; but I saw nó
need of it.
And now having a full supply of food for all the guests I expected, I gave
the Spaniard leave to go over to the main, to see what he could do with those
he had left behind him there. I gave him a strict charge not to bring any man
with him who would not first swear, in the presence of himself and the old
savage, that he would no way injure, fight with, or attack the person he should
fiud in the island, who was so kind as to send for them in order to their deliver-
ance; but that they would stand by him, and defend him against all such at-
tempts, and wherever they went, would be entirely under and subjected to his
command; and that this should be put in writing, and signed with their hands.
How they were to have done this, when I knew they had neither pen or ink,
was a question which we never asked. Under these instructions, the Spaniard
and the old savage, the father of Friday, went away in one of the canoes
which they might be said to come in, or rather were brought in, when they
came as prisoners to be devoured by the savages. I gave each of them a musket,
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 cither of them but upon urgent
occasion. This was a very cheerful work, being the first measures used by me,
in view of my deliverance, for now twenty-seven years and some days. I gave
them provisions of bread, and of dried grapes, sufficient for themselves for many
days, and sufficient for all the Spaniards for about eight days time; and wishing
them a good voyage, I saw them go; agreeing with them about a signal they
should hang out at their return, by which I should know them again, when they
came back, at a distance, before they came on shore. They went away with
a fair gale, on the day that the moon was at full, by my account in the month
of October; but as for an exact reckoning of days, after I had once lost it, I
could never recover it again; nor had I kept even the number of years so punc-
tually as to be sure I was right; although, as it proved, when I afterwards ex-
amined my computation, I found I had kept a true reckoning of years.
* FIRE-LOCK ;—as contra-distinguished from the match-lock, then in general use.
203
It was no less than eight days I had waited for them, when a strange and un-
foreseen accident intervened, of which the like has not, perhaps, been heard of
in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning, when my man Friday
came running in to me, and called aloud, " Master! master! they come, they
are come." I jumped up, and, regardless of danger, I went out as soon as I
could get my clothes on, through my little 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 custom to do; but I was surprised, when, turning
my eyes to the sea, I presently saw a boat at about a league and a half distance,
standing in for the shore, with a shoulder-of-mutton sail, as they call it, and the
wind blowing pretty fair to bring them in; also I observed presently, that they
did not come from that side which the shore lay on, but from the southernmost
end of the island. Upon this, I called Friday in, and bade him lie close, for
these were not the people we looked for, and that we might not know yet whe-
ther they were friends or enemies. In the next place, I went in to fetch my per-
spective glass, to see 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 apprehensive
of any thing, and to take my view the plainer, without being discovered. I had
scarce set iny foot upon the hill, when my eye plainly discovered a ship lying at
an anchor, at about two leagues and a half distance from me S.S.E. but not
above a league and a half from the shore. By my observation, it appeared
plainly to be an english ship, and the boat appeared to be an english long-boat.
I cannot express the confusion I was in; although the joy of seeing a ship, and
one that I had reason to believe was manned by my own countrymen, and con-
sequently friends, was such as I cannot describe; but yet I had some secret
doubts hung about me, I cannot tell from whence they came, bidding me keep
upon my guard. In the first place, it occurred to me to consider what business
an english ship could have in that part of the world, since it was not the way to or
from any part of the world where the English had any traffic; and I knew there had
been no storms to drive them in there as in distress, and that if they were really
English, it was most probable that they were here upon no good design; and that I
had better continue as I was, than fall into the hands of thieves and murderers.
Let no man despise the secret hints and notices of danger, which sometimes
are given him when he may think there is no possibility of its being real. That
such hints and notices are given us, I believe few, that have made any observations
othings, can deny; that they are certain discoveries of an invisible world, and a
converse of spirits, we cannot doubt; and if the tendency of them seems to be
to warn us of danger, why should we not suppose they are from some friendly
agent (whether supreme, or inferior and subordinate, is not the question), and
that they are given for our good?
The present question confirms me in the justice of this reasoning; for had I not
been made cautious by this secret admonition, come it from whence it will, I had
been undone inevitably, and in a far worse condition than before, as you will see
presently. I had not kept myself long in this posture, but I saw the boat draw near
the shore, as if they looked for a creek to thrust in at for the convenience of landing;
however, as they did not come quite far enough, they did not see the little inlet where
I formerly landed my rafts, but run their boat a-shore upon the beach, at about
half a mile from me; which was very happy for me; for otherwise they would
have landed just at my door, as I may say, and would soon have beaten me out
of my castle, and perhaps have plundered me of all I had. When they were on
shore, I was fully satisfied they were Englishmen, at least most of them; one or
two I thought were Dutch, but it did not prove so; 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 a-shore, they took those
three out of the boat, as prisoners; one of the three I could perceive using the
most passionate gestures of entreaty, affliction, and despair, even to a kind of
extravagance; the other two, I could perceive, lifted up their hands sometimes
204
and appeared concerned, indeed, but not to such a degree as the first. I was
perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not what the meaning of it should be.
Friday called out to me in English, as well as he could, "O master! you see
english mans eat prisoner as well as savage mans." "Why, Friday," says I,
"do you think they are going to eat them then?" "Yes," says Friday, "they
will eat them.” "No, no," says I, " Friday, I am afraid they will murder them,
indeed; but you may be sure they will not eat them." All this while, I had no
thought of what the matter really was, but stood trembling with the horror of
the sight, expecting every moment when the three prisoners should be killed;
nay, once I saw one of the villains lift up his arm with a great cutlass (as the sea-
men call it), or sword, to strike one of the poor men; and I expected to see him
fall every moment; at which all the blood in my body seemed to run chill in
my veins. I wished heartily now for my Spaniard, and the savage that was gone
with him, or that I had any way to have come undiscovered within shot of them,
that I might have rescued the three men, for I saw no fire-arms they had among
them; but it fell out to my mind another way. After I had observed the out-
rageous usage of the three men by the insolent seamen, I observed the fellows
run scattering about the island, as if they wanted to see the country. I observed
that the three other men had liberty to go also where they pleased: but they sat
down all three upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like men in despair.
This put me in mind of the first time when I came on shore, and began to look
about me; how I gave myself over for lost; how wildly I looked round me; what
dreadful apprehensions I had; and how I lodged in the tree all night, for fear of
being devoured by wild beasts. As I knew nothing, that night, of the supply I
was to receive by the providential driving of the ship nearer the land by the
storms and tide, by which I had since been so long nourished and supported;
so these three poor desolate men knew nothing how certain of deliverance and
supply they were, how near it was to them, and how effectually and really they
were in a condition of safety, at the same time that they thought themselves lost,
and their case desperate. So little do we sec before us in the world, and so much
reason have we to depend cheerfully upon the great Maker of the world, that
he does not leave his creatures so absolutely destitute, but that, in the worst
circumstances, they have always something to be thankful for, and sometimes
are nearer their deliverance than they imagine; nay, are even brought to their
deliverance by the means by which they seem to be brought to their destruction.
It was just at the top of high water, when these people came on shore; and
partly while they rambled about to see what kind of a place they were in, they
had carelessly stayed until the tide was spent, and the water was ebbed considerably
away, leaving their boat aground. 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 a little sooner than the other, and finding the boat too fast
aground for him to stir it, hallood out for the rest, who were straggling about:
upon which they all soon came to the boat: but it was past all their strength to
launch her, the boat being very heavy, and the shore on that side being a soft
oozy sand, almost like a quicksand. In this condition, like true seamen, who are,
perhaps, the least of all mankind given to fore-thought, they gave it over, and
away they strolled about the country again; and I heard one of them say aloud
to another, calling them off from the boat," Why, let her alone, Jack, can't you?
she'll float next tide: " by which I was fully confirmed in the main enquiry of
what country they were. All this while, I kept myself very close, not once daring
to stir out of my castle, any farther than to my place of observation, 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 float again, and by that time, it
would be dark, and I might be more at liberty to see their motions, and to hear
their discourse, if they had any. In the mean time, I fitted myself up for a bat-
tle, as before, though with more caution, knowing I had to do with another kind
of enemy than I had at first. 1 ordered Friday also, whom I had made an ex-
205
cellent marksman with his gun, to load himself with arms. I took myself twe
fowling-pieces, and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, was very
herce; I had my formidable goat's skin coat on, with the great cap I have men-
tioned, a naked sword by my side, two pistols in my belt, and a gun upon each
shoulder.
It was my design, as I said above, not to have made any attempt until it was
dark; but about two o'clock, being the heat of the day, I found that, in short,
they were all gone straggling into the woods, and, as I thought, laid down to
sleep. The three poor distressed men, too anxious for their condition to get
any sleep, were, however, sat down under the shelter of a great tree, at about a
guarter of a mile from me, and, as I thought, out of sight of any of the rest.
Upon this, I resolved to discover myself to thein, and learn soinething of their
condition; immediately I marched in the figure as above, my man Friday at a
good distance behind me, as formidable for his arms as I, but not making quite so
staring a spectre-like figure as I did. I came as near them undiscovered as I could,
and then, before any of them saw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish, "What
are ye, gentlemen?" They started up at the noise, but were ten times more
confounded when they saw 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," said I," do not be surprised at me ;
perhaps you may have a friend near, when you did not expect it."
"He must
be sent directly from Heaven then," said one of them very gravely to me, and
pulling off his hat at the same time to me; "for our condition is past the help of
man. "All help is from heaven, Sir," said I: "But can you put a stranger in
the way how to help you? for you seem to be in some great distress. I saw you
when you landed; and when you seemed to make application to the brutes that
came with you, I saw one of them lift up his sword to kill you."
"
"9
The poor man, with tears running down his face, and trembling, looking like
one astonished, returned, "Am I talking to God or man? Is it a real man or
an angel?” “Be in no fear about that, Sir," said I; "if God had sent an angel
to relieve you, he would have come better clothed, and armed after another.
manner than you see me: pray lay aside your fears; I am a man, an Englishman,
and disposed to assist you you see I have one servant only; we have arins and
ammunition; tell us freely, can we serve you? What is your case?" "Our case,"
said he, "Sir, is too long to tell you, while our murderers are so near us: but,
in short, I was commander of that ship, my men have mutinied against me;
they have been hardly prevailed on not to murder me; and, at last, have set me
on shore in this desolate place, with these two men with me, one my mate, the
other a passenger, where we expected to perish, believing the place to be unin-
habited, and know not yet what to think of it." "Where are these brutes, your
enemies?" said I, “do you know where they are gone? "There they lie, Sir,"
said he, pointing to a thicket of trees; "my heart trembles for fear they have
seen us, and heard you speak; if they have, they will certainly murder us all."
"Have they any fire-arms," said I. He answered they had only two pieces, one
of which they left in the boat, "Well then," said I, "leave the rest to me;
I see they are all asleep, it is an easy thing to kill them all but shall we rather
take them prisoners?" He told me there were two desperate villains among
them, that it was scarce safe to show any mercy to; but, if they were secured,
he believed all the rest would return to their duty. I asked him which they were?
He told me he could not, at that distance, distinguish them, but he would obey
my orders in any thing I would direct. Well," says I," let us retreat out of
their view or hearing, lest they awake, and we will resolve further." So they
willingly went back with me, until the woods covered us from them.
66
+
"Look you, Sir," said I, "if I venture upon your deliverance, are you willing
to make two conditions with me?" He anticipated my proposals, by telling me,
that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be wholly directed and commanded
by me in every thing; and, if the ship was not recovered, he would live and die
<
206
With me in what part of the world soever I would send him; and the two other
men said the same. "Well,” said I, “ my conditions are but two: Ist. That
while you stay in this island with me, you will not pretend to any authority here;
and, if I put arms in your hands, you will, upon all occasions, give them up to
me, and do no prejudice to me or mine upon this island; and, in the mean time,
be governed by my orders: 2d, That, if the ship is, or may be, recovered, you
will carry me and my man to England passage-free."
He gave me all the assurances that the invention or faith of man could devise,
that he would comply with these most reasonable demands; and besides would owe
his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occasions, as long as he lived.
"Well
then," said I, "here are three muskets for you, with powder and ball; tell me
next what you think is proper to be done." He shewed all the testimonies of
his gratitude that he was able, but offered to be wholly 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 was not killed at the
first volley, and offered to submit, we might save them, and so put it wholly
upon God's providence to direct the shot. He said very modestly that he was
loath to kill them, if he could help it; but that those two were incorrigible vil
lains, and had been the authors of all the mutiny in the ship, and if they escaped,
we should be undone still; for they would go on board and bring the whole
ship's company, and destroy us all.
"Well then," says I, necessity legiti
mates my advice, for it is the only way to save our lives." However, sceing him
still cautious of shedding blood, I told him they should go themselves, and maş
nage as they found convenient.
In the middle of this discourse, we heard some of them awake, and soon after
we saw two of them on their feet. I asked him if either of them were the heads
of the mutiny? He said no. "Well then," said I, "you may let them escape;
and providence seems to have awakened them on purpose to save themselves.
Now," says I, "if the rest escape you, it is your fault." Animated with this,
he took the musket I had given him in his hand, and a pistol in his belt, and his
two comrades with him, with each a piece in his hand; the two men who were
with him going first, made some noise, at which one of the scamen who was awake
turned about, and seeing them coming, cried out to the rest; but it was too late
then, for the moment he cried out they fired; I mean the two men, the captain
wisely reserving his own piece. They had so well aimed their shot at the men
they knew, that one of them was killed on the spot, and the other very much
wounded; but not being dead, he started up on his feet, and called eagerly for
help to the other; but the captain stepping to him, told him it was too late to
cry for help, he should call upon God to forgive his villainy; and, with that
word, knocked him down with the stock of his musket, so that he never spoke
more: there were three more in the company, and one of them was also slightly
wounded. By this time I was come, and when they saw their danger, and that
it was in vain to resist, they begged for mercy. The captain told them he
would spare their lives, if they would give him any assurance of their abhorrence
of the treachery they had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful to him
in recovering the ship, and afterwards in carrying her back to Jamaica,* from
JAMAICA :—an island in the West Indies about 37 miles southward of Cuba, and
about 50 westward of Hespaniola, nearly of an oval figure, being about 160 in length
and 50 in breadth. The island is divided by a ridge of hills denominated the "Blue
mountains," that run from east to west nearly the whole length. In these many rivers
have their rise, and flow from both sides in fine streams, refreshing the valleys through
which they wind their course, and supplying the inhabitants, with sweet, cool, water, as
well as store of fish of various kinds, mostly unknown in Europe, but exceeding good.
The longest day in this island is about 13 hours; it being situated between 17° 58′ and
18° 46′ latitude N. 75° 38′ and 78° 31′ longitude W. Port Royal, the principal sea-port,
is in latitude 18 N. longitude 76° 44′ 45″ W. a chart and description of this harbour is to
be found in the Maval Chronicle, vol. xxii. The name "Jamaica" is said by B. EDWAR 18
207
.
whence they came. They gave him all the protestations of their sincerity that
could be desired, and he was willing to believe them, and spare their lives, which
I was not against, only that I obliged him to keep them bound hand and foot,
while they were on the island.
While this was doing, I sent Friday with the captain's mate to the boat, with
orders to secure her, and bring away the oars and sails, which they did: by-and-
by three straggling men, that were (happily for them) parted from the rest, came
back upon hearing the guns fired, and seeing the captain, who before was their
prisoner, now their conqueror, they submitted to be bound also; and so our vic-
tory was complete.
It now remained that the captain and I should enquire into one another's cir-
cumstances: I began first, and told him my whole history, which he heard with
an attention even to amazement; and particularly at the wonderful manner of
my being furnished with provisions and ammunition; and, indeed, as my story
is a whole collection of wonders, it affected him deeply. But, when he reflected
from thence upon himself, and how I seemed to have been preserved there on
purpose to save his life, the tears ran down his face, and lie could not speak a
word more. After this communication was at an end, I carried him and his
two men into my apartment, leading them in just where I came out, at the top
of the house, where I refreshed them with such provisions as I had, and showed
them all the contrivances I had made, during my long, long inhabiting that place.
All I showed them, all I said to them, was perfectly amazing: but, above all,
the captain admired my fortification, and how perfectly I had concealed my re-
treat with a grove of trees, which, having been now planted near twenty years,
and the trees growing much faster than in England, was become a little wood,
and so thick, that it was impassable in any part of it, but at that one side where
I had reserved my little winding passage into it. I told him this was my castle
and my residence, but that I had a seat in the country, as most princes have,
whither I could retreat upon occasion, and I would shew him that too, another
time but, at present, our business was, to consider how to recover the ship.
He agreed with me as to that; but told me, he was perfectly at a loss what
measures to take, for that there were still six and twenty hands on board, who,
having entered into a cursed conspiracy, by which they had all forfeited their
lives to the law, would be hardened in it now by desperation, and would carry
it on, knowing that, if they were subdued, they would be brought to the gallows,
as soon as they came to England, or to any of the english colonies; and that,
therefore, there would be no attacking them with so small a number as we were.
:
I mused for some time upon what he said, and found it was a very rational
conclusion, and that, therefore, some thing was to be resolved on speedily, as well to
draw the men on board into some snare for their surprise, as to prevent their
to be derived from the vernacular word Xaymaca, signifying a country abounding
in springs. It is worthy of note that this same name should have been originally borne
by the island of Antigua, which is as remarkably deficient in the article of fresh water,
as Jamaica is the reverse. The difference between the meaning of this word in the
caraïbean dialect and that of the four larger islands is singular. Besides the natural vege-
table productions common to most of the tropical islands, the climate of Jamaica has been
found to suit many others, natives of far distant countries, as will be judged from the
following selection out of a numerous catalogue of plants growing (anno 1794) in the
public botanic garden, near the Liguanea mountains, namely:-Amomum granum paradisi,
Guinea-grains. or pepper; Arundo bambos, Bamboo cane; Arundo saccharifera, Sugar-
cane; Areka catechu, Beetel-nut: Laurus cinnamomum, Cinnamon; Tectona grandis,
Teak; Thea, Tea; Myristica officinalis, Nutmeg; Aletris capensis, Cape Aletris; Aletris
hyacinthoides, Ceylon aloë; Yucca gloriosa, Superb aloe; Yucca aloifolia, Yucca draco-
nis, Aloe perfoliata barbadensis, Barbados aloë; Oryza sativa, Rice; Avena șativa, Oat:
Hordeum vulgare, Barley; Citrus media, Citron; Citrus aurantium, Seville orange;
Citrus decumana, Shaddoc, or pampelmoose; Pinus cedrus, Cedar of Lebanon; Dios-
corea, Yam; Anana, Pine-apple.
208
landing upon us, and destroying us. Upon this, it presently occurred to me, that
in a little while the ship's crew, wondering what was become of their comrades,
and of the boat, would certainly come on shore in their other boat, to look for
them; and that then, perhaps, they might come armed, and be too strong for
us; this he allowed to be rational. Upon this, I told him the first thing we had
to do was, to stave the boat, which lay upon the beach, so that they might not
carry her off; and, taking every thing out of her, leave her so far useless as not
to be fit to swim: 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 another of rum, a few biscuit-cakes, a horn of powder, and a great
lump of sugar (some five or six pounds) in a piece of canvass: all which was very
welcome to me, especially the brandy and sugar, of which I had none left for
many years.
When we had carried all these things on shore (the oars, mast, sail, and rudder,
of the boat were carried away before, as above), we knocked a great hole in her
bottom, that if they had come strong enough to master us, yet they could not
carry off the boat. Indeed, it was not much in my thoughts that we could be
able to recover the ship; 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 to the Leeward-
Islands,* and call upon our friends the Spaniards in my way; for I had them
still in my thoughts.
While we were thus preparing our designs, and had first, by main strength,
heaved the boat upon the beach so high, that the tide would not float her off at
high water mark, and besides had broken a hole in her bottom too big to be
quickly stopped, and were set down musing what we should do, we heard the
ship fire a gun, and saw her make a waft † with her ensign as a signal for the
boat to coine on board; but no boat stirred; and they fired several times, mak▾
ing other signals for the boat. At last, when all their signals and firing proved
fruitless, and they found the boat did not stir, we saw them, by the help of my
glasses, hoist another boat out, and row towards the shore; and we found, as they
approached, that there were no less than ten men in her, and that they had fire-
arms with them.
As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore, we had a full view of them as
they came, and a plain sight even of their faces; because the tide having set them
a little to the east of the other boat, they rowed up under shore, to come to the
same place where the other had landed, and where the boat lay; by this means,
I say, we had a full view of them, and the captain knew the persons aud charac-
ters of all the men in the boat, of whom, he said, there were three very honest
fellows, who, he was sure, were led into this conspiracy by the rest, being over.
powered and frightened; but that as for the boatswain, who, it seems, was the
chief officer among them, and all the rest, they were as outrageous as any of the
ship's crew, and were no doubt made desperate in their new enterprise; and
terribly apprehensive he was, that they would be too powerful for us. I smiled
at him, and told him, that men in our circumstances were past the operation of
fear; that, seeing almost every condition that could be was better than that
which we were supposed to be in, we ought to expect that the consequence, whe
ther death or life, would be sure to be a deliverance. I asked him what he
LEEWARD-ISLANDS -the meaning and application of this appellation has been
explained in the notes appended to pages 46, and 120 of this edition; to which the
reader is invited to add the following quotation from BRYAN EDWARDS's History of the
West Indies :-" Dicuntur antilae americanae, quasi ante insulae americanue nempe ante
majores insulas sinús mexicani,”' (HOFFMAN, Lexic. univer.) But the word antilia was
applied to Hespaniola and Cuba, before the discovery of the windward-isles, or of the
american continent; as appears from the following passage of a spanish historjan, who
wrote anno 1493. Ophiruns insulam sese reperisse refert: sed cosmographorum tractu
diligenter considerato antiliae insulae sunt illae, et adjacentes aliae; hanc Hispaniolam
appellavit," &c.
↑ See page 33.
200
thought of the circumstances of my life, and whether a deliverance was not worth
venturing for? "And where, Sir," said I," is your belief of my being preserved
here ou purpose to save your life, which elevated you a little while ago? For my
part,” said I, “there seems to me but one thing amiss in all the prospect of it.”
"What is that?" says he. "Why," said I, it is, that, as you say there are
three or four honest fellows among them, which should be spared, had they been
all of the wicked part of the crew, I should have thought God's providence had
singled them out to deliver them into your hands; for, depend upon it, every
man that comes ashore is our own, and shall die or live as they behave to us.
As I spoke this with a raised voice and cheerful countenance, I found it greatly
encouraged him; so we sat vigorously to our business.
13
We had, upon the first appearance of the boat's coming from the ship, con-
sidered of separating our prisoners; and we had, indeed, secured them effectually.
Two of them, of whom the captain was less assured than ordinary, I sent with
Friday, and one of the three delivered men, to my cave, where they were remote
enough, and out of danger of being heard or discovered, or of finding their way
out of the woods if they could have delivered themselves: here they left them
bound, but gave them provisions; and promised them, if they continued there
quietly, to give them their liberty in a day or two; but that. if they attempted
their escape, they should be put to death without mercy. They promised faith-
fully to bear their confinement with patience, and were very thankful that they
had such good usage as to have provisions and light left them; for Friday gave
them candles (such as we made ourselves) for their comfort; and they did not
know but that he stood centinel over them at the entrance.
The other prisoners had better usage; two of them were kept pinioned, in-
deed, because the captain was not free to trust them; but the other two were
taken into my service, upon the captain's recommendation, and upon their so-
lemnly engaging to live and die with us; so with them and the three honest men,
we were seven men well armed: and I made no doubt we should be able to
deal well enough with the ten that were coming, considering that the captain
had said there were three or four honest men among them also. As soon as they
got to the place where their other boat lay, they ran their boat into the beach,
and came all on shore, hauling the boat up after them, which I was glad to see;
for I was afraid they would rather have left the boat at an anchor, some distance
from the shore, with some hands in her, to guard her, and so we should not be
able to seize the boat. Being on shore, the first thing they did, they ran all to their
other boat; and it was easy to see they were under a great surprise to find her
stripped, as above, of all that was in her, and a great hole in her bottom. After
they had mused a while upon this, they set up two or three great shouts,
hollowing with all their might, to try if they could make their companions hear;
but all was to no purpose: then they came all close in a ring, and fired a volley
of their small arms, which, indeed, we heard, and the echoes made the woods
ring; but it was all one; those in the cave we were sure could not hear, and
those in our keeping, though they heard it well enough, yet durst give no answer
to them. They were so astonished at the surprise of this, that (as they told us
afterwards), they resolved to go all on board again to their ship, and let them
know that the men were all murdered, and the long-boat staved; accordingly they
immediately launched their boat again, and got all of them on board.
The captain was terribly amazed, and even confounded, at this, believing they
would go on board the ship again, and set sail, giving their comrades over for
lost, and so he should still lose the ship, which he was in hopes we should have
recovered: but he was quickly as much frightened the other way. They had
not been, long put off with the boat, but we perceived them all coming on shore
again; but with this new measure in their conduct, which it seems they con-
sulted together upon, viz. to leave three men in the boat, and the rest to go on
shore, and go up into the country to look for their fellows. This was a great
disappointment to us, for now we were at a loss what to do; as our seizing
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
P
210
}
those seven men on shore 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 sure to weigh and set sail, and so our recovering the ship would be lost. How-
ever, we had no remedy but to wait and see what the issue of things might pre
sent. The seven men came on shore, and the three who remained in the boat
put her off to a good distance from the shore, and came to an anchor to wait for
them; so that it was impossible for us to come at them in the boat. Those that
came on shore kept close together, marching towards the top of the little hill
under which my habitation lay; and we could see them plainly, though they
could not perceive us.
We could have been very glad they would have come
nearer to us, so that we might have fired 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 see a great way into the valleys and woods,
which lay towards the north-east part, and where the island lay lowest, they
shouted and hollowed until they were weary; and not caring, it seems, to ven-
ture far from the shore, nor far from one another, they sat down together under
a tree, to consider of it. Had they thought fit to have gone to sleep there, as the
other part of them had done, they had done the job for us; but they were too
full of apprehensions of danger to venture to go to sleep, 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 consultation of theirs,
riz. that perhaps they would all fire a volley again, to endeavour to make their
fellows hear, and that we should all sally upon them, just at the juncture when
their pieces were all discharged, and they would certainly yield, and we should
have them without bloodshed. I liked this proposal, 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 still a long time, very irreso-
lute what course to take. At length I told them there would be nothing done,
in my opinion, until night; and then, if they did not return to the boat, perhaps
we might find a way to get between them and the shore, and so might use some
stratagem with them in the boat to get them on shore. We waited a great while,
though very impatient for their removing; and were very uneasy, when, after
long consultations, we saw them all start up, and march down towards the sea:
it seems, they had such dreadful apprehensions upon them of the danger of the
place, that they resolved to go on board the ship again, give their companions
over for lost, and so go on with their intended voyage with the ship.
As soon as I perceived them to go towards the shore, I imagined it to be, as it
really was, that they had given over their search, and were for going back again;
and the captain, as soon as I told him my thoughts, was ready to sink at the
apprehensions of it: but I presently thought of a stratagem to fetch them back
again, and which answered my end to a tittle. I ordered Friday and the cap-
tain's mate to go over the little creek westward, towards the place where the
savages came on shore when Friday was rescued, and as soon as they came to a
little rising ground, at about half a mile distance, I bade them hollow out, as
loud as they could, and wait until they found the seamen heard them; that as
soon as ever they heard the seamen answer them, they should return it again;
and then, keeping out of sight, take a round, always answering when the others
hollowed, to draw them as far into the island, and among the woods, as possible,
and then wheel about again to me, by such ways as I directed them.
They were just going into the boat when Friday and the mate hollowed; and
they presently heard them, and answering, run along the shore westward, towards
the voice they heard, when they were presently stopped by the creek, where the
water being up, they could not get over, and called for the boat to come up and sec
them over; as, indeed, I expected. When they had set themselves over, I observed
that the boat being gone a good way into the creek, and, as it were, in a 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 fastened her to the stump of a little
211
1
tree on the shore. This was what I wished for; and immediately leaving Friday
and the captain's mate to their business, I took the rest with me, and crossing
the creek out of their sight, we surprised the two men before they were aware;
one of them lying on the shore, and the other being in the boat. The fellow on
shore was between sleeping and waking, and going to start up; the captain, who
was foremost, ran in upon him, 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 persuade a single man to yield, when he saw five men upon him, and his com-
rade knocked down; besides, this was, it seems, one of the three who were not
so hearty in the nrutiny as the rest of the crew, and, therefore, was easily per-
suaded not only to yield, but afterwards to join very sincerely with us. In the
inean time, Friday and the captain's mate so well managed their business with
the rest, that they drew them, by hollowing and answering, from one hill to ano-
ther, and from one wood to another, until they not only heartily tired them, but
left them where they were very sure they could not reach back to the boat
before it was dark; and, indeed, they were heartily tired themselves also, 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, so as to make sure work with them. It was
several 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 also hear them answer, and complain
how lame and tired they were, and not able to come any faster; which was very
welcome news to us. At length, they came up to the boat; but it is in possible
to express their confusion when they found the boat fast aground in the creek,
the tide ebbed out, and their two men gone. We could hear them call to one
another in a most lamentable manner, telling one another they were got into an
enchanted island; that either there were inhabitants in it, and they should all
be murdered, or else there were devils and spirits in it, and they should be all
carried away and devoured. They hollowed again, and called their two comrades
by their names a great many times, but no answer. After some time, we could
see them, by the little light there was, run about, wringing their hands like men
in despair; and that sometimes they would go and sit down in the boat to rest
themselves; then come ashore again, and walk about again, and so the same
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 willing to take them at some advantage,
so as to spare them, and kill as few of them as I could; and especially I was un-
willing to hazard the killing any of our men, knowing the others were very well
armed. I resolved to wait, to see if they did not separate; and, therefore, to
make sure of them, drew my ambuscade nearer, and ordered Friday and the
captain to creep upon their hands and feet, as close to the ground as they could,
that they might not be discovered, and get as near them as they could possibly,
before they offered to fire.
They had not been long in that posture, when the boatswain, who was the
principal ringleader of the mutiny, and had now shown himself the most dejected
and dispirited of all the rest, came walking towards them, with two more of the
crew the captain was so eager at having this principal rogue so much in his
power, that he could hardly have patience to let him come so near as to be sure
of him, for they only heard his tongue before: but when they came nearer, the
captain and Friday, starting up on their fect, let fly at them. The boatswain
was killed upon the spot; the next man was shot into the body, and fell just by
him, although he did not die until an hour or two after; and the third run for it.
At the noise of the fire, I immediately advanced with my whole army, which was
now eight men, viz. myself, generalissimo; Friday, my lieutenant-general; the
captain, his two men, and the three prisoners of war, whom we had trusted with.
We came upon them, indeed, in the dark, so that they could not see
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 so might
arms.
P 2
212
perhaps reduce them to terms; which fell out just as we desired: for, indeed,
it was easy to think, as their condition then was, they would he very willing to
capitulate. So he calls out, as loud as he could, to one of them, "Tom Smith!
Tom Smith !"Tom Smith answered immediately, "Is that Robinson ?" For it seems,
he knew the voice. The other answered," Aye, aye; for God's sake, Tom Smith!
throw down your arms and yield, or you are all dead men this moment.'
Who must we yield to? Where are they?" says Smith again. "Here they
are,” says he; “here's our captain, and fifty men with him, have been hunting
you these two hours: the boatswain is killed, Will Fry is wounded, and I am a
prisoner; and if you do not yield, you are all lost."-" Will they give us quarter
then," says Tom Smith," and we will yield?"-"I will go ask, if you promise
to yield," says Robinson: so he asked the captain; and the captain himself
then calls out, "You, Smith, you know my voice; if you lay down your arms im-
mediately, and submit, you shall have your lives, all but Will Atkins."
Upon this Will Atkins cried out " For God's sake, captain give me quarter;
what have I done? They have all been 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 mutinied, and used him barbarously, in tying his
hands, and giving him injurious language. However the captain told him he
must lay down his arms at discretion, 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 begged their lives; and I sent the man that had parlied
with them, and two more, who bound them all; and then my great army of
fifty men, which, particularly with those three, were in all but eight, came up
and seized upon them, and upon their boat; only that I kept myself and one
more out of sight, for reasons of state.
Our next work was to repair the boat, and think of seizing the ship: and as
for the captain, now he had leisure to parley with them, he expostulated with
them upon the villany of their practices with him, and at length upon the further
wickedness of their design, and how certainly it must bring them to misery and
distress 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 prisoners, but the commander's of the island; that they thought they had
set him on shore in a barren, uninhabited island; but it had pleased God so to
direct them, that it was inhabited, and that the governor was an Englishman;
that he might hang them all there, if he pleased; but as he had given them all
quarter, he supposed he would send them to England, 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. Although this was all but a fiction of his own, yet it had its desired
effect: Atkins fell upon his knees, to beg the captain to intercede with the go-
vernor for his life; and all the rest begged of him, for God's sake, that they
might not be sent to England.
❤
It now occurred to me, that the time of our deliverance was come, and that it
would be a most easy thing to bring these fellows in to be hearty in getting pos-
session of the ship; so I retired in the dark from them, that they might not see
what kind of a governor they had, and called the captain to me: when I called,
as at a good distance, one of the men was ordered to speak again, and say to the
captain," Captain, the commander calls for you;" and presently the captain re-
plied, "Tell his excellency I am just a-coming,' This more perfectly amused
them, and they all believed that the commander was just by with his fifty-
men. Upon the captain's coming to me, I told him my project for seizing the
ship, which he liked wonderfully well, and resolved to put it in execution the
next morning. But, in order to execute it with more art, and to be secure of
success, I told him we must divide the prisoners, and that he should go and take
Atkins, and two more of the worst of them, and send them pinioned to the cave
where the others lay. This was committed to Friday, and the two men whe
213
came on shore with the captain. They conveyed them to the cave as to a pri-
son and it was, indeed, a dismal 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 de-
scription; and as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, the place was secure
enough, considering they were upon their behaviour.
To these in the morning I sent 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 surprise the ship. He talked to them
of the injury done him, of the condition they were brought to, and that though
the governor had given them quarter for their lives, as to the present action,
yet that if they were sent to England, they would all be hanged in chains,
to be sure; but that if they would join in so just an attempt as to recover
the ship, he would have the governor's engagement for their pardon.
Any one may guess how readily such a proposal would be accepted by men
in their condition; they fell down on their knees to the captain, and promised,
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 as a father to them as long as
they lived. "Well," says the captain, "I must go and tell the governor what
you say, and see what I can do to bring him to consent to it." So he brought me
an account of the temper he found them in, and that he verily believed they
would be faithful. However, that we might be very secure, I told him he should
go back again and choose out those five, and tell them, that they might see he
did not want men, that he would take out those five to be his assistants, and
that the governor would keep the other two, and the three that were sent prison-
ers to the castle (my cave) as hostages for the fidelity of those five; and that if
they proved unfaithful in the execution, the five hostages should be hanged in
chains alive on the shore. This looked severe, and convinced them that the
governor was in earnest: however, they had no way left them but to accept it;
and it was now the business of the prisoners, as much as of the captain, to per-
suade the other five to do their duty.
Our strength was now thus ordered for the expedition: 1st, The captain, his
mate and passenger: 2d, Then the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom,
having their characters from the captain, I had given their liberty, and trusted
them with arms: 3d, The other two that I had kept till now in my bower
pinioned, but, on the captain's motion, had now released: 4th, These five
released at last; so that they were twelve in all, besides five we kept prisoners in
the cave for hostages. I asked the captain if he was willing to venture with
these hands on board the ship: but as for me and my man Friday, I did not
think it was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind; and it was em-
ployinent enough for us to keep them asunder, and supply them with victuals.
As to the five in the cave, I resolved to keep them fast, but Friday went in twice
a-day to them, to supply them with necessaries; and I made the other two carry
provisions to a certain distance, where Friday was to take it.
When I showed myself to the two hostages, it was with the captain, who told
then I was the person the governor had ordered to look after them; and that it
was the governor's pleasure they should not stir any where but by my direction ;
that if they did, they would be fetched into the castle, and be laid in irons; so
that as we never suffered them to see me as a governor, I now appeared as ano-
ther person, and spoke of the governor, the garrison, the castle, and the
like, upon all occasions.
1
The captain now had no difficulty before him, but to furnish his two boats,
stop the breach of one, and man them. He made his passenger captain of one,
with four of the men; and himself, his mate, and five more, went in the other;
and they contrived their business very well, for they came up to the ship about
midnight. As soon as they came within call of the ship, he made Robinson hail
them, and tell them they had brought off the men and the boat, but that it was a
214
long time before they had found them, and the like, holding them in a chat till
they came to the ship's side; when the captain and the mate entering first, with
their arms, immediately knocked down the second mate and carpenter with the
butt-end of their muskets, being very faithfully seconded by their men; they
secured all the rest that were upon the main and quarter-decks, and began to
fasten the hatches, to keep them down that were below; when the other boat
and their men entering at the fore-chains, secured the fore-castle of the ship, and
the scuttle which went down into the cook-room, making three men they found
there prisoners. When this was done, and all safe upon deck, the captain
ordered the mate, with three men, to break into the round-house, where the new
rebel captain lay, who having taken the alarm, had got up, and with two men
and a boy had got fire-arms in their hands; and when the mate, with a crow,
split open the door, the new captain and his men fired boldly among them, aud
wounded the mate with a musket-ball, which broke his arm, and wounded two
more of the men, but killed nobody. The mate calling for help, rushed, how-
ever, into the round-house, wounded as he was, and with his pistol shot the new
captain through the head, the bullet entering at his mouth, and came out again
behind one of his ears, so that he never spoke a word more: upon which the
rest yielded, and the ship was taken effectually, without any more lives lost.
As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven guns to be
fired, which was the signal agreed upon with me to give me notice of his success,
which you may be sure I was very glad to hear, having sat watching upon the
shore for it till near two o'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 slept
very sound, until I was something surprised with the noise of a gun; and pre-
sently 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 embraced me in his arms.
dear friend and deliverer," says he, "there's your ship; for she is all yours, and
so are we, and all that belong to her."
My

I cast my eyes to the ship; and there she rode within little more than half a
mile of the shore: for they had weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters
215
of her, and the weather being fair, had brought her to an anchor just against the
mouth of the little creek; and the tide being up, the captain had brought the
pinnace in near the place where I at first landed my rafts, and so landed just at
my door. I was at first ready to sink down with the surprise; for I saw my
deliverance, indeed, visibly put into my hands, all things easy, and a large ship
just ready to carry me away whither I pleased to go. At first, for some time, I
was not able to answer him 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 perceived the sur-
prise, and immediately pulls a bottle out of his pocket, and gave me a dram of
cordial, which he had brought on purpose for me. After I had drank it, I sat
down upon the ground; and though it brought me to myself, yet it was a good
while before I could speak a word to him. All this time the poor man was in as
great an ecstacy as I, only not under any surprise, as I was; and he said a thou-
sand kind and tender things to me, to compose and bring me to myself: but such
was the flood of joy in my breast, that it put all my spirits into confusion; at last
it broke out into tears; and in a little while after I recovered my speech. I
then took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer, and we rejoiced together.
I told him I looked upon him as a man sent from Heaven to deliver me, and that
the whole transaction seemed to be a chain of wonders; that such things as these
were the testimonies we had of a secret hand of Providence governing the world,
and an evidence that the eye of an infinite Power could search into the remotest
corner of the world, and send help to the miserable whenever he pleased. I
forgot not to lift up my heart in thankfulness to Heaven; and what heart could
forbear to bless him, who had not only in a miraculous manner provided for me
in such a wilderness, and in such a desolate condition, but from whom every
deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed?
When we had talked a while, the captain told me he had brought me some
little refreshment, such as the ship afforded, and such as the wretches that had
been so long his masters had not plundered him of. Upon this he called aloud
to the boat, and bade his men bring the things ashore that were for the governor;
and, indeed, it was a present as if I had been one that was not to be carried away
with them, but as if I had been to dwell upon the island still. First, he had
brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial waters, six large bottles of
Madeira wine (the bottles held two quarts each), two pounds of excellent
tobacco, twelve good pieces of the ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a
bag of peas, and about a hundred weight of biscuit: he also brought me 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, besides these, and what was a thousand times
more useful to me, he brought me six new shirts, six very good neckcloths, two
pair of gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings, with a good
suit of clothes of his own, which had been worn but very little; in a word, he
clothed me from head to foot, It was a very kind and agreeable present, as any
one may imagine, to one in my circumstances; but never was any thing in the
world of that kind so unpleasant, aukward, and uneasy, as it was to me to wear
such clothes at first.
After these ceremonies were past, and after all his good things were brought
into my
little apartment, we began to consult what was to be done with the pri
soners we had; for it was worth considering whether we might venture to také
them away with us or no, especially two of them, whom he knew to be incorrigi
ble and refractory to the last degree; and the captain said 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 delivered 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 desired it, I would un-
dertake to bring the two men he spoke of to make it their own request that he
should leave them upon the island. "I should be very glad of that," says the
captain," with all my heart."-" Well," says I, "I will send for them up, aud
216
talk with them for you." So I caused Friday and the two hostages, for they
were now discharged, their comrades having performed their promise; I say,
I caused them to go to the cave, and bring up the five men, pinioned as they
were, to the bower, and keep them there till I came. After some time, I came
thither dressed in my new habit; and now I was called governor again. Being
all met, and the captain with me, I caused the men to be brought before me,
and I told them I had got a full account of their villanous behaviour to the cap-
tain, and how they had run away with the ship, and were preparing to commit
farther robberies, but that Providence had ensnared them in their own ways,
and that they were fallen into the pit which they had dug for others. I let
them know that by my direction the ship had been seized; that she lay now in
the road; and they might find by-and-by, that their new captain had received
the reward of his villany, for that they would see him hanging at the yard-arm :*
that as to them, I wanted to know what they had to say why I should not execute
them as pirates, taken in the fact, as by ny commission they could not doubt
but I had authority so to do.
One of them answered in the name of the rest, that they had nothing to say
but this, that when they were taken the captain promised them their lives, and
they humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew not what mercy to
show them; because as for myself, I had resolved to quit the island with all my
men, and had taken passage with the captain to go for England; and as for the
captain, he could not carry them to England other than as prisoners, in irons,
to be tried for mutiny, and for running away with the ship; the consequence of
which, they must needs know, would be the gallows; so that I could not tell
what was best for them, unless they had a mind to take their fate in the island:
if they desired that, as I had liberty to leave the island, I had some inclination
to give them their lives, if they thought they could shift on shore. They seemed
very thankful for it, and said they would much rather venture to stay there than
be carried to England to be hanged: so I left it on that issue.
However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he durst not
leave them there. Upon this I seemed a little angry with the captain, and told
him that they were iny prisoners, not his; and that seeing I had offered them
so much favour, I would be as good as iny 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 it, he might take them again, if he could catch them. Upon this they
appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at liberty, and bade them
retire into the woods to the place whence they came, and I would leave them
some fire-arms, some 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 I would stay that pight to prepare my things, and desired
him to go on-board, in the mean time, and keep all right in the ship, and send
the boat on shore next day for me; ordering him, at all events, to cause the new
captain who was killed, to be hanged at the yard-arm, that these men might
see him.
When the captain was gone, I sent for the men up to me to my apartment,
and entered seriously into discourse with them on their circumstances. I told
them I thought they had made a right choice; that if the captain had carried
them away, they would certainly be hanged. I showed them the new 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 then told them
I would let them into the story of 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; showed them iny fortifications, the way I made my bread,
planted my corn, cured my grapes; and, in a word, all that was necessary to make
them easy. I told them the story also of the seventeen Spaniards that were to be
YARD-ARMS :-(les bouts de vergue, Fr.) the outer quarters or ends of a yard.
217
.
expected, for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat them in
common with themselves. Here it may be noted, that the captain who had ink
on board, was greatly surprised that I never hit upon a way of making ink* of
charcoal and water, or of something else, as I had done things much more
difficult.
I left them my fire-arms, viz. five muskets, three fowling pieces, and three
swords. I had above a barrel and a half of powder left; for after the first year or
two I used but little and wasted none. I gave them a description of the way I
managed the goats, and directions to milk and fatten them, and to make both
butter and cheese: in a word, I gave them every part of my own story; and told
them I should prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder
more, and some garden-seeds; 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 sure to sow and increase them.
Having done all this, I left them the next day, and went on board the ship.
We prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that might. The next morn-
ing early, two of the five men came swimming to the ship's side, and making a
most lamentable complaint of the other three, begged to be taken into the ship,
for God's sake, for they should be murdered, and begged the captain to tako
them on board, although he hanged them immediately. Upon this, the captain
pretended to have no power without me; but after some difficulty, and after
their solemn promises of amendment, they were taken on board, and were
soundly whipped and pickled:* after which they proved very honest and quiet
fellows.
Some time after this, the boat was ordered on shore, the tide being up, with
the things promised to the men; to which the captain at my intercession, caused
their chests and clothes to be added, which they took, and were very thankful
for. I also encouraged them, by telling them that if it lay in my power to send
any vessel to take them in, I would not forget them.
.
When I took leave of this island, I carried on board, for reliques, the great
goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and one of my parrots; also I forgot
not to take the money formerly mentioned, which had lain by me so long
useless, that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could hardly pass for silver,
until it had been a little rubbed and handled; as also the money I found in the
wreck of the Spanish ship. And thus I left the island, the 19th of December,
*INK-in giving the chemical description of this compound at page 68, and the
additional information concerning the removal of ink-stains at page 103, due notice was
not taken of the decomposition of ink, and the consequent degeneracy of ink stains
into what are popularly and expressively denominated "iron moulds:" which omission
the editor takes this pccasion to make good.-Ink is decomposed by age, partly in con-
sequence of the farther oxidation of the iron, and perhaps partly in consequence of the
decay or escape of the acid of galls. Hence ink-stains degenerate into iron-moulds;
and these last are immediately produced on an inked spot of linen when washed with
soap; because the alkali of the soap abstracts the gallic acid, and leaves only an oxid of
iron. These stains may also be caused by the direct contact of oxidated, or rusted
iron. The chemical re-agents for their removal are either one of the vegetable açidə
already mentioned, or diluted muriatic acid. When suffered to remain long on cloth,
they become extremely difficult to take out; because the iron, by repeated moistening
with water, and exposure to the air, acquires such an addition of oxygen as renders it
insoluble in acids. The editor has found however, that even these spots may be dis-
charged, by applying first, a solution of an alkaline sulphuret, which must be well
washed from the cloth; and secondly, a liquid acid. In this case, the sulphuret
extracts part of the oxygen from the iron, and renders it soluble in dilute acids.
PICKLE:-(from the dutch pekel.) The practice of pickling alluded to in the text
may possibly have some connection with the phrase, "salt eel; " which is a sea terin
for a good beating. See CONGREVE's Love for Love, iii, 7; and RUGGLE's Ignoramus,
168. Pickle is to this day the epithet applied unto an unlucky lad always getting into
crapes and receiving punishment,
218
•
as I found by the ship's account, in the year 1686, after I had been upon it twenty
eight years, two months, and nineteen days; being delivered from this second
captivity the same day of the month that I first made my escape in the long
boat from among the Moors of Salee. But before 1 come to the close of our
voyage I must supply a defect in my relation, and this was, I forgot to set down
among the rest that just as we were weighing the anchor to set sail, there
happened a little quarrel on board our ship, which I was afraid once would turn
to a second mutiny; nor was it appeased until the captain, rousing up his
courage, and taking us all to his assistance, parted the rioters by force; and
making two of the most refractory fellows prisoners, he laid them in irons, and
as they had been active in the former disorders, and let fall some ugly dan-
gerous words the second time, he threatened to carry them in custody to Eng,
land, and to have them hanged there for mutiny, and for running away with
the ship. This it seems, although the captain did not intend to do it, affrighted
some other men in the ship; and some of them had put it into the heads of the
rest, that the captain only gave them good words for the present, until they
should come to some english port; and that then they should all be put into a
gaol, and be tried for their lives. The mate got intelligence of this, and ac-
quainted us with it; upon which it was desired that I, who still passed for a
great man among them, should go down with the mate, and satisfy the men,
and tell them that they might be assured if they behaved well the rest of the
voyage, all they had done for the time past should be pardoned. So I went,
and after passing my "honour's" word to them, they appeared easy, and the
more so when I caused the two men who were in irons to be released and for-
given. But this mutiny had kept us at an anchor for that night; the wind
also falling calm. Next morning we found that our two men, who had been laid
in irons, had stolen each of them a musket, with some other weapons, what
powder or shot they had we knew not; and that they had taken the ship's
pinnace, which was not yet hoisted-in, and had run away with her to their
companions in roguery on shore. As soon as we found this, we ordered the
long-boat to land with the mate and twelve men, and away they went to seek
the rogues; but they could neither find them, nor any of the rest; for they all
fled into the woods when they saw the boat coming on-shore. Once the mate
was resolved, in justice to their roguery, to have destroyed the plantations, to
have burnt all their household-stuff and furniture, and to have left them to shift
without any thing: but having no orders, he let all alone; left every thing as he
found it; and, bringing away the pinnace, came on board without them.
•
In this vessel, after a long voyage, I arrived in England the 11th of June, in
the year 1687, having been absent thirty-five years.
When I came to England, I was as perfect a stranger to all the world as if I
had never been known there. My benefactress and faithful steward, whom I had
left my money in trust with, was alive, but had had great misfortunes in the
world; was become a widow the second time, and was very low in the world;
I made her very easy as to what she owed me, assuring her I would give her no
trouble; but, on the contrary, in gratitude for her former care and faithfulness
to me, I relieved her as my little stock would afford; which, at that time, would
indeed allow me to do but little for her; but I assured her I would never forget
her former kindness to me; nor did I forget ner, as shall be observed in its
proper place. I went down afterwards into Yorkshire; but my father and my
mother were dead, and all the family so nearly extinct, that I found only two
sisters 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 provision made for me: so that, in a
word, I found nothing to relieve or assist me; and that the little money I had
would not do much for me as to settling in the world.
I met with one piece of gratitude, indeed, which I did not expect; and this
was, that the master of the ship whom I had so happily delivered, and by the
same ineans saved the ship and cargo, having given a very handsome account to
219
the owners of the manner how I had saved the lives of the men, and the ship,
they invited me to meet them, and some other merchants concerned; and all
together made me a very handsome compliment upon the subject, with a present
of almost 2001. sterling.
But after making several reflections upon the circumstances of my life, and how
little way this would go towards settling me in England, I resolved to go to Lisbon,
and see if I might not come at some information of the state of my plantation in
Brazil, and of what was become of my partner, who, I had reason to suppose,
had some years past given me over for dead. With this view I took shipping for
Lisbon, where I arrived in April following; my man Friday accompanying me
very honestly in all these ramblings, and proving a faithful servant upon all occa-
sions. When I came to Lisbon, I found out, by inquiry, and to my particular
satisfaction, my old friend the captain of the ship who first took me up at sea off
the shore of Africa. He was now grown old, and had left off going to sea, having
put into his ship his son, who was far from a young man, and who still used the
Brazil trade. The old man did not know me; and, indeed, I hardly knew him;
but when I told him who I was, I soon brought him to my remembrance, and as
soon brought myself to his remembrance.
After some passionate expressions of the old acquaintance between us, I
inquired, you may be sure, after my plantation and my partner. The old man
told me he had not been in Brazil for about nine years; but that he could assure
me, that when he came away my partner was living; but the trustees, whom I
had joined with him to take cognizance of my part, were both dead: that,
* LISBON :-the metropolis of Portugal, at little more than 3 leagues distance from the
mouth of the river Tayo (antiently the Tagus), and on the N. shore of that river. It
here forms an expansive aestuary 3 miles broad, which offers a large, deep, and com-
modious harbour; and which is generally crowded with shipping of every nation in
Europe. This harbour will contain several thousand sail, that may ride securely in
18 fathoms water. The mouth of the river presents a double entrance from the Atlantic
ocean; and the aid of a pilot is generally deemed necessary. These passages may be
styled the northern and the southern; and are formed by two sand-banks called the
Cachopes. The geographical site of Lisbon is in latitude 38° 42′ 20″ N. longitude
9° 9' 10" W. from Greenwich; the difference of time being 36 m. 37 s. and it is high
water on full and change days of 》 at 2 h. 15 m. The filth and stench of the streets of
Lisbon are a strong antidote to curiosity; and in fact to a traveller who has seen other
capital cities of Europe, there is little in this to excite curiosity, or afford gratification.
The local situation is certainly fine; but there is a deficiency of eminent buildings; and
the banks of the river are too tame and barren to be very picturesque. In the environs,
which have been much celebrated, Belem is an interesting object, especially to the
antiquary, as it exhibits a specimen, unknown to Europe in general, of that order of
architecture usually denominated gothic. The monastery was founded by King
EMANUEL I. on the spot where Vasco de GAMA received the Patriarch's benediction
when he sailed' upon his voyage of oriental discovery in the year 1497. A specimen
of a similar sort of "arabesk-gothic" may be seen in the mausoleum erected by the
same´king at Batalha. Cintra is a place in every respect worthy of the warm praises
which have been lavished on it. It is a most beautiful and interesting spot: a mountain
covered half-way up with gardens and villas, and above these, rising into rude and
picturesque forms. The view from Cintra itself is however bare and disagreeable.
Concerning this city and its neighbourhood, the Naval Chronicle may be satisfactorily
referred to in the following order :-For an account of Lisbon harbour, see vol. ii,
p. 205. Cape Roxent, vulgarly called the Rock of Lisbon; xix, 138. Historical
description of the city'; xx, 312. Circumstantial narrative of the blockade of Lisbon
(1807), by an english squadron under Admiral Sir WILLIAM SIDNEY SMYTHE, Knight;
xxi, 377. View and description of Cintra; xxiii, 309. Historical anecdote of the con-
quest of Lisbon by natives of Cornwall; xxiv, 452. It may prove convenient or useful
to the mariner to be here informed that, according to the most recent and approved
authorities, the geographical site of Cape Roxent (the western promontory on the nor-
thern shore of the entrance to Lisbon), is in latitude 38° 45′ 267 N. longitude 9° 35′ 50″
W. from Greenwich; the difference of time being 88 m. 33 s
!
220
however, he believed I would have a very good account of the improvement of
the plantation; for that upon the general belief of my being cast away and
drowned, my trustees had given in the account of the produce of my part of the
plantation to the Procurator-fiscal, who had appropriated it, in case I never
came to claim it, one-third to the king, and two-thirds to the monastery of
St. Augustino, to be expended for the benefit of the poor, and for the conversion
of the Indians to the christian faith; but that if I, or any one for me, appeared
to claim the inheritance, it would be restored; only that the improvement, or
annual production, being distributed to charitable uses, could not be restored:
but he assured me that the steward of the king's revenue from lands, and the
proviedor, or steward of the monastery, had taken great care all along that the
incumbent, that is to say, my partner, gave every year a faithful account of the
produce, of which they had duly received my moiety. I asked him if he knew to
what height of improvement he had brought the plantation; and whether he
thought it might be worth looking after; or whether, on my going thither, I should
meet with any obstruction to my possessing my just 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 enjoying his part of
it; and that, to the best of his remembrance, he had heard that the king's third
of my part, which was, it seems, granted away to some other monastery or
religious house, amounted to above two hundred moidors a-year: that as to my
being restored to a quiet possession of it, there was no question to be made of
that, my partner being alive to witness my title, and my name being also enrolled
in the register of the country: also he told me, that the survivors of my two
trustees were very fair honest people, and very wealthy; and he believed I would
not only have their assistance for putting me in possession, but would find a very
considerable sum of money in their hands for my account, being the produce of
the farm while their fathers held the trust, and before it was given up, as above;
which, as he remembered, was for about twelve years.
I showed myself a little concerned and uneasy at this account; and inquired
of the old captain how it came to pass that the trustees should thus dispose of my
effects, when he knew that I had made my will, and had made him, the portuguese
captain, my universal heir, &c. He told me that was true; but that as there was no
proof of my being dead, he could not act as executor, until some certain account
should come of my death; and, besides, he was not willing to intermeddle with a
thing so remote: that it was true he had registered my will, and put in his claim;
and could be have given any account of my being dead or alive, he would have
acted by procuration, and taken possession of the ingenio (so they called the
sugar house), and have given his son, who was now at Brazil, orders to do it.
"But," says the old man, "I have one piece of news to tell you, which, perhaps,
may not be so acceptable to you as the rest; and that is, believing you were
lost, and all the world believing so also, your partner and trustees did offer to
account with me, in your name, for six or eight of the first years profits, which
I received. There being at that time great disbursements for increasing the
works, building an ingenio, and buying slaves, it did not amount to near so
much as afterwards it produced: however," says the old man, "I shall 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 first six years income of my plantation, signed by my partner and
the merchant trustees, being always delivered in goods, viz. tobacco in roll,
TOBACCO-See p. 36. King JAMES I. had a remarkable antipathy to tobacco, and ho
has left us his opinion of this now popular herb. "Tobacco," he said, "was the lively
image and pattern of hell; for that it had, by allusion, in it all the parts and vices of the
world, whereby hell may be gained; to wit, first, it was smoke; so are all the vanities
of this world: secondly, it delighteth them who take it; so do all the pleasures of the
world delight the men of the world; thirdly, it maketh men drunken, and light in the.
221
"
and sugar in chests, besides rum, molasses, &c. which is the consequence of a
sugar-work; and I found, by this account, that every year the income considerably
head; so do all the vanities of the world, men are drunken therewith: fourthly, he
that taketh tobacco, saith he cannot leave it, it doth bewitch him; even so the plea-
sures of the world make men loth to leave them-they are for the most part enchanted
with them; and farther, it is like hell in the very substance of it; for it is a stinking
loathsome thing, and so is hell!"-and farther, his Majesty professed, "that were be
to invite the Devil to a dinner, he should have three dishes-first, a pig; secondly, ■
pole of ling and mustard ;-thirdly, a pipe of tobacco, for digestion!""
ON TOBACCO.
WHAT horrid sin condemn'd the teeming earth,
And curst her womb with such a monstrous birth?
What crime, America, that heav'n would please
To make thee mother of the world's disease?
In thy fair womb what accidents could breed,
What plague give root to this pernicious weed?
Tobacco, oh! the very name doth kill,
And has already fix'd my reeling quill :
I now could write libels against the king,
Treason, or blasphemy, or any thing
"Gainst piety and reason; I could frame
A panegyric to the Protector's name :
Such sly infection does the world infuse
Into the soul of ev'ry modest muse.
What politic Peregrine was't first could boast
He brought a pest into his native coast?
Th' abstract of poison in a stinking weed,
The spurious issue of corrupted seed;
Seed belch'd in earthquakes from the dark abyss,
Whose name a blot in nature's herbal is.
What drunken fiend taught Englishmen the crime
Thus to puff out and spawl away their time?
Pernicious weed, (should not my muse offend.
To say heav'n made ought for a cruel end),
I should proclaim that thou created wert
To ruin man's high and immortal part.
Thy Stygian damp obscure's our reason's eye,
Debauches wit, and makes invention dry;
Destroys the mem'ry, confounds our care;
We know not what we do, or what we are:
Renders our faculties and members lame
To every office of our country's claim.
Our life's a drunken dream devoid of sense,
And the best actions of our time offence.
Our health, diseases, lethargies, and rhume,
Our friendships fire, and all our vows are fume.
Of late there's no such thing as wit or sense,
Counsel, instruction, or intelligence :
Discourse that should distinguish man from beast,
Is by the vapour of the weed suppress'd;
For what we talk is interrupted stuff,
The one half English, and the other puff;
Freedom and truth are things we do not know,
We know not what we say nor what we do:
We want in all the understanding's light,
We talk in clouds, and walk in endless night.
We smoke, as if we meant concealed by spell
To spy abroad, yet be invisible:
But no discovery shall the statesman boast,
We raise a mist wherein ourselves are lost,
222
increased; but, as above, the disbursements being large, the sum at first was
small however, the old man let me see that he was debtor to me 470 moidors of
gold, besides 60 chests of sugar, and 15 double rolls of tobacco, which were lost
in his ship; he having been shipwrecked coming home to Lisbon, about eleven
years after my leaving the place. The good man then began to complain of his
misfortunes, and how he had been obliged to make use of my money to recover
A stinking shade, and whilst we pipe it thus,
Each one appears an ignis-fatuus.
Courtier and peasant, nay, the Madam-Neice
Is likewise fall'n into the common vice;
We all in dusky error groping lie,
Robb'd of our reasons and the day's bright eye,
Whilst sailors from the main-top see our isle
Wrapp'd up in smoke like the Ætnean pile.
What nameless ill does its contagion shroud
In the dark mansion of this noisome cloud?
Sure 'tis the Devil: Oh! I know that's it,
Foh! how the sulphor makes me cough and spit!
'Tis he; or else some fav'rite fiend at least,
In all the mischief of his malice dress'd;
Each deadly sin that lurks t'entrap the soul,
Does here conceal'd in curling vapours roll;
And for the body such an unknown ill
As makes physicians' reading, and their skill,
One undistinguished pest made up of all
That men experienc'd do diseases call.
Coughs, astlimas, apoplexies, fevers, rhume,
All that kill dead, or lingering consume;
Folly, and madness, nay the plague, the pox,
And ev'ry fool wears a Pandora's box.
From that rich mine, the stupid sot doth fill,
Smokes up his liver, and his lungs, until
His reeking nostrils monstrously proclaim
His brains and bowels one consuming flame.
What noble soul would be content to dwell
In the dark lantern of a smoky cell?
To prostitute his body and his mind
To a debauch of such a stinking kind?
To sacrifice to Moloch, and to fry,
In such a base, dirty idolatry;
As if frail life, which of itself too shorf,
Were to be whiff'd away in drunken sport.
Thus, as if weary of our destin'd years,
We burn the thread to prevent the shears.
What noble end, can simple man propose,
For a reward to his all smoking nose?
His purposes are levell'd sure amiss,
Where neither ornament nor pleasure is.
What can he then design his worthy hire?
Sure 'tis t'inure him for eternal fire:
And thus his aim must admirably thrive,
In hopes of hell, he damns himself alive!
But my infected muse begins to choke
In the vile stink of the increasing smoke,
And can no more in equal numbers chime,
Unless to sneeze, and cough, and spit in rhyme.
Half stifled now in this new time's disease,
She must in fumes vanish and deccase.
This is her fault's excuse, and her pretence,
This satire else had look'd like scnse,
CHARLES COTTON, 1689.
223
his losses, and buy him a share in a new ship. "However, my old friend,”
says he, “you shall not want a supply in your necessity; and as soon as my son
returns, you shall be fully satisfied." Upon this, he pulls out an old pouch, and
gives me 160 Portugal moidors in gold; and giving the writings of his title to the
ship, in which his son was gone to Brazil, of which he was a quarter-part owner,
and his son another, he puts them both into my hands, for security of the rest.
•
I was too much moved with the honesty and kindness of the poor man to be
able to bear this; and remembering what he had done for me, how he had taken
me up at sea, and how generously he had used me on all occasions, and particu-
larly how sincere a friend he was now to me, I could hardly refrain weeping at
what he had said to me; therefore I asked him if his circumstances admitted him
to spare so much money at that time, and if it would not straiten him? He told
me he could not say but it might straiten 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 moidors, and called for a pen and ink to give him a
receipt for them: then I returned him the rest, and told him if ever I had
possession of the plantation, I would return the other to him also; and that as to
the bill of sale of his part in his son's ship, I would not take it by any means;
but that if I wanted the money, I found he was honest enough to pay me; and
if I did not, but came to receive what he gave me reason to expect, I would never
have a penny more from him.
When this was past, the old man asked me if he should put me into a method
to make my claim to the plantation? I told him I thought to go over to it
myself. He said I might do so if I pleased; 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 ships in the river of Lisbon just ready to go away to
Brazil, he made me enter my name in a public register, with his affidavit,
affirming, upon oath, that I was alive, and that I was the same person who took
up the land for the planting the said plantation at first. This being regularly
attested by a notary, and a procuration affixed, he directed me to send it, with
a letter of his writing, to a merchant of his acquaintance at the place; and then
proposed my staying with him till an account came of the return.
Never was any thing more honourable than the proceedings upon this procura-
tion; for in less than seven months I received a large packet from the survivors of
my trustees, the merchants, for whose account I went to sea, in which were the
following particular letters and papers enclosed:-First, There was the account-
current of the produce of my farm or plantation, from the year when their fathers
had balanced with my old Portugal captain, being for six years; the balance
appeared to be 1174 moidors in my favour. Secondly, There was the account of
four years more, while they kept the effects in their hands, before the government
claimed the administration, as being the effects of a person not to be found, which
they called civil death; and the balance of this, the value of the plantation
increasing, amounted to 19,446 crusados,* being about 3240 moidors. Thirdly,
There was the prior of Augustino's account, who had received the profits for
* CRUZADO :-In 1456, when King ALFONZo V. had made a vow to visit the Holy-
land, he caused to be coined a species of money of very fine gold, and named crusado.
On the obverse is represented the cross of St. GEORGE, with this legend: Adjutorium
nostrum in nomine domini. On the reverse is an escutcheon with the king's arnis placed
on the cross of the military order of knighthood of " Avis." The Portuguese have pre-
served the name, "Cruzada;" which is still the most used in their accompts of monies,
There are two species of this money: cruzada velha (old), and crusada nova (new).
The former is worth 400 réas or réis; the latter 480. (See page 169 of this edition).
In counting by cruzadas, as the Portuguese ordinarily do, the first species is to be un-
derstood. The old cruzadas are all of gold; the new ones are some of gold, others of
silver.
224
above fourteen years; but not being to account for what was disposed of by the
hospital, very honestly declared he had 872 moidors not distributed, which he
acknowledged to my acount: as to the king's part, that refunded nothing.
There was a letter from my partner, congratulating me affectionately upon my
being alive, giving me an account how the estates was improved, and what it
produced a year; with a particular of the number of squares or acres that it con-
tained, how planted, how many slaves there were upon it, and making twenty-
two crosses for blessings, told ine he had said so many Ave Marias to thank
*
the blessed Virgin that I was alive; inviting me very passionately to come over
and take possession of my own; and, in the mean time, to give him orders to
whom he should deliver my effects, if I did not come myself; concluding with a
hearty tender of his friendship, and that of his family; and sent me, as a present,
seven fine leopards' skins, which he had, it seems, received from Africa, by
some other ship that he had sent thither, and which, it seems, had made a better
voyage than I. He sent me also five chests of excellent sweatmeats, and a hun-
dred pieces of gold uncoined, not quite so large as moidors. By the same fleet,
my two merchant trustees shipped me 1200 chests of sugar,† 800 rolls of tobacco,
and the rest of the whole account in gold.
I might well say now, indeed, that the latter end of Jobt was better than the
beginning. It is impossible to express the flutterings of my very heart, when I
found all my wealth about me; for, as the Brazil ships come all in fleets, the
same ships which brought my letters brought my goods: and the effects were
safe in the river before the letters came to my hand. In a word, I turned pale
and grew sick; and had not the old man run and fetched me a cordial, I believe
* AVE-MARIA-a formula of devotion very usual in the romish church, added to
their liturgy by Pope JoнN XXII. in the fourteenth century: it consists in fact of that
wonderful salutation of Mary, the mother of Jesus, by a supernatural being called an
angel announcing the mystery of the incarnation, as related in the gospel (Luke i, 28).
The words of this invocation, as used in the latin church service, are as follow:-
Ave Maria! gratiá plena dominus tecum bencdieta tu in mulieribus & benedictus fructus
ventris tui Iesus. Sancta Maria! mater dei oru pro nobis peccatoribus nunc & in horá
mortis nostrae. Amen. The chaplets or rosaries of the romanists are divided into so
many Ave-Marias, and so many pater-nosters, (or Lord's-prayers) indicated by beads of
different sizes; which hence are also themselves called "aves" or "paters.”
t SUGAR:to the historical notices on this article, contained in the notes at
pages 35, and 59, the reader may add the evidence of the following classical
quotation, descriptive of certain nations named by the poet :-
Quique bibunt tencrâ ab arundine succos.
L*CAN.
It is no less singular than true, that the article of colonial produce, sugar, the want of
which has been for some time past, until now, felt as the severest privation throughout the
continent of Europe, was scarcely known among us three hundred years ago. Sugar was
first brought into Europe from Asia, 1150, and at that time an attempt was made to culti-
vate it in Italy, but it failed: the Portuguese and Spaniards, however, in the adventurous
spirit of colonization which first distinguished them, it is asserted by some writers, carried
the cane-root into America, in 1510, which succeeded to the full extent of their hopes,
and thence it was soon transplanted to the West India isles, where its luxuriant produce
extended itself with such rapidity as soon to become an object of that national strife and
warfare, which but a few months ago assumed the terrifying feature of the most sanguinary
perpetuity! The slave-trade, for which the culture of this reed has furnished the prin-
cipal pretext, originated from the voyage of ANTONIO GONSALEZ, a Portuguese, in
1442. The first european fort was constructed in Africa, 1481. The Spaniards first
employed negros in the mines of Hespaniola, 1502. The first english slave-trader,
"damned to everlasting fame," was JOHN HAWKINS, 1562. GIBBON, speaking of the
edifices erected at Palermo, the capital of Sicily, for a colony of greek artificers in the
"HUGO FAICANDUS
middle ages, says, (Decline and Fall of Roman empire: chap. lii.)
styles them nobiles officinas. The Arabs had not introduced silk, though they had planted
canes and made sugur, in the plain of Palermo."
‡ Job, xlii, 10, 12.
225
the sudden surprise of joy had overset nature, and I had died upon the spot:
nay, after that, I continued very ill, and was so some hours, until a physician
being sent for, and something of the real cause of my illness being known, he
ordered me to be let blood; after which I had relief, and grew well: but I verily
believe, if I had not been eased by a vent given in that inanner to the spirits, I
should have died.
dis-
I was now master, all on a sudden, of above five thousand pounds sterling in
money, and had an estate, as I might well call it, in Brazil, of above a thousand
pounds a-year, as sure as an estate of lands in England; and, in a word, I was in
a condition which I scarce knew how to understand, or how to compose myself
for the enjoyment of it. The first thing I did was to recompense my original
benefactor, my good old captain, who had been first charitable to me in my
tress, kind to me in my beginning, and honest to me at the end. I showed him
all that was sent to me; I told him, that, next to the providence of heaven,'which
disposed all things, it was owing to him; and that it now lay on me to reward
him, which I would do a hundred-fold: so I first returned to him the hundred
moidors I had received of him; then I sent for a notary, and caused him to
draw up a general release or discharge for the 470 moidors, which he had
acknowledged he owed me, in the fullest and firmest manner possible. After
which I caused a procuration to be drawn, empowering him to be my receiver of
the annual profits of my plantation, and appointing my partner to account with
him, and make the returns by the usual fleets to him in my name: and a clause
in the end, being a grant of 100 moidors a-year to him during his life, out of the
effects, and 50 moidors a-year to his son after him, for his life: thus I requited
my old man. I was now to consider which way to steer my course next, and
what to do with the estate that fortune had thus put into my hands; and, indeed,
I had more care upon my head now, than I had in my silent 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 secure it. I had never a cave now to hide my money in, or a place where it
might lie without lock or key, till it grew mouldy and tarnished before any body
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 interests in Brazil seemed to suminon
me thither; but now I could not tell how to think of going thither, until I had
settled 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 she was in years, and but poor, and, for ought I knew, might
be in debt; so that, in a word, I had no way but to go back to England myself,
and take my effects with me.
:
It was some months, however, before I resolved upon this; and therefore, as I
had rewarded the old captain fully, and to his satisfaction, who had been my
former benefactor, so 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 instructor. So the first thing I did, I got a merchant in Lisbon to write to
his correspondent in London, not only to pay a bill, but to go find her out, and
carry her in money a hundred pounds from me, and to talk with her, and comfort
her in her poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, have a further supply at
the same time I sent my two sisters in the country a hundred pounds each, they
being, though not in want, yet not in very good circumstances; one having been
married and left a widow, and the other having a 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 durst commit the gross of my stock, that I might go
away to Brazil, and leave things safe behind me; and this greatly perplexed me.
I had once a mind to have gone to Brazil, and have settled myself there; for I
was, as it were, naturalized to the place; but I had some little scruple in my
mind about religion, which insensibly drew me back. However, it was not reli-
gion that kept me from going there for the present; and as I had made no scruple
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.}
}
226
1
of conforming to the religion of the country all the while I was among them, so
neither did I yet; only that, now and then, having of late thought more of it than
formerly, when I began to think of living and dying among them, I began to regret
my having professed myself a papist, and thought it might not be the best reli-
gion to die with.
This, however, as I have said, was not the main thing that kept me from going
to Brazil, but that really I did not know with whom to leave my effects behind
me; so I resolved, at last, to go to England with it, where, if I arrived, I concluded
I should make some acquaintance, or find some relations that would be faithful to
me; and, accordingly, I prepared to go to England with all my wealth. In order to
prepare things for my going home (the Brazil fleet being just upon the point of
going away), I resolved to give answers suitable to the just and faithful account f
things I had from thence; and, first, to the priory of St. Augustino I wrote a letter
full of thanks for their just dealings, and the offer of the 872 moidors which were
undisposed of, which I desired might be given, 500 to the monastery, and 372
to the poor, as the prior should direct; desiring the good padre's 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 called for; as for sending
them any present, they were far above having any occasion for it. Lastly, I
wrote to my partner, acknowledging his industry in the improving the plantation,
and his integrity in increasing the stock of the works; giving him instructions
for his future government of my part, according to the powers I had left with
my old patron, to whom I desired him to send whatever became due to me, till
he should hear from me more particularly; assuring him that it was my intention
not only to come to him, but to settle myself there. To this I added a very
handsome present of some italian silks for his wife and two daughters, for such
the captain's son informed me he had; with two pieces of fine english broad-
cloth, the best I could get in Lisbon, five pieces of black baize, and some Flanders
lace of a good value.
Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and turned all my effects into
good bills of exchange, my next difficulty was, which way to go to England; I
had been accustomed enough to the sea, and yet I had a strange aversion to go
to England by sea at that time; and although I could give no reason for it, yet
the difficulty increased upon me so much, that although I had once shipped my
baggage, in order to go, yet I altered my mind, and that not once, but two or
three times.
It is true, I had been very unfortunate by sea, and this might be some of the
reasons; but let no man slight the strong impulses of his own thoughts in cases
of such moment: two of the ships which I had singled out to go in, I mean, more
particularly singled out than any other, so as to have put my things on board one,
and in the other to have agreed with the captain; I say, two of these ships mis-
carried, viz. one was taken by the Algerines, and the other was cast away on the
Start,* near Tor-bay,† and all the people drowned, except three; so that in cither
of those vessels I had been made miserable.
* START:the name of a point that stretches out into the english channel, S. wester-
ly, from Dartmouth in Devonshire, about 5, leagues; the coast between them forming
a bay. Ships must take care to avoid a small rock that is mile E.S.E. from the Start;
but there is good anchorage for westerly winds, under the point on its E. side, between
the point and the church on the high land in 10 or 11 fathoms, with the point bearing
S.W. The haven of Salcomb is about a league westward from it. Rame-head is about
6 leagues N.W. as Portland is 16 or 17 E. b. N. & N. Berry head bears N. N. E. § E.
11 miles. The geographical site of the Start point is in latitude 50° 13′ 25.9" N. longi-
tude 3° 38′ 20.8" W. difference of time from Greenwich 14 m. 33.4 s. High-water
at full and change of 6 h. 10 m. The Start is a low ragged point rising from the sea
far into the land, about 2 or 3 miles E.S. E. from Praul point; and may be seen with the
hills to N. of it by ships in the channel in 45 fathoms; although the fair way up the
channel is in from 30 to 40.
↑ TʊR-DAY :—a noted road or rendezvous for the english navy; where in case of wes-
227
Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I commu-
nicated every thing, pressed me earnestly not to go by sea, but either to go by
land to the Groyne,* and cross over the bay of Biscay to Rochelle,t from whence
it was but an easy and safe journey by land to Paris, and so to Calais and Dover,
or to go up to Madrid, and so all the way by land through France. In a word, I
was so prepossessed against my going by sea at all, except from Calais to Dover,
that I resolved to travel all the way by land; which, as I was not in haste, and
did not value the charge, was by much the pleasanter way; and to make it more
terly winds large fleets sometimes ride for several weeks. It is on the S. eastern coast
of Devonshire, about 2 leagues E. from Dartmouth. To go into the bay, bring the W.
point of it, called Berry-head, S. b. E. or S.S.E. and anchor in 7 or 8 fathoms; where
ships will lay land-sheltered for W. for S. W. and for S. winds. In this bay are two
piers where small vessels lie aground. At the N.E. part of this bay is the tide-haven
of Tor-moune. The direction of the flood-tide along this coast is E. N. E. and the ebb
contrary-wise. The geographical site of Tor-bay (that is of the flag-staff on Berry-
head,) is in latitude 50° 24' 0.7" N. longitude 3° 28′ 14.4" W. The Naval Chronicle
contains a picturesque view of Tor-bay in vol. i. p. 328; and a second view of Tor-bay
in xiii.
* GROYNE :—the old english corruption of Corogne, which is the french name for
Corunna, the Brigantium of the antients; a well-known sea-port town of Gallicia in
Spain, being the established ferry for the packet-boats between Spain and England. It
is situated at the bottom of a small bay within a spacious gulf; and is S. W. from the
harbour of Ferrol on the opposite side of the gulph: the entrance into this port is E.
along the coast from the W. point of land or island of Cisarga, at 8 leagues distance. To
enter, having made Cisarga, give it a good berth, because it is foul, then run in E.S.E.
when about the point of Corunna, S.E. and afterwards S.S. E. give that also a berth of
4 or 5 cable-lengths; and on coming by the point where the castle stands, a small
island with a little house on it will be seen, along which a ship may sail within cable-
length. Run about by this to westward, until arrived before the Fisher-village; and there.
anchor in 6, 7, or 8 fathoms. MALIAM'S Naval Gazetteer places Corunna in latitude
43° 56′ N. longitude 9° 10′ W. and states high-water with spring-tides to be at 3 o'clock.
The best french authority gives the geographical site of Ferrol 43° 29′ N. 10° 35′ 45″
W. from Paris: the difference of time being 42 m. 23 s.
+ ROCHELLE :—more properly "La Rochelle," a considerable port, and commercial
city on the western coast of France, situated within the islands of Rhé and Oléron, at
about 2 leagues distance from the S.E. end of the former. To enter from the bay of
Biscay by the Pertuis [sound] d'Antioche, between those two islands, care must be
taken to avoid a shole called " Lavardin," on the coast of the former; which a ship will
have passed when the S. point of Rochelle called Courcil, bears E. Vessels from the
north pass through the other sound between Rhé and the main-land, called " Pertuis-
Breton:" in order to which the mouth of the river between St. Michel and the channel
of Luçon must be brought right over the point of the isle Aiguillon: with those marks
run quite through between point St. Marc near Rochelle, and the S.E. point of Rhé,
and so keep clear of the Lavardin. The leading mark to make this coast is the tower
and light called Chasseron, placed on the N.W. extremity of Oléron, in latitude 46°
251" N. longitude 3° 44′ 27" W. from Paris; the difference of longitude between
which and Greenwich is 2° 20' 15". The geographical site of La-Rochelle is in lati-
tude 46° 9′ N, longitude 1° 10′ W. from Greenwich (according to the somewhat apo-
cryphal authority of the Naval gazetteer.) A map and descriptive memoir of this por-
tion of the french coast is to be found in the Baval Chronicle, vol. xxix, p. 329. King
LOUIS XIII. son of HENRY IV, was but 9 years of age at the time of his father's assassi-
nation by RAVAILLAC in 1610. As he grew up he emancipated himself from the
influence of the Queen-dowager his mother; discarded her favourites; and chose for
his prime-minister Cardinal RICHELIEU, who by his vigorous, but rigorous measures,
while he cemented the power, put a period to the remaining liberties of France; and par-
ticularly by revoking the edict of Nantes suppressed the religious establishment of the
protestants in that kingdom; who made their last stand at La-Rochelle. The taking of
this city (which our K. CHARLES I. who had married the french king's sister, made
some weak efforts to relieve) put an end to the civil wars on account of religion in
France.
2
228
1
so, my old captain brought an english gentleman, the son of a merchant in Lisbon,
who was willing to travel with me; after which we picked up two more english
merchants also, and two young portuguese gentlemen, the last going to Paris
only; so that in all there were six of us, and five servants; the two merchants
and the two Portuguese contenting_themselves with one servant between two, to
save the charge; and as for me, I got an english sailor to travel with me as a
servant, besides my man Friday, who was too much à stranger to be capable of
supplying the place of a servant on the road.
In this manner I set out from Lisbon; and our company being very well
mounted and armed, 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 ser-.
vants, and, indeed, was the origin of the whole journey. As I have troubled you
with none of my sea-journals, so I shall trouble you now with none of my land-
journal; but some adventures that happened to us in this tedious and difficult
journey I must not omit.
When we came to Madrid,* being all of us strangers to Spain, we were
willing to stay some time to see the court of Spain, and whatever else was worth
observing; but it being the latter part of the summer, we hastened away, and
set out from Madrid about the middle of October; but when we came to the edge
of Navarre, we were alarmed, at several towns on the way, with an account that
so much snow was fallen on the french side of the mountains, that several
* MADRID: the particular capital of the kingdom of New-Castille; eventually be
come the universal metropolis of the spanish monarchy. Its geographical site (that is
the plaza-muyor, or "grand place") is in latitude 40° 25′ 18″ N. longitude 3° 42′ 5″ W.
from Greenwich. Its population is estimated at about 15,000 inhabitants. It stands
near the banks of the river Mançanares in a spacious plain, though surrounded at a certain
distance by mountains whose summits are frequently covered with snow: but its local
climate may be judged of by the authenticated fact that on the 17th June 1805, during
the prevalence of the Solano, or african wind, the height of Fahrenheit's thermometer
at 2 P.M. was 92° within doors, and in the shade without 87°. The houses of Madrid
are of brick, of no very ornamental architecture: indeed they have generally rather a
prison-like appearance, the windows, particularly the lower range, being with iron bars.
Separate families generally inhabit the same house, as in Edinburgh and Paris. Madrid
can only claim magnificence in two quarters, namely, the Prado, or Parade, a place of
resort somewhat similar to St. James's Park, at London, and the street called Calle de
Al-cala; the breadth of this latter, and its advantageous situation on the gentle slope of
a bill, give it a very striking appearance; which prospect has been described in the
following lines:-
Que a lo lejos campea
Ya la Adnana real, fabrica altiva
Que corona y remata
La varia perspectiva
De aquella immensa Calle, en yo espacio
En un suave declivio se dilata.
The Mançanares is a stream, which partaking of the nature of all mountain torrents i
of very uncertain width; it is crossed by a magnificent bridge of such disproportionatė
dimensions to its river during the dry season (although not greater than is required when
the waters are swollen) that it has become a sort of bye-word among travellers, and
particularly attracted the sarcasms of the lively French. Of these, one has compared
the Manganares to Dives in the gospel; another has recommended a sale of the bridge
to buy water for the river. In one of the odes by GONDORA, a spanish poet, in all the
honesty of national pride, and with the utmost gravity, he gives to the river at Madrid
the following titles :-
Mançanares! Mançanares!
Os que in todo el aguatismo
Estois Duque de arroyos [Duke of streams]
Y Visconde de los rios. [Viscount of rivers]
A more genuine specimen of bathos is rarely to be met with.
"
229
travellers were obliged to come back to Pampelona,* after having attempted, at
an extreme hazard, to pass on. When we came to Pampelona itself, we found
it so, indeed; and to me, that had been always used to a hot climate, and to
countries where I could scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insufferable:
nor, indeed, was it more painful than surprising, to come but ten days before out
of Óld-Castile, where the weather was not only warm, but very hot, and imme-
diately to feel a wind from the Pyrenean mountains so very keen, so severely
cold, as to be intolerable, and to endanger benumbing and perishing of our fingers
and toes. Poor Friday was really frightened when he saw the mountains all
covered with snow, and felt cold weather, which he had never seen or felt before
in his life. To mend the matter, when we came to Pampelona, it continued
snowing with so much violence, and so long, that the people said winter was come
before its time; and the roads, which were difficult before, were now quite im-
passable; for, in a word, the snow lay in some places too thick for us to travel,
and being not hard frozen, as is the case in the northern countries, there was no
going without being in danger of being buried alive every step. We stayed no
less than twenty days at Pampelona; when seeing the winter coming on, and
no likelihood of its being better, for it was the severest winter all over Europe
that had been known in the memory of man, I proposed that we should all go
away to Fontarabia,† and there take shipping for Bordeaux, which was a very
little voyage. But while I was considering this, there came in four french gen-
tlemen, who having been stopped on the french side of the passes, as we were on
the spanish, had found out a guide, who, traversing the country near the head of
Languedoc, had brought them over the mountains by such ways, that they were
not much incommoded with the snow; for where they met with snow in any
quantity, they said it was frozen hard enough to bear them and their horses.
We sent for this guide, who told us he would undertake to carry us the same way
with no hazard from the snow, provided we were armed sufficiently to protect
ourselves from wild beasts; for, he said, upon these great snows it was frequent
for some wolves to show themselves at the foot of the mountains, being made
ravenous for want of food, the ground being covered with snow. We told him
we were well enough prepared for such 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 side of the mountains. He satished us
ተ
* PAMPELONA :-the capital city of upper Navarre; which country was formerly a
kingdom of itself, but is now a province of Spain, although it forms one of the regal
titles of the house of Bourbon, in right of king HENRY IV. whose ancestors were dis-
possessed by FERDINAND, king of Spain, about 1512. This city is situated at no great
distance from the foot of the Pyrenean mountains facing the outlet of the principal
passes through that natural barrier, is strongly fortified; and considered as the key of
Spain on its north-eastern frontier. It fell very unfairly into the hands of the French in
the year 1807; but was retaken after a tedious blockade by the combined armies
English, Spanish and Portuguese in 1813.
† FONTARABIA:-properly called in Spanish Fuentarabia: a town of Biscaya on the
sea-coast of the great bay called by most navigators after that province; but by the
French with equal right, the gulf of Gascogne. Spain is here separated from France
by the river Bidassoa, which flows between Fontarabia and Audaye. It has a pretty
good harbour for vessels of moderate burthen, and a fort: it is at the distance of 6
leagues from Bayonne. High water with spring tides at past 3 o'clock. Latitude 43°
21' 36" N. longitude 1° 47′ 29″ W. according to the Requisite Tables; which differs but
14" from the Connaissance-des-tems after reducing the meridian of Paris to that of Green-
wich: in stating the longitude of which respective observatories the Requisite Tables
do not notice the seconds of the french statement thereof, viz. 2° 20′ 15″.
‡
BORDEAUX :-the capital of the province of Guyenne prior to the revolution of
1789; which province in the new division of France by the first national assembly
became the department of the Gironde; which is the name of the aestuary formed by
the rivers Garonne and Dordogne. Bordeaux is situated 12 leagues distant from the
river's mouth. For the history, geography and picturesque scenery of this eminent city
230
that there was no danger of that kind in the way that we were to go: so we
readily agreed to follow him, as did also twelve other gentlemen, with their ser-
vants, some French, some Spanish, who, as I said, had attempted to go, and were
obliged to come back again.
Accordingly, we set out from Pampelona, with our guide, on the 15th of
November; and, indeed, I was surprised, when instead of going forward, he
came directly back with us on the same road that we came from Madrid, about
twenty miles; when having passed two rivers, and come into the plain country,
we found ourselves in a warm climate again, where the country was pleasant,
and no snow to be seen; but on a sudden turning to his left, he approached the
mountains another way: and although it is true the hills and precipices looked
dreadful, yet he made so many tours, such meanders, and led us by such winding
ways, that we insensibly passed the height of the mountains without being much
incumbered with the snow; and, all on a sudden, he showed us the pleasant
fruitful provinces of Languedoc and Gascoigne, all green and flourishing, though,
indeed, at a great distance, and we had some rough way
to pass still. We were
a little uneasy, however, when we found it snowed one whole day and a night so
fast, that we could not travel; but he bid us be easy; we should soon be past it
all: we found, indeed, that we began to descend every day, and to come more
north than before; and so depending upon our guide, we went on.
It was
about two hours before night, when our guide being something before us, and
not just in sight, out rushed three monstrous wolves, and after them a bear, out

and sea-port, see Mabal Chronicle: vol. vii, p. 212; xxvi, 148; xxxi, 329. The latiu
name of Bordeaux was Burdigala. See RUGGLE's Ignoramus. 153.
* WOLF:-in zoology, the canis lupus of LINNEUS, a beast of prey, of the dog kind,
231
of a hollow way adjoining to a thick wood; two of the wolves made at the guide,
and had he been far before us, he would have been devoured before we could
have helped him; one of them fastened upon his horse, and the other attacked
the man with that violence, that he had not time, or presence of mind enough
to draw his pistol, but hollowed and cried to us most lustily. My man Friday
being next me, I bade him ride up, and see what was the matter. As soon as
Friday came in sight of the man, he hollowed out as loud as the other, "0
master! O master!" but, like a bold fellow, rode directly up to the poor man,
and with his pistol shot the wolf that attacked him in the head. It was happy
for the poor man that it was my man Friday; for he having been used to such
creatures in his country, he had no fear upon him, but went close up to him and
shot him, as above; whereas, any other of us would have fired at a farther dis-
tance, and have perhaps either missed the wolf, or endangered shooting the man.
But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man than I, and, indeed, it alarmed all
our company, when, with the noise of Friday's pistol, we heard on both sides the
most dismal howling of wolves; and the noise, redoubled by the echo of the
mountains, appeared to us as if there had been a prodigious number of them;
and perhaps there was not such a few as that we had no cause of apprehensions:
however, as Friday had killed this wolf, the other that had fastened upon the
horse left him immediately, and fled, without doing him any damage, having
happily fastened upon his head, where the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his
teeth. But the man was most hurt; for the raging creature had bit him twice,
once in the arm, and the other time a little above his knee; and although he had
made some defense, he was just as it were tumbling down by the disorder of his
horse, when Friday came up and shot the wolf. It is easy to suppose that at the
noise of Friday's pistol we all mended our pace, and rode up as fast as the way,
which was very difficult, would give us leave, to see what was the matter. As
soon as we came clear of the trees, which blinded us before, we saw clearly what
had been the case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide, although wẹ
did not presently discern what kind of creature it was he had killed.
But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in such a surprising manner,
with the tail bending inward, and the largest and fiercest of that race of animals, it is
extremely like the dog in shape, and if the head, which is long, with a pointed nose,
did not differ a little in figure, one would be apt to declare it the very same animal.
It has a very savage look about the face, its eyes are glaring, and its teeth are large.
The ancients had an opinion that the neck of the wolf was all of one solid bone; but, on
the contrary, this creature is able to turn and twist it about better than the dog-kind. The
wolf, as well as all the other beasts of prey, can endure hunger a long time, though very
voracious when it meets with food. The wolf differs from the dog in his note, for
instead of the barking of the dog this creature only howls; his ears, which stand erect,
and his tail, make him also greatly resemble the fox. The hair of the wolf is long; the
legs are long; the head and neck cinerous; and the body generally pale brown, tinged
with yellow; sometimes found white; in Canada sometimes black; and taller than a
large greyhound. The wolf inhabits the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, and
America. In 1281 these animals infested several of the english counties; but after that
period, our records make no mention of them. The last wolf known in Scotland was
killed in 1680, and in Ireland one was killed in 1710, The wolves of North America
are the smallest; and when reclaimed, are the dogs of the natives; those of Senegal the
largest and fiercest. Those of the Cape are grey striped black; others are black. They
are cruel, but cowardly animals; they fly from man, except when impelled by hunger;
in which case, they prowl by night in great droves through villages, and destroy any
persons they meet; and having once got the taste of human blood, give it the prefer-
In hard weather wolves assemble in large troops, and join in dreadful howlings.
They have a fine scent, and hunt by the nose: between them and the dogs a mutual
enmity subsists; they go with young ten weeks and bring from five to nine at a birth.
(RAY and PENNANT.)
ence.
"And withered murther, (alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, whose
howl's his watch) thus with his stealthy pace, with Tarquin's ravishing strides, tow'rds
his design moves like a ghost.”—SHAKESPEARN: Magbeth,
232
as that which followed, between Friday and the bear, which gave us all, though
at first we were surprised and afraid for him, the greatest diversion imaginable.

1
As the bear is a heavy clumsy creature, and does not gallop as the wolf does,
who is swift and light, so he has two particular qualities, which generally are the
rule of his actions: first, as to men, which are not his proper prey, he does not
usually attempt them, except they first attack him, unless he be excessive hungry,
(which it is probable might now be the case, the ground being covered with snow),
if you do not meddle with him, he will not meddle with you; but then you must
take care to be very civil to him, and give him the road, for he is a very nice
gentleman: he will not go a step out of his way for a prince; nay, if you are
really afraid, your best way is to look another way, and keep going on; for
sometimes if you stop, and stand still, and look steadfastly at him, he takes
for an affront; but if you throw or toss any thing at him, and it hits him, though
it were but a bit of stick as big as your finger, he thinks himself abused, and sets
all other business aside to pursue his revenge, and will have satisfaction in point
of honour;-this is his first quality: the next is, if he be once affronted, he will
never leave you, night nor day, till he has his revenge, but follows at a good
*
BEAR:-(ursus) in the Linnæan system of zoology, makes a distinct genus of
animals of the fere order; the characters of which are, that the fore-teeth, above and
below, are six in number, the upper ones alternately hollow within; the cutting teeth
are single and conical; the grinders five or six; the tongue smooth, the nose prominent,
and the penis large. The common bear has a short tail; and differs, in many respects,
from all the other beasts of prey. Its head is much larger than theirs; its skin on the
back is extremely hard, tough, and strong, under the Felly it is more tender: its hairs
are longer, softer, and less rigid than in any other wild beast of prey, and resemble
wool in some degree: its skull is much thinner than that of the lion; but its brain more
than twice as much in quantity: its eyes are very small, and, what is very remarkable,
have a nictating membrane to cover them on occasion. Its feet have all five toes, as
well the hinder as the fore ones: and what is remarkable is, that the large toe, which
answers to the thumb with us, is in the place of the little finger. It is a very common
creature in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and many other places. The bear was for-
merly an inhabitant of Britain, and was transported from thence to Rome. Bear-
baiting was a favourite pastime with our ancestors. The bear is observed to bear some
analogy to man as having hair on both eye-lids, which no other brute has. His struc-
ture and anatomy are described by the French academist Du HAMEL (Hist. Reg. Acad.
Se. i.) Some distinguish two kinds of bears, terrestrial and marine; the former of which
keep to the mountains, whereas the latter come out on the ice as far as the middle of the
North Sea. Some of this kind are found in Nova-Zemlia, of an enormous size. Each
male among the sea-bears has a bevy, containing from fifteen to fifty females, which le
possesses to himself exclusively.
4
233
round rate, till he overtakes you. My man Friday had delivered our guide, and
when we came up to him, he was helping him off from his horse, for the man
was both hurt and frightened, when, on a sudden, we espied the bear come out
of the wood, and a vast monstrous one it was, the biggest by far that ever I saw.
We were all a little surprised when we saw himn; but when Friday saw him, it
was easy to see joy and courage in the fellow's countenance: "O! O! O!" says
Friday, three times, pointing to him; "O master! you give me te leave, me
shakee te hand with him; me makce you good laugh." I was surprised to see
the fellow so well pleased: "You fool," says I, "he will eat you up."-" Eates
me up! eatee me up!" says Friday, twice over again; me eatee him up; me
makee you good laugh; you all stay here, me show you good laugh." So down
he sits, and gets off his boots in a moment, and puts on a pair of pumps (as we
call the flat shoes they wear, and which he had in his pocket), gives my other
servant his horse, and with his gun away he flew, swift like the wind.
The bear was walking softly on, and offered to meddle with nobody, till Friday
coming pretty near, calls to him, as if the bear could understand him, "Hark ye,
hark ye," says Friday, "me speakee with you." We followed at a distance; for
now being come down on the Gascogne side of the mountains, we were entered a
vast great forest, where the country was plain and pretty open, although it had
many trees in it scattered here and there. Friday, who had, as we say, the heels
of the bear, came up with him quickly, takes up a great stone, throws it at him,
and hit him just on the head: it did him no more harm than if he had thrown
it against a wall; but it answered Friday's end, for the rogue was so void of fear
that he did it purely to make the bear follow him, and show us some laugh, as
he called it. As soon as the bear felt the blow, and saw him, he turns about,
and comes after him, taking devilish long strides, and shuffling on at a strange
rate, sc as would have put a horse to a middling gallop: away runs Friday, and
takes his course as if he run towards us for help; so we all resolved 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 especially I was angry that he had turned the bear upon us,
and then run away; and I called out, "You dog, is this your making us laugh?
Come away, and take your horse, that we may shoot the creature. He heard
me, and cried out, "No shootee no shootee, stand still, and you get much
laugh:" and as the nimble creature ran two feet for the bear's one, he turned
on a sudden, on one side of us, and seeing a great oak tree fit for his
he beckoned to us to follow; and doubling his pace, he gets nimbly up the tree,
purpose,
laying his gun down upon the ground, at about five or six yards from the bottom
of the tree. The bear soon came to the tree, and we followed at a distance:
the first thing he did, he stopped at the gun, smelt to it, but let it lie, and up
be scrambles into the tree, climbing like a cat, although so monstrous heavy. I
was amazed at the folly, as I thought it, of my man, and could not for my life
see any thing to laugh at yet, until 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 end of a
large branch, and the bear got about half-way to him. As soon as the bear got
out to that part where the limb of the tree was weaker,-"Ha!" says he to us,
(( now you see me teachee bearee dance:" so he falls a jumping and shaking
the bough, at which the bear began to totter, but stood still, and began to look
behind him, to see how he should get back; then, indeed, we did laugh heartily.
But Friday had not done with him by a great deal; when seeing him stand still,
he calls out to him again, as if he had supposed the bear could speak english,
"what you come no farther? pray you come farther: "so he left jumping and
shaking the tree; and the bear, just as as if he understood what he said, did
come a little farther; then he fell a jumping again, and the bear stopped again.
We thought now was a good time to knock him in the head, and called to Friday
to stand stil, and we would shoot the bear: but he cried out earnestly “O pray!
re
234
.
O pray! no shootee me shoot by and then;" he would have said by and by.
However, to shorten the story, Friday danced so much, and the bear stood so
ticklish, that we had laughing enough, but still could not imagine what the fellow
would do: for first we thought he depended upon shaking 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 fast with his great broad claws and feet, so that
we could not imagine what would be the end of it, and what the jest would be
at last. But Friday put us out of doubt quickly: for seeing the bear cling fast
to the bough, and that he would not be persuaded to come any farther, “Well,
well," says Friday, "you no come farther, me go; you no come to me, me come
to you:
"and upon this, he goes out to the smaller end of the bough, where it
would bend with his weight, and gently lets himself down by it, sliding down
the bough, till he came near enough to jump down on his feet, and away he runs
to his gun, takes it up, and stands still. "Well" said I to him, "Friday, what
will you do now? Why dont you shoot him?"-"No shootee, says Friday, "no
yet; me shoot now, me no kill; me stay, give you one more laugh:" and, indeed,
so he did, as you will see presently; for when the bear saw his enemy gone, he
comes back from the bough where he stood, but did it mighty cautiously, looking
behind him every step, and coming backward till he got into the body of the
tree; then with the same hinder-end foremost, he came down the tree, grasping
it with his claws, and moving one foot at a time, very leisurely. At this juncture,
and just before he could set his hind foot on the ground, Friday stepped up
close to him, clapped the muzzle of his piece into his ear, and shot him dead.
Then the rogue turned about, to see if we did not laugh; and when he saw wê
"So we kill
were pleased, by our looks, he falls a laughing himself very loud.
bearee in my country," says Friday. "So you kill them?"
kill them?" says I: "why, you
have no guns."-"No" says he, "no gun, but shoot great much long arrow.'
This was a good diversion to us; but we were still in a wild place, and our
guide very much hurt, and what to do we hardly knew: the bowling of wolves
ran much in my head; and, indeed, except the noise I once heard on the shore
of Africa, of which I have said something already, I never heard any thing that
filled me with so much horror.
These things, and the approach of night, called us off, or else, as Friday would
have had us, we should certainly have taken off the skin of this monstrous creature,
which was worth saving; but we had near three leagues to go, and our guide
hastened us; so we left him, and went forward on our journey. The ground
was still covered with snow, though not so deep and dangerous as on the moun.
tains; and the ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards, were come down
into the forest and plain country, pressed by hunger, to seek for food, and had
done a great deal of mischief in the villages, where they surprised the country
people, killed a great many of their sheep and horses, and some people too.
We had one dangerous place to pass, of which our guide told us, if there were
more wolves in the country we should find them there; and this was a small
plain, surrounded with woods on every side, and a long narrow defilé, or lane,
which we were to pass to get through the wood, and then we should come to the
village where we were to lodge. It was within half an hour of sun-set when we
entered the first wood, and a little after sun-set 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 saw five great wolves cross
the road, full speed, one after another, as if they had been in chace of some
prey, and had it in view; they took no notice of us, and were gone out of sight
in a few moments. Upon this our guide, who, by the way, was but a faint-
hearted fellow, bid us keep in a ready posture, for he believed there were
more wolves a-coming. We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us; but
we saw no more wolves until we came through that wood, which was near half
a league, and entered the plain. As soon as we came into the plain, we had
occasion enough to look about us: the first object we met with was a dead
235
horse, that is to say, a poor horse which the wolves had killed, and at least a
dozen of them at work, we could not say eating of him, but picking of his bones
rather; for they had eaten up all the flesh before. We did not think fit to dis-
turb them at their feast; neither did they take much notice of us. Friday
would have let fly at them, but I would not suffer him by any means; for I
found we were like to have more business upon our hands than we were aware
of. We were not gone half over the plain, when we began to hear the wolves
howl in the wood on our left in a frightful manner, and presently after we saw
about a hundred 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 scarce
knew in what manner to receive them, but found, to draw ourselves in a close
line was the only way; so we formed in a moment: but that we might not
have too much interval, I ordered that only every other man should fire, and
that the others who had not fired should stand ready to give them a second
volley immediately, if they continued to advance upon us; and then that those
who had fired at first should not pretend to load their fusils again, but stand ready
every one with a pistol, for we were all armed with a fusil and a pair of pistols
each man; so we were, by this method, able to fire six vollies, half of us at a
time: however, at present we had no necessity; for upon firing the first volley,
the enemy made a full stop, being terrified as well with the noise as with the
fire; four of them being shot in the head, dropped; several others were wound-
ed, and went bleeding off, as we could see by the snow. I found they stopped,
but did not immediately retreat; whereupon, remembering that I had been
told that the fiercest creatures were terrified at the voice of a man, I caused all
the company to hollow as loud as we could; and I found the notion not altoge-
ther mistaken; for upon our shout, they began to retire, and turn about. I
then ordered a second volley to be fired in their rear, which put them to the
gallop, and away they went to the woods. This gave us leisure to charge our
pieces again; and that we might lose no time, we kept going: but we had but
little more than loaded our fusils, and put ourselves in readiness, when we heard
a terrible noise in the same wood, on our left, only that it was farther onward,
the same way we were to go. The night was coming on, and the light began to
be dusky, which made it worse on our side; but the noise increasing, we could
easily perceive that it was the bowling and yelling of those hellish creatures;
and on a sudden, we perceived two or three troops of wolves, one on our left,
one behind us, and one in our front, so that we seemed to be surrounded with
them however, as they did not fall upon us, we kept our way forward, as fast
as we could make our horses go, which, the way being very rough, was only a
good hard trot. In this manner we came in view of the entrance of a wood,
through which we were to pass, at the farther side of the plain; but we were
greatly surprised, when coming nearer the lane or pass, we saw a confused num-
ber of wolves standing just at the entrance. On a sudden, at another opening of
the wood, we heard the noise of a gun, and looking that way, out rushed a horse,
with a saddle and a bridle on him, flying like the wind, and sixteen or seventeen
wolves after him, full speed; indeed, the horse had the heels of them, but as we
supposed that he could not hold it at that rate, we doubted not but they would
get up with him at last; no question but they did.
:
But here we had a most horrible sight; for riding up to the entrance where
the horse came out, we found the carcases of another horse and of two men,
devoured by the ravenous creatures; and one of the men was no doubt the same
whom we heard fire the gun, for there lay a gun just by him fired off; but as to
the man, his head and the upper part of his body was eaten up. This filled us
with horror, and we knew not what course to take; but the creatures resolved
us soon, 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
some large timber-trees, which had been cut down the summer before, and I
236
suppose lay there for carriage. I drew my little troop in among those trees,
and placing ourselves in a line behind one long tree, I advised them all to alight,
and keeping that tree before us for a breast-work, to stand in a triangle, or
three fronts, inclosing our horses in the centre. We did so, 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 with a growling kind of noise, and mounted the piece
of timber, which, as I said, was our breast-work, as if they were only rushing
upon their prey; and this fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occasioned by
their seeing our horses behind us. I ordered our men to fire as before, every
other man; and they took their aim so sure, that they killed several of the wolves
at the first volley; but there was a necessity to keep a continual firing, for they
came on like devils, those hehind pushing on those before.
When we had fired a second volley of our fusils, we thought they stopped a
little, and I hoped they would have gone off; but it was but a moment, for
others came forward again; so we fired two vollies of our pistols; and I believe
in these four firings we had killed seventeen or eighteen of them, and lamed
twice as many, yet they came on again. I was loath to spend our last shot too
hastily; so I called my servant, not my man Friday, for he was better employed,
for, with the greatest dexterity imaginable, he had charged my fusil and his own
while we were engaged; but, as I said, 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 so; and had but just time to get away, when the
wolves came up to it, and some were got upon it, when I, snapping an uncharged
pistol close to the powder, set it on fire: those that were upon the timber were
scorched with it; and six or seven of them fell, or rather jumped in among us,
with the force and fright of the fire; we dispatched these in an instant, and the
rest were so frightened with the light, which the night, for it was now very near
dark, made more terrible, that they drew back a little; upon which I ordered
our last pistols to be fired off in one volley, and after that we gave a shout: upon
this the wolves turned tail, and we sallied immediately upon near twenty fame
ones, that we found struggling on the ground, and fell a cutting them with our
swords, which answered our expectation; for the crying and howling they made
was better understood by their fellows; so that they all fed and left us. We
had, first and last, killed about threescore of them; and had it been day-light,
we had killed many more. The field of battle being thus cleared, we made for-
ward again, for we had still near a league to go. We heard the ravenous crea.
tures howl and yell in the woods as we went, several times, and sometimes we
fancied we saw some of them, but the snow dazzling our eyes, we were not cer-
tain. 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 seems, the night
before, the wolves and some bears had broke into the village, and put them in
such terror, that they were obliged to keep guard night and day, but especially
in the night, to preserve their cattle, and, indeed, their people.
The next morning our guide was so ill, and his leg swelled so much with the
rankling of his two wounds, that he could go no farther; so we were obliged to
take a new guide here, and go to Thoulouse,* where we found a warm climate, a
* TOULOUZE :-formerly the chief city of Languedoc now of the department of
Upper-Garonne: Its geographical site is in latitude 43° 35′ 46″ N. longitude 53′ 39″ W.
from Paris; for whose position relative to Greenwich, the reader can consult the
note following this next but one.
LANGUEDOC:-possesses a patois or dialect of its own (the antient language of the
Troubadours) composed of an admixture of Celtic, Latin, Gothic, Arabic, and French
words: but as the Romans were the most cultivated as well as the more lasting rulers
of this province, the Languedoc tongue resembles the latin most in its construction ;
and contains nearly three-fifths of latin expressions; some vestiges are however remaining
of Teutonic; as flagel (dresch-flegel, flail) hosa (hosen breeches) gansa, (gaus goose)
Jato, (Katte lath) loto, (sparre spar) &e. But a great part of the botanical, pharma-
237
fruitful pleasant country, and no snow, no wolves, or any thing like them: but
when we told our story at Thoulouse, they told us it was nothing but what was
ordinary in the great forest at the foot of the mountains, especially when the
snow lay on the ground; but they inquired much what kind of a guide we had
got, who would venture to bring us that way in such a severe season; and told
us it was surprising we were not all devoured. When we told them how we
placed ourselves, and the horses in the middle, they blamed us exceedingly, and
told us it was fifty to one but we had been all destroyed; for it was the sight of
the horses which made the wolves so furious, seeing their prey; and that, at other
times, they are really afraid of a gun; but being excessive hungry, and raging on
that account, the eagerness to come at the horses had made them senseless of
danger; and that if we had not, by the continued fire, and at last by the stratagem
of the train of powder, mastered them, it had been great odds but that we had
been torn to pieces: whereas, had we been content to have sat still on horseback,
and fired as horsemen, they would not have taken the horses so much for their
own, when men were on their backs, as otherwise; and withal they told us, that
at last, if we had stood altogether, and left our horses, they would have been so
eager to have devoured them, that we might have come off safe, especially
having our fire-arms in our hands, and being so many in number. For my part,
I was never so sensible of danger in my life; for seeing above three hundred
devils come roaring and open-mouthed to devour us, and having nothing to
shelter us, or to retreat to, I gave myself over for lost; and, as it was, I believe
I shall never care to cross those mountains again; I think I would much rather
go a thousand leagues by sea, though I were sure to meet with a storm
once a-week.
I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in my passage through France,
nothing but what other travellers have given an account of, with much
more advantage than I can. I travelled from Thoulouse to Paris* and
without any considerable stay came to Calais,† after having a very severe cold
ceutical and anatomical expressions is borrowed from the Arabs; and even the
usual form of asseveration "vermora" is apparently derived from the Arabic.
* PARIS:-(antiently Lutetia) The metropolis of France; the chief city of the pro-
vince formerly denominated the Isle-of-France: but which since the revolution has
been moulded into the department of the Seine. The following are the geographical
sites of the six astronomical observatories of Paris; shewing their difference of
meridians in time relative to the principal one; which is in longitude 2° 20′ 15″ E.
from Greenwich:-1. Observatory, south front: latitude 48° 50′ 14″ N. difference of
meridian Om. Os. 2. College of France, place Cambrai: 48° 50′ 58″ N. Om. 2.28. E.
3. College-Mazarin: 48° 51' 29" N. Om. 0.1s. E. 4. MESSIER; rue des Mathurins;
48° 51' 4" N. Om. 1.8s. E. 5. DELAMBRE; rue de Paradis: 48° 51′ 38″ N. Om. 5s. E.
6. LALANDE; école Militaire 48° 51′ 6″ N. Om. 7.6s. W, This present brief scientific
notice of this celebrated city is illustrated by a plan of Paris.
+ CALAIS-A seaport town in the heretofore province of Picardie, now called the
department of the Pas de Calais. Its geographical site is in latitude 50° 57′ 32″ N.
longitude 28' 59" W. from Paris. The cape of Calais, called by the Dutch Calais-cliff, is a
very white cliff, on that account named by the French Blanc-nez. From the word nez, a
nose, has been formed "ness" and" naze" in English; as Orford-ness, Sheer-ness, Denge-
ness, the Naze, &c. But by a strange corruption, Blanc-nez, of which the simple and de-
scriptive english equivalent is "White-ness," is usually named by the lower class of ma-
riners upon the opposite coast of Kent "Black-ness." This is pretty high land, which
appears 6 or 7 leagues off it is near 2 leagues W. S. W. from Calais, and with the
North-foreland at the southern entrance of the Downs, forms the very throat of the
english Channel, called the strait of Dover by us, but by the French le pus de Calais.
The width of this channel is not much above 18 sea miles; but from the South-fore-
land to Calais it is about 22, and from Dover to Calais near 23. The run from
Dover to Calais is shorter than that from Calais to Dover, because in the first case the
tide is more favourable. The depths of the channel in this part are from 18 and 20
to 30 fathoms. Along the french coast, at a league's distance from land, you find 18
or 19 fathoms water; in the middle 28 or 30; but towards the english coast it grows
238
•
•
season to travel in, and landed safe at Dover, the fourteenth of January
1689.
I was now come to the centre of my travels, and had in a little time all my
new-discovered estate safe about me; the bills of exchange which I brought with
hallower. The tides here set N. E. b. E. and S. W b. W. the flood sets towards N. E.
and E. N. E. and the ebb S. W. and W. S. W. the bottom is fine sand. Within pistol-
shot of Blanc-nez are rocks under water, carefully to be avoided. From Blanc-nez to
Gris-nez the course lies S. W. b. W. near 2 leagues, the land being pretty hilly. A
little S. of Gris-nez stands a mill with some houses, and all that country down to
the sea shore appears black, white, and grey, with several rocks along the coast.
N. N. W. a large mile from Blanc-nez lies the inside end of les Quenois bank; it thence
extends N. W. b. W. mile, and has only 2 fathoms on its sholest part. From Calais
to Gravelines is E. b. N. 3 leagues; between them are seen the two flat steeples of
Hooghenpryse and Dasen; and the flat church of Waldam, with a little spire in the
middle of it. To sail into Calais, keep the mill at the E. end of the town over the
eastern jetty-head; and so run in close by it, keeping the citadel to W. you must avoid
the little reef that runs from the head of the western jetty. When between the jetties,
steer westward for Paradis, where you will lie dry at low water. Although this port
dries at low water, yet it is not safe to enter until almost high water when there is
about 3 fathoms, on account of the anchors of ships. This port is rather unsafe with
a northerly wind. From Calais the course and distance to Dover is W. N. W. 23 miles.
To Dun-nose on the Isle of Wight about 40 leagues. Calais was conquered by England
in the year 1347, under the reign of King EDWARD III, and lost in 1557, under
that of Queen MARY. It is in time of peace conjointly with Boulogne, the prin-
cipal ferry between England and France: and its relative situation for that purpose
will be better judged of by inspection of the accompanying chart of the strait of
Dover, than from verbal description.
*DOVER (antiently Dubris, Dorna, Sax. Dufyrrha, Cambro-british, a steep place, so
called from the steep rocks not far from thence. Juridically written Dovor.) A sea-port
and market town in Kent, nearly opposite to Calais, in France, on the narrowest part of
the channel which separates the island of Britain from the continent. It is 72 miles distant
from London by the post-road; and (according to the grand-trigonometrical survey pub-
lished in the Philosophical Transactions) the geographical site of the N. turret of the keep
in Dover castle is in latitude 51° 7' 47" N. longitude 1° 19' 7" E. from Greenwich; the
difference in time being 5m. 16.5s. High water at full and change of (11h. 15m. It is
one of those havens which are known by the name of the "Cinq-ports," whose repre-
sentatives in parliament are styled " barons.” It is situated in a valley through which
the little river Dour disembogues itself into the sea, and around which except
towards the sea, it is environed by high chalk hills, which terminate on the coast in
abrupt cliffs, of very picturesque appearance, and of such celebrity as to form the
subject of one of SHAKESPEARE's happiest scenic descriptions:
King Lear: act i, scene 6. The country near Dover.
"GLOSTER.—When shall we come to the top of that same hill ?
EDGAR. You do climb up it now: look, how we labor.
GLO.-Me-thinks, the ground is even.
ED.-Horrible steep do you hear the sea?
GLO.-No, truly.
;
ED.-Why, then your other senses grow imperfect by your eye's anguish.
GLO. So may it be, indeed; me-thinks, thy voice is altered, and thou speakest in
better phrase, and matter, than thou didst.
ED. You are much deceived; in nothing am I changed, but in my garments.
Gro.-Me-thinks, you are better spoken.
ED.-Come on, Sir; here is the place: stand still. How fearful and dizzy 'tis, to
cast one's eyes so low! The crows and choughs, that wing the mid-way air, shew
scarce so gross as beetles: half-way down hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful
trade! Me-thinks he seems no bigger than his head. The fishermen that walk upon
the beach, appear like mice; and you 'tall anchoring bark, diminished to her cock;
her cock, a buoy almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge, that on the un-
numbered idle pebbles chafes, cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more; lest my
brain turn, and the deficient sight topple down head-long."
It possesses a good tide harbour, with natural advantages capable of great improve
ment; if there had been employed here but a tithe of the money lavished upor
239
me having been currently paid. My principal guide and privy-counsellor was
my good antient widow; who, in gratitude for the money I had sent her, thought
Ramsgate, (of artificial creation ;) or of that expended, perhaps with more skill than
judgement, in fortifying the castle of Dover; which from its peculiar strength and
elevated situation, has long been considered impregnable: Government has, however,
been employed in constructing subterraneous works, consisting of three tiers of bat
teries, casemates, &c. with barracks for 10,000 men. The height opposite the barracks
is also regularly fortified by flanking redoubts, bastions, &c. There is also a citadel
with ditch and draw-bridge, and barracks for 5,000 men; a shaft of a most beautiful
and commodious description (having four different stair-cases round an open pit which
both lights and ventilates) communicates with the town, the height of which is upwards
of 300 feet. By this shaft it is calculated that 20,000 men might pass from the height
to the town, or vice versú in half an hour. There are also four other batteries called
Guildford's Townshend's Amherst's and Archcliff. From Dover to Folkstone no works
of defence are necessary, as the cliff is generally inaccessible. From Folkstone to
Denge-ness, forming an open bay of 20 miles in breadth, a number of mortella towers
are constructed, which are of a circular form, bomb-proof, and have one gun of very
large calibre on the top; they are so distributed, that no part of the coast which is
assailable is without the range of their shot; 30 men in each might defend themselves
as long as their provision lasted. The old castle of Sandgate has also been greatly
enlarged, with an increased number of guns. A redoubt, consisting of bomb-proof
towers and formidable out-works, has also been erected at Brockman's Barn. At
Shorn-cliff there is a battery, called by that name; and at Hythe two others called
Sutherland, and Moncrief, which, with three others at Denge-ness, complete the line of
coast. In addition to the above, a military canal has been cut from Shornecliffe to
near Rye. Much difference of opinion has arisen as to the utility of this canal, as a
defensive military work; but thus much is certain that it opens an easy communication
with a part of the country called the Weald (or "wild") of Kent, which, from the bad-
ness of its roads, and consequent difficulty of getting its produce (consisting of timber)
to market, has been cut off from intercourse with the rest of the country, and which
this canal will effectually obviate. It also begins to be of essential service for the con-
veyance of troops and baggage, many regiments having passed from Rye to Hythe, a
distance of twenty-five miles, without fatigue; and immediately after landing, marched a
distance of 15 miles farther by land, without halting, thereby performing a distance of
40 miles in one day, saving a great expense to Government, and relieving the inn-
keepers, who are very thinly scattered in that neighbourhood, from an oppressive
burthen. The works above described are performed in a substantial and skilful man-
ner; and display great science in the engineer department. It is also matter of
pleasing reflection, that many of these defensive preparations unite great commercial
advantages with domestic improvements.
A well has been lately discovered in the keep of Dover-Castle, it is situated in the
thickness of the N. E, wall near the top of the building, and exhibits a fine specimen
of the masonry of our ancestors, being steaned to the bottom with the greatest regula-
tity and compactness, it is about five feet in diameter, and is upwards of 400 feet deep.
This, according to tradition, is the identical well, that HAROLD promised to deliver
with the castle of Dover, into the hands of WILLIAM the conquerer, the breach of
which promise, cost the former his life and kingdom. Its existence in the abovementi-
oned tower had been long known but it had been so carefully arched over, that its
precise situation had till lately eluded the most diligent investigation. Among other
vestiges of antient times, there stands at the entrance into Dover from London, an
antiquated edifice which still bears the name of Maison-dieu, (God's house) the pro-
perty of which is vested in the crown, and has of late years been converted to the
service of the Navy-victualling office. A part of this estate was last year (1813)
advertised by the Commissioners of H.M.'s woods, forests, and land revenues to be
let by auction upon lease for 31 years commencing from the 10th of October 1813.
Dover lies about W. S. W. from the South-Foreland at the distance of a league. To
stand into this harbour during a gale of wind, great care and nice steerage are necessary;
as there is a counter-current, which sets right athwart the harbour's mouth, from the
last quarter flood until the end of the first quarter ebb. This counter-current is
scarcely more than a cable-length broad. At spring-tides there is near 20 feet depth
of water in the harbour; and usually 10 feet on the bar at half-flood, at which time
240
no pains too much, or care too great, to employ for me; and I trusted her so
entirely with every thing, that I was perfectly easy as to the security of my
effects and, indeed I was very happy from the beginning, and now to the end,
in the unspotted integrity of this good gentlewoman.
I now resolved to dispose of my plantation in Brazil, if I could find means.
For this purpose, I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon; who having offered it to
the two merchants, the survivors of my trustees, who lived in Brazil, they ac-
cepted the offer, and remitted 33000 pieces of eight to a correspondent of their's
at Lisbon, to pay for it. Having signed the instrument of sale, and sent it to my
friend, he remitted me bills of exchange for 32800 pieces of eight for the estate,
reserving the payment of a hundred moidors a-year to himself during his life,
and fifty moidors afterwards to his son for life, which I had promised them.
Though I had sold my estate in Brazil, yet I could not keep the country out
of my head; nor could I resist the strong inclination I had to see my island.
My true friend, the widow, earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so far prevailed
with me, that for several 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 eldest having something of his own, I bred up as a gentleman, and gave him
a settlement of some addition to his estate, after my decease. The other I put
out to a captain of a ship; and after five years, finding him a sensible, bold,
enterprising young fellow, I put him into a good ship, and sent him to sea. In
the mean time, I in part settled myself here; for, first of all, I married, and that
not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction.
That homely proverb used on so many occasions in England, viz. "What is
bred in the bone, will not go out of the flesh," was never more verified than in
the story of my life. Any one would think, that after thirty-five years affliction,
and a variety of unhappy circumstances, which few men, if any, ever went
through before, and after near six years of peace and enjoyment in the fulness
of all things, grown old, and when, if ever, it might be allowed to have had
experience of every state of middle life, and to know which was most adapted to
make a man completely happy; I say after all this, any one would have thought
that the native propensity to rambling, which I gave an account of in my first
setting out in the world to have been so predominant in my thoughts, should be
worn out, the volatile part be fully evacuated, or at least condensed, and I might,
at sixty-one years of age, have been a little inclined to stay at home, and have
done venturing life and fortune any more. Nay, farther, the common motive of
foreign adventures was taken away in me; for I had no fortune to make; I had
nothing to seek: for I had already sufficient for me, and for those I had to leave it
to; and that which I had was visibly encreasing: for having no great family, I could
not spend the income of what I had unless I would set up for an expensive way
of living, such as a great household, servants, equipage, gaiety, and the like, which
were things I had no notion of, or inclination to; so that I had nothing indeed to
do but to sit still and fully enjoy what I had got, and see it increase daily upon
there is hoisted on the S. pier-head, a red flag by day, or a light by night. The tides
on this coast run what pilots term, tide and half-tide;" that is, the flood continues to set
in the direction of N. E. b. N. for three hours after the water has began to fall by the
shore, and vice-versa the ebb. There is an historical and descriptive account of this
antient and renowned town and port to be found in the Naval Chronicle: vol. vi,
page 493: also a letter concerning the imports at Dover, Rye, and Ramsgate, in the
same publication; xxiv, 41. Perhaps the editor ought to apologise for having herein
somewhat exceeded the reasonable bounds of annotation, concerning a subject which
cannot possess equal interest for all his readers: but besides that Dover is a spot to
which, andis place of settlement, and the cradle of his family for many generations, com-
bined together with other personal ties, he cannot but feel closely attached: a very
familiar acquaintance with this portion of the coast from childhood, is productive of
such a redundancy of local information, as to render a choice what is sometimes
expressed by the phrase," embarrassment of riches."
241
I
my hands. Yet all these things had no effect upon me, or at least not enough to
resist the strong inclination I had to go abroad again, which hung about me like
a chronical distemper. In particular, the desire of seeing my new plantation in
the island, and the colony I left there, run in my head continually. I dreamed
of it all night, and my imagination run upon it all day; it was uppermost in all
my thoughts; and my fancy worked so steadily and strongly upon it, that I talked
of it in my sleep; in short, nothing could remove it out of my mind; it even
broke so violently into all my discourses, that it made my conversation tiresome,
for I could talk of nothing else: all my discourse run into it, even to imper-
tinence; and
and I saw it myself.
In this kind of temper I lived some years; I had no enjoyment of my life, no
pleasant hours, no agreeable diversion, but what had something or other of this
in it; so that my wife, who saw my mind wholly bent upon it, told me very
seriously one night, that she believed there was some secret powerful impulse
upon me, which had determined me to go thither again; and that she found
nothing hindered my going, but my being engaged to a wife and children. She
told me, that it was true she could not think of parting with me; but as she was
assured, that if she was dead it would be the first thing I would do; so, as it
seemed to her that the thing was determined above, she would not be the only
obstruction; for, if I thought fit, and resolved to go-Here she found me very
intent upon her words, and that I looked very earnestly at her, so that it a little
disordered her, and she stopped. I asked her, why she did not go on, and say
out what she was going to say? But I perceived that her heart was too full, and
some tears stood in her eyes. "Speak out, my dear!" said I; are you willing
I should go?" "No," says she, very affectionately, "I am far from willing; but
if you are resolved to go, rather than I would be the only hindrance, I will go
with you for though I think it a most preposterous thing for one of your years,
and in your condition, yet, if it must be," said she, again weeping, "I won't leave
you; for, if it be of Heaven, you must do it; there is no resisting it and if
Heaven make it your duty to go, he will also make it mine to go with you, or
otherwise dispose of me, that I may not obstruct it."
This affectionate behaviour of my wife's brought me a little out of the vapours,
and I began to consider what I was doing: I corrected my wandering fancy, and
began to argue with myself sedately, what business I had, after threescore years,
and after such a life of tedious sufferings and disasters, and closed in so happy
and easy a manner; I say what business had I to rush into new hazards, and put
myself upon adventures fit only for youth and poverty to run into? I considered
my new engagement; that I had a wife, one child born, and my wife then again
in an increasing way; that I had all the world could give me, and had no need
to seek hazards for gain; that I was declining in years, and ought to think rather
of leaving what I had gained, than of seeking to increase it; that as to what my
wife had said of its being an impulse from Heaven, and that it should be my duty
to go, I had no notion of that: so, after many of these cogitations, I struggled
with the power of my imagination, and reasoned myself out of it, as I believe
people may always do in like cases, if they will: in a word, I conquered it. To
this purpose I bought a little farm in the county of Bedford, with a little con-
venient house upon it; and which I found, many ways suited to my inclination,
and particularly, being in an inland country, I was removed from conversing
among sailors, and things relating to the remote parts of the world.
I went down to my farm, settled my family, bought me implements and stock,
and, setting seriously to work, became, in one half-year, a mere country gentle-
man: my thoughts were entirely taken up in managing my servants, cultivating
the ground, inclosing, planting, &c.; and I lived, as I thought, the most agree-
able life that nature was capable of directing, or that a man always bred to
misfortunes was capable of retreating to.
I farined upon my own land, I had no rent to pay, was limited by no articles;
I could pull up or cut down as I pleased: what I planted was for myself, ane
Robinson Crusor.
Nav. Chron. Edition.]
R
242
what I improved was for my family; and having thus left off the thoughts of
wandering, I had not the least discomfort in any part of life as to this world.
Now I thought indeed that I enjoyed the middle state of life which my father
so earnestly recommended to me, and lived something like what is described by
the
poet, upon the subject of a country life-
"Free from vices, free from care,
Age has no pain, and youth no snare.”
But, in the middle of all this felicity, one blow from unseen Providence
unhinged me at once; and not only made a breach upon me inevitable and
incurable, but drove me, by its consequences, into a deep relapse of the wan-
dering disposition, which, as I may say, being born in my very blood soon
recovered its hold of me, and, like the returns of a violent distemper, came ou
with an irresistible force upon me, so that nothing could make any more
impression upon me. This blow was the loss of my wife. It is not my business
here to write an elegy, preach a funeral sermon on her particular virtues; or
make my court to the sex by the flattery of an individual. She was, in a few
words, the stay of all my affairs, the centre of all my enterprises, the engine
that, by her prudence, reduced me to that happy compass I was in, from the
most extravagant and ruinous project that fluttered in my head, as above, and
did more to guide my rambling genius than a mother's tears, a father's instruc-
tions, a friend's counsel, or all my own reasoning powers could do. I was
happy in listening to her fears, and in being moved by her entreaties; and to
the last degree desolate and dislocated in the world by the loss of her.
When she was gone, the world looked awkwardly round me; I was as much
a stranger in it, in my thoughts, as I was in Brazil, when I first went on shore
there; and as much alone, except as to the assistance of servants, as I was in
my island. I knew neither what to think nor what to do. I saw the world busy
round me, one part labouring for bread, another part squandering in vile excesses
or empty pleasures,equally miserable, because the end they proposed still fled from
them; for the men of pleasure were every day surfeited of their vice, and heaped
up work for sorrow and repentance; and the men of labour spent their strength
in daily strugglings for bread to maintain the vital strength they laboured with:
so living in a daily circulation of sorrow, living but to work, and working but to
live, as if daily bread were the only end of wearisome life, and a wearisome life
the only occasion of daily bread. This put me in mind of the life I lived in my
kingdom, the island; where I suffered no more corn to grow, because I did not
want it; and bred no more goats, because I had no more use for them; where
the money lay in the drawer till it grew mouldy, and had scarce the favour to be
looked upon in twenty years. All these things, had I improved them as I ought
to have done, and as reason and religion had dictated to me, would have taught
me to search farther than human enjoyments for a full felicity; and that there
was something which certainly was the reason and end of life, superior to all
these things, and which was either to be possessed, or at least hoped for, on this
side the grave. But my sage counsellor was gone; I was like a ship without a
pilot, that could only run afore the wind: my thoughts run all away again into
the old affair; my head was quite turned with the whimsies of foreign adven-
tures; and all the pleasant, innocent amusements of my farm, my garden, my
cattle, and my family, which before' entirely possessed me, were nothing to me,
had no relish, and were like music to one that has no ear, or food to one that
has no taste: in a word I resolved to leave off house-keeping, let my farm, and
return to London; and in a few months after, I did so. When I came to Lon-
don, I was still as uneasy as I was before; I had no relish for the place, no
employment in it, nothing to do but to saunter about like an idle person, of
whom it may be said he is perfectly useless in the creation, and it is not one far-
thing's matter to the rest of his kind whether he be dead or alive. This also was
the thing which, of all circumstances of life, was the most my aversion, who had
been all my days used to an active life; and I would often say to myself, “A.
•
243
state of idleness is the very dregs of life:" and indeed I thought I was much
more suitably employed when I was twenty-six days making me a deal-board.
It was now the beginning of the year 1693, when my nephew, whom, as I have
observed before, I had brought up to the sea, and had made him cominander of
a ship, was come home from a short voyage to Bilbao,* being the first he had
made. He came to me, and told me that some merchants of his acquaintance
had been proposing to him to go a voyage for them to the East-Indies and to
China, as private traders." And now, uncle," says he, "if you will go to sea
with me, I will engage to land you upon your old habitation in the island; for
we are to touch at Brazil.”
My nephew knew nothing how far my distemper of wandering was returned
upon me, and I knew nothing of what he had in his thought to say, when that
very morning, before he came to me, I had, in a great deal of confusion of
thought, and revolving every part of iny circumstances in my mind, come to this
resolution: that I would go to Lisbon, and consult with my old sea-captain; aud
so, if it was rational and practicable, I would go and see the island again, and
see what was become of my people there. I had pleased myself with the
thoughts of peopling the place, and carrying inhabitants from hence, getting
a patent for the possession, and I knew not what; when, in the middle of all
this, in comes my nephew, as I have said, with his project of carrying me thither
in his way to the East Indies. I paused a while at his words, and looking steadily
at him, "What devil," said I, "sent you on this unlucky errand?" My nephew
stared, as if he had been frightened, at first; but perceiving that I was not much
displeased with the proposal, he recovered himself. "I hope it may not be an
unlucky proposal, Sir," says he; "I dare say you would be pleased to see
your new colony there, where you once reigned with more felicity than most
your brother monarchs in the world." In a word, the scheme hit so exactly
with my temper, that is to say, the prepossession I was under, and of which I have
said so much, that I told him, in a few words, if he agreed with the merchants
I would go with him: but I told him I would not promise to go any farther than
my own island. Why, Sir," says he, you don't want to be left there again,
I hope?" "Why," said I, can you not take me up again on your return?”
He told me it would not be possible to do so; that the merchants would never
allow him to come that way with a laden ship of such value, it being a month's
sail out of his way, and might be three or four. "Besides, Sir, if I should mis-
carry," said he," and not return at all, then you would be just reduced to the
condition you were in before." This was very rational; but we both found out
a remedy for it; which was, to carry a framed sloop on board the ship, which
being taken in pieces, and shipped on board the ship, might, by the help of some
carpenters, whom we agreed to carry with us, be set up again in the island, and
finished, fit to go to sea, in a few days.
of
66
(6
I was not long resolving; for, indeed, the importunities of my nephew joined
* BILBAO-a city of Biscaya situated on the banks of the river Yhaizabal, about two
leagues from the sea. It contains about eight hundred houses, with a large square
place by the water-side, with pleasant walks well shaded, which extend to the outlets
on the banks of the river; where there are houses and gardens which form a pleasing
prospect in sailing up the river; for, besides the verdure, numerous beautiful objects
gradually open to the eyc, and the town appears as an amphitheatre, which enlivens
the landscape, and completes the scenery. The houses are solid and lofty; the streets
well paved and level; and the water is so conveyed into the streets, that they may be
washed at pleasure; which renders Bilbao one of the neatest towns in Europe: In
expressing the name of this town many persons and even writers, are apt to commit
the fault of transposing the two vowels at the end, and spell it erroneously Bilbou.
GUTHRIE places this city in latitude 43° 26' N. longitude 3° 18′ W. MALHAM in 43°
S0' N. and 3° 10' W. HORSBURGH in 43° 24′ N. 2° 54′ W. Its geographical site is
not given in the Requisite Tables. High water at full and change about 3h. 15m,
(aval Chronicle: axvi, 478; xxviii, 78.)
R?
244
so effectually with my inclination, that nothing could oppose me: on the other
hand, my wife being dead, I had nobody concerned themselves so much for me
as to persuade me to one way or the other, except my ancient good friend the
widow, who earnestly struggled with me to consider my years, my easy circum-
stances, and the needless hazards of a long voyage; and, above all, my young
children. But it was all to no purpose; I had an irresistible desire to the
voyage; and I told her I thought there was something so uncommon in the im
pressions I had upon my mind for the voyage, that it would be resisting Provi-
dence if I should attempt to stay at home: after which she ceased her expostula-
tions, and joined with me, not only in making provision for my voyage, but also
in settling my family affairs for my absence, and providing for the education of
my children. In order to this, I made my will, and settled the estate I had in
such a manner for my children, and placed it in such hands, that I was perfectly
easy and satisfied they would have justice done them, whatever might befal me;
and for their education, I left it wholly to the widow, with a sufficient mainte-
nance to herself for her care: all which she richly deserved, for no mother could
have taken more care in their education, or understood it better.
My nephew was ready to sail about the beginning of January 1694-5; and I,
with my man Friday, went on board in the Downs* the 8th: having, besides
that sloop which I mentioned above, a very considerable cargo of all kinds of
necessary things for my colony; which, if I did not find in good condition, I
resolved to leave so.
First, I carried with me some servants, whom I purposed to place there as
inhabitants, or at least to set on work there, upon iny account, while I stayed,
and either to leave them there, or carry them forward, as they would appear
willing; particularly, I carried two carpenters, a smith, and a very handy inge-
nious fellow, who was a cooper by trade, and was also a general mechanic; for
he was dexterous at making wheels, and hand-mills to grind corn, was a good
turner, and a good pot-maker; he also made any thing that was proper to make
of earth or of wood; in a word, we called him our "Jack-of-all-trades." With
these I carried a tailor, who had offered himself to go a passenger to the East-
Indies with my nephew, but afterwards consented to stay on our new plantation;
and proved a necessary, handy fellow, as could be desired, in many other
businesses beside that of his trade: for, as I observed formerly, "Necessity arms
us for all employments."+ My cargo, as near as I can recollect, for I have not
kept account of the particulars, consisted of a sufficient quantity of linen, and
* Downs:-(or Downes, from dune, french; duyn, dutch; buno, saxon ;) hilly
plains, or sandy hills, particularly along the sea-shore. This name is also given to a por-
tion of the narrow seas, bounded by the coast of Kent on the W. the sand banks at the
mouth of the Thames on the N. and by two extensive sholes called the "Goodwin-
sands," on the E. The "Downs" is a noted road for shipping, extending along shore
about two leagues, between two head-lands, respectively called the North, and the
South, Forelands. The town of Deal stands upon the sea-shore nearly opposite the centre
of this anchorage; which although partially sheltered, is liable to be much affected by
particular winds, and from being a much frequented rendezvous for windbound ship-
ping has occasionally proved the scene of terrible disasters. To anchor in the great or
S. Downs, the best marks are to bring the S. Foreland light on the S. end of Old-stairs
bay, about S. S. W. Upper-Deal mill, (or church) and Deal-castle in one: with about
8 fathoms water. For the small or N. Downs, which lie 2 miles northward from the
former, being Deal mill upon Sandown castle in 6 fathoms water. High water at full
and change 10h. 30m. The geographical sites of remarkable places hereabouts
are: Deal castle, latitude 51° 13' 5" N. longitude 1° 23′ 59″ E. Deal upper-chapel 51°
15′ 11″ N. 1° 22′ 44″ E. Deal watch-house (near the sea shore) 51° 10′ 21″ N. 1° 23′
46" E. South-Foreland light-house, 51° 8' 26" N. 1° 22′ 6″ E. Ramsgate Windmill,
51° 19′ 49″ N. 1° 24′ 20″ E. Walmer steeple 51° 15′ 29″ N. 1° 23′ 8″ E. Suudown
castle, 51° 14′ 18″ N, 1° 23′ 59″ E.
+ Magister artis ingenique largitor
Venter
(PERSIVS: Sat. prol. v. 11.)
245
P
some english thin stuffs, for clothing the Spaniards that I expected to find there;
and enough of them, as, by my calculation, might comfortably supply them for
seven years: if I remember right, the materials I carried for clothing them, with
gloves, hats, shoes, stockings, and all such things as they could want for wearing,
amounted to above two hundred pounds, including some beds, bedding, and
household stuff, particularly kitchen-utensils, with pots, kettles, pewter, brass,
&c. and near a hundred pounds more in iron-work, nails, tools of every kind,
staples, hooks, hinges, and every necessary thing I could think of. I carried also
a hundred spare arms, muskets, and fusils; besides some pistols, a considerable
quantity of shot of all sizes, three or four tons of lead, and two pieces of brass
cannou; and because I knew not what time and what extremities I was pro-
viding for, I carried a hundred barrels of powder, besides swords, cutlasses, and
the iron part of some pikes and halberts: so that, in short, we had a large maga-
zine of all sorts of stores; and I made my nephew carry two small quarter-deck
guns more than he wanted for his ship, to leave behind, if there was occasion;
that, when we came there, we might build a fort, and man it against all sorts of
enemies: and, indeed, I at first thought there would be need enough for all, and
much more, if we hoped to maintain our possession of the island; as shall be
seen in the course of that story.
I had not such bad luck in this voyage as I had been used to meet with; and
therefore shall have the less occasion to interrupt the reader, who, perhaps, may
be impatient to hear how matters went with my colony: yet some odd accidents,
cross winds, and bad weather, happened on this first setting out, which made the
voyage longer than I expected it at first: and I, who had never made but one
voyage in which I might be said to come back again, as the voyage was at first
designed, viz. my first voyage to Guinea, began to think the same ill fate attended
me; and that I was born to be never contented with being on shore, and yet to
be always unfortunate at sca.
*
Contrary winds first put us to the northward, and we were obliged to put in
at Galway, in Ireland, where we lay wind-bound two and twenty days; but we
had this satisfaction with the disaster, that provisions were here exceeding cheap,
and in the utmost plenty; so that while we lay here, we never touched the ship's
stores, but rather added to them. Here, also, I took in several live hogs, and
two cows, with their calves; which I resolved, if I had a good passage, to put
on shore in my island: but we found occasion to dispose otherwise of them.
We set out on the 5th of February from Ireland, and had a very fair gale of
wind for some days. As I remember, it might be about the 20th of February, in
the evening late, when the mate, having the watch, came into the round-house,
and told us he saw a flash of fire, and heard a gun fired; and while he was telling
us of it, a boy came in, and told us the boatswain heard another. This made
us all run out upon the quarter-deck, where, for a while, we heard nothing; but
in a few minutes we saw a very great light, and found that there was some very
terrible fire at a distance: immediately we had recourse to our reckonings in
which we all agreed, that there could be no land that way in which the fire
showed itself, no, not for 500 leagues, for it appeared at W.N.W. Upon this
we concluded it must be some ship on fire at sea; and as, by our hearing the
noise of guns just before, we concluded that it could not be far off, we stood
*
GALWAY: A town on the western coast of Ireland, situated near the N. eastern ex-
tremity of a bay bearing the same name. The S. isles of Arran are its barrier on the S.
affording intermediate passages. On the N. coast of this bay the main-land runs out
irregularly far to the W. whereby this spacious bay is well sheltered against all winds
and seas but those from the W. to which it is open. However this inconvenience is
remedied by the several lesser bays or the sounds, which are to be met with on both
coasts. In this bay the time of high water, in spring tides, is at three o'clock. The
harbour of Galway is defended against hostile insult by a fort: there is a good trade
carried on between Galway and foreign parts. The town (according to MALHAM'S
Naval Gazetteer) is situated in latitude 53° 10' N. longitude 9° 50′ W.
246
directly towards it, and were presently satisfied we should discover it; because
the further we sailed the greater the light appeared; although the weather being
hazy, we could not perceive any thing but the light for a while. In about half
an hour's sailing, the wind being fair for us, though not much of it, and the
weather clearing up a little, we could plainly discern that it was a great ship on
fire, in the middle of the sea.
I was most sensibly touched with this disaster, though not at all acquainted
with the persons engaged in it: I presently recollected my former circumstances,
and in what condition I was in, when taken up by the Portuguese captain; and
how much more deplorable the circumstances of the poor creatures belonging to
that ship must be, if they had no other ship in company with them. Upon this,
I inmediately ordered that five guns should be fired, one soon after another;
that, if possible, we might give notice to them that there was help for them at
hand, and that they might endeavour to save themselves in their boat; for though
we could see the flames of the ship, yet they, it being night, could see nothing
of us.
We lay by some time upon this, only driving as the burning ship drove, waiting
for day-light; when, on a sudden, to our great terror, though we had reason to
expect it, the ship blew up in the air; and immediately, that is to say, in a few
minutes all the fire was out, that is to say, the rest of the ship sunk. This was a
terrible, and, indeed, an afflicting sight, for the sake of the poor men; who, I
concluded, must be either all destroyed in the ship, or be in the utmost distress
in their boat, in the middle of the ocean; which, at present, by reason it was
dark, I could not see. However, to direct them as well as I could, I caused
lights to be hung out in all the parts of the ship where we could, and which we
had lanthorns for, and kept firing guns all the night long; letting them know, by
this, that there was a ship not far off. About eight o'clock in the morning, we
discovered the ship's boats by the help of our perspective-glasses; found there
were two of them, both thronged with people, and deep in the water.
We per-
ceived they rowed, the wind being against them; that they saw our ship, and did
their utmost to make us see them.
We immediately spread our ancient, to let them know we saw them, and hung
a waft out, as a signal for them to come on board; and then made more sail,
standing directly to them. In little more than half an hour, we came up with
them; and, in a word, took them all in, being no less than sixty-four men,
women, and children; for there were a great many passengers.
Upon the whole, we found it was a french merchant ship of 300 tons,* home-
* TON:-This word has three significations: 1. a liquid measure containing 4 hogs-
heads or gallons. 2. A weight equal to 20cut, or 2240lb. 3. A denomination whereby
the burthen of capacity of a ship is estimated: in which latter sense it is employed in
the text; and of which, as not being a subject familiar to the generality of readers come
explanation may be found useful. Various ways for determining the length of the
keel for tonnage, as part of the data by which to ascertain the tonnage of a ship have
been adopted at different periods. Mr. WILLETT says, "The old mode of calculating
the tonnage of men of war was, by multiplying the length of the keel by the extreme
breadth, and the product by the depth in hold, and then dividing by 96." (Archaeo-
logia, vol. xi.)
The next method of determining the length of the keel for tonnage, and rule for casting
it, was thus settled by the Lords-Commissioners of the Admiralty, in the year 1719:-
On a straight line with the lower part of the rabbet of the keel, erect a perpendicular
or square line to the upper edge of the wing-transom, at the after part of the plank, and
at the stem to the fore part of the plank, at parts of the height of the wing-transom;
the length between the said perpendiculars added to of the extreme breadth (allowing
for the stem and stern posts without the rabbets) from which subtract of the height
of the wing-transom for the rake abaft, and also of the main breadth for the rake afore,
leaves the length of the keel for tonnage: which multiply by the breadth, and the pro-
duct by half the breadth, and divide by 94, gives the tonnage.
24
The following method for ascertaining the tonnage of ships of war, &c. was settled
247
ward-bound from Quebec,* in the river of Canada. The master gave us a long
}
by an order of the Navy-Board, in 1781, and is now invariably adopted in the naval
service: The length to be taken from the fore part of the stem at the height of the
upper deck to the aft part of the main-post at the height of the wing-transom. In three
decked ships, the length to be taken at the height of the middle-deck to the main-post
at the wing-transom; from the length thus taken, subtract of the breadth extreme to
the plank of the bottom for the rake forward, and 24 inches for every foot the wing-
transom is high above the lower part of the rabbet of the keel for the rake abaft; the
remainder is the length of the keel for tonnage. But cutters, or any other vessels,
whose posts rake more than 24 inches in a foot, they are to be taken from the extreme
fore part of the stem, at any height that may chance to be to the back of the main post
on a range with the lower part of the rabbet of the keel, the breadth to be taken from
outside to outside the plank or thick-stuff in the broadest place, either above or below
the wale; then to get the thickness of the stuff at the breadth, and the thickness of the
bottom; whatever the thick-stuff at the breadth exceeds the thickness of the plank of
the bottom, that must be deducted from the breadth taken from the outside of the thick-
stuff; the remainder is the breith extreme; then multiply the length of the keel for
tonnage by the breadth extreme, and the product by the half-breadth, and dividing
the whole by 94, the quotient will be the tonnage.
Burthen of a 74 gun ship, calculated according to the last-mentioned rule.
Length from fore side stem, at deck }
Ft. In.
185 6
to the aft-side of the main-post at the height of the wing-transom
of the extreme breadth is
The height of the wing transom is 28 feet 3 inches, which
produces for every 24 inches
29 93
5 10
Length of the keel for tonnage.
Multiplied by the extreme breadth..
Multipled by half the extreme breadth......
Total 35 813
149 10
49 8
Product 7441 8.8"
24 10
184802 9.2".8""
1964 84
Divided by 94.
Burthen in tons..
The method of finding the tonnage of any ship among merchants and ship-owners, is
by the following rule:-Multiply the length of the keel by the breadth of the beam,
and that product by half the breadth of the beam, and divide the last product by 94,
and the quotient will be the tonnage. Example: Suppose the ship's keel 72 feet,
72×24×12
94
breadth of the beam 24 feet, then
=220.6.
The tonnage of goods is sometimes taken by weight, and sometimes by measurement.
The method which allows most is allowed to a vessel. In weight, twenty hundred
make one tou, but by measurement, forty cubic feet are equal to one ton.
All car-
riages, or other stores, to be measured by tonnage, are taken to pieces, and packed in
the best manner which will occupy least room on board ship. All ordnance, whether
brass or iron, is taken in tonnage by its actual weight. Musket-cartridges, in barrels or
boxes, all ammunition in boxes, and other articles of great weight, are taken in tonnage
according to their actual weight. There are few subjects which require more inves
tigation than the tonnage of ships; for at present the mode of finding the tonnage of a
ship is so replete with error, that a new method is required; and it would be worth the
attention of the public to bestow some great reward on the person, who gave the simplest
and
QUEBEC (pronounced kébec.) A large, handsome town of North-America,
situated on the northern shore of the river Saint-Lawrence, and the metropolis of Canada.
The river St. Charles flows into the St. Laurence here, on the E. side of the town.
Quebec is about 112 leagues distant from the mouth of the river, or its opening into the
gulph
248
account of the listress of his ship; how the fire began in the steerage, by the
negligence of the steersman; but on his crying out for help, was, as every body
thought, entirely put out; but they soon found that some sparks of the first fire
had gotten into soine part of the ship so difficult to come at, that they could not
effectually quench it; and afterwards getting in between the timbers, and within
the ceiling of the ship, it proceeded into the hold, and mastered all the skill and
all the application they were able to exert.
They had no more to do then, but to get into their boats, which to their great
comfort, were pretty large; being their long-boat, and a great shallop, besides a
small skiff, which was of no great service to them, other than to get some fresh
water and provisions into her, after they had secured their lives from the fire.
They had, indeed, small hope of their lives by getting into these boats, at that
distance from any land; only, as they said well, that they were escaped from the
fire, and a possibility that some ship might happen to be at sea, and might take
then in. They had sails, oars, and a compass; and were preparing to make the
best of their way back to Newfoundland, the wind blowing pretty fair, for it
and best method of calculating the tonnage of ships and vessels of various classes. It
appears from the general construction of merchant ships, that more attention is paid
to evade the tax on tonnage, than to their sailing well with the wind in different direc
tions; and that if the real tonnage of ships were taken, an alteration would soon be
made in the construction for the better. Men of war have less tonnage than they
measure, as appears from the Victory of 100 guns, whose supposed tommage, by the
established measurement, is 2143 tons, but whose actual tonnage is only found to be
1839 tons. The Hindostan, East-indiaman, measures 1248 tous, and actually carries
1890 tons, which makes her larger than the Victory by 51 tons freightage (Mabat
Chronicle, ii. 311.)
gulph of Saint Laurence; and before the town it forms a natural basin, by the points
of land on each shore, and of an island in the river, that it is capable of containing 100
sail of the largest sized ships. The river suddenly contracts its breadth immediately
abreast of the town; which contraction it is said gave the name to the place: Kéhek
in the language of the indigenes signifying, to shrink, or grow narrow. In 1535, (May
19th.) JACQUES CARTIER sailed from France on a voyage of discovery, to North-
America, and in August of that year came upon the islands of Assumption and of Orléans.
In 1542, (April 16th) JEAN FRANÇOIS de la Rocur, with 3 ships and 200 persons,
sailed from La-Rebelle, and landed at Québec; where he erected a fort, and settled
a colony. Quebec fell to the English arms after the battle of Quebec, won by General
Wolfe, in August 1756. And the definitive treaty of peace concluded at Paris, 1763
(February 10) confirmed to Britain the possession of Canada; which has ever since
remained an English province. The geographical site of Quebec is in latitude 46° 48'
38" N. longitude 71° 5' 29" W. according to the Requisite Tables: but an approved
french authority (1808) places it in 46° 47' 30" N. 73° 30′ W. from Paris. High-water,
full and change (7h, 30m,
* SKIFF.-(esquif, Fr. schiffo, Ital. scapha, L) the lesser sort of ship's boats. See note
to page 5.
+ NEW-FOUND-LAND:-an island on the E. side of the gulf Saint-Lawrence, of
which it almost bars the entrance; and separated from the main-land of Labrador to
the N. by the strait of Belle-isle, which is about the same width as that between Dover
and Calais. It lies between 47° and 52° north latitude, and is a mountainous, barren
country, on which the snow lies for five months in the year. Its native inhabitants
consist of only a few families, thinly-scattered, who shun the sight of the european
colonists, and whose real origin is problematical: but it is much frequented during the
Summer by Eskimaus savages from the continent. The principal english establishment
is called Saint-John, with a few subordinate forts and fishing stations: but this colony
is much neglected: and its administration is a strange anomaly in government: for the
governor is invariably an admiral with his flag flying; whose residence on the island
depends on naval contingencies, but never exceeds one-third of the year; and during
the remaining portion the jurisdiction of the substitute is so limited, that authority and
justice may be said to be in abeyance. New-found-land is best known, and of most
249
blew an easy gale at S.E. by E. They had as much provisions and water, as,
with sparing it so as to be next door to starving, might support them about twelve
days; in which, if they had no bad weather, and no contrary winds, the captain
said he hoped he might get to the Banks of Newfoundland, and might perhaps
take some fish, to sustain them till they might go on shore. But there were so
many chances against them in all these cases, such as
founder them; rains and cold, to benumb and perish their limbs; contrary winds,
ins, to overset and
to keep them out and starve them; that it must have been next to miraculous if
they had escaped.
In the midst of their consternation, every one being hopeless and ready to
despair, the captain, with tears in his eyes, told me they were on a sudden sur
prised with the joy of hearing a gun fire, and after that four more; these were the
five guns which I caused to be fired at first seeing the light. This revived their
hearts, and gave them the notice, which, as above, I desired it should, viz. that
there was a ship at hand for their help. It was upon the hearing of these guns,
that they took down their masts and sails: the sound coming from the windward,
they resolved to lie by till morning. Some time after this, hearing no more guns,
they fired three muskets, one a considerable while after another; but these, the
wind being contrary, we never heard.
Some time after that again, they were still more agreeably surprised with seeing
our lights, and hearing the guns, which, as I have said, I caused to be fired all the
rest of the night: this set them to work with their oars, to keep their boats a-head,
at least, that we might the sooner come up with them; aud, at last, to their inex-
pressible joy, they found we saw them.
It is impossible for me to express the several gestures, the strange ecstasies, the
variety of postures, which these poor delivered people ran into, to express the joy
of their souls at so unexpected a deliverance. Grief and fear are easily described;
sighs, tears, groans, and a very few motions of the head and hands, make up the
sum of its variety; but an excess of joy, a surprise of joy, has a thousand extra-
vagances in it: there were some in tears, some raging and tearing themselves, as
if they had been in the greatest agonies of sorrow; some stark raving, and down-
right lunatic; some ran about the ship, stamping with their feet, others wringing
their hands; some were dancing, some singing, some laughing, and more crying;
many quite damb, not able to speak a word; others sick and vomiting; several
swooning, and ready to faint; and a few were crossing themselves, and giving
God thanks. I would not wrong them neither; there might be many that were
thankful afterwards, but the passion was too strong for them at first, and they
were not able to master it: they were thrown into ecstacies, and a kind of
frenzy; and it was but a very few that were composed and serious in their joy.
Perhaps, also, the case may have some addition to it from the particular cir-
cumstance of that nation they belonged to; I mean the French, whose temper is
value to the english by its famed "Banks" a vast submarine chain of mountains, at a
depth under water varying from 15 to 60 fathoms, not less than 330 miles in length,
and about 75 in breadth; frequented by sholes of fish, particularly cod, in numbers
inconceiveably great; but of which some idea may be formed from the fact, that although
from three to four hundred fishing vessels have been annually freighted therewith
for two centuries, there has been no visible decrease of the plenty usually found.
The naturalist LEUWENHOECK affirms that in a cod fish of middling size there have been
found 9384000 eggs. The following is the result of an actual examination made on
the 23rd of the month December by Mr. HARMER. Weight of the spawn, 12540
grains. Number of eggs. 3686760. Portion of spawn weighed, 29 grains. Number
of eggs to a grain, 294. In 1497, two ships sailed from England under SEBASTIAN
CABOTO, employed by King HENRY VII. to discover a N. W. passage to India; in
which he failed: but he discovered New-found-land, and all the N. E. coast of the
british possessions in America. The settlement of Saint-John is in 47° 32′ 44″ N. 52°
25/30" W. A very good hydrographical chart of New-found-land exists in the Babal
Chronicle, vol. vii.
250
3
allowed to be more volatile, more passionate, and more sprightly, and their spirits
morefluid,than in other nations. I am not philosopher enough to determine the cause;
but nothing I had ever seen before came up to it. The ecstacies poor Friday, my
trusty savage, was in, when he found his father in the boat, came the nearest to
it; and the surprise of the master and his two companions, whom I delivered
from the villains that set them on shore in the island, came a little way towards
it; but nothing was to compare to this, either that I saw in Friday, or any where
else in my life.
It is further observable, that these extravagances did not show themselves, in
that different manner I have mentioned, in different persons only; but all the
variety would appear, in a short succession of moments, in one and the same
persons. A man that we saw this minute dumb, and as it were stupid and con-
founded, would the next minute be dancing and hollowing like an antic;
and the next moment be tearing his hair, or pulling his clothes to pieces and
stamping them under his feet, like a madman; in a few moments after that, we
would have him all in tears, then sick, swooning, and, had not immediate help
been had, would in a few moments have been dead and thus it was, not with
one or two, or ten or twenty, but with the greatest part of them and if I remem-
ber right, our surgeon was obliged to let blood of about thirty of them.
:
There were two priests among them; one an old man, and the other a young
man; and that which was strangest was, the oldest man was the worst.
As soon
as he set his foot on board our ship, and saw himself safe, he dropt down stone
dead, to all appearance; not the least sign of life could be perceived in him:
our surgeon immediately applied proper remedies to recover him, and was the
only man in the ship that believed he was not dead: at length he opened a vein
in his arm, having first chafed and rubbed the part, so as to warm it as much as
possible upon this the blood, which only dropped at first, flowing freely, in
three minutes after the man opened his eyes; and a quarter of an hour after
that he spoke, grew better, and in a little time quite well. After the blood was
stopped, he walked about; told us he was perfectly well; took a dram of cordial
which the surgeon gave him, and was what we called come to himself. About a
quarter of an hour after this, they came running into the cabin to the surgeon,
who was bleeding a french woman that had fainted, and told him the priest was
gone stark-mad. It seems he had begun to revolve the change of his circum-
stances in his mind, and again this put him into an ecstacy of joy; his spirits
whirled about faster than the vessels could convey them, the blood grew hot and
feverish, and the man was as fit for Bedlam* as any creature that ever was in it:
the surgeon would not bleed him again in that condition, but gave him something
to doze and put him to sleep, which, after some time, operated upon him, and he
awoke next morning perfectly composed and well.
The younger priest behaved with great command of his passions, and was
really an example of a serious, well-governed mind: at his first coming on board
the ship, he threw himself flat on his face, prostrating himself in thankfulness for
his deliverance, in which I unhappily and unseasonably disturbed him, really
thinking he had been in a swoon; but he spoke calmly, thanked me, told me he
was giving God thanks for his deliverance; begged me to leave him a few mo-
ments, and that, next to his Maker, he would give me thanks also.
I was heartily sorry that I disturbed him, and not only left him, but kept others
from interrupting him also. He continued in that posture about three minutes,
or little more, after I left him; then came to me, as he had said he would, and,
with a great deal of seriousness and affection, but with tears in his eyes, thanked
me, that had, under God, given him, and so many miserable creatures, their lives.
I told him I had no room to move him to thank God for it, rather than me, for I
had seen that he had done that already; but, I added, that it was nothing but
what reason and humanity dictated to all men, and that we had as much reason
* BEDLAM:-the vulgar pronunciation of Bethlem, an hospital for lunatics in London
founded by Edw. VI, anno 1553.
;
251
as be to give thanks to God, who had blessed us so far, as to make us the instru
ments of his mercy to so many of his creatures. After this, the young priest
applied himself to his country-folks; laboured to compose them; persuaded,
entreated, argued, reasoned with them, and did his utmost to keep them within
the exercise of their reason; and with some he had success, though others were
for a time out of all government of themselves.
I cannot help committing this to writing, as perhaps it may be useful to those
into whose hands it may fall, for the guiding themselves in all the extravagances of
their passions; for if an excess of joy can carry men out to such a length beyond
the reach of their reason, what will not the extravagances of anger, rage, and a
provoked mind, carry us to? And, indeed, here I saw reason for keeping an
exceeding watch over our passions of every kind, as well those of joy and satis-
faction, as those of sorrow and anger. We were something disordered, by these
extravagances among our new guests, for the first day; but when they had been
retired, lodgings provided for them, as well as our ship would allow, and they had
slept heartily as most of them did, being fatigued and frightened-they were
quite another sort of people the next day.
Nothing of good manners, or civil acknowledgments for the kindness shown
them, was wanting; the French, it is known, are naturally apt enough to exceed
that way.
The captain and one of the priests came to me the next day, and
desired to speak with me and my nephew: the commander began to consult with
us what should be done with them; and, first, they told us that as we had saved
their lives, so all they had was little enough for a return to us for that kindness
received. The captain said they had saved some money, and some things of
value, in their boats, catched hastily out of the flames, and if we would accept it,
they were ordered to make an offer of it all to us; they only desired to be set on
shore somewhere in our way, where, if possible, they might get a passage to
France. My nephew was for accepting their money at first word, and to con-
sider what to do with them afterwards; but I overruled him in that part, for I
knew what it was to be set on shore in a strange country: and if the Portuguese
captain that took me up at sea had served me so, and took all I had for my
deliverance, I must have starved, or have been as much a slave at Brazil as I had
been at Barbary,* the mere being sold to a Mahomedan excepted: and perhaps a
Portuguese is not a much better master than a Turk,† if not, in some cases,
much worse.
* BARBARY:-the history of the word Barbur may be classed under four periods:
1. In the time of Homer, when the Greeks and Asiatics might probably use a common
idiom, the imitative sound of Barbar was applied to the ruder tribes, whose pronun-
ciation was most harsh, whose grammar was most defective Kages Bagbagopuroi. (Iliad
ii. 867. with the Oxford scholiast, CLARKE'S Annotation, and HENRY STEPHENS'S
Greek Thesaurus; i, 720.) 2. From the time, at least, of HERODOTUS, it was extended
to all the nations who were strangers to the language and manners of the Greeks.
3. In the age of PLAUTIUS, the Romans submitted to the insult; (POMPEIUS FESTUS,
and freely gave themselves the name of Barbarians. They insensibly claimed an
exemption for Italy, and her subject provinces, and at length removed the disgraceful
appellation to the savage or hostile nations beyond the pale of the empire. 4. In every
sense, it was due to the Moors; the familiar word was borrowed from the Latin pro-
vincials by the Arabian conquerors, and has justly settled a local denomination (Bar-
bary) along the northern coast of Africa. It is however necessary to mention an
exception to the reproachful application of this epithet. MILTON, in allusion to the
oriental custom described by ABULFEDA, in praising the splendor and liberality of
Al-mamoon, says:
-
"Or where the gorgeous east, with richest hand, Showers on her kings barbaric
pearls and gold."
TURK-the name given by the inhabitants of Europe to that nation of Tahtar
invaders, who, after having subverted the roman empire of the east, (1453) finally
settled themselves in the country since denominated by Geographers "Turkey," the
latter is a name alse since extended by the English to one species of gallinaceous
252
I therefore told the french captain that we had taken them up in their distress,
it was true, but that it was our duty to do so, as we were fellow creatures; and
we would desire to be so delivered, if we were in the like, or any other extremity;
that we had done nothing for them but what we believed they would have done
for us, if we had been in their case, and they in ours; but that we took them up
to save them, not to plunder them; and it would be a most barbarous thing to
take that little from them which they had saved out of the fire, and then set them
on shore and leave them; that this would be first to save them from death, and
then kill them ourselves; save them from drowning, and abandon them to starv-
ing; and therefore I would not let the least thing be taken from them. As to
setting them on shore, I told them, indeed, that was an exceeding difficulty to us,
for that the ship was bound to the East-Indies; and though we were driven out
of our course to the westward a very great way, and perhaps were directed by
heaven on purpose for their deliverance, yet it was impossible for us wilfully to
change our voyage on their particular account; nor could my nephew, the cap-
tain, answer it to the freighters, with whom he was under charter-party to pursue
his voyage by the way of Brazil: and all I knew we could do for them was, to
put ourselves in the way of meeting with other ships homeward-bound from the
West Indies, and get them a passage, if possible, to England or France.
The first part of the proposal was so generous and kind, they could not but be
very thankful for it; but they were in a very great consternation, especially the
passengers, at the notion of being carried away to the East-Indies: they then
entreated me, that, seeing I was driven so far to the westward before I met with
them, I would at least keep on the same course to the Banks of Newfoundland,
where it was probable I might meet with some ship or sloop that they might hire
to carry them back to Canada, from whence they came.
I thought this was but a reasonable request on their part, and therefore I in-
clined to agree to it; for, indeed, I considered that to carry this whole company
to the East-Indies, would not only be an intolerable severity upon the poor people,
but would be ruining our whole voyage, by devouring all our provisions; so I
thought it no breach of charter-party, but what an unforeseen accident made
absolutely necessary to us, and in which no one could say we were to blame; for
the laws of God and nature would have forbid that we should refuse to take up
two boats full of people in such a distressed condition; and the nature of the
thing, as well respecting ourselves as the poor people, obliged us to set them on
shore somewhere or other for their deliverance; so I consented that we would
carry them to Newfoundland, if wind and weather would permit; and if not, that
I would carry them to Martinico,* in the West Indies.
poultry derived from Hindo'stan through the medium of that country; but which
in every other, (Turkey itself included) bears a name significant of its indian origin.
-It is to be noted that the nation to which we apply the appellation in the text,
style themselves osmanli, (or Osmanians) after OSMAN, the founder of their reigning
dynasty; and they never use our term among themselves (except in speaking of
the asiatic tribe called Turkman) but as one of reproach, equivalent to barbarian,
or clown. It is farther to be noted that our english pronunciation of the word
turk," is vicious; for it ought to be sounded like toork, or rather tewrk; the
french ture being exactly right in sound. Osman is the name, which probably from its
first reaching us through an italian or spanish medium, we have been pleased to
transform into “ Ottoman.”
✦ MARTINICO -an island situated between 14° and 15° north latitude, and about
61° west longitude; rather more than 40 miles N. W. from Barbadas, about 60 miles in
length, and half as much in breadth. The inland part is hilly; from whence is poured
out on every side a number of useful and agreeable streams of water. The produce of
the soil, besides the customary fruits of the tropical climates, is cotton, indigo, ginger,
coffee, and especially sugar. Martinico was the residence of the governor-general of the
french islands in the caraibean sea: its bays and harbours are numerous, safe, and
commodious, and so well fortified that they used to bid defiance to the english arms in
Mine of war. However, it fell into our hands in 1762 but given up at the peace of Paris
253
The wind continued fresh easterly, but the weather pretty good; and as the
winds had continued in the points between N.E. and S.E. a long time, we missed.
several opportunities of sending them to France; for we met several ships bound
to Europe, whereof two were french, from St. Christopher's;* but they had been
so long beating up against the wind, that they durst take in no passengers, for
fear of wanting provisions for the voyage, as well for themselves as for those they
should take in; so we were obliged to go on. It was about a week after this that
we made the Banks of Newfoundland; where, to shorten my story, we put all
our french people on board a bark, which they hired at sea there, to put them
on shore, and afterwards to carry them to France, if they could get provisions to
victual themselves with. When I say, all the French went on I should remember
that the young priest I spoke of, hearing we were bound to the East-Indies,
desired to go the voyage with us, and to be set on shore on the coast of Coro-
mandel;† which I readily agreed to, for I wonderfully liked the man, and had
in 1763. It was again taken in 1794, but given up at the peace of Amiens in 1802. It
was lastly taken in 1809 and finally restored to the french monarchy at the definitive
treaty of peace concluded at Paris on 30. May, 1814. The geographical site of Fort-
royal, the principal sea-port of Martinico (for which the editor prefers to adopt a
french authority) is in latitude 14° 35′ 55″ N. longitude 63° 29′ W. from Paris-61° 8′
15" from Greenwich.
* SAINT-CHRISTOPHER :- this island was called by its ancient possessors the
Caraïbes, Liumuga, (or " Fertile isle") It was discovered in 1493, by CHRISTOPHEL
COLON, who was so pleased with its appearance that he distinguished it by his own
baptismal name. But, it was neither possessed nor planted by the Spaniards. It has
the honour of seniority among our colonies; and is in truth the common mother of
both the english and french settlements in the Caraïbean islands. In the number of
those persons who accompanied Captain RoGER NORTH on a voyage to Surinam,
about the year 1619, was Mr. THOMAS WARNER, who there making acquaintance with
Captain THOMAS PAINTON, an experienced seaman, the latter suggested how much
easier it would be to fix, and preserve, a colony in one of the small islands abandoned and
neglected by the Spaniards, than on the continent where the latter enjoyed such
ascendency; and he particularly pointed out the island of Saint Christopher. PAINTON
dying, WARNER returned to England in 1620, resolved to put his friend's project in
execution. Accordingly he associated himself with 14 other persons, and with them
took his passage on board a ship bound to Virginia. From thence he and his compani
ons sailed to Saint-Christopher; where they landed in January 1623; and by the month
of September following had raised a good crop of tobacco; which they purposed to
make their staple commodity. The first actual establishment in Barbadas did not take
place until the latter end of 1624. Two years after WARNER, there arrived here from
France a company of settlers under D'ESNAMBUC, who it is admitted did not leave
France till 1625; and these being hardy veterans were received by the English as an
acceptable reinforcement, against the Caraïbs, of whom the settlers began to be under
some apprehensions, and thus a joint-occupancy took place. Of the two leaders
WARNER, patronised by JAMES HAY, Earl of CARLISLE, obtained the honour of
knighthood, and a commission as governor in 1626. D'ESNAMBUC, on his side, met
with distinguished encouragement from RICHELIEU, the minister of France. A treaty
of partition was signed on 3 May 1627: it comprehended a league offensive and
defensive which however proved of little avail against a spanish invasion in 1629.
After this and various other vicissitudes the island was wholly ceded to the English
at the peace of Utrecht, in 1713. It was taken by the French in 1782: but restored
in 1783; and has since remained to us. Saint-Christopher offers manifest signs of the
volcanic operations of nature. One of its highest mountains called Mount-Misery,
rising 3711 feet from the level of the sea, is an extinct volcano. The plains offer the
richest soil for vegetation of any in the West-Indies. 8000lbs. of sugar has been raised
from a single acre of land. Clay is no where found, except at a considerable height in
the mountains. The geographical site of the centre of this island is in 17° 15′ N. 62°
42' 20" W. Saint-Christopher's island is vulgarly called among english mariners
"Saint Kitt's."
[
+ COROMANDEL :- the country usually called Carnatic must not be understood
geographically in the contined sense the english use it. The territory governed by
054
very good reason, as will appear afterwards; also four of the seamen entered
themselves on our ship, and proved very useful fellows. From hence we directed
our course for the West-Indies, steering away S. and S. by E. for about twenty
days together, sometimes little or no wind at all; when we met with another
subject for our humanity to work upon, almost as deplorable as that before.
It was in the latitude of 27 deg. 5 min. N. and the 19th day of March 1694-5,
when we spied a sail, our course S.E. by S. we soon perceived it was a large ves-
gel, and that she bore up to us, but could not at first know what to make of her, till
after coming a little nearer, we found she had lost her main top-mast foremast, and
bowsprit; and presently she fired a gun, as a signal of distress: the weather was
pretty good, wind at N.N.W. a fresh gale, and we soon came to speak with her.
We found her a ship of Bristol, bound home from Barbados, but had been blown
out of the road at Barbados a few days before she was ready to sail, by a terrible
hurricane, while the captain and chief mate were both gone on shore; so that,
besides the terror of the storm, they were in an indifferent case for good artists to
bring the ship home. They had been already nine weeks at sea, and had met
with another terrible storm, after the hurricane was over, which had blown them
quite out of their knowledge to the westward, in which they lost their masts, as
above. They told us they expected to have seen the Bahama* islands, but were
then driven away again to the south-east, by a strong gale of wind at N.N.W.
the same that blew now; and having no sails to work the ship with but a main-
course, and a kind of square-sail upon a jury fore-mast, which they had set up,
they could not lie near the wind, but were endeavouring to stand away for the
Canaries.
But that which was worst of all was, that they were almost starved for want
of provisions, besides the fatigues they had undergone: their bread and flesh
were quite gone; they had not one ounce left in the ship, and had none for eleven
days. The only relief they had was, their water was not all spent, and they had
about half a barrel of flour left; they had sugar enough; some succades, or sweet-
meats, they had at first, but these were devoured; and they had seven casks of
rum.
the Nawob, MOHAMMED-AALI-KHAAN, is only a part of the Carnatic proper ; and should
be distinguished as the Carnataca panyeen gaut" carnatac below the passes;" which
term appears to have been given to the nawob's country by the "moors" (another improper
appellation, see page 16.) For the Marhattas denominate the whole Soobu (or principali-
ty) of Arcot, dravid-es; while the Malabars, natives of the country call it soromandelam,
whence our other corruption, Coromandel; in which case the Cought not be articula-
ted as K, but as C. or Z. Some orientalists prefer the etymology of cholamundalum
"land of victory." A portion of the same country, comprising Arcot, is named
tonda-mundulum but our Koromandel is decidedly improper.
* BAHAMA :-the name commonly applied by the english, to that cluster of islands,
and reefs of rock and sand, which stretch in a N. Westerly direction for the space of
near 300 leagues, from the northern coast of Hespaniola towards that of Florida on the
continent. Whether the appellation "Balama," be of vernacular origin, (as is
commonly supposed) is a question the editor cannot answer; neither does it require in
this place a very anxious investigation: the whole group is called by the Spaniards.
"Lucayos." But these isles have deservedly a claim to particular notice for it was one of
them that had the honour of receiving a voyager, conducting an enterprize the most
bold and magnificent in design, and the most important in its consequences, of any
national adventure undertaken from the beginning of the world until the present hour.
CHRISTOPHER COLON, first was rewarded by the discovery of the island called by its
natives Guanabaani; by its european discoverer San-Salvador; and by english sailors
"Cat island:" the latter of which appellations certainly deserves to be blotted from
every map. A picturesque view of this memorable islet is to be found in the Babal
Chronicle, vol. xiv: as is one of a remarkable portion of Abaco, (another of the Baha-
ma isles) in vol. ix. The particular subject of this latter is called by english sailors
the "Hole in the wall" (or rock); by the Spanish, la Desconocida. The . C. also
contains some authentic and valuable hydrographic notices concerning these waters in
vol. xxxi, pp. 338, et seq.
255
There was a youth and his mother, and a maid-servant, on board, who were
going passengers, and thinking the ship was ready to sail, unhappily came on
board the evening before the hurricane began; and having no provisions of their
own left, they were in a more deplorable condition than the rest: for the seamen
being reduced to such an extreme necessity themselves, had no compassion, we
may
be sure, for the poor passengers; and they were, indeed, in a condition, that
their misery is very hard to describe. I had, perhaps, not known this part, if my
curiosity had not led me (the weather being fair, and the wind abated) to go on
board the ship. The second mate, who, upon this occasion, commanded the
ship, had been on board our ship, and he told me, indeed, they had three passen-
gers in the great cabin, that were in a deplorable condition: nay, says he, I
believe they are dead, for I have heard nothing of them for above two days; and
I was afraid to inquire after them, said he, for I had nothing to relieve them with.
We immediately applied ourselves to give them what relief we could spare;
and, indeed, I had so far over-ruled things with my nephew, that I would have
victualled them, though we had gone away to Virginia, or any other part of the
coast of America, to have supplied ourselves; but there was no necessity for that.
But now they were in a new danger; for they were afraid of eating too much
even of that little we gave them. The mate or commander brought six men
with him in his boat; but these poor wretches looked like skeletons, and were so
weak, that they could hardly sit to their oars. The mate himself was very ill,
and half starved; for he declared he had reserved nothing from the men, and
went share and share alike with them in every bit they eat.
he
I cautioned him to eat sparingly, but set meat before him immediately; and
he had not eaten three mouthfuls before he began to be sick, and out of order
so he stopped a while, and our surgeon mixed him up something with some broth,
which he said would be to him both food and physic; and after he had taken it,
grew better. In the mean time, I forgot not the men; I ordered victuals to
be given them; and the poor creatures rather devoured than eat it; they were
so exceeding hungry, that they were in a kind ravenous, and had no command of
themselves; and two of them ate with so much greediness, that they were in
danger of their lives the next morning.
The sight of these people's distress was very moving to me, and brought to
mind what I had a terrible prospect of at my first coming on shore in my island,
where I had never the least mouthful of food, or any prospect of procuring any;
besides the hourly apprehensions I had of being made the food of other crea
* VIRGINIA :—one of the united states of North-America, which rebelled against
their mother-country, England, in 1776 (4 July) Its extent and situation is about 446
miles in length between 76° and 83° W. longitude; and about 224 in breadth between
36° and 40° N. latitude: it is contiguous to Pensylvania, Maryland, North-Carolina,
and Kentucky and its hydrographical boundaries are, the atlantic ocean on the E.
and the river Ohio on the W. It is the first country we planted on that continent, our
right thereto being derived from the discoveries of CABOTO (Cabot), in 1497. On
27th April 1584, PHILIP AMADAS and ARTHUR BARLOW sailed from England in two
barks, landed on the coast of Virginia, and returned the month of September following.
Sir RICHARD GREENVIL with 7 ships sailed in June 1585, and colonised the island of
Wokoken, in Virginia; this colony however was withdrawn by Sir FRANCIS DRAKE, on
his return from an expedition against the spanish plantations. In 1587, Sir WALTER
RALEIGH sailed from England with three vessels, and settled a colony on the island
Roanoak, giving the name "Virginia," to that and the adjacent district in honour of
Queen ELIZABETH. But the unpromising possession of this country was not finally
assured until its government was undertaken and most skilfully exercised by the
lord DE LA WARR towards the close of the 16 century. It was from hence that tobac-
co was first imported to this country. (See pages 36 and 221 of this edition.)—
"Nouvelles. Since tobacco brought into England by Sir WALTER RALEIGHE 99 years.
The custom whereof now, (1689) is the greatest of all others." (AUDREY. Ashmui.
M.S.S.)
1
256
tures. But all the while the mate was thus relating to me the miserable con-
dition of the ship's company, I could not put out of my thought the story he
had told me of the three poor creatures in the great cabin, viz. the mother, her
son, and the maid-servant, whom he had heard nothing of for two or three days,
and whoin, he seemed to confess, they had wholly neglected, their own extremi-
ties being so great: by which I understood, that they had really given them no
food at all, and that therefore they must be perished, and be all lying dead,
perhaps, on the floor or deck of the cabin.
As I therefore kept the mate, whom we then called captain, on board with
his men, to refresh them, so I also forgot not the starving crew that were left on
board, but ordered my own boat to go on board the ship, and, with my mate
and twelve men, to carry them a sack of bread, and four or five pieces of beef
to boil. Our surgeon charged the men to cause the meat to be boiled while
they stayed, and to keep guard in the cook-room, to prevent the men taking
it to eat raw, or taking it out of the pot before it was well boiled, and then to
give every man but a very little at a time; and by this caution he preserved the
men, who would otherwise have killed themselves with that very food that was
given them on purpose to save their lives.
At the same tinie, I ordered the mate to go into the great cabin, and see
what condition the poor passengers were in; and if they were alive, to comfort
them, and give them what refreshment was proper and the surgeon gave him a
large pitcher, with some of the prepared broth which he had given to the mate
that was on board, and which he did not question would restore them gradually.
I was not satisfied with this; but, as I said above, having a great mind to
see the scene of misery which I knew the ship itself would present me with,
in a more lively manner than I could have it by report, I took the captain of
the ship, as we now called him, with me, and went myself, a little after, in
their boat.
I found the poor men on board almost in a tumult, to get the victuals out of
the boiler before it was ready; but my mate observed his orders, and kept a
good guard at the cook-room door; and the man he placed there, after using all
possible persuasion to have patience, kept them off by force: however, he
caused some biscuit-cakes to be dipped in the pot, and softened with the liquor
of the meat, which they call " brewis," and gave them every one some, to stay
their stomachs, and told them it was for their own safety that he was obliged to
give them but little at a time. But it was all in vain; and had I not come on
board, and their own commander and officers with me, and with good words,
and some threats also of giving them no more, I believe they would have broken
into the cook-room by force, and have torn the meat out of the furnace; for words
are indeed of very small force to a hungry belly: however, we pacified them,
and fed them gradually and cautiously for the first, and the next time gave
them more, and at last filled their bellies, and the men did well enough.
But the misery of the poor passengers in the cabin was of another nature, and
far beyond the rest; for as, first, the ship's company had so little for themselves,
it was but too true that they had at first kept them very low, and at last
totally neglected them; so that for six or seven days it might be said they had
really no food at all, and for several days before very little. The poor mother,
who, as the men reported, was a woman of sense and good breeding, had spared
all she could so affectionately for her son, that at last she entirely sunk under
it; and when the mate of our ship went in, she sat upon the floor or deck,
with her back up against the sides, between two chairs, which were lashed fast,
and her head sunk between her shoulders like a corpse, though not quite dead.
My mate said all he could to revive and encourage her, and with a spoon put
some broth into her mouth. She opened her lips, and lifted up one hand, but
could not speak; yet she understood what he said, and made signs to him,
intimating that it was too late for her, but pointed to her child, as if she would
have said they should take care of him. However, the inate, who was exceed-
257
:
ingly moved with the sight, endeavoured to get some of the broth into her mouth,
and, as he said, got two or three spoon-fuls down; though I question whether
tre could be sure of it or not: but it was too late, and she died the same night.
The youth, who was preserved at the price of his most affectionate mother's
life, was not so far gone; yet he lay in a cabin bed, as one stretched out, with
hardly any life left in him. He had a piece of an old glove in his mouth, having
eaten up the rest of it: however, being young, and having more strength than
his mother, the mate got something down his throat, and he began sensibly to
revive; though by giving him, some time after, but two or three spoon-fuls extra-
ordinary, he was very sick, and brought it up again. But the next care
was the poor maid she lay all along upon the deck, hard by her mis-
tress, and just like one that had fallen down with an apoplexy, and struggled
for life. Her limbs were distorted; one of her hands was clasped round
the frame of a chair, and she griped it so hard, that we could not easily
make her let it got her other arm lay over her head, and her feet lay both
together, set fast against the frame of the cabin table: in short, she lay just like
one in the agonies of death, and yet she was alive too. The poor creature was
not only starved with hunger, and terrified with the thoughts of death, but, as
the men told us afterwards, was broken-hearted for her mistress, whom she saw
dying for two or three days before, and whom she loved most tenderly. We
knew not what to do with this poor girl; for when our surgeon, who was a man
of very great knowledge and experience, had, with great application, recovered
her as to life, he had her upon his hands as to her senses; for she was little less
than distracted for a considerable time after, as shall appcar presently.
Whoever shall read these memorandums must be desired to consider, that
visits at sea are not like a journey into the country, where sometimes people stay
a week or a fortnight at a place; our business was to relieve this distressed
ship's crew, but not lie by for them; and though they were willing to steer the
same course with us for some days, yet we could carry no sail to keep pace with
a ship that had no masts: however, as their captain begged of us to help him to
set up a main-topmast, and a kind of a top-mast to his jury foremast, we did, as
were, lie by him for three or four days; and then having given him five barrels
of beef, a barrel of pork, two hogsheads of biscuit, and a proportion of peas,
flour, and what other things we could spare; and taking three casks of sugar,
some rum, and some pieces-of-eight from them for satisfaction, we left them;
taking on board with us, at their own carnest request, the youth and the maid,
and all their goods.
The young lad was about seventeen years of age; a pretty, well-bred, modest
and sensible youth, greatly dejected with the loss of his mother, and, who, as it
seems, had lost his father but a few months before, at Barbados: he begged of the
surgeon to speak to me to take him out of the ship; for he said the cruel fellows
had murdered his mother: and, indeed, so they had, that is to say, passively;
for they might have spared a small sustenance to the poor helpless widow, that
might have preserved her life, though it had been but just enough to keep her
alive but hunger knows no friend, no relation, no justice, no right; and there-
fore is remorseless, and capable of no compassion.
The surgeon told him how far we were going, and that it would carry him
away from all his friends, and put him perhaps in as bad circumstances almost
as those we found him in, that is to say, starving in the world. He said it mat-
tered not whither he went, if he was but delivered from the terrible crew that,
he was among; that the captain (by which he meant me, for he could know
nothing of my nephew) had saved his life, and he was sure would not hurt him;
and as for the maid, he was sure, if she came to herself, she would be very
thankful for it, let us carry them where we would. The surgeon represented
the case so affectionately to me, that I yielded, and we took them both ou board
with all their goods, except eleven hogsheads of sugar, which could not be
removed or come at; and as the youth had a bill of lading for them, I made his
commander sign a writing, obliging himself to go, as soon as he came to Bristol,
Robinson Crusoc.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
$
258
to one Mr. Rogers, a merchant there, to whom the youth said he was related,
and to deliver a letter which I wrote to him, and all the goods he had belonging
to the deceased widow; which I suppose was not done, for I could never learn
that the ship came to Bristol, but was as is most probable, lost at sea; being
in so disabled a condition, and so far from any land, that I am of opinion the
first storm she met with afterwards she might founder in the sea; for she was
leaky, and had damage in her hold, when we met with her,
I was now in the latitude of 19 degrees 32 minutes, N. and had hitherto a tole◄
rable voyage, as to weather, though, at first, the winds had been contrary. I
shall trouble nobody with the little incidents of wind, weather, currents, &c. ou
the rest of our voyage; but, to shorten my story, for the sake of what is to follow,
shall observe, that I came to my old habitation, the island, on the 10th of April,
1695. It was with no small difficulty that I found the place; for as I came to
it, and went from it, before, on the south and east side of the island, as coming
from the Brazil, so now, coming in between the main and the island, and having
no chart for the coast, nor any land-mark, I did not know it when I saw it, or
know whether I saw it or not.
We beat about a great while, and went ashore on several islands in the mouth
of the great river Oronoko, but none for my purpose; only this I learned by my
coasting the shore, that I was under one great mistake before, that the continent
which I thought I saw from the island I lived in, was really no continent, but a
long island, or rather a ridge of islands, reaching from one to the other side of
the extended mouth of that great river; and that the savages who came to my
island were not properly those which we call Caribees, but islanders, and other bar-
barians of the same kind, who inhabited something nearer to our side than the rest.
In short, I visited several of these islands to no purpose; some I found were
inhabited, and some were not: on one of them I found some Spaniards, and
thought they had lived there; but speaking with them, found they had a sloop
lay in a small creek hard by, and came thither to make salt, and to catch some
pearl muscles, if they could; but that they belonged to the Isle of Trinidad,*
which lay farther north, in the latitude of 10 and 11 degrees.
Thus coasting from one island to another, sometimes with the ship, sometimes
with the Frenchman's shallop, which we had found a convenient boat, and there-
fore kept her with their very good will, at length I came fair on the south side
of my islaud, and presently knew the very countenance of the place: so I brought
the ship safe to an anchor, broadside with the little creek where my old habita
tion was.
As soon as I saw the place, I called for Friday, and asked him if he
knew where he was; he looked about a little, and presently clapping his hands,
cried, "O yes, O there, O yes, O there," pointing to our old habitation, and fell a
dancing and capering like a mad fellow; and I had much ado to keep him from
jumping into the sea, to swim ashore to the place. Well, Friday, says I, do
think we shall find any body here or no? And do you think we shall see your
you
66
* TRINIDAD:~for further particulars concerning this island, one of the best refer-
ences the reader can make is to a french book entituled: Voyage aux isles de Trinidad de
Tabago de la Marguerite et dans diverses parties de Venezuela dans l'Amerique-méridionale;
by Mr. DAUXION LAVAYSSE (Paris, 1813). Travellers are too apt to follow the traces
of their predecessors, and to fatigue the public by the useless repetition of things that
often do not deserve to be told once. Mr. D.-L is not of this sheepish race, which is
now so common in England as well as in France. Although he travelled rather as a
colonist and a soldier than as a professed observer, he has collected novel and important
notions; and we owe to him much more than we before knew of the interesting colonies
of Trinidad and of Tobago. As there will be neither opportunity nor space for any
renewed remarks on this part of the world, in the course of our narrative, the editor
takes this occasion to invite the reader's attention to a new and detailed description of
the course of the mighty river Orenoko from its source in the sierras Nevadas, to the
N. of the lake Parime, in the province of Guayana, from whence after flowing more than
600 leagues it disembogues into the Atlantic ocean, opposite ROBINSON CRUSOE's island:
which description from a genuine authority will be found in the appendix to this volume.
259
father? The fellow stood mute as a stock a good while, but when I named his
father, the poor affectionate creature looked dejected, and I could sce the tears
run down his face very plentifully. What is the matter, Friday? says I; are
you troubled because you may see your father? No, no, says he, shaking
his head, no see him inore; no, never more see him again. Why so, said I,
Friday; how do you know that; O no, O no, says Friday; he long ago die, long
ago; he much old man. Well, well, says I, Friday you don't know; but shall
we see any one else then? The fellow, it seems, had better eyes than I, and he
points to the hill just above my old house; and though we lay half a league off,
he cries out, "We see, we sce; yes, yes, we see much man there, and there, and
there." I looked, but I saw nobody, no, not with a perspective glass, which was,
I suppose, because I could not hit the place; for the fellow was right, as I
found upon inquiry the next day; and there were five or six men all together,
who stood to look at the ship, not knowing what to think of us. As soon as
Friday told me he saw people, I caused the English ancient to be spread, and
fired three guns, to give them notice we were friends; and in about half a quarter
of an hour after, we perceived a smoke arise from the side of the creek; so I im-
mediately ordered a boat out, taking Friday with me; and hanging out a white
flag, or a flag of truce, I went directly on shore, taking with me the young friar
I mentioned, to whom I had told the story of my living there, and the manner of
it, and every particular both of myself and those I left there, and who was on
that account, extremely desirous to go with me. We had besides about sixteen
men well armed, if we had found any new guests there which we did not know
of; but we had no need of weapons.
As we went on shore upon the tide of flood, near high-water, we rowed directly
into the creek; and the first man I fixed my eye upon was the Spaniard whose
life I had saved, and who I knew by his face perfectly well; as to his habit, I
shall describe it afterwards. I ordered nobody to go on shore at first but myself
but there was no keeping Friday in the boat, for the affectionate creature had
spied his father at a distance, a good way off the Spaniards, where indeed I saw
nothing of him; and if they had not let him go ashore, he would have jumped
into the sea.
He was no sooner on shore, but he flew away to his father, like
an arrow out of a bow. It would have made any man shed tears, in spite of the
firmest resolution, to have seen the first transports of this poor fellow's joy when
he came to his father: how he embraced him, kissed him, stroked his face, took
him up in his arms, set him down upon a tree, and lay down by him; then stood
and looked at him, as any one would look at a strange picture, for a quarter of
an hour together; then lie down on the ground, and stroke his legs, and kiss
them, and then get up again, and stare at him; one would have thought the
fellow bewitched. But it would have made a dog laugh the next day to see
how his passion ran out another way; in the morning he walked along the shore,
to and again, with his father several hours, always leading him by the hand, as
if he had been a lady; and every now and then he would come to the boat to
fetch something or other for him, either a lump of sugar, a drain, a biscuit-cake,
or something or other that was good. In the afternoon his frolics ran another
way: for then he would set the old man down upon the ground and dance about
him, and make a thousand antic postures and gestures; and all the while he did
this, he would be talking to hin, and telling him one story or other of his
travels, and of what had happened to him abroad, to divert him, In short, if
the same filial affection was to be found in christians to their parents in our part
of the world, one would be tempted to say, there would hardly have been any
need of the fifth commandment.
But this is a digression: I return to my landing. It would be needless to take
notice of all the ceremonies and civilities that the Spaniards received me with.
The first Spaniard, who, as I said, I knew very well, was he whose life I had
saved; he came towards the boat, attended by one more, carrying a flag of
truce also; and he not only did not know me at first, but he had no thoughts,
S2
260
no notion of its being me that was come, till I spoke to him. Senhor, said I
(in Portuguese) do you not know me? At which he spoke not a word, but giving
his musket to the man that was with him, threw his arms abroad, saying some-
thing in Spanish that I did not perfectly hear, came forward and embraced me;
telling me he was inexcusable not to know that face again, that he had once
seen as if an angel from heaven sent to save his life: he said abundance of very
handsome things, as a well-bred Spaniard always knows how, and then beckoning
to the person that attended him, bade him go and call out his comrades. He
then asked me if I would walk to my old habitation, where he would give me
possession of my own house again, and where I should see they had made but
mean improvements: so I walked along with him; but, alas! I could no more
find the place again than if I had never been there; for they had planted so many
trees, and placed them in such a posture, so thick and close to one another, and
in ten years time they were grown so big, that, in short, the place was inacessible,
except by such windings and blind ways as they themselves only, who made
them, could find.
I asked them what put them upon all these fortifications: he told me I would'
say there was need enough of it, when they had given me an account how they
had passed their time since their arriving in the island, especially after they had
the misfortune to find that I was gone. He told me he could not but have some
satisfaction in my good fortune, when he heard that I was gone in a good ship,
and to my satisfaction; and that he had often-times a strong persuasion that, one
time or other, he should see me again: but nothing that ever befell him in his
life, he said, was so surprising and afflicting to him at first, as the disappoint-
ment he was under when he came back to the island and found I was not there.
As to the three barbarians (so he called them) that were left behind, and of
whom, he said, he had a long story to tell me, the Spaniards all thought them-
selves much better among the savages, only that their number was so small: and,
says he, had they been strong enough, we had been all long ago in purgatory;
* SENHOR :-A philological explanation of this word has been given at page 33: but
as its recurrence differently spelt may puzzle the young reader, it is thought right here
to repeat that nh, in the portuguese language has the same power as the spanish norun.
In addition to the present explanation calculated for the younger readers of this volume,
it is conceived that a cursory view of the correspondence between these two kindred
tongues may not be totally unacceptable even to its elder ones: therefore the Editor sub-
joins the following conspectus of that familiar form of prayer called the Pater noster; afford-
ing a convenient parallel comparison of the languages of CERVANTES and of CAMOENS.
Spanish.
Portuguese.
Padre nuestro, que estus en el cielo, sancti- Padre nosso, que estus nos ceos, sancti-
ficado se el tu nombre; venga a nos el tu ficado seio o tu nome : venha a nos tuo reyno:
reyno; hagasse tu voluntad, assi en la tierra | seia fcita a tua votude, assi nos ceos, como
como en el ciclo: el pan nuestro de cada dia | na terra: O pao nosso, de cvdidia, duno lo
nos da oy; y perdona nos nuestras deudas, | oci nestro dia: e perdoa nos as nossas devi-
assi como nos otros perdonamos a nuestros das, como nos doamos a os nossos devedores:
deudores; no nos dexes cair en la tentacion,nao nos dexes cahirom tentação, mas perlibræ
mas libra nos de mal; por-que tuo es el reyno, nos do mal. Amen.
y la potencia y la gloria, per los siglos. Amen.
See, Mithridates or a general history of languages with the Lord's prayer as a specimen
in nearly 500 languages and dialects: by Professor ADELUNG; and continued by Pro-
fessor VATER. (Berlin; 1806-1812.) A book of which some parts are filled by un-
necessary hypotheses, and tedious details, with an occasional display of that inflated
insipidity of style, which too often assumes, in the writings of modern Germans, the
place of dignified simplicity; but which at the same time is characterized by the solid
accumulation of knowledge, and is equally interesting to the critical scholar, the meta-
physician, and the historian.
+ PURGATORY:-(purgatorium, latin; purgatoire, french.) An imaginary place of pur-
gation for the souls of men, according to the creed of the romish church, where they are to
be purified before they are admitted into the state of perfect and eternal bliss That inter-
mediary state of the soul during the interval of time which must elapse between the death
261
and with that he crossed himself on the breast. But, Sir, says he, I hope you
will not be displeased when I shall tell you, how, forced by necessity, we were
obliged, for our own preservation, to disarm them, and make them our subjects,
who would not be content with being moderately our masters, but would be our
murderers. I answered, I was heartily afraid of it, when I left them there, and
nothing troubled me at my parting from the island but that they were not come
back, that I might have put them in possession of every thing first, and left the
others in a state of subjection, as they deserved; but if they had reduced them
to it, I was very glad, and should be very far from finding any fault with it: for
I knew they were a parcel of refractory, ungoverned villains, and were fit for
any manner of mischief.
While I was saying this, the man came whom he had sent back, and with him
eleven men more. In the dress they were in, it was impossible to guess what
nation they were of; but he made all clear, both to them and to me. First he
of each human being and doom's-day, (an indefinite period) does not appear to be
explained in the articles of faith adopted by any of the reformed, or protestant churches.
It is principally with reference to this stage of existence that those privileges termed
Indulgences' are granted by the church of Rome: and in as much as this term has
been the subject of repeated misunderstanding and controversy the Editor seizes this
occasion to give a correct, and somewhat curious definition thereof as officially authenti-
cated at no distant period of time, by the prelates of that church in England.-
"An Indulgence is not a leave to commit sin, nor a pardon of future sins, nor indeed pro-
perly speaking, any pardon of sin at all; but it is only a remission of the whole or of a
part of the temporal penance that often remains to be suffered for sins; which, as to
their guilt and eternal punishment, have been already remitted. For the validity and
effect of an Indulgence, it is not only necessary that there be a competent authority in
him who grants it, and a just cause or motive for the grant; but it is also necessary, on
the part of him who obtains it, that he renounce and be sincerely sorry for all his sins;
that he be in the state of grace; and that he duly perform all the conditions prescribed.
Hence Indulgencies, so far from withdrawing sinners from performing good works, serve
to excite and encourage them to greater fervor in the practice of them. They must
apply for the benefit of Indulgences with a penitential spirit; with a sense of the great
debt of punishment they have contracted by their sins; and with earnest petitions to
be discharged therefrom, through the merits and satisfactions of Christ, by the power
of the keys which he has committed unto his church. If this debt be not paid by
penitential sufferings, or graciously remitted by indulgencies in this life, it will, after
death, retard the entrance of a soul into the kingdom of heaven, until the last farthing
be paid in the prison of purgatory. Of indulgencies, some are called plenary, which
when fully obtained, remit the whole debt of temporal punishment that remained due
on account of past sins; others are of a certain number of years or days, which when
fully obtained, remit so much of the debt of temporal punishment, as would have been
discharged by the performance of so many years or days of canonical penance. The
holy sce-apostolic, considering the spiritual necessities of the Catholics in this kingdom,
has been graciously pleased to authorise the right-reverend Vicars-apostolic to grant
unto the faithful committed unto their charge in their respective districts, the following
plenary indulgences, on certain specified conditions.”
[Here follow the indulgences and conditions; the latter of which consist principally of
confession of sins, of communion, of alms, of prayers, &c.]
London 22 February William Acanthen V.A..
1810.
+
+ John Centurien V.A.
+
John Castabalen V.A.
+ Bernard Peter Thespien V.A.

+
262
turned to me, and pointing to them, said, these, Sir, are some of the gentlemen
who owe their lives to you; and then turning to them, and pointing to me, he
let them know who I was; upon which they all came up, one by one, not as if
they had been sailors and ordinary fellows, and the like, but really as if they
had been embassadors or noblemen, and I a monarch or great conqueror; their
behaviour was to the last degree obliging and courteous, and yet mixed with a
manly majestic gravity, which very well became them; and, in short, they had
so much more mauners than I, that I scarce knew how to receive their civilities,
much less how to return them in kind. The history of their coming to, and
conduct in, the island, after my going away, is so very remarkable, and has so
many incidents, which the former part of my relation will help to understand,
and which will, in most of the particulars, refer to the account I have already
given, that I cannot but commit them, with great delight, to the reading of
those that come after me.
I shall no longer trouble the story with a relation in the first person, which will
put me to the expense of ten thousand "said I," and said he, "and" he told me,"
and "I told him," and the like: but I shall collect the facts historically, as near
as I can gather them out of my memory, from what they related to me, and from
what I met with in my conversing with them and with the place. In order to do
this succinctly, and as intelligibly as I can, I must go back to the circumstance
in which I left the island, and in which the persons were of whom I am to speak.
And first, it is necessary to repeat, that I had sent away Friday's father and the
Spaniard (the two whose lives I had rescued from the savages) in a large canoe,
to the main, as I then thought it, to fetch over the Spaniard's companious that
he left behind him, in order to save them from the like calamity that he had
been in, and in order to succour them for the present; and that, if possible,
we might together find some way for our deliverance afterwards.
When I sent them away, I had no visible appearance of, or the least room to
hope for, my own deliverance, any more than I had twenty years before, much
less had any fore-knowledge of what afterwards happened, I mean, of an
english ship coming on shore there to fetch me off; and it could not but be a
very great surprise to them, when they came back, not only to find that I was
gone, but to find three strangers left on the spot, possessed of all that I had left
behind me, which would otherwise have been their own. The first thing, how-
ever, which I inquired into, that I might begin where I left off, was of their own
part; and I desired he would give me a particular account of his voyage back
to his countrymen with the boat, when I sent him to fetch them over.
He told me there was little variety in that part, for nothing remarkable happened
to them on the way, having had very calm weather, and a smooth sca. As for his
countrymen, it could not be doubted, he said, but that they were overjoyed to see
him, (it seems he was the principal man among them, the captain of the vessel
they had been shipwrecked in having been dead some time); they were, he said,
the more surprised to see him, because they knew that he was fallen into the
hands of the savages, who, they were satisfied, would devour him, as they did all
the rest of their prisoners; that when he told them the story of his deliverance,
and in what manner he was furnished for carrying them away, it was like a dream
to them, and their astonishment, he said, was somewhat like that of Joseph's
brethren, when he told them who he was, and told them the story of his exalta-
tiou in Pharaoh's court; but when he showed them the arms, the powder, the
ball and provisions, that he brought them for their journey or voyage, they were
restored to themselves, took a just share of the joy of their deliverance, and
*
*PHARAOH:-Genesis; xlv, 3. The juvenile reader is hereby apprised that "Pharaoh"
is not the proper name of an individual, but the patronymic appellation of the dynasty or
reigning family in Egypt; as the house of "Sefi" in Persia; that of " Osmaan” in Turkey;
Bourbon in France, &c. The monarch in question therefore would be more correctly
styled the Pharaoh q. d. the sovereign.
263
immediately prepared to come away with him. Their first business was to get
canoes and in this they were obliged not to stick so much upon the honest part
of it, but to trespass upon their friendly savages, and to borrow two large canoes,
on pretence of going out a-fishing, or for pleasure. In these they came away
the next morning. It seems they wanted no time to get themselves ready; for
they had no baggage, neither clothes nor provisions, nor any thing in the world
but what they had on them, and a few roots to eat, of which they used to make
their bread.
They were in all three weeks absent; and in that time, unluckily for them, I
had the occasion offered for my escape, as I mentioned in my other part, and to
get off from the island, leaving three of the most impudent, hardened, ungovern-
ed, disagreeable villains behind me, that any man could desire to meet with; to
the poor Spaniards' great grief and disappointment, you may be sure.
The only just thing the rogues did was, that when the Spaniards came ashore,
they gave my letter to them, and gave them provisions and other relief, as I had
ordered them to do; also they gave them the long paper of directions which I
had left with thein, containing the particular methods which I took for managing
every part of my life there; the way how I baked my bread, bred up tame goats,
and planted my corn; how I cured my grapes, made my pots, and, in a word,
every thing I did; all this being written down, they gave to the Spaniards (two
of them understood English well enough): nor did they refuse to accommodate
the Spaniards with any thing else, for they agreed very well for some time. They
gave them an equal admission into the house, or cave, and they began to live
very sociably; and the head Spaniard, who had seen pretty much of my methods,
and Friday's father together, managed all their affairs: but as for the Englishmen,
they did nothing but ramble about the island, shoot* parrots, and catch tortoises,
and when they came home at night, the Spaniards provided their suppers
for them.
The Spaniards would have been satisfied with this, had the others but have
let them alone; which, however, they could not find in their hearts to do long,
but, like the dog in the manger, they would not eat themselves, neither would
they let the others eat. The differences, nevertheless, were at first but trivial,
and such as are not worth relating, but at last it broke out into open war: and it
begun with all the rudeness and insolence that can be imagined, without reason,
without provocation, contrary to nature, and, indeed, to common sense: and
though, it is true, the first relation of it came from the Spaniards themselves,
whom I may call the accusers, yet when I came to examine the fellows, they
could not deny a word of it. I must observe that the two deserters from the
ship, when we were preparing to sail from the island,† made their number five;
but the three original mutineers were so much wickeder than they, that after
they had been two or three days together, they turned their two new comrades
out of doors to shift for themselves, and would have nothing to do with them
;
* SHOOT-FREDERIC II, king of Prussia, used to say that, a butcher, by profes-
sion, does not slay animals for pleasure; he only does it to supply the wants of socie-
ty but it is only for pleasure that the sportsman kills; and that is odious. It fol-
lows therefore that in the scale of social order we ought to place the sportsman below
the butcher.-PARROTS:-" Every body knows that the parrots we have in Eur ope
are brought from these parts, whence may be inferred, that seeing such a number of
these talkative birds are preserved among us, notwithstanding the diversity of climates,
much greater multitudes are to be found where the air and temperament are natural
to them. The parrots make their nests in holes of palmeto trees, which holes are before
made by other birds; for they are not capable of excavating any wood, though never
so soft, having their own bills too crooked and blunt: hence provident nature hath
supplied them with the labour of other birds called carpenters: these are no bigger
than sparrows, yet have such hard and piercing bills, that no iron instruments can be
made fitter to excavate any tree, though never so solid and hard; and these holes the
parrots getting possession of, build in them their nests." (History of the Bucaniers of
Amerien.)
↑ Page 218.
264
nor could they, for a good while, be persuaded to give them any food: as for the
Spaniards, they were not yet come.
When the Spaniards came first on shore, the business began to go forward:
the Spaniards would have persuaded the three english brutes toʻhave taken in
their two countrymen again, that, as they said, they might be all one family;
but they would not bear of it: so the two poor fellows lived by themselves; and
finding nothing but industry and application would make them live comfortably,
they pitched their tents on the north shore of the island, but a little more to the
west, to be out of danger of the savages, who landed on the cast parts of the
island. Here they built them two huts, one to lodge in, and the other to lay up
their magazines and stores in; and the Spaniards having given them some corn
for seed, and especially some of the peas which I had left them, they dug, plant-
ed, and enclosed, after the pattern I had set for them all, and began to live pretty
well. Their first crop of corn was on the ground; and though it was but a
little bit of land which they had dug up at first, having had but a little time, yet
it was enough to relieve them, and find them with bread and other eatables;
and one of the fellows being the cook's-mate of the ship, was very ready at making
soup, puddings, and such other preparations as the rice and the milk, and such
little flesh as they got, furnished him to do.
They were going on in this little thriving posture, when the three unnatural
rogues, their own countrymen too, in mere humour, and to insult them, came and
bullied them, aud told them the island was their's; that the governor, meaning
me, had given them the po-session of it, and nobody else had any right to it;
and that they should build no houses upon their ground, unless they would pay
rent for them.
*
The two men thinking they were jesting at first, asked them to come in and sit
down, and see what fine houses they were that they had built, and to tell them
what rent they demanded; and one of them merrily said, if they were the
ground-landlords, he hoped, if they built tenements upon their land, and made
improvements, they would, according to the custom of landlords, grant a long
lease and desired they would get a scrivener to draw the writings. One of
the three, cursing and raging, told them they should see they were not in jest ;
and going to a little place at a distance, where the honest men had made a fire
to dress their victuals, he takes a firebrand, and claps it to the outside of
their hut, and very fairly set it on fire; and it would have been all burnt down in
a few minutes, if one of the two had not run to the fellow, thrust him away,
and trod the fire out with his feet, and that not without some difficulty too.
The fellow was in such a rage at the honest man's thrusting him away, that he
returned upon him, with a pole he had in his hand, and had not the man avoid-
ed the blow very nimbly, and run into the hut, he had ended his days at once.
His comrade, secing the danger they were both in, run in after him, and immedi-
ately they came both out with their muskets, and the man that was first struck at
SCRIVENER:-one who lends money out at interest; it is also used for one who draws
contracts. Scriveners are mentioned in the statute against usury and excessive interest
of money. 12 ANN. 6. If a scrivener is entrusted with a bond, he may receive the
interest; and if he fails, the obligee shall bear the loss, and so it is if he receive the
principal, and deliver up the bond; for being entrusted with the security itself, it
shall be presumed he is entrusted with the power to receive the principal and interest;
and the giving up the bond on payment of the money is a discharge thereof; but if a
scrivener be entrusted with a mortgage deed, he hath only authority to receive the
interest not the principal; the giving up the deed in this case not being sufficient to
restore the estate, but there must be a reconveyance, &c. Decreed in Chan. HILL. 7.
ANN. 1. SALK. 157. The office of scrivener is fallen into disuse, and become obsolete,
being succeeded and superseded by that of attorney-at-law: the last actual scrivener
having died about 50 years ago. Attorneys when declared bankrupts are still usually
stiled scriveners," in the coinmission and advertised as such in the London Gazette:
but it has been lately explained from the bench in the court of chancery, that there is
no legal foundation for this practice.
265
A
with the pole, knocked the fellow down that had begun the quarrel with the
stock of his musket, and that before the other two could come to help him; and
then seeing the rest come at them, they stood together, and presenting the other
ends of their pieces to them, bade them stand off. The others had fire-arms
with them too; but one of the two honest men, bolder than his comrade, and
made desperate by his danger, told them, if they offered to move hand or foot
they were dead men, and boldly commanded them to lay down their arms.
They did not, indeed, lay down their arms, but seeing him so resolute, it brought
them to a parley; and they consented to take their wounded man with them
and be gone; and, indeed, it seems the fellow was wounded sufficiently with
the blow. However, they were much in the wrong, since they had the advan-
tage, that they did not disarm them effectually, as they might have done, and
have gone inmediately to the Spaniards, and given them an account how the
rogues had treated them
treated them; for the three villains studied nothing but
revenge, and every day gave them some intimation that they did so.
But not to croud this part with an account of the lesser part of the rogueries,
such as treading down their corn, shooting three young kids and a she-goat,
which the poor men had got to breed up tame for their store; and, in a word,
plaguing them night and day in this manner, it forced the two men to such a
desperation, that they resolved to fight them all three, the first time they had a
fair opportunity. In order to this, they resolved to go to the castle, as they
called it, that was my old dwelling, where the three rogues and the Spaniards
all lived together, at that time, intending to have a fair battle, and the
Spaniards should stand by, to see fair play: so they got up in the morning
before day, and came to the place, and called the Englishmen by their names,
telling a Spaniard who answered that they wanted to speak with them.
It happened that the day before, two of the Spaniards, having been in the
woods, had seen one of the two Englishmen, whom, for distinction, I called the
honest men, and he had made a sad complaint to the Spaniards of the barba-
rous usage they had met with from their three countrymen, and how they had
ruined their plantation, and destroyed their corn that they had laboured so
hard to bring forward, and killed the milch-goat and their three kids, which was
all they had provided for their sustenance; and that if he and his friends,
meaning the Spaniards, did not assist them again, they should be starved. When
the Spaniards came home at night, and they were all at supper, one of them
took the freedom to reprove the three Englishmen, though in very gentle and
mannerly, terms, and asked them how they could be so cruel, they being
harmless, inoffensive fellows; that they were putting themselves in a way to
subsist by their labour, and that it had cost them a great deal of pains to bring
things to such perfection as they were then in.
<<
One of the Englishmen returned very briskly, What had they to do there?
that they caine on shore without leave; and that they should not plant or build
upon the island; it was none of their ground. Why," says the Spaniard,
very calmly," Senior Ingles, they must not starve." The Englishman replied,
like a true rough-hewn tarpaulin, They might starve and be damned; they
* DAMN :-(from damno, latin, I condemn)
Against swearing.
"In elder times an antient custom was
To swear in mighty matters" by the mass;"
But when the mass went down, as old men note,
They sware then " by the cross" of this same groat:
And when the cross was likewise held in scorn,
Then by their faith," the common oath was sworn.
Last having thrown away all faith and “troth,”
Only " God damn" them is their common oath.
Thus custom kept decorum by gradation,
That losing mass, cross, faith, they find damnation."
Sir 1. H. ep. iv, 9.
266
"But what must they do then,
should not plant nor build in that place.
Senior?" said the Spaniard. Another of the brutes returned, Do? damn them,
they should be servants, and work for them. "But how can you expect that of
them? says the Spaniard; "they are not bought with your money: you have no
right to make them servants." The Englishman answered, the island was their's;
the governor had given it to them, and no man had any thing to do there but
themselves; and with that swore by his Maker that they would go and burn all
their new huts; they should build none upon their land. "Why, Senior," says
the Spaniard," by the same rule, we must be your servants too."-" Aye," says
the bold dog, "and so you shall too, before we have done with you;" (mixing
two or three" God damn me" in the proper intervals of his speech.) The
Spaniard only smiled at that, and made him no answer. However, this little dis-
course had heated them; and, starting up one says to the other, I think it was
he they called Will Atkins," Come, Jack, let's go, and have t'other brush
with 'em; we'll demolish their castle, I'll warrant you; they shall plant no
colony in our dominions."
Upon this they went all trooping away, with every man a gun, a pistol, and a
sword, and muttered some insolent things among themselves, of what they would
do to the Spaniards too, when opportunity offered; but the Spaniards, it seems,
did not so perfectly understand them as to know all the particulars, only that,
in general, they threatened thern hard for taking the two Englishmen's part.
Whither they went, or how they bestowed their time that evening, the Spaniards
said they did not know; but it seems they wandered about the country part of
the night, and then lying down in the place which I used to call my bower, they
were weary, and overslept themselves. The case was this; they had resolved to
stay till midnight, and so to take the two poor men when they were asleep, and,
as they acknowledged afterwards, intended to set fire to their huts while they
were in them, and either burn them there, or murder them as they came out :
as malice seldom sleeps very sound, it was very strange they should not have
been kept awake.
However, as the two men had also a design upon them, as I have said, though
a much fairer one than that of burning and murdering, it happened, and very
luckily for them all, that they were up, and gone abroad, before the bloody-
minded rogues came to their huts. When they came there, and found the men
gone, Atkins, who it seems, was the forwardest man, called out to his comrades,
"Ha! Jack, here's the nest, but, damn them, the birds are flown." They mused
a while, to think what should be the occasion of their being gone abroad so soon,
and suggested presently that the Spaniards had given them notice of it: and
with that they shook hands, and swore to one another that they would be reven-
ged. As soon as they had made this bloody bargain, they fell to work with the
poor men's habitation; they did not set fire, indeed, to any thing, but they
pulled down both their houses, and pulled them so limb from limb, that they
left not the least stick standing, or scarce any sign on the ground where they
stood they tore all their little collected household-stuff in pieces and threw
every thing about in such a manner, that the poor men afterwards found some of
their things a mile off their habitation. When they had done this, they pulled
up all the young trees which the poor men had planted; pulled up an enclosure
they had made to secure their cattle and their corn; and, in a word, sacked and
plundered every thing as completely as a horde of Tartars † would have
done.
:
* HORDE: This naturalized term is probably derived from the turkish ordoo=camp.
† TARTAR: is the european corruption of Tahtar. The Tahtars (to restore there-
fore their rightful appellation,) are descended from TAHTAR Khuan, brother of Moc-
HOOL Khaan, and formed a horde (ordou) on the borders of Kitay. In the great
invasion of Europe A. D. 1238, they seem to have formed the van-guard; and the
similitude of the name tartarei (hellish) recommended the corrupt appellation of " Tar-
Tars" to the Latins.
'.
+
267
The two men were, at this juncture, gone to find them out, and had resolved
to fight them wherever they had been, though they were but two to three; so
that, had they met, there certainly would have been bloodshed among them; for
they were all very stout, resolute fellows, to give them their due. But Providence
took more care to keep them asunder than they themselves could do to meet;
for, as if they had dogged one another, when the three were gone thither, the two
were here; and afterwards, when the two went back to find them, the three were
come to the old habitation again: we shall see their different conduct presently.
When the three came back like furious creatures, flushed with the rage which the
work they had been about had put them into, they came up to the Spaniards, and
told them what they had done, by way of scoff and bravado;* and one of them
stepping up to one of the Spaniards, as if they had been a couple of boys at play,
takes hold of his hat, as it was upon his head, and giving it a twirl about, fleering
in his face, says to him, " And you, Senior Jack-Spaniard, shall have the same
sauce, if you do not mend your manners." The Spaniard, who, though a quiet
civil man, was as brave a man as could be, and withal a strong well-made man,
looked at him for a good while, and then having no weapon in his hand, stepped
gravely up to him, and with one blow of his fist knocked him down, as an ox is
felled with a pole-axe; at which one of the rogues, as insolent as the first, fired
his pistol at the Spaniard immediately: he missed his body, indeed, for the bul-
lets went through his hair, but one of them touched the tip of his ear, and he bled
pretty much. The blood made the Spaniard believe he was more hurt than he
really was, and that put him into some heat, for before he acted all in a perfect
calm; but now resolving to go through with his work, he stooped, and took the
fellow's musket whom he had knocked down, and was just going to shoot the
man who had fired at him, when the rest of the Spaniards, being in the cave,
came out, and calling to him not to shoot, they stepped in, secured the other two,
and took their arins from them.
When they were thus disarmed, and found they had made all the Spaniards
their enemies, as well as their own countrymen, they began to cool, and giving
the Spaniards better words, would have their arms again; but the Spaniards,
considering the feud that was between them and the other two Englishmen, and
that it would be the best method they could take to keep them from killing one
another, told them, they would do them no harm, and if they would live peace-
ably, they would be very willing to assist and associate with them as they did
before; but that they could not think of giving them their arms again, while
they appeared so resolved to do mischief with them to their own countrymen,
and had even threatened them all to make them their servants.
The rogues were now no more capable to hear reason than to act with reason;
but being refused their arms, they went away raving, and raging like madmen,
threatening what they would do, though they had no fire-arms. But the Spaniards,
despising their threatening, told them they should take care how they offered any
injury to their plantation or cattle, for if they did, they would shoot them as they
would ravenous beasts, wherever they found them; and if they fell into their
hands alive, they should certainly be hanged. However, this was far from
cooling them, but away they went, raging and swearing like furies of hell. As
soon as they were gone, the two men came back, in passion and rage enough also,
though of another kind; for having been at their plantation, and finding it all
demolished and destroyed, as above, it will easily be supposed they had provo-
cation enough. They could scarce have room to tell their tale, the Spaniards
were so eager to tell them theirs; and it was strange enough to find that three
men should thus bully nineteen, and receive no punishment at all.
The Spaniards, indeed, despised them, and especially having thus disarmed
them, made light of their threatenings; but the two Englishmen resolved to have
* BRAVADO:-(spanish) a vain-glorious boasting, or vapouring employed to provoke
or challenge.
268
te
their remedy against them, what pains so ever it cost to find them out. But the
Spaniards interposed here too, and told them, that as they had disarmed them,
they could not consent that they (the two) should pursue them with fire-arms,
and perhaps kill them. But," said the grave Spaniard, who was their governor,
we will endeavour to make them do you justice, if you will leave it to us: for
there is no doubt but they will come to us again, when their passion is over,
being not able to subsist without our assistance: we promise you to make no
peace with them, without having a full satisfaction for you; and upon this con-
dition we hope you will promise to use no violence with them, other than in your
own defense." The two Englishmen yielded to this very aukwardly, and with
great reluctance; but the Spaniards protested, that they did it only to keep them
from bloodshed, and to make all easy at last. For," said they," we are not so
many of us; here is room enough for us all, and it is a great pity we should not
be all good friends." At length they did consent, and waited for the issue of
the thing, living for some days with the Spaniards; for their own habitation was
destroyed.
In about five days time the three vagrants, tired with wandering, and almost
starved with hunger, having chiefly lived on turtle's* eggs all that while, came
:
* TURTLE:-The reader may perhaps smile at finding a second culinary note on
this word, in the adventures of a ship-wrecked mariner: but, although this article of
food be deservedly esteemed highly nutritious in itself, yet as it undoubtedly owes the
greater share of its luxurious fame and popularity to the adventitious aid of cookery,
the Editor has thought that an established recipe for dressing the same, might prove no
unacceptable appendage to a book which he pleases himself with the fancy may become
a general navigating companion. Because it occasionally happens that when the insipid
routine of sea-diet in a protracted voyage, has been agreeably varied by meeting with
these animals, much of the treat, such fare is capable of affording is lost, owing either
to the professional inexperience of most english ship-cooks, beyond the rudest opera-
tions of their art, or to the probable omission of a culinary book of reference in most
floating kitchens. Since the preceding note explanatory of this subject has been put,
to press, there has fallen in the editor's way, an improved direction for dressing &
turtle, derived from the process actually and most successfully employed on one of these
amphibia weighing between 90 and 100lb. viz. "The evening before the day of dress-
ing, tie a cord to the hinder fins of the turtle, and hang it up: then with another cord
confine the fore-fins; that it should not beat itself about, and interrupt the cook then
cut off the head; and leave the body to bleed thoroughly during the night, into a
vessel proper for preserving the blood. In the morning lay the turtle upon a block, on
its back; then loose the shell by cutting around the edge; then raise the shell off clear
from the flesh. Next, take out the gall with great care; then cut off the fore-fins; all
"the flesh will come with them; then cut off the hind fins; take the liver (as whole
as you can) from the entrails; likewise the heart and kidney; then cut the entrails
from the back-bone, and put them in a bucket; wash the shell clean from the blood in
several waters, and turn it down to drain; in the mean time cut the fins from the lean
meat, and cut the white (or belly) shell into‘about twelve or fourteen pieces; turn up
back shell, and take all the fat from it, (take it out the same as if you were skinning any
thing) and put it into a stew-pan: saw a rim of the back shell about 6 inches wide, (a
strong lock-saw is what shonld be used) cut into about ten or twelve pieces, set a large
stew-pan full of water on the fire; when it comes to boil, dip a fin in it for a minute or
two, then take it out and peel it very clean, when that is done, take another; and so on
until all be done; then, the head; next the shell, piece by piece; be careful to
take off all the outside peel and shell; then put the shell into a stew-pan, with about
18 large onions, and a faggot of soup herbs; fill it up with water, and set it on the fire
to boil when it begins to boil, set it at the fire-side to boil slow, till the shell becomes
tender. This done, cut the fore fins into 4 pieces each, the hind fins into 2 each,
and put them into a stew-pan that will just hold them, together with 12 onions and a
faggot of soup herbs; put as much water thereto as will cover the fins, and set the
same upon a stove; when it comes to a boil, take it off, and set the stew-pan aside to
simmer until the fins become tender, so that all the bones will draw out. Take up the
fins, and draw out all the bones with care; then take up the other parts and do the
the
269
back to the grove; and finding my Spaniard, who, as I have said, was the gover-
nor, and two more with him, walking by the side of the creek, they came up in
a very submissive, humble manner, and begged to be received again into the
family. The Spaniards used them civilly, but told them they had acted so unna-
turally by their countrymen, and so very grossly by them (the Spaniards) that
they could not come to any conclusion without consulting the two Englishmen
and the rest; but, however, they would go to them, and discourse about it, and
they should know in half an hour. It may be guessed that they were very hard
same, but do not mix them; lay then on different dishes; strain the liquor in which
both were boiled into one pan; cut off the lean for entre's, such as for fricandeau,
grenadines, collops, for roasting; for boiling, as chickens, pátés, cutlets, and semelles;
then put about a pound of fresh butter into a soup-pot, and all the lean meat' that is
left, 3 fowls, a faggot of herbs, 12 onions, 2lb. of lean ham, (this should be at the
bottom of the pot, 1 bottle of Madeira, or Orotava, wine; set the pot on a stove to
draw; be careful in not having too fierce a fire; when it has steamed for an hour,
fill up the pot with the liquor that the fins and shell were boiled in ; when it boils, take
the pot from the trivet, and set it aside to boil, very slow for 2 hours, then strain it
off, pick what lean meat you want for the terreens, and put the same into a stew-pan,
with a little of the stock to keep it hot: while the stock is boiling, employ a person to
scour and scald the entrails, you must be particular in seeing that they be very clean
then cut them in pieces about 2 inches long, put them on in cold water to blanch;
then wash them out, and cover the bottom of a stew-pan with fat bacon; put in the
entrails, about a quart of stock, a few onions, 2 lemons that have been peeled and cut
in slices, cover them with sheets of bacon, and over all with a sheet of white paper;
let them stew gently for 3 hours: the liver is best as a soutie; [qu. sauté?] the head
belongs unto the fins; put 2lb. of butter into a large stew-pan, with 1lb. of the prime
part of a Westphalia ham cut very fine, chopped mushrooms, trufles, shalot, parsley,
(double the quantity of any other herbs) sweet-marjoram, knotted ditto, lemon and
orange thyme, common thyme, basil, (half as much as of the other herbs) a spanish onion,
and a pint of good stock; set the stew-pan over a stove to simmer for an hour; then
put in a plate-full of flour; keep stirring it about over the fire for a few minutes; then
put in the turtle stock, by a little at a time, (as were it put in all at once the flour will
not mix so well) to the quantity of 4 or 5 quarts, or as much as you think will be requi-
site for the company, and one more bottle of wine; let it boil for a few minutes, then
rub it through a tammy [sieve?], return it into a soup-pot, together with calipash and
calipee cut into pieces of about 2 inches square; put the fins into another soup-pot,
and some of the turtle-soup with them; put force-meat, and egg, balls to both; the
green fat should be boiled by itself in stock and a little Madeira wine; when done cut
it in small pieces about an inch square, and put it into the soup: season the soup with
a little fine spice and Cayenne pepper; but be careful in using the latter, because it is
easier for the guests to add this ingredient than to take it out: squeeze 4 lemons and
three Seville oranges into a basin, put a pint of Madeira wine, a table-spoon-full of
sifted sugar, and a little salt; put three parts to the soup, and the remainder unto the
fins (this should not be put in until a few minutes before dishing time, and be careful that
it does not boil afterwards). If the shell be sent up to table, fix a rim of hot paste
round it, ornamented as fancy may suggest; put it into the oven with a little of the
turtle stock; when sent to table fill it as you would a terreen: put into the terreen
what lean meat you have, before the soup; if the lean meat be put with the soup it is
apt to boil to pieces, and spoil the appearance of the turtle. If the turtle be for meager
diet, use neither fowl, veal, nor ham, none of the lean meat can be spared for made-
dishes, as it will all be wanted for the soup."-The most philosophical definition, as well
as (according to some grave and enlightened personages in our cities and bodies-
corporate) the most honourable prerogative of man, is that he is "a cooking ani-
mal;" and it may be safely asserted that he has scarcely ever been found in so
very lamentable a state of barbarism, as to swallow his food without some process
of preparation. The art, by which this is accomplished is denominated cook-
ery;" and although in the present state of european society its actual practitioners do
not rank high in general estimation, yet, in the earlier ages of the world, it was fre-
quently exercised by persons of the greatest. dignity. To speak seriously however, it
is an art not to be undervalued by the political economist or the chemist.
!
270
1
put to it; for, it seems, as they were to wait this half hour for an answer, they
begged they would send them out some bread in the mean time, which they did;
sending, at the same time, a large piece of goat's flesh, and a boiled parrot, which
they ate very heartily, for they were hungry enough.
After half an hour's consultation, they were called in, and a long debate
ensued; their two countrymen charging them with the ruin of all their labour,
and a design to murder them; all which they owned before, and therefore could
not deny now. Upon the whole, the Spaniards acted the moderators between
them; and as they had obliged the two Englishmen not to hurt the three while they
were naked and unarmed, so they now obliged the three to go and rebuild their
fellows two huts, one to be of the same, and the other of larger dimensions, than
they were before; to fence their ground again where they had pulled up their
fences, plant trees in the room of those pulled up, dig up the land again for
planting corn, where they had spoiled it, and, in a word, to restore every thing
in the same state as they found it, as near as they could; for entirely it could not
be, the season for the corn, and the growth of the trees and hedges, not being
possible to be recovered.
Well, they submitted to all this; and as they had plenty of provisions given
them all the while, they grew very orderly, and the whole society began to live
pleasantly and agreeably together again only, that these three fellows could
never be persuaded to work, I mean for themselves, except now and then a little,
just as they pleased: however, the Spaniards told them plainly, that if they would
but live sociably and friendly together, and study the good of the whole planta-
tion, they would be content to work for them, and let them walk about and be as
idle as they pleased: aud thus having lived pretty well together for a month or
two, the Spaniards gave them arms again, and gave them liberty to go abroad
with them as before. It was not above a week after they had these arms, and went
abroad, but the ungrateful creatures began to be as insolent and troublesome as
before but, however, an accident happened presently upon this, which endan-
gered the safety of them all; and they were obliged to lay by all private resent-
ments, and look to the preservation of their lives.
:
It happened one night, that the spanish governor, as I call him, that is to say,
the Spaniard whose life I had saved, who was now the captain or leader, or
governor of the rest, found himself very uncasy in the night, and could by no
means get any sleep: he was perfectly well in body, as he told me the story, only
found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon men fighting and killing one
another, but he was broad awake, and could not by any means get any sleep; in
short, he lay a great while; but growing more and more uneasy, he resolved to
rise. As they lay, being so many of thein, upon goat's skins laid thick проп such
couches and pads as they made for themselves, and not in hammocs* and ship-
beds, as I did, who was but one, so they had little to do, when they were willing
to rise, but to get up upon their feet, and perhaps put on a coat, such as it was,
and their pumps, and they were ready for going any way that their thoughts
guided them. Being thus got up, he looked out; but, being dark, he could sce
* HAMMOC :-The arts and manufactures of the Caraïbes, although few, displayed a
degree of ingenuity, which one would have scarcely expected to find among a people
so little removed from a state of mere animal nature, as to reject all dress as superfluous.
COLON observed an abundance of substantial cotton cloth in all the islands which he
visited; and the natives possessed the art of staining it with various colours, although the
Caraïbes delighted chiefly in red. (LABAT: ii, 40.) Of this cloth they made ham-
mocs, or hanging beds, such as are now used at sea. For Europe has not only copied
the pattern, but also preserved the original name. All the early spanish and trench
writers expressly assert that the original american name for these swinging beds was
hamak, or umak: but Dr. JonNSON and BAILEY, derive the english word "hammoc”
from the Saxon, hamaca. In our official inventories of naval stores, and in advertise-
ments, by the public offices in the naval departinent, this article is unaccountably
denominated "hammaco."
271
little or nothing; and, besides, the trees which I had planted, as in my former
account is described, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his sight, so
that he could only look up, and see that it was a clear star-light night, and hear-
ing no noise, he returned and laid him down again: but it was all one; he could
not sleep, nor could he compose himself to any thing like rest; but his thoughts
were to the last degree uneasy, and he knew not for what. Having made some
noise with rising and walking about, going out and coming in, another of them
waked, and calling, asked who it was that was up? The governor told him how
had been with him. ("
Say you so?" says the other Spaniard; "such things
are not to be slighted, I assure you; there is certainly some mischief working
near us:" and presently he asked him, "Where are the Englishmen ?"-" They
are all in their huts," says he, " safe enough." It seems the Spaniards had kept
possession of the main apartinent, and had made a place for the three English-
men, who, since their last mutiny, were always quartered by themselves, and
could not come at the rest. "Well," says the Spaniard,
the Spaniard, "there is something in
it, I am persuaded, from my own experience. I am satisfied our spirits embodied
have a converse with, and receive intelligence from, the spirits unembodied, and
inhabiting the invisible world; and this friendly notice is given for our advantage,
if we knew how to make use of it. Come, let us go and look abroad; and if we
find nothing at all in it to justify the trouble, I'll tell you a story to the purpose,
that shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it." In a word, they went
out, to go up to the top of the hill, where I used to go: but they being strong,
and a good company, not alone, as I was, used none of my cautions, to go up by
the ladder, and pulling it up after them, to go up a second stage to the top, but
were going round through the grove, unconcerned and unwary, when they were
surprised with seeing a light as of fire, a very little way off from them, and
hearing the voices of men, not of one or two, but of a great number.
In all the discoveries I had made of the savages landing on the island, it was
my constant care to prevent them making the least discovery of there being any
inhabitant upon the place; and when by any occasion they came to know it, they
felt it so effectually, that they that got away were scarce able to give any account
of it; for we disappeared as soon as possible; nor did ever any that had seen
ine escape to tell any one else, except it was the three savages in our last
encounter, who jumped into the boat; of whom, I mentioned, I was afraið
they should go home and bring more help. Whether it was the consequence of
the escape of those men that so great a number came now together, or whether
they came ignorantly, and by accident, on their usual bloody errand, the
Spaniards could not, it seems, understand; but, whatever it was, it had been
their business either to have concealed themselves, or not to have seen them at
all, much less to have let the savages have seen that there were any inhabitants
in the place; or to have fallen upon them so effectually, as that not a man of
them should have escaped, which could only have been by getting in between
them and their boats: but this presence of mind was wanting to them, which
was the ruin of their tranquility for a great while.
We need not doubt, but that the governor and the man with him, surprised
with this sight, run back immediately, and raised their fellows, giving them an
account of the imminent danger they were all in, and they again as readily took
the alarm; but it was impossible to persuade them to stay close within, where
they were, but they must all run out to see how things stood. While it was
dark, indeed, they were well enough, and they had opportunity enough, for some
hours, to view them by the light of three fires they had made at a distance
from one another; what they were doing they knew not, and what to do
themselves they knew not. For, first, the enemy were too many; and, secondly,
they did not keep together, but were divided into several parties, and were on
shore in several places.
The Spaniards were in no small consternation at this sight; and as they found
that the fellows ran struggling all over the shore, they made no doubt but, first
272
or last, some of them would chop in upon their habitation, or upon some other
place where they would see the token of inhabitants; and they were in great
perplexity also for fear of their flock of goats, which would have been little less
than starving them, if they should have been destroyed; so the first thing they
resolved upon was, to despatch three men away before it was light, two
Spaniards and one Englishman, to drive all the goats away to the great valley
where the cave was, and, if need were, to drive them into the very cave itself.
Could they have seen the savages all together in one body, and at a distance
from their canoes, they resolved, if there had been a hundred of them, to have
attacked them; but that could not be obtained; for they were some of them
two miles off from the other; and, as it appeared afterwards, were of two
different nations.
After having mused a great while on the course they should take, and beating
their brains in considering their present circumstances, they resolved, at last,
while it was still dark, to send the old savage, Friday's father, out as a spy, to
learn, if possible, something concerning them; as what they came for, what they
intended to do, and the like. The old man readily undertook it; and stripping
himself quite naked, as most of the savages were, away he went. After he had
been gone an hour or two, he brings word that he had been among them undis-
covered that he found they were too parties, and of two several nations,
who had had war with one another, and a great battle in their own country: and
that both sides having had several prisoners taken in the fight, they were, by
mere chance, landed all on the same island, for the devouring their prisoners and
making merry, but their coming so by chance to the same place had spoiled all
their mirth; that they were in a great rage at one another, and were so near,
that he believed they would fight again as soon as day-light began to appear: but
he did not perceive that they had any notion of any body being on the island but
themselves. He had hardly made an end of telling his story, when they could
perceive, by the unusual noise they made, that the two little armies were engaged
in a bloody fight.
Friday's father used all the arguments he could to persuade our people to lie
close, and not be seen; he told them their safety consisted in it, and that they
had nothing to do but lie still, and the savages would kill one another to their
hands, and then the rest would go away; and it was so to a tittle. But it was
impossible to prevail, especially upon the Englishmen; their curiosity was
so importunate upon their prudentials, that they must run out and see the
battle: however, they used some caution too, viz. they did not go openly, just
by their own dwelling, but went farther into the woods, and placed themselves
to advantage, where they might securely see them manage the light, and, as they
thought, not be seen by them; but it seems the savages did see them, as we shall
find hereafter.
The battle was very fierce; and, if I might believe the Englishmen, one of
them said he could perceive that some of them were men of great bravery, of
invincible spirit, and of great policy in guiding the fight. The battle, they said,
held two hours before they could guess which party would be beaten; but then
that party which was nearest our people's habitation began to appear weakest,
and, after some time morc, some of them began to fly; and this put our men
again into a great consternation, lest any one of those that fled should run into
the grove before their dwelling for shelter, and thereby involuntarily discover
the place; and that, by consequence, the pursuers would do the like in search
of thein. Upon this they resolved that they would stand armed within the wall,
and whoever came into the grove, they resolved to sally out over the wall and
kill them: so that, if possible, not one should return to give an account of it;
they ordered also that it should be done with their swords, or by knocking them
down with the stocks of their muskets, but not by shooting them, for fear of
raising an alarm by the noise.
As they expected it fell out: three of the routed army fled for life, and cross-
273
ing the creek, ran directly into the place, not in the least knowing whither they
went, but running as into a thick wood for shelter. The scout they kept to look
abroad gave notice of this within, with this addition, to our men's great satisfac-
faction, that the conquerors had not pursued them, or seen which way they were
gone; upon this, the Spaniard governor, a man of humanity, would not suffer
them to kill the three fugitives; but sending three men out by the top of the hill,
ordered them to go round, come in behind them, and surprise and take them
prisoners, which was done. The residue of the conquered people fled to their
canoes, and got off to sea; the victors retired, made no pursuit, or very little,
but drawing themselves into a body together, gave two great screaming shouts,
which they supposed was by way of triumph, and so the fight ended: the
same day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, they also marched to their
canoes. And thus the Spaniards had their island again free to themselves,
their fright was over, and they saw no savages in several years after.
After they were all gone, the Spaniards came out of their den, and viewing the
field of battle, they found about two-and-thirty men dead on the spot: some
were killed with great long arrows, some of which were found sticking in their
bodies: but most of them were killed with great wooden swords, sixteen or
seventeen of which they found in the field of battle, and as many bows, with a
great many arrows. These swords were strange, great, unwieldy things, and
they must be very strong men that used them: most of those men that were
killed with them had their heads mashed to pieces, as we may say, or, as we
call it in English, their brains knocked out, and several their arms and legs
broken; so that it is evident they fight with inexpressible rage and fury. We
found not one man that was not stone dead, for either they stay by their enemy
till they have quite killed him, or they carry all the wounded men that are not
quite dead away with them.
This deliverance tamed our Englishmen for a great while; the sight had filled
them with horror, and the consequences appeared terrible to the last degree,
especially upon supposing, that, some time or other, they should fall into the
hands of those creatures, who would not only kill them as enemies, but kill them
for food, as we kill our cattle; and they professed to me, that the thoughts of being
eaten up like beef or mutton, though it was supposed it was not to be till they
were dead, had something in it so horrible, that it nauseated their very stomachs,
made them sick when they thought of it, and filled their minds with such unusuał
terror, that they were not themselves for some weeks after. This, as I said,
tamed even the three english brutes I have been speaking of: and, for a great
while after, they were tractable, and went about the common business of the
whole society well enough; planted, sowed, reaped, and began to be all natu-
ralized to the country. But, some time after this, they fell into such measures
again, as brought them into a great deal of trouble.
They had taken three prisoners, as I observed; and these three being lusty,
stout, young fellows, they inade them servants, and taught them to work for them;
and, as slaves, they did well enough; but they did not take their measures with
them as I did by my man Friday, that is, to begin with them upon the principle
of having saved their lives, and then instruct them in the rational principles of
life; much less of religion, civilizing, and reducing them by kind usage and
affectionate arguings; but as they gave them their food every day, so they gave
them their work too, and kept them fully employed in drudgery enough; but
they failed in this by it, that they never had them to assist them, and fight for
them, as I had my man Friday, who was as true to me as the very flesh upon
my bones.
But to come to the domestic part. Being all now good friends, for common
danger, as I said above, had effectually reconciled them, they began to consider
their general circumstances; and the first thing that came under their considera-
tion was, whether, seeing the savages particularly haunted that side of the island,
and that there were more remote and retired parts of it equally adapted to their
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nay. Chron. Edition.]
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274
way of living, and manifestly to their advantage, they should not rather move
their habitation, and plant in some more proper place for their safety, and espe-
cially for the security of their cattle and corn.
Upon this, after long debate, it was concluded that they would not remove
their habitation; because that, some time or other, they thought they might hear
from their governor again, meaning me; and, if I should send any one to seek
them, I should be sure to direct them to that side; where, if they should find the
place demolished, they would conclude the savages had killed them all, and they
were gone; and so their supply would go too. But, as to their corn and cattle, they
agreed to remove them into the valley where my cave was, where the land was
as proper for both, and where, indeed, there was land enough: however, upon
second thoughts, they altered one part of that resolution too, and resolved only
to remove part of their cattle thither, and plant part of their corn there; and
so if one part was destroyed, the other might be saved. And one part of
prudence they used, which it was very well they did, viz. that they never trusted
those three savages which they had prisoners, with knowing any thing of the
plantation they had made in that valley, or of any cattle they had there, mucha
less of the cave there, which they kept in case of necessity, as a safe retreat;
and thither they carried also the two barrels of powder which I had sent them
at my coming away. But, however, they resolved not to change their habitation,
yet they agreed, that, as I had carefully covered it first with a wall or fortification
and then with a grove of trees, so seeing their safety consisted entirely in their
being concealed, of which they were now fully convinced, they set to work to
cover and conceal the place yet more effectually than before. For this purpose,
as I had planted trees, or rather thrust in stakes, which in time all grew up to
be trees, for some good distance before the entrance into my apartments, they,
went on in the same manner, and filled up the rest of that whole space of ground
from the trees I had set quite down to the side of the creek, where, as I said,
I landed my floats, and even into the very ooze where the tide flowed, not so
much as leaving any place to land, or any sign that there had been any landing
thereabout; these stakes also being of a wood very forward to grow, as I have
noted formerly, they took care to have them generally much larger and taller
than those which I had planted; and as they grew apace, so they planted them
so very thick and close together, that when they had been three or four years
grown, there was no piercing with the eye any considerable way into the planta-
tion and, as for that part which I had planted, the trees were grown as thick
as a man's thigh, and among them they placed so many other short ones, and
so thick, that, in a word, it stood like a pallisado a quarter of a mile thick, and
it was next to impossible to penetrate it, but with a little army to cut it all down;
for a little dog could hardly get between the trees, they stood so close.
But this was not all; for they did the same by all the ground to the right
hand and to the left, and round even to the top of the hill, leaving no way, not so
much as for themselves to come out but by the ladder placed up to the side of
the hill, and then lifted up, and placed again from the first stage up to the top,
and when the ladder was taken down, nothing but what had wings or witchcraft
to assist it, could come at them. This was excellently well contrived; nor was
it less than what they afterwards found occasion for; which served to convince
me, that, as human prudence has the authority of providence to justify it, so it
has doubtless the direction of providence to set it to work; and, would we listen
carefully to the voice of it, I am persuaded we might prevent many of the dis-
asters which our lives are now, by our own negligence, subjected to: but this
by the way.
I return to the story.-They lived two years after this in perfect retirement,
and had no more visits from the savages. They had, indeed, an alarm given
them one morning, which put them into a great consternation; for some of the
Spaniards being out early one morning, on the west side, or rather end, of the
island (which was that end where I never went, for fear of being discovered),
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275
they were surprised with seeing above twenty canoes of Indians just coming.
on shore. They made the best of their way home, in hurry enough; and giving
the alarm to their comrades, they kept close all that day and the next, going out
only at night to make observation: but they had the good luck to be mistaken:
for wherever the savages went, they did not land that time on the island, but
pursued some other design.
And now they had another broil with the three Englishmen; one of whom a
most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one of the three slaves, which I men-
tioned they had taken, because the fellow had not done something right which he
bid him do, and seemed a little untractable in his showing him, drew a hatchet
out of a frog-belt, in which he wore it by his side, and fell upon the poor savage,
not to correct him, but to kill him. One of the Spaniards, who was by, seeing
him give the fellow a barbarous cut with the hatchet, which he aimed at his head,
but struck into his shoulders, so that he thought he had cut the poor creature's
arm off, ran to him, and entreating him not to murder the poor man, placed
himself between him and the savage, to prevent the mischief. The fellow being
enraged the more at this, struck at the Spaniard with his hatchet, and swore he
would serve him as he intended to serve the savage; which the Spaniard per-
ceiving, avoided the blow, and with a shovel which he had in his hand (for they
were all working in the field about their corn-land), knocked the brute down.
Another of the Englishmen running, at the same time, to help his comrade,
knocked the Spaniard down; and then two Spaniards more came in to help their
man, and a third Englishman fell in upon them. They had none of them any
fire-arms, or any other weapons but hatchets and other tools, except this third
Englishmen; he had one of my rusty cutlasses, with which he made at the two
last Spaniards, and wounded them both. This fray set the whole family in an
uproar, and more help coming in, they took the three Englishmen prisoners.
The next question was, what should be done with them? They had been so
often mutinous, and were so very furious, so desperate, and so idle withal, they
knew not what course to take with them, for they were mischievous to the highest
degree, and valued not what hurt they did to any man; so that, in short, it was
not safe to live with them.
The Spaniard, who was governor, told them, in so many words, that, if they
had been of his own country, he would have hanged them; for all laws and all
governors were to preserve society, and those who were dangerous to the society
ought to be expelled out of it; but, as they were Englishmen, and that it was
to the generous kindness of an Englishman that they all owed their preservation
and deliverance, he would use them with all possible lenity, and would leave them
to the judgment of the other two Englishmen, who were their countrymen.
One of the two honest Englishmen stood up, and said they desired it might
not be left to them; "for," says he, "I am sure we ought to sentence them to
the gallows" and, with that, he gives an account how Will Atkins, one of the
three, had proposed to have all the five Englishmen join together, and murder
all the Spaniards when they were in their sleep. When the spanish governor
heard this, he calls to Will Atkins, "How, Senior Atkins, would you murder us
all? What have you to say to that?" The hardened villain was so far from de-
nying it, that he said it was true; and, God damn him, they would do it still,
before they had done with them. "Well, but Senior Atkins," says the Spaniard,
"what have we done to you, that you will kill us? And what would you get by
killing us? And what must we do to prevent you killing us? Must we kill you,
or you kill us? Why will you put us to the necessity of this, Senior Atkins?
the Spaniard very calmly, and smiling. Senior Atkins was in such a rage at
the Spaniard's making a jest of it, that, had he not been held by three men, and
withal had no weapon near him, it was thought he would have attempted to have
killed the Spaniard in the middle of all the company. This hair-brained car-
riage obliged them to consider seriously what was to be done: the two English-
men, and the Spaniard who saved the poor savage, were of the opinion that they
says
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276
should hang one of the three, for an example to the rest; and particularly it should
be he that had twice attempted to commit murder with his hatchet; indeed,
there was some reason to believe he had done it, for the poor savage was in such a
miserable condition with the wound he had received, that it was thought he
could not live. But the governor Spaniard still said no; it was an Englishman
that had saved all their lives, and he would never consent to put an Englishmau
to death, although he had murdered half of them: nay, he said, if he had been
killed himself by an Englishman, and had time left to speak, it should be that
they should pardon him.
This was so positively insisted on by the governor Spaniard, that there was no
gain-saying it; and as merciful counsels are most apt to prevail, where they are
earnestly pressed, so they all came into it; but then it was to be considered what
should be done to keep them from doing the mischief they designed; for all agreed,
governor and all, that means were to be used for preserving the society from
danger. After a long debate, it was agreed, first, that they should be disarmed,
and not permitted to have either gun, powder, shot, sword, or any weapon; and
should be turned out of the society, and left to live where they would, and how
they would, by themselves; but that none of the rest, either Spaniards or English,
should converse with them, speak with them, or have any thing to do with them :
that they should be forbidden to come within a certain distance of the place
where the rest dwelt; and if they offered to commit any disorder, so as to spoil,
burn, kill, or destroy, any of the corn, plantings, buildings, fences, or cattle,
belonging to the society, they should die without mercy, and they should be
shot wherever they could be found.
The governor, a man of great humanity, musing upon the sentence, considered
a little upon it: and turning to the two honest Englishmen, said, "Hold: you
must reflect that it will be long ere they can raise corn and cattle of their own,
and they must not starve; we must, therefore, allow them provisions." So he
caused to be added, that they should have a proportion of corn given them to
last them eight months, and for seed to sow, by which time they might be sup-
posed to raise some of their own; that they should have six milch-goats, four
he-goats, and six kids given them, as well for present subsistence as for a store;
and that they should have tools given them for their work in the fields, such as
six hatchets, an adze, a saw and the like; but they should have none of these
tools or provisions, unless they would swear solemnly that they would not hurt
or injure any of the Spaniards with them, or of their fellow Englishmen.
Thus they dismissed them the society, and turned them out to shift for them-
selves. They went away sullen and refractory, as neither content to go away
or to stay; but, as there was no remedy, they went, pretending to go and chuse
a place where they would settle themselves; and some provisions were given
them, but no weapons. About four or five days after, they came again for some
victuals, and gave the governor an account where they had pitched their tents,
and marked themselves out a habitation and plantation; and it was a very con-
venient place, indeed, on the remotest part of the island towards the N.E. much
about the place where I providentially landed in my first voyage, when I was
driven out to sea, the Lord alone knows whither, in my rash attempt to sail
round the island.
Here they built themselves two handsome huts, and contrived them in a man-
ner like my first habitation, being close under the side, of a hill, having some trees
growing already on three sides of it, so that by planting others, it would be very
easily covered from the sight, unless narrowly searched for. They desired some
dried goats'-skins, for beds and covering, which were given them; and, upon
giving their words that they would not disturb the rest, or injure any of their
plantations, they gave then hatchets, and what other tools they could spare;
some peas, barley, and rice, for sowing; and, in a word, any thing they wanted,
except arms and ammunition.
They lived in this separate condition about six months, and had got in their
277
first harvest, though the quantity was but small, the parcel of land they had
planted being but little; for, indeed, having all their plantation to form, they had
a great deal of work upon their hands; and when they came to make boards and
pots, and such things, they were quite out of their element, and could make
nothing of it; and when the rainy season came on, for want of a cave in the
earth, they could not keep their grain dry, and it was in great danger of spoiling:
this humbled them so much, that they came and begged the Spaniards to help
them, which they very readily did; and, in four days, worked a great hole in the
side of the hill for them, big enough to secure their corn and other things from
the rain; although it was but a poor place, at best, compared to mine, and
especially as mine was then, for the Spaniards had greatly enlarged it, and made
several new apartments in it.
About three quarters of a year after this separation a new frolic took these
rogues, which, together with the former villany they had committed, brought
nischief enough upon them, and had very near been the ruin of the whole co-
lony. The three new associates began, it seems, to be weary of the laborious
life they led, and that without hope of bettering their circumstances; and a
whim took them, that they would make a voyage to the continent, from whence
the savages came, and would try if they could seize upon some prisoners among the
natives there, and bring them home, so as to make them do the laborious part of
their work for them.
The project was not so preposterous if they had gone no farther; but they
did nothing, and proposed nothing, but had either mischief in the design, or
mischief in the event: and, if I may give my opinion, they seemed to be under
a blast from Heaven; for, if we will not allow a visible curse to pursue visible
crimes, how shall we reconcile the events of things with the divine justice? It
was certainly an apparent vengeance on their crime of mutiny and piracy, that
brought them to the state they were in; and they showed not the least remorse
for the crime, but added new villanies to it, such as the piece of monstrous cruelty
of wounding a poor slave because he did not, or perhaps could not, understand
to do what he directed, and to wound him in such a manner as made him a
cripple all his life, and in a place where no surgeon or medicine could be had
for his cure; and what was still worse, the murderous intent, or, to do justice to
the crime, the intentional murder, for such to be sure it was, as was afterwards
the formed design they all laid, to murder the Spaniards in their sleep, and in
cold blood.
But I leave observing, and return to the story. The three fellows came down
to the Spaniards one morning, and in very bumble terms desired to be admitted
to speak with them: the Spaniards very readily heard what they had to say,
which was this:-That they were tired of living in the manner they did; and
that they were not handy enough to make the necessaries they wanted, and that
having no help, they found they should be starved; but if the Spaniards would
give them leave to take one of the canoes which they came over in, and give
them arms and ammunition proportioned to their defence, they would go over
to the main and seck their fortunes, and so deliver them from the trouble of
supplying them with any other provisions.
The Spaniards were glad enough to get rid of them, but very honestly repre-
sented to them the certain destruction they were running into; told them they
had suffered such hardships upon that very spot, that they could, without any
spirit of prophecy, tell them they would be starved or murdered, and bade them
consider of it.
The men replied audaciously, they should be starved if they stayed here, for
they could not work, and would not work, and they could but be starved abroad;
and if they were murdered there was an end of them; they had no wives or
children to cry after them: and, in short, insisted importunately upon their de-
mand; declaring they would go, whether they would give them any arms or no.
The Spaniards told them, with great kindness, that if they were resolved to
978
go, they should not go like naked men, and be in no condition to defend therm
selves; and that though they could ill spare their fire-arms, having not enough
for themselves, yet they would let them have two muskets, a pistol, and a cutlass,
and each man a hatchet, which they thought was sufficient for them. In a word,
they accepted the offer; and having baked them bread enough to serve them a
month, and given them as much goat's flesh as they could eat while it was sweet,
and a great basket of dried grapes, a pot of fresh water, and a young kid alive,
they boldly set out in the canoe for a voyage over the sea, where it was at least
forty miles broad.
The boat, indeed, was a large one, and would very well have carried fifteen
or twenty men, aud, therefore, was rather too big for them to manage; but as
they had a fair breeze, and flood-tide with them, they did well enough. They
had made a mast of a long pole, and a sail of four large goats'-skins dried, which
they had sewed or laced together; and away they went merrily enough: the
Spaniards called after them, Buen veyajo; and no man ever thought of seeing
them any more.
The Spaniards were often saying to one another, and to the two honest Eng-
lishmen who remained behind, how quietly and comfortably they lived, now these
three turbulent fellows were gone; as for their coming again, that was the re-
motest thing from their thoughts that could be imagined; when, behold, after
two and twenty days, one of the Englishmen being abroad upon his planting
work, sees three strange men coming towards him at a distance, with guns upon
their shoulders.
Away runs the Englishman, as if he was bewitched, comes frightened and
amazed to the governor Spaniard, and tells him they were all undone, for there
were strangers landed upon the island, but could not tell who. The Spaniard,
pausing a while, says to him, "How do you mean, you cannot tell who? They
are the savages to be sure." "No, no," says the Englishman, "they are men
in clothes, with arms." Nay, then," says the Spaniard, "why are you con-
cerned? If they are not savages, they must be friends; for there is no chris-
tian nation upon earth but will do us good rather than harm."
·
66
While they were debating thus, came the three Englishmen, and standing
without the wood which was new planted, hallooed to them: they presently
knew their voices, and so all the wonder of that kind ceased. But now the
admiration was turned upon another question: What could be the matter, and
what made them come back again?
It was not long before they brought the men in, and inquiring where they had
been, and what they had been doing, they gave them a full account of their
voyage in a few words, viz. That they reached the land in two days, or some-
thing less; but finding the people alarmed at their coming, and preparing with
bows and arrows to fight them, they durst not go on shore, but sailed on to the
northward, six or seven hours, till they came to a great opening, by which they
perceived, that the land they saw from our island was not the main, but an
island; upon entering that opening of the sea, they saw another island on the
right hand, north, and several more west; and being resolved to land somewhere,
they put over to one of the islands which lay west, and went boldly on shore:
that they found the people very courteous and friendly to them; and that they
gave them several routs, and some dried fish, and appeared very sociable; and
the women, as well as the men, were very forward to supply them with any
thing they could get for them to eat, and brought it to them a great way upon
their heads.
They continued here four days; and enquired, as well as they could of them,
by signs, what nations were this way, and that way; and were told of several
fierce and terrible people that lived almost every way, who, as they made known
by signs to them, used to cat men; but as for themselves, they said, they never
ate men or women, except only such as they took in the wars; and then they
owned, they made a great feast and ate their prisoners.
279
*
The Englishmen enquired when they had had a feast of that kind; and they
told them about two moons ago, pointing to the moon, and to two fingers; and
that their great king had two hundred prisoners now, which he had taken
in his war, and they were feeding them to make them fat for the next feast.
The Englishmen seemed mighty desirous of seeing those prisoners; but the
others mistaking them, thought they were desirous to have some of them to
carry away for their own eating: so they beckoned to them, pointing to the setting
of the sun, and then to the rising; which was to signify, that the next morning,
at sun-rising, they would bring some for them; and, accordingly, the next morn-
ing, they brought down five women and eleven men, and gave them to the
Englishinen, to carry with them on their voyage, just as we would bring so
many cows and oxen down to a sea port town to victual a ship.
As brutish and barbarous as these fellows were at hoine, their stomachs
turned at this sight, and they did not know what to do, To refuse the prisoners
would have been the highest affront to the savage gentry that could be offered
them, and what to do with them they knew not. However, after some debate,
they resolved to accept of them; and, in return, they gave the savages that
brought them, one of their hatchets, an old key, a knife, and six or seven of their
bullets; which, though they did not understand their use, they seemed particu-
larly pleased with; and then tying the poor creatures' hands behind thein, they
dragged the prisoners into the boat for our inen.
The Englishmen were obliged to come away as soon as they had them, or
else they that gave them this noble present would certainly have expected that
they should have gone to work with them, have killed two or three of them the
next morning, and perhaps have invited the donors to dinner. But having taken
their leave, with all the respect and thanks that could well pass between people,
where, on either side, they understood not one word they could say, they put
off with their boat, and came back towards the first island; where, when they
arrived, they set eight of their prisoners at liberty, there being too many of them
for their occasion.
In their voyage, they endeavoured to have some communication with their
prisoners, but it was impossible to make them understand any thing; nothing
they could say to them, or give them, or do for them, but was looked upon as
going to murder them. They first of all unbound them; but the poor creatures
screamed at that, especially the women, as if they had just felt the knife at their
throats; for they immediately concluded they were unbound on purpose to be
killed. If they gave them any thing to eat, it was the same thing; they then
concluded it was for fear they should sink in flesh, and so not be fat enough to
kill. If they looked at one of them more particularly, the party presently con-
cluded, it was to see whether he or she was fattest, and fittest to kill first; nay,
after they had brought them quite over, and began to use them kindly, and treat
them well, still they expected every day to make a dinner or supper for their
new masters.
When the three wanderers had given this unaccountable history or journal of
their voyage, the Spaniard asked them where their new family was; and being
told that they had brought them on shore, and put them into one of their huts,
and were come up to beg some victuals for them, they (the Spaniards) and the
other two Englishinen, that is to say, the whole colony, resolved to go all down
to the place and see them; and did so, and Friday's father with them.
When they came into the hut, there they sat all bound; for when they had
brought them on shore, they bound their hands, that they might not take the
boat, and make their escape; there, I say, they sat, all of them stark naked.
First there were three men, lusty, comely fellows, well-shaped, strait, and fair
limbs, about thirty to thirty-five years of age; and five women, whereof two
might be from thirty to forty; two more not above four or five and twenty; and
the fifth, a tall comely maiden, about sixteen or seventeen. The women were
well favoured agreeable persons, both in shape and features, only tawney; and
280
two of them, had they been perfect white, would have passed for very handsome
women, even in London itself, having pleasant agreeable countenances, and of
a very modest behaviour; especially when they came afterwards to be clothed
and dressed, as they called it, although that dress was very indifferent, it must
be confessed; of which hereafter.
The sight, you may be sure, was something uncouth to our Spaniards, who
were, to give them a just character, men of the best behaviour, of the most
calm, sedate, tempers, and perfect good humour, that ever I met with; and,
in particular, of the most modesty, as will presently appear: I say, the sight
was very uncouth, to see three naked men, and five naked women, all together
bound, and in the most miserable circumstances that human nature could
be supposed to be, viz. expecting every moment to be dragged out, and have
their brains knocked out, and then to be eaten up like a calf that is killed for
a dainty.
The first thing they did was, to cause the old Indian, Friday's father, to go
in, and see, first, if he knew any of them, and then if he understood any of
their speech. As soon as the old inan came in, he looked seriously at them, but
knew none of them; neither could any of them understand a word he said,
or a sign he could make, except one of the women. However, this was enough
to answer the end, which was to satisfy them that the men into whose hands
they were fallen were christians; that they abhorred eating men or women ;
and that they might be sure they would not be killed. As soon as they were
assured of this, they discovered such a joy, and by such awkward gestures several
ways, as is hard to describe; for it seems they were of several nations.
The woman, who was their interpreter, was bid, in the next place, to ask them
if they were willing to be servants, and to work for the men who had brought
them away, to save their lives; at which they all fell a dancing; and presently
one fell to taking up this, aud another that, any thing that lay next, to carry on
their shoulders, to intimate that they were willing to work.
The governor, who found that the having women among them would pre-
sently be attended with some inconvenience, and might occasion some strife,
and perhaps blood, asked the three men what they intended to do with these
women, and how they intended to use them, whether as servants or as women?
One of the Englishmen answered very boldly and readily, that they would use
them as both; to which the governor said, I am not going to restrain you from
it; you are your own masters as to that; but this I think is but just, for avoiding
disorders and quarrels among you, and I desire it of you for that reason only,
viz. That you will all engage, that if any of you take any of these women, as a
woman or wife, that he shall take but one; and that having taken one, none
else shall touch her; for, though we cannot marry any one of you, yet it is
but reasonable that while you stay here, the woman any of you takes should be
maintained by the man that takes her, and should be his wife; I mean, says he
while he continues here, and that none else shall have any thing to do with her.
All this appeared so just that every one agreed to it without any difficulty.
Then the Englishmen asked the Spaniards if they designed to take any of
them? But every one of them answered no. Some of them said they had wives
in Spain, and the others did not like women that were not christians; and all
together declared that they would not touch one of them; which was an instance
of such virtue as I have not met with in all my travels. On the other hand, to
be short, the five Englishmen took them every one a wife, that is to say, a tem
porary wife; and so they set up a new form of living; for the Spaniards and
Friday's father lived in my old habitation, which they had enlarged exceedingly
within. The three servants which were taken in the late battle of the savages
lived with them; and these carried on the main part of the colony, supplied all
the rest with food, and assisted them in any thing as they could, or as they found
necessity required.
But the wonder of this story was, how five such refractory ill-matched fellows,
281
should agree about these women, and that two of them should not pitch upon the
same woman, especially seeing two or three of them were, without comparison,
more agreeable than the others; but they took a good way enough to prevent
quarrelling among themselves; for they set the five women by themselves in one
of their huts, and they went all into the other hut, and drew lots among them,
who should choose first.
He that drew to choose first, went away by himself to the hut where the poor
naked creatures were, and fetched out her he chose; and it was worth observing,
that he that chose first took her that was reckoned the homeliest and oldest of
the five, which made mirth enough among the rest; and even the Spaniards
laughed at it; but the fellow considered better than any of them, that it was
application and business they were to expect assistance in, as much as in any
thing else; and she proved the best wife of the parcel.
When the poor women saw themselves set in a row thus, and fetched out one
by one, the terrors of their condition returned upon them again, and they firmly
believed they were now going to be devoured. Accordingly, when the english
sailor came in and fetched out one of them, the rest set up a most lamentable
cry, and hung about her, and took their leave of her with such agonies and
affection, as would have grieved the hardest heart in the world; nor was it pos-
sible for the Englishmen to satisfy them that they were not to be immediately
murdered, until they fetched the old man, Friday's father, who immediately let
them know that the five men, who had fetched them out one by one, had chosen
them for their wives.
When they had done this, and the fright the women were in was a little over,
the men went to work, and the Spaniards came and helped them; and in a few
hours they had built them every one a new but or tent for their lodging apart;
for those they had already were crowded with their tools, household-stuff, and
provisions. The three wicked ones had pitched farthest off, and the two honest
ones nearer, but both on the north shore of the island, so that they continued
separated as before and thus my island was peopled in three places; and, as
I might say, three towns were begun to be built.
And here it is very well worth observing, that, as it often happens in the
world, the two honest fellows had the two worst wives; and the three reprobates,
that were scarce worth hanging, that were fit for nothing, and neither seemed
born to do themselves good, or any one else, had three clever, diligent, careful,
and ingenious, wives; not that the two first were bad wives, as to their temper
or humour, for all the five were most willing, quiet, passive, and subjected,
creatures, rather like slaves than wives; but my meaning is, they were not alike
capable, ingenious, or industrious, or alike cleanly and neat.
Another observation I must make, to the honour of a diligent application,
on one hand, and to the disgrace of a slothful, negligent, idle temper, on the
other, that when I came to the place, and viewed the several improvements,
plantings, and management of the several little colonies, the two men had so
far out-gone the three, that there was no comparison. They had, indeed, both
of them as much ground laid out for corn as they wanted, and the reason was,
because, according to my rule, nature dictated that it was to no purpose to sow
more corn than they wanted; but the difference of the cultivation, of the plant-
ing, of the fences, and, indeed, of every thing else, was easy to be seen at first
view.
The two men had innumerable young trees planted about their huts, so that
when you came to the place, nothing was to be seen but a wood; and though
they had twice bad their plantation demolished, once by their own countrymen,
and once by the enemy, as shall be shown in its place, yet they had restored
all again, and every thing was thriving and flourishing about them: they had
grapes planted in order, and managed like a vineyard, although they had them-
selves never seen any thing of that kind; and by their good ordering their vines,
their grapes were as good again as any of the others. They had also found them
282
selves out a retreat in the thickest part of the woods where, though there was
not a natural cave, as I had found, yet they made one with incessant labour of
their hands, and where, when the mischief which followed happened, they
secured their wives and children, so as they could never be found: they having, by
sticking innumerable stakes and poles of the wood which, as I said, grew so
readily, made the grove unpassable, except in some places where they climbed
up to get over the outside part, and then went on by ways of their own leaving.
As to the three reprobates, as I justly call them, though they were much
eivilized by their settlement, compared to what they were before, and were not
so quarrelsome, having not the same opportunity; yet one of the certain com-
panions of a profligate mind never left them, and that was their idleness. It is
true they planted corn, and made fences; but Solomon's words were never better
verified than in them: "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard
of the man void of understanding; and lo! it was all grown over with thorns:
for when the Spaniards came to view their crop, they could not see it in some
places for weeds; the hedge had several gaps in it, where the wild goats had
got in and eaten up the corn; perhaps here and there a dead bush was crammed
in, to stop them out for the present, but it was only shutting the stable door
after the stced was stolen ; whereas, when they looked on the colony of the
other two, there was the very face of industry and success upon all they did;
there was not a weed to be seen in all their corn, or a gap in any of their
hedges; and they, on the other hand, verified Solomon's words in another place,
"that the diligent hand maketh rich; "+ for every thing grew and thrived, and
they had plenty within and without; they had more tame cattle than the others,
morc utensils and necessaries within doors, and yet more pleasure and diver-
sion too.
914
It is true, the wives of the three were very handy and cleanly within doors,
and having learnt the english ways of dressing and cooking from one of the
other Englishmen, who, as I said, was a cook's-mate on board the ship, they
dressed their husbands victuals very nicely and well; whereas the others could
not be brought to understand it; but then the husband, who, as I say, had
been cook's-mate, did it himself. But as for the husbands of the three wives,
they loitred about, fetched turtle's-eggs, and caught fish and birds; in a word,
any thing but labour, and they fared accordingly. The diligent lived well and com-
fortably; and the slothful lived hard and beggarly; and so, I believe, generally
speaking, it is all over the world.
But I now come to a scene different from all that had happened before, either
to them or to me; and the origin of the story was this: early one morning,
there came on shore five or six canoes of Indians or savages, call them which
you please,‡ and there is no room to doubt they came upon the old errand of
feeding upon their slaves; but that part was now so familiar to the Spaniards,
and to our men too, that they did not concern themselves about it, as I did:
but having been made sensible, by their experience, that their only business was
to lie concealed, and that if they were not seen by any of the savages, they
would go off again quietly, when their business was done, having, as yet, not
the least notion of their being any inhabitants in the island; I say, having been
made sensible of this, they had nothing to do but give notice to all the thrée
plantations to keep within doors, and not show themselves, only placing a scout
in a proper place, to give notice when the boats went to sea again.
This was, without doubt, very right; but a disaster spoiled all these measures,
and made it known among the savages that there were inhabitants there; which
was, in the end, the desolation of almost the whole colony. After the canoes
with the savages were gone off, the Spaniards peeped abroad again; and some
of them had the curiosity to go to the place where they had been, to see what
left
they had been doing. Here, to their great surprise, they found three savages
* Proverbs: xxiv, 30.
+ Proverbs: x, 4.
✦ See page 81.
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behind, and laying fast asleep upon the ground. It was supposed they had
either been so gorged with their inhuman feast, that, like beasts, they were fallen
asleep, and would not stir when the others went, or they had wandered into the
woods, and did not come back in time to be taken in.
The Spaniards were greatly surprised at this sight, and perfectly at a loss what
to do. The spanish governor, as it happened, was with them, and his advice was
asked, but he professed he knew not what to do. As for slaves, they had enough
already; and as to killing them, they were none of them inclined to that: the spa,
niard governor told me they could not think of shedding innocent blood: for, as
to them, the poor creatures had done them no wrong, invaded none of their pro-
perty, and they thought they had no just quarrel against them to take away
their lives. And here I must, in justice to these Spaniards, observe, that let the
accounts of spanish cruelty* in Mexico and Peru be what they will, I never met
* SPANISH CRUELTY:-it may be safely affirmed that the whole story of mankind af-
fords no scene of prolonged barbarity equal to that of the cruelties exercised on the in-
nocent Americans, except it be those practised towards the equally unoffending Africans.
All the murders and desolations of the most pity less despots that ever pleased them-
selves with the pangs and convulsions of their fellow-creatures, fall short of the bloody
enormities committed by the Spaniards in the conquest of the new-world; (a conquest
effected by the murder of ten millions of the species, on a low estimate); and by the
other nations of Europe engaged in the slave-trade. But although the accounts which
are handed down to us of this dreadful carnage, and human misery, are authenticated
beyond dispute, the mind, shrinking from the contemplation, wishes to resist conviction,
and to relieve itself by incredulity. Even ROBERTSON, the palliator of the early
operations of the spanish colonists (which he softens down into the tender expression
"reprehensible") admits that in the short interval of fifteen years subsequent to the
discovery of Haïti, (ur Hespaniola) it's native population was reduced from a million
to sixty thousand. OVIEDO, the apologist of Cortez, of Pizarro, and of others their
fellows and successors, confesses that in 1535, only 43 years posterior to the same
event, and when he himself was on the spot, there were not left alive in that island
above five hundred of the original natives. BARTHOLOMEO DE LAS CASAS, in that
edition of his writings published at Antwerp, 1579, gives the following narration :-" I
once beheld four or five principal Indians roasted alive at a slow fire; and as the
miserable victims poured forth dreadful screams, which disturbed the commanding
officer of his slumbers, he sent word that they should be strangled; but the officer on
guard, (I know his name and I know his relatives in Seville), would not suffer it; but
causing their mouths to be gagged, that their cries might not be heard, he stirred up
the fire with his own hands, and roasted them deliberately till they all expired. I saw
it myself." Although the Spaniards are without rivals for their unhappy preeminence
in this species of crime in the aggregate, yet strict justice forbids us to conceal that
the system of negro slavery in the west Indies has produced some very accomplished
tormentors among our own nation, and presents some bistorical anecdotes that furnish
evidence of proceedings not very dissimilar in detail to the conduct we have just
been reprobating. BRYAN EDWARDS, an English colonist of Jamaica, and our most
authentic historian of the West Indies, by way of exemplifying the courage, and
elevation of soul which characterize the Koromantin negros from the Gold-coast of
Guinea [stigmatised by him as “ ferocity and stubbornness"] thus describes the treat-
ment of certain of the most active ringleaders of a negro revolt which happened in
Jamaica no longer ago than the year 1760 !-" Of three Koromantins who were proved
to have been concerned in the murders committed at Ballard's valley, one was con-
demned to be burnt, and the other two to be hung up alive in irons, and left to perish in
that situation. The wretch that was burnt was made to sit on the ground, and his
body being chained unto an iron stake, the fire was applied unto his feet. He uttered
not a groan, and saw his legs reduced to ashes with the utmost firmness and composure;
after which one of his arms by some means getting loose, he snatched a brand from
the fire that was consuming him, and flung it in the face of the executioner. The two
that were hung up alive were indulged, at their request, with a hearty meal immedi-
ately before they were suspended on the gibbet, which was erected on the parade of
the town of Kingston. From that time until they expired, they never uttered the least
complaint except only of cold in the night, but diverted themselves all day long in discourse
284
with seventeen men of any nation whatsoever, in any foreign country, who
were so universally modest, temperate, virtuous, good-humoured, and so cour
teous, as these Spaniards; as to cruelty, they had nothing of it in their very na-
ture; no inhumanity, no barbarity, no outrageous passions; and yet all of them
men of great courage and spirit. Their temper and calmness had appeared in
their bearing the insufferable usage of the three Englishmen; and their justice
and humanity appeared now in the case of the savages, as above. After some
consultation, they resolved upon this; that they would lie still a while
longer, till, if possible, these three men might be gone. But then the governor
Spaniard recollected, that the three savages had no boat; and if they were left
to rove about the island, they would certainly discover that there were inhabit-
ants in it, and so they should be undone that way. Upon this they went back
again, and there lay the fellows fast asleep still and so they resolved to waken
them, and take them prisoners; and they did so. The poor fellows were
strangely frightened when they were seized upon and bound; and afraid, like the
women, that they should be murdered and eaten; for it seems, those people
think all the world does as they do, eating men's flesh; but they were soon made
easy as to that, and away they carried them.
It was very happy for them that they did not carry them home to their castle,
I mean to my palace under the hill; but they carried them first to the bower,
where was the chief of their country work, such as the keeping the goats, the
planting the corn, &c.; and afterwards they carried them to the habitation of
the two Englishmen. Here they were set to work, though it was not much they
had for them to do; and whether it was by negligence in guarding them, or that
they thought the fellows could not mend themselves, I know not, but one of them
ran away, and taking to the woods, they could never hear of him any more.
They had good reason to believe he got home again soon after, in some other
boats or canoes of savages who came on shore three or four weeks afterwards;
and who, carrying on their revels as usual, went off in two days time. This.
thought terrified them exceedingly; for they concluded, and that not without
good cause indeed, that if this fellow got home safe among his comrades, he
would certainly give them an account that there were people in the island, and
also how few and weak they were: for this savage, as I observed before, had
never been told, and it was very happy he had not, how many there were, or
where they lived; nor had he ever seen or heard the fire of any of their guns,
much less had they shown him any of their other retired places; such as the cave
in the valley, or the new retreat which the two Englishmen had made, and
the like.
The first testimony they had that this fellow had given intelligence of them
was, that about two months after this, six canoes of savages, with about seven,
eight, or ten men in a canoe, came rowing along the north side of the island,
where they never used to come before, and landed, about an hour after sun-rise,
at a convenient place, about a mile from the habitation of the two Englishmen,
where this escaped man had been kept. As the spaniard governor said, had
they been all there, the damage would not have been so much, for not a man of
me.
with their countrymen, who were permitted, very improperly [in the opinion of this his-
torian] to surround the gibbet. On the seventh day a notion prevailed among the
spectators, that one of them wished to communicate an important secret to his master,
my near relation; who being in St. Mary's parish, the commanding officer sent for
I endeavoured to let him know that I was present, but I could not understand
what he said in return. I remember that both he and his fellow sufferer laughed
immoderately at something that occurred-I now not what. The next morning [the
eighth] one of them silently expired; as did the other on the ninth day." After this,
by no means solitary, parallel to the scene described by LAS CASAS we perhaps
ought to moderate somewhat of that self-opinionated warnith, with which we English
are wont to condemn the use or abuse of power in the colonial policy of foreign
nations.
285
them would have escaped; but the case differed now very much, for two men
to fifty was too much odds. The two men had the happiness to dicover them
about a league off, so that it was above an hour before they landed; and as they
landed a mile from their huts, it was some time before they could come at them.
Now, having great reason to believe that they were betrayed, the first thing they
did was, to bind the two slaves that were left, and cause two of the three men
whom they brought with the women (who it seems proved very faithful to them)
to lead them, with their two wives, and whatever they could carry away with
them, to their retired places in the woods, which I have spoken of above, and
there to bind the two fellows hand and foot, till they heard farther.
In the next place, seeing the savages were all come on shore, and that they
had bent their course directly that way, they opened the fences where the milch
goats were kept, and drove them all out; leaving their goats to straggle in the
woods, whither they pleased, that the savages might think they were all bred
wild; but the rogue who came with them was too cunning for that, and
them an account of it all, for they went directly to the place.
gave
When the two poor frightened men had secured their wives and goods, they
sent the other slave they had of the three who came with the women, and who
was at their place by accident, away to the Spaniards with all speed, to give
them the alarm, and desire speedy help; and in the mean time, they took their
arms and what ammunition they had, and retreated towards the place in the
wood where their wives were sent; keeping at a distance, yet so that they might
see, if possible, which way the savages took.
They had not gone far, but that from a rising ground they could see the little
army of their enemies come on directly to their habitation, and in a moment
more, could see all their huts and household stuff flaming up together, to their
great grief and mortification, for they had a very great loss, to them irretriev-
able, at least for some time. They kept their station for a while, till they found
the savages, like wild beasts, spread themselves all over the place, ruinmaging
every way, and every place they could think of, in search of prey and in par-
ticular for the people, of whom, now, it plainly appeared, they had intelligence.
The two Englishmen seeing this, thinking themselves not secure where they
stood, because it was likely some of the wild people might come that way, aud
they might come too many together, thought it proper to make another retreat
about half a mile farther: believing, as it afterwards happened, that the farther
they strolled, the fewer would be together.
Their next halt was at the entrance into a very thick grown part of the woods,
and where an old trunk of a tree stood, which was hollow and vastly large; and
in this tree they both took their standing, resolving to see there what might offer.
They had not stood there long, before two of the savages appeared running
directly that way, as if they had already had notice where they stood, and were
coming up to attack them; and a little way farther they espied three more
coming after them, and five more beyond them, all coming the same way: be-
sides which, they saw seven or eight more at a distance, running another way;
for, in a word, they ran every way, like sportsmen beating for their game.
The poor men were now in great perplexity whether they should stand and
keep their posture, or fly; but, after a very short debate with themselves, they
considered, that if the savages ranged the country thus before help came, they
night, perhaps, find out their retreat in the woods, and then all would be lost;
so they resolved to stand them there; and if they were too many to deal with,
then they would get up to the top of the tree, from whence they doubted not to
defend themselves, fire excepted, as long as their ammunition lasted, though all
the savages that were landed, which was near fifty, were to attack them.
Having resolved upon this, they next considered whether they should fire at
the first two, or wait for the three, and so take the middle party, by which the
two and the five that followed would be separated; at length they resolved to let
the first two pass by, unless they should spy them in the tree, and come to attack.
286
them. The two first savages confirmed them also in this regulation, by turning
a little from them towards another part of the wood; but the three, and the five
after them, came forward directly to the tree, as if they had known the English-
men were there. Seeing them come so strait toward them, they resolved to take
them in a line as they came; and as they resolved to fire but one at a time,
perhaps the first shot might hit them all three: for which purpose, the man who
was to fire put three or four small bullets into his piece; and having a fair loop-
hole, as it were, from a broken hole in the tree, he took a sure aim, without being
seen, waiting till they were within about thirty yards of the tree, so that he could
not miss.
While they were thus waiting, and the savages cane on, they plainly saw that
one of the three was the runaway savage that had escaped from them; and they
both knew him distinctly, and resolved that, if possible, he should not escape,
though they should both fire; so the other stood ready with his piece, that if he
did not drop at the first shot, he should be sure to have a second. But the first
was too good a marksman to miss his aim; for as the savages kept near one
another, a little behind, in a line, he fired, and hit two of them directly: the
foremost was killed outright, being shot in the head; the second, which was the
runaway Indian, was shot through the body, and fell, but was not quite dead;
and the third had a little scratch in the shoulder, perhaps by the same ball that
went through the body of the second: and being dreadfully frightened, although
not so much hurt, sat down upon the ground, screaming and yelling in a hideous
manner.
The five that were behind, more frightened with the noise than sensible of the
danger, stood still at first; for the woods made the sound a thousand times bigger
than it really was, the echos rattling from one side to another, and the fowls
rising from all parts, screaming, and making every sort a different noise, accord-
ing to their kind; just as it was when I fired the first gun that perhaps was ever
shot off in the island.
However, all being silent again, and they not knowing what the matter was,
came on unconcerned, until they came to the place where their companions lay, in
a condition miserable enough; and here the poor ignorant creatures, not sensible
that they were within reach of the same mischief, stood all of a buddle over the
wounded man, talking, and, as may be supposed, inquiring of him how he came
to be burt; and who, it is very rational to believe, told them, that a flash of fire
first, and immediately after that thunder from their gods, had killed those two and
wounded him; this, I say, is rational; for nothing is more certain than that, as
they saw no man near them, so they had never heard a gun in all their lives,
nor so much as heard of a gun: neither knew they any thing of killing and
wounding at a distance with fire and bullets: if they had, one might reasonably
believe they would not have stood so unconcerned in viewing the fate of their
fellows, without some apprehensions of their own.
Our two men, though, as they confessed to me, it grieved them to be obliged.
to kill so many poor creatures, who, at the same time, had no notion of their
danger; yet, having them all thus in their power, and the first having loaded his
piece again, resolved to let fly both together among them; and singling out, by
agreement, which to aim at, they shot together, and killed or very much wounded
four of them; the fifth, frightened even to death, though not hurt, fell with the
rest; so that our men, sceing them all fall together, thought they had killed
them all.
The belief that the savages were all killed made our two men come boldly out
from the tree before they had charged their guns, which was a wrong step; and
they were under some surprise when they came to the place and found no less
than four of them alive, and of them two very little hurt, and one not at all;
this obliged them to fall upon them with the stocks of their muskets; and first,
they made sure of the runaway savage, that had been the cause of all the mis-
chief, and of another that was hurt in the knee, and put them out of their pain:
1
287
then the man that was hurt not at all came and kneeled down to them,with his two
hands held up, and made piteous moans to them, by gestures and signs, for his
life, but could not say one word to them that they could understand. However,
they made signs to him to sit down at the foot of a tree hard by; and one of the
Englishmen, with a piece of rope-twine, which he had by great chance in his pocket,
tied his feet together, and his hands behind him, and there they left him; and with
what speed they could, made after the other two, which were gone before, fearing
they, or any more of them, should find the way to their covered place in the woods,
where their wives, and the few goods they had left, lay. They came once in sight
of the two men, but it was at a great distance; however, they had the satisfaction
to see them cross over the valley towards the sea, quite the contrary way from
that which led to their retreat, which they were afraid of; and being satisfied
with that, they went back to the tree where they left their prisoner, who, as they
supposed, was delivered by his comrades, for he was gone, and the two pieces
of rope-yarn, with which they had bound him, lay just at the foot of the tree.
They were now in as great a concern as before, not knowing what course to
take, or how near the enemy might be, or in what numbers; so they resolved to
go away to the place where their wives were, to see if all was well there, and to
make them easy, who were in fright enough to be sure; for though the savages
were their own country-folk, yet they were most terribly afraid of them, and
perhaps the more for the knowledge they had of them.
When they came there they found the savages had been in the wood, and very
near that place, but had not found it; for it was indeed inaccessible, by the
trees standing so thick, as before, unless the persons seeking it had been directed
by those that knew it, which these did not: they found, therefore, every thing
very safe, only the women in a terrible fright. While they were here, they had
she comfort to have seven of the Spaniards come to their assistance; the other
ten, with their servants, and old Friday, I mean Friday's father, were gone in a
body to defend their bower, and the corn and cattle that was kept there, in case
the savages should have roved over to that side of the country; but they did not
spread so far. With the seven Spaniards came one of the three savages who,
as I said, were their prisoners formerly: and with them also came the savage
whom the Englishmen had left bound hand and foot at the tree; for, it seems,
they came that way, saw the slaughter of the seven men, and unbound the eighth,
and brought him along with them; where, however, they were obliged to bind
him again, as they had the two others who were left when the third ran away.
The prisoners began now to be a burthen to them; and they were so afraid of
their escaping, that they were once resolving to kill them all, believing they were
under an absolute necessity to do so, for their own preservation. However, the
spaniard governor would not consent to it; but ordered, for the present, that
they should be sent out of the way, to my old cave in the valley, and be kept
there, with two Spaniards to guard them, and give them food for their subsist-
ence, which was done; and they were bound there hand and foot for that night.
When the Spaniards came, the two Englishmen were so encouraged, that they
could not satisfy themselves to stay any longer there; but taking five of the
Spaniards and themselves, with four muskets and a pistol among them, and two
stout quarter-staves, away they went in quest of the savages. And first they
came to the tree where the men lay that had been killed; but it was easy to see
that some more of the savages had been there, for they had attempted to carry
their dead men away, and had dragged two of them a good way, but had given
it over.
From thence they advanced to the first rising ground, where they had
stood and seen their camp destroyed, and where they had the mortification still
to see some of the smoke; but neither could they here see any of the savages.
They then resolved, although with all possible caution, to go forward, towards their
ruined plantation; but a little before they came thither, coming in sight of the
sea shore, they saw plainly the savages all embarked again in their canoes, in
order to be gone. They seemed sorry, at first, that there was no way to come
288
at them, to give them a parting blow; but, upon the whole, they were very well
satisfied to be rid of them.
The poor Englishmen being now twice ruined, and all their improvements
destroyed, the rest all agreed to come and help them to rebuild, and to assist them
with needful supplies. Their three countrymen, who were not yet noted for
having the least inclination to do any good, yet as soon as they heard of it (for
they living remote eastward, knew nothing of the matter till all was over), came
and offered their help and assistance, and did, very friendly, work for several
days, to restore their habitation, and inake necessaries for them. And thus,
in a little time, they were set upon their legs again.
About two days after this, they had the farther satisfaction of seeing three of
the savages' canoes come driving on shore, and at some distance from them, two
drowned men: by which they had reason to believe that they had met with a
storm at sea, which had overset some of them; for it had blown very hard the
night after they went off.
However, as some might miscarry, so, on the other hand, enough of them
escaped to inform the rest, as well of what they had done as of what had hap-
pened to them, and to whet them on to another enterprize of the same nature;
which they, it seems, resolved to attempt, with sufficient force to carry all before
them for, except what the first man had told them of inhabitants, they could
say little of it of their own knowledge, for they never saw one man; and the
fellow being killed that had affirmed it, they had no other witness to confirm ſt
to them.
:
It was five or six months after this before they heard any more of the savages,
in which time our men were in hopes they had either forgoten their former bad
luck, or given over hopes of better; when, on a sudden they were invaded with
a most formidable fleet of no less than eight and twenty canoes, full of savages,
armed with bows and arrows, great clubs, wooden swords, and such like engines
of war; and they brought such numbers with them, that, in short, it put all our
people into the utmost consternation.
As they came on shore in the evening, and at the eastermost side of the island,
our men had that night to consult and consider what to do; and, in the first
place, knowing that their being entirely concealed was their only safety before,
and would be much more so now, while the number of their enemies was so
great, they therefore resolved, first of all, to take down the buts which were built
for the two Englishmen, and drive away their goats to the old cave; because they
supposed the savages would go directly thither, as soon as it was day, to play the
old game over again, though they did not now land within two leagues of it. In
the next place, they drove away all the flock of goats they had at the old bower,
as I called it, which belonged to the Spaniards; and, in short, left as little ap-
pearance of inhabitants any where as was possible: and the next morning early
they posted themselves, with all their force, at the plantation of the two men, to
wait for their coming. As they guessed, so it happened: these new invaders
leaving their canoes at the east end of the island, came ranging along the shore,
directly towards the place, to the number of two hundred and fifty, as near as
our men could judge. Our army was but small, indeed: but that which was worse,
they had not arms for all their number neither. The whole account, it seems,
stood thus: first, as to men, 17 Spaniards, 5 Englishmen, old Friday (or Friday's
father), 3 slaves taken with the women, who proved very faithful, 3 other
slaves who lived with the Spaniards, in all 29. To arm these they had 11 muskets,
5 pistols, 3 fowling-pieces, 5 muskets or fowling-pieces, which were taken by me
from the mutinous seamen whom I reduced, 2 swords, and 3 old halberds. To their
slaves they did not give either musket or fuzil, but they had every oue a halberd,
or a long staff, like a quarter-staff, with a great spike of iron fastened into each
end of it, and by his side a hatchet; also every one of our men had a hatchet.
Two of the women could not be prevailed upon but they would come into the
fight, and they had bows and arrows, which the Spaniards had taken from the
289
savages when the first action happened, which I have spoken of, where the Indians
fought with one another: and the women had hatchets too.
The spaniard governor, whom I described so often, commanded the whole;
and Will Atkins, who, though a dreadful fellow for wickedness, was a most
daring, bold fellow, commanded under him. The savages came forward like
lions; and our men, which was the worst of their fate, had no advantage in their
situation; only that Will Atkins, who now proved a most useful fellow, with six
men, was planted just behind a small thicket of bushes, as an advanced guard,
with orders to let the first of them pass by, and then fire into the middle of them,
and as soon as he had fired, to make his retreat as nimble as he could, round a
part of the wood, and so come in behind the Spaniards, where they stood, having
a thicket of trees before them.
When the savages came on, they ran straggling about every way in heaps, out
of all manner of order, and Will Atkins let about fifty of them pass by him; then
seeing the rest come in a very thick throug, he orders three of his men to fire,
having loaded their muskets with six or seven bullets a-picce, about as big as
large pistol-bullets How many they killed or wounded they knew not; but the
consternation and surprise was inexpressible among the savages; they were
frightened to the last degree to hear such a dreadful noise, and see their men
killed, and others hurt, but see nobody that did it; when, in the middle of their
fright, Will Atkins and his other three let fly again among the thickest of them ;
and in less than a minute the first three, being loaded again, gave then a third
volley.
Had Will Atkins and his men retired immediately, as soon as they had fired,
as they were ordered to do, or had the rest of the body been at hand, to have
poured in their shot continually, the savages had been effectually routed; for
the terror that was among them came principally from this: that they were killed
by the gods with thunder and lightning, and could see nobody that hurt them;
but Will Atkins, staying to load again, discovered the cheat; some of the savages
who were at a distance, spying them, came upon them behind; and although
Atkins and his men fired at them also, two or three times, and killed above
twenty, retiring as fast as they could, yet they wounded Atkins himself, and
killed one of his fellow Englishmen with their arrows, as they did afterwards one
Spaniard and one of the Indian slaves who came with the women. This slave
was a most gallant fellow, and fought most desperately, killing five of them with
his own hand, having no weapon but one of the armed staves and a hatchet.
Our men being thus hard laid at, Atkins wounded, and two other men killed,
retreated to a rising ground in the wood; and the Spaniards, after firing three
vollies upon them, retreated also; for their number was so great, and they were
so desperate, that though above 50 of them were killed, and more than as many
wounded, yet they came on in the teeth of our men, fearless of danger, and shot
their arrows like a cloud; and it was observed that their wounded men, who
were not quite disabled, were made outrageous by their wounds, and fought like
madmen.
When our men retreated, they left the Spaniard and the Englishman that was
killed behind them; and the savages, when they came up to them, killed them
over again in a wretched manner, breaking their arms, legs and heads, with their
clubs and wooden swords, like true savages: but finding our men were gone, they
did not seem to pursue them, but drew themselves up in a ring, which is, it seems,
their custom, and shouted twice, in token of their victory; after which, they had
the mortification to see scveral of their wounded men fall, dying with the mere
loss of blood.
The spaniard governor having drawn his little body up together upon a rising
ground, Atkins, although he was wounded, would have had them march and
charge again altogether at once: but the Spaniard replied, "Senior Atkins, you
see how their wounded men fight, let them alone till morning; all the wounded
men will be stiff and sore with their wounds, and faint with the loss of blood;
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chronicle Edition.]
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290
and so we shall have the fewer to engage." This advice was good; but Will
Atkins replied merrily, "That is true, Senior, and so shall I too; and that is the
reason I would go on while I am warm. "Well, Senior Atkins," says the. Spa-
niard," you have behaved gallantly, and done your part; we will fight for you,
if you cannot come on; but I think it best to stay till morning: so they waited.
But as it was a clear moon-light night, and they found the savages in great
disorder about their dead and wounded men, and a great noise and hurry among
them where they lay, they afterwards resolved to fall upon them in the night;
especially if they could come to give them but one volley before they were dis-
covered, which they had a fair opportunity to do; for one of the two Englishinen,
in whose quarter it was where the fight began, led them round between the
woods and the sea-side westward, and then turning short south, they came so
near where the thickest of them lay, that, before they were seen or heard, eight
of them fired in among them, and did dreadful execution upon them; in half
a minute more, eight others fired after them, pouring in their small shot in such
a quantity, that abundance were killed and wounded; and all this while they
were not able to see who hurt them, or which way to fly.
The Spaniards charged again with the utmost expedition, and then divided
themselves into three bodies, and resolved to fall in among them all together.
They had in each body eight persons, that is to say, twenty-two men, and the
two women, who, by the way, fought desperately. They divided the fire arms
equally in each party, and so of the halberds and staves. They would have had
the women keep back, but they said they were resolved to die with their hus-
bands. Having thus formed their little army, they marched out from among
the trees, and came up to the teeth of the enemy, shouting and hollowing as
loud as they could: the savages stood all together, but were in the utmost con-
fusion, hearing the noise of our men shouting from three quarters together:
they would have fought if they had seen us; for as soon as we came near
enough to be seen, some arrows were shot, and poor old Friday was wounded,
though not dangerously: but our men gave them no time, but running up to
them, fired among them three ways, and then fell in with the but-ends of their
muskets, their swords, armed staves, and hatchets, and laid about them so well,
that, in a word, the others set up a dismal screaming and howling, flying to save
their lives which way soever they could.
Our men were tired with the execution, and killed or mortally wounded in
the two fights about 180 of them; the rest being frightened out of their wits,
scoured through the woods and over the hills, with all the speed fear and nimble
feet could help them to do; and as our men did not trouble themselves much
to pursue them, they got all together to the sea-side where they landed, and
where their canoes lay. But their disaster was not at an end yet; for it blew
a terrible storm of wind that evening from the sea, so that it was impossible for
them to go off; nay, the storm continuing all night, when the tide came up,
their canoes were most of them driven by the surge of the sea so high upon
the shore, that it required infinite toil to get them off; and some of them were
even dashed to pieces against the beach, or against one another.
Our men, though glad of their victory, yet got little rest that night; but having
refreshed themselves as well as they could, they resolved to march to that part
of the island where the savages were fled, and see what posture they were in.
This necessarily led them over the place where the fight had been, and where
they found several of the poor creatures not quite dead, and yet past recovering
life; a sight disagreeable enough to generous minds; for a truly great man,
though obliged by the law of battle to destroy his enemy, takes no delight in his
misery. However, there was no need to give any orders in this case; for their
own savages, who were their servants, dispatched these poor creatures with
their hatchets.
At length, they came in view of the place where the more miserable remains
of the savages army lay, where there appeared about an hundred still: their
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291
posture was generally sitting upon the ground, with their knees up towards their
mouth, and the head put between the two hands, leaning down upon the
knees.
When our men came within two musket-shots of them, the spaniard governor
ordered two muskets to be fired, without ball, to alarm them: this he did, that
by their countenance he might know what to expect, viz. whether they were
still in heart to fight, or were so heartily beaten as to be dispirited and discou-
raged, and so he might manage accordingly. This stratagem took; for as soon
as the savages heard the first gun and saw the flash of the second, they started
up upon their feet in the greatest consternation imaginable and as our men
advanced swiftly towards them, they all ran screaming and yelling away, with a
kind of howling noise, which our men did not understand, and had never heard
before; and thus they run up the hills into the country.
At first our men had much rather the weather had been calm, and they had
all gone away to sea; but they did not then consider that this might probably
have been the occasion of their coming again in such multitudes as not to be
resisted, or, at least, to come so many, and so often, as would quite desolate the
island, and starve them. Will Atkins, therefore, who, notwithstanding his wound,
kept always with them, proved the best counsellor in this case: his advice was
to take the advantage that offered, and clap in between them and their boats,
and so deprive them of the capacity of ever returning any more to plague the
island.
They consulted long about this; and some were against it, for fear of making
the wretches fly to the woods and live there desperate, and so they should have
them to hunt like wild beasts, be afraid to stir out about their business, and have
their plantations continually rifled, all their tame goats destroyed, and, in short,
be reduced to a life of continual distress. Will Atkins told then they had better
have to do with an hundred men than with an hundred nations; that as they
must destroy their boats, so they must destroy the men, or be all of them de-
stroyed themselves. In a word, he showed them the necessity of it so plainly,
that they all came into it; so they went to work immediately with the boats, and
getting some dry wood together from a dead tree, they tried to set some of them
on fire, but they were so wet that they would not burn; however, the fire so
burned the upper part, that it soon made them unfit for swimming in the sca as
boats. When the Indians saw what they were about, some of them came run-
ning out of the woods, and coming as near as they could to our men, kneeled
down and cried, “Oa, Oa, Waramokoa," and soine other words of their language,
which none of the others understood any thing of; but as they made pitiful
gestures and strange noises, it was easy to understand they begged to have their
boats spared, and that they would be gone, and never come there again. But our
men were now satisfied that they had no way to preserve themselves, or to save
their colony, but effectually to prevent any of these people from ever going home
again depending upon this, that if even so much as one of them got back into
their country to tell the story, the colony was undone; so that letting them know
that they should not have any mercy, they fell to work with their canoes, and
destroyed them every one that the storm had not destroyed before; at the sight
of which the savages raised a hideous cry in the woods, which our people heard
plain enough, after which they ran about the island like distracted men; so that,
in a word, our men did not really know at first what to do with them. Nor
did the Spaniards, with all their prudence, consider, that while they made those
people thus desperate, they ought to have kept a good guard at the same time
upon their plantations; for though, it is true, they had driven away their cattle,
and the Indians did not find out their main retreat, I mean my old castle at the
hill, nor the cave in the valley, yet they found out my plantation at the bower,
and pulled it all to pieces, and all the fences and planting about it; trod all the
corn under foot, tore up the vines and grapes, being just then almost ripe, and
did our men an inestimable damage, though to themselves not one farthing's
worth of service.
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292
Though our men were able to fight them upon all occasions, yet they were in
no condition to pursue them, or hunt them up and down; for as they were too
nimble of foot for our men, when they found them single, so our men durst not
go abroad single, for fear of being surrounded with their numbers. The best
was, they had no weapons; for though they had bows, they had no arrows left,
nor any materials to make any: nor had they any edged tool or weapon among
them.
The extremity and distress they were reduced to was great, and indeed deplor-
able; but, at the same time, our men were also brought to very bad circum-
stances by them; for though their retreats were preserved, yet their provision
was destroyed, and their harvest spoiled; and what to do, or which way to turn
themselves, they knew not. The only refuge they had now was the stock of
cattle they had in the valley by the cave, and some little corn which grew there,
and the plantation of the three Englishmen (Will Atkins and his comrades), who
were now reduced to two; one of them being killed by an arrow, which struck
him on the side of his head, just under the temples, so that he never spoke more :
and it was very remarkable, that this was the same barbarous fellow who cut the
poor savage slave with his hatchet, and who afterwards intended to have mur-
dered the Spaniards.
I looked upon their case to have been worse at this time than mine was at any
time, after I first discovered the grains of barley and rice, and got into the man-
ner of planting and raising tny corn, and my tame cattle; for now they had, as
my
I may say, an hundred wolves upon the island, which would devour every thing
they could come at, yet could be hardly come at themselves.
When they saw what their circumstances were, the first thing they concluded
was, that they would, if possible, drive them up to the farther part of the island,
south-east, that if any more savages came on shore they might not find one
another: then that they would daily hunt and harass them, and kill as many of
them as they could come at, until they had reduced their number; and if they
could at last tame them, and bring them to any thing, they would give them corn,
and teach them how to plant, and live upon their daily labour.
In order to this, they so followed them, and so terrified them with their guns,
that in a few days if any of them fired a gun at an Indian, if he did not hit him,
yet he would fall down for fear; and so dreadfully frightened they were, that
they kept out of sight farther and farther; till, at last, our men following them,
and almost every day killing or wounding some of them, they kept up in the woods
or hollow places so much, that it reduced them to the utmost misery for want of
food; and many were afterwards found dead in the woods, without any hurt,
absolutely starved to death.
When our men found this, it made their hearts relent, and pity moved them,
especially the spaniard governor, who was the most gentleman-like, generous
minded man, that ever I met with in my life; and he proposed, if possible, to
take one of them alive, and bring him to understand what they meant, so far as
to be able to act as interpreter, and go among them, and see if they might be
brought to some conditions that might be depended upon, to save their lives and
do us no harm.
It was some while before any of them could be taken; but being weak and
half-starved, one of them was at last surprised and made a prisoner. He was
sullen at first, and would neither eat or drink; but finding himself kindly used,
and victuals given him, and no violence offered him, he at last grew tractable, and
came to himself. They brought old Friday to him, who talked often with him,
and told him how kind the others would be to them all; that they would not only
save their lives, but would give them part of the island to live in, provided they
would give satisfaction that they would keep in their own bounds, and not come
beyond it to injure or prejudice others; and that they should have corn given
them to plant and make it grow for their bread, and some bread given them for
their present subsistence: and old Friday bade the fellow go and talk with the
293
rest of his countrymen, and see what they said to it; assuring them, that if they
did not agree immediately, they should be all destroyed.
The poor wretches, thoroughly humbled, and reduced in number to about
thirty-seven, closed with the proposal at the first offer, and begged to have
some food given them; upon which, twelve Spaniards and two Englishmen, well
armed, with three Indian slaves and old Friday, marched to the place where they
were. The three Indian slaves carried them a large quantity of bread, soine
rice boiled up to cakes and dried in the sun, and three live goats; and they were
ordered to go to the side of a hill, where they sat down, ate their provisions very
thankfully, and were the most faithful fellows to their words that could be
thought of; for, except when they came to beg victuals and directions, they
never came out of their bounds: and there they lived when I came to the island,
and I went to see them.
They had taught them both to plant corn, make bread, breed tame goats, and
milk them: they wanted nothing but wives, and they soon would have been a
nation. They were confined to a neck of land, surrounded with high rocks
behind them, and lying plain towards the sea before them, on the south-east
corner of the island. They had land enough, and it was very good and fruitful;
about a mile and a half broad, and three or four miles in length.
Our men taught them to make wooden spades, such as I made for myself, and
gave among them twelve hatchets and three or four knives; and there they lived,
the most subjected innocent creatures that ever were heard of.
•
After this, the colony enjoyed a perfect tranquillity with respect to the savages
till I came to revisit them, which was about two years after; not but that, now
and then, some canoes of savages came on shore for their triumphal unnatural
feasts;
but as they were of several nations, and perhaps had never heard of
those that came before, or the reason of it, they did not make any search or
inquiry after their countrymen; and if they had, it would have been very hard
to have found them out.
Thus, I think, I have given a full account of all that happened to them till my
return, at least, that was worth notice. The Indians or savages were wonder-
fully civilized by them, and they frequently went among them; but forbid, on
pain of death, any one of the Indians coming to them, because they would not
have their settlement betrayed again. One thing was very remarkable, viz. that
they taught the savages to make wicker-work, or baskets, but they soon outdid
their masters; for they made abundance of most ingenious things in wicker-
work, particularly all sorts of baskets, sieves, bird cages, cup-boards, &c. as
also chairs to sit on, stools, beds, couches, and abundance of other things; being
very ingenious at such work, when they were once put in the way of it.
My coming was a particular relief to these people, because we furnished them.
with knives, scissars, spades, shovels, pick-axes, and all things of that kind which
they could want. With the help of those tools they were so very handy, that they
came at last to build up their huts or houses, very handsomely, raddling or working
it up like basket-work all the way round; which was a very extraordinary piece of
ingenuity, and looked very odd, but was an exceeding good fence, as well against
heat, as against all sorts of vermin; and our men were so taken with it, that they
got the wild savages to come and do the like for them; so that when I came to
see the two Englishmen's colonies, they looked, at a distance, as if they all lived
like bees in a hive, As for Will Atkins, who was now become a very industrious,
useful, and sober fellow, he had made himself such a tent of basket-work, as, I
believe, was never seen; it was 120 paces round on the outside, as I measured
by my steps; the walls were as close worked as a basket, in pannels or squares
thirty-two in number, and very strong, standing about seven feet high in the
middle was another not above 22 paces round, but built stronger, being octagon
in its form, and in the eight corners stood eight very strong posts; round the top
of which he laid strong pieces, pinned together with wooden pins, from which he
294
raised a pyramid for the roof of eight rafters, very handsome, I assure you, and
joined together very well, though he had no nails, and only a few iron spikes,
which he had made himself too, out of the old iron that I had left there; and,
indeed, this fellow showed abundance of ingenuity in several things which he had
no knowledge of: he made him a forge, with a pair of wooden bellows to blow
the fire; he made himself charcoal for his work; and he formed out of the
iron crows a middling good anvil to hammer upon: in this manner he made many
things, but especially hooks, staples and spikes, bolts and hinges.-But, to return
to the house: After he had pitched the roof of his innermost tent, he worked it
up between the rafters with basket-work, so firm, and thatched that over again
so ingeniously with rice-straw, and over that a large leaf of a tree, which co-
vered the top, that his house was as dry as if it had been tiled or slated. Indeed,
he owned that the savages had made the basket-work for him. The outer cir
cuit was covered as a lean-to, all round this inner apartment, and long rafters
lay from the thirty-two angles to the top-posts of the inner house, being about
twenty feet distant; so that there was a space like a walk within the outer
wall, and without the inner, near twenty feet wide.
The inner place he partitioned off with the same wicker-work, but much
fairer, and divided it into six apartments, so that he had six rooms on a floor,
and out of every one of these there was a door; first into the entry, or coming
into the main tent, another door into the main tent, and another door into the
space or walk that was round it; so that walk was also divided into six equal
parts, which served not only for a retreat, but to store up any necessaries which
the family had occasion for. These six spaces not taking up the whole circum-
ference, what other apartments the outer circle had were thus ordered :-As soon
as you were in at the door of the outer circle, you had a short passage strait
before you to the door of the inner house; but on either side was a wicker par-
tition, and a door in it, by which you went first into a large room, or storehouse,
twenty feet wide, and about thirty feet long, and through that into another, not
quite so long; so that in the outer circle were ten handsome rooms, six of which
were only to be come at through the apartments of the inner tent, and served as
closets or retiring rooms to the respective chambers of the inner circle, and four
large warehouses, or barns, or what you please to call them, which went through
one another, two on either hand of the passage, that led through the outer door
to the inner tent.
Such a piece of basket work, I believe, was never seen in the world, nor a
house or tent so neatly contrived, much less so built. In this great bee-hive
lived the three families, that is to say, Will Atkins and his companion; the third
was killed, but his wife remained, with three children, for she was, it seems, big
with child when he died: and the other two were not at all backward to give the
widow her full share of every thing, I mean, as to their corn, milk, grapes, &c.
and when they killed a kid, or found a turtle on the shore; so that they all lived
well enough; though, it was true, they were not so industrious as the other two,
as has been observed already.
One thing, however, cannot be omitted, viz. that as for religion, I do not
know that there was any thing of that kind among them: they often, indeed,
put one another in mind that there was a God, by the very common
method of scamen, viz. swearing by his name: nor were their poor ignorant
savage wives much better for having been married to Christians, as we must call
them; for as they knew very little of God themselves, so they were utterly in-
capable of entering into any discourse with their wives about a God, or to talk
any thing to them concerning religion.
See page 151. The editor of Journal du Physique, published at Genoa, states that,
by causing a very strong galvanic battery to act on a mass of charcoal, a sul stance
has been produced which appears to have the greatest resemblance to diamond: he
adds, that he has in his possession a diamond on which there are several black points
similar to charcoal.
295
The utmost of all the improvement which I can say the wives had made from
them was, that they had taught them to speak English pretty well; and most
of their children, which were near twenty in all, were taught to speak English
too, from their first learning to speak, though they at first spoke it in a very
broken manner, like their mothers. There was none of these children above
six years old when I came thither, for it was not much above seven years
that they had fetched these five savage ladies over; but they had all been
pretty fruitful, for they had all children, more or less; I think the cook's mate's
wife was big of her sixth child; and the mothers were all a good sort of well-
governed, quiet, laborious women, modest and decent, helpful to one another,
mighty observant and subject to their masters (I cannot call them husbands)
and wanted nothing but to be well instructed in religion, and to be legally mar
ried; both which were happily brought about afterwards by my means, or, at
least, in consequence of my coming among them.
Having thus given an account of the colony in general, and pretty much of
iny runagate* English, I must say something of the Spaniards, who were the
main body of the family, and in whose story there are some incidents also
remarkable enough.
I had a great many discourses with them about their circumstances when they
were among the savages. They told me readily that they had no instances to give
of their application or ingenuity in that country; that they were a poor, misera-
ble, dejected handful of people; that if means had been put into their hands, yet
they had so abandoned themselves to despair, and so sunk under the weight of
their misfortune, that they thought of nothing but starving. One of them, a grave
and sensible man, told me he was convinced they were in the wrong; that it was
not the part of wise men to give themselves up to their misery, but always to take
hold of the helps which reason offered, as well for present support as for future
deliverance: he told me that grief was the most senseless insignificant passion
in the world, for that it regarded only things past, which were generally impos
sible to be recalled, or to be remedied, but had no views of things to come,
and had no share in any thing that looked like deliverance, but rather added to
the affliction than proposed a remedy; and upon this he repeated a spanish pro-
verb, which, though I cannot repeat in just the same words that he spoke it in,
yet I remember I made it into an English proverb of my own, thus:
In trouble to be troubled,
Is to have your trouble doubled.
He ran on then in remarks upon all the little improvements I had made in
my solitude; my unwearied application, as he called it, and how I had made a
condition which in its circumstances was at first much worse than theirs, a
thousand times more happy than theirs was, even now when they were all toge-
ther. He told me it was remarkable that Englishmen had a greater presence of
mind, in their distress, than any people that ever he met with that their unhap-
py nation and the Portuguese were the worst men in the world to struggle with
misfortunes; for that their first step in dangers, after the common efforts were
over, was to despair, lie down under it, and die, without rousing their thoughts
up to proper remedies for escape.
:
I told him their case and mine differed exceedingly; that they were cast upon
the shore without necessaries, without supply of food or present sustenance,
till they could provide it; that, it was true, I had this disadvantage and discomfort,
that I was alone; but then the supplies I had providentially thrown into my
hands, by the unexpected driving of the ship on shore, was such a help as would
have encouraged any creature in the world to have applied himself as I had
done. Senior," says the Spaniard," had we poor Spaniards been in your
* RUNAGATE:—from the spanish renegado, in a general sense signifies a rambling
or moving fellow; but is generally limited in a moral signification to religious apostasy.
296
case, we should never have got half those things out of the ship, as you did :
nay," says he, “ we should never have found means to have got a raft to carry
them, or to have got the raft on shore without boat or sail: and how much less
should we have done if any of us had been alone?" Well, I desired him to abate
his compliment, and go on with the history of their coming on shore, where
they landed. He told me they unhappily landed at a place where there
were people without provisions; whereas, had they had the common sense
to have put off to sea again, and gone to another island a little farther,
they had found provisions, though without people; there being an island that
way, as they been told, where there were provisions, though no people;
that is to say, that the Spaniards of Trinidad had frequently been there,
and had filled the island with goats and hogs at several times, where they
had bred in such multitudes, and where turtle and sea-fowls were in such
plenty, that they could have been in no want of flesh, though they had found
no bread; whereas here they were only sustained with a few roots and herbs
which they understood not, and which had no substance in them, and which the
inhabitants gave them sparingly enough; and who could treat them no better,
unless they would turn canibals, and eat inen's flesh, which was the great dainty
of their country.
* TRINIDAD:see page 180. There exists a physical difference between the Au-
tilles in general and the two islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The former are the summits
of a granitic chain; whereas the latter are a prolongation of the schistus hills and
plains of the S. American coast. Their indigenous plants differ respectively. The
periodical hurricanes also are bounded by that larger passage which separates the Antil
les from Tobago; and which not improperly might be named the strait of Colon, or of
Columbus. It appears from the information of LAS-CASAS, (Bishop of Chiapa) to the
Emperor CHARLES V. that most of the natives of Trinidad were of the same nation as
those which peopled Ayti, or Hespaniola, Cuba, Xaymaca, or Jamaica and Boriquen, or
Porto-rico; the natural strength and extent of all these islands having protected them
in a great measure from the depredations of the Caraïbes. It has been elsewhere
observed that they were considered by these latter as descended from a colony of
Aroaks or Arwacks, a people of Guiana. The evidence of RALEIGH, and of other
early navigators who visited both Guiana and Trinidad might be adduced in support of
this opinion: and these authorities bear honorable testimony to the noble qualities
which distinguish this race of Indians (to make use of a familiar although improper
designation). It is probable that all the various nations of this part of the new-world,
(except only the Caraïbes,) emigrated antiently from the great hive of the mexican
empire. (PET. MART. iii, 10.) The editor is inclined to consider FRIDAY as an
Arwak, and the other savages as Caraïbes or Calibis: although it must be confessed
that prisoner and his captors are described as having some barbarous qualities and
propensities in common. Indeed the historians of those countries accord in attesting
the prevalence of canibalism among most of these tribes. This custom is so repug-
nant to our feelings, that for a century past, until the late discoveries of a similar
practice in the countries of the Pacific ocean, the philosophers of Europe impeached
The veracity of the most antient and eminent voyagers who had recorded it's existence.
BANCROFT (History of Guiana) limited it to the Caraïbes exclusively. Even LABAT,
who resided in the West-Indies at a period when some of the islands still remained in
their possession, declares his opinion that instances of this abominable practice among
them, were at all times extremely rare; the effect only of a sudden impulse of revenge
arising from extraordinary injury and he denies that they ever made excursions
to the other islands for the premeditated purpose of seizing any of the inhabitants
to be eaten. But amongst this race upon the continent the proof that this practice
has subsisted down to a very recent time is incontestible. The custom of eating
human bodies excites our abhorrence: but after all it may be doubted whether this
horror does not arise as much from the bias of education, as from spontaneous dictates
of nature. And even for the Caraïbes it must be allowed that their friendship was as
warm as their enmity was implacable. Those of Guiana (says B. EDWARDS,) still
cherish the tradition of RALEIGH's alliance; and BANCROFT's authority may be
quoted for the flattering tale that these Caraïbes preserve the english ensigns which
RALEIGH left with them at parting.
297
They gave me an account how many ways they strove to civilize the savages
they were with, and to teach them rational customs in the ordinary way of
living, but in vain; and how they retorted it upon them, as unjust, that they,
who came there for assistance and support, should attempt to set up for
instructors of those that gave them food; intimating, it seems, that none should
set up for the instructors of others but those who could live without them.
They gave me dismal accounts of the extremities they were driven to; how
sometimes they were many days without any food at all, the island they were
upon being inhabited by a sort of savages that lived more indolent, and for that
reason were less supplied with the necessaries of life, than they had reason to
believe others were in the same part of the world; and yet they found that these
savages were less ravenous and voracious than those who had better supplies of
food. Also they added, they could not but sec with what demonstrations of
wisdom and goodness the governing providence of God directs the events of
things in the world; which, they said, appeared in their circumstances; for, if
pressed by the hardships they were under, and the barrennes of the country
where they were, they had searched after a better to live in, they had then
been out of the way of the relief that happened to them by my means.
They then gave me an account how the savages whom they lived among ex-
pected them to go out with them into their wars and it was true, that as they
had fire-arms with them, had they not had the disaster to lose their ammunition,
they should have been serviceable not only to their friends, but have made them-
selves terrible both to friends and enemies; but being without powder and shot,
and yet in a condition that they could not in reason deny to go out with their
landlords to their wars, so when they came into the field of battle, they were in a
worse condition than the savages themselves; for they had neither bows nor ar-
rows, nor could they use those the savages gave them; so they could do nothing
but stand still, and be wounded with arrows, till they came up to the teeth of their
cuemy; and then, indeed, the three halberds they had were of use to them; and
they would often drive a whole little army before them with those halberds, and
sharpened sticks put into the muzzles of their muskets: but that, for all this, they
were sometimes surrounded with multitudes, and in great danger from their
arrows, till at last they found the way to make themselves large targets of wood
which they covered with skins of wild beasts, whose names they knew not, and
these covered them from the arrows of the savages; that, notwithstanding these,
they were sometimes in great danger; and five of them were once knocked down
together with the clubs of the savages, which was the time when one of them
was taken prisoner, that is to say, the Spaniard whom I had relieved; that at first
they thought he had been killed; but when they afterwards heard he was taken
prisoner, they were under the greatest grief imaginable, and would willingly have
all ventured their lives to have rescued him.
They told me that when they were so knocked down, the rest of their company
rescued them, and stood over them fighting till they were come to themselves, all
but him who, they thought, had been dead; and then they made their way with
their halberds and pieces, standing close together in a line, through a body of
above a thousand savages, beating down all that came in their way, got the
victory over their enemies, but to their great sorrow, because it was with the
loss of their friend, whom the other party, finding him alive, carried off, with
some others, as I gave an account before.
They described most affectionately how they were surprised with joy at the
return of their friend and companion in misery, who, they thought, had been
devoured by wild beasts of the worst kind, by wild men; and yet how more and
more they were surprised with the account he gave them of his erraud, and that
there was an European in any place ncar, much more one that was able, and had
humanity enough to contribute to their deliverance.
They described how they were astonished at the sight of the relief I sent
them, and at the appearance of loaves of bread, things they had not seen since
298
their coming to that miserable place; how often they crossed and blessed it as
bread sent from Heaven; and what a reviving cordial it was to their spirits to
taste it, as also the other things I had sent for their supply: and, after all, they
would have told me something of the joy they were in at the sight of a boat and
pilots, to carry them away to the person and place from whence all these new
comforts came; but it was impossible to express it by words, for their excessive
joy naturally driving them to unbecoming extravagancies, they had no way to
describe them, but by telling me they bordered upon lunacy, having no way to
give vent to their passions suitable to the sense that was upon them; that in some
it worked one way, and in some another; and that some of them, through a
surprise of joy, would burst into tears, others be stark mad, and others imme-
diately faint. This discourse extremely affected me and called to my mind
Friday's extasy when he met his father, and the poor people's extasy when I took
them up at sea after their ship was on fire; the joy of the mate of the ship when
he found himself delivered in the place where he expected to perish; and my
own joy, when, after twenty-eight years captivity, I found a good ship ready to
carry me to my own country. All these things made me more sensible of the
relation of these poor men, and more affected with it.
Having thus given a view of the state of things as I found them, I must relate the
heads of what I did for these people, and the condition in which I left them. It
was their opinion, and mine too, that they would be troubled no more with
the savages or if they were they would be able to cut them off, if they were twice
as many as before; so they had no concern about that. Then I entered into a
serious discourse with the Spaniard, whom I call governor, about their stay in
the island; for as I was not come to carry them off, so it would not be
just to carry off some and leave others, who, perhaps, would be unwilling to
stay if their strength was diminished. On the other hand, I told them I came
to establish them there, not to remove them: and then I let them know that I
had brought with me relief of sundry kinds for them; that I had been at a
great charge to supply them with all things necessary, as well for their con-
venience as defence; and that I had such and such particular persons with
me, as well to increase and recruit their number, as by the particular neces-
sary employments which they were bred to being artificers, to assist them in
those things in which at present they were in want.
They were all together when I talked thus to them; and before I delivered to
them the stores I had brought, I asked them, one by one, if they had entirely
forgot and buried the first animosities that had been among them, and would
shake hands with one another, and engage in a strict friendship and union of
interest, that so there might be no more misunderstandings or jealousies.
Will Atkins, with abundance of fraukness and good humour, said, they had
met with affliction enough to make them all sober, and enemies enough to make
them all friends; that for his part, he would live and die with them; and was
so far from designing any thing against the Spaniards, that he owned they had
done nothing to him but what his own mad humour made necessary, and what
he would have done, and perhaps worse, in their case; and that he would ask
them pardon, if I desired it, for the foolish and brutish things he had done to
them, and was very willing and desirous of living in terms of entire friendship
and union with them; and would do any thing that lay in his power to convince
them of it and as for going to England, he cared not if he did not go thither
these twenty years.
The Spaniards said, they had, indeed, at first disarmed and excluded Will
Atkins and his two countrymen for their ill conduct, as they had let me know, and
they appealed to me for the necessity they were under to do so; but that Will
Atkins had behaved himself so bravely in the great fight they had with the
savages, and on several occasions since, and had showed himself so faithful to,
and concerned for, the general interest of them all, that they had forgotten all
that was past, and thought he merited as much to be trusted with arms, and
supplied with necessaries, as any of them; and they had testified their satis-
299
faction in him, by committing the command to him, next to the governor him-
self: and as they had entire confidence in him, and all his countrymen, so they
acknowledged they had merited that confidence by all the methods that honest
meu could merit to be valued and trusted: and they most heartily embraced the
occasion of giving me this assurance, that they would never have any interest
separate from one another.
Upon these frank and open declarations of friendship, we appointed the next
day to dine all together; and, indeed, we made a splendid feast. I caused the
ship's cook and his mate to come on shore and dress our dinner, and the old
cook's mate we had on shore assisted. We brought on shore six pieces of good
beef, and four pieces of pork, out of the ship's provision, with our punch-
bowl,* and materials to fill it; and, in particular, I gave them ten bottles of
french claret, and ten bottles of english beer; things that neither the Spaniards
nor the english had tasted for many years, and which, it may be supposed, they
* PUNCH:-the name of a sort of compound drink, frequent in England, and par-
ticularly about the maritime parts thereof. Its basis is spring water, which, being ren-
dered cooler, brisker, and more acid, with lemon-juice, and sweetened again to the
palate with fine sugar, makes what they call sherbet, to which a proper quantity of a
spirituous liquor, as brandy, rum, or arrak, being superadded, the liquor commences
punch. Several authors condemn the use of punch, as prejudicial to the brain, and
nervous system. Dr. CHEYNE insists that there is but one wholesome ingredient in it;
viz. the water. The proportions of the ingredients are various: some, instead of lemon-
juice, use lime-juice: this is found less liable to affect the head, as well as more grateful
to the stomach. Some also make milk-punch, by adding near as much milk to the sherbet
as there is water, which tempers the acrimony of the lemon. Others prefer tea-punch,
made of green tea instead of water, and drank hot. Lastly, what they call "lady's punch,"
or punch for chambermaids, is made without any water, of lime-juice, sharpened with
a little orange and lemon-juice; twice as much white wine as lemon-juice, and four
times as much brandy, with sugar. This beverage has furnished occasion for a happy
instance of that solenin trifling to which erudits are sometimes addicted. In the french
version of SESTINI's letters (1789), is the following elaborate recipe for making punch,
by the translator, Mr. PINGERON:" L'augmentation du commerce des citrons cessera
de paraître surprenante quand on refléchira sur le progres de l'Anglomanie dans toute
l'Europe. Le Punch est aujourd'hui connu de tout le monde. On en prépare dans tout
les cafés, et méme du negus, espéce de punch fait avec du suc d'orange, du vin rouge, du
sucre, et des aromates. Or, le jus de citron est la base du punch, avec l'eau-de-vie-de-
sucre, [rum] ou tafia, [arrak ?] et à son défaut, l'eau-de-vie ordinaire [brandy]. On
prend, pour faire cette boisson, une quantité de citrons bien juteux, c'est à dire, ayant
beaucoup de suc, proportionnée à la grandeur du bowl, ou coupe de puuch que l'on veut
boire. On les roule sur un marbre, en les pressant fortement avec la main, pour les disposer
à rendre, non seulement tout leur suc, mais encore une portion de l'huile essentielle et aro-
matique qui réside dans leur écorce. On les coup ensuite en deux, dans le sens de leur petit
axe, ou vers le milieu de leur longueur, et l'on en exprime le suc dans une grande coupe;
-on y ajoute ensuite l'eau-de-vie-de-sucre, ou l'eau-de-vie commune, avec de l'eau bouillante
en suffisante qantitié pour tempérer un peu la violence de cette dernière liqueur. On ajoute
ensuite quelque peu de canelle, ou de girofle, si l'on veut que cette boisson soit aromatique.
Lorsque les Anglais mettent du lait dans leur punch pour suppléer à l'eau, ils lui donnent
alors le surnom de Bishop, c'est à dire, de boisson d'évêque. Ce punch est, dit-on, ami
de la poitrine dans cette circonstance!!! In the sentence introductory of this french
anecdote, the editor has ventured to use the somewhat novel term " erudit," in order
to describe a member of society who seems to bear the same proportion to a philosopher
that an annalist does to an historian. Erudition is a rod in the hand of PRIDEAUX;
a sceptre in that of GIBBON. MILTON thus describes the erudit :-" Uncertain and
unsettled still remains; deep versed in books, and shallow in himself; crude or intox-
icate, collecting toys, as children gathering pebbles on the shore." (Paradise regained.)
The editor has been favoured with this authentic recipe for compounding what is em-
phatically entituled "Punch-royal: R Green tea (infusion of), 1 quart; brandy, 1
pint; rum, 1 pint; arrak, 1 pint; lemon-juice, pint; lime-juice, pint; orange
(seville) juice, pint; sugar, 176. mix.
I
2
500
were very glad of. The Spaniards added to our feast five whole kids, which the
cooks roasted; and three of them were sent, covered up close, on board the ship
to the seamen, that they might feast on fresh meat from on shore, as we did
with their salt-meat* from on board.
* SALT-MEAT:--the difficulty attending the renewal of this article of sea-provisions
when abroad, more especially in tropical climates, and indeed the ignorance generally
prevailing concerning the process of curing flesh intended for long keeping, has led
the editor to think that the practical result of experiments made by three distinguished
english mariners, and by an eminent naval physician, may prove particularly acceptable
to the nautical readers of this edition. He has, therefore, extracted from that rich store
of useful information disseminated in the volumes of the Baval Chronicle, the three
following recipes for salting meat (of practicable use afloat as well as on shore) sanctioned
respectively by the names of men who did not deem it beneath their dignity to descend
to the humblest details of their profession.
Admiral Sir CHARLES KNOWLES's recipe to salt meat.
So soon as the ox is killed, let it be skinned, and cut up into pieces fit for use, as
quick as possible, and be salted whilst the meat is hot; for which purpose have a
sufficient quantity of salt-petre and bay-salt, powdered together, and made hot in an oven,
of each equal parts; with this sprinkle the meat, at the rate of about two ounces to the
pound. Then lay the pieces on shelving boards to drain, for 24 hours; which done,
turn them, and repeat the same operation, and let them lie for twenty-four hours
Jonger, by which time the salt will be all melted, will have penetrated the meat, and
the pieces be well drained. Each piece must then be wiped dry with clean coarse
cloths, and a sufficient quantity of common salt be made hot likewise in an oven, and
mixed, when taken out, with about one third of brown sugar. The casks being ready,
rub each piece well with this mixture, and pack them well down, allowing about half
a pound of the salt and sugar to each pound of meat: it will keep good several years,
and eat very fresh. N. B. It is best to proportion the casks or barrels to the quantity
consumed at a time, as the seldomer it is exposed to the air the better: the same
process does for pork, only a larger quantity of salt, and less sugar; but the preserva-
tion of both depends equally upon the meat being hot when first salted. . C. ii, 97.
Admiral VERNON's recipe to cure beef.
Take four gallons of good water, to which add one pound and a half of good musca-
vado sugar, six or eight ounces of salt petre, and eight pounds of common salt. Let these
be boiled, and when the liquor is cold, it is fit for use. The sooner the meat is cut up
after the ox is killed the better. Sprinkle each piece of meat with equal parts of common
salt, and brown sugar, mixed together. Let the meat drain twelve hours, and repeat
the operation, first turning the meat: after having drained twelve hours, wipe the
meat with a clean cloth, and rub it well with the salt and sugar mixed. Put it into the
cask, and pour the liquor on, so as to cover the meat. The same process cures tongues.
The Method practised by Captain Coox, at Otaheite, and the Sandwich
Islands, to cure Pork in an hot climate.
It has generally been thought impracticable to cure the flesh of animals by salting,
in tropical climates; the progress of putrefaction being so rapid, as not to allow time
for the salt to take, as they express it, before the meat gets a taint, which prevents the
effect of the pickle. We do not find that experiments relative to this subject, have been
made by the navigators of any nation before Captain Coox. In his first trials, which
were made in 1774, during his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean, the success he met
with, though very imperfect was yet sufficient to convince him of the error of the re-
ceived opinion. As the voyage, in which he was then engaged, was likely to be pro-
tracted a year beyond the time for which the ships had been victualled, he was under
the necessity of providing, by some such means, for the subsistence of the crews, or of
relinquishing the further prosecution of his discoveries. He, therefore, lost no oppor-
tunity of renewing his attempts, and the event answered his most sanguine expec
tations.
The hogs which he made use of for this purpose, were of various sizes, weighing
from four to twelve stone (14lb.) The time of slaughtering was always in the afternoon,
and as soon as the hair was scalded off, and the entrails removed, the hog was divided
into pieces of four or eight pounds each, the bones of the legs and of the chine taken
out; and, in the larger sort, the ribs also. Every piece then being carefully wiped and
examined, and the veins cleared of the coagulated blood, they were handed to the
301
After this reast, at which we were very innocently merry, I brought out mỹ
cargo of goods; wherein, that there might be no dispute about dividing, I show-
ed them that there was a sufficiency for them all, desiring that they might all
take an equal quantity of the goods that were for wearing; that is to say, equal
when made up. As, first, I distributed linen sufficient to make every one of
them four shirts, and, at the Spaniards' request, afterwards made them up six:
these were exceeding comfortable to them, having been what, as I may say,
they had long since forgot the use of, or what it was to wear them. I allotted
the thin english stuffs, which I mentioned before, to make every one a light
coat like a frock, which I judged fittest for the heat of the season, cool and
loose; and ordered that whenever they decayed they should make more, as
they thought fit; the like for pumps, shoes, stockings, hats, &c.
I cannot express what pleasure, what satisfaction sat upon the countenances
of all these poor men, when they saw the care I had taken of them, and how
well I had furnished them. They told me I was a father to them; and that
having such a correspondent as I was in so remote a part of the world, it would
make them forget that they were left in a desolate place; and they all voluntarily
engaged to me not to leave the place without my consent.
4
Then I presented to them the people I had brought with me; particularly the
tailor, the smith, and the two carpenters, all of them most necessary people;
but, above all, my general artificer, than whom they could not name any thing
that was more useful to them; and the tailor, to shew his concern for them, went
to work immediately, and, with my leave, made them every one a shirt, the first
salters, whilst the flesh remained still warm. After they had been well rubbed with
salt, they were placed in an heap, on a stage raised in the open air, covered with planks,
and pressed with the heaviest weights we could lay upon them. In this situation they
remained until the next evening, when they were again well wiped, and examined,
and the suspicious parts taken away. They were then put into a tub of strong pickle,
where they were always looked over, once or twice a day; and if any pieces had not
taken the salt, which was readily discovered by the smell of the pickle, they were
immediately taken out, re-examined, and the sound pieces put into fresh pickle. This,
however, after the precautions before used, seldom happened. After six days, they
were taken out, exainined for the last time, and being again slightly pressed, they were
packed in barrels, with a thin layer of salt between them. Some barrels of this pork,
pickled at Owhyee in January 1779, were brought to England, where it was tasted by
several persons about Christmas 1780, and found to be perfectly sound and wholesome.
We are informed, by a note subjoined to the above, that Mr. VANCOUVER, when lieu-
tenant, tried the method here recommended, both with english and spanish pork, dur-
ing a cruise in 1782, and found it answer. . C.ii, 98,
Dr. BLANE's recipe for salting Meat.
Mr. FLETCHER, a navy surgeon, mentions, that spices, being antiseptic bodies, might
be substituted for part of the salt in curing provision, and this would no doubt be an
improvement in the sea victualling. The quantity of spice he proposes for every barret
of beef or pork is, four ounces of black pepper, and as much all-spice, and also eight
punces of nitre, in powder. It may be farther alleged as an advantage of spice over
salt, that it would be less apt to run into brine, which robs the meat of the greater part
of its nourishment. I have made some trials of curing heef by half the usual quantity
of salt, and in place of the other half, I caused to be added to every hundred pounds
one pound of pounded pimento, as much powdered juniper berries, and an ounce
and a half (liquid measure) of muriatic acid. The powdered spices were mixed with
the salt, and rubbed on the beef; and the acid mixed with the pickle, used in the com-
mon method of curing beef. I sent part of it to the West Indies; and seventeen
months after it was cured, and about fourteen months after being in that climate, it
was opened by direction of Rear-admiral FORD, who obligingly undertook to superintend
the experiment; and the port made was, that it was perfectly sweet and juicy, and
so fresh that salt would have been necessary to give it a relish had it not been for the
spices. I kept by me in London some that was cured at the same time, and in the
same manner, examining it at different times; and found that it was perfectly good at
the end of five years. . C. iii, 263.
302
thing he did; and, which was still more, he taught the women not only how to
sew and stitch, and use the needle, but made them assist to make the shirts for
their husbands, and for all the rest.
As to the carpenters, I scarce need mention how useful they were; for they
took to pieces all my clumsy, unhandy things, and made them clever, convenient
tables, stools, bed-steads, cupboards, lockers, shelves, and every thing they
wanted of that kind. But to let them see how nature made artificers at first,
I carried the carpenters to see Will Atkins's basket-house, as I called it; and
they both owned they never saw an instance of such natural ingenuity before,
nor any thing so regular and so handily built, at least of its kind; and one of
them, when he saw it, after musing a good while, turning about to me, "I am
sure," says he, "that man has no need of us; you need do nothing but give
him tools."
:
Then I brought them out all my store of tools, and gave every man a digging
spade, a shovel, and a rake, for we had no harrows or ploughs; and to every
separate place a pick-axe, a crow, a broad-axe, and a saw always appointing,
that as often as any were broken or worn out they should be supplied, without
grudging, out of the general stores that I left behind. Nails, staples, hinges,
hammers, chisels, knives, scissars, and all sorts of iron-work they had without
tale, as they required: for no man would take more than he wanted, and he
must be a fool that would waste or spoil them on any account whatever; and,
for the use of the smith, I left two tons of unwrought iron* for a supply.
* IRON -a hard, fusible, and malleable, metal, of a greyish colour, of great use
in the affairs of life. Iron, like other metals, is said by the old chemists to consist of
earth, phlogiston, and a metallic or mercurial principle. This metal has, next to gold,
the greatest tenacity of parts an iron wire, the diameter of which is 1-10th of an inch,
being capable of sustaining 450lb. without being broken. It is the lightest of all metals ex-
cept tin, being between seven and eight times specifically heavier than water. It is also
the hardest, most elastic, and except platina and manganese, the most difficult to melt of
all metallic substances. Though iron grows red-hot much sooner than any other metal,
it is not fusible by the heat of ordinary furnaces, nor without an intense white heat.
When perfectly malleable, it is said not to be fusible at all, without additions, or the
immediate contact of the burning fuel; and when melted to lose its malleability: but
REAUMUR found, that forged iron which could not be made to melt in a crucible without
addition, was brought into fusion by surrounding it with gypsum or plaster of Paris;
and Dr. LEWIS found that iron, thus melted, proved very malleable, though some
have thought that forged iron brought into fusion, is of the same nature with common
cast iron. Iron expands the least of the metals by heat; and in the act of fusion,
instead of continuing to expand like the other metals, it shrinks; and in its return
to a consistent state, instead of shrinking like the other metals, it expands or dilates
into a large volume; and one of the marks of this dilatation is, the convexity of its sur-
face, in circumstances wherein that of other metals is depressed. This property of iron
first discovered by Mr. REAUMUR, excellently fits it for receiving impressions from
moulds; but Dr. Lewis observes that platina seems to destroy this power in iron.
He also observes, that platina, melted with cast-iron, contributes to render it tough,
probably by throwing out and consuming that sulphureous matter, to which the brittle-
ness of this kind of iron is chiefly owing, and which is separated in the process by which
iron is made malleable; and he therefore conjectures that platina, for certain purposes,
may prove a valuable addition to this most useful metal, to which the workmen cannot
communicate the hardness that is often required, without imparting, at the same time,
brittleness and intractability. Iron, exposed to a white heat insufficient for its fusion, is
calcined first into blackish scales, and afterwards into a dark reddish powder, called
crocus martis astringens, which is nothing but the proper earth of iron deprived of the
greatest part of its phlogiston by calcination. When strongly heated, the surface of iron
appears covered with a soft vitreous matter, like varnish, in this state pieces of it cohere,
and on being hammered together, weld or unite without discovering a juncture. As
iron is the only metal which exhibits this appearance in the fire, it is likewise the only
one capable of being welded: Iron heated as much as possible, or until it becomes of
a shining white colour, and is just beginning to fuse, has the appearance of a combus-
1
303
My magazine of powder and arms which I brought them was such, even to
profusion, that they could not but rejoice at them; for now they could march
as I used to do, with a musket upon each shoulder, if there was occasion, and
were able to fight a thousand savages, if they had but some little advantages of
situation, which also they could not miss, if they had occasion.
I carried on shore with me the young man whose mother was starved to death,
and the maid also; she was a sober, well-educated, religious young woman, and
behaved so inoffensively, that every one gave her a good word; she had, indeed,
an unhappy life with us, there being no woman in the ship but herself, but she
bore it with patience. After a while, seeing things so well ordered, and in so
fine a way of thriving upon my island, and considering that they had neither
business or acquaintance in the East Indies, or reason for taking so long a voy-
age; I say, considering all this, both of them came to me, and desired I would
give them leave to remain on the island, and be entered among my family, as
they called it. I agreed to this readily; and they had a little plot of ground
allotted to them, where they had three tents or houses set up, surrounded with
a basket-work, pallisadoed like Atkins's adjoining to his plantation. Their tents
were contrived so that they had each of them a room apart to lodge in, and a
middle tent, like a great store-house, to lay their goods in, and to eat and drink
in. And now the other two Englishmen removed their habitation to the same
place; and so the island was divided into three colonies and no more, viz. the
Spaniards, with old Friday and the first servants, at my old habitation under
the hill, which was, in a word, the capital city, and where they had so enlarged and
extended their works, as well under, as on the outside of the hill, that they lived,
though perfectly concealed, yet full at large. Never was there such a little city
in a wood, and so hid in any part of the world; for I verily believe a thousand
men might have ranged the island a month, and, if they had not known there
was such a thing, and looked on purpose for it, they would not have found it:
for the trees stood so thick and so close, and grew so fast woven one into ano-
ther, that nothing but cutting them down first could discover the place, except
the only two narrow entrances where they went in and out could be found, which
was not very easy; one of them was just down at the water's edge, on the side
of the creek, and it was afterwards above two hundred yards to the place; and
the other was up a ladder at twice, as I have already formerly described it; and
they had also a large wood thick planted on the top of the hill, containing above an
acre, which grew apace, and concealed the place from all discovery there, with
only one narrow place between two trees, not easily to be discovered, to euter
on that side.
The other colony was that of Will Atkins, where there were four families
tible body; penetrated by a bright and vivid flame; and the inflammable principle
of this metal thus heated, really burns in a sensible manner; a number of shining sparks
shooting out from it, and burning with decrepitation. Iron appears to be a combus-
tible substance, from the great loss or waste of quantity observable in it, when exposed
to a red, and especially to a white heat: and this combustion is excited and maintained
like that of other combustible substances, by contact of air. The sparks produced by
the collision of steel with flint, appear to be globular particles of iron, which have been
fused, and imperfectly scorified or vitrified. The ignition, light, and fusion of the
sparks, are occasioned by the heat excited by the combustion of their own inflammable
matter, and continued in these particles during their passage through the air, and not
merely by the heat communicated by the collision; for by an experiment of Mr.
HAWKSBEE, it appears, that these sparks struck by collision, are not visible, that is,
they are not ignited, and do not deflagrate in an exhausted receiver; the air being
necessary to maintain and excite their deflagration and combustion. Iron, like other
calcinable metals, acquires an increase of weight by calcination: and, by complete
calcination, it is said to receive an augmentation of one-third of its weight. Iron may
be softened by heating it often in the fire, liamntering it, and letting it cool of itself;
and it is hardened by extinguishing it in water. See pages 69, 81, 105, 217.
304
of Englishmen, I mean those I had left there with their wives and children; three
savages that were slaves; the widow and the children of the Englishman that was
killed; the young man and the maid; and, by the way, we made a wife of her
before we went away. There was also the two carpenters and the tailor, whom
I brought with me for them; also the smith, who was a very necessary man to
them, especially as a gun-smith, to take care of their arms; and my other man,
whom I called " Jack-of-all-trades," who was in himself as good almost as twenty
men; for he was not only a very ingenious fellow, but a very merry fellow; and
before I went away we married him to the honest maid that came with the
youth in the ship I mentioned before.
And now I speak of marrying, it brings me naturally to say something of the
french ecclesiastic that I had brought with me out of the ship's crew whom I
I took up at sea. It is true this man was a romanist, and perhaps it may give
offense to some hereafter, if I leave any thing extraordinary upon record of a
man whom, before I begin, I must (to set him out in just colours) represent in
terms very much to his disadvantage, in the account of protestants: as, first,
that he was a papist; secondly a popish priest; and thirdly, a french popisli
priest. But justice demands of me to give him a due character; and I must
say, he was a grave, sober, pious, and most religious person; exact in his life,
extensive in his charity, and exemplary in almost every thing he did. What,
then, can any one say, against my being very sensible of the value of such a man,
notwithstanding his profession? though it may be my opinion, perhaps, as well
as the opinion of others who shall read this, that he was mistaken.
The first hour that I began to converse with him after he had agreed to go
with me to the East-Indies, I found reason to delight exceedingly in his conver-
sation; and he first began with me about religion in the most obliging manner
imaginable. "Sir," says he, “ you have not only under God (and at that he
crossed his breast) saved my life, but you have admitted me to go this voyage
in your ship, and by your obliging civility, have taken me into your family, giv-
ing me an opportunity of free conversation. Now, Sir, you see by my habit
what my profession is, and I guess by your nation what your's is; I may think
it is my duty, and doubtless it is so, to use my utmost endeavours, on all occa-
sions, to bring all the souls I can to the knowledge of the truth, and to embrace
the catholic* doctrine: but as I am here under your permission, and in your
family, I am bound, in justice to your kindness, as well as in decency and good
manners, to be under your government, and, therefore, I shall not, without
your leave, enter into any debate on the points of religion in which we may not
agree, farther than you shall give me leave." I told him his carriage was so mo-
dest, that I could not but acknowledge it; that it was true we were such people
as they called heretics, but that he was not the first catholic I had conversed
with without falling into inconveniences, or carrying the questions to any height
in debate; that he should not find himself the worse used for Leing of a different
opinion from us; and if we did not converse without any dislike on either side,
it would be his fault, not our's. Ile replied, that he thought all our conversation
* CATHOLIC-from xxτe and λos, whole; a thing that is universal or general.
Some have said, that THEODOSIUS (the great) first introduced the term catholic into
the church; appointing by an edict, that the title should be applied by way of pre-emi-
nence, to those churches which adhered to the council of Nicea, in exclusion of the
Arians, &c. Catholicism, however, soon changed hands: for under the Emperor CON-
STANTIUS, Arianism became so predominant, that the Arians were called the Catholics.
But the term was used much more anciently, as by POLYCARP and IGNATIUS. Ubi
fuerit Jesus Christus (says the latter), ibi est ecclesia catholica. The romish church now
assumes the distinguishing appellation of the catholic church. But the term " roman-
catholic,” is one of those figures of speech which we are wont to describe in common
parlance by the epithet "bull." For literally it means particular universal, and, there-
fore, might be rendered even catholic schismatic. So this may be termed without im
propriety (ridendo dicere verum), a pope's bull.
305
might be easily separated from disputes; that it was not his business to cap prin
ciples with every man he conversed with; and that he rather desired me to con-
verse with him as a gentleman than as a religionist; that, if I would give him
leave at any time to discourse upon religious subjects, he would readily comply
with it, and that then he did not doubt but I would allow him also to defend his
own opinions as well as he could: but that, without my leave, he would not
break in upon me with any such thing. He told me farther, that he would not
cease to do all that became him, in his office as a priest as well as a private
christian, to procure the good of the ship, and the safety of all that was in her;
and although, perhaps, we would not join with him, and he could not pray with
us, he hoped he might pray for us, which he would do upon all occasions. In
this manner we conversed; and as he was of the most obliging, gentleman-like
behaviour, so he was, if I may be allowed to say so, a man of good sense, and,
as I believe, of great learning.
He gave me a most diverting account of his life, and of the many extraordinary
events of it; of many adventures which had befallen him in the few years that
he had been abroad in the world; and particularly this was very remarkable; viz.
that during the voyage he was now engaged in, he had had the misfortune to be
five times shipped and unshipped, and never to go to the place whither any of the
ships he was in were at first designed. That his first intent was to have gone
to Martinico, and that he went on board a ship bound thither at St.-Malo; but,
being forced into Lisbon by bad weather, the ship received some damage by run-
ning aground in the mouth of the river Tagus, and was obliged to unload her cargo
there; but finding a portuguese ship there bound to the Madeiras,* and ready
to sail, and supposing he should easily meet with a vessel there bound to Mar-
tinico, he went on board in order to sail to the Madeiras; but the master of the
portuguese ship being but an indifferent mariner, had been out of his reckoning,
* MADEIRAS :-the collective naine of a group of islands in the north Atlantic
ocean, individually named Madeira, Porto-Santo, and Desertas, settled and governed
by Portugal. The Maval Chronicle contains an account of the present state of the
island Madeira, vol. xix, p. 108. A view of its eastern end, xx, 386. A view of the
government-house at Funchal, called Palacio de St. Lourenço, xxii, 213. A view of Porto-
Santo, xxviii, 53. Hydrography of the same, 71. It has been recommended for ships
outward-bound to the southern hemisphere, after leaving the english channel, to steer
for Madeira: this seems not advisable, unless their particular destination be thither:
for they will most probably carry steadier winds by keeping to westward of it, at any
convenient distance exceeding 7 or 8 leagues. In the winter months it is certainly
preferable to do so; for strong westerly gales prevail from November to January,
producing eddy winds, and severe squalls among these islands, which are occasioned
by the high land affecting the course of the atmospheric current. These gales blow
with such violence, as to force ships to sea from Funchal road, for a week or ten days
at a time, before they can regain their anchorage. They are accompanied by such a
heavy sea, as to bury a ship's bowsprit; by violent squalls of rain; and by such thick
fog occasionally, as to obscure the land of Madeira and of the Desertas, and thereby
render the navigation perilous, and in some instances fatal. Porto Santo is in 33° 5′ 18″ N.
16° 20′ W. Madeira (east-end), 32° 42′ N. Funchal 32° 37' 30" N. 17° 5′ W. The
Flat, or Table, Deserta, is about 4 leagues from the eastern extremity of Madeira.
The magnetic variation hereabouts was 21° W. in the year 1800. Although the
discovery of Madeira is generally attributed to the Portuguese, yet there is reason
to think it was not only visited by the Romans, and probably also by the Normans,
(those skilful navigators of whom we know too little, who followed the Arabians, and
preceded the Portuguese, in nautical skill); but even considerable importance ought to
be attached to a singular narrative which is on record, of the preservation of one
ROBERT-A-MACHIN, an Englishman, therein stated to have been shipwrecked and
to have died upon this island, some time in the long reign of King EDWARD 111,
which extends from 1327 to 1377. See ASTLEY's Collection; CLARKE's Progress of
Maritime Discovery; BowLES's poem, The Spirit of Discovery; and CLARKE's Nau-
fragia (1805.)
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval Chron. Edition.]
X
306
#
and they drove to Fayal, where, however, he happened to find a very good
market for his cargo, which was corn; and, therefore, resolved not to go to the
Madeiras, but to load salt at the isle of May,† and so go away to Newfoundland,
He had no remedy in this exigence, but to go with the ship, and had a pretty
good voyage as far as the Banks (so they call the place where they catch the
fish), where, meeting with a french ship bound from France to Quebec, in the
river of Canada, and from thence to Martinico, to carry provisions, he thought
he should have an opportunity to complete his first design; but when he
came to Quebec, the master of the ship died, and the vessel proceeded no
farther so the next voyage, he shipped himself for France, in the ship that
was burned when we took them up at sea; and then shipped with us for the
East-Indies, as I have already said. Thus he had been disappointed in five
voyages, all, as I may call it, in one voyage, besides what I shall have occasion
to mention farther of the same person.
:
But I shall not make digressions into other men's stories, which have no
relation to my own: I return to what concerns our affairs in the island. He
came to me one morning, for he lodged among us all the while we were upon
the island, and it happened to be just when I was going to visit the Englishmen's
colony at the farthest part of the island; I say, he came to me, and told me,
with a very grave countenance, that he had, for two or three days, desired an
opportunity of some discourse with me, which he hoped would not be displeasing
to me, because he thought it might, in some measure, correspond with my general
design, which was, the prosperity of my new colony, and perhaps might put it,
at least more than he yet thought it was, in the way of God's blessing.
<<
tr
I looked a little surprised at the last part of his discourse, and turning a little
short, "How, Sir," said I, can it be said that we are not in the way of God's
blessing, after such visible assistances and wonderful deliverances as we have
seen here, and of which I have given you a large account?
"If you had
pleased, Sir," said he, with a world of modesty, and yet with great readiness,
to have heard ine, you would have found no room to have been displeased,
much less to think so hard of me, that I should suggest that you have not had
wonderful assistances and deliverances; and I hope, on your behalf, that you are
in the way of God's blessing, as your design is exceeding good, and will prosper:
but, Sir, though it were more so than is even possible to you, yet there may be
some among you that are not equally right in their actions and you know that,
in the story of the children of Israel, one Achan in the camp removed God's
blessing from them, and turned his hand so against them, that thirty-six of
them, although not concerned in the crime, were the objects of divine vengeance,
and bore the weight of that punishment."
I was sensibly touched with his discourse, and told him his inference was se
FAYAL:-The westernmost island of the central group of the Açores: it is high,
about three leagues in extent, of circular form, and its western extremity is in latitude
38° 34' N. longitude 28° 52′ W. See .. xxi, 5; xxiii, 242; xxiv, 384.
MAYA:-one of the Cape Verde Isles, which bears from Bonavista S.S.W. 14 or 15
leagues. A reef of rocks projects from the N. end of May, to about 23 miles distance.
This island is pretty high at the centre, uneven, hummocky, and has anchorage under
the S.W. end in 7 or 8 fathoms water, in a kind of bay which our sailors call English
road." The shore to the eastward and abreast of the town is steep, bluff, and rocky;
but to the westward, a low, white, sandy beach extends to a rounding point, from whence
a spit of sand and coral stretches out a few cable-lengths, at a small distance from which
there is no ground in 40 or 50 fathoms water. This spit may be rounded in 17 to 15
fathoms; and a ship should not anchor in the road farther out than 16 or 17 fathoms,
as these depths are on the edge of the bank; in 16 fathoms the W. point of the bay
bears N. 10° W. the town, E. and the S. point of the bay, S. 59° E. off shore, 1 mile.
From this anchorage, the chronometer has measured 17 miles W. to that of Porto-Praya
in the island of St. Iago. The N. point of the island is 23 miles E. from Porto-Praya,.
and in latitude about 15° 20′ N. See pages 25, 32. Also .C, xxx, 61.
‡ Joshua, vii, 1, 2k
307
just, and the whole design seemed so sincere, and was really so religious in its
own nature, that I was very sorry I had interrupted him, and begged him to go
on; and, in the mean time, because it seemed that what we had both to say
might take up some time, I told him I was going to the Englishmen's plantations,
and asked him to go with me, and we might discourse of it by the way. He
told me he would the more willingly wait on me thither, because there partly
the thing was acted which he de-ired to speak to me about: so we walked on,
and I pressed him to be frec and plain with me in what he had to say.
*
Why then, Sir," says he, "be pleased to give me leave to lay down a few
propositions, as the foundation of what I have to say, that we may not differ in
the general principles, though we may be of some different opinions in the prac
tice of particulars. First, Sir, though we differ in some of the doctrinal articles
of religion, and it is very unhappy it is so, especially in the case before us, as
I shall show afterwards, yet there are some general principles in which we both
agree; viz. that there is a God; and that this God having given us some stated
general rules for our service and obedience, we ought not willingly and know-
ingly to offend him, either by neglecting to do what he has commanded, or by
doing what he has expressly forbidden: and let our different religions be what
they will, this general principle is readily owned by us all, that the blessing of
God does not ordinarily follow presumptuous sinning against his command; and
every good christian will be affectionately concerned to prevent any that are
under his care living in a total neglect of God and his commands. It is not
your men being protestants, whatever my opinion may be of such, that discharges
me from being concerned for their souls, and from endeavouring, if it lies before
me, that they should live in as little distance from enmity with their Maker as
possible, especially if you give me leave to meddle so far in your circuit.”
I could not yet imagine what he aimed at, and told him I granted all he had
said, and thanked him that he would so far concern himself for us; and begged
he would explain the particulars of what he had observed, that, like Joshua, (to
take his own parable) I might put away the accursed thing from us.
Why then, Sir," says he, "I will take the liberty you give ine; and there
are three things, which, if I am right, must stand in the way of God's blessing
upou your endeavours here, and which I should rejoice, for your sake, and their
own, to see removed: and, Sir, I promise myself that you will fully agree with
me in them all, as soon as I name them; especially because I shall convince you
that every one of them may, with great ease, and very much to your satisfaction,
be remedied. "First, Sir," he went on, you have here four Englishmen, who
(c
* ARTICLES OF RELIGION:-Religious controversy seldom arises from purely religious
motives; and, "the more the strife the farther the truth," is an adage that holds good in
disputes on this subject as well as most others. It is lamentable to see nations and persona
professing to adore the same divinity, exhibit such scenes of animosity, hatred, heresy,
and persecution, as christian priests have done ever since the infancy of the church;
as if they had forgotten every precept of their master except that conveyed in Matthew,
x, 54. Nor must we flatter ourselves that the protestants have been a whit behind their
adversaries in deciding orthodoxy by the sword, whenever they possessed the longest.
Besides CALVIN (whose immolation of his rival, SERVETUS, has been already duly repro-
bated at page 200), the anabaptists committed unheard-of excesses in Germany. The
english liturgy eventually cost the head of King CHARLES I. who wanted to introduce
it into Scotland. In Holland the Gomarists persecuted the Arminians. In these con-
tentions we regret to find some of the ablest and most intelligent of mankind occupied ;
and we are forced to censure the prostitution of genius and talents worthy a better
cause. Much of this has been engendered or perpetuated by misunderstanding. In
order to convince the reader of which salutary truth, he is invited to consider atten-
tively the conspectus or comparative view of the constitutional articles of the churches
of England and of Rome, in the appendix to this volume; whence he will undoubtedly
reap the tranquillizing conviction, how little ground there is at bottom (temporal
policy excepted) for intolerance on either side.
↑ Joshua, xxii, 20.
X ?
808
have fetched women out from among the savages, and have taken them as their
wives, and have had many children by them all, and yet are not married to them
after any stated, legal, manner, as the laws of God and man require; and,
therefore, are yet, in the sense of both, no less than fornicators, and living in
adultery. To this, Sir, I know you will object, that there was no clergyman
or priest of any kind, or of any profession, to perform the ceremony; nor any
pen and ink, or paper, to write down a contract of marriage, and have it signed
between them; and I know also, Sir, what the spaniard governor has told you,
I mean of the agreement that he obliged them to make, when they took those
women, viz. that they should choose them out by consent, and keep separately
to them; which, by the way, is nothing of a marriage, no agreement with the
women as wives, but only an agreement among themselves, to keep them from
quarrelling. But, Sir, the essence of the sacrament of matrimony (so he called
it, being a romanist) consists not only in the mutual consent of the parties to
take one another, as man and wife, but in the formal and legal obligation that
there is in the contract, to compel the man and woman, at all times, to own and
acknowledge each other; obliging the man to abstain from all other women,
to engage in no other contract while this subsists, and on all occasions, as ability
allows, to provide honestly for her and their children; and to oblige the
woman to the same or like conditions, mutatis mutandis, on her side. Now,
Sir," says he," these men may, when they please, or when occasion presents,
abandon these women, disown their children, leave them to perish, take
other women, and marry them while these are living :" and here he added
with some warmth, "How Sir, is God honoured in this unlawful liberty, and
how shall a blessing succeed your endeavours in this place, however good in
themselves, and however sincere in your design, while these men, who at present
are your subjects, under your absolute government and dominion, are allowed
by you to live in open adultery?”
I confess I was struck by the thing itself, but much more by the con-
vincing arguments he supported it with; for it was certainly true, that although
they had no clergyman upon the spot, yet a formal contract on both sides, made
before witnesses, and confirmed by any token which they had all agreed to be
bounden by, though it had been but breaking a stick between them, engaging the
men to own these women for their wives upon all occasions, and never to aban-
don them or their children, and the women to the same with their husbands, had
been an effectual lawful marriage in the sight of God; and it was a great neglect
that it was not done. But I thought to have gotten off with my young priest by tel-
ling him that all that part was done when I was not here, and they had lived
so many years with them now, that if it was adultery, it was past remedy; they
could do nothing in it now.
"Sir," says he," asking your pardon for such freedom, you are right in this,
that it being done in your absence, you could not be charged with that part of the
crime; but I beseech you, flatter not yourself that you are not therefore under
an obligation to do your utmost now to put an end to it. How can you think
but that, let the time past lie on whom it will, all the guilt, for the future, will
lie entirely upon you? Because it is certainly in your power now to put an end
to it, and in nobody's power but your's."
·
I was so dull still, that I did not take him aright; but I imagined that by
putting an end to it he meant that I should part them, and not suffer them to
live together any longer and I said to him I could not do that, by any means,
for that it would put the whole island into confusion. He seemed surprised that
I should so far mistake him. "No, Sir," says he, "I do not mean that you
should now separate them, but legally and effectually marry them now; and as,
Sir, my way of marrying them may not be easy to reconcile them to, though it
will be cffectual, even by your own laws, so your way may be as well before God,
and as valid among men; I mean by a written contract signed by both man and
{
309
woman, and by all the witnesses present, which all the laws of Europe would
decree to be valid."
I was amazed to see so much true piety, and so much sincerity of zeal, besides
the unusual impartiality in his discourse as to his own party or church, and such
true warmth for preserving the people that he had no knowledge of or relation
to; I say, for preserving them from transgressing the laws of God, the like of
which I had indeed not met with any where; but recollecting what he had said
of marrying them by a written contract, which I knew he would stand to, I
returned it back upon him, and told him, I granted all that he had said to be
just, and on his part very kind; that I would discourse with the men upon the
point now, when I came to them, and I knew no reason why they should scruple
to let him marry them all, which I knew well enough would be granted to be
as authentic and valid in England as if they were married by one of our own
clergymen what was afterwards done in this matter, I shall speak of by itself.
I then pressed him to tell me what was the second complaint which he had
to make, acknowledging that I was very much his debtor for the first, and thanked
him heartily for it. He told me he would use the samc freedom and plainness
in the second, and hoped I would take it as well; and this was, that notwith-
standing these english subjects of mine, as he called them, had lived with those
women for almost seven years, had taught them to speak English, and even to
read it, and that they were as he perceived women of tolerable understanding,
and capable of instruction, yet they had not, unto this hour, taught them any
thing of the christian religion, no, not so much as to know that there was a God,
or a worship, or in what manner God was to be served, or that their own idolatry,
and worshipping they knew not whom, was false and absurd. This, he said, was
an unaccountable neglect, and what God would certainly call them to ac-
count for, and perhaps, at last, take the work out of their hands; he spoke this
very affectionately and warmly. "I am persuaded," says he, "had those men.
lived in the savage country whence their wives came, the savages would have
taken more pains to have brought them to be idolators, and to worship the
devil, than any of these men, so far as I can see, have taken with them to teach
them the knowledge of the true God. Now, Sir," said he "though I do not
acknowledge your religion, or you mine, yet we would be glad to see the
devil's servants, and the subjects of his kingdom, taught to know the general
principles of the christian religion; that they might, at least, hear of God
and of a redeemer, and, of the resurrection, and of a future state; things which
we all believe they had, at least, been so much nearer coming into the bosom
of the true church than they are now, in the public profession of idolatry and
devil-worship.*
:
•
I could hold no longer; I took him in my arms, and embraced him with an
excess of passion. "How far," said I to him, " have I been from understanding
the most essential part of a christian! viz. to love the interest of the christian
church, and the good of other men's souls; I scarce have known what belongs
to the being a christian," "O, Sir, do not say so," replied he, " this thing is not
your fault." No," says
says I;
but why did I never lay it to heart as well as
you?"
"It is not too late yet," said he, "be not too forward to condemn yourself."
"But what can be done now," said I, "you see I am going away." "Will you give
me leave to talk with these poor men about it?" "Yes, with all my heart," said I,
66
* IDOL:- from sidwany, (which signifies the same) of tidos, image, figure; a statue or
image of some being to whom divine honours are paid, altars and temples erected, and
sacrifices offered. The idol or image, whatever materials it consisted of, was by certain
ceremonies, called consecration, converted into a god. While under the artificer's
hands, it was only a mere statue. Three things were necessary in order to change it into
a god; proper ornaments, consecration, and oration. The ornaments were various,
and wholly designed to blind the eyes of the ignorant multitude, who are cluefly taken
with show and pageantry. Then follow the consecration and oration, which were
performed with great solemnity among the Romans,
$10
"and will oblige them to give heed to what you say, too." "As to that," said he,
66
we must leave them to the inercy of God, but it is your business to assist thens,
encourage them, and instruct them; and if you give me leave, and God his bless-
ing, I do not doubt but the poor ignorant souls shall be brought home to the
great circle of christianity, if not into the particular faith we all embrace, and
that even while you stay here." Upon this, I said, "I shall not only give you
leave, but give you a thousand thanks for it." What followed on this account,
I shall mention also again in its place.
I now pressed him for the third article in which we were to blame.
"Why,
really," says he, “it is of the same nature; and I will proceed, asking your leave,
with the same plainness as before: it is about your poor savages, who are as I
may say, your conquered subjects. It is a maxim, Sir, that is, or ought to be,
received among all christians, of what church or pretended church soever, viz.
The christian knowledge ought to be propagated by all possible means, and on
all possible occasions. It is on this principle that our church sends missionaries*
into Persia, India, China; and that our clergy, even of the superior sort, will-
ingly engage even in the most hazardous voyages, and the most dangerous
residence among murderers and barbarians, to teach them the knowledge of the
true God, and to bring them over to embrace the christian faith. Now, Sir,
you have such an opportunity here to have six or seven and thirty poor savages
brought over from idolatry to the knowledge of God, their Maker, that I wonder
how you can pass such an occasion of doing good, which is really worth the
expense of a man's whole life."
I was now struck dumb, indeed, and had not one word to say, I had here
a spirit of true zeal for religion before me, let his particular principles be of
MISSIONARY:-in theology, an ecclesiastic who devotes himself and his labours to
some mission either for the instruction of the orthodox, the conviction of heretics,
or the conversion of infidels. Mission, is a term used for an establishment of people
zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of souls; who go and preach the gospel
in remote countries and among infidels. There are missions in the East as well as in
the West Indies. Among the Romanists, the religious orders of St. Dominic, St.
Francis, St. Augustin, and the society of Jesus, have missions in the Levant, America,
&c. The Jesuits have also missions in China, and all other parts of the globe, where
they have been able to penetrate. The Mendicant friars abound in missions. There have
been also several protestant missions for diffusing the light of Christianity through the
regions of Asia and America. Of this kind has been the Danish mission, planned by
Frederick IV. in 1706. And the liberality of private benefactors in our own country
has also extended to the support of missionaries among the Indians in America, &c.
(Cyclopaedia) The earliest christian missions mentioned in church history, are those
which are recorded in the following parts of the New Testament; St. Matthew x, St.
Mark vi. St. Luke ix. It appears to be in strict compliance with certain of the injunc-
tions in the first mentioned of these passages that JEAN CHAUVIN (whom we call
CALVIN) on the 30th September 1561, wrote the following letter to the High-cham-
berlain of the King of Navarre:-"Honor, glory, and riches, shall be the reward of
your pains; but above all, do not fail to rid the country of those zealous scoundrels,
who stir up the people to revolt against us. Such monsters should be exterminated as
I have exterminated MICHEL SERVET, the Spaniard." (Eccles. Researches; 348.) Un-
fortunately ecclesiastical missions have also had for their particular object to extend the
power of the clergy. The church sends enthusiasts or knaves to the extremities of the
carth to beat up for subjects. The missionaries transact business of various kinds
vastly well while they act with prudence: but the impudence and insolence of the
Jesuits have occasioned the proscription of the christian religion in Japan and China.
A romish missionary has been heard to say that, without brandy and muskets, they
could never make proselytes. It remains to be seen whether the proposed missions
to Hindo'stan, &c. under the sanction of the british government, or at least under the
countenance of certain of its members, can succeed without the aid of such carnal
auxiliaries. King GEORGE I asked Dr. SAVAGE at court one day why, when he was
at Rome, he had not converted the Pope? “Because, Sire, I had nothing better to
offer him," said the Doctor.
311
what kind soever: as for me, I had not so much as entertained a thought of this
in my heart before, and I believe I should not have thought of it; for I looked
upon these savages as slaves, and people who, had we any work for them to do,
we would have used as such, or would have been glad to have transported them
to any other part of the world; for our business was to get rid of thero, and
we would all have been satisfied if they had been sent to any country, so they
had never seen their own. But to the case:-I say, I was confounded at his
discourse, and knew not what answer to make him. He looked earnestly at me,
seeing me in some disorder, Sir," says he, "I shall be very sorry if what I
have said gives you any offense.". "No, no," says I, "I am offended with nobody
but myself; but I am perfectly confounded, not only to think that I should never
take any notice of this before, but with reflecting what notice I am able to take of
it now. You know, Sir," continued I," what circumstances I am in; I am bound
to the East-Indies in a ship freighted by merchants, and to whom it would be an
insufferable piece of injustice to detain their ship here, the men lying all
this while at victuals and wages on the owner's account. It is true, I agreed to
be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more, I must pay three pounds ster-
ling per diem demurrage:* nor can I stay upon demurrage above eight days more,
and I have been here thirteen already; so that I am perfectly unable to engage
in this work, unless I would suffer myself to be left behind here again; in which
case, if this single ship should miscarry in any part of her voyage, I should be
just in the same condition that I was left in here at first, and from which I have
been so wonderfully delivered." He owned the case was very hard upon me,
as to my voyage; but laid it home upon my conscience, whether the blessing
of saving thirty-seven souls was not worth venturing all I had in the world for.
I was not so sensible of that as he was. I returned upon him thus: "Why,
Sir, it is a valuable thing, indeed, to be an instrument to convert thirty-seven
heathens to the knowledge of God; but as you are an ecclesiastic, and are given
over to the work, so that it seems so naturally to fall into the
way of your
profession, how is it then that you do not rather offer yourself to undertake it,
than press me to do it?"
Upon this he faced about just before me, as we walked along, and putting
me to a full stop, made me a very low bow. "I most heartily thank God and
you, Sir," said he, "for giving me so evident a call to so blessed a work; and
if you think yourself discharged from it, and desire me to undertake it, I will
most readily do it, and think it a happy reward for all the hazards and difficul-
ties of such a broken, disappointed voyage as I have met with, that I am dropped
at last into so glorious a work."
I discovered a kind of rapture in his face while he spoke this to me; his eyes
sparkled like fire, his face glowed, and his colour came and went, as if he had
been falling into fits; in a word he was fired with the joy of being embarked in
such a work. I paused a considerable while before I could tell what to say to
him; for I was really surprised to find a man of such sincerity and zeal, and
carried out in his zeal beyond the ordinary rate of men, not of his profession
only, but even of any profession whatsoever. But after I had considered it
awhile, I asked him seriously if he was in earnest, and that he would venture,
on the single consideration of au attempt on those poor people, to be locked up
in an unplanted island for perhaps his life, and at last might not know whether
he should be able to do them good or not? He turned short upon me, and asked
me what I called a venture? "Pray, Sir," said he, "what do you think I con-
sented to go in your ship to the East-Indies for?"-"Nay," said I, "that I
* DEMURRAGE:-in traffic an allowance made to the master of a ship by the merchants
for staying in a port longer than the time first appointed for his departure. This word,
although vulgarly spelt and pronounced as above, ought to be written demorage; for
it is derived from the latin de-morāri, like "demurrer" in law; which last is a kind of
pause or stop in the proceedings, upon some difficult point. Thus demurrer is expressed
in our records, by the phrase moratur in lege.
312
know not, unless it was to preach to the Indians."-"Doubtless it was,” enid
he; "and do you think if I can convert these thirty-seven men it is not worth
my time, though I should never be fetched off the island again; way, is it not
infinitely of more worth to save so many souls than my life is, or the life of
twenty more of the same profession? Yes, Sir," says he, "I would give Christ
and the blessed Virgin thanks all my days, if I could be made the least happy
instrument of saving the souls of those poor men, though I was never to set my
foot off this island, nor see my native country any more. But since you will
honour me with putting me into this work, for which I will pray for you all the
days of my life, I have one humble petition to you besides.” "What is that?
said I. (6
Why," says he, "it is, that you will leave your man Friday with me,
to be my interpreter to them, and to assist me; for without some help I cannot
speak to them, or they to me."
I was sensibly touched at his requesting Friday, because I could not think of
parting with him, and that for many reasons: he had been the companion of
my travels; he was not only faithful to me, but sincerely affectionate to the last
degree, and I had resolved to do something considerable for him if he out-lived
me, as it was probable he would: then I knew that as I had bred Friday up to
be a Protestant, it would quite confound him to embrace another profession; and
he would never while his eyes were open, believe that his old master was a here-
tic, and would be damned; and this might, in the end, ruin the poor fellow's
principles, and so turn him back again to his first idolatry. However, a sudden
thought relieved me in this strait, and it was this: I told him I could not say
that I was willing to part with Friday ou any account whatever, though a work
that to him was of more value than his life, ought to be to me of much more
value than the keeping or parting with a servant. But, on the other hand, I
was persuaded that Friday would by no means agree to part with me, and I
could not force him to it without his consent, without manifest injustice,
because I had promised I would never put him away, and he had promised and
engaged to me that he would never leave me, unless I put him away. Ile
seemed very much concerned at it, for he had no rational access to these poor
people, seeing he did not understand one word of their language, nor they one
word of his. To remove this difficulty, I told him Friday's father had learned
Spanish, which I found he also understood, and he should serve him as an inter-
preter. So he was much better satisfied; and nothing could persuade him but
he would stay and endeavour to convert them: but providence gave another
very happy turn to all this.
I come back now to the first part of his objections. When we came to the
Englishmen I sent for them all together, and after some account given them of
what I had done for them; viz. what necessary things I had provided for them,
and how they were distributed, which they were very sensible of, and very
thankful for, I began to talk to them of the scandalous life they led, and gave
them a full account of the notice the clergyman had taken of it; and arguing
how unchristian and irreligious a life it was, I first asked them if they were
inarried men or bachelors? They soon explained their conditions to me, and
showed that two of them were widowers, and the other three were single-men,
or bachelors. I asked them with what conscience they could take those women,
and lie with them as they had done, call then their wives, and have so many
children by them, and not be lawfully married to them?
They all gave me the answer I expected, that there was nobody to marry
them that they agreed before the governor to keep them as their wives, and to
maintain them and own them as their wives; and they thought, as things stood
with them, they were as legally married as if they had been married by a parson,
and with all the formalities in the world. I told them that no doubt they were
married in the sight of God, and were bound in conscience to keep the women.
as their wives; but that the laws of men being otherwise, they might desert
them and their children hereafter; and that their wives being poor desolate
1
313
women, friendless and moneyless, would have no way to help themselves: I
therefore told them that unless I was assured of their honest intent, I could do
nothing for them, but would take care that what I did should be for the women
and children, without them; and that unless they would give me some assurances
that they would marry the women, I could not think it was convenient they
should continue together as man and wife, for that it was both scandalous to
men and offensive to God, who they could not think would bless them if they
went on thus.
1
All this went on as I expected; and they told me, especially Will Atkins,
who now seemed to speak for the rest, that they loved their wives as well as if
they had been born in their own native country, and would not leave them upon
any account whatever; and they did verily believe their wives were as virtuous
and as modest, and did, to the utmost of their skill, as much for them and for
their children, as any women could possibly do; and they would not part with
them on any account: and Will Atkins, for his own particular, added, that if
any man would take him away, and offer to carry him home to England, and
make him captain of the best man-of-war in the navy, he would not go with him,
if he might not carry his wife and children with him; and if there was a clergy-
man in the ship, he would be married to her now with all his heart.
This was just as I would have it; the priest was not with me at the moment,
but was not far off; so, to try him farther, I told him I had a clergyman with me,
and if he was sincere, I would have him married next morning, and bade him
consider of it, and talk with the rest. He said as for himself, he need not con-
sider of it at all, for he was very ready to do it, and was glad I had a minister
with me, and he believed they would be all willing also. I then told him that
my friend, the minister, was a Frenchman, and could not speak English, but I
would act the clerk between them. He never so much as asked me whether he
was a papist or protestant, which was indeed what I was afraid of; so we parted.
I went back to my clergyman, and Will Atkins went in to talk with his com-
panions. I desired the french gentleman not to say any thing to them till the
business was thorough ripe; and I told him what answer the men had given me.
Before I went from their quarter, they all came to me, and told me they had
been considering what I had said; that they were glad to hear I had a clergy-
man in my company, and they were very willing to give me the satisfaction I
desired, and to be formally married as soon as I pleased; for they were far from
desiring to part with their wives, and that they meant nothing but what was very
honest when they chose them. So I appointed them to meet me the next morn-
ing; and, in the mean time, they should let their wives know the meaning of the
marriage law; and that it was not only to prevent any scandal, but also to oblige
them that they should not forsake them, whatever might happen.
The women were easily made sensible of the meaning of the thing, and were
very well satisfied with it, as indeed they had reason to be: so they failed not
to attend all together at my apartment next morning, where I brought out my
clergyman; and though he had not on a minister's gown, after the manner of
England, or the habit of a priest, after the manner of France, yet having a black
vest, something like a cassock, with a sash round it, he did not look very unlike
a minister; and as for his language, I was his interpreter. But the seriousness
of his behaviour to them, and the scruples he made of marrying the women,
because they were not baptised, gave them an exceeding reverence for his person,
and there was no necd, after that, to enquire whether he was a clergyman or
not. Indced, I was afraid his scruples would have been carried so far, as that
he would not have married them at all; nay, notwithstanding all I was able to
say to him, he resisted me, though modestly, yet very steadily; and at last re-
fused absolutely to marry them, unless he had first talked with the men and the
women too; and although at first I was a little backward to it, yet at last I agreed
to it with a good will, perceiving the sincerity of his design.
When he came to them, he let them know that I had acquainted him with
their circumstances, and with the present design; that he was very willing to
314
perform that part of his function, and to marry them, as I had desired; but that
before he could do it, he must take the liberty to talk with them. He told them,
that in the sight of all indifferent men, and in the sense of the laws of society,
they had lived all this while in open fornication; and that it was true, that nothing
but the consenting to marry, or effectually separating them from one another,
could now put an end to it; but there was a difficulty in it too, with respect to
the laws of christian matrimony, which he was not fully satisfied about, viz. that
of marrying one that is a professed christian to an idolator* and one that is not
* IDOLATOR: From ɛidwλoharpeia which signifies idolatry, composed of dos, image,
and Aarpu, to serve, the worship and adoration of false deities; or the giving those
honors to creatures, or to the works of man's hands, which are only due to God. Several
have written of the origin and causes of idolatry: among the rest VossIUS, SELDEN,
GODWYN, and TENNISON; but it is still a doubt who was the first author of it. It is
generally allowed, however, that it had not its beginning till after the deluge; and
many are of opinion, that BELUS, who is supposed to be the same with NIMROD, was
the first man that was deified. But whether they had not paid divine honours to the
heavenly bodies before that time cannot be determined, our acquaintance with those
remote times being extremely slender. All that can be said with certainty is, that 426
years after the deluge, when TERAM and his family went out of Chaldea, and ABRAHAM
passed over Mesopotamia, Canaan, the kingdom of the Philistines, and Egypt, it does
not appear that idolatry had then got any footing in any of these countries; though
some idly pretend, that ABRAHAM himself was an idolator. The first mention we find
made of it is in Genesis, xxxi, 19; where RACHAEL is said to have taken the idols of
her father; for though the meaning of the hebrew word theraphim pron be dis-
puted, yet it is pretty evident they were idols. LABAN calls them his gods, and JACOB
calls them strange gods, and looks on them as abominations. The original of idolatry by
image worship is by many attributed to the age of EBER, about 401 years after the deluge,
though most of the fathers place it no higher than that of SERUG; which seems to be
the more probable opinion, considering that, for the first 134 years of EBER's life,
all mankind dwelt in a body together; during which time, it is not reasonable to sup-
pose that idolatry broke in upon them; then some time must be allowed after the
dispersion of the several nations, which were but small at the beginning, to increase
and settle themselves; so that if idolatry was introduced in EBER'S time, it must have
been towards the end of his life, and could not well have prevailed so universally, and
with that obstinacy, which some authors have imagined. The authors of the Universal
History think, that the origin and progress of idolatry are plainly pointed out to us in the
account which Moses gives of LABAN'S and JACOB's parting, Genesis, xxxi, 44, &c.
From the custom once introduced of erecting monuments in memory of any solemu
covenants, the transition was easy into the notion, that some deity took its residence
in them, in order to punish the first aggressors; and this might be soon improved by
an ignorant and degenerate world, until not only birds, beasts, stocks, and stones, but
sun, moon, and stars, were called into the same office; though used, perhaps, at first,
by the designing part of mankind, as scare-crows to over-awe the ignorant. (Univ.
Flist. vol. i.) In the former note on this subject (page 309) some idea was given
of the progress of an idol from manufacture to consecration, derived from erudite
authorities but a cotemporary latin poet has not only depicted the same subject, but
bas let us into the secret of public opinion thereon at the period he lived, in a few lines,
which the classical reader will be glad to have brought to his recollection, and the less
learned one will not be sorry to make acquaintance with, through the medium of
a spirited english version.
"Olim truncus eram ficulnus, invtile lignum :
Cum faber incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,
Malvit esse devm, devs inde ego."
"In days of yore our god-ship stood
A very worthless log of wood.
The joiner doubting how to shape us
Into a stool or a Priapus,
At length resolv'd, for reasons wisc,
(HORAT, sat. i, 8.)
Into a god to bid me rise." (FRANCIS.)
Deificatio is latin for making into gods; apotheosis is greek for placing among the gods
315
baptised; and yet that he did not see that there was time left for to endeavour
to persuade the women to be baptised, or to profess the name of Christ, whom
they had he supposed, heard nothing of, and without which they could not be
baptised. He told them he doubted they were but indifferent christians them-
selves, that they had but little knowledge of God or of his ways, and therefore he
could not expect that they had said much to their wives ou that head yet; but that
unless they would promise him to use their endeavours with their wives to per-
suade thein to become christians, and would, as well as they could, instruct
them in the knowledge and belief of God that made them, and to worship Jesus
Christ that redeemed them, he could not marry them; for he would have no
hand in joining christians with savages; nor was it consistent with the prin-
ciples of the christian religion, and was indeed expressly forbidden in God's
law.
They heard all this very attentively, and I delivered it very faithfully to them
from his mouth, as near his own words as I could; only sometimes adding
something of my own, to convince them how just it was, and how I was of his
mind and I always very faithfully distinguished between what I said from my-
self, and what were the clergyman's words. They told me it was very true
what the gentleman had said, that they were very indifferent christians themselves,
and that they had never talked to their wives about religion.
"Lord, Sir," says
Will Atkins," how should we teach them religion? why we know nothing our-
selves; and besides, Sir," said he, " should we talk to them of God and Jesus
Christ, and heaven and hell, it would make them laugh at us, and ask us what
we believe ourselves? And if we should tell them that we believe all the things
we speak of to them, such as of good people going to heaven, and wicked
people to the devil, they would ask us where we intend to go ourselves, that
believe all this, and are such wicked fellows as we indeed are? Why, Sir, 'tis
enough to give them a surfeit of religion at first hearing: folks must have some
religion themselves before they pretend to teach other people."-" Will Atkins,”
said I to him, “ though I am afraid that what you say has too much truth in it,
yet can you not tell your wife she is in the wrong? That there is a God, and a
religion better than her own; that her gods are idols; that they can neither
hear nor speak; that there is a great Being who made all things, and who can
destroy all that he has made; that he rewards the good and punishes the bad;
and that we are to be judged by him at last for all we do here: you are not so
ignorant, but even nature itself will teach you that all this is true; and I am
satisfied you know it all to be true, and believe it yourself."-" That is true,
Sir," said Atkins; "but with what face can I say any thing to my wife of all
this, when she will tell me immediately it cannot be true?" "Not true!" said
I; "what do you mean by that?"-" Why Sir," said he, "she will tell me it
cannot be true that this God I shall tell her of can be just, or can punish or
reward, since I am not punished and sent to the Devil, that have been such a
wicked creature as she knows I have been, even to her, and to every body else;
and that I should be suffered to live, who have been always acting so contrary
to what I must tell her is good, and to what I ought to have done."-" Why,
truly, Atkins," said I," I am afraid thou speakest too much truth;" and with
that I informed the clergyman of what Atkins had said, for he was impatient to
know. “O!" said the priest," tell him there is one thing will make him the
best minister in the world to his wife, and that is repentance; for none teach re-
pentance like true penitents. He wants nothing but to repent, and then he will
be so much the better qualified to instruct his wife; he will then be able to tell
apotheosis is the ceremony which announces a deification. The funeral of a roman
emperor was an apotheosis. The upotheosis of a christian saint is called a canonization.
Fancy personifies the powers of nature, and paganism deified them. During the tran-
substantiation of the eucharistic wafer, the bread undergoes deification, and obtains
apotheosis. Young people cannot be too early or too habitually taught the precise and
fixed meaning of terms.
!
316
her that there is not only a God, and that he is the just rewarder of good and
evil, but that he is a merciful Being, and with infinite goodness and long-suffer-
ing forbears to punish those who offend, waiting to be gracious, and willing not
the death of a sinner, but rather that he should return and live: that oftentimes
he suffers wicked men to go a long time, and even reserves damnation to the
general day of retribution; that it is a clear evidence of God and of a future
state, that righteous men receive not their reward, nor wicked men their punish-
ment, until they come into another world; and this will lead him to teach his
wife the doctrine of the resurrection and of the last judgment. Let him but re-
pent for himself, he will be an excellent preacher of repentance to his wife."
I repeated all this to Atkins, who looked very serious all the while, and who,
we could easily perceive, was more than ordinarily affected with it: when being
eager, and hardly suffering me to make an end-"I know all this, master," says
he," and a great deal more; but I have not the impudence to talk thus to my
wife, when God and my conscience knows, and my wife will be an undeniable
evidence against me, that I have lived as if I had never heard of a God or
future state, or any thing about it; and to talk of my repenting, alas! (and with
that he fetched a deep sigh, and I could see that the tears stood in his eyes,) 'tis
past all that with me."-" Past it Atkins?" said I; "what dost thou mean by
that?”—“I know well enough what I mean," says he; "I mean 'tis too late,
and that is too true."
I told the clergyman word for word, what he said: the poor zealous priest,
(I must call him so, for, be his opinion what it will, he had certainly a most sin-
gular affection for the good of other men's souls, and it would be hard to think
he had not the like for his own,) I say, this affectionate man could not refrain
from tears; but, recovering himself, said to me, "Ask him but one question;
Is he easy that it is too late, or is he troubled, and wishes it were not so? I put
the question fairly to Atkins; and he answered, with a great deal of passion,
how could any mau be easy in a condition that must certainly end in eternal des-
truction? that he was far from being easy; but that, on the contrary, he be-
lieved it would, one time or other, ruin him. "What do you mean by that?"
said I. Why, he said, he believed he should one time or other cut his throat, to
put an end to the terror of it.
The clergyman shook his head, with great concern in his face, when I told him
all this; but turning quick to me upon it, says,
"If that be his case, we may
assure him it is not too late; God will give him repentance. But, pray," says
he," explain this to him; that as no man is saved but by divine mercy for him,
how can it be too late for any man to receive it. Does he think he is able to
sin beyond the power or reach of divine mercy? Pray tell him, there may be
a time when provoked mercy will no longer strive, and when God may refuse
to hear, but that it is never too late for men to ask mercy; and we, are com-
manded to preach mercy at all times, to all those that sincerely repent; so that
it is never too late to repent."
I told Atkins all this, and he heard me with great earnestness; but it seemed
as if he turned off the discourse to the rest, for he said to me, he would go and
have some talk with his wife; so he went out a while, and we talked to the rest.
I perceived they were all stupidly ignorant as to matters of religion, as much as
I was when I went rambling away from my father; and yet there were none of
them backward to hear what had been said; and all of them seriously promised
that they would talk with their wives about it, and do their endeavours to per-
suade them to turn christians.
(6
The clergyınan smiled upon me when I reported what answer they gave, but
said nothing a good while; but at last shaking his head, "We that are Christ's
servants," says he, can go no farther than to exhort and instruct; and when
…men comply, submit to the reproof, and promise what we ask, it is all we can do;
we are bound to accept their good words; but, believe me Sir," said he, "what-
ever you may have known of the life of that man you call Will Atkins, I believe
•
317
he is the only sincere convert among them; I take that man to be a true peni
tent: I will not despair of the rest; but that man is apparently struck with the
sense of his past life, and I doubt not, when he comes to talk of religion to
his wife, he will talk himself effectually into it; for attempting to teach others
is sometimes the best way of teaching ourselves. I know a man, who, having
nothing but a summary notion of religion himself, and being wicked and pro-
fligate to the last degree in his life, made a thorough reformation in himself
by labouring to convert a Jew. If that poor Atkins begins but once to talk
seriously of religion to his wife, my life for it, he talks himself into a tho-
rough convert, makes himself a penitent, and who knows what may follow ?”
Upon this discourse, however, and their promising, as above, to endeavour to
persuade their wives to embrace christianity, he married the other two couple;
but Will Atkins and his wife were not yet come in. After this, my clergyman
waiting awhile, was curious to know where Atkins was gone; and turning to me,
said, "I entreat you, Sir, let us walk out of your labyrinth here, and look; I
dare say we shall find this poor man somewhere or other talking seriously to his
wife, and teaching her already something of religion." I began to be of the
same mind; so we went out together, and I carried him a way which none
knew but myself, and where the trees were so very thick that it was not easy to
see through the thicket of leaves, and far harder to see in than to see out;
when coming to the edge of the wood, I saw Atkins and his tawney savage wife
sitting under the shade of a bush, very eager in discourse: I stopped short till
my clergyman caine up to me, and then having showed him where they were,
we stood and looked very steadily at them a good while. We observed him
very earnest with her, pointing up to the sun, and to every quarter of the
heavens, and then down to the earth, then out to the sea, then to himself, then
to her, to the woods, to the trees. Now," says my clergyman, "you see my
words are made good, the man preaches to her; mark him now, he is telling
her that our God has made him and her, and the heavens, the carth, the sea,
the woods, the trees, &c."-" I believe he is," said I. Immediately we per-
ceived Will Atkins start upon his feet, fall down on his knees, and lift up
both his hands. We supposed he said something, but we could not hear him;
it was too far for that. He did not continue kneeling half a minute, but comes
and sits down again by his wife, and talks to her again; we perceived then the
woman very attentive, but whether she said any thing to him, we could not tell.
While the poor fellow was upon his knees, I could see the tears run plentifully
down my clergyman's cheeks, and I could hardly forbear myself; but it was a great
affliction to us both that we were not near enough to hear any thing that passed
between them. Well, however, we could come no nearer, for fear of disturbing
them;
so we resolved to see an end of this piece of still conversation, and it
spoke loud enough to us without the help of voice. He sat down again, as I
have said, close by her, and talked again earnestly to her, and two or three times
we could see him embrace her most passionately; another time we saw him take
out his handkerchief and wipe her eyes, and then kiss her again, with a kind of
transport very unusual; and after several of these things, we saw him on a sud-
den jump up again, and lend her his hand to help her up, when immediately
leading her by the hand a step or two, they both kneeled down together, and
continued so about two minutes.
My friend could bear it no longer, but cries out aloud, "Saint Paul! Saint Paul!
behold he prayeth." I was afraid Atkins would hear him, therefore I entreated
him to withhold himself awhile, that we might see an end of the scene, which to
me, I must confess, was the most affecting that ever I saw in my life. Well, he
strove with himself for a while, but was in such raptures to think that the poor
heathen woman was become a christian, that he was not able to contain himself;
he wept several times, then throwing up his hands and crossing his breast, said
over several things ejaculatory, and by way of giving God thanks for so miracu-
lous a testimony of the success of our endeavours; some he spoke softly, and I
318
could not well hear others; some in Latin, some in French; then two or three
times the tears would interrupt him, that he could not speak at all; but 1 begged
that he would contain himself, and let us more narrowly and fully observe what
was before us, which he did for a time, the scene not being near ended yet; for,
after the poor man and his wife were risen again from their knees, we observed
he stood talking still eagerly to her, and we observed her motion, that she was
greatly affected with what he said, by her frequently lifting up her hands, laying
her hand to her breast, and such other postures as express the greatest serious-
ness and attention: this continued about half a quarter of an hour, and then
they walked away; so we could see no more of them in that situation. I took
this interval to talk with my clergyman; and first, I was glad to see the particu-
lars we had both been witnesses to, that, although I was hard enough of belief in
such cases, yet that I began to think it was all very sincere here, both in the man
and his wife, however ignorant they might both be, and I hoped such a beginning
would yet have a more happy end: "And who knows," said I, "but these two
may in time, by instruction and example, work upon some of the others?".
"Some of them?" said he, turning quick upon me; aye, upon all of them: de-
pend upon it, if those two savages, for he himself has been but little better, as you
relate it, should embrace the true God, they will never leave it till they work upon
all the rest; for true religion is naturally communicative, and he that is once
made a christian will never leave a pagan* behind him, if he can help it." I
owned it was a most christian principle to think so, and a testimony of true zeal,
as well as a generous heart, in him. "But, my friend," said I, "will you give
me leave to start one difficulty here? I cannot tell how to object the least thing
against that affectionate concern which you show for the turning the poor people
from their paganism to the christian religion: But how does this comfort you,
while these people are, in your account, out of the pale of the catholic church,
without which you believe there is no salvation? so that you esteem these but
heretics still, for other reasons as effectually lost as the pagans themselves."
To this he answered, with abundance of candor, thus: "Sir, I am a catholie
of the roman church, and a priest of the order of St. Benedict, and I embrace
all the principles of the roman faith; but yet, if you will believe me, and that
I do not speak in compliment to you, or in respect to my circumstances and your
civilities; I say, nevertheless, I do not look upon you, who call yourselves re-
formed, without some charity: I dare not say (though I know it is our opinion
in general) that you cannot be saved; I will by no means limit the mercy of
Christ so far as to think that he cannot receive you into the bosom of his church,
in a manner to us unperceivable; and I hope you have the same charity for us:
I pray daily for your being all restored to Christ's church, by whatsoever method
he, who is all-wise, is pleased to direct. In the mean time, sure you will allow
it consists with me, as a roman, to distinguish far between a protestant and a
pagan; between one that calls on Jesus Christ, although in a way which I do not
think is according to the true faith, and a savage or a barbarian, that knows no
God; and if you are not within the pale of the catholic church, we hope you
are nearer being restored to it than those that know nothing of God or of his
church and I rejoice, therefore, when I see this poor man, who, you say, has
been a profligate, and almost a murderer, kneel down and pray, as we suppose
* PAGAN:-The misapplication of a latin name for the inhabitants of the banks of
the Indus, to those of the Orenoko, or of the Chesapeak, has been already noticed.
(page 81.) The present and repeated use in this book (originally edited by no unlearn
ed person) of the bye-word "pagan" applied by the early christians to their country-
men who adhered to the mythology of their forefathers, is no less improper and absurd,
when describing the religion of the aboriginal natives of America, and of other remote
countries visited by R. C. Be it remembered, even when we indulge the fashionable
habit of stigmatising the pagans, that the superstitions of paganism always wore the
appearance of pleasure, and often of virtue; which is more than can be said of some
other systems of theology. See page 182.
319
he did, although not fully enlightened; believing that God, from whom every
such work proceeds, will sensibly touch his heart, and bring him to the farther
knowledge of that truth in his own time: and if God shall influence this
poor
man to convert and instruct the ignorant savage, his wife, I can never believe
that he shall be cast away himself. And have I not reason, then, to rejoice the
nearer any are brought to the knowledge of christianity, though they may not
be brought quite home into the bosom of the catholic church just at the time
when I may desire it, leaving it unto the goodness of God to perfect his work iu
his own time, and in his own way? Certainly, I would rejoice if all the savages in
America were brought, like this poor woman, to pray to God, although they were
all to be protestants at first, rather than they should continue pagans or heathens;
firmly believing, that he who had bestowed the first light to them would farther
illuminate them with a beam of his heavenly grace, and bring them into the pale
of his church, when he should see good."
I was astonished at the sincerity and temper of this pious papist, as much as I
was oppressed by the power of his reasoning; and it presently occurred to my
thoughts, that if such a temper was universal, we might be all catholic christians,
whatever church or particular profession we joined in; that a spirit of charity
would soon work us all up into right principles; and as he thought that the like
charity would make us all catholics, so I told him I believed, had all the mem-
bers of his church the like moderation, they would soon all be protestants.-And
there we left that part: for we never disputed at all.
ઃઃ
However, I talked to him another way, and taking him by the hand, " My
friend," says I, "I wish all the clergy of the roman church were blest with such
moderation, and had an equal share of your charity. I am entirely of
your
opinion: but I must tell you, that if you should preach such doctrine in Spain or
"It may be so,” said he ;
Italy, they would put you into the inquisition."
66 I
know not what they would do in Spain or Italy; but I will not say they would be
the better christians for that severity; for I ain sure there is no heresy in abound.
ing with charity."
:
Well, as Will Atkins and his wife were gone, our business there was over, so
we went back our own way; and when we came back, we found them waiting
to be called in observing this, I asked my clergyman if we should discover to
him that we had seen him under the bush or not? and it was his opinion we
should not, but that we should talk to him first, and hear what he would say tʊ
us: so we called him in alone, nobody being in the place but ourselves; and I
began with him thus :-
"Will Atkins, prithee what education had you? What was your father?
W. A. A better man than ever I shall be, Sir: my father was a clergyman.
R. C. What education did he give you?
W. A. He would have taught me well, Sir; but I despised all education, in-
struction, or correction, like a beast, as I was.
R. C. It is true, Solomon says, "He that despises reproof is brutish."*
W. A. Aye, Sir, I was brutish, indeed, for I murdered my father: for God's
sake, Sir, talk no more about that; Sir, I murdered my poor father.
Here the priest started (for I interpreted every word as he spoke) and looked
pale: it seems he believed that Will had really killed his father.
R. C. No, no, Sir; I do not understand him so: Will Atkins, explain your-
self; you did not kill your father, did you, with your own hands?
W. A. No, Sir, I did not cut his throat; but I cut the thread of all his com-
forts, and shortened his days; I broke his heart by the most ungrateful, unna-
tural return, for the most tender and affectionate treatment that father ever gave,
or child could receive.
R. C. Well, I did not ask you about your father, to extort this confession :
I pray God give you repentance for it, aud forgive you that and all your other sins;
but I asked you because I see that although you have not much learning, yet you
*Proverbs, xii, 1.
320
are not so ignorant as some are in things that are good; that you have known
more of religion, a great deal, than you have practised.
W. A. Though you, Sir, did not extort the confession that I make about my
father, conscience does; and whenever we come to look back upon our lives, the
sins against our indulgent parents are certainly the first that touch us; the
wounds they make lie deepest, and the weight they leave will lie heaviest upon
the mind, of all the sins we can commit.
R. C. You talk too feelingly and sensibly for me, Atkins; I cannot bear it.
W. A. You, bear it, Master! I dare say you know nothing of it.
R. C. Yes, Atkins; every shore, every hill, nay, I may say, every tree in
this island, is witness to the anguish of my soul for my ingratitude and bad
usage of a good, tender father; a father much like your's, by your description ;
and I murdered my father as well as you, Will Atkins; but I think, for all that,
my repentance is short of your's too, by a great deal."
I would have said more, if I could have restrained my passions; but I thought
this
poor man's repentance was so much sincerer than mine, that I was going to
leave off the discourse and retire; for I was surprised with what he had said, and
thought that instead of my going about to teach and instruct him, the man was
made a teacher and instructor to me in a most surprising and unexpected
manner.
I laid all this before the young clergyman, who was greatly affected with it,
and said to me,
"Did I not say, Sir, that when this man was converted he would
preach to us all! I tell you, Sir, if this one man be made a true penitent, here
will be no need of me; he will make christians of all in the island." But having
a little composed myself, I renewed my discourse with Will Atkins. But Will,
said I, how comes the sense of this matter to touch you just now?
W. A. Sir, you have set me about a work that has struck a dart through my
very soul; I have been talking about God and religion to my wife, in order, as
you directed me, to make a christian of her, and she has preached such a sermon
to me as I shall never forget while I live.
R. C. No, no, it is not your wife has preached to you; but when you were
moving religious arguments to her, conscience has flung them back upon you.
W. A. Aye, Sir, with such force as is not to be resisted.
R. C. Pray, Will, let us know what passed between you and your wife; for
I know something of it already.
W. A. Sir, it is impossible to give you a full account of it; I am too full to
hold it, and yet have no tongue to express it; but let her have said what she
will, and although I cannot give you an account of it, this I can tell you, that I
have resolved to amend and reform my life.
R. C. But tell us some of it: how did you begin, Will? For this has been
an extraordinary case, that is certain. She has preached a sermon indeed, if she
has wrought this upon you.
W. A. Why, I first told her the nature of our laws about marriage, and what
the reasons were that men and women were obliged to enter into such compacts,
as it was neither in the power of one or other to break; that otherwise, order.
and justice could not be maintained, and men would run from their wives, and
abandon their children, mix confusedly with one another, and neither families be
kept entire, nor inheritances be settled by legal descent.
R. C. You talk like a civilian, Will; could you make her understand what
you meant by inheritance and families? They know no such things among the
savages, but marry any how, without regard to relation, consanguinity, or family;
brother and sister; nay, as I have been told, even the father and the daughter,
and the son and the mother.
•
W. A. I believe, Sir, you are misinformed, and my wife assures me of the
contrary, and that they abbor it; perhaps, for any farther relations, they may
not be so exact as we are; but she tells me they never touch one another in the
near relationship you speak of.
321
V
R. C. Well, what did she say to what you told her?
W. A. She said she liked it very well, and it was much better than in her
country.
R. Č. But did you tell her what marriage was?
W. A. Aye, aye; there began our dialogue. I asked her if she would be
married to me our way? She asked me what way that was? I told her mar-
riage was appointed by God; and here we had a strange talk together, indeed, as
ever man and wife bad, I believe.
This dialogue between Atkins and his wife I took down in writing, just after he
had told it me; and it was in the course of it that we saw him kneel, and towards
the conclusion, that we saw him lift her up and walk away with her. But this,
as well as several other discourses, which it seems they had together on serious
subjects, are too long to be set down here.
This was a strange account, and very affecting to us both, but particularly to
the young clergyman: he was, indeed, wonderfully surprised with it, but under
the greatest affliction imaginable that he could not talk to her, that he could not
speak English to make her understand him; and as she spoke but very broken
English, he could not understand her; however, he turned himself to me, and
told me that he believed that there must be more to do with this woman than
to marry her. I did not understand him at first, but at length he explained him-
self, viz. that she ought to be baptized. I agreed with him in that part readily,
and was for going about it presently. "No, no; hold, Sir," said he; "though I
would have her be baptized by all means, yet I must observe that Will Atkins,
her husband, has indeed brought her, in a wonderful manner, to be willing to
embrace a religious life, and has given her just ideas of the being of a God; of
his power, justice, and mercy: yet I desire to know of him if he has said any
thing to her of Jesus Christ, and of the salvation of sinners; of the nature of
faith in him, and redemption by him; of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection, the
last judgment, and a future state."
I called Will Atkins again, and asked him; but the poor fellow fell imme.
diately into tears, and told us he had said something to her of all those things,
but that he was himself so wicked a creature, and his own conscience so re-
proached him with his horrid, ungodly life, that he trembled at the apprehensions
that her knowledge of him should lessen the attention she should give to those
things, and make her rather contemu religion than receive it; but he was assured,
he said, that her mind was so disposed to receive due impressions of all those
things, and that if I would but discourse with her, she would make it appear to
my satisfaction that my labour would not be lost upon her.
Accordingly, I called her in, and placing myself as interpreter between my reli-
gious priest and the woman, I entreated him to begin with her: but sure such a ser-
mon was never preached by a popish priest, in these latter ages of the world; and, as
I told him, I thought he had all the zeal, all the knowledge, all the sincerity of a
christiau, without the error of a roman-catholic; and that I took him to be such a
clergyman as the roman bishops were before the church of Rome assumed spiritual
Sovereignty over the consciences of men. In a word, he brought the poor woman
to embrace the knowledge of Christ, and of redemption by him, not with wonder
and astonishment only, as she did the first notions of a God, but with joy and
faith; with an affection, and a surprising degree of understanding, scarce to he
imagined, much less to be expressed; and, at her own request, she was baptized.
When he was preparing to baptize her, I entreated him that he would perform
that office with some caution, that the man might not perceive he was of the
roman church, if possible, because of other ill consequences which might attend
a difference among us in that very religion which we were instructing the other
in. He told me that as he had no consecrated chapel, nor proper things for the
office, I should see he would do it in a manner that I myself should not know by
it that he was a roman catholic, if I had not known it before; and so he did`;
for saying only some words over to himself in latin, which I did not understand, he
Robinson Crusor.
[Naval-Chiron. Edition.]
Y
1
322
1
poured a whole dishful of water upon the woman's head, pronouncing in French
very loud, "Mary," (which was the name her husband desired me to give her,
for I was her godfather,) "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy-Ghost;" so that none could know any thing by it of what
religion he was of. He gave the benediction afterwards in latin, but either Will
Atkins did not know but it was French, or else did not take notice of it at that
time.
As soon as this was over, we married them; and after the marriage was
over, he turned to Will Atkins, and in a very affectionate manner exhorted him,
not only to persevere in that good disposition he was in, but to support the con-
victions that were upon him by a resolution to reform his life; told him it was
in vain to say he repented if he did not forsake his crimes: represented to him
how God had honored him with being the instrument of bringing his wife to
the knowledge of the christian religion, and that he should be careful he did not
dishonor the grace of God; and that if he did, he would see the heathen a better
christian than hiniself; the savage converted, and the instrument cast away.
He said a great many good things to them both; and then recommending them to
God's goodness, gave them the benediction again, I repeating every thing to them
in English; and thus ended the ceremony. I think it was the most pleasant and
agreeable day to me that ever I passed in my whole life.
But my clergyman had not done yet; his thoughts hung continually upon
the conversion of the thirty-seven savages, and fain he would have stayed upon
the island to have undertaken it; but I convinced him first that his undertaking
was impracticable in itself; and secondly that perhaps I would put it into a way
of being done in his absense to his satisfaction; of which by and by.
Having thus brought the affairs of the island to a narrow compass, I was
preparing to go on board the ship, when the young man I had taken out of the
famished ship's company, came to me and told me, he understood I had a clergy-
man with me, and that I had caused the Englishmen to be married to the savages;
that he had a match, too, which he desired might be finished before I went, be-
tween two christians, which he hoped would not be disagreeable to me.
I knew this must be the young woman who was his mother's servant, for there
was no other christian woman on the island; so I began to persuade him not
to do any thing of that kind rashly, or because he found himself in this solitary
circumstance. I represented to him that he had some considerable substance
in the world, and good friends as I understood by himself, and the maid also;
that the maid was not only poor and a servant, but was unequal to him, she
being six or seven and twenty years old, and he not above seventeen or eighteen ;
that he might, very probably, with my assistance, make a remove from this
wilderness, and return into his own country again, and then it would be a thou-
sand to one but he would repent his choice, and the dislike of that circumstance
might be disadvantageous to both. I was going to say more, but he interrupted,
smiling, and told me with a great deal of modesty, that I mistook in my guesses;
that he had nothing of that kind in his thoughts; and he was very glad to hear
that I had an intent of putting them in a way to see their own country again;
and nothing should have put him upon staying there, but that the voyage I was
going was so exceeding long and hazardous, and would carry him quite out of
the reach of all his friends; that he had nothing to desire of nie but that I would
settle him in some little property in the island where he was, give him a servant
or two, and some few necessaries, and he would settle himself here like a
planter, waiting the good time when, if ever I returned to England, I would
redeem them; and hoped I would not be unmindful of him when I came to
England that he would give me some letters to his friends in London, to let
them know how good I had been to him, and in what part of the world, and what
circumstances I had left him in ; and he promised me that whenever I redeemed
him, the plantation, and all the improvements he had made upon it, let the
value be what it would, should be wholly mine.
4
· 323
His discourse was very prettily delivered, considering his youth, and was
the more agreeable to me, because he told me positively the match was not for
himself. I gave him all possible assurances that if I lived to come safe to Eng-
land, I would deliver his letters, and do his business effectually; and that he
might depend I should never forget the circumstances I had left him in; but
still I was impatient to know who was the person to be married; upon which
he told me it was my Jack-of-all-trades and his maid Susan. I was most agree-
ably surprised when he named the match, for indeed I thought it very suitable.
The character of that man I have given already; and as for the maid, she was a
very honest, modest, sober, and religious, young woman; bad a very good share
of sense, was agreeable enough in her person, spoke very handsomely, and to
the purpose, always with decency and good manners, and neither too backward
to speak, when requisite, nor impertinently forward when it was not her business;
very handy and housewifely, and an excellent manager; fit, indeed, to have
been governess to the whole island, and she knew very well how to behave in
every respect.
The match being proposed in this manner, we married them the same day;
and as I was father at the altar (I may say), and gave her away, so I gave her
a portion: I appointed for her and her husband a handsome large space of
ground for their plantation; and, indeed, this match, and the proposal the young
gentleman made to give him a small property in the island, put me upon parcel-
ing it out amongst them, that they might not quarrel afterwards about their
situation.
This sharing out the land to them I left to Will Atkins, who was now grown
a sober, grave, managing, fellow, perfectly reformed, exceedingly pious and
religious, and, as far as I may be allowed to speak positively in such a case,
I verily believe he was a true penitent. le divided things so justly, and so
much to every one's satisfaction, that they only desired one general writing
under my hand for the whole, which I caused to be drawn up, and signed and
sealed to them, setting out the bounds and situation of every man's plantation,
and testifying that I gave them thereby severally a right to the whole possession
and inheritance of the respective plantations. or farms, with their improvements,
to them and their heirs, reserving all the rest of the island as my own property,
and a certain rent for every particular plantation after eleven years, if I, or any
one from me, or in my name, came to demand it, producing an attested copy
of the same writing.
As to the government and laws among them, I told them I was not capable
of giving them better rules than they were able to give themselves; only I made
thein promise me to live in love and good neighbourhood with one another; and
so I prepared to leave them.
One thing I must not omit, and that is, that being now settled in a kind of
commonwealth among themselves, and having much business in hand, it was
odd to have seven-and-thirty Indians live in a nook of the island, independent,
and, indeed unemployed; for, excepting the providing themselves food, which
they had difficulty enough to do, sometimes they had no manner of business or
property to manage. I proposed, therefore, to the governor Spaniard, that he
should go to them with Friday's father, and propose to them to remove, and either
plant for themselves, or be taken into the several families as servants, to be maiu-
tained for their labour, but without being absolute slaves; for I would not admit
the settlers to make them slaves by force, by any means; because they had their
liberty given them by capitulation, as it were articles of surrender, which they
ought not to break.
They most willingly embraced the proposal, and came all very cheerful along
with him so we allotted them land and plantations, which three or four accepted
of, but all the rest chose to be employed as servants in the several families we
had fixed; and thus my colony was in a manner settled, as follows:- The
Spaniards possessed my original habitation, which was the capital city, and e
}
Y 2
324
tended their plantations all along the side of the brook, which formed the creek
that I have so often described, as far as my bower; and as they increased their
culture it went always eastward. The English lived in the north-east part, where
Will Atkins and his comrades began, and came on southward and south-west,
towards the back limit of the Spaniards; and every plantation had a great addi-
tion of land to take in, if they found occasion, so that they need not jostle one
another for want of room. All the east end of the island was left uninhabited,
that, if any of the savages should come on shore there only for their custom-
ary barbarities, they might come and go if they disturbed nobody, nobody
would disturb them: and no doubt but they were often ashore, and went away
again, but I never heard that the planters were ever attacked or disturbed
any more.
It now came into my thoughts that I had hinted to my friend the clergyman,
that the work of converting the savages might perhaps be set on foot in his ab-
sense to his satisfaction, and told him that now I thought it was put in a fair
way; for the savages being thus divided among the christians, if they would but
every one of them do their part with those which came under their hands, I
hoped it might have a very good effcct.
He agreed presently in that, if they did their part: "but how," says he,
"shall we obtain that of them?" I told him we would call them all together,
and leave it in charge with them, or go to them, one by one, which he thought
best: so we divided it, he to speak to the Spaniards, who were all papists, and I to
the English, who were all protestants: and we recommended it earnestly to them,
and made them promise that they would never make any distinction of papist or
protestant, in their exhorting the savages to turn christians, but teach them the
general knowledge of the true God; and they likewise promised us that they
would never have any differences or disputes one with another about religion.
When I came to Will Atkins's house (I may call it so, for such a house, or
such a piece of basket-work, I believe, was not standing in the world again),
there I found the young woman I have mentioned above, and Will Atkins's wife
were become intimates; and this prudent, religious young woman, had perfected
the work Will Atkins had begun; and though it was not above four days after
what I have related, yet the new baptized savage woman was made such a chris-
tian as I have seldom heard of in all my observation or conversation in the
world.
It came next into my mind, the morning before I went to them, that
amongst all the needful things I had to leave with thom, I had not left them a
bible;* in which I showed myself less considerate for them than my good friend
the widow was for me, when she sent me the cargo of an hundred pounds from
Lisbon, wherein she packed up three bibles and a prayer-book. However, the
good woman's charity had a greater extent than ever she imagined, for they were
reserved for the comfort and instruction of those that made much better use of
them than I had done.
48
* BIBLE:-The Old Testament contains: 39 books; 929 chapters; 23214 verses;
592439 words; 2728100 letters. The New Testament contains: 27 books: 260 chap-
ters; 7959 verses; 181253 words; 838380 letters. Total in the Bible: 66 books;
1189 chapters; 31173 verses; 773692 words; 3566480 letters. Apocrypha, (i, e.
unauthenticate,") contains: chapters, 183; verses, 6081; words, 152185. The Old-
Testament contains the following remarkable perticularities:-The middle book is
Proverbs. The middle chapter, Job, xxix. The middle verse II Chronicles, xx,
between verses 17, 18. The least verse, I Chronicles, i, 1. The word, "And," occuis
35543 times. The New Testament has these:-the middle book is Thessalonians 11.
The middle chapter, between Romans xiii, xiv. The middle verse, Acts, xvii, 17.
The least verse, John, xi, 35. The word, "And," occurs 10684 times. The Bible hus
these :-The middle chapter, and least, is Psalm, cxvii. The middle verse, Psalm,
exviii, 8. The middle line, II Chronicles, iv, 16. The word, JEHOVAH, Occurs 6855
times. Ezra, vii, 21, has all the letters of the alphabet. 11 Kings, xix, and Isaiah,
xxxvii, are alike. See page 99.
32.5
I took one of the bibles in my pocket, and when I came to Will Atkins's tent
or house, I found the young woman and Atkins's baptised wife had been dis-
coursing of religion together, for Will Atkins told it me with a great deal of joy :
I asked if they were together now, and he said yes; so I went into the house,
and he with me, and we found them together very earnest in discourse, 0,
Sir," says Will Atkins, "when God has sinners to reconcile to himself, and
aliens to bring home, he never wants a messenger; my wife has got a new
instructor; I knew I was as unworthy as I was incapable of that work; that
young woman has been sent hither from heaven; she is enough to convert a
whole island of savages." The young woman blushed, and rose up to go away,
but I desired her to sit still; I told her she had a good work upon her hands, and
I hoped God would bless her in it.
We talked a little, and I did not perceive they had any book among them,
though I did not ask; but I put my hand into my pocket, and pulled out my
bible;
Here," says I to Atkins, “ I have brought you an assistant that perhaps
you had not before." The man was so confounded that he was not able to
speak for some time; but recovering himself, he takes it with both his hauls, and
turning to his wife, "Here, my dear," says he, “did not I tell you our God,
though he lives above, could hear what we said? Here's the book I prayed for
when you and I kneeled down under the bush; now God has heard us, and sent
it." When he had said so, the man fell into such transports of passionate joy,
that between the joy of having it, and giving God thanks for it, the tears ran
down his face like a child that was crying.
The woman was surprised, and was like to have run into a mistake, that none
of us were aware of, for she literally believed God had sent the book upon her
husband's petition. It is true that, providentially, it was so, and might be takon
so in a consequent sense; indeed, I believe it would have been no difficult matter,
at that time, to have persuaded the poor woman to have believed that an express
messenger had come from heaven on purpose to bring that individual book; but it
was too serious a matter to suffer any delusion to take place; so I turned to the
young woman, and told her we did not desire to impose upon the new convert,
in her first and more ignorant understanding of things, and begged her to explain
to her that God may be very properly said to answer our petitions, when in
the course of his providence, such things are in a particular manner brought to
pass as we petitioned for; but we did not expect returns from Heaven in a mi-
raculous and particular manner, and it is our mercy that it is not so.
:.
This the young woman did afterwards effectually, so that there was I assure
you, no priestcraft used here and I should have thought it one of the most
unjustifiable frauds in the world to have had it so, But the surprise of joy upon
Will Atkins is really not to be expressed; and there, we may be sure, was no
delusion. Sure no man was ever more thankful in the world for any thing of
its kind, than he was for the bible; nor, I believe, never any man was glad of
a bible from a better principle; and though he had been a most profligate
creature, headstrong, furious, and desperately wicked, yet this man is a standing
rule to us all for the well-instructing of children, viz. that parents should never
give over to teach and instruct, or ever despair of the success of their endeavours,
let the children be ever so refractory, or, to appearance, insensible of instruction;
for, if ever God, in his providence, touches the conscience of such, the force of
their education returns upon them, and the early instruction of parents is not
lost, although it may have been many years laid asleep, but, some time or other,
they may find the benefit of it. Thus it was with this poor man; however igno-
rant he was of religion and christian knowledge, he found he had some to do
with now more ignorant than himself, and that the least part of the instruction
of his good father that now came to his mind was of use to him.
Among the rest it occurred to him, he said, how his father used to insist so
much on the inexpressible value of the bible, the privilege and blessing of it unto
nations, families, and persons; but he never entertained the least notion of the
$26
worth of it till now, when being to talk to heathens, savages, and barbarians, he
wanted the help of the written oracle for his assistance.
The young woman was glad of it also for the present occasion, though she
had one, and so had the youth on board our ship, among their goods, which were
not yet brought on shore. And now, having said so many things of this young
woman, I cannot omit telling one story more of her and myself, which has some-
thing in it very informing and remarkable.
I have related to what extremity the poor young woman was reduced, how
her mistress was starved to death, and died on board that unhappy ship we met
at sea, and how the whole ship's company was reduced to the last extremity.
The gentlewoman and her son, and this maid, were first hardly used, as to pro-
visions, and at last totally neglected and starved; that is to say, brought to the
last extremity of hunger.* One day, being discoursing with her on the extremi-
ties they suffered, I asked her, if she could describe, by what she had felt, what
was to starve, and how it appeared? She told me she believed she could, and she
told her tale very distinctly thus:-
66
First, Sir," said she, "we had for some days fared excceding hard, and
suffered very great hunger: but at last we were wholly without food of any kind,
except sugar, and a little wine and water. The first day after I had received no
food at all, I found myself, towards evening, first empty and sick at the stomach,
and nearer night much inclined to yawning and sleep. I laid down on a couch
in the great cabin to sleep. I slept about three hours, and awaked a little
refreshed, having taken a glass of wine when I lay down; after being about
three hours awake, it being about five o'clock in the morning, I found myself
empty and sickish, and I lay down again, but could not sleep at all, being
very faint and ill; and thus I continued all the second day, with a strange varic-
ty, first hungry, then sick again, with reachings of the stomach. The second night,
being obliged to go to bed again without any food, more than a draught of fresh
water, and being asleep, I dreamed, I was at Barbados,‡ and that the market
* See D. C. vol. viii, p. 27.
+ DREAM:-See page 172. The following curious litigation originated from a dream :---
Court of Chancery-August 2. 1811. NISBETT v. SwIFT. This was a case of Demurrer
of some curiosity. The facts, as stated in the argument, for the Defendant, were these:
-Some time since, the Plaintiff applied to the Defendant, Henry Edward SwIFT, &
lottery-office keeper, for the purpose of purchasing shares of two particular tickets,
Nos. 111 and 27, previously to their being issued from the bank of England. The
Plaintiff, placing a very mysterious faith in a dream of those two tickets, paid a gra-
tuity of 5s. which he was told by Defendant was customary in cases where a person
fixed on a favourite number. These 5s. went to a clerk in the Bank who marked the
numbers chosen, in a way that they might be known after their issue, and secured for
the persons engaging them. In fine, the Plaintiff bespoke, and the Defendant agreed
to obtain for him the numbers specified. In the sequel, however, he only produced
No. 111, of which the plaintiff took; but the No. 27, one-half of which he had con-
tracted to purchase, never came into his possession. The No. 111 happened to come
out a blank, but the other, 27, actually came out a prize of 20,000l. The Plaintiff then
brought his action to recover the 10,000l. to which the half ticket 27 was entitled; and
by a bill in equity, asked for discovery of certain particular facts, without the know-
ledge of which, in evidence, his action could not be supported.-These facts were
sought to be discovered in a series of questions put by Plaintiff to Defendant, as to
whether, in such cases, marks were usually put on tickets while deposited in the Bank?
whether Defendant promised to bespeak and procure the shares of the particular
tickets for Flantiff? whether he did not advise in a conversation with others, that he
had agreed so to bespeak and procure them? whether the 5s. were not actually paid
for the purpose of having this mark affixed? whether, in part fulfilment of their con-
tract, Defendant did not procure the ticket No. 111; &c. To the answering of these
questions Defendant demurred, and the Demurrer was over-ruled by the Lord-Chancellor.
‡ BARBADOS:-The earliest planters of this island were sometimes reproached with
the guilt of forcing or decoying into slavery, the natives of the neighbouring continent.
The history of INKLE and YARICO, which the Spectator has recorded for the detestation
$27
was mightily stocked with provisions; that I bought some for my mistress, and
went and dined very heartily. I thought my stomach was as full after this
as it would have been after a good dinner; but when I awaked I was exceed-
ingly sunk in my spirits to find myself in the extremity of famine. The last
glass of wine we had I drank, and put sugar in it, because of its having some spirit
to supply nourishment; but, there being no substance in the stomach for the
digesting office to work upon, I found the only effect of the wine was, to raise
disagreeable fumes from the stomach into the head; and I lay, as they told me,
stupid and senseless, as one drunk, for some time. The third day, in the
morning, after a night of strange, confused, and inconsistent, dreams, and rather
dozing than sleeping, I awaked ravenous and furious with hunger; and I ques-
tion, had not my understanding returned and conquered it, whether, if I had
been a mother, and had had a little child with me, its life would have been safe
or not. This lasted about three hours; during which time I was twice raging
mad as any creature in Bedlam, as my young master told me, and as he can now
inform you.
"In one of these fits of lunacy or distraction I fell down, and struck my
face against the corner of a pallet bed in which my mistress lay, and, with the
of mankind, took its rise here; but this species of slavery has been long since abo-
lished, and a monopoly of bondage is the established lot of the sable sons and daughters
of Afric. Perhaps such of the readers of this volume as have sympathised with the
unfortunate YARICO, may be consoled to hear that she bore her misfortunes with more
patience or fortitude than they have hitherto fancied. The story was first related by
LIGON, who (after praising poor YARICO's complexion, which he says was "a bright
bay;" and "her small breasts with nipples of porphyrie.") observes that "she chanc't
afterwards to be with child by a christian servant, and being very great, walked down
to a woode, in which was a pond of water, and there by the side of the pond, brought
herselfe a-bed; and in three hours came home with the child in her arms, a lusty boy,
frolicke and lively." BRYAN EDWARDS remarks upon this. "The crime of INKLE
the merchant admits of no palliation; but it is ridiculous to hear the Abbé RAYNAL
(improving upon ADDISON) ascribe to it an intended revolt of all the negros in Bar-
bados, who (as he asserts) moved by indignation at INKLE's monstrous cruelty, vowed
with one accord the destruction of all the whites; but their plot was discovered the
night before it was to have been carried into effect." So far well, said Mr. EDWARD'S;
but what will be the reader's indignation when he comes to this gratuitous continu-
ation by our west-indian historian? "The Histoire philosophique has a thousand
beauties; but it grieves me to say that, in point of historical accuracy, it is nearly on a
level with-ROBINSON-CRUSOE."!
The fig tree whose bearded appearance is supposed in the former note on this island
(page 47)to have contributed towards the name "Barbadas," is the banyan-tree, that
sovereign of the vegetable creation, whose empire extends over Asia and Afric, as well
as the tropical parts of America, itself a forest and thus described by our sublime poet
with great exactness:
"The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renowned,
But such as at this day to Indians known
In Malabar and Dekhan, spreads her arms,
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bearded twigs take root, and daughters grow
Above the mother tree, a pillar'd shade,
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between.
MILTON. Paradise Lost: ix.
R. C.'s journal repeatedly alludes to the rainy season of his island. A tropical year
seems properly to comprehend but two seasons; the wet, and the dry; but the former
is again subdivided into two distinct periods: the vernal, and the autumnal. An Euro-
pean who has not visited these climates, can form no adequate conception of the quan-
tity of water which deluges the earth at these seasons: by an exact and scientific
account which was kept of the perpendicular height of the water which fell in one year
at Barbadas, (and that in no wise remarkable) it appeared to have been equal to 67
inches. Nevertheless the climate of the West-Indies from November to May, is to
valetudinarians and persons advanced in life, that of Paradise.
1
328
blow, the blood gushed out of my nose; and the cabin boy bringing me a little
basin, I sat down and bled into it a great deal; and as the blood came from
me, I came to myself, and the violence of the flame or fever I was in abated,
and so did the ravenous part of the hunger. Then I grew worse, and reached to
sickness, but could not, for I bad nothing in my stomach to bring up. After I had
bled some time, I swooned, and they all believed I was dead; but I came to iny-
self soon after, and then had a most dreadful pain in my stomach, not to be
described, not like the cholic, but a gnawing, eager pain for food; and towards
the night it went off, with a kind of earnest wishing or longing for food, something
like, as I suppose, the longing of a woman with child. I took another draught
of water, with sugar in it; but my stomach loathed the sugar, and brought it
all up again: then I took a draught of water without sugar, and that stayed with
me; and I laid me down upon the bed, praying most heartily that it would please
God to take me away; and composing my mind in hopes of it, I slumbered
awhile, and then waking, thought myself dying, being light with vapours from
an empty stomach: I then recommended my soul to God, and earnestly wished
that somebody would throw me into the sea.
"All this while my mistress lay by me, just, as I thought, expiring, but bore
it with much more patience than I; and gave the last bit of bread she had left
unto her child, my young master, who would not have taken it, but she obliged
him to eat it; and I believe it saved his life.
"Towards the morning I slept again; and when I awoke, I fell into a violent
passion of crying, and after that had a second fit of violent hunger: I got up
ravenous, and in a most dreadful condition: had my mistress been dead, as
much as I loved her, I am certain I should have eaten a piece of her flesh with
as much relish, and as unconcerned, as ever I did eat the flesh of any creature
appointed for foud; and once or twice I was going to bite my own arm; at
last I saw the basin in which was the blood I had bled at the nose the day before;
I ran to it and swallowed it with such haste, and such a greedy appetite, as if
I wondered nobody had taken it before, and afraid it should be taken from me
now. After it was down though the thoughts of it filled me with horror, yet it
checked the fit of hunger, and I took another draught of water, and was com-
posed and refreshed for some hours after. This was the fourth day; and thus
I held it till towards night; when, within the compass of three hours, I had all
the several circumstances over again, one after another, viz. sick, sleepy, eagerly
hungry, pain in the stomach, then ravenous again, then sick, then crying, then ra-
venous again, and then sick, then lunatic, then crying, then ravenous again, and so
every quarter of an hour; and my strength wasted exceedingly: at night I laid me
down, having no comfort but in the hope that I should die before morning.
"All this night I had no sleep; but the hunger was now turned into a
disease; and I had a terrible cholic and griping, by wind, instead of food, having
found its way into the bowels; and in this condition I lay till morning, when
I was surprised with the cries and lamentations of my young master, who called
out to me that his mother was dead; I lifted myself up a little, for I had not
strength to rise, but found she was not dead, although she was able to give very
little signs of life.
"I then had such convulsions in my stomach, for want of some sustenance,
that I cannot describe; with such frequent throes and pangs of appetite, that
nothing but the tortures of death can imitate; and in this condition I was when
I heard the seamen above cry out " A sail! a sail!” and hollow and jump about
as if they were distracted.
"I was not able to get off from the bed, and my mistress much less; and
my young master was so sick, that I thought he had been expiring; so we could
not open the cabin door, or get any account what it was that occasioned such
*confusion; nor had we any conversation with the ship's company for two days,
they having told us that they had not a mouthful of any thing to eat in the ship;
and this they told us afterwards, they thought we had been dead. It was this
329
dreadful condition we were in when you were sent to save our lives; and how
you found us, Sir, you know as well as I, and better too.'
This was her own relation, and is such a distinct account of starving to death,
as, I confess, I never met with, and was excceding entertaining to me. I am the
rather apt to believe it to be a true account, because the youth gave me an
account of a good part of it; although, I must own, not so distinct and so feeling
as the maid; and the rather, because it seems his mother fed him at the price
of her own life; but the poor maid, although her constitution being stronger than
that of her mistress, who was in years, and a weakly woman too, she might
struggle harder with it; I say, the poor maid might be supposed to feel the
extremity something soouer than her mistress, who might be allowed to keep the
last bit something longer than she parted with any to relieve the maid. No
question, as the case is here related, if our ship or some other, had not so provi-
dentially met them, a few days more would have ended all their lives, unless
they had prevented it by eating one another; and that, even as their case stood,
would have served them but a little while, they being five hundred leagues from
any land, or any possibility of relief, other than in the miraculous manner it hap-
pened; but this is by the way: I return to my disposition of things among the
people.
And, first, it is to be observed here, that, for many reasons, I did not think
fit to let them know any thing of the sloop I had framed, and which I thought
of setting up among them; for I found, at least at my first coming, such seeds of
divisions among them, that I saw plainly, had I set up the sloop, and left it among
them, they would, upon every light disgust, have separated, and gone away from
one another, or perhaps have turned pirates, and so made the island a den of
thieves, instead of a plantation of sober and righteous people, as I intended it:
nor did I leave the two pieces of brass cannon that I had on board, or the two
quarter-deck guns that my nephew took extraordinary for the same reason: I
thought it was enough to qualify them for a defensive war against any that
should invade them, but not to set them up for an offensive war, or to go abroad
to attack others; which, in the end, would only bring ruin and destruction upon
them I reserved the sloop, therefore, and the guns, for their service another
way, as I shall observe in its place.
:
Having now done with the island, I left them all in good circumstances and
in a flourishing condition, and went on board my ship again the 6th of May,
having been about twenty-five days among them; and as they were all resolved
to stay upon the island, until I came to remove them I promised to send thein far-
ther relief from Brazil, if I could possibly find an opportunity, and particularly,
to send them some cattle, such as sheep, hogs, and cows; as to the two cows
and calves which I brought from England, we had been obliged by the length of
our voyage, to kill them at sea, for want of hay to feed them.
The next day, giving them a salute of five guns at parting, we set sail, and
arrived at the bay of All-Saints, in the Brazil, in about twenty-two days, meeting
nothing remarkable in our passage but this: that about three days after we had
sailed, being becalmed, and the current setting strong to the E. N. E. running
as it were into a bay or gulph on the land side, we were driven something out
of our course, and once or twice our men cried out, "Land to the eastward;"
but whether it was the continent or islands we could not tell by any means.
But the third day, towards evening, the sea smooth, and the weather calm,
we saw the sea, as it were, covered towards the land with something very black;
not being able to discover what it was, till after some time, our chief mate going
up the main-shrouds a little way, and looking at them with a perspective, cried
out, it was an army. I could not imagine what he meant by an army, and
thwarted him a little hastily. Nay, Sir," says he, "don't be angry, for 'tis anl
army, and a fleet too; for I believe there are a thousand canoes, and you may
see them paddle along, for they are coming towards us apace.”
[C
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1
I was a little surprised then, indeed, and so was my nephew the captain; for
he had heard such terrible stories of them in the island, and having never been
in those seas before, he could not tell what to think of it, but said, two or
three times, we should all be devoured. I must confess, considering we were
becalmed, and the current set strong towards the shore, I liked it the worse:
however, I bade them not to be afraid, but bring the ship to an anchor as soon
as we came so near as to know that we must engage them.
The weather continued calm, and they came on apace towards us: so I gave
order to come to an anchor, and furl all our sails: as for the savages, I told them
they had nothing to fear but fire, and therefore they should get their boats out,
and fasten them, one close by the head, and the other by the stern, and man
them both well, and wait the issue in that posture: this I did, that the inen in
the boats might be ready with skeets and buckets to put out any fire these
savages would endeavour to fix to the outside of the ship
In this posture we lay by for them, and in a little while they came up with us:
but never was such a horrid sight seen by christians: though my mate was much
mistaken in his calculation of their number, yet when they came up we reckoned
about a hundred and twenty-six; some of them had sixteen or seventeen men in
them; some more; and the least, six or seven.
When they came nearer to us, they semed to be struck with wonder and
astonishment, as at a sight which doubtless they had never seen before; nor could
they, at first, as we afterwards understood, know what to make of us; they
came boldly up, however, very near to us, and seemed to go about to row round
us; but we called to our men in the boats not to let them come too near them,
This very order brought us to an engagement with them, without our designing
it; for five or six of the large canoes came so near our long-boat that our men
beckoned with their hands to keep them back, which they understood very well,
and went back; but at their retreat about fifty arrows came on board us from
those boats, and one of our men in the long-boat was very much wounded.
However, I called to them not to fire by any means; but we handed down some
deal-boards into the boat, and the carpenter presently set up a kind of fence,
like waste boards to cover them from the arrows of the savages, if they should
shoot again.
About half an hour afterwards they all came up in a body astern of us, and so
near, as that we could easily discern what they were, though we could not tell
their design; and I easily found they were some of my old friends, the same
sort of savages that I had been used to engage with; and in a short time more
they rowed a little farther out to sea, till they came directly broadside with us, and
then rowed down strait upon us, till they came so near that they could hear us speak:
upon this I ordered all my men, to keep close, lest they should shoot any more
arrows, and made all our guns ready; but being so near as to be within hearing,
I made Friday go out upon the deck, and call out aloud to them in his language,
to know what they meant; which accordingly he did. Whether they understood
him or not, that I knew not; but as soon as he had called to them, six of them,
who were in the foremost or nighest boat to us, turned their canoes from us, and
stooping down, shewed us their naked backs, just as if, in English, saving your
presence, they had bid us kiss— : whether this was a defiance or challenge we
knew not, or whether it was done in mere contempt, or as a signal to the rest;
but immediately Friday cried out they were going to shoot; and, unhappily for
him, poor fellow, they let fly about three-hundred of their arrows, and, to my
inexpressible grief, killed poor Friday; no other man being in their sight. The
poor fellow was shot with no less than three arrows, and about three more feļl
very near him; such unlucky marksmen they were!
I was so enraged at the loss of my old trusty servant and companion, that I
immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with small-shot, four with great,
and gave them such a broadside as they had never heard in their lives before,
331
to be sure, They were not above half a cable-length off when we fired; and our
gunners took their aim so well, that three or four of their canoes were overset,
as we had reason to believe, by one shot only.
The ill manners of turning their bare posteriors to us gave us no great offense;
neither did I know for certain whether that which would pass for the greatest
contempt among us might be understood so by them or not; therefore in return,
I had merely resolved to have fired four or five guns at thein with powder only,
which I knew would frighten them sufficiently; but when they shot at us directly,
with all the fury they were capable of, and especially as they had killed my poor
Friday, whom I so entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed, so well deserved
it, I thought myself not only justifiable before God and man, but would have been
very glad if I could have overset every canoe there, and drowned every man
of them.
I can neither tell how many we killed, or how many we wounded at this
broadside, but sure such a fright and hurry never was seen among such a multi-
tude; there were thirteen or fourteen of their canoes split and overset in all,
and the men all set a-swimming: the rest, frightened out of their wits, scoured
away as fast as they could, taking but little care to save those whose boats were
split or spoiled by our shot; so I suppose that many of them were lost; and
our men took up one poor fellow swimming for his life, above an hour after they
were all gone,
The small shot from our cannon must needs kill and wound a great many;
but, in short, we never knew any thing how it went with thein, for they fled so
fast, that in three hours, or thereabouts, we could not see above three or four
straggling canoes, nor did we ever see the rest any more; for a breeze of
wind springing up the same evening, we weighed, and set sail for Brazil.
We had a prisoner, indeed, but the creature was so sullen that he would
neither eat or speak, and we all fancied he would starve himself to death: but
I took a way to cure him; for I made them take him and turn him into the long-
boat, and make him believe they would toss him into the sea again, and so leave
bin where they found him, if he would not speak: nor would that do, but they
really did throw him into the sea, and came away from him; and then he follow-
ed them, for he swam like a cork, and called to them, in his tongue, though
they knew not one word of what he said: however, at last they took him in
again, and then he began to be more tractable; nor did I ever design they should
drown him.
We were now under sail again; but I was the most disconsolate creature
alive for want of my man Friday; and I would have been very glad to have
gone back to the island to have taken one of the rest from thence for my occa-
sion; but it could not be ; so we went on. We had one prisoner, as I have said,
and it was a long time before we could make him understand any thing; but, in
time, our men taught him some English, and he began to be a little tractable.
Afterwards, we inquired what country he came froin, but could make nothing
of what he said; for his speech was so odd, all gutturals, and he spoke in the
throat in such a hollow, odd manner, that we could never form a word after
him; and we were all of opinion that they might speak that language as well if
they were gagged as otherwise; nor could we perceive that they had any occa-
sion either for teeth, tongue, lips, or palate, but formed their words, just as a
hunting-horn forms a tune, with an open throat. He told us, however, some
time after, when we had taught him to speak a little English, that they were
going with their kings to fight a great battle. When he said kings, we asked
him how many kings? He said they were five nation (we could not make him
understand the plural s), and that they all joined to go against two nation. We
asked him what made them come up to us? He said, "To makee te great won-
der look." Here it is to be observed, that all those natives, as also those of
Africa, when they learn English, always add two e, at the end of the words where
we use one; and they place the accent upon them, as makéé, takéé, and the
332
like; and we could not break them of it; nay, I could hardly make Friday leave
it off, though at last he did.
And now I name* the poor fellow once more,
·
I must take my last leave of him
* NAME.-The origin or etymology of the proper names of men is a subject that
has engaged the attention and exercised the ingenuity of the learned in all ages of
critical inquiry. And although it has given scope to much fanciful and often ludicrous
conjecture, the principle on which it rests will scarcely admit of any doubt. In a
rude or savage state of society individuals must first have been distinguished by refer
ence to peculiar personal qualities as, strong, tall, swift, dark, fair, &c. which distinc-
tions were apt to be succeeded by others more appropriate in their offspring. In this
early stage of civil communion it is plain that a name being the result of the quality
to which it referred was always truly denoted in its object. But as families increased
and population multiplied, it became inconvenient to wait for the adult disclosure of
these primitive characters or marks, and names began to be bestowed in prospective relation
to their significancy either immediately at the birth, in infancy, or in very early youth,
according to the wishes, the hopes, or the fancies of the parents or nomenclators. By
this new process it must often happen that the designation was in the result unapt,
since simple nomination could have no influence in counteracting the effects of nature,
and the son of a strong, wise, or agile father, might prove weak, foolish, or inactive.
But although their application to qualities in men, either exterior or intellectual, was
doubtless the origin of proper names, that first mode must have been resorted to
again, in striking instances, long after the world had advanced in knowledge, and
adopted the succeeding expedient. How else can we account for the name of the il-
lustrious Greek poet Homer (lively), of the great Trojan chief Hector (defender), of
the Turkish prophet Mohammed (glorified), Abdulla (God's servant), or for the primitive
application of Phædrus, Eudoxus, of Albinus, Lucilius, Honorius, &c. or of our Saxon
Alwin (all-victory), Albert (all bright), Alfred (all-peace), &c.? But the early adoption
or creation of honorable titles, though suggested often by vanity and superstition,
was not always destitute of a more rational motive. It was thought that the ideas
inseparable from a name which had been consecrated to renown and honor would
naturally stimulate the new possessor by hopeful emulation to justify his title, and to
become" sui nominis imperator." Hereditary family names, however, appear to be
not of higher antiquity in the antient world than the roman commonwealth, and to
have been produced there by the Sabine union, under the term Cognomina, as distin-
guished from Pranomina. They were not brought into England until about the time of
the norman conquest, nor much earlier into France; neither did they come in at once,
but through the intervention of christian or local names, as from John, Richard, Robert,
William, James, &c.; John-son, Richard-son, William's-son, &c.; and of places, as
Thomas-a-Dutton, Adam-a-Kirby, i. e. Thomas at or belonging to Dutton, Adam at or
belonging to Kirby. The first authentic records of surnames in England is to be found
in Domesday book, and there with reference either to place, ancestor, or office, as
Gulielimus, Mosun, Ranulphus, Filius (afterwards Fitz,) Asculphi, Eudo, Dapifer. And
the notion that Plantagenet was an ancient surname prior to its adoption by the houses
of York and Lancaster is erroneous. That name, like Caracalla, Black-Prince, Rufus,
Long-shanks, and many other such nick-names, related to an adventitious circumstance.
GEOFFREY, the first Earl of Anjou, who married the daughter of HENRY I. and
whose progeny succeeded to the English throne, was called Grisogonel (grey-cloak),
one of his grandchildren Rechin (for his extortion), and another Plantagenet (because
he used to wear a broom-stalk in his bonnet). But these nick-names were never
taken up by those princes, or adopted as family names any more than HENRY II's ap-
pendage of Fitz Empress, or his son RICHARD's Cœur de lion, or JOHN's Sans-terre,
became their family names. A similar error has prevailed with respect to the royal
name of Tudor, which is no more than a corruption of Theodor the christian name of
HENRY the VIIth's grandfather, whose father was called Meredith ap Theodor, ap
Crono, ap Theodor; i. e. Meredith the son of Theodore, the son of Grono, the son of
Theodore, all being only an iteration of christian names without any surname. After
the establishment of the Norman succession, family names (deduced however from the
sources already mentioned) began to be fixed and hereditary in England. But the
most abundant supply of english surnames has been furnished by the progress of
arts and industry throughout the country, and is to be found in the trades, professions,
and occupations of the people, Smith, Mason, Carpenter, Tailor, Buteher, Baker,
333
Poor FRIDAY! We buried him with all the decency and solemnity possible, by
putting him into a coffin, and throwing him into the sea; and I caused them to
fire eleven guns for him: so ended the life of the most grateful, faithful,
honest, affectionate servant, that ever man had.
We went now away with a fair wind for Brazil; and in about twelve days time
we made land, in the latitude of five degrees south of the line, being the north
easternmost land of all that part of America. We kept on S. by E. in sight of
the shore four days, when we made Cape St. Augustino, and in three days came
to an anchor off the bay of All-Saints, the old place of iny deliverance, from
whence came both my good and evil fate.
Never ship came to this port that had less business than I had, and yet it was
with great difficulty that we were admitted to hold the least correspondence on
ahore: not my partner himself, who was alive, and made a great figure
among them, not my two merchant-trustees, not the fame of my wonderful
preservation in the island, could obtain me that favour; but my partner remem-
bering that I had given five-hundred moidors to the prior of the monastery of the
Augustins, and two hundred and seventy-two to the poor, went to the
monastery, and obliged the prior that then was to go to
the governor,
and get leave for me personally, with the captain and one more, besides eight
seamen, to come on shore, and no more; and this upon condition absolutely
capitulated for, that we should not offer to land any goods out of the ship, or to
carry any person away without license. They were so strict with us as to land-
ing any goods, that it was with extreme difficulty I got on shore three bales
of english goods, such as fine broad-cloths, stuffs, and some linen, which I had
brought for a present to my partner.
Ile was a generous, open-hearted man; though, like me, he came from little
at first and though he knew not that I had the least design of giving him any
thing, he sent me on board a present of fresh provisions, wine and sweatmeats,
worth above thirty moidors, including some tobacco, and three or four fine
medals of gold but I was even with him in my present, which, as I have said,
consisted of fine broad-cloth, english stuffs, lace, and fine hollands; also I deli-
vered him about the value of 100/. sterling, in the same goods, for other uses;
and I obliged him to set up the sloop, which I had brought with me from
England, as I have said, for the use of my colony, in order to send the refresh-
ments I intended to my plantation.
Painter, Plumber, Barber, Hunter, Steward, Butler, Page, Cook, Gardner, Monk,
Bishop, Abbot, Priest, Proctor, Clerk, &c. Various others in a more arbitrary and
capricious manner, have been advanced as Hope, Fortune, Victor, Noble, Strong,
Able, Arm-strong, &c. Some are of puritanical origin, as Grace, Faith, Pure, Godly,
&c. All this is obvious, and in the natural course of things. Titles denoting honor
or utility will cheerfully be retained and transmitted to posterity; but how shall we
account for the consent with which some men appear to have subscribed to their own
disgrace, and to have entailed it upon their children? A bad or contemptuous name
may be incurred by delinquency or folly, or be imputed by malevolence or levity in
such a manner as that no efforts to disclaim or remove it from the unhappy object
will be effectual, and he shall often carry the stigma, whether merited or not, into his
grave. But this has no necessary connection with the name or character of his des-
cendants. A man may be a knave, a robber, an incendiary. But if any such accu-
sation were urged against his blameless son, the calumniator would be legally punisti-
able. How then does it happen that names like Coward, Bastard, Cheater, Sponge,
Growler, Rickets, Stammers, and countless others, denoting an origin either odious or
ridiculous, have been quietly recognized and acknowledged by those to whom they
belong, as family names?
334

1
Accordingly, he got hands, and finished the sloop in a very few days, for she
was already framed; and I gave the master of her such instructions as that he
could not miss the place; nor did he miss it, as I had an account from my partner
afterwards. I got him soon loaded with the small cargo I sent them; and one
of our seamen, who had been on shore with me there, offered to go with the
sloop and settle there, upon my letter to the governor Spaniard to allot him a
sufficient quantity of land for a plantation, and giving him some clothes and
tools for his planting work, which he said he understood, having been an old
planter at Maryland,* and a buccaneert into the bargain. I encouraged the
* MARY-LAND:-One of the southern United-states of America, situated, between
75° and 80° longitude W. 38° and 40° latitude N. in length about 134 miles; in breadth
about 110; containing an area of about 14000 square miles. It is bounded on the N.
by Pensylvania; on the E. by the Delaware, and the Atlantic ocean; on the S. by
Virginia; on the W. by the Apalachian mountains. This country is indented by a
great number of navigable rivers; of which the chief are the Chesapeak, the Patomac,
and the Patuxent. It's capital city is Anna-polis; to which name it was changed from
that of "Severn" in 1694. Its population amounted in 1801, to 349692 persons,
including 107707 slaves. Mary-land was peopled by roman-catholic emigrants from
England towards the close of the reign of K. CHARLES I. when religious animosity
was carried to a shameful excess. In 1632, Lord BALTIMORE one of the most
eminent of that sect, obtained a grant of that country which formerly had been con-
sidered as a part of Virginia, but was now called Mary-land, in honour of Queen
HENRIETTA-MARIA, consort of CHARLES, and daughter of King HENRY IV. of
France. This country enjoys in a great measure those conveniences for navigation
which characterise Virginia; of which it has been observed, and without exaggeration,
that every planter has a river at his door. Cape Charles (the S. point of Maryland,
and N. headland of the entrance into the Chesapeak) is in latitude 37° 11′ N.
longitude 75° 57′ W.
↑ BUCANEER :-or Bucanier, is not to be traced unto any derivation that can explain
it to a certainty. It is one of those cant words, the meaning of which is either local,
i
335
tellow, by granting all he desired; and, according to condition, I gave him the
savage whom we had taken prisoner of war to be his slave, and instructed the
governor Spaniard to give him his share of every thing he wanted with the rest.
When we came to fit this man out, my old partner told me there was a
certain very honest fellow, a Brazil planter of his acquaintance, who had fallen
into the displeasure of the church. I know not what the matter is with him,"
says he, "but on my conscience I think he is a heretic in his heart, and he has
been obliged to conceal himself for fear of the Inquisition ;* that he would be
The
accidental, or arbitrary. Originally it had an allusion to the persons who dried and
smoked flesh and fish, after the manner of the Caraïbes, by a process called bookan.
It was in this sense first applied to the earliest French settlers in Haïti, who had no
other employment or recreation than that of hunting bulls and boars, in order to store
their flesh or sell their hides. When or why this name was applied to the famous
piratical adventurers of the 17th century is uncertain. The Bucaniers of Haïti ap-
pear to have been driven to that course of life by the Spaniards. After this latter
people had got footing in some of the islands, and on part of the continent of
America, they determined to keep the whole exclusively by force of arms.
French whom they had expelled from Saint Christopher's and some adventurers of the
english nation, whom they had also driven away, took possession of the northern un-
inhabited parts of the island (Haïti) to which the patriotism of the Spaniards has
affixed the name of Hespaniola (q. d. Little-Spain); and which their piety has dedi-
cated to St. Domingo. To these colonists was first given the name descriptive of
their principal occupation, already alluded to. But they had another title afterwards,
when some of these hunters made themselves masters of Tortuga, and turned pirates:
they were then also called free-booters, from their making free booty, or prey, of
whatever fell in their way. Thus originated a confederacy which was once formidable
to the greatest powers in Europe, and preserved itself distinct from all the more
regular classes of mankind, in defiance of the laws and constitutions by which other
nations were governed. In their history we find a perpetual mixture of justice and
cruelty, of fair retaliation and ferocious revenge, of rebellion and subordination, cf
wise discipline and brutal passions, such as no other association ever exhibited; and
which kept them united as a body, till the loss of their best and bravest leaders, which
could not be supplied, obliged them to return to the more peaceable arts of life, and
again to mix with civilized society.
INQUISITION:-See page 198. VOLTAIRE sent a message by a gentleman who visited
that amiable and mild man, Pope CLEMENT XIV. (GANGANELLI) that he should esteem
it a great favour if he would send him the eyes and ears of his Inquisitor-General." Said
the good old man," I would have readily obliged him, but the Inquisitor-General of Rome
has had neither eyes nor ears since GANGANELLI has been Pope." The Academics of
Louvain complained to MARGARET, the Emperor's sister, and aunt to CHARLES V.
intrusted with the government of the Netherlands, that LUTHER, by his writings, was
subverting Christianity: "Who is this LUTHER?" said the Governess: they replied,
"he is an illiterate monk." "Is he so?" said she; "then you who are very learned
and very numerous write against him; for surely the world will pay more regard to many
scholars than to one blockhead."-Thus with the Catholics of these kingdoms; so many
laws, so many wise men, so many prejudices, so much power, and such strong inclination
to use it; what is to occasion such terrible alarm in the 19th, more than in the 16th cen-
tury, for the safety of Christianity ?-When, however, the severities and persecutions of
the Inquisition, as well as when murders and seditions, and plots, are adduced against Ro-
man Catholics, it is sufficient to give this one plain answer :-They are acts which form
no part of the roman-catholic religion: the records of them may serve to amuse those
persons who have no better arguments in support of that intolerant system, which has
been so long exercised against the Romanists of this country and of Ireland :-the cha-
racter, the liberties, and the faith of our present Catholics, such arguments do not,
ought not to affect. Whilst we should be very reluctant to impute evil design to any
one, we may, with confidence assert that those are our worst and weakest passions
which impel us to perpetuate divisions and excite hatred in the state.-Benevolence
will wish all our fellow subjects united and happy-Wisdom will assidiously contrive
the means for it-Power, under their direction, will employ all its authorities and
energies to accomplish it-and truth would rejoice in the removal of the barriers which
336
very glad of such an opportunity to make his escape, with his wife and two
daughters; and if I would let them go to my island, and allot them a plantation,
he would give them a small stock to begin with; for the officers of the Inquisition
had seized all his effects and estate, and he had nothing left but a little house-
hold stuff, and two slaves: and," adds he, "though I hate his principles, yet
I would not have him fall into their hands, for he will be assuredly burned
alive if he does."
I granted this presently, and joined my Englishman with them; and we con-
cealed the man, and his wife and daughters, on board our ship, till the sloop
put out to go to sea; and then having shipped all their goods some time before,
we put them on board the sloop after she was got out of the bay.
Our seaman was mightily pleased with this new partner; and their stocks,
indeed, were much alike rich in tools, in preparations, and a farm; but nothing
to begin with, except as above: however, they carried over with them, which
was worth all the rest, some materials for planting sugar canes, with some plants
of canes, which he, I mean the Portugal man, understood very well.
Among the rest of the supplies sent my tenants in the island, I sent them by
the sloop three-milch cows and five calves, about twenty-two hogs among them,
three sows big with pig, two mares, and a stallion. For my Spaniards,
according to my promise, I engaged three Portugal women to go, and recom-
mended to them to marry, and to use them kindly. I could have procured more
women, but I remembered that the poor prosecuted man had two daughters,
and that there were but five of the Spaniards who wanted; the rest had wives
of their own, though in another country. All this cargo arrived safe, and,
as you may easily suppose, were very welcome to my old inhabitants, who were
now, with this addition, between sixty and seventy people, besides little children,
of which there were a great many. I found letters at London from them all,
by way of Lisbon, when I came back to England; of which I shall take some
notice hereafter.
I have now done with the island, and all manner of discourse about it; and
whoever reads the rest of my memorandums would do well to turn his thoughts
entirely from it, and henceforth expect to read of the follies of an old man, not
warned by his own harms, much less by those of other men; not cooled by
almost forty years miseries and disappointments; not satisfied with prosperity
beyond expectation, nor made cautious by afflictions and distress beyond imita-
tion; to beware of the like.
had no more business to go to the East-Indies than a man at full liberty has
to go to the turnkey at Newgate, and desire him to lock him up among the prison,
ers there. Had I taken a small vessel from England, and went directly to the
island; had I loaded her, as I did the other vessel, with all the necessaries for the
plantation, and for my people; had I taken a patent from the government here to
have secured my property, in subjection only to that of England; had I carried
over cannon and ammunition, servants, and people to plant, and taken possession
of the place, fortified and strengthened it in the name of England, and increa
sed it with people as I might easily have done; had I then settled myself there,
and sent the ship back loaden with good rice, as I might also have done in six
months time, and ordered my friends to have fitted her out again for our supply;
had I done this, and stayed there myself, I had at least acted like a man of
common sense: but I was possessed with a wandering spirit, and scorned all
advantages; I pleased myself with being the patron of the people I placed there,
and doing for them in a kind of hauglity, majestic way, like an old patriarchal
monarch, providing for them as if I had been father of the whole family as
well as of the plantation: but I never so much as pretended to plant in the name
bigotry raises at the door of her temple-and in the crowds of votaries which liberality
and gentleness would constrain to worship at her shrine. The cross has in its time,
been the bauner under which madmen assembled to glut the earth with blood. Let
us not despair that truth will one day force its way, even to thrones.
337
of any government or nation, or to acknowledge any prince, or to call my people
subjects to any one nation more than another; nay, I never so much as gave
the place a name, but left it, as I found it, belonging to nobody, and the people
under no discipline or government but my own; who, though I had influence
over them as a father and benefactor, had no authority or power to act or
command one way or other, farther than voluntary consent moved them to
comply: yet even this, had I stayed there, would have done well enough; but
as I rambled from them, and came there no more, the last letters I had from any
of them was by means of my partner, who afterwards sent another sloop to the
place, and who wrote me word, although I had not the letter till several years
after it was written, that they went on but poorly. I was gone a wild-goose
chase, indeed! and they that will have any more of me must be content to
follow me into a new variety of follies, hardships, and wild adventures, wherein
the justice of Providence may be duly observed; and we may see how easily
Heaven can gorge us with our own desires, make the strongest of our wishes
be our affliction, and punish us most severely with those very things which we
think it would be our utmost happiness to be allowed in. Whether I had busi-
mess or no business, away I went: it is no time to enlarge upon the reason or
absurdity of my own conduct, but to come to the history; I was embarked for
the voyage, and the voyage I went.
I shall only add a word or two concerning my honest popish clergyman; for
let their opinion of us, and all other heretics in general, as they call us, be as
uncharitable as it may, I verily believe this man was very sincere, and wished
the good of all men: yet I believe he was upon the reserve in many of his ex-
pressions, to prevent giving me offense; for I scarce heard him once call on the
blessed Virgin, or mention St. Iago* or his guardian angel,† although so com-
* IAGO :-(pronounced as if written in English yah-go) the spanish version of the
proper name James, (IóxaCos, i. e. a supplanter, or maintainer.) Two personages are
mentioned in ecclesiastical history as bearing this name: viz. 1: JAMES the greater
was son of ZEBEDEF and SALOME; and was brother to JoHN the evangelist, 2.: JAMES
the less was son of CLEOPHAS and of MARY, sister to MARY the mother of JESUS ;
he wrote the epistle of his name in the New Testament, was bishop of Jerusalem, and
was martyred. (OLIVER: Script. Lexic.) The former is the saint mentioned in the
text. His anniversary festival is marked on the 25th July, both in the romish and in
the english calendars. His historical legend relates that he was beheaded at Jerusalem
by order of IEROD-AGRIPPA, about the feast of Easter, A. C. 42.
His relics are
stated to have been translated to the city of Compostella, in the province of Gallicia,
in Spain; where they are still holden in great veneration: numerous devotees resorting
thither in pilgrimage on this account, not only from all parts of Spain, but from
various other countries of Christendom, to fulfil their vows of piety.
† ANGEL:-The quality of this divine messenger is so variously applied in our trans-
lation of the scripture as to be somewhat perplexing. The difficulty seems in some
measure to hang upon the synonymy of the words, god, angel, and man, JESUS him-
self is sometimes called by the evangelists the " son of man," and sometimes the "son of
god." Princes, judges, and other grandees are called gods in certain passages of
scripture. The serpent promises Eve that in the day she and her husband eat of" the
tree which was in the middle of the garden," they should" be as gods, knowing good
and evil." (Genesis: iii, 5.) St. PAUL, in his epistle to the Hebrews, (ii, 2,) says, the
word spoken by angels was steadfast:" Again, the same apostle in the same epistle
describes Jesus, as "made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death."
He even describes himself to the Galatians (iv, 14.) as almost like an angel. The
first idea of a peculiar guardian-angel seems to be in the Revelation (i, ii, iii.) wherein
Saint Joan declares that he was commanded by the voice from the midst of the
seven golden candlesticks," to write to the angels of the seven churches, or congre
gations, of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodikea, respec-
tively, such and such things. In short the three terms in question appear to have been
indiscriminately given and taken as titles among the Jews, without attaching the same
important signification to them that we do. See more particularly Saint John, x, S4,
&c. The spies mentioned in Joshua ii, have been termed angels in certain versions of
the Bible. Angel also is in English the epithet of a woman, (before marriage); some-
times of a very bad one.
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval Chron. Edition.]
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338
1
mon with the rest of them: however, I say, I had not the least doubt of his since
rity and pious intentions on his own part; and I am firmly of opinion, if the rest
of the popish missionaries were like him, they would strive to visit even the
poor Tartars and Laplanders, where they have nothing to give them, as well as
covet to flock to India, Persia, China, &c. the most wealthy of the heathen
countries; for if they expected to bring no gains to their church by it, it may
well be admired how they came to admit the Chinese Confucius* into the
calendar of the christian saints. But this by the bye:
* CONFUCIUS:-In proper names of foreign, and especially of oriental, origin, it
should be always our aim to express in our english version, a faithful copy of the origi
nal. But this rule, which is founded on a just regard to uniformity and truth, must
often be relaxed; and the exceptions will be limited or enlarged by the custom of the
language, and the taste of the interpreter. Our alphabets may be often defective:
a harsh sound, an uncouth spelling, might offend the eye or ear; and thus some words,
notoriously corrupt, are fixed and as it were, naturalized in our vulgar tongue. It is
only after a lapse of 500 years, that the more general diffusion of oriental literature
in the West, has begun to relieve MOHAMMED from the famous though improper appel-
lation of MAHOMET. Still, however, the well-known cities of Aleppo, Damascus, and
Cairo, would be almost lost in the correct descriptions of Haleb, Damashk, and Al-
Kahira. The titles and offices of the Othman empire are fashioned by the practice of
four centuries: and we are pleased to blend the three chinese monosyllables
Kon-foo-zee in the respectable name of CONFUCIUS. In these, and in a thousand ex-
amples, the shades of distinction are often minute; and the editor can feel, where he
cannot explain, the motives of his choice. In this particular instance, although he would
not use the license of reforming the orthography of the text, yet in annotation, of
which the avowed object is the detection and correction of error for the benefit both
of the learned and unlearned, he will herein without regard to the censure of erudition
or the surprise of ignorance, take the liberty of adhering to what is right. KONG FOO-
ZEE a chinese philosopher was born about 550 years before the christian æra. (We
may pass over the priestly legends of dragons guarding his birth, the salutation of
stars, &c.) He was married at about the age of 20 years, and had a son, but separated
from his wife, and becoming thus free from domestic cares, devoted himself to study,
and to the instruction of youth. For which pursuit he declined civil magistracy; and we
are told had no fewer than five thousand disciples. In the delivery of precepts, for the
regulation of human life (which no system of ethics or religion extant in the world
can disavow or surpass) and in the example of practising every moral duty, this great
man passed a life of 70 years, dignified by the veneration of his whole nation; but not
exempt from the grief of beholding the perfection of his work deteriorated by corrup
tions that had gradually crept in among his disciples. The Chinese, although they
worship the supreme being of the universe in unity, yet in common with other antient
and modern nations, have a minor goddery into which by a process of apotheosis or
canonization, they have translated the memory of KONGFOOZLE. We find among those
we are pleased to call heathens, innumerable examples of equity, humanity, temper-
ance, disinterestedness, patience and meekness, which prove that morality was incul-
cated, and virtue flourished, long before the peculiar mode of faith which we profess,
was known on earth. Let the following extracts from the morals of KONGFOOZEE, be
compared with the purest part of the system of morals taught in european schools:
and the chinese will not suffer by the comparison,-Moral 24. "Do to another what
you would they should do to you; and do not unto another what you would should
not be done to you: thou only needest this law alone; it is the foundation and princi-
ple of all the rest.—Moral 51. "Desire not the death of thine enemy: thou wouldest
desire it in vain: his life is in the hands of heaven." Moral 53. "Acknowledge
benefits by the return of other benefits; but never avenge injuries.”—Mural 63.
"We may have an aversion for an enemy, without desiring revenge: the emotions
of nature are not necessarily criminal," &c. Morality was and is always necessary to
mankind; for without it, society could not nor cannot exist. But reason alone is suffi-
cient to guide us unto the knowledge of our duties towards our fellow-creatures, and un-
to the enactment of good laws for enforcing the practice: where these exist there is no
need of always flying to heaven to learn rules for the preservation and happiness
of society.
339
A ship being ready to sail for Lisbon, my pious priest asked me leave to go
thither; being still, as he observed, bound never to finish any voyage he began.
How happy had it been for me if I had gone with him! But it was too late
now all things Heaven appoints for the best: had I gone with him, I had never
had so many things to be thankful for, and the reader had never heard of this
part of the travels and adventures of Robinson-Crusoe; so I must here leave
exclaiming at myself, and go on with my voyage. From Brazil we made direct-
ly over the Atlantic sea to the Cape of Good-Hope, * and had a tolerable good
* CAPE GOOD-HOPE :-This colony is at the southern extremity of the African
continent, extending 580 miles in length along the coast from W. to E. and about 315
from N. to S. It reaches on the western side of the peninsula to the river Koussi in
latitude about 29° 50′ S. and on the eastern side to Great Fish river, otherwise Rio d'
Infanta in latitude 33° 25′ S. longitude 27° 3′ E. The promontory which bears this
name and is in latitude 34° 27' S. longitude 18° 31' 30" E. was discovered in 1493
by the portuguese navigator BARTHOLOMEO DIAZ who gave it the name of Cubo
Tormentoso, or “ Cape Tempestuous,” from the boisterous weather which he met near it;
but EMANUEL, King of Portugal, on the return of Draz, changed it's name to that of
Boa-Esperaça, or “Good-hope," from the expectation he entertained of finding beyond
it a passage to India. This was realised by VASCO de GAMA, who having doubled this
cape in 1497, proceeded to India, where he landed in 1498. The Portuguese did not
form any settlement on this part of Africa nearer to the Cape than the Rio d'Infanta.
In 1600, the Hollanders first visited it; but for many years did no more than touch at
it for refreshment in their voyages. In 1620 Captain SHILLINGE, who commanded
the outward-bound East-India fleet, stopped at Saldanha bay, and by a proclamation
dated 23 July 1620, took possession of the bay, and the adjacent country in the name
of the King of England, on the condition expressed in the East-India company's
charter, viz. that no other european power had at this time claimed a right to that
part of the coast of Africa; reserving to the King, the right of assuming the sove-
reignty of the district under any title which his Majesty might be pleased to adopt.
By this act of possession, as far as such an act can confer a right, the right of the
crown of England to the cape of Good-Inpe was established many years prior to the
period when the Dutch took possession of it; but the civil wars in England prevented
occupancy; and these rights of priority became neglected. In 1650 VAN RIEBECK,
a surgeon of one of their ships, pointed out to the directors of the Dutch East-India
Company, the advantages of a colony at this spot; his plan was adopted: and the
Cape of Good-Hope remained from that time in the undisturbed possession of the
Dutch until it was taken by the English in 1795. Restored by the peace of Amiens
in 1802, it was again attacked and reduced in 1806: since which period it has remain-
ed in our possession. The places most frequented by shipping are Saldanha, and
Table, bays on the western side, False, and Simon's, bays, on the eastern side of the
peninsula. These places are described in the Naval Chronicle: ii, 260; iii, 361;
v, 417; xi, 14; xii, 380; xiv, 194; xv, 248, 250, 261; xxiii, 187; xxviii, 148, 232, 478,
497. The Cape of Good-Hope is the southern point of the peninsula which separates False
and Table bays from each other; but the popular notion of it's being the southermost
extremity of the African continent is erroneous; in as much as Cape Agulhas (whose
name is coruptly changed by english mariners into "Lagullus,") bears from it E. 20° S.
distant 30 leagues, in 34° 58′ 30″ S. 20° 18′ E. The meaning of the portuguese name
agulhas, is "needles; and was bestowed on this cape because the variation of the
magnetic needle here, about the time of its discovery was so trifling as to be hardly
perceptible. In fact in the year 1598, variation at Cape Agulhas was 30' W. at Cape
G. H. 25' E. at Cape False o. Having thus afforded such technical information as
is most requisite for the navigator, the editor conceives the general reader will not be
dissatisfied at finding the subject farther illustrated by reference to the accounts given
of this celebrated colony by modern travellers, among whom is most frequently quoted
Mr. BARROW; because from his long sojourn at the Cape, and from his superior
sources of information, his travels are considered as the most authentic work extant.
Cape Town, (as will be seen by refering to the map,) is situated on the S. E angle of
Table Bay. The castle, was erected by the Dutch, who, finding the settlement become
more frequented, on account of the increase of their India trade, deemed it expedient
to erect a citadel that might serve as a defense against any attack either by land or
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340
voyage, our course generally south-east, now and then a storm, and some con-
trary winds; but my disasters at sea were at an end; my future rubs and cross
sea.
This citadel, is a regular pentagon, with two ravelins and some other out-works,
and surrounded by a wet ditch; but so injudiciously placed, in the very lowest part
or sink of the valley, that although it commands the town and part of the anchorage,
the fort itself is commanded by the ground rising from it in a slope to the Devil's Hill,
which, therefore, renders it not defensible. At the time when BARROW wrote his
account, this slope was occupied as high as the commencement of the perpendicular
rocky side of the Devil's Hill, by various redoubts, batteries, and block houses, com-
manding each other, and the advance ground to the castle. Fort Knokke, which is to
the westward of the castle, within the distance of 1300 yards, is connected with it by
a rampart drawn along the shore, called the Sea-Lines, defended by several batteries,
mounted with heavy guns, and furnished with ovens for heating shot. To the north-
ward of the castle, on the west side of the bay, are three strong batteries-the Rogge
Bay battery, the Amsterdam battery, and the Chavonne battery, the guns of which all
bear directly upon the anchorage. Somewhat farther to the north, and bearing away
considerably to the west, is a small battery, called the Mouillé, commanding the
entrance of the bay. Rounding the point, and in a north-westerly direction from the
eastle, where there is a small sandy cove, the Datch, previously to the capture of the Cape
by the English in 1795, had thrown up a work, with a few light guns and a furnace for
heating shot, with a view, to prevent a landing at that place; which they farther endea
voured to impede, by fixing three anchors across the inlet. A few shot, however, from
one of our frigates, soon dislodged the enemy from this station. At Camp's Bay, on
the western coast of the peninsula, there are also a few small batteries, and a military
post on the height above it, directly between the Table-Mountain and the Lion's Head.
An almost perpetual surf rolls upon the sandy beach of Camp's Bay, otherwise this
might be considered as a very vulnerable point. An army landing there, and at Three-
Anchor Bay, might take the town and all the batteries in their rear, or which would be
still more important, might get possession of the Lion's Rump; from whence, with a
few bowitzers, the town and citadel, and the strong batteries on the west side of Table
Bay, would be completely commanded. And this hill has the great advantage of not
being commanded by any other point. The greatest difficulty, in employing this situa-
tion for such a purpose, would be the want of water; but it is by no means an insur-
mountable difficulty. Twelve hundred men, at a daily allowance of a quart to each
man, would consume, in twelve months, 109500 gallons; and a cistern, capable of
containing this quantity, would not be required to exceed a square of twelve yards,
provided the depth be about four yards and a half. Two cisterns of these dimensions
would be fully adequate for every purpose that the garrison would require.
According to an estimate which has been made by persons well acquainted with the
plan, it has been considered, that, for the defense of the various works upon the Cape
peninsula, a garrison of 5000 men is the very least force that is requisite. This is about
the number that was under the command of General JANSENS at the late surrender.
None of this force could with propriety, or without exposing the remainder to danger
be detached into the interior of this colony; which mdeed, is so extensive, having an
unprotected coast of 895 miles, that an army of 10000 men would scarcely be sufficient
to keep out an enemy, if he were determined to effect a landing.
men.
With respect to the present state of society and manners, travellers are agreed that
the female portion of the inhabitants is much superior to the male. BARROW,
in particular says that the women are more lively and good humoured, with some pre-
tensions to prettiness; nor is their education altogether so circumscribed as that of the
Most of them are taught music, many understand French, and some have a tole-
rable knowledge of the English language. They evince considerable taste in all kinds
of fancy needle work, and mostly make up their own dresses, agrecably to the modes
which from time to time arrive from Europe. Primogeniture is of no advantage at the
Cape, for all the children, male and female, share their parental property alike. By
marriage, a community of all property, personal and real, takes place, unless other-
wise stipulated beforehand; and, on the death of either parent, the children are
entitled to that moiety of the property, which is supposed to have lost its possessor;
nor can it be withholden after they are of age. The sudden change of temperature,
especially from heat to cold, is thought to be the occasion of consumptive complaints,
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341
events were to befall me on shore, that it might appear the land was as well
prepared to be our scourge as the sea.
which are very prevalent at the Cape; but, on the whole the climate is not unhealthy.
Dropsy is a very general disease in middle-aged subjects; and, from apoplexy, schirro-
sities of the liver, &c. the natural consequences of intemperance, instances of longevity
are extremely rare, few exceeding the period of sixty years. The mortality in Cape-
Town, during an average of 8 years, while it was in possession of the English, was
about 5 in 200 among the white inhabitants, and under 3 in 100 among the slaves.
Few die by the hands of justice. In the course of 8 years, 110 were the entire
number sentenced to death, of whom only 35, mostly slaves, were executed. Torture
was formerly resorted to, for the purpose of extorting confessions; and, for capital
offences, criminals were broken upon the wheel. On the abolition of these punish-
ments by his Majesty, the Court of Justice urged the necessity of their continuance,
as engines of terror; but contrary to expectation, the number of executions was fewer,
in a given period, than had been known for many years before. Que of the public
executioners subsequently made application for a pension, in lieu of the emoluments
which he used to derive from the breaking of limbs; and the other, on hearing that
the abolition of the rack and torture was likely to take place, waited upon the chief
magistrate to learn whether it were the fashion among the English to break upon the
wheel. He was answered in the negative, and a few days after was found hanging
in his room.
It was thought that the fear of starving, after having holden such an
odious office, had operated so powerfully on his mind as to lead him to the perpetration
of self-murther. The native Hottentots are a mild and peaceable race; and if they
were to meet with due encouragement from the government, the necessity of slavery
might soon be entirely removed. The slaves chielly imported by the Dutch are
Malays. They are faithful, active, industrious, and docile; but, from their impatience.
of injury, and revengefulness of disposition, they are extremely dangerous. PERCIVAL,
in his account of the Cape of Good-Hope, states that when the Malay has determined
on revenge, he takes a quantity of opium to work himself up to a state of madness. He
then rushes out with a knife or dagger, which is called a kreese; and after sacrificing
the original object of his passion, rushes at every one he meets, until he is at length
overpowered and taken. This is called running a-mok, during which nothing but a
lucky shot or blow, that strikes him to the earth, will ensure the safety of his opponent.
Whoever kills a Malay in the act of running a-mok, is entitled to a high reward from
government. PERCIVAL relates the two following instances of this revengeful dis-
position, which occurred while he was at Cape Town." A Malay, for some insult,
or necessary chastisement which he had received from his master, drew a knife and
stabbed him to the heart, and immediately rushed into the streets, his weapon reeking
with the blood of his unfortunate victim. The first person he met was a very fine
slave girl, into whose face he struck the dreadful instrument. Fortunately, at this
moment a farmer was passing by in a waggon; and, having a loaded gun, he fired at
and killed the Malay on the spot. In the other instance, a Malay, on being refused
leave by his master to go to a festival or merry-making with his fellows, stabbed him
to the heart, and then went to his mistress in the adjoining room, on whom he inflicted
the same horrible treatment. An old Malabar slave, who was cutting wood before the
door, witnessed his conduct without being able to prevent it; but watching his oppor-
tunity, as he was rushing from the house, he struck him on the bead with his axe, and
killed him on the spot. For this act of justice the old slave was rewarded with his
freedom, and a hundred dollars."-BARROW mentions another modification of revenge,
which displayed itself in one of these slaves. Conceiving that he not only had served his
master sufficiently long, and with great fidelity, but had also paid him several sums of
money, he was tempted to demand his liberty, and met with a refusal. The following
morning the Malay murdered his fellow slave. On being taken and brought up for
examination before a commission of the Court of Justice, he acknowledged that the boy
he had murdered was his friend; but he had considered that the most effectual way to
be revenged of his master was, not by taking away his life, but by robbing him of the
value of a thousand rix-dollars, by the loss of the boy, and another thousand, by
bringing himself, in so doing to the gallows, the recollection of which would prey upon
his avaricious mind for the remainder of his life,
The Cape and its vicinity were formerly much infested with lions, tigers, wolves,&c.;
342
Our ship was on a trading voyage, and had a supercargo on board, who was to
direct all her motions after she arrived at the Cape, only being limited to a cer-
but, in proportion as the population of a settlement increases, such anim is always
retire, and their numbers are now so small, and they keep at so great a distance that
the inhabitants have very little cause for alarm. Game, however, is still plentiful; and
the number of antelopes and deer is prodigious. There are also elephants, rhinoceroses,
elks, &c. Among the rare birds which are found at the Cape, the indicator, or honey
bird, deserves notice. This is a small brownish bird, of the cuckoo genus, which, having
observed a nest of honey, immediately flies in search of some human creature, to whom,
by its fluttering, whistling, and chirping, it communicates the discovery. It then leads
the way directly towards the place, flying from bush to bush, or from one ant-hill to
another; and, when close to the nest it remains still and silent. When the honey has
been removed, the indicator flies to feast on the remains. By similar conduct it is also
said to point out, with equal certainty, the dens of lions, and other beasts of prey.
Timber, from want of cultivation, is a scarce and expensive article. Corn is now
generally grown beyond the isthmus and along the western coast, on the farther side
of the great north and south chain of mountains; beyond which, the remote districts
furnish a supply of horses, sheep, and horned cattle. Most of the european, and
several of the tropical fruits have been introduced into the colony, and cultivated with
success. Peaches and apricots, when in season, are sold at the rate of a shilling per
hundred. In addition to butcher's meat and game, the market of Cape Town is con-
stantly supplied with various sorts of sea-fish, which are caught in the bay; and there
is seldom any deficiency of european vegetables for the table.
As a naval station, the Cape is extremely valuable, on account of the facility with
which cruizers may be dispatched thence, either to India or to America; and from the
shelter which it affords to shipping, when distressed by the violent storms that fre-
quently occur in those latitudes. Should the French, or the Dutch, be permitted to
hold the Cape, France possessing at the same time the Isle of France or of Bourbon,
and the Rio-de-la-Plata belonging to Spain, over whose movements the former power
has a control, our trade must be materially injured. The enemy, by keeping cruising
squadrons at those places, would have our homeward-bound shipping so completely
within their power, as scarcely to afford them the possibility of escaping. No ships,
but those of England, can attempt a voyage to the East Indies, on account of its length,
without some such convenient place as the Cape of Good Hope to stop at for refresh-
ment. To english sailors, from their habitual hardiness, and from the peculiar advan-
tage which they enjoy respecting the plentifulness and superior quality of their provi-
sions, such a half-way port might not perhaps be of much consequence; but as our ships
have frequently a number of Lascars, or unseasoned troops on board, it becomes highly
necessary for their relief. The cheapness of provisions at this settlement is another ar-
gument much in its favour, In the year 1797 the squadron consumed 1085266lb. of
fresh meat, and 1167995lb. of biscuit, or about 3000lb. of each a day; besides
184358lb. of soft bread, 217813lb. of flour, and 1066 bushels of wheat: it consumed,
moreover, 1226738 pints of wine, and 244904 pints of spirits; together with a consider-
able quantity of butter, vinegar, raisins, peas and beans; all the produce of the colony,
and all of them articles which were to be procured at a moderate rate. I conclude,
from the quantity expended, that in this year, the squadron, supposing it to consist of
3000 men, was subsisted mostly on Cape produce, and, therefore it cost the govern-
ment little more than one fourth part of what it would have done on most other
stations. The Cape, as a military station, is also highly important. In the whole seven
years that we before retained possession of this settlement, the military department cost
no more than 1789181., or 2555971. on an annual average. This was during a time
of war, while we maintained there an army of 5000 men, and were at the expense of
erecting a number of fortifications. It is estimated that, in peace, the contingencies and
extraordinaries of the army would not amount to above 250004, or 300001. yearly and
that this sum, as well as all the demands of the civil department, might by proper manage-
ment, be defrayed out of the revenues of the colony. The air of the Cape is particularly
salutary and beneficial to troops, after their passage from Europe; and to invalids, who
may be returning from India. The mildness of the climate renders the Cape a whole-
some and commodious station, for forces that may be destined for the East or West
Indies; and enables the recruit to undergo the fatigues of drilling with a comparative
343
tain number of days for stay, by charter-party, at the several ports she was to go
to. This was none of my business, neither did I meddle with it; my nephew
the captain, and the supercargo, adjusting all those things between them as they
thought fit. We stayed at the Cape no longer than was needful to take in fresh
water, but made the best of our way for the coast of Coromandel. We were
indeed informed that a French man of war of fifty guns, and two large merchant
ships, were gone for the Indies; and as I knew we were at wart with France,
I had some apprehensions of them; but they went their own way, and we
heard no more of them. I shall not pester the reader with a description of
places, journals of our voyages, variations of the compass, latitudes, meridian
distances, trade-winds, and the like; such as almost all the histories of long
navigations are full of it is enough to name the ports and places which we
touched at, and what occurred to us upon our passing from one to another. We
touched first at the island of Madagascar ;§ where, though the people are fierce
degree of ease, that would be impracticable in tropical latitudes. In a commercial
point of view, this settlement is perhaps of less consequence, though capable of much
improvement. It might be made an important mart for british trade with America;
and, if well supplied with british and india goods, the clandestine trade which is
carried on under neutral colours would be destroyed, because the traders could not
afford to sell at so low a price as the East-India company. As a depository for the
southern whale fishery, so important to the commerce and navigation of Britain, the
Cape might be rendered essentially useful. The geographical site of the Cape promon-
tory has been already stated: that of Simon's Bay is in latitude 34° 15'S.; Table-Bay
is in 33° 58′ S. 18° 28′ 30″ E.; and the entrance to Saldanha bay is in 33° 7'S.
*COROMANDEL :-See page 253. This word was written Choromandel in the
records of Fort St. George until 1779. It is properly Chola, or Chora-mundul. In
sanscrit the primitive meaning of the latter word is " orbit, circle," and thence,
"region." In Tamul it merely signifies the latter. The letter in this word usually
expressed by the english r is an intermediate sound between the l, r, and french j.
It may be conjectured by placing the tongue in the position to articulate those several
letters; but the sound cannot easily be reached by european organs. This variety, in
a great measure, arises from the deficiency of these letters respectively in certain of the
indian alphabets. The first syllable Cho, would be more nearly approached by Sho.
The place near Paliacat, supposed by some to give name to the coast, is stated by a native
of that neighbourhood to be Curri-mundel," black sand;" such being the appearance of
the shore at that place. There is reason to doubt whether the arcuti regia sora, of PTOLO-
MEY be the modern Arcot. Chera, Cheru or Cherun, was probably the country stated,
in the periplus of the Erythrean sea, to have been governed by CEPROBOTUS, whose
name PTOLOMEY writes, Cerabothus-cera, or perhaps Chera-puttri, "progeny of Chera.".
+ WAR-HUME divides the duration of british wars into two unequal periods: the
first is, that which decides whether the object is attainable or not; the second, and
out of all proportion the longest, is carried on for the purpose of encreasing patronage,
encouraging contracts, and making the fortunes of the few out of the pockets of the
many. While poverty was honoured at Rome, the consulship, and other offices of
magistracy were conferred on the most deserving; on those who were most able to
command armies, or rule the commonwealth; but when the love of riches depraved
the Romans (like as with us, men quit their counties for coronets), their great
empire fell to pieces. The war to which ROBINSON CRUSOE alludes, began 1689
(May 7), in the reign of King WILLIAM III. and ended 1697 (February 10), by the
treaty of Ryswick; the negotiator of which was the Earl of PEMBROKE. The duration
of this war was 7 years, 9 months, 3 days; the national debt at its beginning was 6642627.
the debt contracted in it, 200357371: the total debt at its close, twenty-million-seven-
hundred-thousand pounds; of which only about 4200000l. was paid off during the
peace. At this period, the annual revenue of the country may be averaged at three
millions sterling.
It is precisely this deficiency that the present edition of Robinson-Crusoe is intended
to supply.
§ MADAGASCAR —an island in the great southern ocean, distant about one hundred
leagues from the coast of Afric; under which quarter of the earth it is generally
344
and treacherous, and very well armed with fances and bows, which they use with
inconceivable dexterity, yet we fared very well with them awhile; they treated us
classed by geographers; who agree in assigning to it about 1120 miles of length, by
* medium breadth of from 200 to 300. Its northern extremity called Cape Ambre is in
latitude 12° 2' S. longitude 49° 24′ E. well settled. The geographical site of its south-
ern extremity called Cape St. Mary is not so exactly determined; but the most, recent
publication on the subject places it in 25° 40′S. 45° 16′ E. The strait formed by this
island and the continent is called the Mozambik-channel, remarkable for the roughness
and rapidity of the sea which rolls between; owing to which, and to several dangers
in the passage it is not so much used now as formerly; but still serves for shipping out-
ward-bound to Bombay, &c. The island also is so much less frequented than it was
during the century which succeeded the revival of maritime intercourse between Europe
and Hindo'stan, that its present state is imperfectly known; and the knowledge for
merly possessed of it is almost forgotten. Therefore the editor feels induced to give
in this place and in the appendix, such a summary description of it as may be useful
to navigators, or instructive to the student, derived from the most recent authorities,
particularly the Baval Chronicle, HORSBURGH, INVERARITY, MILBURN, and from
a MS, addressed by a french officer to one of the northern courts of Europe, in 1797.
Proceeding from Cape St. Mary northward along the eastern coast, the places of note
that successively occur are as follow:-Fort Dauphin the southernmost port is in
35° 5′ S. 46° 35′ E. From Cape St. Mary hither, the coast is steep without soundings,
until very near the shore. For a ship bound in, it is advisable to make the land well
to the northward. Ranging along at 14 league distance, a reef may be perceived in
latitude 24° 22′ S. which projects a considerable way out, and a little farther south-
ward some small rocky sholes may be discovered through the intervals of St. Luce's
isles, extending to 24° 45' S. From hence, the same offing must be preserved until after
passing the last of three points, which will be discernible in sailing along the coast;
which point is fronted at about 1 mile distance, by a rock called Itapere: whose
breakers are always the surest mark to distinguish this point. Two leagues W.S.W.
(true bearing) from this point lies a fourth whereon formerly stood Fort Dauphin;
the coast between forms a bay whose proper nanie is Tolonghar, but was called anse
Dauphine by the French who were formerly settled there. Ships generally go within
the elbow formed by the pomt, and moor with two, and sometimes three, anchors in
a depth of 28 or 29 fathoms under the ship. The water found at the landing place,
by digging in the sand, is only good enough for cooking, or for the live stock; but at
a small distance inland there are plentiful springs of a much better quality. Southward
of Fort Dauphin point is a bay of foul ground called St. Luke's Galleons, or False bay.
This district is under the government of several chiefs, with whom a cautious behaviour
must be observed; and the same conduct is as necessary in all parts of Madagascar
now as in the time of ROBINSON CRUSOE. Matatanue, and Mananzari, known only
by name, are next in order on the charts. Then Mauourou, a village in 20° S. pro-
ducing rice. Tamétavi in latitude about 18° 12′ S. is a village on a low point of land,
where there is anchorage within the coral reefs, secure from casterly and southerly
winds. To the southward of this place, from 3 to 7 leagues distance, several reefs
exist, about 3 or 4 miles from the shore; and about 6 m.les N.N. E. from Tametavi
is Plumb island, (isle aux prunes) distant about 2 miles from the nearest land of Mada-
gascar, which is covered with trees, and visible 5 leagues off. The French had a small
settlement at Tametavi, established for the objects of cattle and slaves, which was taken
by us in 1811. (JA. C. xxvi, 168, 390.) From Plumb island the coast is of a moderate
height to Foul, or Foule, point; which is in 17° 41′ S. 49° 36′ E. The principal sca-
mark for making this anchorage is a group or chain of inland mountains called the Paps
of Nate (after a neighbouring village), or Foul point Paps: these he about 15 leagues
westward, and are in number 4; but only 2 are visible in sailing from Plumb island. Cat-
tie and other articles of refreshment are procurable in plenty at a village of consider-
able magnitude named by its inhabitants, Mahsaveti. Trade in these articles is the
principal inducement for visiting this place, where the anchorage is unsate among sholes
and reefs, affording no shelter against the northerly winds which prevail from Novem-
her until April. Manivoul, otherwise Long point, in 17° 13′ S. about 6 leagues from
the island of Nossi-Ibrahm, affords shelter during the S.E. monsoon, or fair weather
stason. Nossi-Ibrahim, or St. Mary's isle, bears N.N.ELE. 13 leagues from the road of
345
·
very civilly; and, for some trifles which we gave them, such as knives, scissars, &c.
they brought us eleven good fat bullocks of a middling size,which we took in, partly
for fresh provisions for our present spending, and the rest to salt for the ship's use.
•
:
Foul point, and extends from 17° 5′ to 16° 33′ S. in a direction about N. E. b. N. Be-
tween it and Madagascar the channel is safe for ships of any size the narrowest part
being about 5 miles wide, having from 40 to 45 fathoms mid-channel, between Lokinsin
on the island, and Laree on Madagascar. On the western side about 2 leagues from
the S. Point is a bay with an island, called “Quails," at the entrance where small vessels
find shelter. On it the French had a factory, which they first settled in 1740, but the
garrison was cut off by the natives. They repossessed it in 1743, but were forced to
abandon it in 1761; the place being unhealthy, and the natives treacherous. About
the year 1696, this was a fortified station of the pirates who infested the indian seas,
but was suppressed in the year 1702. Tientik, is a bay or cove, full of sholes at the
entrance, situated within side of Nossi-Ibrahim, about 3 leagues N.W. from Point
Laree. Manghabes is a bay which has also the european appellation of Anton-gil,
after the name of a portuguese captain, supposed to be the first navigator who entered
it. It is distant 10 leagues N. (true) from the N. end of Nalsi-Ibrahim. It is about
14 leagues in length from S. to N. and 8 broad at the entrance between Cape Bellones
and Point Baldrish, these bearing N.E.E. and S.W.W. from each other. Here are
several islets, of which the principal one is called Marosse; N.N.W. from whence
is a river, navigable by boats, off the mouth of which is the anchorage, named by the
French Port Choiseul." A small distance southward from Baldrish point is an islet.
called Behenter: from hence the coast extends 2 leagues eastward to another islet
called Nepatte from this islet the direction of the coast is about N.E.b.N. (true) four
leagues, then N.N.E.4E. to Cape East in 15° 14' S. 50° 29′ E. Navigators have greatly
differed as to the position of this promontory: but the above determination may be
depended upon. From Cape East the direction of the coast is N.b. W. W. to Volie-
mar bay, in 13° 25′ S. and N.N. WW. to Cape Ambre, the northern extremity of
Madagascar, whose geographical site has been already stated. But between Anton-gil-
bay and this place, HORSBURGI names Veninguebe in 15° 52′ S. about 1½ league
northward from Anton-gil; on the point of the reef forming the north side of Venin-
guebe-bay, the french frigate La Gloire, was wrecked in 1761. There is also Port
Louques, or Louguez, which seems a safe harbour according to the french plan of it:
the entrance is in 12° 43′ S. Passandava is a large squarish bay, with a town in
13° 45′ S. 48° 23′ E. Massalege is a town on a bar-river in 15° 30'S. Bembatooka is a
large, safe, bay in 15° 43′ S. 46° 28' E. and is about 3 miles wide. On the eastern
side of the entrance is the village Majuinga: the town of Bembatook is on the same
side, about 3 leagues within the entrance of the bay: here ships may lay land-locked,
close under a point which extends along to the northward of the town.
Should England
ever contemplate a permanent settlement on this island, Bembatook (in the opinion of
INVERARITY) is the place to be preferred; as being commodious, easy of access,
healthy, and near the capital of the country, whose king is cordial toward strangers.
Beef, as fine as any in the world, is to be had at the low price of about two dollars
each bullock; and it can also be salted here. The French used to purchase cattle
and slaves at this place; and put implicit confidence in the natives of the Fort Dau-
phin district to drive them across the island. Pork is also procurable, but it is from the
wild hog. Rice, in any quantity, at the price of half a spanish piece-of-cight for a
measure called a gamel, weighing 38b. This place is frequented by arab traders from
Maskat; and many of the Bembatookans speak Arabic. Moroundava is a place where
some trade is carried on, and where a ship may, in case of need, get water, and a
few other refreshments, situate on the southern side of a bay in 20° 10′ S. But the
most considerable place on this western coast, and indeed almost the only place now
resorted to by english shipping, is St. Augustin's bay: the geographical site of which
(that is of a sandy islet at its entrance), is 23° 39′ S. 44° E. This place is subject
to the king of Baba, who resides in a mud-built town, about twelve miles distant,
but is accustomed to visit the place and encourage the people to trade on the arrival
of shipping, in consideration of due presents being made, and of honors paid unto him.
Bullocks, sheep, and poultry, are procured in abundance by bartering english commo-
dities; but vegetables are scarce. Some years since, a ship in return for goods and
specie, value estimated under 711. received 47 bullocks, 27 dozen fowls, 8 guinea
346
We were obliged to stay here some time after we had furnished ourselves-
with provisions; and I, who was always too curious to look into every nook of
the world wherever I came, was for going on shore as often as I could. It was
on the east side of the island that we went on shore one evening; and the
people, who, by the way, are very numerous, came thronging about us, and
stood gazing at us at a distance; but as we had traded freely with them, and had
been kindly used, we thought ourselves in no danger; but when we saw the
people, we cut three boughs out of a tree, and stuck them up at a distance from
us; which it seems, is a mark in that country, not only of a truce and friendship,
but when it is accepted, the other side sets up three poles or boughs, which is a
signal that they accept the truce too; but then this is a known condition of the
truce, that you are not to pass beyond their three poles, towards them, nor they
to come past your three poles, or boughs, towards you; so that you are perfectly
secure within the three poles, and all the space between your poles and theirs
is allowed like a free market for converse, traffic, and commerce.
When you
go there, you must not carry your weapons with you; and if they come into
that space, they stick up their javelins and lances all at the first poles, and come
on unarmed; but if any violence is offered them, and the truce thereby broken,
away they run to the poles, and lay hold of their weapons, and the truce is
at an end.
It happened one evening when we went on shore, that a greater number of
their people came down than usual, but all very friendly and civil; and they
brought several kinds of provisions, for which we satisfied them with such toys
as we had; their women also brought us milk and roots, and several things very
acceptable to us, and all was quiet; and we made us a little tent or hut of
some boughs of trees, and lay on shore all night. I know not what was the
occasion, but I was not so well satisfied to lie on shore as the rest; and the boat
riding at an anchor about a stone cast from the land, with two men in her to
take care of her, I made one of them come on shore; and getting some boughs
of trees to cover us also in the boat, I spread the sail on the bottom of the
boat, and lay under the cover of the branches of the trees all night in
the boat.
fowls (pintades), 7 goats, 1 cask lime-juice, 25 pumpkins, plantains, grass for live-stock,
grain for poultry, yams, sweet-potatoes, limes and oranges, making about 33 days provi-
sions for the ship's crew and passengers, near 300 persons. The following was the mode of
salting the beef:-The bullocks were killed in the afternoon, and cut up at 2 in the morn-
ing, salted, and put into casks; about noon taken out, placed on 4 thick planks, sup-
ported by casks, then 4 others laid upon the meat, to press out the juices, pickle, &c.
for 3 or 4 hours; then salted again, packed in clean casks, and headed up: when quite
cold, boiled pickle, with a little salt-petre in it, was poured into the casks at the bung-
hole till full. Wood and water are got from the river Onglahee, by tedious operation,
the distance being three miles, with a bar, on which there is a dangerous surf at times.
The time of high water at full and change (2h. 15m. tide flows 54 hours; perpendi-
cular height at the river's mouth 13 feet; depth on the bar at low water only 2 feet.
The magnetic variation was 24° W. in 1804. The inhabitants of the bay are hospitable
but subtle and prone to revenge. The S.W. monsoon, which is the fair season in the Mo-
zambik channel begins in April and continues until November. The N.E. monsoon then
commences and prevails until April. (For a philosophical explanation of these periodical
winds, see .. x, 308.) The Annual Register (1773) states a current to have been
observed within 12 leagues of the eastern coast of Africa, which runs from 17° S. to 3° N.
at the rate of 8 miles an hour, setting N.E.N. by which the navigation between the con-
tinent and Madagascar is greatly facilitated. The whole of the W. and N.W. coast of
Madagascar, with their contiguous banks and islands from St. Augustin's bay to Cape
Ambre, are placed in the charts more easterly than their true situation; some places
even so far as from 30 to 40 miles. In particular, Cape St. Andrew, the N.W. extre-
mity of Madagascar, about 33 leagues northward of Manumbaug river, in latitude
16° 2' S. which the best maps extant place in longitude 45° 48′ E. is really in 45° 16′ E.
The political memoir on the advantages of colonizing Madagascar, referred to in the
beginning of this note is reserved for the appendix.
347
{
About two o'clock in the morning we heard one of our men make a terrible
noise on the shore, calling out, " for God's sake," to bring the boat in, and come
and help them, for they were all like to be murdered; at the same time I heard
the fire of five muskets, which was the number of the guns they had, and that
three times over; for, it seems, the natives here were not so easily frightened
with guns as the savages were in America, where I had to do with them. All
this while I knew not what was the matter, but rousing immediately from sleep
with the noise, I caused the boat to be thrust in, and resolved, with three fuzils
we had on board, to land and assist our men.
men.
We got the boat soon to the shore, but our men were in too much haste; for
being come to the shore, they plunged into the water, to get to the boat with all
the expedition they could, being pursued by between three and four hundred
Our men were but nine in all, and only five of them had fuzils with them;
the rest had pistols and swords, indeed, but they were of small use to them. We
took up seven of our men, and with difficulty enough too, three of them being
very ill wounded; and that which was still worse was, that while we stood in
the boat to take our men in, we were in as much danger as they were in on
shore; for they poured their arrows in upon us so thick, that we were glad to
barricade the side of the boat up with the benches, and two or three loose
boards, which, to our great satisfaction, we had by mere accident in the boat.
And yet, had it been day-light, they are, it seems, such exact marksmen, that
if they could have seen but the least part of any of us, they would have been
sure of us. We had, by the light of the moon, a little sight of them, as they
stood pelting us from the shore with darts and arrows; and having got ready
our fire-arms, we gave them a volley, that we could hear, by the cries of some
of them, had wounded several; however, they stood thus in battle-array on the
shore till break of day, which we suppose was that they might see the better to
take their aim at us.
In this condition we lay, and could not tell how to weigh our anchor or set up
our sail, because we must needs stand up in the boat, and they were as sure to hit
us as we were to hit a bird in a tree with small shot. We made signals of distress
to the ship, which, though she rode a league off, yet my nephew the captain, hearing
our firing, and by glasses perceiving the posture we lay in, and that we fired to-
wards the shore, pretty well understood us; and weighing anchor with all speed, he
stood as near the shore as he durst with the ship, and then sent another boat,
with ten hands in her, to assist us: but we called to them not to come too
near, telling them what condition we were in; however, they stood in near to
us, and one of the men taking the end of a tow-line* in his hand, and keeping
our boat between him and the enemy, so that they could not perfectly see him,
swam on board us, and made fast the line to the boat; upon which we slipped
out a little cable, and leaving our anchor behind, they towed us out of reach of
the arrows; we all the while lying close behind the barricado we had made.
As soon as we were got from between the ship and the shore, so that we
could lay her side to the shore, she ran along just by them, and poured in a
broadside loaded with pieces of iron and lead, small bullets, and such stuff,
besides the great shot, which made a terrible havoc among them. When we
were got on board and out of danger, we had time to examine into the occasion
of this fray; and, indeed, our supercargo, who had been often in those parts,
* TOW-LINE:--the line, cord, or rope, whereby any floating body is dragged along
in or upon the water.
the water. Tow is derived from the saxon teohan or zeon. (Toghen, Teut.
touer. Fr.) A ship is said to tow her boat when it is fastened to the stern, &c, prior to
being hoisted-in. A ship is towed by her boats when, for want of wind, she is forced
toward the shore by the swell of the sea.
"A calm ensues; adjacent shores they dread,
The boats, with rowers mann'd, are sent a-head;
With cordage fastened to the lofty prow
Aloof to sca the stately ship they tow." (FALCONER)
348
put me upon it; for he said he was sure the inhabitants would not have touched
us after we had made a truce, if we had not done something to provoke them
to it. At length it came out that an old woman, who had come to sell us some
milk, had brought it within our poles, and a young woman with her, who also
brought some roots or herbs; and while the old woman (whether she was
mother to the young woman or no they could not tell) was selling us the milk,
one of our men offered some rudeness to the wench who was with her, at which
the old woman made a great noise: however, the seaman would not quit his
prize, but carried her out of the old woman's sight among the trees, it being
almost dark the old woman went away without her, and, as we may suppose,
made an outcry among the people she came from; who, upon notice, raised
this great army upon us in three or four hours; and it was great odds but we
had all been destroyed.
One of our men was killed with a lance thrown at him just at the beginning
of the attack, as he sallied out of the tent they had made: the rest came off
free, all but the fellow who was the occasion of all the mischief, who paid dear
enough for his black mistress, for we could not hear what became of him a great
while. We lay upon the shore two days after, though the wind presented, and
made signals for him, and made our boat sail up shore and down shore several
leagues, but in vain; so we were obliged to give him over; and if he alone
had suffered for it, the loss had been less.
I could not satisfy myself, however, without venturing on shore once more,
to try if I could learn any thing of him or them: it was the third night after the
action, that I had a great mind to learn, if I could, by any means, what mischief
we had done, and how the game stood on the Indians' side. I was careful to
do it in the dark, lest we should be attacked again: but I ought, indeed, to have
been sure the men I went with had been under my command, before I engaged
in a thing so hazardous and mischievous as I was brought into by it, without
design.
We took twenty as stout fellows with us as any in the ship, besides the super-
cargo and myself, and we landed two hours before midnight, at the same place
where the Indians stood drawn up in the evening before; I landed here, because
my design, as I have said, was chiefly to see if they had quitted the field, and
if they had left any marks behind them of the mischief we had done them; and
I thought if we could surprise one or two of them, perhaps we might get our
man again by way of exchange.
We landed without any noise, and divided our men into two bodies, whereof
the boatswain commanded one, and I the other. We neither saw or heard any
body stir when we landed and we marched up, one body at a distance from
the other, to the place; but at first could see nothing, it being very dark; till
by and by our boatswain, who led the first party, stumbled and fell over a dead
body. This made them halt awhile; for knowing by the circumstances that
they were at the place where the Indians had stood, they waited for my coming
up there. We concluded to halt till the moon began to rise, which we knew
would be in less than an hour, when we could easily discern the havoc we had
made among them. We told thirty-two bodies upon the ground, whereof two
were not quite dead; some had an arm, and some a leg shot off, and one his
head; those that were wounded, we supposed, they had carried away.
When we had made, as I thought, a full discovery of all we could come
to the knowledge of, I was resolved for going on board; but the boatswain
and his party sent me word that they were resolved to make a visit to the Indian
town, where these dogs, as they called them, dwelt, and asked me to go along
with them; and if they could find them, as they still fancied they should, they
did not doubt of getting a good booty; and it might be they might find Toni
Jeffrys there; that was the man's name we had lost.
Had they sent to ask my leave to go, I knew well enough what answer to
have given them; for I should have commanded them instantly on board, know-
349
ng it was not a hazard fit for us to run, who had a ship, and a ship-loading in
our charge, and a voyage to make which depended very much upon the lives of
the men; but as they sent me word they were resolved to go, and only asked
me and my company to go along with them, I positively refused it, and rose
up, for I was sitting on the ground, in order to go to the boat. One or two of
the men began to importune me to go; and when I refused, began to grumble,
and say that they were not under my command, and they would go.
"Come
Jack," says one of the men, "will you go with me? I'll go for one." Jack said
he would, and then another,and, in a word, they all left me but one, who
I persuaded to stay, and a boy left in the boat. So the supercargo and I, with
the third man, went back to the boat, where we told thein we would stay for
them, and take care to take in as many of them as should be left: for I told
them it was a mad thing they were going about, and supposed most of them
would run the fate of Toin Jeffrys.
They told me, like seamen, they would warrant it they would come off again,
and they would take care, &c.; so away they went. I entreated them to con-
sider the ship and the voyage, that their lives were not their own, and that
they were entrusted with the voyage, in some measure; that if they miscarried
the ship might be lost for want of their help, and that they could not answer for
it to God or man. But I might as well have talked to the main-mast of the
ship; they were mad upon their journey, only they gave me good words, and
begged I would not be angry; that they did not doubt but they would be back
again in about an hour at farthest; for the Indian town, they said, was not
above half a mile off, though they found it above two miles before they got
to it.
Well, they all went away; and although the attempt was desperate, and such
as none but madmen would have gone about, yet, to give them their due, they
went about it as warily as boldly; they were gallantly armed, for they had every
man a fuzil or musket, a bayonet and a pistol; some of them had broad cut-
lasses, some of them had hangers, and the boatswain and two more had pole-
axes; besides all which they had among them thirteen hand-grenados: bolder
fellows, and better provided, never went about any wicked work in the world.
When they went out, their chief design was plunder, and they were in
mighty hopes of finding gold there; but a circumstance, which none of them
were aware of, set them on fire with revenge, and inade devils of them all. When
they came to the few indian houses which they thought had been the town,
which was not above half a mile off, they were under a great disappointment, for
there were not above twelve or thirteen houses; and where the town was, or
how big, they knew not. They consulted, therefore, what to do, and were some
time before they could resolve; for if they fell upon these, they must cut all
their throats, and it was ten to one but some of them night escape, it being in
the night, although the moon was up: and if one escaped, he would run away and
raise all the town, so they should have a whole army upon them; again, on the
other hand, if they went away, and left those untouched, for the people were
all asleep, they could not tell which way to look for the town; however, the last
was the best advice, so they resolved to leave thein, and look for the town as
well as they could. They went on a little way, and found a cow tied to a tree;
this, they presently concluded, would be a good guide to them: for, they said,
the cow certainly belonged to the town before them, or to the town behind them;
and if they untied her, they should see which way she went: if she went back
they had nothing to say to her; but if she went forward, they would follow her :
so they cut the cord, which was made of twisted flags, and the cow went on
before them, directly to the town; which, as they reported, consisted of above
two-hundred houses or huts, and in some of these they found several families
living together.
Here they found all in silence, as profoundly secure as sleep could make
tbem; and, first, they called another council, to consider what they had to do;
350
and, in a word, they resolved to divide themselves into three bodies, and so set
three houses on fire in three parts of the town; and as the men came out to
seize them and bind them (if any resisted, they need not be asked what to do
then), and so to search the rest of the houses for plunder: but they resolved
to march silently first through the town, and see what dimensions it was of, and
if they might venture upon it or no.
·
They did so, and desperately resolved that they would venture upon them :
but while they were animating one another to the work, three of them who were
a little before the rest, called out aloud to them, and told them that they had
found Tom Jeffrys: they all ran up to the place, where they found the poor fellow
hanging up naked by one arm, and his throat cut. There was an indian house
just by the tree, where they found sixteen or seventeen of the principal Indians,
who had been concerned in the fray with us before, and two or three of them
wounded with our shot; and our men found they were awake, and talking one
to another in that house, but knew not their number.
The sight of their poor mangled comrade so enraged them, as before, that
they swore to one another they would be revenged, and that not an Indian that
came into their hands should have any quarter; and to work they went imme-
diately, though yet not so madly as might be expected from the rage and fury they
were in, Their first care was, to get something that would soon take fire, but,
after a little search, they found that would be to no purpose; for most of the
houses were low, and thatched with flags and rushes, of which the country is
full; so they presently made some wild-fire, as we call it, by wetting a little
powder in the palm of their hands; and in a quarter of an hour they set the
town on fire in four or five places, and particularly that house where the Indians
were not gone to bed. As soon as the fire began to blaze, the poor frightened
creatures began to rush out to save their lives, but met with their fate in the
attempt; and especially at the door, where they drove them back, the boat-
swain himself killing one or two with his pole-axe; the house being large, and
many in it, he did not care to go in, but called for a hand-grenado, and threw
it among them, which at first frightened them, but, when it burst, made such
havoc among them that they cried out in a hideous manner. In short, most of
the Indians who were in the open part of the house were killed or hurt with
the grenado, except two or three more who pressed to the door, which the
boatswain and two more kept, with their bayonets on the muzzles of their pieces,
and despatched all that came in their way : but there was another apartment in
the house, where the prince or king, or whatever he was, and several others
were and these were kept in till the house, which was by this time all in a light
flame fell in upon them, and they were smothered altogether.
All this while they fired not a gun, because they would not awaken the people
faster than they could master them; but the fire began to waken them fast
enough, and our fellows were glad to keep a little together in bodies; for the
fire grew so raging, all the houses being made of light combustible stuff, that
they could hardly bear the street between them; and their business was to
follow the fire, for the surer execution; as fast as the fire either forced the peo-
ple out of those houses which were burning, or frightened them out of others,
our people were ready at their doors to knock them in the head, still calling and
hallooing one to another to remember Tom Jeffrys.
1
▸
While this was doing, I must confess I was very uneasy, and especially when
I saw the flames of the town, which, it being night, seemed to be just by
me. My nephew, the captain, who was roused by his men, seeing such a fire,
was very uneasy, not knowing what the matter was, or what danger I was in,
especially hearing the guns too, for by this time they began to use their fire-
arins; a thousand thoughts oppressed his mind concerning me and the super-
cargo, what would become of us; and, at last, though he could ill-spare any
more men, yet not knowing what exigence we might be in, he takes another
boat, and with thirteen men and himself comes on shore to me.
វ
851
He was surprised to see me and the supercargo in the boat, with no more than
two men ; and although he was glad that we were well, yet he was in the same im-
patience with us to know what was doing; for the noise continued, and the flame
increased; in short, it was next to an impossibility for any men in the world to
restrain their curiosity to know what had happened, or their concern for the
safety of the men; in a word, the captain told me he would go and help his
men, let what would come. I argued with him, as I did before with the men,
the safety of the ship, the danger of the voyage, the interest of the owners and
merchants, &c. and told him, I and the two men would go, and only see if we
could at a distance learn what was like to be the event, and come back and tell
him. It was all one to talk to my nephew, as it was to talk to the rest before s
he would go, he said; and he only wished he had but left ten men in the ship;
for he could not think of having his men lost for want of help; he had rather
lose the ship, the voyage, and his life and all; and away he went,
I was no more able to stay behind now, than I was to persuade them not
to go; so, in short, the captain ordered two men to row back the pinnace, and
fetch twelve men more, leaving the long-boat at an anchor; and that when
they came back, six men should keep the two boats, and six more come after us :
so that he left only sixteen men in the ship; for the whole ship's company
consisted of sixty-five men, whereof two were lost in the late quarrel which
brought on this mischief.
Being now on the march, you may be sure we felt little of the ground we
trod on; and being guided by the fire, we kept no path, but went directly to
the place of the flame. If the noise of the guns was surprising to us before,
the cries of the poor people were now quite of another nature, and filled us with
horror. I must confess, I was never at the sacking a city, or at the taking a
town by storm; I had heard of Oliver Cromwell taking Drogheda,* in Ireland,
and killing man, woman, and child! and I had read of Count Tilly sacking the
city of Magdeburg,† and cutting the throats of twenty-two thousand of all sexes!
but I never had an idea of the thing itself before, nor is it possible to describe it,
or the horror that was upon our minds at hearing it. However, we went on,
and at length came to the town, though there was no entering the streets of
it for the fire. The first object we met with was the ruins of a hut or house, or
rather the ashes of it, for the house was consumed; and just before it, plain now
to be seen by the light of the fire, lay four men and three women killed, and,
as we thought, one or two more lay in the heap among the fire; in short, there
were such instances of a rage altogether barbarous, and of a fury something
beyond what was human, that we thought it impossible our men could be guilty
of it; or if they were the authors of it, we thought they ought to be every one of
* DROGHEDA.-Chief town of the county of Louth, comprised within the province
of Leinster in Ireland; situated on the northern bank of the river Boyne, about 7
miles from its mouth. It is about 9 leagues N. from Dublin; but above 12 by the
curvature of the coast. The entrance into the haven is narrow and crooked, and
requires such a particular knowledge to find the channel, that a pilot is indispensable.
It is about 7 leagues from Lambay island; and in the way about 4 miles from the
island, is Abel rock; but it is visible and clean, so that ships may sail on either side of
it as the wind serves. The Skirres rocks also lie in the way, but close to the shore,
about 10 leagues from Dublin; these are likewise visible. MALHAM's Naval gazetteer
places Drogheda in latitude 53° 43′ N. longitude 6° 47′ W.
+ MAGDEBURG.-Capital city of the duchy of the same name, in the circle of
Lower Saxony, forming part of the Prussian territories, of which it is considered as
the western key; being strongly fortified, and commanding the course of the Elbe,
upon an island of which river it is situated: but it requires an army for its garrison :
Magdeburg was taken by storm in 1631 by the imperial general TILLY, who burnt
the town and massacred the inhabitants out of whom only 800 survived 40000; and
many young women plunged into the Elbe to escape ravishment: it is situated 52
miles W. S. W. from Potsdam. Its geographical site, according to WALKER'S Uni-
mersal gazetteer, is in latitude 52° 11' N. longitude 11° 45′ E.
352
them put to the worst of deaths. But this was not all: we saw the fire encreased
forward, and the cry went on just as the fire went on, so that we were in the ut
most confusion: we advanced a little way farther; and behold to our astonish-
ment, three women, naked and crying in a most dreadful manner, came flying as if
they had wings, and after the sixteen or seventeen men, natives, in the same ter-
ror and consternation, with three of our english butchers in the rear; who, when
they could not overtake them, fired in among them, and one that was killed by
their shot fell down in our sight. When the rest saw us, believing us to be their
enemies, and that we would murder them as well as those that pursued them, they
set up a most dreadful shriek, especially the women, and two of them fell down,
as if already dead, with the fright.
My very soul shrunk within me, and my blood ran chill in my veins, when
I saw this and I believe, had the three english sailors that pursued them come
on, I had made our men kill them all however, we took some ways to let the
poor flying creatures know that we would not hurt them; and immediately they
came up to us, and kneeling down, with their hands lifted up, made piteous
lamentation to us to save them, which we let them know we would; whereupon
they crept altogether in a huddle close behind us, as for protection. I left
my men drawn up together, and charging them to hurt nobody, but, if possible,
to get at some of our people, to see what devil it was possessed them, and
what they intended to do, and to command them off; assuring them that if they
stayed till day-light, they would have an hundred-thousand men about their
ears I say, I left them, and went among those flying people, taking only two
of our men with me; and there was indeed a piteous spectacle among them;
some of them had their feet terribly burned, with trampling and running through
the fire, others their hands burned; one of the women had fallen down in the
fire, and was very much burned before she could get out again; and two or
three of the men had cuts in their backs and thighs, from our men pursuing;
another was shot through the body, and died while I was there.
I would fain have learned what the occasion of all this was, but I could not
understand one word they said; although by signs, I perceived some of them
knew not what was the occasion themselves. I was so terrified in my thoughts
at this outrageous attempt, that I could not stay there, but went back to my own
men, and resolved to go into the middle of the town through the fire, or what-
ever might be in the way, and put an end to it, cost what it would accordingly,
as I came back to my men, I told them my resolution, and commanded them
to follow me; when at the very moment came four of our men, with the boat-
swain at their head, roving over heaps of bodies they had killed, all covered with
blood and dust, as if they wanted more people to massacre, when our men hal-
loved to them as loud as they could and with much ado one of them
made them hear, so they knew who we were and came up to us. As soon as
the boatswain saw us, he set up a halloo like a shout of triumph, for having
as he thought, more help come; and without waiting to hear me, Captain,
says he, "noble captain! I am glad you are come; we are not ball-done yet:
villanous hell-hound dogs! I'll kill as many of them as poor Tom has hairs upon
his head we have sworn to spare none of them; we'll root out the very nation
of them from the earth;" and thus he ran on, out of breath too with action,
and would not give us leave to speak a word.
((
At last, raising my voice, that I might silence him a little, "Barbarous dog!"
said I, "what are you doing? I won't have one creature more touched upon
pain of death: I charge you, upon your life, to stop your hands, and stand still
here, or you are a dead man this minute." Why, Sir," says he," do
you know what you do, or what they have done? If you want a reason for what
we have done, come hither;" and with that he showed me the poor fellow
hanging, with his throat cut.
I confess I was urged then myself, and at another time would have been
forward enough; but I thought they had carried their rage too far, and remem
353
bered Jacob's words to his sons Simeon and Levi-" Cursed be their anger, for
it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel."* But I had now a new task
upon my hands; for when the men I carried with me saw the sight, as I had
done, I had as much to do to restrain them as I should have had with the others;
nay, my nephew himself fell in with them, and told me, in their hearing, that
he was only concerned for fear of his men being overpowered; and as to the
people, he thought not one of them ought to live; for they had all glutted them-
selves with the murder of the poor man, and that they ought to be used like
murderers upon these words, away ran eight of my men, with the boatswain
and his crew to complete their bloody work; and I, seeing it quite out of my
power to restrain thein, came away pensive and sad; for I could not bear the
sight, much less the horrible noise and cries of the poor wretches that fell into
their hands.
I got nobody to come back with me but the supercargo and two men, and
with these I walked back to the boats. It was a very great piece of folly in me,
I confess, to venture back, as it were, alone; for as it began now to be almost
day, and the alarm had run over the country, there stood about forty men, armed
with lances and bows, at a little place where the twelve or thirteen houses
stood, mentioned before; but by accident I missed the place, and came directly
to the sea-side, and by the time I got thither, it was broad day; imme-
diately I took the pinnace and went on board, and sent her back to assist the
men in what might happen.
I observed, about the time that I came to the boat side, that the fire was
pretty well out, and the noise abated; but in about half an hour after I got on
board I heard a volley of our men's fire-arms, and saw a great smoke; this,
as I understood afterwards, was our men falling upon the 40 men, who, as I said,
stood at the few houses on the way, of whom they killed sixteen or seventeen,
and set all the houses on fire, but did not meddle with the women or children.
By the time the men got to the shore again with the pinnace, our men began
to appear; they came dropping in, not in two bodies as they went, but straggling
here and there in such a manner, that a small force of resolute men might have
cut them all off. But the dread of them was upon the whole country: the peo-
ple were surprised, and so frightened, that I believe an hundred of them would
have fled at the sight of but five of our men: nor in all this terrible action was
there a man that made any considerable defense; they were so surprised between
the terror of the fire and the sudden attack of our men in the dark, that they
knew not which way to turn themselves; for if they fled one way, they were met
by one party; if back again, by another; so that they were every where knocked
down: nor did any of our men receive the least hurt, except one who strained
his foot, and another who had one of his hands burned.
I was very angry with my nephew, the captain, and, indeed, with all the men,
in my mind, but with him in particular, as well for his acting so out of his
duty, as commander of the ship, and having the charge of the voyage upon him,
as in his prompting rather than cooling, the blind rage of his men, in so bloody
and cruel an enterprise. My nephew answered me very respectfully; but told
me that when he saw the body of the poor seaman whom they had murdered in
so cruel and barbarous a manner, he was not master of himself, neither could he
govern his passion: he owned he should not have done so, as he was commander
of the ship; but as he was a man, and nature moved him, he could not bear it.
As for the rest of the men, they were not subject to me at all, and they knew it
well enough; so they took no notice of my dislike,
The next day we sat sail, so we never heard any more of it. Our men differed
in the account of the number they had killed; some said one thing, some ano.
ther; but according to the best of their accounts, put all together, they killed or
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nayal-Chron. Edition.]
* Genesis: xlix, 7.
A A
354
destroyed about one hundred and fifty people, men, women, and children, and
left not a house standing in the town. As for the poor fellow Thomas Jeffrys, as
he was quite dead (for his throat was so cut that his head was half off) it would
do him no service to bring him away; so they only took him down from the
tree, where he was hanging by one hand.
However just our men thought this action, I was against them in it, and I
always, after that time, told them God would blast the voyage; for I looked
upon all the blood they shed that night to be murder in them: for though it
is true that they had killed Jeffrys, yet he was the aggressor, had broken
the truce, and had violated or debauched a young woman of their's, who came
down to them innocently, and on the faith of the public capitulation.
The boatswain defended this quarrel when we were afterwards on board. He
said it was true that we seemed to break the truce, but really had not; and that
the war was begun the night before by the natives themselves, who had shot at
us, and killed one of our men without any just provocation; so that as we were
in a capacity to fight them, we might also be in a capacity to do ourselves
justice upon them in an extraordinary manner; that although the poor man had
taken a little liberty with the wench, he ought not to have been murdered, and
that in such a villanous manner; and that they did nothing but what was just,
and what the laws of God allowed to be done to murderers. One would think
this should have been enough to have warned us against going on shore amongst
heathens and barbarians: but it is impossible to make mankind wise but at their
own expense; and their experience seems to be always of most use to them when
it is dearest bought.
We were now bound to the gulph of Persia,* and from thence to the coast of
:
* GULPH OF PERSIA-XOXOS is Greck for hollow; as aCucaos is for bottom-
less; hence the essential character of a gulph is concavity, and of abyss is profundity.
The gulph in question is a deeply indented inlet of the indian ocean, antiently the
Erythræan sea, dividing Persia from Arabia, and receiving at its head the great river
of the Arabs(the Pusitigris and Basilica of the antients), formed by the confluence of the
Euphrates and the Tigris. Shat-cl Arab, is the proper local name of the confluent stream,
as Afrat or Farat is that of the Euphrates, and Didjel that of the Tigris. The gulph at
its entrance, between Capes Mussendom and Kohumbarek, is about 10 leagues wide,
or a little wider than the strait of Dover; but it increases to six times that breadth
within its length from the former cape to the river's mouth may be estimated at
about 140 leagues. We formerly knew little of this sea, beyond what we learnt
classically from the episode of NEARCHOs in the histories of the Macedonian con-
queror or have kept up a recollection of by subsequent familiarity with certain places
on its shores such as Basra and Ormuz, in the celebrated arabian romance of the
"Thousand-and-one nights," until the period marked by the scientific labours of D'AN-
VILLE, and the scrutinizing travels of NIRRUAR The extension of our political relati-
ons to Persia, and of commercial correspondence between India and Asiatic Turkey
has since produced such an encreased navigation in these waters, that we now pos-
sess a tolerably correct delineation of the coast: but our best charts are still defective
in the important accompaniment of proper names. From the circumstance of this
branch of the sea being common to two nations, the Persian and the Arab, most of the
places on its shores have a double name, or at least a double pronunciation of the
same name according to the system of permutation established between the two
languages: these again reach us in a state of geographical metamorphosis according
as they are received though the medium of the french geographer, the german travel-
ler, or of portuguese navigators; made worse by the hasty, and imperfect imitation.
of sounds in the journals of our indian traders, and still worse by the new-names, or
vulgar slang, of sailors, which last corruption there is usually a strong propensity in the
english public to adopt, until the man of letters (even Gibbon himself) renounces in
despair the task of correction as hopeless pedantry. This is the editor's apology for
not attempting more in the way of hydrographical description of the Persian
gulph, than briefly to give the geographical site of the principal head lands necessary
to be recognised by the navigator in his approach to or departure there-from; and
355
Coromandel, only to touch at Surat: but the chief of the supercargo's design
lay at the bay of Bengal; where, if he missed his business outward-bound, he
then hasten away to accompany ROBINSON-CRUSOE on his voyage eastward. Ras-al-
gad, the easterninost promontory of Oman on the coast of Arabia, is very high and
uneven, and may be seen 20 leagues in clear weather; that is to say the land over it;
for that part usually set for the cape itself is difficult to discriminate, being low, sandy,
and of circular form; thus different navigators have assigned a different latitude
thereunto, differing by several miles; and its longitude does not seem to be yet cor-
rectly determined. However what may be considered as the Ras, (cape) is in latitude
22° 22' N. and in longitude 60° 40' E. by recent observations; magnetic variation
(1810) 50° 2′ W. Cape Mussendom is in 26° 24′ N. 56° 40′ E. On the persian
shore there are two capes which may each be considered as head lands hounding the
entrance to the gulph, viz. Jask, and Kobumbarek, (vulgarly called " Bumbarak.')
Of these, the former is in 25° 40′ N. 57° 55′ E. the latter in 26° 20' N. and according
to HORSBURGH bears from Jask N. b. W. W. 14 or 15 leagues. But NIEBUKR
assigns the name of Kohumbarek to a projection on the coast which he places in
25° 51" N. In the gulph of Persia the prevailing winds are N. W. but particularly
about the summer solstice: November, December, January, are the only months to
depend upon having southerly winds. In passing out of the entrance, the persian
coast about the latitude 26° ought not to be approached nearer than 30 fathoms water
in the night, nor under 20 in the day, on account of a shole projecting 2 or 3 miles
from the shore; which shole is situated about 6 leagues northward of Cape Jask.
During the prevalence of the northerly monsoon from September until April, ships
leaving the Persian gulph should if bound to Surat steer from Jask along the Guadel
coast, at a considerable distance to avoid the local light winds and calms occasioned
by land or sea breezes near the shore. When the meridian of Cape Monze (67° 30′
W.) be approached, it will be proper to keep away S.E. across the gulph of Cutch,
and pass the Guzarat coast at any convenient distance. Having passed Diu head at
the distance of 12 or 14 leagues, a direct course may be steered towards the highland
of St. John when bound to Surat. During the strength of the northerly monsoon,
a passage can be made from Cape Mussendom to Surat in 10 or 12 days. The des-
patches concerning some recent warlike operations against pirates in the gulph of
Persia, published in the London Gazette and republished verbatim in the Maval Chro-
nicle, (xxiv, 72,) contain the names of a number of places little known on both shores and
on the islands of the gulph. And two letters on the Wahebbi Arabs, under the sig-
nature of NEARCHVS, in the same volume of the . . incidentally throw light upon
the geography, &c, of this maritime portion of "Araby, the blest." The navigation.
of the Persian gulph has always been endangered by depredators of various kinds :
R.C.'s description of the predatory habits of the inhabitants on the western side is
thoroughly confirmed by modern, experience. Besides which the gulph is visited by
piratical small craft from the coasts of Guzarat and Sindy, whose force and audacity
are such that they have mastered several european vessels trading from Bombay, and
even some armed packets, treating with great cruelty all the persons found on board.
The naval power of Britain, while it furnishes the means seems to impose upon her,
as an equivalent, the duty of clearing the high seas from lawless freebooters of every
denomination. Instead of which it has only been twice within a century that we have
made any serious exertions to this effect in the East; while with respect to the Barba-
rians of Afric our acquiescence has been as great and proportionably more disgrace-
ful than that of the lesser maritime states of Europe. Although professedly it does
not come within the scope of this note to enter into more particulars concerning the
gulph, yet one staple and celebrated branch of its produce must not be passed over
in silence. As well as we can compare antient with modern geography it appears that
the two great fisheries which supplied the Roman metropolis with pearls were the same
as at present, namely, Ormuz, and Cape Comorin. Therefore by way of sequel it may
be proper briefly to mention that on the Arabian shore, in latitude about 25° N. longi
tude 50° E. there is a place called Ser, with the island Zara at a small distance west-
ward:
here is considered to commence the bank whereupon the impearled oysters are
found. This bank extends along the coast nearly to 279 N. and 438 E. with a depth of
15 to 30 feet water. Near its northern edge in 26° 40' N. are situated several small
isles which after the name of the principal one, are usually called Bahrein; a name
that has also been extended by europeans to the bank and fishery generally. One
A ?
$56
was to go up to China, and return to the coast as he came home. The first
disaster that befel us was in the gulph, where five of our men venturing on shore
on the arabian side of the gulph, were surrounded by the Arabians, and either
all killed or carried away into slavery; the rest of the boat's crew were not able
to rescue them, and had but just time to get off their boat. I began to upbraid
them with the just retribution of Heaven in this case; but the boatswain very
warmly told me, he thought I went farther in my censures than I could show any
warrant for in scripture; and referred to where JESUS intimates that those men
on whom the tower of Siloam fell were not sinners above all the Galileans: * but
that which put me to silence in the case was, that not one of these five men who
were now lost were of those who went on shore to the massacre of Madagascar,
so I always called it, though our men could not bear to hear the word "
with any patience.
massacre"
But my frequent preaching to them on this subject had worse consequences
than I expected; and the boatswain, who had been the head of the attempt,
came up boldly to me one time, and told me he found that I brought this
affair continually upon the stage; that I made unjust reflections upon it, and
had used the men very ill on that account, and himself in particular; that as I
was but a passenger, and had no command in the ship, nor concern in the voyage,
they were not obliged to bear it; that they did not know but I might have some
ill design in my head, perhaps to call them to an account for it when they
came to England; and that, therefore, unless I would resolve to have done with
it, and also not to concern myself any farther with him, or any of his affairs, he
would leave the ship; for he did not think it was safe to sail with me among
them. I heard him patiently enough till he had done, and then told him, that
I confessed I had all along opposed the massacre of Madagascar, and that
I had, on all occasions, spoken my mind freely about it, although not more upon
him than any of the rest: that as to my having no command of the ship, that was
true: nor did I exercise any authority, only took the liberty of speaking my
mind in things which publicly concerned us all; and what concern I had in the
voyage was none of his business; that I was a considerable owner in the ship;
in that claim, I conceived I had a right to speak even farther than I had done,
and would not be accountable to him or any one else; and began to be a little
warm with him. Ile made but little reply to me at that time, and I thought the
affair had been over. We were at this time in the road at Bengal; † and being
of the principal of these isles is called by the natives, Awal. (See AB'ULFEDA, Descript.
Arabiae, in the collection Geograph. vet. scriptor. graeci minores: iii.) An erroneous
latin translation of the Arabic led D'ANVILLE into one of his very few mistakes;
that of giving the name of Awal to the district of Ser. The pearls produced here
are not so much esteemed in Europe as those of India, on account of their having a
yellowish bue: but the natives of Hindostan are said to prefer them as always retain-
ing their original colour, instead of suffering that degree of change which the white
are liable to from atmospheric or animal heat. Another occasion may occur in the
course of this edition for giving a particular account of this whimsical article of
luxury.
* Luke xiii. 4.
BENGAL:The English first visited this country in 1633. The president of the
East India company's factory at Surat obtained a Fermaan (patent) from the Grand-
Mogul for liberty of trade here without any other restriction than that the
english shipping was to resort to the port of Pipley, situated in that extensive bay
formed between Point Palmiras in latitude 20° 44 N. longitude 87° 6' E. and the
westernmost branch of the Gonga, (Ganges) called the river Hoogly. A factory was
soon after established at the town of Hoogly within the same, subordinate to Madras
and Bantam. In 1652 the factors in Bengal obtained a fermaan for free trade without
payment of customs; and in 1662 factories were established at Balasor, Cossimbuzar
and Patna. In 1668 pilots were established for the navigation of the river. 1678: a
mishun (grant by sign-manual) was obtained for privileges of trade in the provinces
bordering on the Ganges; and in 1681 Bengal was constituted by the company an
357
willing to see the place, I went on shore with the supercargo, in the ship's boat,
to divert myself; and towards evening was preparing to go on board, when one
the
agency distinct from Fort St. George. 1684: In consequence of quarrels and war-
fare with the Nawob of the province the agent and council retired from Hoogly to
Chutanutee or Calcutta, the latter being a less open place, consequently a less exposed
situation, and a treaty was agreed upon for a grant of land to build a fortified factory,
and erect a mint, with freedom of trade. 1687: hostilities recommenced, and after
various vicissitudes, the company's property at Calcutta was embarked, 1688, removed
to Balasor, and thence to Madras. 1690: the Mogul's government appearing more.
conciliatory, Mr. CHARNOCK proceeded from Madras, was favourably received on his
arrival, and obtained a fermann, dated in the 33d year of the Emperor (AURUNG-
ZEB'S) reign, the tenor of which was, oblivion of all the past, and the restoration of
former privileges. 1696: in consequence of a revolt of the rajuhs (chieftains) on the
western side of the Hoogly, and the european settlements declaring in favour of the
mogul government, the Nawob authorised them in general terms to defend themselves ;
whereupon they with great diligence raised walls with bastions round their factories;
the Hollanders at Hoogly, the French at Chandernagor, and the English at Calcutta.
This was the origin of the three european forts in the province of Bengal. 1698: the
Nawob granted a nishan for the towns of Chutanuttee, Govindpor, and Calcutta,
Orders were received from England to encrease the fortifications and to denominate the
establishment Fort-William, in compliment to the then King: and in 1701, the fort was
ordered to be completed in a regular pentagonal form according to the best rules of art.
1702: the two existing english East-India Companies were united; and then possessed
the following factories in Bengal, dependent on Fort-William; viz. Chutanuttee, Bala-
sor, Cossimbuzar, Dacca, Hoogly, Malda, Rajah-mahl, and Patna, 1707: AURUNG-
ZEB, the mogul emperor, died, after a reign of fifty years. From which period may be
dated the commencement of those troubles which dismembered the empire, and paved
way for the present extensive territorial control of the english East-India Company.
It is not necessary to pursue this historical retrospect any farther than to ascertain the
state of the country when ROBINSON-CRUSOE visited it about the year 1696, and
thereby to identify the place he was landed at; which as he no otherwise designates than
by saying they were "in the road at Bengal," we must conclude, under existing cir-
cumstances, to have been either Pipley or Balasor: now, the latter being the most noted
road for anchorage, and morcover the place to which the mart was removed in con-
sequence of the formation of a dangerous bar at south of Pipley river, we may
confine our local description to Balasor. The entrance of the river here is a little to the
eastward of the meridian of Point Palmiras; but there exists a considerable discordance
in the latitude assigned to this river's mouth by hydrographers: without entering
into a needless recapitulation of which, it is sufficient to note that, according to the most
authentic comparison of authorities on the subject, it appears to be in 21° 28′ N. Bala-
sor was formerly a considerable town, but at present is only about a mile long, and
half a mile broad. It is built along the river Berec-belaun, where the tide rises 12 to 15
feet in common springs, and then serves to carry vessels of 100 tons burthen up to the
docks, of which there are several here: but there is not more than 2 or 3 feet on the
bar at low-water in the dry season; so that its trade is chi fly confined to small country
vessels who export rice, and other grain, tobacco, sugar, silk and cotton piece-goods,
wax, oil, and other commodities the produce of India. The English first began to trade
here about 1640. The company's factory is a large but irregular building, commanding
a beautiful prospect from its top. The French had a factory at a small village 3 miles
eastward from the town. The Dutch had one near to the English. There is a portu-
guese church, and a number of portuguese and armenian inhabitants. In 1803, by
treaty with the Rajah of Berar, the province of Cuttak (including the port and district
of Balasor) was ceded to the company in perpetual sovereignty. This province con-
nects Bengal with the Northern Circars; viz. Guntoor or Morteza-nagur, Condapilly or
Mustafa-nagur, Elloor, Rajah-mundry, Masulipatam, Chicacool; and is therefore in a
political and military point of view of the utmost importance independently of its com
mercial and financial value. The revenue of Cuttak is stated at 17 laks of rupees;
about 170000l. sterling The province of Bengal properly commences at Fipley river:
which is about 6 leagues E. b. N. from Balasor. In the road named after the latter
place, pilots are always ready to carry slupping into and up the river Hoogly. Some
idea of this navigation may be formed from the following Instructions issued by the
358
of the men came to me, and told me he would not have me trouble myself to
come down to the boat, for they had orders not to carry me on board any more.
Any one may guess what a surprise I was in at so insolent a message; and I asked
the man who bade him deliver that message to me? He told me, the cock-swain.
I said no more to the fellow, but bade him let them know he had delivered his
message, and that I had given him no answer to it.
I immediately went and found out the supercargo, and told him the story;
adding, what I presently foresaw, that there would be a mutiny in the ship; and
entreated him to go immediately on board the ship in an indian boat, and acquaint
the captain of it. But I might have spared this intelligence, for before I had
spoken to him on shore the matter was effected on board, The boatswain, the
gunner, the carpenter, and all the inferior officers, as soon as I was gone off in
the boat, came up, and desired to speak with the captain; and there the boat-
swain, making a long harangue, and repeating all he had said to me, told the
captain, in a few words, that as I was now gone peaceably on shore, they were
loath to use any violence with me, which if I had not gone on shore, they would
otherwise have done, to oblige me to have gone; they therefore thought fit to
tell him, that as they shipped themselves to serve in the ship under his command,
they would perforın it well and faithfully; but if I would not quit the ship, or
the captain oblige me to quit it, they would all leave the ship, and sail no far-
ther with him; and at that word "all," he turned his face toward the mainmast,
which was, it seems, the signal agreed on between them, at which all the scamen,
being got together there, cried out, one and all! one and all!”
My nephew, the captain, was a man of spirit, and of great presence of mind;
and although he was surprised, you may be sure, at the thing, yet he told them
calmly that he would consider of the matter; but that he could do nothing in it
until he had spoken to me about it. He used some arguments with them to show
them the unreasonableness and injustice of the thing: but it was all in vain ; they
swore, and shook hands round before his face, that they would all go on shore,
unless he would engage to them not to suffer me to come any more on board the
ship.
This was a hard article upon him, who knew his obligation to me, and did not
know how I might take it: so he began to talk cavalierly to them; told them that I
was a very considerable owner of the ship, and that, in justice he could not put
me out of my own house; that this was next door to serving me as the famous
"Muster-Attendant at Calcutta to pilot vessels proceeding to the cruizing station:—
The vessel under your charge, being ready for sea, equipped, and completely stored
for a cruise of three months, you are hereby directed to proceed out with her into the
road with all practicable expedition, in order to cruise (for the general benefit of the
trade resorting to this port) off the outer edge of the reef off Point Palmiras, bringing
the point to bear by sight or computation W. which position will place you in about 16
fathoms water (the ground composed of sand and gravel, with broken shells and black
specks), or in latitude about 20° 43′ N. and this line is to be the southern boundary of
your cruising station during the S.W. monsoon. As the position above assigned is
invariably passed or crossed by all ships and vessels bound into the river Hoogly,
during the S.W. monsoon, it is therefore desirable that you should keep as near it
during the continuance of your cruise, as the state of the winds, weather, and tide will
admit.-All considerations which comprehend the security of the vessel under your
charge from the enemy, and other disasters, are left to your discretion, as the necessary
consequence of the dependence placed in your zealous and faithful execution of the
important trust confided to your management.-On the change of the seasons, you are
to quit the station prescribed in the preceding paragraph, and to cruise off the tail of
Saugor reef, in latitude 21° N. longitude (about) 88° 40' E. being particularly cautious
in guarding against the designs of enemy's cruisers." (. C. 1814. vol. xxxi.)
* COCK-SWAIN :-The title of a petty, or subaltern officer, to whom is committed the
principal charge of a ship's boat, with command over the crew of the same, Every
such boat was autiently denominated a "cock;" whence the title in the text. See
page 938.
359
pirate Kid* had done, who made a mutiny in the ship, set the captain on shore
in an uninhabited island, and ran away with the ship; that let them go into
what ship they could, if ever they came to England again it would cost them
very dear; that the ship was mine, and that he could not put me out of it; and
that he would rather lose the ship and the voyage too than disoblige me so much;
so they might do as they pleased: however, he would go on shore and talk with
me, and invited the boatswain to go with him, and perhaps they night accommo-
date the matter with me. But they all rejected the proposal, and said they
would have nothing to do with me any more; and if I came on board, they
would all go on shore. 'Well," said the captain, "if you are all of this mind, let
me go on shore and talk with him." So away he came to me with this account, a
little after the message had been brought to me from the cockswain.
I was very glad to see my nephew, I must confess; for I was not without
apprehensions that they would confine him by violence, set sail, and run away
with the ship and then I had been stripped naked in a remote country, having
nothing to help myself; in short, I had been in a worse case than when I was
alone in the island. But they had not gone that length, it seems, to my great satis-
faction; and when my nephew told me what they had said to him, and how they
had sworn and shook hands that they would, one and all, leave the ship if I was
suffered to come on board, I told him he should not be concerned at it at all, for
I would stay on shore: I only desired he would take care and send me all my
necessary things, leave me a sufficient sum of money, and I would find my
way to England as well as I could.
This was a heavy piece of news to my nephew; but there was no way to help
it but to comply: so, in short, he went on board the ship again, and satisfied the
men that his uncle had yielded to their importunity, and had sent for his goods
from on board the ship: so that the matter was over in a few hours; the men
returned to their duty; and I began to consider what course I should steer.
I was now alone in the remotest part of the world, as I think I may call it; for
I was near three thousand leagues by sea farther off from England than I was at
my island: only, it is true, I might travel here by land over the Great-Mogul'st
* KID:-About the year 1696, the english pirates who infested the indian seas,
established a fortified station at Nossì- Ibrahim (called by european mariners St. Mary's
island) on the coast of Madagascar, and brought hither their prizes. The principal of
them, were KID, and AVERY.-KID was taken and hung in chains at Tilbury, in 1701.
+ MOGUL :—and Tahtar, are kindred and rival names; of which the former having
given birth to the imperial race, has adhered to the titular sovereign of Hindo’staan;
and the latter has been extended, by accident or error, over the spacious wilderness of
the north. The general government of Hindostan may be said to consist of an emperor
in the person of the Great-Mogul, who resides at Delhi; his vice-roys, or soubahdars,
who reign over several provinces; and the immediate governors of provinces, indis-
criminately known by the names of Nazim, and Naieb, the plural of which latter is
Navaub, or as the inveterate usage of Englishmen now forms the word, Nabob. A nabob
ought properly to hold his commission from Delhi; and if, at his death, a successor
has not been previously appointed by the Great-Mogul, the soubah has the right of
naming a person to administer the nabobship, until the will of the sovereign be known;
but a nabob thus appointed by a soubah, is not considered as finally established, until he
be confirmed from Delhi, The soubah receives from the several nabobs, the annual
revenues of the crown, and remits them to the treasury of the empire. The nabobs
are obliged to accompany him in all military expeditions within the extent of his
viceroyalty. These regulations were intended to place them in such a state of depend-
ence on the soubahs, as should render them subservient to the interest of the empire,
and, at the same time, leave them in a state of independence, which would make it
difficult for the soubah to make use of their assistance to brave the throne. The con-
stitution of the Mogul empire began to lose its vigour after the death of AURUNGZEB,
the ablest monarch that ever reigned over flindostan ; but since the incursion of the
Persians under THAMAS-KOULI Khaan, it has declined more and more: so that,
during the last fifty years, soubuhs have been seeu to maintain themselves in thes
360
country to Surat; * might go from thence to Bassora + by sea, up the gulph of
governments against the will of the throne, and have consequently appointed nabobs
under them with as little regard to its authority. Nabobs, likewise, have kept posses-
sion of their governments, in opposition both to the soubah and the throne; and what
is more extraordinary in the offices of a despotic state, both soubahs and nabobs have
named their successors, who have often succeeded with as little opposition, as if they
had been heirs-apparent of an hereditary dominion. The proper pronunciation of
mogul is mogool.
* SURAT :-a city and celebrated mart, of Hindoostan situated on the S. bank of
the river Tapti, about 20 miles from the sea, at the entrance of the gulph of Cambaya.
An edifice, called Vaux's tomb, on Swalley point, N. side of the river's entrance, is
in 21° 4′ 30″ N. 72° 51' 30" E. The anchoring ground for large ships in Surat road
is in 7 to 8 fathoms water, soft ground; Vaux's tomb bearing N. to N.b.E. 3 to 4
miles. Here the spring-tides run rapid, particularly the ebb, about 5 knots per hour,
but farther in near the bar, where small vessels lie, in four or five fathoms water, with
the tomb N.W. they do not run with such velocity. In the road, high-water full
and change about 4 o'clock. Magnetic variation in 1791, 309 W. Surat castle is
in 21° 11′ N. 73° 5′ 30″ E. or 8' E. from Bombay castle. The Portuguese took, and
destroyed Surat in 1512. In 1612, the English established a factory here. In 1615,
a favorable treaty was concluded with the Mogul by Sir THOMAS ROE. In 1617,
the Dutch commenced trading at Surat. About 1660, the Tapti being incommoded by
sand-banks at Ranier, the then mart-town on this river, the English removed 2 miles
farther down on the opposite side near a castle which had been built many years, as a
protection from the Malabar pirates, others following the example, within a few years
the settlement became a large place. Such was the origin of the present city, which,
after various political and military vicissitudes, finally merged in the possession of
the english East-India Company, 1759.
+ BASSORA:
-a city of Turkey, situated on a plain, near the edge of the great desert,
by a navigable crcek of the Arabs' river from which it is distant about 3 miles. Its geo-
graphical site is in 30° 30′ N. and 47° 33′ E. Bassora was founded by ATTABEI, SON
of GASVAN, under the Kallif OмER, A.H. 14, about A.D. 636. It was taken after
a siøge of 13 months, by the Persians, under SADDEK Khuan, brother and general
of the usurper KERIM Khaan; in whose power it remained until his death 1779, when
it was evacuated and reverted to the Othman dominion, since when it has been incor-
porated with the provincial government of Bagdad; and is administered by a Muta-
selim, or local governor, subordinate to the Pasha of that province. The present city
does not occupy the site of the original foundation which exists at a distance of about
8 miles westerly, and may be traced for a space of 2 miles, furnishing even unto this
day, a supply of bricks for building to the inhabitants of Zobeir, a village about 6 miles
S.S.W. from modern Bassora; a place which NIEBUHR, and after him the writer,
under the signature "NEARCH VS" in the M.C. (xxiv, 298) has confounded with Old
Bassora. Near to this is the dry bed of a canal or artificial branch of the Afrat (Eu-
phrates extending from Het to the Koor-abdoola, known by the name of Hasseh-Zaadeh,
or Jarri-Zaadeh; the Pallacopas of ARRIAN; the Teredon of PLINY. Bassora is usually
pronounced by the Arabs Busra, but by the Persians, Bosra or Busra. It must not he
mistaken by the reader for the Bozrah of the Bible (Isaiah, Ixiii, 1.); the latter being sy-
nonymously called Edom, and thus described and named in LowTn's translation of the
text? “Who is this that cometh from Edom? with garments deeply died from Botsra?
[sic.] Bassora is about 100 miles from the Erythræan gulph by the course of the river;
and about 90 from Korna, the Digba of PLINY, the Apamed of PTOLOMEY, situated at the
extreme point of Mesopotamia, where the rivers Afrat and Didjel unite. In the former
the tide flows to Ardsh 7 leagues above Korna: in the latter to Ezr, a village named
after the prophet EzRA, who is said to have been buried there; and his tomb is an
object of pilgrimage for Jews. Bassora was first visited by the English in 1640;
they soon after established a factory here, which has been kept up ever since, notwith-
standing the numerous convulsions to which the country has been subject: it is a
good and convenient building, situated on the banks of the creek, about 3 miles from
its mouth, and where vessels of 80 tons may unload their cargoes at the gate of the
factory. About 5 miles distant from the Bagdad gate, the english agent has a villa,
called Marghil, which has a good prospect up and down the river, from the banks
of which it is distant about 4 mile. From its convenient position, Bassora is a place
361
+
Persia; from thence might take the way of the caravans,* over the desert of
Arabia, to Aleppo,† and to Scanderoon; from thence by sea again to Italy; and
so over-land into France: this put together might appear at least, a full diameter
of the globe: but, if it were to be measured, I suppose it would turn out to be a
great deal more.
I had another way before me, which was to wait for some english ships, which
of great commerce. The principal articles of export consist of dates, copper, coral,
galls, myrrh, benzoin, olibanum, almonds, rose water, ivory, arab horses, fruits, and
treasure. The Shat-el-Arab is a bar river, with several mouths; and owing to the
lowness of the land, the multiplicity of banks, and the ignorance of the pilots
(usually procured at the isle of Kark or Karedsh), its approach is somewhat ha-
zardous for shipping. The first objects that strike the beholder from sea, are a few
straggling palm-trees, which, at a distance appear like a flotilla of boats; also
rushes are discerned at 9 or 10 miles distance; besides which pelicans are seen some-
times before the land, appearing on the banks in great numbers, resembling almost
a white beach. The winds blow mostly down the river all the year round; and when
a north-wester is violent, the atmosphere is obscured by the sand of the desert
driven by the wind. Bassora stands on the western principal branch of the river,
called "Coor-abdilla;" between the bar at the mouth of which and the factory, the
difference of latitude is about 33". Magnetic variation, 9° W. in 1811. See page 354
for the geography of the Erythræan gulph in general.
* CARAVAN:-the proper pronunciation of this word is kerwan; and signifies in
general a body of travellers, who unite together to travel with greater safety in eastern
countries. But in a more particular sense, the kerwan of Mekkeh, bears exclusively
the name of hadsh (pilgrimage): others are simply called kaft (pronounced kaffle.)
"Vox persica est carvan, i.e. negotiator vel collectivé negotiatores; sc. tota eorum cohors
simul iter faciens quae arabicè cafila vocatur. (PERITS. Itinera mundi: ed. T. HYDE.)
+ ALEPPO:-according to the geographers, has succeeded to the antient Beröe or
Chalybon, of which the greek pronunciation has been nearly preserved by the Arabs in
that of Haleb or Halab, with the h strongly aspirated or guttural. The vestiges of a city
which Europeans name "Old Alep," situated to the N. of the lake into which the river
Chalus discharges itself, seem rather to belong to the antient Chalis; which is known
to have been placed on the borders of this lake. The geographical site of the modern
city is situated in 36° 11′ 25″ N. 37° 10′ E. The pasha-lik of Haleb has, on the
N. the same bounds as are common to Syria in general: it commences near Merkes,
on the shore of that inlet of the Mediterranean denominated the gulph of Ayas, tra-
verses the mountains, passes above Abentab, skirts the course of the little river Si-
merin as far as the Afrat (Euphrates) near the antient castle of Room-kala. From
this point it has that river for frontier as far as Rajik; from whence it follows a
curved line, through the desert unto Marra. From this city it re-ascends N.W. to
Chogr, and terminates at the sea-side some leagues below the mouth of the Orontes.
The mountains of this pasha-lik are almost all inhabited by the Ansariék; one of the
most considerable and antient tribes of the country, which lives independent under its
particular chiefs, and pays tribute only to the pashas of the Othman Sultaan. The
Ansarieh are neither musulmans nor christians: the religion they profess is very little
known: but they are good and industrious cultivators of the earth. The plains of
Antioch are frequented by Toorkmans, a powerful pastor-people, established in the
middle of Anatolia. Every year they send a portion of their flocks to pasture on the
banks of the Orontes, which river they seldom pass over. The plains of Haleb, and
those of the Afrat are frequented by the Koords, (the carduchii of XENOPHON ;) the
body of which nation inhabits the mountains which border upon the southern edge of
the lake Van, and different hordes of whom conduct their flocks as far as the interior
of this pasha-lik, which is their utmost limit toward the S.W. This nation is strong,
and as well as the Toorkman, professes the religion of Mohammed. The desert is occu-
pied only by different tribes of pastor-Arabs, who make incursions, and lead their
Blocks as far as the environs of Haleb.
SCANDEROON :-(literally Iskender-un) the turkish name for Alexand'retta, or
Alexandria the lesser, in Syria; Iskender or Sekunder being the oriental version of
the proper name ALEXANDER. Its geographical site is in 36° 34′ 47″ N. 36° 14′ 45″ E.
Its local situation is in the N.E, angle of the mediterranean sea; bearing from Cape
Andrea the eastern extremity of Cyprus, about N.E. 21 leagues. It is a safe and
362
were coming to Bengal from the island of Sumatra and get passage on board
them for England, But as I came hither without any concern with the English
East-India Company,t so it would be difficult to go from hence without their li
cense, unless with great favor of the captains of the ships, or of the Company's
factors, and to both I was an utter stranger.
Here I had the mortification to see the ship set sail without me; a treat-
ment I think a man in my circumstances scarce ever met with, except from
pirates running away with a ship, and setting those that would not agree with
their villany on shore. Indeed, this was next door to it, both ways; however
my nephew left me two servants, or rather one companion and one servant; the
first was clerk to the purser, whom he engaged to go with me, and the other was
good anchorage for vessels of easy burthen; but its climate is become unwholesome
from accidental causes.
* SUMATRA :-one of the larger islands in the indian ocean, situated between
lat. 5° 36' N. and 5° 54′ S. and between long. 95° 15′ and 105° 43′ E. The equator
divides it obliquely into almost equal parts; its general direction being N.W. and S.E. in
length about 900 miles, upon a medium breadth of about 150. The soil is fruitful, but the
air in general unwholesome to the european constitution. According to the latin
geographer POMPONIUS MELA (in his treatise De situ orbis), Sumatra appears to have
been known unto the antients under the name of Argyre. This island is mentioned and
partially described in the Maval Chronicle, xxiii, 502; xxv, 368: xxviii, 70, 129;
xxix, 224, 313; xxx, 332, 489; xxxi, 57, 162, 223, 335, 400, 476; xxxii, 135.
+ EAST INDIA COMPANY:-In 1600, after a failure upon the part of Spain for negoti
ating peace with England, the english merchants made application to Queen ELIZABETH
for a charter empowering them to undertake a trade to India. Their prayer was
granted; and on 31st December, a body-corporate with a common seal was erected
under the title of "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the
East-Indies." In 1698, the private merchants made application to parliament for the
erection of another company, offering to raise two millions sterling for the public ser-
vice, at 8 per cent. interest, by way of bonus: and this offer being more advantageous
than the existing company offered for a confirmation of its exclusive privilege, it was
accepted, and a bill passed accordingly for incorporating them by the name of "the
English Company "the old, or "London Company" being permitted to trade till
29th September, 1701. In 1702, an indenture tripartite between the Queen (ANNE) and
the two companies passed under the great seal of England; which is described as the
"charter of union ;" and thenceforth the companies took the name of "The United com-
pany of merchants of England trading to the East Indies;" whose affairs were to be
managed by 24 directors, 12 chosen from each company, and in future to be conducted
according to the 10th of K. WILLIAM. One of the clauses of the London company's
original charter excluded all other of her Majesty's subjects, under severe penalties,
from this traffic and navigation, without the assent and leave of the company; which
exclusion was in force at the time of ROBINSON CRUSOL'S voyage, and has existed
under different degrees of strictness, down to the period of the last renewal of the
charter in 1813, when this branch of the monopoly underwent a still farther degrec
of modification more conformable to the principles of natural justice, and the en-
lightened age in which we live. Although the particular policy of the company has
incidentally been the subject of very discordant opinions, on which subject the editor
professes himself perfectly unbiassed by any interested motives, or by party spirit;
yet he deems it but fair to record the following sentiments delivered by a distinguished
member of parliament and minister of state in the House of Commons on the 22d March,
1813, as to the benefits resulting to the nation from the present mode of conducting
the affairs of our oriental possessions; and generally assented to by both sides of the
house;
"The mode of government adopted by the East-India company has raised
and preserved an empire unprecedented in the history of the world; and it has go-
verned the people under its control on a principle eminently calculated to produce
the happiness of the governed. I do not believe the history of the world has ever pro-
duced its parallel: a system by which a population of fifty millions of native subjects
is governed, while the civil officers of the company by whom the government is con-
ducted does not exceed sixteen hundred and this too under a government, than
which there never was a milder, nor one by which the happiness of the people is
nore consulted."
363
his own servant. I took me also a good lodging in the house of an English-
woman, where several merchants lodged, some French, two Italians, or rather
Jews, and one Englishman; here I was handsomely enough entertained: and
that I might not be said to run rashly upon any thing, I stayed here above
nine months considering what course to take, and how to manage myself. I had
some english goods with me of value, and a considerable sum of money, my
nephew furnishing me with a thousand pieces of eight, and a letter of credit for
more, if I had occasion, that I might not be straitened, whatever might happen.
I quickly disposed of my goods to advantage, and, as I originally intended, I
bought here some very good diamonds, which of all other things, were the most
*
* DIAMOND. The chemical character of this gem has been incidentally explained in
the notes appended unto the word charcoal, pages 152, 294. Strange as it may seena
to the general reader not versed in this particular branch of knowledge, the gem and
the coal are in fact homogeneous substances. The only form of absolute purity in
which carbon is presented unto us, is that of the diamond; which has been proved by
experiments to be pure carbon in a crystalized state, according to HENRY. This
chemist says that, in order to effectuate the combustion of the diamond, it is necesary to
keep it exposed, for a considerable time, to the focus of a powerful burning lens and
in a vessel filled with oxygen gas. (This experiment requires a complicated apparatus;
a description of which the practical reader can find by reference to most of the books
expressly written to facilitate the acquisition of chemical knowledge by minute instruc-
tions for the performance of experiments.) Under the circumstances alluded to, the
diamond does not exhibit the appearance of active inflammation, but is slowly and almost
insensibly consumed, it's outer surface first becoming black. The temperature required
for its combustion, is estimated by MACKENZIE al 14° of WEDGEWOOD's pyrometer
=2897° of FAHRENHEIT's thermometer: but by GUYTON-MORVEAU at 5000° of the
latter. The specific gravity of the diamond is stated by HENRY=3.5212. DavY, in
the course of some new analytical researches on the nature of certain bodies particularly
the alkalis, phosphorus, sulphur, carbonaceous matter &c. (described in the Bakerian
lecture of the Royal-Society, 1809.) examined the constitution of charcoal by the test
of the electrical apparatus of VOLTA (improperly called "galvanism"); according to
this statement, charcoal when exposed to the battery gave out carbonated hydrogen;
and when heated with potassium, (a newly discovered metalic basis,) formed a body
spontaneously inflammable. Carbon does not shew any marks of containing oxygen:
but he says, (somewhat in contradiction to HENRY,) the diamond does appear to con-
tain a minute portion of that element. Considering therefore diamond and charcoal as
generically the same; we may without impropriety add unto this note, some farther infor-
mation on the latter substance, which has been acquired by the editor since those on the
former were given to press. According to some recent experiments, made by Mr. BɛR-
TRAND, it appears that charcoal possesses the power of counteracting the fatal effects
of the mineral poisons on the animal body. He enumerates several experiments to
prove this fact, the third of which was made on himself. "At half-past seven o'clock
in the morning," he states, "I swallowed fasting, 5 grains of arsenic powder, in half a
glass of strong mixture of charcoal. At a quarter before eight o'clock, I perceived a
painful sensation of heat in the stomach, with great thirst. I then drank another glass
of the mixture of charcoal. At half-past nine the oppressive pain ceased in the sto-
mach, and was followed by an uneasy sensation in the intestines. Being very thirsty,
I drank several cups of an infusion of orange-flowers, and at a quarter past ten I was
completely well. At noon I dined as usual, without inconvenience, and could perceive
no further derangement in the digestive functions."-The same experiment was made
with corrosive-sublimate of mercury, attended by the same result. As we have hitherto
been unacquainted with any article capable of rendering the mineral poisons inert, the
communication by Mr. BERTRAND, of the result of his experiments, is of considerable
importance.
Having thus disposed of the natural history of the diamond; there remains to bring
the reader somewhat acquainted with this article in a commercial point of view. And
as the most convenient mode of doing this, the Editor takes leave to quote a very ample
and satisfactory account thereof, in MILBURN's Oriental Commerce (ii, 79.)
"This
gem has the greatest degree of transparency, is the hardest, most beautiful and bril-
liant of all the precious stones, and has been known from the remotest ages. Diamonds
364
1
proper for me, in my present circumstances; because I could always carry my
whole estate about me.
are found only in the East Indies and in Brazil, and are distinguished by Jewellers
into oriental and occidental; the finest and hardest being always termed oriental,
whether they are produced in the East Indies or not. Diamonds, when in their
rough state, are either in the form of roundish pebbles, with shining surfaces, or of
octoedral crystals; but though they generally appear in the latter form, yet their
crystals are often irregular, they are lamellated, consisting of very thin plates, like
those of talc, but very closely united, the direction of which must be ascertained by
the lapidaries before they can work them properly. They are usually covered with a
thin crust which renders them semi-transparent; but when this is removed, they are
transparent. The principal diamond mines in India are that of Raolconda in the
Carnatic; that of Goni, or Coulour, also in the Carnatic; that of Somelpour, or Goual,
in Bengal; and that of Succandana in the island of Borneo. These gems are
generally imported from Madras in their rough state, in small parcels called bulse,
neatly secured in muslin, and sealed by the merchant, and are generally sold in Europe
by the invoice, that is, are bought before they are opened, it being always found they
contain the value for which they were sold in India, and the purchaser gives the
importer such an advance on the invoice as the state of the market warrants. The
bulses contain stones of various shapes and sizes. The chief things to be observed
in purchasing rough diamonds are, 1st, the colour. 2d, the cleanness. 3d, the shape.
I. Colour.-The colour should be perfectly crystaline, resembling a drop of clear
spring water, in the middle of which you will perceive a strong light playing with a
great deal of spirit. If the coat be smooth and bright, with a little tincture of green in
it, it is not the worse, and seldom proves bad; but if there is a mixture of yellow with
green, then beware of it—it is a soft greasy stone, and will prove bad. If the stone has
a rough coat, that you can hardly see through it, and the coat be white, and look as if
it were rough by art, and clear of flaws or veins, and no blemish cast in the body of
the stone (which may be discovered by holding it against the light), the stone will
prove good. It often happens that a stone shall appear of a reddish buc, on the out-
ward coat, not unlike the colour of rusty iron; yet by looking through it against the
light, you may observe the heart of the stone to be white (and if there be any black
spots or flaws, or veins in it, they may be discovered by a true eye, although the coat
of the stone be opaque), and such stones are generally good and clear. If a diamond
appears of a greenish bright coat, resembling a piece of green glass, inclining to black,
it generally proves hard, and seldom bad; such stones have been known to have been
the first water, and seldom worse than the second; but if any tincture of yellow seem
to be mixed with it, you may depend upon its being a very bad stone. All stones of
a milky coat, whether the coat be bright or dull, if never so little inclining to a blueish
cast, are naturally soft, and in danger of being flawed in the cutting; and though they
should have the good fortune to escape, yet they will prove dead and milky, and turn
to no account. All diamonds of cinnamon colour are dubious; but if of a bright coat,
mixed with a little green, then they are certainly bad, and are accounted amongst the
worst of colours. You will meet with a great many diamonds of a rough cinnamon
coloured coat, opaque: this sort is generally very hard, and when cut, contains a great
deal of life and spirit; but the colour is very uncertain; it is sometimes white, sonie-
times brown, and sometimes a very fine yellow.
"II. Cleanness.-Concerning the fouls and other imperfections that take from the
value of the diamond, we must observe, all diaphanous stones are originally fluids, and
spirituous distillations falling into proper cells of the earth, where they lie till they are
∙ripened, and receive the hardness we generally find them of.
generally find them of. Every drop forms an
entire stone, contained in its proper bed, without coats. While this petrific juice, or
the matter which grows in the stone, is in its original tender nature, it is liable to all the
accidents we find in it, and by which it is so often damaged; for if some little particle
or sand or earth fall into the tender matter, it is locked up in it, and becomes a foul
black spot; and as this is bigger or less, so it diminishes the value of the stone. Flaws
are occasioned by some accident, shake, or violence, which the stone received whilst in
its bed, or in digging it out, and this frequently occasions an open crack in the stone,
sometimes from the outside to the centre, and sometimes in the body of the stone,
which does not extend to the outside; but this is much the worst, and will require great
365
After a long stay here, and many proposals made for my return to England,
but none falling out to my mind, the English merchant who lodged with ine, and
judgment to know how far it does extend. It takes half from the value. Holes are
formed on the outside of the rough diamond, and must be occasioned by some hard
particle of sand falling into the tender substance of the stones, which not being heavy
enough to sink into the middle, remains on the outside thereof, like a black spot, and
being picked off, leaves a round hole. The next and greatest difficulty will be to avoid
beamy stones, and this requires more skill and practice than any thing yet spoken of;
yet time and opportunity will enable you to discover them. Indeed a great many
stones are a little beamy in the roundest (by which is meant the edges); but it is not so
very material, though it diminishes the life of the diamond. By beamy stones are
meant such as look fair to the eye, and yet are so full of veins to the centre, that no art
or labour can polish them. These veins run through several parts of the stone, and
sometimes through all; and when they appear on the outside, they show themselves
like protuberant excrescences, from whence run innumerable small veins, obliquely
crossing one another, and shooting into the body of the stone. The stone itself will
have a bright and shining coat, and the veins will look like very small pieces of po-
lished steel rising upon the surface of the stone. This sort of stone will bear no po-
lishing, and is scarcely worth a rupee per mangalin. Sometimes the knot of the veins
will be in the centre; the fibres will shoot outward, and the small ends terminate in
the coat of the diamond. This is more difficult to discover, and must be examined by
a nice eye; yet you may be able here and there to observe a small protuberance, like
the point of a needle lifting up a part of the coat of the stone: and though by a great
deal of labour it should be polished, it will be a great charge, and scarcely pay for the
cutting, and therefore it is to be esteemed as little better than the former. But if you
are not very careful, they will throw one of these stones into a parcel, and often times
the largest.
"III, Shape. This consists of three articles; stones in four points, stones in two points,
and flat stones. Stones in four points consist in four equilateral triangles at top and
the same at bottom, being a perfect steragon: this is the most complete shape and
makes the best brilliants, and when sawed in four points, the best rose diamonds.
which are esteemed more than others, whether shaped thus, or rough. Stones in two
points are when four of the triangular planes are broader than the other four. This
will make a thinner brilliant, lose more in the cutting and will not retain so much life.
For roses, it must be sawed through two points, and it will make fine roses, but not so
lively as the former. Stones in the flat, are when the points are so depressed and con-
fined, that you only see the traces where nature would have polished them, had they
not been confined; and therefore they are irregular and distorted. In cutting these
stones they do not regard the points, but make the flat way either roses or brilliants.
These stones may be split rough in these shapes; they lose more in cutting than the
others. All indian-cut stones are called lasks or lasques: they are in general ill shaped,
or irregular in their form; their substance or depth is ill-proportioned; some have more
of the stone substance at top than at bottom; the table, or face, is seldom in the centre
of the stone; sometimes it is of an extravagant breadth, and sometimes too small, and
none of them are properly polished. The chief thing regarded is, that of saving the
size and weight of the stones. These stones are always new wrought when brought to
Europe. Such as have the least stain, speck, flaw, or appearance of veins should be
rejected. For the valuation of diamonds of all weights, Mr. Jefferies lays down the
following rule. He first supposes the value of the rough diamond to be settled at 21.
per carat at a medium; then to find the value of diamonds of greater weights, multiply
the square of their weight by two, and the product is the value required. For instance,
to find the value of a rough diamond of two carats 2×24, the square of the weight,
which multiplied by two, gives 81. the value of a rough diamond of two carats. For
finding the value of manufactured diamonds, he supposes half their weight to be lost in
manufacturing them; and therefore to find their value, multiply the square of double
their weight by two, which will give their true value in pounds. Thus, to find the
value of a wrought diamond of two carats, find the square of double the weight that is
4X416, then 16x232. So that the true value of a wrought diamond of two
carats is 321.
"The largest diamond ever known in the world is one belonging to the Queen of
Portugal which was found in Brazil; it is still uncut; it weighs 1,680 carats, and if valued
+
366
whom I had contracted an intimate acquaintance with, came to me one morning,
"Countryman," says he, "I have a project to communicate to you, which, as it
suits with my thoughts, may, for ought I know, suit with your's also, when you
shall have thoroughly considered it. Here we are posted, you by accident, and
I by my own choice, in a part of the world very remote from our own country;
but it is in a country where, by us who understand trade and business, a great
deal of money is to be got. If you will put 1000l. to my 1000l. we will hire a
ship here, the first we can get to our minds; you shall be captain, I'll be mer-
chant, and we'll go a trading voyage to China: for what should we stand still
for? The whole world is in motion, rolling round and round; all the creatures
of God, heavenly bodies and earthly, are busy and diligent; why should we be
idle? There are no drones in the world but men; why should we be of that
number?"
I liked this proposal very well, and the more because it seemed to be ex-
pressed with so much good-will, and in so friendly a manner.
I will not say
but that I might, by my loose unhinged circumstances, be the fitter to embrace
a proposal for trade, or indeed any thing else; whereas, otherwise, trade was
none of my element. However, I might perhaps say with some truth, that
if trade was not my element, rambling was, and no proposal for seeing any
part of the world which I had never seen before, could possibly come amiss
to me.
It was, however, some time before we could get a ship to our minds, and
when we had got a vessel, it was not easy to get english sailors; that is to say,
so many as were necessary to govern the voyage, and manage the sailors which
we should pick up there. After some time, we got a mate, a boatswain, and
a gunner, english; a carpenter, and three foremast men, dutch. With these
we found we could do well enough, having indian seamen, such as they were,
to make up.
There are so many travellers who have written the history of their voyages
and travels this way, that it would be very little diversion to any body to give
along account of the places we went to, and the people who inhabit there;
these things I leave to others, and refer the reader to those journals and travels
of Englishmen, of which many, I find, are published, and more promised every
ས
according to the above mentioned rule, this great gem must be worth 56448001, sterling.
The famous diamond which adorns the sceptre of the Emperor of Russia, under the
eagle at the top of it, weighs 779 carats, and is worth 4,854,7281, although it hardly cost.
150,000l. This diamond was one of the eyes of an idol in the island of Seringham in
the Carnatic. A french grenadier who had deserted from their Indian service, con-
trived so as to become one of the priests of the idol, from which he had the opportunity
to steal its eye; he escaped from thence to Madras. A captain of a ship bought it for
20,000 rupees; afterwards a jew gave about 18,000l. for it; at last a Greek merchant
offered it for sale at Amsterdam in 1766, and the russian Prince Orloff made this
acquisition for the Empress of Russia. The next diamond is that of the Great Mogul
and is cut in rose; it weighs 279 carats, and is worth according to the above rule,
being cut, 622,7281. Tavernier states, it weighed, when rough, 793 carats; if so, its loss
by cutting was very trifling. Another diamond of the Queen of Portugal, which weighs
215 carats, is very fine, and is worth at least 369,800 guineas. The diamond which
belonged to the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, now to the Emperor of Germany, weighs
193 carats, but it has somewhat of a citron hue; and it is worth at least 109,250
guineas. TAVERNIER mentioned having seen a diamond at Golconda, weighing 242f
carats, for which he offered 400,000 rupees, but could not procure it under 500,000,
about, 62,500l. The diamond called the "Pitt," or "Regent," weighs 136 carats and
is considered worth about 208,333 guineas, although it did not cost above half that value.
The diamond, called the Pigot, weighs 47 carats, and is an extremely fine one: it was
disposed of by the Pigot family in 1800, by lottery, for 22000l. which exceeds its value,
according to Jefferies's mode of calculation. Diamonds may be imported duty free,
saving the duty granted to the East India Company on diamonds imported from any
place within the limits of their charter,”
5.
367
day it is enough for me to tell you that we made this voyage to Achin,* in the
island of Sumatra, and from thence to Siam,t where we exchanged some of
* ACHIN:-A considerable town on the island of Sumatra, in 5° 36′ N. 95° 26' E
situated by the side of a river which falls into the sea by several branches, separating
the low country into islands; and this low plain, formed between the foot of the moun-
tains and the sea, is partly inundated during the rainy season. This was formerly a
place of great trade and frequented by ships from the different countries in Europe, as
well as from China, and all parts of India, when the kingdom of Achin was powerful
and flourishing: but it is now become feeble and much reduced, many of the Rajahs
or chiefs, who formerly were tributary to the king, being now independent. Gold,
camphor, pepper, sulphur, beetel, &c. used to be exported, and still there is
some trade carried on by small vessels from different parts of India, but large ships
now seldom touch here unless to procure refreshments. Rice, bullocks, poultry,
vegetables and fresh water, may be generally gotten in abundance. The principal
entrance of the river has a shole bar, which a boat hardly can pass at low water; but
vessels from 20 to 30 tons burthen may enter the river at high water, when the rise of
tide is about 7 feet on the springs, high water at 9 h, full and change (, subject to
irregularities from winds or other causes. The common anchorage of the road is in 8,
9, 10, or 14 fathoms water, about 2 or 3 miles off the entrance of the river, with the
same bearing S. E. to S. E. in 5° 38′ N. Here vessels are well sheltered from the
S.W. monsoon, which generally prevails from April to November: in the other season,
the easterly winds are seldom strong; but north-westers happen at times: these blow
in with great force, and require good ground-tackle (page 7,) to ride secure, against
them. In the road and near the shore, land and sea breezes are often experienced in
both seasons; but the land-breezes are very partial, seldom extending beyond the
adjacent islands. Traders here, ought not to give any goods on credit, for in such case
payment probably will never be made. Ships, while at anchor in the road must be
guarded against attacks from the Pedir pirates; who, being connected with the people
at Achin, may obtain information when any vessels are in a defenceless state. (HORS-
BURGH: Directions for sailing, &c. ii, 43. Babal Chronicle: xxix, 314.) This is the
only kingdom on Sumatra that ever arrived to such a degree of political consequence
in the eyes of Europeans as to occasion its transactions becoming a subject of general
history its present extent reaches no farther inland than about 50 miles: on the
western coast its jurisdiction terminates at Baroos. Achin was first visited by the
English, under Sir JAMES LANCASTER, 1602. In 1615, Captain BEST carried letters
from King JAMES I. to the King of Achin, and formed a treaty, by which privilege of
trade, and liberty to settle a factory at Tekoo, on the western coast of Sumatra (E. C.
xxxi, 477,) were granted on paying 7 per cent. on imports and exports; in return for
which the persons and property of the London Company's servants were to be protected,
on promises being made of large presents. By this treaty the King of Achin made the
rather curious stipulation that "10 mastiff-dogs and 10 bitches, and a great piece of
cannon, wherein a man might sit upright, should be set out to him." (MILBURN:
Oriental Commerce ; ii, 327.)
† SIAM:-At the head of the gulph of Siam is the river Meinam, which empties
itself into the sea by several mouths, forming a number of small low islands, which
cannot be seen above 3 leagues off; but it is rather more clevated at the eastern
branch, by which it may be known. This is the best navigable channel, although the
bar has on it only 8 or 9 feet water at low tide, and projects about 14 league out from
the entrance; there is 17 or 18 feet on it at high water, spring-tides; and 19 or 20
feet in the three autumnal months, when the river, swelled by periodical rains, inun-
dates the low country. The entrance of the river is in latitude 13° 30' N. longitude,
about 101° 15′ E. the anchorage is to about three or four leagues southward from the
bar, in any depth thought proper. In ascending the river, the first place of note is
Bankok, upon an island about 10 leagues from the sea; it is nearly 1 mile long, and
about half that in breadth. It is enclosed with fortified walls; and the country here-
abouts is well inhabited. The navigation of the river thus far is quite safe, and the
soundings regular from 9 to 6 fathonis water; bottom mud. About 24 leagues up the
river is Juthia or Judia, the present metropolis and residence of the king of Siam :
it is geographically situated in latitude 14° 18′ N. to which position it has been removed
from the site of Bankok, which it formerly occupied. The country is very flat, and so
intersected by canals from the river, that the inhabitants communicate by boats like
$68
our wares for opium, and some arrack; the first a commodity which bears
a great price among the Chinese, and which, at that time, was much wanted
there. In a word, we went up to Susham,+ made a very great voyage, were
as in Holland and Venice. Siam was formerly a place of great trade. MANDELSLO,
an intelligent traveller, who visited it in 1639, gives the following account of it:
"The principal commerce consists in stuffs brought from Surat and the coast of Coro-
mandel, all sorts of chinese commodities, precious stones, gold, benjamin, [benzoin,]
wax, copper, lead, indigo, calambac wood, brazil wood, sapphires, rubies, &c. but
above all, deer skins, whereof they furnish the Japanese with about 50000 every year;
it likewise yields a great trade in rice, which they transport to all the neighbouring
iles." The english settled a factory here soon after they visited India; but finding it
expensive and unprofitable, it was withdrawn in 1623. It was re-established some
years afterwards; but the kingdom being involved in wars with its neighbours, and
some english property having been seized, the factors were again withdrawn, and war
was declared against Siam by our east-indian settlements in 1686. Matters were after-
wards compromised; but it does not appear that the state of the country, or of the
trade, has since that period, induced the E. I. company to resume a direct intercourse.
For upwards of half a century past, Siam has been in a very unsettled state, arising from
the hostilities in which it has been engaged, more particularly against Pegu. Although
Europeans have discontinued the trade with this country, owing to the impoverished
and disturbed state of the kingdom, and delay in business occasioned by foreign
traders being obliged to retail their merchandise, there is still a great commercial inter-
course carried on in large junks, between Siam, China, Cochin-china, and several
Malay ports.
* OPIUM ;-formed from owes, juice, in pharmacy, &c. a narcotic gummy-resinous
juice, drawn from the head of the white poppy, and afterwards inspissated. It is of
a dark reddish-brown colour in the mass, and when reduced into powder, yellow,
When the juice flows of itself through incisions made in the poppy-heads it is properly
called opium. When drawn by expression, it ought rather to be called meconium.
The difference between the qualities and virtues of the two juices is very considerable.
The former is preferable on all accounts, but it is exceedingly rare; the Turks, among
whom it is produced, and who make great use of it, never allowed it to be exported.
So that it is the latter that is ordinarily used among us, and sold for opium. Kaempfer
relates, that the heads, when almost ripe, are wounded with a five-edged instrument,
by which as many parallel incisions are made at once from top to bottom; that the
juice which exudes is next scraped off, and the other side of the head wounded in
like manner; and that the juice is afterwards worked with a little water, till it acquires
the consistence, tenacity, and brightness of the finest pitch. It is mostly brought from
the Levant in flat cakes, or irregular masses, from four to about sixteen ounces in
weight, covered with leaves; generally very impure; the Levantines, to shorten their
labor, and to have the more juice, drawing it equally from the heads and the leaves
of poppies by expression, and then reducing it to the thickness of an extract by fire.
Though a late traveller into their countries assures us, it is drawn by decoction and
afterwards inspissated. (See Mem. Acad. R. Scien. 1732.)
SUSHAM-By this name (which is not to be found in the maps),it seems probable that
ROBINSON CRUSOE meant to describe Chusan, or Cheo-shan, a harbour formed by nu-
merous islands, at the south-eastern extremity of China, in latitude about 30° 26′ N. lon-
gitude 121° 41′ E. or 21 leagues northward of the Que-san isles; and 3 or 4leagues north-
ward of Kee-to point. This place is locally situated near the S.W. end of the island
Cheo-shan, which is about 9 leagues long, and 5 broad, and 3 leagues distant from the
main-land; it gives its name to the entire group, and is a dependency of the province
of Che-keang. The harbour is safe and convenient, with anchorage for shipping
within a cable-length of the shore; from whence the town is distant near a mile this
latter is surrounded with a fortified stone wall, about three miles in circumference, hav-.
ing 4 great gates, on which are planted a few old iron cannon. The houses are but meanly
built. Here the governor of the island resides, and about 4000 inhabitants, mostly
fishermen and soldiers. Outside the islands, at a small distance, the depths of water
are from 20 to 30 fathoms. In 1700, the English first visited Cheo-shan, and were
received amicably by the governor; but they experienced difficulty in obtaining
permission to land goods, or to trade; and in the following year, an order arrived from
the emperor to compel them to quit the port, by which the E. I. company suffered a
369

NANTING
Ching-kiang
song ming
Tarhou
Lake
201
Ning-cheot fa
Chin-hai
Ning-po
CHUSAN
25
Tray Mur
eight months out, returned to Bengal; and I was very well satisfied with
my adventure. I observe that our people in England often admire how officers
whom the company sends into India, and the merchants who generally stay
there, get such very great estates as they do, and sometimes come home worth
from sixty to seventy, and even one hundred thousand pounds at a time: but
it is no wonder, or, at least, we shall see so much farther into it, when we
consider the innumerable ports and places where they have a free commerce,
that it will be none; and much less will it be so, when we consider, that, at
those places and ports where the english ships come, there is such great and
constant demand for the growth of all other countries, that there is a certain
vend for the returns, as well as a market abroad for the goods carried out.
In short we made a good voyage, and I got so much money by my first
adventure, and such an insight into the method of getting more, that, had I
been twenty years younger, I should have been tempted to have stayed here,
and sought no farther for making any fortune: but what was all this to a man
upwards of threescore, who was rich enough, and came abroad more in obe-
dience to a restless desire of seeing the world, than a covetous desire of gaining
in it? And, indeed, I think it is with great justice I now call it restless desire,
for it was so.
When I was at home, I was restless to go abroad; and when I
was abroad, I was restless to be at home. I say, what was this gain to me?
I was rich enough already, nor had I any uneasy desires about getting more
money; and, therefore, the profit of the voyage to me was of no great force
for the prompting me forward to farther undertakings; hence, I thought, that,
by this voyage, I had made no progress at all, because I was come back, as ĺ
might call it, to the place from whence I came, as to a home: whereas, my eye,
severe loss. Three hundred islands are said to be comprised between this place, and
the Que-san isles; a space of about sixty miles in length, and thirty in width; among
which there are many valuable and commodious harbours, fit for ships of the greatest
burden. This advantage added to its central situation with regard to the eastern coast
of China, and its contiguity to Corea, Japan, Leoo-keoo, and Formosa, make it a place
of great trade, particularly to Ning-poo, a great commercial city, bordering on the
province of Che-keang. Twelve vessels are dispatched annually for copper, from one
of its ports to Japan.
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chron. Edition]
BB
$70
which, like that which Solomon speaks of,* was never satisfied with seeing, was
still more desirous of wandering and seeing. I was come into a part of the
world which I was never in before, and that part, in particular, which I had
heard much of, and was resolved to sce as much of it as I could; and then I
thought I might say I had seen all the world that was worth seeing.
But my fellow-traveller and I had different notions: I do not name this
to insist on my own, for I acknowledge his were the most just, and the most
suited to the end of a merchant's life; who, when he is abroad upon ad-
ventures, it is his wisdom to stick to that, as the best thing for him, which
he is like to get the most money by. My new friend kept himself to the
nature of the thing, and would have been content to have gone like a car-
rier's horse, always to the same inn, backward and forward, provided he could find
his account in it. On the other hand, mine was the notion of a rambling boy,
that never cares to see a thing twice over. But this was not all: I had a
kind of impatience upon me to be nearer home, and yet the most unsettled
resolution imaginable which way to go. In the interval of these consultations,
my friend, who was always upon the search for business, proposed another
voyage to me, vis. among the spice-islands, and to bring bome a load of clovest
* Ecclesiastes, i, 8.
:-
+ CLOVE (Caryophyllus, in botany, a genus of the polyandria-monogynia class.)
Its characters are these; it hath a double empalement; the flower is of one leaf, cut
into four obtuse parts, upon which the germen is situated; the fruit hath another em-
palement, which is small, and slightly divided into four parts which are permanent.
The flower hath four blunt petals, and hath many stamina. The germen is situated
under the flower, which afterwards becomes a soft berry with two cells, each containing
a kidney-shaped seed. There are five species. The fruit is somewhat in form of a
nail; whence the term clove, from the french clou, a nail. The clove-tree was
antiently very common in the Molucca islands, where all the european nations, who
traffic in spices to the Indies, furnished themselves with what quantity of cloves they
required. At present, there are scarce any found but in the island of Ternate: the
Dutch, in order to render themselves masters of that merchandise, having dug up the
clove trees of the Moluccas, and transplanted them to Ternate; in order that none
may be had but through their hands. The tree is very large; its bark resembles
that of the olive tree, and its leaves those of the laurel its fruit falling, takes root;
and thus it multiplies itself without any culture. It is said, it will not allow any other
herb or tree to grow near it; its excessive heat drawing to it all the humidity of the
soil. When the clove first begins to appear, it is of a greenish white colour; as it
ripens, it grows brown. Nor is there any preparation necessary in order to render it
such as it comes to us, but to dry it in the sun: whatever some authors talk of first
In the inside of a clove are found
steeping it in sea-water, to prevent it from worms.
a style and stamina, with their apices, and towards the larger end, there shoot out
from their four angles, four little points like a star; in the middle of which is a round
ball, of a lighter colour than the rest, composed of four small scales or leaves, which seem
to be the unexpanded petals of the flower. Cloves must be chosen dry, brittle, harsh
to the touch, well grown, of a dusky reddish colour, a rough aromatic taste, an agreeable
smell, and, if possible, with the shank on. This spice acquires weight by imbibing
water, which it will do at some considerable distance. The Dutch, who trade in
cloves, make a considerable advantage by knowing this secret. They sell them always
by weight, and when a bag of cloves is ordered, they hang it several hours before they
send it in, at about two feet distance over a vessel of water: they carefully watch
the time when the cloves have imbibed the proper quantity, that the fraud may pass
undiscovered. This will add many pounds to the weight, which the unwary purchasce
pays for on the spot. This is often practised in the spice islands, and sometimes in
Europe; but the degree of moisture must be more carefully watched in the former
place; for there a bag of cloves will, in one night's time, attract so much water, that
it may be pressed out of them by squeezing them with the hand. Cloves are tho
hottest and most acrid of aromatic substances, and their properties are, to warm and
dry, to correct a bad-smelling breath, to sharpen the sight, fortify the stomach
and liver, and check vomiting. They are used in apoplexies, palsies, lethargies,
and other diseases of the brain. Such of the fruit as escape the gatherers, grow and
371
from the Manillas,* or thereabouts; places where indeed the Dutch do trade ;†
but the islands partly belong to the Spaniards; though we went not so far;
swell on the tree, and become full of a gum; these are sometimes used in medicine,
and are called mother of cloves. There is also an oil drawn from cloves by distillation,
moderately pungent; which, when new, is of a pale yellow colour, but reddens as it
grows old; it is used in medicine as a sovereign remedy for tooth-ach, and in composi-
tions with the same view as the fruits. It is also much used among the perfumers. No
plant, nor any part of any plant, contains so large a proportion of essential oil, as
the clove; and this oil is heavier than water. From sixteen ounces of cloves, NEUMANN
obtained, by distillation, two ounces and two drachms; and HOFFMANN obtained from
the same quantity an ounce and a half. The pungency of cloves is owing to a com-
bination of resin with essential oil.
* MANILLAS:-This appears to be a misnomer on the part of ROBINSON CRUSOE,
or of his original editor, DE FOE, in applying the pluralized name of a single island,
or rather of a single place in one of the islands, to the whole group of the Philipinas;
unless, indeed, it may be an error of the press, and that Moluccas or Malucos be meant;
which is probable from cloves being mentioned. It appears, however, the same in
three editions, that the editor has collated in order to form the present one.
:
+ DUTCH-Among the nations of modern Europe, the inhabitants of the Nether-
lands were early distinguished for their love of foreign trade, and their skill in nautical
affairs the habits of industry and economy which they thereby acquired, animated
with the spirit of independence, which they inherited from their batavian ancestors,
gradually rendered them a sensible, intelligent, enterprising people. Their first endea-
vour to participate in the advantages of oriental commerce was, by attempting to sail
round the north of Europe. This attempt was made by 4 ships under WILLIAM BA-
RENTZ, in 1594. He sailed from the Texel in June, and proceeded as far as the
latitude of 78° N. when, not being able to prevail on his companions to persevere, he
returned to Holland, on 16th September. This attempt was repeated the two following
years, with similar ill success; indeed with worse, for, in the last expedition, BARENTZ
perished by shipwreck on the coast of Novaia-Zemlia. Passing over various political and
military vicissitudes, too numerous to be compressed into the limits of a note, suffice
it to say, that the following is an account of the settlements belonging to the Dutch in
1664 and which may be considered as the scale of their power at the period described
by ROBINSON-CRUSOE: Amboyna, Banda isles, Foolo-Roon, Ternate, and the other
Moluccas (the Spaniards having abandoned their settlements there), Macassar and
Manado, in Celebes; Timor, Bima or Sumbawa, Jambee, Palemban, and Indraghiri, in
Sumatra; Malacca, and its dependencies, Tenasserim, and Jan-Seylan; Aracan, Ton-
king, Japan, China, Puliacat, Negapatnam, and Masulipatam, in Choromandel; Ava,
and Sirian, in Pegu; Hoogly, Cossimbuzar, Dacca, and Patna, in Bengal; Orixa; Tuti-
corin; Columbo, Point de Galle, Negombo, Manar, and Jafnapatnam, in Ceylon;
Cochin, Cranganor, Quilon, Cananoor, and Porca, in Malabar: Surat, with dependent
posts, at Ahmed-abad, and Agra; Gombroon, and Isfahaan, in Persia; Bassora, Mau-
ritius, Cape of Good-Hope; Batavia, and Japara, in Java. The Dutch took Pondi-
cherry from the French in 1623; but the place was restored by the treaty of Ryswick,
in 1693.
:
SPANIARDS:-The discoveries of the Portuguese soon raised the emulation of the
Spaniards, who accepted the services of CHRISTOPHER COLON (a Genoese, better
known under his latinized name COLUMBUS), who had made known to the court a
certain project for a voyage of discovery, and he was furnished with the means of putting
his design into execution; in consequence of which, he embarked on Friday, 3d Au-
gust, 1492. COLON planned his expedition principally in the view of finding a route
to India by a western navigation; and his scheme was founded on rational systematic
principles, according to the light which his age afforded; and, indeed, so firmly per-
suaded was this illustrious navigator, of its truth and certainty, that he continued to
assert his belief of it after the discovery of Cuba and of Hespaniola; not doubting that
those islands constituted some part of the eastern extremity of Asia; and the nations
of Europe, satisfied with such authority, concurred in the same idea. Even when the
discovery of the Pacific ocean, by VASCO NUNEZ de BALBOA, had demonstrated his
mistake, all the countries which COLON had visited still retained the name of the
BB 2
372
but to some other, where they have not the power,
power, as they
as they have at
Indies; and in contra-distinction to those at which the Portuguese, after passing the
Cape of Good-hope, had at length arrived by an castern course, they were now
denominated the "Indies of the west." The King of Spain, on his return, made appli-
cation to the court of Rome, to have his title to these new found countries, and such
others as might be discovered, confirmed and secured. Upon this application, the
Pope consented to bestow on the "Catholic King" the sovereign dominion of the
Indies, with supreme jurisdiction over all that hemisphere; and, accordingly, a bull
was passed in the usual form on 2d May, 1493, containing all the same prerogatives that
had been before granted unto Portugal, in relation to Asia and Africa; and, by another
bull on 3d May, he granted all that should be discovered beyond a line, drawn 100
leagues westward of the Açores, aud Cape Verde isles, unto Spain, provided it were
not in the possession of any christian prince prior to Christmas-day. These bulls
failing in their intended effect of putting an end to all disputes between the two crowns,
it was, at length, agreed, that commissioners should be appointed to settle the matter.
They met at Tordesillas, and, on 7th June, 1493, they agreed, that "the line of
demarcation should be removed 270 leagues farther west," [i. e. 370 leagues in the
whole ;]" and that they should be reckoned from the islands of Cape Verde, and that
from this meridian, all to the west should belong to Spain, and from thence to the
east, should belong to the navigation, conquest, and discovery, of the kings of Portugal;
and that the navigation, by the sea of the king of Portugal, should be free to the kings
of Castile, going a direct course, but that neither should send to trade within the limits
of the other." This was put in writing, and confirmed on the 2d July by the king of
Spain, and, on the 27th February following, by the king of Portugal. It is probable,
at the time of granting the bull, neither party had extended their view to the regulation.
of the extreme limit; but that the attention of both was directed, principally, to pre-
vent clashing pretensions nearer home; by securing the new world, just discovered,
to the Spaniards, and to the Portuguese their african discoveries, and, if their efforts
should succeed, what their voyages to the east might obtain; for, although BARTHO
LOMEO DIAS had, in 1486, discovered the Stormy Promontory, which King Joun named
Good-Hope; yet the Portuguese had not then ascertained the possibility of going that
way to India; for the bull, as well as the explanation, was in 1493, and the first voy-
age of the Portuguese to India, by the Cape of Good-Hope, was under VASCO de
GAMA, in 1497: the Malucos were not discovered by the Portuguese, till 1511; and
the Spaniards did not visit them till 1521. The portuguese right to Brazil, though
discovered westward, was never contested by the Spaniards; and the spanish pretension
to the Malucos, was not from having sailed westward, but was grounded on a pre-
sumed fallacy of the Portuguese, in representing the longitudes of the eastern parts of
India much less than they really were: the experience of modern times has confirmed
the portuguese reports, and confuted the spanish. The Spaniards, however, continue
to hold the Philipinas against the Pope's bull. Upon the return of the Victory, from
her circumnavigation of the globe, in the council of the pilots, 1524 (See CESPEDES
Hydrographia; Madrid, 1606, where the judgment of the pilots is preserved), it was
agreed, that the 370 leagues should be counted from St. Antonio, the most western of
the Cape Verde islands, in which latitude they reckoned 370 leagues to be equivalent
to 22° 9′ of longitude, and consequently they place the line of demarcation, or first
meridian, 22° 9′ W. from St. Antonio, or about 47° W. from Greenwich. In 1529,
the Spaniards cunpawned the trade and islands of the Malucos to Portugal, for 350000
ducats, without any time being limited. In 1548, the Cortes de Castilla, (not HERNAN
Corres, as some authors have erroneously reported) offered to repay that money, for
six years profit of the trade, and leave it afterwards to the crown; but the emperor
would not admit it. It must be obvious, so far from the Spaniards being, by the Pope's
bull, under any prohibition to navigate round the Cape of Good-Hope, that an express
reservation is made in the determination of the commissioners upon the bull, of the
right to navigate through the sea of the king of Portugal, without which reservation the
Spaniards could not have navigated to the new world; and, accordingly, MAGALHAENS
avowed that he would go that way, were it possible for him to be disappointed in his
expectation of discovering a strait. The only restriction the Spaniards lye under of
mot navigaling by the Cape of Good-Hope, is, the treaty of Munster, 1648, wherein
373
Batavia,* Ceylon,+ &c. We were not long in preparing for this voyage; the chief
they engage not to extend their navigation in the East-Indies. The Portuguese re-
mained in undisturbed possession of the spice-islands, until their union with Spain in
1580, after which they were exposed to the hostilities of the Dutch, who succeeded
ultimately in expelling them. The Spaniards carried on their trade under the porta-
guese flag, by the way of the Cape of Good-Hope, till Portugal again became indepen-
dent of Spain, under the house of Braganza, in 1640; from which period for near a
century, the Spaniards confined themselves to the trade between the west coast of
America and the Philipine isles in conformity to the treaty of Munster, 3640; which
contains an article restricting the contracting parties from extending their east-indian
navigation in any other manner than was then practised. This was the state of terri-
torial jurisdiction exercised by the two principal maritime powers of Europe in this
quarter of the globe, at the time of ROBINSON CRUSOE'S peregrination.
+
* BATAVIA -The situation of this city amid swamps and stagnated pools, its sultry
climate, and universal inattention to cleanliness, combine to render it perhaps one of
the most unwholesome places in the universe. The morning sea-breeze ushers in
noxious vapours, and the meridian sun gives activity to deleterious miasmata. The
wan and languid appearance of the people, and the obituary of the public hospitals,
which, in 1793, recognized nearly a hundred thousand deaths within 20 years, are
melancholy proofs of the justness of this character, and proclaim Batavia the grave of
Europeans. The season which contributes most to health, or, to say more correctly,
which arrests or retards the progress of death, is from March until November. The
sca-breeze commences about 10 o'clock in the morning, and remains until about 4 in
the afternoon; a calm then succeeds until about 8, when the land breeze begins, and
with the exception of a few intervening calms, is permanent until day-break; from
which time till the returning hour of the sea-breeze there is scarcely a breath of wind.
In the month of March, 1793, the thermometer on board the british ship of war, Lion,
anchored in Batavia road, was from 86° to 88°; but in the town it rose 2º higher. The
castle is constructed of coral rock, and the town wall partly of dense lava, not unlike
that of Vesuvius, from mountains in the centre of the island of Java. There is no
stone of any kind discovered for inany miles around the city, which is supplied with mar-
ble and granite, for building, from the continent. Batavia is in 6° 12′, S. 106° 53′46″. E.
† CEYLON: An island in the indian ocean which approaches the size of Ireland,
being estimated to be about 260 miles in length by 150 in breadth. This is the Tapro-
baua, Salice, and Siledeba of the ancients, (see Gentleman's Magazine, LXXII, ii, 814,)
the Serendib of the Arabians, (see more particularly the tale of Sinbad in the Arabian
Nights,) the Lanca of the Hindoos; and its people are of hindoo origin. In the reign
of CLAUDIUS CESAR ambassadors were sent to Rome from a Singalese rajah, whom
PLINY, mistaking a regal title for a proper name, has called "Rachia." The Portu-
guese seized this island in 1506; at which the chief monarch was the king of Cotta;
but afterwards the central province of Candea or Candi appears as the prime princi
pality. The Portuguese retained possession of the sea-shores and contiguous low-
Jands until about 1660, when they were expelled by the Dutch; from whose domina-
tion it has been conquered by the British; in whose power it now remains. The inland
parts, rising to a high table land, bounded by forests, and difficult passes are under
the domination of a native sovereign, between whom and the European colonists there
is frequent warfare. The predominant religion of Ceylon is that of BooDua, which
is supposed to have originated in this island, and of which a curious Sanskrit record
is translated in the same volume of the Gentleman's Magazine quoted above. The
chief town of the European possessions is Columbo, whose geographical site is in
6° 56′ 54″ N. 75° 57' 30" E. according to the Naval Chronicle, xxix, 221, 236. A little
coasting trade is carried on at this place by small craft; and several E. I. company's
ships touch here in the season, and complete their cargos with cinnamon, of which the
Jsland produces a great quantity. Arrak is distilled abundantly in Ceylon; and another
useful product is cocoa-nut oil which it is possible will form an article of considerable
importance in commerce from Ceylon to England; and as it can be supplied at the rate
of five shillings a cut. if care is had to purify it perfectly, to prevent it becoming
rancid on the voyage, it may afford a good profit. The high point of temperature
of 50 degrees, at which cocoa-nut oil congeals, has induced some persons to think,
that in the manufacture of the finer soaps it may be useful. Nor must the celebrated
pearl fishery carried on, in the narrow sea which separates this island from Hindoostan,
1
374
difficulty was in bringing me to come into it; however, at last, nothing else offering,
and finding that really stirring about, and trading, the profit being so great, and,
as I
may say, certain, bad more pleasure in it, and had more satisfaction to my
mind thau sitting still, which, to me especially, was the unhappiest part of life,
I resolved on this voyage too, which we made very successfully, touching at
Borneo,* and several islands whose names I do not remember, and came home
war.
be forgotten. But although Columbo is the chief seat of the Colonial government.
Trinkomaley is the central depository of all our oriental naval establishments: this is
a fine harbour on the N.E. side of the island in 8° 30' N. But the place of most gene-
ral resort by shipping is Point de Galle, at the southern extremity of Ceylon, in
6° 0′ 20″ N. 80º° 25′ 35″ E. of which anchorage a modern navigator (whose observations
are recorded in the Madal Chronicle (vol. xxix, p. 330), gives the following descrip-
tion:-
:-"Point de Galle is easily known, coming either from east or west, by a part of
the land which at 4 or 5 leagues distance makes like an island: as you approach it
you will see the flag-staff, which is conspicuous; also a white church, which stands in
the middle of the fortress. If coming from south, you will see a remarkable hill in-
land, called the Haycock: when this bears N. b. E. or N.N.E, steer direct for it till
you get sight of the flag-staff. In coming from west, and bound into the road, take
care not to bring the flag-staff to the southward of E. to avoid some dangers 2 or 3
miles off shore lying to the westward of the Whale rock, which do not shew except the
sea runs high; and when abreast of that rock (which is known by the breakers), pass it
no nearer than 20 fathoms water: then steer for the anchorage. In coming from E.
there is no danger a mile off shore but what shews itself. Pilots are not required for
the road: but are necessary for the harbour, which last is seldom entered by ships of
Pilots come off to merchant ships when their signal is made. The best anchor-
age is, the flag-staff N. & E. or N. b. E. Wiale rock N.W. b. W. Bellows rock E. by
S. off shore 24 miles, in 18, 19, and 20 fathoms, fine sand. Ship's boats can land any
where; but the wharf in the S.W. part of the harbour, leading into the fortress, is the
preferable place. During the S.W. monsoon, this road is considered dangerous for
ships; but in the N.E. a fleet may anchor with safety. Along this coast the currents
are variable, and generally directed by the winds. Wood, plenty and cheap. Water
is scarce in the dry season; but is believed to be at any time sufficient for a squadron.
When the Monmouth and her convoy were in the road the tank was bailed dry: this
was in March, 1807. a particularly dry season. When at anchor according to the fore-
going bearings the watering place is found round a white bluff point, bearing N.E.
where there is a wharf with every requisite convenience. The only provisions procur-
able here are bullocks; which are small, and require two or three days notice for the
supply of a squadron. Fruit is in tolerable quantity, but vegetables are scarce. The
fortifications are regular, and strong from natural position, on a peninsula, with a ditch.
across the isthmus. But the works are falling into decay, and in its present state Point
de Galle is not capable of defence, if attacked by land or sea. The trade and ship-
ping is on the same footing as at Trincomaley. The inhabitants, except the British gar-
rison, are a mixture of Dutch, Portuguese, Cingalees, Moors, &c. Their disposition,
religion, &c. are nearly the same all along this coast.
1
BORNEO:-This island is so large that it yields in size only to that which in honor
of its first European discoverers was first called New Holland, but which now generally
obtains the more scientific and appropriate appellation of Australasia. Borneo is about
900 miles in length by 600 at its greatest breadth. The interior parts of this great island
are little known. The far greater portion of it next to the sea, especially on the northern
side consists of swamps, covered with forests, which penetrate for many miles towards
its centre. The unstable muddy shores are divided by rivers with multitudinous branches,
and which afford the only means of access to the interior of the isle, which consists of
lofty mountains, many of which are volcanic, and occasion tremendous earthquakes.
The houses are often built on posts to avoid the floods, and are sometimes so placed
upon rafts for the conveniency of removal from place to place along the sea-shures or
river-banks. The coasts are held by Malays, Macassars from Celebez, and Japanese.
The natives in the interior are black, with long hair, of a middle stature, but of ap-
pearance superior to african negroes. The chief town is called Borneo by navigators,
and is on the N.W. side: the principal place of European resort is Banjar-massin, at
some distance up a river, which rising in the centre of the country flows due S. The
names of several villages are laid down on its banks by D'ANVILLE. Borneo seems
}
375
to port in about five months. We sold our spice, which was chiefly cloves and
some nutmegs,* to the persian merchants, who carried them away to their Gulph;
and making near five of one, we really got a great deal of money.
evidently to be the Greater Java of MARCO POLO, which he states to be 3000 miles in
circuit. The S.W. point, called by HORSBURGH, Tanjong Sambar, is placed by that
hydrographer in latitude 2° 53′ S. The predatory and treacherous disposition of the
inhabitants of the extensive coasts that encircle this great isle has now discouraged
almost every European from venturing to trade there. In most of the anchorages it is
not safe to remain except in a large ship well fitted for defense, and it is almost certain
destruction to venture in boats up the rivers to the several towns: for which reason it
has been thought necessary to notice Borneo thus briefly only, without naming all the
principal places on its coasts.
* NUTMEG :-(nux moschata) a delicate kind of aromatic fruit or spice, brought from
the East Indies; whereof there are distinguished two kinds, the male and female.
The female is that chiefly used among us; its form is round, its smell agreeable, and
its taste hot and pungent. The male is a wild nut, of a longish form, and without
either taste or smell; yet sometimes put off, while yet in the fruit, for the female.
Nutmegs are enclosed in four different covers; the first, a thick fleshy coat, something
like that of our walnut, which spontaneously opens when ripe. Under this, lies a thin,
reddish, reticular, coat, of an agreeable smell, and aromatic taste, called mace; by
others, though improperly, flower of nutmeg. This wraps up the shell, and opens in
proportion as the fruit grows. The shell, which makes the third cover, is hard, thin,
and blackish. Under this is a greenish film, of no use; and in this is found the nutmeg,
which is properly the kernel of the fruit. Every nutmeg has a little hole in it, which
some ignorantly take for a defect. The nutmegs are cured, according to RuMPHIUS,
by dipping them in a thickish mixture of lime and water, that they may be every where
coated with the line, which contributes to their preservation. The largest and heaviest
nutmegs are to be chosen; such as are of the shape of an olive, well marbled without
side, reddish within, unctuous in substance, and of a fragrant smell. The nutmeg is
greatly used in our food, and is of excellent virtues as a medicine; it is a good ste-
machic, promotes digestion, and strengthens the stomach. It also stops vomiting, is
an excellent remedy in flatulences, and is happily joined with rhubarb, and other me-
dicines, in diarrhea. It is observed to have a soporific virtue, and to exert it too
strongly, if taken in immoderate quantities. It has a considerable degree of astrin-
gency; and, given after toasting before the fire till thoroughly dry and crumbly, it
has been sometimes known alone to cure diarrhoea. As to mace, it must be chosen
in large blades, of a high colour, and like the nutmeg in taste and smell. Nutmegs,
preserved green, are excellent to fortify the stomach, and restore the natural heat.
They are particularly esteemed carminative. The powder called duke's powder,
esteemed a sovereign remedy against rheum, is only nutmeg pulverized with sugar,
and a little cinnamon. Nutmegs, by distillation or expression, yield an oil of great
fragance, and use, in medicine. When distilled with water, they yield nearly one-
sixteenth their weight of a limpid, essential oil, very grateful, possessing the flavour of
the spice in perfection, and which is said to have some degree of an antispasmodic, or
hypnotic power: on the surface of the remaining decoction is found floating an
unctuous, concrete, matter, like tallow, of a white colour, nearly insipid, not easily cor
ruptible, and thence recommended as a basis for odoriferous balsams: the decoction,
freed from this sebaceous matter, and inspissated, leaves a weakly, bitter, subastringent,
extract. The essential oil, and an agreeable cordial-water, lightly flavoured with the
volatile parts of the nutmeg, by drawing off a gallon of proof spirit from two ounces
of the spice, are kept in the shops. Both the oil, and spirituous tincture and extracts,
agree better with weak stomachs than the nutmegs in substance. Two kinds of seba-
ceous matter, said to be expressed from the nutmeg, are distinguished in the shops by
the name of the oil of mace. (LEWIS). The whole commerce of nutmegs used to be in
the hands of the Dutch East India Company. The nutmeg-tree, which is said to rescm-
ble the pear-tree, is propagated after a particular manner: TAVERNIER tells us, that
the birds devouring the nutmeg when ripe, void it back whole undigested; and that
thus falling down to the ground, besmeared with a viscous matter, it takes root and
produces a tree. The Dutch, stimulated by an inordinate thirst for gain, formerly
aimed at monopolizing the whole spice trade of the Molucco isles. To effect this
as well as to prevent the markets from being overstocked, if reports are to be credited,
their East-India company established and employed a set of men, under the denomi-
376
"
My friend, when we made up this account, smiled at me: "Well, now,"
said he, with a sort of agreeable insult upon my indolent temper, "is not this
better than walking about here, like a man of nothing to do, and spending our
time in staring at the nonsense and ignorance of the pagans?" "Why truly,"
says I, "my friend, I think it is, and I begin to be a convert to the principles
of merchandizing; but I must tell you," said I, "by the way, you do not know
what I am doing: for, if I once conquer my backwardness, and embark heartily,
old as I am I shall harass you up and down the world until I tire you; for I
shall pursue it so eagerly, I shall never let you lie still."
But, to be short with my speculations, a little while after this, there came in
a dutch ship from Batavia; she was a coaster, not an european trader, of about
two hundred tons burthen; the men, as they pretended, having been so sickly,
that the captain had not hands enough to go to sea with, he lay by at Bengal ;
and having, it seems, got money enough, or being willing, for other reasons, to
go for Europe, he gave public notice he would sell his ship. This came to my
ears before my new partner heard of it, and I had a great mind to buy it; so I
went to him and told him of it. He considered awhile, for he was no rash man
neither; but musing some time, he replied, " She is a little too big; but, how-
ever, we will have her." Accordingly, we bought the ship, and agreeing with
the master, we paid for her, and took possession. When we had done so, we
resolved to entertain the men, if we could, to join them with those we had, for
the pursuing our business; but, on a sudden, they having received, not their
wages, but their share of the money, as we afterwards learnt, not one of them
was to be found; we enquired much about them, and, at length were told that
they were all gone together by land to Agra,* the city of the Great-Mogul's
residence, and from thence to travel to Surat, and go by sea to the gulph of
Persia.+
nation of" extirpators," whose sole business was, to eruncate, in whatever places they
could penetrate, a few spots excepted, every tree bearing those valuable aromatics,
hoping thus to secure to themselves the exclusive property and sale of those produc-
tions. These extirpators had torn up and destroyed the nutmeg tree at all the
Móluccos, Banda excepted, at which last place, a subsequent volcanic eruption nearly
completed what the Dutch left unfinished, by burying in its ashes, or otherwise mate-
rially injuring every vegetable production of that island, But that company and
its delegates are now become more liberal in their ideas, and their medical garden at
Batavia is well stocked with the various spice-trees, whereof specimens, in a state
of germination, have been occasionally presented to travellers and botanical collectors.
AGRA:The capital of a province of the same name in Hindoostan; was in the
last century a most extensive and opulent city, where the Great Mogul sometimes
resided. His palace was prodigiously large, and the harem contained 1000 women;
the palaces of the Omruhs and others were numerous; here were above 60 spacious
caravanseraïs, 800 baths, 70 mosks, and 2 magnificent mausoleums. The Persians,
Chinese, and English, resorted hither; and the Dutch had a factory: Agra was made
a metropolis by the Emperor AKBAR, about the year 1566, when it was named after
him Akbar-abad. It was fortified with a strong wall, in the indian manner, and had
a regular built citadel, of masonry. It is seated on the river Jumna. Agra has
rapidly declined since the removal of the seat of government to Delhi by SHAH-JEHAAN,
in 1647. It is situated 110 miles S.b. E. from Delhi, in latitude 27° 81′ N. longitude
78° 30′ E. according to WALKER'S Gazetteer; but in 26° 43′ N. 76° 44′ E. according
to GUTHRIE. To the S.E. of Agra is a beautiful monument raised by the Emperor
SHAH-JEHAAN, the grandson of AKBAR, for his beloved wife TAJEMAHEL, whose name
it bears.
+ PERSIA-A word unknown in the country which it is used by us to designate,
and for which we are indebted to classical authority; that is to say, a single province
of the empire bears the name of Furs, which the Greeks adopted for the whole, subject
to the usual mutation of F into P, and to their habitual difficulty (like the French) in
rendering foreign sounds. The vernacular name is Adjem, or Ajem-estar, the traces
of which seem to exist in Achaemen-ides.
377
Nothing had so much troubled me a good while, as that I should miss the
opportunity of going with them; for such a ramble, I thought, and in such com-
pany as would both have guarded and diverted me, would have suited mightily
with my great design; and I should have both seen the world, and gone home-
wards too but I was much better satisfied a few days after, when I came to
know what sort of fellows they were; for, in short, their history was, that this
man they called captain was the gunner only, not the commander; that they had
been a trading voyage, in which they were attacked on shore by some of the
Malays,* who had killed the captain and three of his men; and that after the
* MALAY:It is remarkable, that, although european influence was earlier estab-
lished in the islands than on the continent of India, and, although this influence has
now endured more than three centuries, little progress, comparatively, has been made
in the knowledge of this interesting insular region. The language, manners, and go-
vernment of petty islanders of the south-sea, and of savage nations in America, are,
in fact better known than those of the more polished millions who inhabit the islands
of the East; and it may be averred, that there is no part of the world, of equal interest
and value, with which we were so imperfectly acquainted, until the writings of the
philosophical historian and lexicographer of Sumatra, MARSDEN, those of the intelli-
gent essayist on the literature of the Hindoo-chinese nations, LEYDEN, those of the
revered founder and president of the Asiatic Society, JONES, and those of his associates
and successors, in the course of philological researches into the structure and antiquity
of the malayan languages, have incidentally thrown great light upon the history and
actual state of the nation. Its origin is, however, still an object of theoretic speculation.
The different theories that have been started on the subject may now be reduced to
two, namely, whether the asiatic continent, or the island of Sumatra, have been the
original cradle of the malayan race. The former opinion is espoused by MARSDEN;
and his proofs are adduced in the following passages from his works:--``
"It has
hitherto been considered as an obvious truth, and admitted without examination, that,
whenever Malays are found upon the numerous islands, they, or their ancestors, must
have migrated from the country named by Europeans (and by them alone) the
malayan peninsula, or peninsula of Malacca, of which the indigenous and proper
inhabitants were understood to be Malays; and, accordingly, in former editions, I
spoke of the natives [islanders] as having acquired their national characteristics from
the settling among them of genuine Malays from the continent. It will, however,
appear from the authorities I shall produce, that the present possessors of the coasts
of the peninsula were, on the contrary, adventurers from Sumatra, who, in the 12th
century, formed an establishment there, &c. ***** According to these authorities
the original country inhabited by the malayan race was the kingdom of Palembang,
in the island of Indalus, now Sumatra, on the river Malayo, which flows by the
mountain named Maha-meru, and discharges itself into the river Tatang (on which
stands Palembang). Having chosen for their king or leader a prince, named SRI-TURI-
BUWANA, who boasted his descent from ISKENDER [ALEXANDER] the great, and
to whom on that account their natural chief DEMANG LEBAR-DAUN submitted his
authority, they emigrated under his command (about the year 1160), to the south-
eastern extremity of the opposite peninsula named Ujong-tanah; where they were at
first distinguished by the appellation of Orang-de-buwa-angin, or the "Jeeward-people ;"
but in time, the coast became generally known by that of Tanah-malayo, or the
malayan land."-Were the historical evidence, here referred to, implicitly to be relied
on, the question of the origin of the malays must necessarily be considered as set at
; but the nature of the subject itself, and our recent, and yet imperfect, knowledge
of this part of the East, are such as ought to render our decision extremely cautious.
The editor, for his own part, must acknowledge, that with reluctance to differ upon
this point from a writer so well entitled to dictate on most subjects of oriental history
as MARSDEN, he must profess his opinion that the old and generally received notion
of a continental origin is supported by evidence as strong as the above quoted legendary
description of a malay emigration from the sumatran district of Menangkabau. Suffice
it to observe compendiously, that the peninsula of Malacca is a long and narrow strip
of land, nearly covered by a deep and almost impenetrable forest. A range of bleak,
and scarcely inhabitable, mountains runs through from one extremity to the other.
This gives rise to numerous streams that fall into the seas on each side, so that the
rest
$78
captain was killed, these men, eleven in number, had resolved to run away with
the ship, which they did, and brought her to Benga!, leaving the mate and five
men more on shore. Well, let them get the ship how they would, we came
honestly by her, as we thought, although we did not, I confess, examine into things
so exactly as we ought; for we never enquired any thing of the seamen, who
would certainly have faltered in their account, contradicted one another, and
perhaps contradicted themselves; or one how or other we should have seen
reason to have suspected them; but the man showed us a bill of sale for the
ship, to one Emanuel Clostershoven, or some such name (for I suppose it was
all a forgery), called himself by that name, and we could not contradict him;
and withal having no suspicion of the thing, we went through with our bargain.
We picked up some more english sailors after this, and some Dutch; and
now we resolved for a second voyage to the south-east for cloves, &c. that is
to say, among the philippine and molucca isles; and, in short, not to fill up this
part of my story with trifles, when what is yet to come is so remarkable, I spent
from first to last, six years in this country, trading from port to port, backward
and forward, and with good success, and was now the last year with my new
partner, going in the ship above mentioned, on a voyage to China, but designing
first to Siam, to buy rice.
In this voyage, being by contrary winds obliged to beat up and down a great
while in the strait of Malacca,* and among the islands, we were no sooner got
country abounds in water. The forests here, as in most parts of the east, from their
great luxuriance, are unfavourable to the production of animals; game is consequently
scarce, and difficult to be procured. The soil is not remarkable for its fertility; but
the waters afford an abundant supply of very good fish. In a country thus situated,
it will not be difficult to conjecture, what mode of existence would be adopted by
its first inhabitants: they would become fishers rather than hunters, pastors, or hus-
bandmen; and this peculiarity in their primitive way of life would affect their subse-
quent history; in a word, they would be disposed to navigate; and thence to migrate
in search of less sterile places of settlement. Such accordingly has been the known
character of the Malays: and, being little attached to any country, they soon acquired
a roving and predatory disposition, which delights in enterprise and warfare, and
which, to this day, distinguishes this bold and terrible race of pirates, although in some-
what less degree, since the naval ascendancy of Europeans in these seas. Their intercourse
with the Arabs, and the introduction of mohammedan religion and law, have also pro-
bably contributed to humanize their manners, and give them better notions of the
rights of persons and of things. The Malays, as well as all the other east-insular
musulmans, are of the orthodox sect sooni; and the apostle of whose particular tenets
they are observers, is SHAFEI. The persian heresy of Sheah is unknown to them,
but by report and they stigmatize those followers of AALI by the epithet Rafri (or,
as they pronounce it rafli), the arabic word for heretic. The most faithful description
of malay manners is to be found in a book called Hang-puuh; which is a narrative
of the adventures of LAKSIMANA, a celebrated leader, who opposed ALBUQUERQUE
and his Portuguese. The wild and barbarous character of the Malay is here depicted
with naked truth. The Raval Chronicle also contains information on this subject in the
following places :-vol. xv, p. 461; xxi, 125. The authority of law and justice is
still so very imperfectly established among the Malays, that trading vessels which
visit their ports, must be armed, and be constantly upon their guard; and, notwith-
standing these habitual precautions, are not unfrequently cut off, and their crews
murthered with circumstances of singular atrocity. The editor is in possession of
an authentic list of european ships, whose captains, officers, and, in some instances, their
crews, have been the victims of such lawless depredations, from the year 1782 to
-1813;
and the number amounts to no less than 36!
* MALACCA:-By the report of the officer commanding one of the E. I. Company's
cruisers, who has lately returned from a survey in the Strait of Malacca, it appears that
both the north and south sands, between which ships pass in their voyage to Malacca,
are much more dangerous than generally imagined. There are several patches of
breakers on both sands, which only appear at half-ebb. The bank in the fair-way
called the Two-and-a-half-Fathom-Bank, has in one part of it only two fathoms at low-
water spring-tides. The Somatra shore, opposite Cape Ricado, [Rachado, or Tanjong-
379
*
clear of those difficult seas but we found our ship had sprung a leak, and we were
not able, by all our industry, to find out where it was. This forced us to make
some port, and my partner, who knew the country better than I did, directed the
captain to put into the river of Cambodia ;* for I had made the english mate,
one Mr. Thomson, captain, not being willing to take the charge of the ship upon
myself. This river lies on the north side of the great bay or gulph which goes
up to Siam. While we were here, and going often on shore for refreshment,
Tuan] approaches much nearer the Cape than it is laid down in any chart now published.
There are passages between the breakers over the North Sand, but in some places the
water is shallow, and sufficient only for small ships. The route through the Strait of
Colong is safe and expeditious, if it is blowing and heavy swell outside. The straitis
much shorter than laid down in any chart, and any good sailing ship may heat through
it in one tide.-(Calcutta, 20 December, 1813.) The latest and best chart of these
coasts, is that published by JAMES HORSBURGH, Esq. F.R S. in 1813, and reviewed in
the Baval Chronicle for the same year, vol. xxix. p. 315. Malacca and its strait is
noticed in the following places of the . C. vol. xxi. p. 296; xxx. 332.
* CAMBODIA :-A country also called Camboja and Cambogé, partly maritime, en-
closed by mountains on the E. and W. and fertilized by a grand river, the May-
kaung, or Makon, that disembogues into the sea by three principal branches; the
westernmost being the proper one for ships, whose entrance is in latitude about
9° 34′ N. and 18 leagues N.b.W. from Poolo Condoor. The sands projecting a con-
siderable way to seaward, render the navigation into the river difficult, particularly
as they are liable to shift; therefore it is prudent to anchor outside in 4 or 5 fathoms,
until a pilot can be procured, if it be intended to proceed over the bar; the depth in
which, at high water spring-tides, is said to be 14 to 18 feet hard sand. The capital
city is said by some modern writers to be nearly 80 leagues up the river; the commerce
with that place has long been discontinued by Europeans; and since the country became
subject to Cochin china, the trade of Cambodia has been transferred to Sai-Gon. From the
western branch of the river, the coast stretches N. eastward to the next branch, which is
narrow, and called the eastern channel; thence northward to the third branch, called the
Japanese channel, off which lies a small island, called by european mariners, Crab isle.
The coast about Cambodia may be appoached to a depth of 6 or 7 fathoms; the
soundings are sufficiently regular to serve as a guide in the night, the bottom being
uniformly soft. Between Crab isle and Cape St. James, the coast continues low, and
forms a great concavity, with a shoal bank lining it, projecting a great way out from
the low islands that separate the different mouths of Sai-Gon river. Captain Hons-
BURGH, in the ship Anna, from China (1803), working along this coast had 9 aud 9
fathoms regular soundings for upwards of an hour, steering W.N.W. and at noon ob-
served the latitude 8° 58′ N. when the entrance of a river was visible from the poop,
bearing W. N. the low coast nearly level with the horizon from the deck; which,
according to the note affixed to page 32 (article Cape Verde), commands an extent of
view upon the water's edge, cqual to 6 miles, and about 29 yards; or a spectator on
the deck of a ship could see an object of similar altitude at 12 miles, 58 yards dis-
tance, and so, with respect to land, for instance, in the ratio of any given height above
the level of the sea. The most peculiar product of this country is the substance styled
gamboge, or rather camboge, a gum yielding a fine yellow tint.
+ SIAM:-Until the recent extension of the Birman empire, the rich and flourishing.
monarchy of Siam was regarded as the chief state of India beyond the Ganges. The
name is of uncertain origin, and apparently first delivered to us by the Portuguese, in
whose orthography Sian or Siao are similar, so that Siang or Shan (according to the
Asiatic Researches,) might be preferable to Siam; in fact the portuguese writers in latin
call the natives Siones. The Sianese style themselves Tai, or freemen; and their coun-
try Menang Tai, or kingdom of freemen. It is probable that the Portuguese derived
the name Sian from intercourse with Pegu. The length of this kingdom is about ten
degrees, or 600 geographical miles; but of this one half is not much above 70 miles in
breadth. The extent has been recently restricted by the encroachment of the Birmans,
nor can the present limits be very accurately defined. On the west of the malayau pe-
ninsula a few possessions may remain to the south of Tanasserim; and on the eastern
side Ligor may mark the boundary. On the west a chain of mountains seems to divide
Siam as formerly from Pegu: but the northern province of Yuushan appears to be in
the hands of the Birmans, who here seem to extend to the river Maykang. To the S.
St
1
380
there comes to me one day an Englishman, and he was, it seems, a gunner's
mate on board an english East-India ship which rode in the same river, up, at,
or near the city of Cambodia; what brought him hither we knew not; but
he comes to me, and speaking English, "Sir," says he," you are a stranger to
me, and I to you; but I have something to tell you that very nearly concerns
you."
"I know
I looked steadfastly at him a good while, and thought, at first, I had known
him, but I did not: "If it very nearly concerns me," said I," and not yourself,
what moves you to tell it to me?" "I am moved," says he " by the imminent
danger you are in, and for ought I see, you have no knowledge of it."
no danger I am in," says I, "but that my ship is leaky, and I cannot find it out;
but I intend to lay her aground to-morrow, to see if I can find it." "But, Sir,"
says he, “leaky or not leaky, find it or not find it, you will be wiser than to lay
your ship on shore to-morrow, when you hear what I have to say to you: do
you know, Sir," said he, "the town of Cambodia lies about fifteen leagues up this
river? And there are two large english ships about five leagues on this side, and
three dutch." Well," said I," and what is that to me?"" Why, Sir," said he,
"is it for a man that is upon such adventures as you are, to come into a port, and
not examine first what ships there are there, and whether he is able to deal with
them? I suppose you do not think you are a match for them." I was amused
very much at his discourse, but not amazed at it, for I could not conceive what
he meant; and I turned short upon him and said, "Sir, I wish you would explain
yourself: I cannot imagine what reason I have to be afraid of any of the Coin-
pany's ships, or dutch ships: 1 am no interloper, what can they have to say to
me?" He looked like a man half angry and half pleased, and pausing awhile,
but smiling," Well, Sir," said he, " if you think yourself secure, you must take
your chance; I am sorry your fate should blind you against good advice; if you
do not put to sea immediately, you will the very next tide be attacked by five long-
boats, full of men, and perhaps, if you are taken, you will be hanged for a pirate,
and the particulars be examined afterwards. I thought, Sir," added he, "I
should have met with a better reception than this, for doing you a piece of service
of such importance." "I can never be ungrateful," said I, "for any service,
or to any man that offers ine any kindness; but it is past my comprehension what
they should have such a design upon me for: however, since you say there
some villainous design on hand against me, I will go on board this minute, and
put to sea immediately, if my men can stop the leak, or if we can swim without
stopping it; but Sir," said I, "shall I go away ignorant of the cause of all this?
Can you give me no farther light into it ?" "I can tell you but part of the
story, Sir," says he, "but I have a dutch seaman here with me, and I believe
I could persuade him to tell you the rest; but there is scarce time for it; but
the short of the story is this, the first part of which, I suppose, you know well
enough, that is to say, that you was with this ship at Sumatra that there your
captain was murdered by the Malays, with three of his men; and that you, or
some of those that were on board with you, ran away with the ship, and are
since turned pirates. This is the sum of the story, and you will all be seized
as pirates, I can assure you, and executed with very little ceremony; for you
know merchant ships show but little law to pirates, if they get them into their
power." "Now you speak plain English," said I, "and I thank you; and
though I know nothing that we have done like what you talk of, for I am sure
we came honestly and fairly by the ship, yet seeing such a work is doing, as
you say, and that you seem to mean honestly, I will be upon my guard.” Nay,
Sir," says he," do not talk of being upon your guard; the best defense is to
be out of the danger; if you have any regard for your life, and the lives of all
your men, put to sea, without fail, at high water; and, as you have a whole tide
:
(6
and E. the antient boundaries are fixed; the ocean and mountains divide Siam from
Laos and Cambodia. Thus the idea may be retained that it is a large vale between two
mountainous ridges. See page 367.
381
(C
before you, you will be gone too far out, before they can come down; for they
will come away at high water, and as they have twenty miles to come, you will
get near two hours of them by the difference of the tide, not reckoning the length
of the way besides, as they are only boats, and not ships, they will not venture
to follow you far out to sea, especially if it blows." Well," said I, "you have
been very kind in this; what shall I do for you to make you amends?” “
Sir,"
says he, "
you may not be willing to make me any amends, because you may
not be convinced of the truth of it; I will make an offer to you :-I have nine-
teen months pay due to me on board the ship
which I came out
of England in; and the Dutchman that is with me has seven months pay due
to him; if you will make good our pay to us, we will go along with you: if
you find nothing more in it, we will desire no more; but if we do convince you
that we have saved your lives, and the ship, and the lives of all the men in her,
we will leave the rest to you."
I consented to this readily, and went immediately on board; and the two men
with me.
As soon as I came to the ship's side, my partner, who was on board,
came out on the quarter-deck, and called to me, with a great deal of joy, "O ho!
O ho! we have stopped the leak! we have stopped the leak!" "Say you so ?"’
said I," thank God: but weigh the anchor immediately." "Weigh," says he,
"what do you mean by that? what is the matter?" "Ask no questions," said
I," but all hands to work, and weigh without losing a minute." He was sur-
prised; but, however, he called the captain, and he immediately ordered the
anchor to be got up; and although the tide was not quite down, yet a little land
breeze blowing, we stood out to sea. Then I called him into the cabin, and
told him the story; and we called in the men, and they told us the rest of it:
but as it took up a great deal of time before we had done, a seaman comes to
the cabin door, and called out to us that the captain bid him tell us we were
chased. "Chased!" says I, "by what?” "By five sloops or boats," says the
fellow," full of men.” " Very well," said I, " then it is apparent there is some-
thing in it." In the next place I ordered all our men to be called up, and told
them that there was a design to seize the ship, and to take us for pirates,
and asked them if they would stand by us, and by one another: the men
answered cheerfully, one and all, that they would live and die with us. Then
I asked the captain what way he thought best for us to manage a fight with
them; for resist them I was resolved we would, and that to the last drop.
He said readily that the way was to keep them off with our great shot as
long as we could, and then to fire at them with our small arms, to keep
them from boarding us; but when neither of these would do any longer, we
should retire to our close-quarters; perhaps they had not 'materials to break
open our bulk-heads, or get in upon us. The gunner had, in the mean time,
orders to bring two guns to bear fore-and-aft, out of the steerage, to clear the
deck, and load them with musket bullets and small pieces of old iron, and what
came next to hand; and thus we made ready for fight; but all this while we
kept out to sea, with wind enough, and could see the boats at a distance, being
five large long-boats, following us with all the sail they could make.
Two of those boats (which by our glasses we could see were English) out-
sailed the rest, were near two leagues a-head of them, and gained upon us con-
siderably, so that we found they would come up with us; upon which we fired
a gun without ball, to intimate that they should bring-to: and we put out a flag
of truce, as a signal for parley; but they came crowding after us, until they came
within shot; when we took in our white flag, they having made no answer to it,
bung out our red flag, and fired at them with shot. Notwithstanding this,
they came on till they were near enough to call to them with a speaking-trum-
pet, which we had on board; so we called to them, and bade them keep off, at
their peril.
*
* TRUMPET (Speaking):—a tube from two to fifteen feet long, made of tin, strait,
and with a large aperture, the mouth-piece being big enough to receive both lips. The
་
}
382
It was all one; they crowded after us, and endeavoured to come under our
stern, so as to board us on our quarter: upon which, secing they were resolute
mouth being applied to it, carries the voice to a great distance, so that it may be heard
distinctly a mile or more; hence its use at sea. The invention of this trumpet is
held to be modern, and is commonly ascribed to Sir SAMUEL MORELAND, who called
it the stentorophonic tube." Of this instrument an account was published at Lon-
don in 1671, in a work entitled Tuba Stentoro-phonica, wherein the author relates
several experiments made by him with this instrument, the result of which was, that a
speaking trumpet constructed by him, 5 feet 6 in. long, 21 inches diameter at the greater
end, and 2 inches at the smaller, being tried at Deal-castle, was heard at the distance
of three miles, the wind blowing from the shore. But ATH. KIRCHER seems to have
a better title to the invention; for it is certain he had such an instrument before More-
LAND thought of his. KIRCHER, in his Phonurgia Nova (1673), says, that the tromba,
published the last year in England, he invented twenty-four years before, and published
in his Musergia; he adds, that JAC. ALBANUS GHIBBISIUS, and FR. ESCHINARDUS,
ascribe it to him; and that G. SCHOTTUS testifies of him, that he had such an instru-
ment in his chamber, in the roman college, with which he could call to, and receive
answers from, the porter. Indeed, considering how famed ALEXANDER the Great's
tube was, wherewith he used to speak to his army, and which might be distinctly heard
a hundred stadia or furlongs, it is somewhat strange the moderns should pretend to
the invention; the stentorophonic horn, or tube, of ALEXANDER, whereof there is a
figure preserved in the Vatican, being almost the same with that now in use. Sylva
Silvarum, or a Natural History, written by FRANCIS BACON, &c. published after the
author's death by W. RAWLEY (London, 1631), contains the following significant
paragraph :-" In relation of sounds, the enclosure of them preserueth them, and
causeth them to bee heard further. And wee find in roules of partchment or trunkes,
the mouth being laid to the one end of the roule of parchment or trunke, and the eare
to the other, the sound is heard much farther than in the open aire.
Let it
be tried, for the help of hearing (and I conceive it likely to succeed), to make an in-
strument like a tunnel; the narrow part whereof may be of the bigness of the hole of
the ear, and the broader and much larger like a belt at the skirts, and the length
half a foot or more; and let the narrow end of it be set close to the ear, and mark
whether any sound, abroad in the open air, will not be heard distinctly, from further
distance than without that instrument; being (as it were) an ear-spectacle, and I have
heard there is in Spain, an instrument in use to be set to the ear, that helpeth somewhat
those that are thick of hearing.' "It is well known that air is not essential to the pro-
pagation of sound, which can be transmitted through any elastic medium, solid, liquid,
or gaseous. The celerity of its flight is also much greater in the denser substances,
This fact has been ascertained in Denmark and England, by direct experiments on the
sounds conducted through beams of wood and stretched wires, through water and
sheets of ice. It was very conspicuous in the observations made by HASSENFRATZ
in the subterranean quarries extended under the site of Paris. The ingenious CHLADNI
proposed to determine the relative swiftness of transmission through a solid body, merely
from a note which a rod of the given materials yields, when excited into a tremor
by friction, MR. BIOT, whose attention is ever alert, has seized the occasion of some
considerable improvements now going forward in the capital of France, to repeat similar
experiments with great precision. The pipes intended to convey water to that metro-
polis consist of cylinders of cast iron, each eight feet three inches in length; the joints
are secured by a collar of lead, nearly half an inch thick, covered with pitched cotton
rag, and strongly compressed by screws. Into one end of the compound pipe was
inserted an iron hoop, holding a clapper, and at the other end, the observer was sta-
tioned. Certain ingenious persons, striking the clapper at once against the bell
and the inside of the tube, two distinct sounds were heard at the remote extremity,
the one sent through the iron, and the other conducted along the air. The interval
between those sounds was measured by a chronometer that marked half seconds. In
the first experiment, the pipe consisted of 78 pieces; its length, exclusive of the lead
rings, was 647 fect; and the intervals between the two sounds was ascertained, from
a mean of fifty trials to be, 542". But the ordinary propagation of sound through the
atmosphere would, at that temperature, have required, .579"; and consequently the
difference, .037," must give the time of transinission through the metallic tube. In
another experiment, the assemblage of pipes including the leaden joints, extended to
383
for mischief, and depended upon the strength that followed them, I ordered
to bring the ship to, so that they lay upon our broadside, when immediately
we fired five guns at them, one of which had been levelled so true as to carry
away the stern of the hindermost boat, and bring them to the necessity of taking
down their sail, and running all to the head of the boat to keep her from sinking;
so she lay by and had enough of it; but seeing the foremost boat crowd on after
us, we made ready to fire at her in particular. While this was doing, one of
the three boats that was behind, being forwarder than the other two, made up
to the boat which we had disabled, to relieve her, and we could see her take out
the men we called again to the foremost boat, and offered a truce to parley
again, and know what her business was with us: but had no answer; only she
crowded close under our stern. Upon this our gunner, who was a very dexterous
fellow, run out his two chase guns, and fired again at her; but the shot missing,
the men in the boat shouted, waved their caps, and came on; but the gunner
getting quickly ready again, fired among them a second time, one shot of which,
though it missed the boat itself, yet it fell in among the men, and we could easily
see had done a great deal of mischief among them; but we took no notice of
that, veered the ship again, and brought our quarter to bear upon them, and
firing three guns more, we found the boat was alınost split to pieces, in parti-
cular, her rudder, and a piece of her stern was shot quite away; so they handed
her sail immediately, and were in great disorder. But to complete their misfor-
tune, our gunner let fly two guns at them again; where he hit them we could
not tell, but we found the boat was sinking, and some of the men already in the
water; upon this, I immediately manned out our pinnace, which we had kept
close by our side, with orders to pick up some of the men, if they could, and
save them from drowning, and immediately come on board the ship with them,
because we saw the rest of the boats began to come up. Our men in the pin-
nace followed their orders, and took up three men, one of whom was just drown-
ing, and it was a good while before we could recover him. As soon as they were
on board, we crowded all the sail we could make, and stood farther out to sea;
and we found that when the other three boats came up to the first two, they gave
over their chase.
Being thus delivered from a danger, which, though I knew not the reason of
it, yet seemed to be much greater than I apprehended, I resolved to change our
course, and not let any one know whither we were going: so we stood out to
sea eastward, quite out of the course of all european ships, whether they were
bound to China or any where else, within the commerce of the european nations.
When we were at sea, we began to consult with the two seamen and inquire
what the meaning of all this should be; and the Dutchman let us into the secret
at once, telling us that the fellow that sold us the ship, as we said, was no more
than a thief, that had run away with her. Then he told us how the captain,
2550 feet, or nearly half a mile; and on a medium of 200 trials, the two sounds were
heard at the interval of 2.79 seconds. The time which sound would take, according to
calculation, to travel the same distance through the air, is 2.5 seconds; whence
the difference.29" marks the time of conveyance along the combined tubes. But Mr.
BIOT was enabled, by ingeniously varying the experiment, to arrive directly at that
conclusion, without employing any previous computation. He concludes, from nume-
rous combined trials, that the true quantity was .26"; and, therefore, that sound is trans-
mitted ten or twelve times faster through cast iron, than through the atmosphere.
These experiments sufficiently confirm the results of abstract theory. Perhaps cast-
iron is more languid in its tremors than the pure malleable iron. CHLADNI had
assigned the celerity of vibration through iron and glass, at 17500 fect in a second
and LESLIE had shown, in one of the carious notes annexed to his book on heat, that,
through a fir-board, the velocity of impulsion, which he proved to be the same as that
of vibration, is 17300 feet in a second. It is to be wished, that some experiments on
a large scale were made on the time of the transmission of sound through water. They
could not fail to lead to consequences highly instructive in the economy of nature.
;
384
whose name too he told us, though I do not remember it now, was treacherously
murdered by the natives on the coast of Malacca, with three of his men, and
that he, this Dutchman, and four more got into the woods, where they wandered
about a great while, till at length he, in particular, in a miraculous manner, made
his escape, and swam off to a dutch ship, which sailing near the shore in its way
from China, had sent their boat on shore for fresh water: that he durst not
come to that part of the shore where the boat was, but inade shift in the night
to take the water farther off, and swimming a great while, at last the ship's boat
took him up.
He then told us that he went to Batavia, where two of the seamen belonging
to the ship arrived, having deserted the rest in their travels, and gave an account
that the fellow who had run away with the ship sold her at Bengal to a set of
pirates, who were gone a-cruizing in her; and that they had already taken an
english ship, and two dutch ships very richly laden.
This latter part was found to concern us directly, though we knew it to be
false; yet, as my partner said very justly, if we had fallen into their hands, and
they had had such a prepossession against us before-hand, it had been in vain
for us to have defended ourselves, or to hope for any good quarter at their
hands; and especially considering that our accusers had been our judges, and
that we could have expected nothing from them but what rage would have
dictated, and ungoverned passion have executed; and, therefore, it was his
opinion we should go directly back to Bengal, from whence we came, without
putting in at any port whatever; because there we could give a good account
of ourselves, could prove where we were when the ship put in, of whom we
bought her, and the like; and, which was more than all the rest, if we were put
upon the necessity of bringing it before the proper judges, we should be sure to
have some justice, and not to be hanged first and judged afterwards.
I was some time of my partner's opinion; but after a little more serious
thinking, I told him I thought it was a very great hazard for us to attempt
returning to Bengal, for that we were on the wrong side of the strait of Malacca,
and that if the alarm was given, we should be sure to be way-laid on every side,
as well by the Dutch of Batavia, as the English elsewhere; that if we should be
taken, as it were, running away, we should even condemn ourselves, and there
would want no more evidence to destroy us. I also asked the english sailor's
opinion, who said he was of my mind, and that we should certainly be taken.
This danger a little startled my partner, and all the ship's company, and we
immediately resolved to go away to the coast of Tonkin,* and so on to China;
* TONKIN:-The southern extremity of what may be called the chinese continent,
is divided into three small kingdoms or territories, called Cambodia, Seompa, and
Cochin-China. History states it to have formed, antiently, a part of the chinese
empire; but the chinese governor of the southern peninsula, containing Tung-kin to
the northward, and Cambodia and Siompa to the southward of Cochin-China, seized
an opportunity, and erected the standard of independence at the time of the mogul
invasion of China, from Tahtary. He and his posterity had residence in Tung-kin. In
the course of time, the Tung-kinese governor, following the example of the ancestor of
his sovereign, also erected his government into a kingdom. Both, however, acknow-
ledged, in 1793, a nominal vassalage to the chinese empire; and did occasional homage
at the court of Pekin.
During the insurrection in Cochin China, the neighbouring Tung-kinese seized that
opportunity to invade the territories of the north, comprising the capital of the country,
and pillaged it, during their short stay, of every thing that was valuable, especially
gold and silver. The major part of what then escaped their rapacity, had been since
sent to China, to pay for the necessaries of life brought thither by the junks, an extre-
mity which the miserable inhabitants had been often put to from the devastation of their
cultured lands, and the destruction of their manufactories. The present residents of
the mountains in Cochin China are descendants of the original inhabitants of the
country; and when their ancestors, in possession of the plains, were invaded by the.
Chinese, they retired to the mountains, which are on the confines of Cochin-china to
385
and from thence pursuing the first design as to trade, find some way or other to
dispose of the ship, and come back in some of the vessels of the country, such
as we could get. This was approved of as the best method for our security;
and accordingly we steered away N.N.E. keeping above fifty leagues off from
the usual course to the eastward. This, however, put us to some inconveniences;
for, first, the winds, when we came to that distance from the shore, seemed to be
more steadily against us, blowing almost trade,* as we call it, from the E. and
E.N.E. so that we were a long time upon our voyage, and we were but ill pro-
vided with victuals for so long a run; and, which was still worse, there was some dan-
ger that those english and dutch ships, whose boats pursued us, whereof some were
bound that way, might be got in before us, and, if not, some other ship bound to China,
might have information of us from them, and pursue us with the same vigour.
I must confess, I was now very uneasy, and thought myself, including the late
escape from the long-boats, to have been in the most dangerous condition that
ever I was in through all my past life; for, whatever ill circunstances I had been
in, I was never pursued for a thief before; nor had I ever done any thing that
merited the name of dishonest, or fraudulent, much less thievish. I had chiefly
been my own enemy, or, as I may rightly say, I had been nobody's enemy but
my own.
But now I was embarrassed in the worst condition imaginable, for
though I was perfectly innocent, I was in no condition to make that innocence
appear and if I had been taken, it had been under a supposed guilt of the worst
kind; at least, a crime esteemed so among the people I had to do with.
:
This made me very anxious to make an escape; though which way to do it I
knew not, or what port or place we should go to. My partner seeing me thus
dejected, though he was the most concerued at first, began to encourage me, and
describing to me the several ports of that coast, told me, he would put in, on the
coast of Cochin-china,t or the bay of Tonquin, intending to go afterwards to
the westward, as well as to those which separate it from Cambodia; similar to the
flight of the antient Britons into Wales. These mountaineers of Cochin-China are
depicted as rude and barbarous, with coarse features and black complexions; whereas
the colour of the lowlanders was less dark; and these were considered, before the
overthrow of the antient government, a civil, affable, and harmless people. This
simplicity of manners still exists among the agricultural inhabitants. Since Tung-
kin submitted to the arms of the late usurper, the whole of the Cochin-chinese
territories occupied the space between the twelfth degree of northern latitude and
the tropic of Cancer, and its breadth not quite two degrees of longitude. These
domains are bounded to the westward by a chain of mountains, which lie contiguous
to the kingdoms of Laos, Siam, and Cambodia: Cochin-China and Tong-kin are washed
by the sea to the eastward; this has the chinese province of Yunman to the northward, and
and that, Siompa to the southward. The whole comprises 95000 square miles.
*TRADE: A regular or periodical wind: these winds are parily general, and blow
all the year round the same way; and partly periodical, i, e. half the year they blow
one way, and the other half year on the opposite points: and those points and
times of shifting differ in different parts of the ocean. These latter are what
we call monsoon. The shifting of these monsoons is not all at once; and in some
places the time of the change is attended with calms, in others with variable winds; and
particularly those of China, at ceasing to be westerly, are very subject to be tem-
pestuous; and such is the violence, that they seem to be of the nature of the West
India hurricanes, and render the navigation of those seas very unsafe at that time of
the year. These tempests the seamen call the breaking up of the monsoons. Monsoons,
then, are a species of what we otherwise call Trade-winds. They take the denomina-
tion monsoon from an antient pilot, who first crossed the Indian sca by means hereof.
Though others derive the name from a portuguese word, signifying motion, or change
of wind and sea:-LUCRETIUS and APOLLONIUS make mention of annual winds, which
arise every year, etesia stabria, and which seem to be the same with what in the East
Indies we now call monsoons. Of this term, a more correct pronunciation is mossoon.
+ COCHIN CHINA:-The whole extent of coast, from the gulph of Siam to that of Ton-
king, which used commonly to be called the coasts of Cambodia, Zeompa, and Cochin-
china, is now united under the latter government, and is formed into three divisions:
Robinson Crusoe.
CC
-
[Naval-Chron. Edition]
386
Macao,* a town once in the possession of the Portuguese, where still a great
the southernmost extends from the gulph of Siam to latitude about 12°. N. and is called
Donai; the centre extends about three degrees northward, and is called Chang; the
northernmost extends to Ton-king, and is called Hue, or Whey. There are few countries that
contain so many excellent bays, roads, and harbours, or with better interior communi-
cation, by means of its numerous rivers. But the advantages of its situation have been
in a great measure rendered nugatory by the horrors of civil-war, which Cochin-china
has experienced for a series of years. In the year 1774, in the 35th year of the reign
of CAUN-SHUNG, an insurrection broke out in the capital, Quin-hon. This rebellion
was headed by three brothers; the eldest, whose name was YIN-YAK, was a wealthy
merchant, who carried on an extensive trade with China and Japan; the second was
named LONG-NIANG, a general officer of high rank, and great command; and the third
was a priest. The first step they took was, to get possession of the king, and to secure
every part of the royal family who came within their reach; and all of the royal party
who fell into their hands were immediately put to death. The city of Sai-gong being
suspected of adherence to the cause of the deposed sovereign, was stormed, sacked, its
walls razed, and 20000 of its inhabitants massacred. In their partition of the future.
government, it was arranged, that YIN-YAK should possess the two divisions of Donai
and Chang; LONG-NIANG, that of Hue; and their younger brother to be the general
pontiff of all Cochin-china. LONG-NIANG Commenced his regal career by hostilities
against his neighbour, the king of Ton-king, who, being a tributary vassal of the chi-
nesc empire, fled to Pe-king, and obtained from the emperor, KEN-LONG, the succour
of an army not less than 100000 men strong. But LONG-NIANG, apprized by his spies
of the progress of this host, so devastated the country through which it was to march, that
even before it had passed the frontier of Ton-king, it was compelled by distress for pro-
visions to fall back. This led to negociation, and the consequence was, a treaty, where-
in LONG-NIANG was recognized as king of Ton-king, as well as of Cochin-China, on
condition of becoming tributary to China. At the period of the rebellion, there re-
sided at the court a french missionary named ADRAN, with the character of Vicar-
apostolic of Cochin-china. CAUN-SHUNG held this ecclesiastic in such high considera-
tion, as to place under his tuition his only son and heir. When the king fell into the
power of the rebels, ADRAN succeeded in saving the queen, and his pupil the hereditary
prince, with the wife and infant son of the latter, by timely flight to an island on the
coast, which they placed in a state of defense. ADRAN having ascertained that the in-
habitants of the southern provinces were still faithful to the royal interest, conceived the
plan of applying to France for succour. For this purpose he embarked with the prince
for Pondicherry, and from thence for Europe, where he arrived in 1787. The royal
fugitive was presented at Versailles, and the project of the missionary was so much ap-
proved of, that, in the course of a few months, a treaty of succour and alliance (com-
prehending valuable territorial cessions to France) was concluded between Louis XVI.
and the king of Cochin-china. Affairs being thus far concluded at Paris, the mission-
ary was advanced to the episcopal dignity, invested with the character of plenipoten-
tiary, and sent with his young charge in a frigate back to Pondicherry, with directions
to touch at Mauritius for naval and military force appropriated to this service. Some
untoward circumstances occurred which retarded the execution of these orders in India;
and, in the mean time, the revolution of 1789 breaking out, put a final stop to the ex-
pedition. The unforeseen events that had thus defeated his proceedings, did not, how-
ever, damp the zeal of the bishop, who appears to have been a man of great energy and
perseverance. For, with the aid of some adventurous officers, who had accompanied
him from France as volunteers, he resolved upon prosecuting his original enterprise of
re-establishing the lawful sovereign of Cochin-china. With these auxiliaries the bishop
and prince embarked in a merchant-ship for Cape Saint James (which forms the eastern
boundary of the bay and channel leading to Sai-gon river, situated in 10°. 18'. N. 107.
10'. E.). Here they learned that the king was living, and at large; that numbers had
flocked with ardor to his standard, and that he was in possession of Sai-gon, where
his son and the bishop, &c, joined him in 1790, followed by a vessel with arms and am-
munition. The first steps taken were, to fortify the city, to discipline an army, and
equip a fleet. In 1791, LONG-NIANG died at Hue, leaving behind him a son about
twelve
• MACAO:-(Called Omoon in Chinese), is situated in latitude 22°. 10′. 30″. N,
longitude 113°. 32. E. This is the only permanent european establishment among the
Chinese,
387
1
many european families resided, and particularly the missionary priests usually
went thither, in order to their going forward to China.
In
twelve years of age to succeed him. His obtainment of the throne of Ton-king had
been the cause of disunion, and ultimately of hostility between the brothers; wherein
YIN-YAK had been worsted, and his power reduced. In this situation he was attacked
at Quin-hon by the fleet of CAUNG-SHUNG, under two french officers, who captured or
destroyed the greatest part of his force. YIN-YAK did not long survive this disaster,
and was succeeded by a son. In 1796, CAUNG SIUNG resolved to attack the capital by
land; the young usurper was enabled to bring forward an army of 100000 men for it's
defense: but this force was routed by the king with a very inferior one; Quin-hon was
taken possession of, and the whole country submitted to the arms of it's legitimate sove-
reign, as far as Tien-cheu, otherwise Han-san (called by Europeans Turon). In 1778,
the english government of Bengal entered into demi-diplomatic relations with YIN-YAK,
which led to the arrangement of a certain degree of commercial intercourse: but the
english traders became involved in hostilities with the northern governinent at Hue;
and this opening does not appear to have led to any permanent establishment.
1804, the East India Company bethought itself of the importance of being on friendly
terms with the king of Cochin-china, and sent instructions to Canton to send thither one
of their supra-cargos to open a communication; but this agent found an adverse french
interest so prevalent, that he completely failed; since which period no farther attempt
has been made to promote a friendly intercourse. Such is the sketch of almost the only
portion known to us of the political history of Cochin-china : a name which is said to
imply Western China, and appears to have been imposed by the early navigators, perhaps
after some Malay appellation, while the native name remains unknown. (. C. xxvi, 54.)
Chinese, who, whether considered as a people, as a government, or in the aggregate
view of an empire, are unquestionably the most impotent nation on earth; yet such has
been their policy and address, that they have controlled with unrelenting despotism in
their ports, all the relations of commerce and intercourse with foreigners trading to that
country. The will, or rather the caprice, of a head mandarin, lias, on every occasion
of difference, been erected as the standard of public right and national law, and the
most arbitrary demands have invariably been conceded on no other ground than the
dread that the Chinese should enforce their threat of stopping the trade. The reader
will no doubt recollect that it is not yet 300 years since the Chinese, after a treacherous
massacre of a number of Portuguese, and after prohibiting that nation from their ports,
were soon afterwards reduced to the utmost distress by the daring enterprises of the
pirate, TOHANG-CHI-LAO, who took possession of Macao, besieged Canton, and threat-
ened to annihilate their trade, in open defiance of the whole naval and military force of
the chinese empire. Such was their deplorable weakness, and such their distress, in this
emergency, that, to overcome this pirate, they were humbly obliged to implore the as-
sistance of the Portuguese, whom they had so shortly before interdicted from their
ports, to relieve them from the oppression of ToHANG-CHI-LAO. The Portuguese sent
three vessels of the smallest denomination, and quickly achieved with that paltry force
what the power of the whole chinese empire could not effect. They completely de-
feated the pirate, and took possession of Macao, which island was assigned to them as
the reward of their services on that occasion. That the Chinese are now as feeble and
inefficient in their naval and military appointments, as at that time, might be deduced
from their excluding all innovation or improvement in arms, in arts, in government, or
policy; but the fact does not rest upon deduction alone; it is made evident by the suc-
cess and impunity with which a set of pirates, for the last four or five years, have conducted
their depredations on the chinese shores and neighbouring islands, and who, but for the in-
terposition of the English and Portuguese, would have destroyed their trade, and prescribed
their own terms to all the provinces, either bordering on the coast or accessible by rivers.
These, and many other facts that might be cited, shew the stationary position of the Chi-
nese, and that, in national power and energy, they are at this day precisely what they were a
thousand years ago, sunk in ignorance and imbecility, with a people groaning under a
government unequalled in oppression and iniquity. Yet this empire, nay, not the em-
pire, the government, of one of its provinces, continues to lord it over all the nations
trading to its ports, and with such tyranny, that, if the most humiliating propositions do
not command immediate assent, the grand and never failing denunciation is held up
terrorem :--
-do this, or expulsion from the heavenly empire, and stoppage of your trade,
shall follow. And such has been the magic power of this threat, in the hands of the
CC
in
388
Hither then we resolved to go, and accordingly, though after a tedious and ir-
regular course, and very much straitened for provisions, we carne within sight of
the coast very early in the morning; and, upon reflection upon the circumstances
we were in, and the danger, if we had not escaped, we resolved to put into a small
river, which, however, had depth enough of water for us, and to see if we could,
either over land, or by the ship's pinnace, come to know what ships were in any
port thereabouts. This happy step was indeed our deliverance; for though we
did not immediately see any european ships in the bay of Tonquin, yet the next
morning there came into the bay two dutch ships, and a third without any colours
spread out, but which we believed to be a Dutchman, passed by at about two
leagues' distance steering for the coast of China, and, in the afternoon, went by
two english ships, steering the same course; and thus we thought we saw ourselves be-
set with enemies, both one way and the other. The place we were in was wild and
barbarous, the people thieves, even by occupation or profession, and though it
is true, we had not much to seek of them, and, except getting a few provisions,
cared not how little we had to do with them, yet it was with much difficulty that
we kept ourselves from being insulted by them several ways.
We were in a small river of this country, within a few leagues of its utmost
Jimits northward, and by our boat we coasted north-east to the point of land which
opens the great bay of Tonquin; and it was in this beating up along the shore
that we discovered, as above, that, in a word, we were surrounded with ene-
mies. The people we were among were the most barbarous of all the inhabi-
tants of the coast, having no correspondence with any other nation, and dealing
only in fish and oil, and such gross commodities; and it may be particularly seen
that they are, as I said, the most barbarous of any of the inhabitants; viz. that,
among other customs, they have this as one that if any vessel have the misfor
tune to be shipwrecked upon their coast, they presently make the men all prisoners,
that is to say, slaves: and it was not long before we found a spice of their kind-
ness this way, on the occasion following.
I have observed above, that our ship sprang a leak at sea, and that we could
not find it out; and, however, it happened that, as I have said, it was stopped,
unexpectedly, in the happy minute of our being to be seized, by the dutch and
english ships, near the bay of Siamn; yet as we did not find the ship so perfectly
tight and sound as we desired, we resolved, while we were in this place, to lay her
on shore, take out what heavy things we had on board, which were not many, and
to wash and clean her bottom, and, if possible, to find out where the leaks were.
Accordingly, having lightened the ship, and brought all our guns, and other
moveable things, to one side, we tried to bring her down, that we might come at
her bottom; for, on second thoughts, we did not care to lay her dry aground,
neither could we find out a proper place for it.
The inhabitants, who had never been acquainted with such a sight, came down
to the shore, wondering, to look at us, and seeing the ship lie down on one side
in such a manner, and heeling towards the shore, and not seeing our men, who
Chinese, weak and dastardly as they are, that they have gained every point they pro-
posed, however unjust,
Yet this train of proceeding, extraordinary as it must appear, still continues without
exciting either the surprise or the sensibility of the nation: such is the power of pre-
conceived opinions and habit, which lead both nations and individuals to think and to
act in the course that prejudice or erroneous precedent have established. If we reflect
on the usual wise and manly policy observed by Great Britain, in her foreign relations,
and contrast it with that which has prevailed with respect to the Chinese, we shall trace
a strong resemblance to certain indian tribes of North America, who glory in encounter-
ing every real danger, yet tremble with fear at the idea of evil spirits, that have no
other existence than in their own perverted imagination. The English are not ignorant
of the character and national impotence of the Chinese; but here, as in many other
cases, the distance between knowledge, and its application, is inconceivably great. The
Chincse see and marvel at the fact, that they are treated by the English, and by the
ather nations of Europe, as if there really were danger to be apprehended from their
threats or utmost vengeance, and very properly continue to avail themselves of all the
good effects which prejudice has raised up in their favour.
·
*
389

H
were at work on her bottom, with stages, and with their boats on the off-side,
they presently concluded that the ship was cast away, and so lay fast on the ground.
On this supposition they came all about us in two or three hours' time, with
ten or twelve large boats, having some of them eight, some ten men, in a boat,
intending, no doubt, to have come on board and plundered the ship, and, if they
had found us there, to have carried us away for slaves to their king, or whatever
they call him, for we knew nothing who was their governor.
When they came up to the ship, and began to row round her, they discovered
us all hard at work, on the outside of the ship's bottom and side, washing, and
graving,* and stopping, as every seafaring man knows how.
They stood for a while gazing at us, and we, who were a little surprised, could
not imagine what their design was; but, being willing to be sure, we took this
opportunity to get some of us into the ship, and others to hand down arms and
ammunition to those that were at work, to defend themselves with, if there
should be occasion; and it was no more than need, for, in less than a quarter of
an hour's consultation, they agreed, it seems, that the ship was really a wreck;
that we were all at work, endeavouring to save her, or to save our lives by the
help of our boats; and when we handed our arms into the boats, they concluded,
by that motion, that we were endeavouring to save some of our goods. Upon
this, they took it for granted that all belonged to them; and away they came di-
rectly upon our men, as if it had been in a line of battle.
Our men, seeing so many of them, began to be frighted, for we lay but in an
ill posture to fight, and cried out to us to know what they should do. I immedi-
ately called to the men who worked upon the stage, to slip them down, and get
up the side into the ship and bade those in the boat to row round, and come on
board, and those few of us who were on board, worked with all the strength and
hands we had to bring the ship to rights. But, however, neither the men upon
the stage, nor those in the boats, could do as they were ordered, before the Co-
chin-chinese were upon them, and, with two of their boats, boarded our long-
boat, and began to lay hold of the men as their prisoners.
The first man they laid hold of was an englisli seaman, a stout, strong fellow,
who, having a musket in his hand, never offered to fire it, but laid it down in the
boat, like a fool, as I thought. But he understood his business much better than
I could teach him, for he grappled the Pagan, and dragged him by main force
out of their own boat into our's, where, taking him by the two ears, he beat his
head so against the boat's gun-wale, that the fellow died instantly in his hands;
* GRAVING :-In sea-language, the bringing a ship a-ground, and then burning oif,
with furze, reed, or broom, all the filth and foulness that sticks to her bottom without
board, in order to pay her a-nèw.
$90
and, in the mean time, a Dutchman, who stood next, took up the musket, and,
with the butt-end of it, so laid about him, that he knocked down five of them,
who attempted to enter the boat; but this was little towards resisting thirty or
forty men, who fearless, because ignorant of their danger, began to throw them.
selves into the long-boat, where we had but five men to defend it. But an acci-
dent gave our men a complete victory, which deserved our laughter rather than
any thing else; and that was this :-
Our carpenter being preparing to grave the outside of the ship, as well as to
pay the seams where he had caulked her to stop the leaks, had got two kettles just
let down into the boat; one filled with boiling pitch, and the other with rosin,
tallow, and oil, and such stuff as the shipwrights use for that work; and the man
that attended the carpenter had a great iron ladle in his hand, with which he sup-
plied the men that were at work with that hot stuff; two of the enemy's men en-
tered the boat just where this fellow stood, being in the foresheets; he immediately
saluted them with a ladleful of the stuff, boiling hot, which so burned and scalded
them, being half naked, that they roared out like two bulls, and, enraged with
the fire, leaped both into the sea. The carpenter saw it, and cried out, Well
done, Jack, give them some more of it;' when, stepping forward himself, he
takes one of their mops, and dipping it in the pitch-pot, he and his man threw it
among them so plentifully, that, in short, of all the men in three boats, there
was not one that was not scalded and burned with it, in a most frightful, pitiful
manner, and made such a howling and crying, that I never heard a worse noise,
and indeed nothing like it; for it is worth observing, that though pain naturally
makes all people cry out, yet every nation have a particular way of exclamation,
and make noises as different from another as their speech. I cannot give the noise
these creatures made a better name than howling, nor a name more proper to the
tone of it; for I never heard any thing more like the noise of the wolves, which,
as I have said, I heard howl in the forest on the frontiers of Languedoc.
I was never pleased with a victory better in my life, not only as it was a perfect
surprise to me, and that our danger was imminent before, but as we got this vic-
tory without any bloodshed, except of that man the fellow killed with bis naked
bands, and which I was very much concerned at, for I was sick of killing such
poor savage wretches, even though it was in my own defense, knowing they came
on errands which they thought just, and knew no better; and that though it may
be a just thing, because necessary, for there is no necessary wickedness in nature,
yet I thought it was a sad life, when we must be always obliged to be killing our
fellow-creatures to preserve ourselves, and, indeed I think so still: and I would
even now, suffer a great deal, rather than I would take away the life even of the
worst person injuring me. I believe also, all considering people, who know the
value of life, would be of my opinion, if they entered seriously into the conside-
ration of it.
But to return to my story: all the while this was doing, my partner and I, who
managed the rest of the men on board, had, with great dexterity, brought the
ship almost to rights, and having gotten the guns into their places again, the gunner
called to me, to bid our boats get out of the way, for he would let fly among
them. I called back again to him, and bid him not to offer to fire, for the carpen-
ter would do the work without him, but bade him heat another pitch-kettle, which
our cook, who was on board took care of. But the enemy was so terrified with
what they met with in their first attack, that they would not come on again; and
some of them, that were farthest off, seeing the ship swim, as it were, upright,
began, as we supposed, to see their mistake, and give over the enterprise, finding
it was not as they expected. Thus we got clear of this merry fight; and, having
gotten some rice, and some roots, and bread, with about sixteen good big hogo
on board, two days before, we resolved to stay here no longer, but go forward,
whatever came of it; for we made no doubt but we should be surrounded the
* CAULKING (or Calking):-the driving of oakum, or somewhat of that kind, into
the seams, or commissure of the planks, to prevent a ship's leaking. It is afterwards
covered over with hot melted pitch, or resin, to prevent its rotting. KENNET derives
the word from the barbarous Latin calciatura, shoeing.
$91
next day with Togues enough, perhaps more than our pitch-kettle would dispose
of for us.
We, therefore, got all our things on board the same evening, and the next
morning were ready to sail. In the mean time, lying at an anchor some distance
from the shore, we were not so much concerned, being now in a fighting posture,
as well as in a sailing posture, if any enemy had presented. The next day, having
finished our work within board, and finding our ship was perfectly healed of all her
leaks, we set sail. We would have gone into the bay of Tonquin, for wé wanted to
inform ourselves of what was to be known concerning the dutch ships that had
been there; but we durst not stand in there, because we had seen several ships
go in, as we supposed, but a little before. So we kept on N. E. towards the isle of
Formosa,* as much afraid of being seen by a dutch or english merchant ship, as a
dutch or english merchant ship in the Mediterranean is of an algerine man of war.

Hing-hoa-fou
FOKEN
Hay-tom
Kelang
Chung-chion-forZar
emory
RChincheu
.
Ponghou
Islands
PEKAN
OR
Table Monutain
FORMOSA
•
Tayowan
Banks of Formosa
Lainey
Samasanna
Bakel Tubago Xuma
Vele Rete rocks
*Cumbrian reef
Norther
Bushu Is
* FORMOSA :-(or PA-KAN, called also Tay-wan, or Ty-oan) is about 70 leagues in
length, extending nearly N. N. E. and S. S. W. the land is generally high up the coun-
992
When we were thus got out to sea, we kept on N. E. as if we would go to the
Manillas, or the Philipine islands, and this we did that we might not fall into the
way of any of the european ships, and then we steered north again, till we came
to the latitude of twenty-two degrees twenty minutes, by which means we made
the island of Formosa directly, where we came to an anchor, in order to get
water and fresh provisions, which the people there, who are very courteous and
civil in their manners, supplied us with willingly, and dealt very fairly and
punctually with us in all their agreements and bargains, which is what we did not
find among other people, and may be owing to the remains of christianity,
which was once planted here by a dutch mission of protestants, and is a testi-
mony of what I have often observed; viz. that the christian religion always
civilizes the people, and reforms their manners, where it is received, whether it
works saving effects upon them or no.
From hence we sailed still north, keeping the coast of China at an equal
distance, till we knew we were beyond all the ports of China where our european
ships usually come, being resolved, if possible, not to fall into any of their hands,
especially in this country, where, as our circumstances were, we could not fail of
being entirely ruined; nay, so great was my fear in particular, as to my being
taken by them, that I believe firmly, I would much rather have chosen to fall
into the hands of the spanish Inquisition.
Being now come to the latitude of thirty degrees, we resolved to put into the
first trading port we should come at, and, standing in for the shore, a boat came
off two leagues to us, with an old portuguese pilot on board, who, knowing us to
be an european ship, came to offer his service, which, indeed, we were very
glad of, and took him on board; upon which, without asking us whither we
would go, he dismissed the boat he came in, and sent it back.
I thought it was now so much in our choice to make the old man carry us
whither we would, that I began to talk with him about carrying us to the gulf
of Nanquin, which is the most northern part of the coast of China.* The old
man said he knew the gulf of Nanquin very well, but, smiling, asked us what
we would do there.
I told him we would sell our cargo, and purchase china wares, calicos, raw silks,
wrought silks, tea, &c. and so would return by the same course we came. He told us
our best port had been to have put in at Macao, where we could not fail of a
market for our opium to our satisfaction, and might, for our money, have pur-
chased all sorts of China goods, as cheap as we could at Nanquin.
try, but low in some places seaward; with soundings near the shore, particularly on the
west side. On the southern part is a high double-peaked mountain, discernible 20
leagues in clear weather, from which the land slopes down to a low projecting point
called the South cape, or S. E. point of Formosa. This point is situated in latitude
21° 54' N. longitude 121° 5' E. by mean of many chronometers and observations of
O (*; and hears about W. & S. from the west end of Botel-Tobago-Xima, distant
13 leagues. N. E. ward of the point there is a village, with a harbour for small vessels;
and there is said to be soundings near it on the west side. N. W. ward of this cape
about 13 leagues, is Lamay isle, situated about 3 or 3 leagues distant from the coast.
with soundings between. About 13 or 14 leagues farther northward lies the harbour of
Ty-oan (formerly the Dutch settlement of fort Zeeland), with a table-hill inland east-
ward. This harbour and the other inlets along the same coast are mostly fronted by
shoals; and from the entrance of the river Pon-kan, in latitude 23° 25′ N. sand banks
project 3 or 4 leagues to the offing. Ty-oan will not admit vessels drawing above 8 feet,
and the other inlets also are shole. The northern extremity is in 25° 18′ N. 121° 34′ E.
the N. W. point in 25° 11' N. 121° 6' E. the N. E. point in 25 11′ N. 121° 56′ E. by
chronometers. There is a group of three islots off the N. E. point, with a safe channel
within about 3 or 4 leagues wide. (B. C, xxx, 214.) Formosa once belonged to the
Dutch East-India company: but in 1662, the Dutch were expelled after sustaining a
siege of 9 months from a chinese rebel named COXINIA, before they surrendered the
citadel. Soon after this, the island was united to the empire of China; and Europeans
have no intercourse with this island at present. See the map annexed unto the text.
* See the chart, page 369.
393
<
Not being able to put the old man out of his talk, of which he was very
opinionated, or conceited, I told him we were gentlemen, as well as merchants,
and that we had a mind to go and see the great city of Pekin, and the famous
court of the monarch of China. Why then,' says the old man, you should
go to Ningpo,* where, by the river which runs into the sea there, you may go up
within five leagues of the great canal. This canal is a navigable made stream,
which goes through the heart of all that vast empire of China, crosses all the
rivers, passes some considerable hills by the help of sluices and gates, and
goes up to the city of Pekin, being in length near two hundred and seventy
leagues.
'Well,' said I, Senhor Portuguese, but that is not our business now: the
great question is, if you can carry us up to the city of Nanquin, from whence we
can travel to Pekin afterwards. Yes (he said), he could do so very well, and
there was a great dutch ship gone up that way just before. This gave me a
little shock: a dutch ship was now our terror, and we had much rather have
met the devil, at least, if he had not come in too frightful a figure. We
depended upon it, that a dutch ship would be our destruction, for we were in
no condition to fight them; all the ships they trade with in those parts being of
great burden, and of much greater force than we were.
The old man found me a little confused, and under some concern, when he
named a dutch ship; and said to me, 'Sir, you need be under no apprehension
of the Dutch, I suppose they are not now at war with your nation.'
<
'No,' said
I, that's true; but I know not what liberties men may take, when they are out
of the reach of the laws of their own country. Why', said be,' you are no pirates,
what need you fear? They will not meddle with peaceable merchants sure.'
;
If I had any blood in my body that did not fly up into my face at that word,
it was hindered by some stop in the vessels appointed by nature to circulate it
for it put me into the greatest disorder and confusion imaginable; nor was it
possible for me to conceal it so, but that the old man easily perceived it.
'Sir,' said he, 'I find you are in some disorder in your thoughts, at my talk;
pray be pleased to go which way you think fit, and, depend upon it, I'll do you
all the service I can.' Why, Senhor,' said I, it is true, I am a little unsettled
in my resolution at this time, whither to go in particular, aud I am something
more so, for what you said about pirates. I hope there are no pirates in these
seas: we are but in an ill condition to meet with them, for you see we have but
a small force, and but very weakly manned.'
'O sir,' said he, do not be concerned; I do not know that there have been
any pirates in these seas these fifteen years, except one, which was seen, as I
hear, in the bay of Siam, about a month since; but you may be assured she is
gone to the southward: nor was she a ship of any great force, or fit for the work;
she was not built for a privateer, but was run away with by a reprobate crew
that were on board, after the captain and some of his men had been murdered
by the Malaccans, at, or near, the island of Sumatra.'
* NING-PO:-A city of China on the river Limpo, or Liampo; the entrance of which
is about 9 leagues westward from Cheo-shan: there is a channel leading to it from
Kee-to point; another from Cheo-shan harbour; and the northern channel is between
the coast of the continent and the northernmost of the group of the Cheoshan isles,
which also leads to Cheoshan harbour. Close to the entrance of Limpo river there are
some small islands, between which and the cast point lies the proper channel, having
from 3 to 34 fathoms on the bar at high-water, and 5 to 6 fathoms inside. The city of
Chin-boy stands on the west side of the entrance, and Ning-po about 5 or 6 leagues up
the river. Here the English once had a factory; but the oppressions their trade was
subject unto, compelled them to abandon it. Since the year 1756, no english ships
appear to have traded unto these places; but there is a considerable commercial
navigation carried on by the junks from hence to the Japan isles, distant about three
or four days'-sail. From Ning-po river, the coast stretches about 8 or ten leagues N. W.
to Han-cheo bay, a place of great resort for trade. Ning-po is in latitude 29° 57′ 45″ N.
longitude 120° 18' E. See the chart in page 369.
$94
<
"What!' said I, seeming to know nothing of the matter, 'did they murder the
captain?' 'No,' said he, I do not understand that they murdered him; but,
as they afterwards ran away with the ship, it is generally believed that they
betrayed him into the hands of the Malaccans, who did murder him, and,
perhaps, they procured them to do it. Why, then,' said I, they deserve
death as much as if they had done it themselves.' Nay,' said the old man,
they do deserve it; and they will certainly have it, if they light upon any english
or dutch ship; for they have all agreed together, that, if they meet that rogue,
they will give him no quarter.'
.
6
"But said I to him, you say the pirate is gone out of these seas: how can
they meet with him then?' Why that's true,' said he,' they do say so; but
he was, as I tell you, near the bay of Siam, in the river Cambodia, and was disco-
vered there by some Dutchmen who belonged to the ship, and who were left on
shore when they run away with her; and some english and dutch traders being
in the river, they were within a little of taking him. Nay,' said he, if the
foremost boats had been well seconded by the rest, they had certainly taken
him; but he, finding only two boats within reach of him, tacked about, and
fired at these two, and disabled them, before the others came up; and then
standing off to sea, the others were not able to follow him, and so he got away.
But they have all so exact a description of the ship, that they will be sure to
know him, and wherever they find him, they have vowed to give no quarter to
either the captain or the seamen, but to hang them all up at the yard-arm.'
'What!' said I, will they execute them right or wrong; haug them first, and
judge them afterwards?' O, sir,' said the old pilot, there is no need to
make a formal business of it with such rogues as those: let them tie them back
to back, and set them a-diving; it is no more than they rightly deserve.'
<
I knew I had my old man fast aboard, and that he could do me no harm, so
that I turned short upon him. Well, now, Senhor,' said I, and this is the
very reason why I would have you carry us to Nanquin, and not to put back to
Macao, or to any other part of the country where the english or dutch ships
comc; for, be it known to you, Senhor, those captains of english and dutch
ships are a parcel of rash, proud, insolent fellows, that neither know what
belongs to justice nor how to behave themselves as the laws of God or nature
direct; but being proud of their offices, and not understanding their power,
they would act the murderers to punish robbers, would take upon them to insult
men falsely accused, and determine them guilty without due inquiry: and, per-
haps, I may live to call some of them to an account for it, where they may be
taught how justice is to be executed, and that no man ought to be treated as a
criminal till some evidence may be had of the crime, and that he is the man.'
With this I told him, that this was the very ship they had attacked, and gave
him a full account of the skirmish we had with their boats, and how foolishly
and coward-like they behaved. I told him all the story of our buying the ship,
and how the Dutchmen served us. I told him the reasons I had to believe that
this story of killing the master by the Malaccans was not true, as also the
running away with the ship; but that it was all a fiction of their own, to suggest
that the men were turned pirates, and they ought to have been sure it was so,
before they had ventured to attack us by surprise, and oblige us to resist them;
adding, that they would have the blood of those men, who were killed there in
our just defence, to answer for.
The old man was amazed at this relation, and told us we were very much in
the right to go away to the north, and that, if he might advise us, it should be
to sell the ship in China, which we might very well do, and buy or build another
in the country. And,' said he, though you will not get so good a ship, yet
you may get one able enough to carry you and all your goods back again to
Bengal, or any where else.'
I told him, I would take his advice, when I came to any port where I could
find a ship for my turn, or get any customer to buy this. He replied, I should
meet with customers enough for the ship at Nanquin, and that a Chinese
395
junk would serve me very well to go back again; and that he would procure me
people both to buy the one, and sell the other.
6
Well, but, Senhor,' says I, 'as you say they know the ship so well, I may,
perhaps, if I follow your measures, be instrumental to bring some honest, inno-
cent men into a terrible broil, and, perhaps, occasion their being murdered in
cold blood; for wherever they find the ship, they will prove the guilt upon the
men, by proving this was the ship, and so innocent men may probably be over-
powered and murdered.' Why,' said the old man, 'I'll find out a way to pre-
vent that also; for as I know all those commanders you speak of very well,
and shall see them all as they pass by, I will be sure to set them to rights in the
thing, and let them know that they had been so much in the wrong, that though
the people who were on board at first, might run away with the ship, yet it was
not true that they had turned pirates; and that, in particular, those were not
the men that first went off with the ship, but innocently bought her for their
trade and I am persuaded they will so far believe me, as, at least, to act more
cautiously for the time to come.' 'Well,' said I,
'Well,' said I, and will you deliver one
message to them from me?" "Yes, I will,' says he, if you will give it under
your hand, in writing, that I may be able to prove it came from you, and not
out of my own head.' I answered that I would readily give it him under
my hand.
So I took a pen and ink and paper, and wrote at large the story of assaulting
me with the long boats, &c. the pretended reason of it, and the unjust, cruel
design of it, and concluded to the commanders that they had done what they
not only should have been ashamed of, but also, that if ever they came to
England, and I lived to see them there, they should all pay dearly for it, if the
laws of my country were not grown out of use before I arrived there.
JUNK: The name by which chinese shipping is known among european navigators
in the oriental seas. The following is an authentic description of one of those vessels,
which trade from China to Macassar, by the late JOHN SPLINTER STAVORINUS, admi-
ral in the service of the states-general of the United-provinces:
"On my former voyage," says our author," when I was at Batavia, I wanted very
much to have seen the inside of a chinese junk. These are called here Wankon, and
as there was one lying alongside of my ship in the road, I took the opportunity of gra-
tifying my curiosity. As soon as I came on board, with the company that were with me,
we were received with great politeness by the chinese chiefs; and tea, confectionary,
and fruits, were set before us, previous to our taking a view of any thing. This vessel
carried three masts, of which the largest and middlemost was nearly of the same thick-
ness as the mainmast of my ship, the Ouwerkerk (a ship of one hundred and fifty feet
in length), and it was made of one entire piece of timber. The length of the junk,
from the exterior of the stern to the extreme point of the head, was, according to my
computation, one hundred and forty feet. The hull was separated into as many diffe-
rent divisions as there were merchants on board, each having a distinct place to stow
his commodities in. The water was likewise distributed in several reservoirs, and being
started in bulk, was drawn up by buckets, through hatches which opened in the deck.
The furnace for cooking was by the larboard side of the mainmast upon the deck; for
these vessels have but one deck; and we saw the victuals dressed there in a much cleaner
and neater manner than is practised on board of european ships. At the stern were
several tiers of little cabins, or huts, made of bamboos, as well for the officers of the
vessel, as for the merchants. Exactly in the middle, between these, was the steerage;
and in the centre of it was a sort of chapel, in which their Joss, or idol, was placed :
they bring every year a new one with them from China, which is then placed in their
temple, and the old one of the former year is taken away and carried back to China;
and they never begin to land any part of the cargo until the image of this idol, which
is made of gold, and is about four inches high, has been sent on shore out of the junk;
both on board and on shore they continually burn lights and incense, and in the even-
ing some silver paper before the idol. The rudder is not attached to the vessel by pin-
tles and googings, but it is hung in ropes made of cane, and is very different in shape
from those we use, Their anchors are crooked pieces of timber, to which heavy stones
are tied to make them sink. The whole of their tackling, both cordage and sails, is
made of cane.”~(Maval Chronicle, ii, 184.)
}
$96
£
My old pilot read this over and again, and asked me several times, if I would
stand to it. I answered, I would stand to it as long as I had any thing left in
the world, being sensible that I should, one time or other, find an opportunity to
put it home to them. But we had no occasion ever to let the pilot carry this
letter; for he never went back again. While those things were passing between
us, by way of discourse, we went forward directly for Nanquin, and, in about
thirteen days' sail, we came to an anchor at the southern point of the great
gulf of Nanquin, where, by the way, I came, by accident, to understand that
the two dutch ships were gone that length before me, and that I should certainly
fall into their hands. I consulted my partner again in this exigency, and he
was as much at a loss as I was, and would very gladly have been safe on shore
almost any where.
any where. However, I was not in such perplexity neither, but I asked
the old pilot if there was no creek, or harbour, which I might put into, and
pursue my business with the Chinese privately, and be in no danger of the
enemy. He told me if I would sail to the southward, about two-and-forty
leagues, there was a little port, called Quinchang,* where the fathers of the mis-
sion usually landed from Macao, on their progress to teach the christian religion
to the Chinese, and where no european ships ever put in; and if I thought to
put in there, I might consider what farther course to take when I was on
shore. He confessed, he said, it was not a place for merchants, except that, at
some certain times, they had a kind of a fair there, when the merchants from
Japant came over thither to buy the chinese merchandises.
* See the chart, page 369.
+ JAPAN:-The isles of Japan were accidentally discovered by the Portuguese in
1542, from being driven on their coasts by a storm. They were well received, and
carried on a lucrative trade here for nearly one hundred years. The English also had
some traffic with these distant isles: but in 1601, the Dutch supplanted all the other
nations of Europe, and obtained a monopoly, which at first was highly beneficial to
them; but has been gradually cramped, until it ceases to yield much profit. The
jealousy of the Japanese, and the avarice of the Dutch, have gone hand-in-hand to
occasion this diminution of commercial advantages; for in proportion as the latter
made farther attempts to secure illicit gain, the former abridged the immunities they
had originally granted. Strong as the love of gain is, it is astonishing that ang people
should submit to be treated as the Dutch are in Japan: no liberal mind could bear it;
but the avaricious are seldom troubled with delicacy of sentiment. The Dutch and the
Chinese are the only foreign nations at present allowed access to Japan; and that,
limited to the harbour of Nagasakki, in latitude 32° 32′ N. longitude 1280 46′ 15″ E.
This town is one of five in the empire, which are styled imperial; and on account of
its foreign commerce, is one of the most bustling places. It belongs separately to the
secular Emperor of Japan styled Koobo, who appoints a governor in his name: this
officer is changed annually, but after the expiration of a year usually returns to his
post; so that in fact these are governors; one in office, and the other out. The town
is surrounded on the land side by high mountains, that slope off gradually towards
the harbour, which is generally full of shipping. The islot of Dezima, which the
Dutch rent for a factory, may be considered merely as a street belonging to Nagasakki.
It has a communication with that place by a bridge, and at low water is only separated
from it by a ditch. Dezima is only 600 paces long, and 120 in breadth in this small
area the Dutch are cooped up, guarded in the day time, and locked in at night. The
company's store-houses are fire-proof; but the other buildings are all constructed of
wood and clay in the style of Nagasakki. On this island the interpreters have their
college, where a great number of them assemble during the periodical season of
traffic;
but when the annual ships are gone, only one or two of these officers come
there, who are regularly relieved every day. The principal exports from Japan are
copper, (said to be the finest in the world) camphor, lackered wood, porcelain, silks,
rice, and sundry minor articles. The greatest degrees of heat and cold observed at
Nagasakki by the traveller THUNBERG, was 980 in August 1775, and 35° in January
1776; but the season he spent here was universally allowed to be more temperate than
usual. MARCO-PoLo, the father of modern asiatic geography, mentions Japan by the
name of Zipangri, or Zipangu. The inhabitants themselves call it Nipon or Nifon.
The chinese call it Sippon, Jepuen, and Yat-poon; the latter from yat, sun, and poon,
:
397
We all agreed to go back to this place: the name of the port, as he called it
I may, perhaps, spell wrong; for I do not particularly remember it, having lost
this together with the names of many other places set down in a little pocket-
book, which was spoiled by the water, on an accident* which I shall relate in its
order; but this I remember, that the chinese or japanese merchants we corres-
ponded with, called it by a different name from that which our portuguese pilot
gave it, and pronounced it as above, Quinchang.
As we were unanimous in our resolutions to go to this place, we weighed
the next day, having only gone twice on shore, where we were to get fresh
water on both which occasions the people of the country were very civil to us,
and brought us abundance of things to sell to us, I mean of provisions, plants,
roots, tea,† rice, and some fowls; but nothing without money.
country, expressive of that luminary appearing to emerge from the ocean in the
vicinity of these isles. After the late conquest of Java by the british arms, one of
the early acts of the new colonial government was, an attempt at renewal of intercourse
with Japan.
In July 1813, the East-India Company's freighted ships Charlotte and
Mary, having on board Messrs. WARDEKAAR and AINSLIE, proceeding as commis-
sioners to Japan, with their suite, sailed from Batavia road. These vessels were laden
with very valuable cargoes, and the mission, which has been undertaken on a very
liberal and extensive scale, promises to re-establish a commercial intercourse with the
Japan empire. Four years had elapsed since the dutch government, at Batavia, had
any communication with Japan, and it is natural to conclude, that the factory must be
considerably distressed for supplies. The commerce of Japan is of peculiar importance
to Java, by affording a ready and advantageous market for the produce of that island,
and furnishing in return copper and camphor, articles always in demand. In this
present investment have been included several valuable articles of british manufacture;
and if the trade be again opened, it may be expected, that not only the advantages
formerly derived to Batavia will be resumed, but that a commercial intercourse, on a
more extensive footing, may be hereafter established. The Russians recently fitted
out an expedition, ostensibly for the purposes of maritime discovery, though of which a
principal object was to establish commercial relations between Japan and Russia; but it
failed. The commander (KRUSENSTERN) states, the emperor of Japan caused it to be
notified unto the commissioners whom he carried thither, that his subjects traded only
with the Dutch, and with the Chinese; that, as to the Russians, he warned them to
return to their own country: and, if they valued their lives, never to come back to
his dominions.
* An accident which the present edition of Robinson Crusoe is purposely intended
to rectify.
TEA: The dried leaves of the tea-plant, which grows in China and Japan, are a
commodity which, about 150 years ago, was scarce known as an article of trade; it is now
in common use throughout the british dominions, and in most parts of Europe and America.
The Chinese all agree that there is but one sort or species of tea-tree, and that the
differences in tea arise from the mode of curing, and the difference of seasons when
gathered. The tea-tree is an evergreen, and grows to the height of five or six feet;
the leaves, when full grown, are about an inch and a half long; narrow, indented, and
tapering to a point like those of the sweet-briar; of a dark green colour, glossy, and
of a firm texture; veined on the under side, flattish, and channelled above; the root
is like that of the peach-tree, and its flowers resemble that of the wild white rose, and
are followed by a pod about the size of a filbert, containing two or three grains of seed,
which are wrinkled, and very unpleasant to the palate. The stem spreads into many
irregular branches, inclining to an ash colour, but reddish toward the ends; the wood is
hard, of a whitish green colour, with a bitter, nauseous, and astringent taste. The
leaves are not fit to be plucked until the shrub is three years old; iu seven years it rises
to about six feet; it is then cut down to the stem, and this produces a new crop of fresh
shoots the following year, every one of which bears nearly as many leaves as a whole
shrub. Sometimes the plants are not cut down till they are ten years old. The trees are
not manured, but the ground is kept clean and free from weeds. The tea is not always
gathered by the single leaves, but often by sprigs, and generally by men, though women
and children also gather it. It is gathered from morning till night, when the dew is on
the leaves, as well as when off. Teas are generally in parcels, called Chops by the Chinese,
consisting of from 100 to 1000 chests each, bearing the name of the grower, or place
398
1
We came to the other port (the wind being contrary) not till five days, but it
was very much to our satisfaction; and I was joyful, and, I may say, thankful,
where grown; and they are, generally speaking, found to be of an equal quality
throughout, although, from a variety of seasons, or some other cause, it is found fresher
and better in one year than another. Teas are divided into black and green. The
former are again divided as follow:
Black Teas.-I. Bohea, or Voo-yee, the name of the country, is in the province of Fokien,
and is very hilly; not only the hills are planted with tea-trees,but the valleys also: the former
are reckoned to produce the best tea. On them grow congou, peko, and souchong;
in the valleys, or flat parts of the country, bohea. There are four or five gatherings of
bohea tea in a year, according to the demand there is for it, but three, or at most four
gatherings, are reckoned proper; the others only hurt the next year's crop.
Of sou-
chong, there can be but one gathering, which is of the first and youngest leaves: all
others make inferior tea.
The first gathering is called tow-chune, and is from about the middle of April to the
end of May, and the leaves are reckoned fat and oily. The second gathering is called
curl, or gee-chune, and is from about the middle of June to the middle of July; these
leaves are less fat or oily. The third gathering is called san-chune, and is from the be-
ginning of August to the end of September; these leaves are scarcely at all fat or oily,
yet they look young. The following is the method of curing bohea :-
When the leaves are gathered, they are put into large flat baskets to dry, and these
are put upon shelves or planks in the air or wind, or in the sun, if not too intense, from
morning until noon, at which time the leaves begin to throw out a smell; then they are
tatched. This is done by throwing about half a catty each time of leaves into the
tatche (which is a flat pan of cast-iron), and stirring them quick with the hand twice, the
tatche being very hot; they are then taken out, and again put into the large flat baskets,
and rubbed by men's hands to roll them; after which they are tatched in larger quan
tities, and over a slower fire, and then put into baskets over a charcoal fire, as it is prac-
tised on some occasions in Canton. When the tea is fired enough, which a person of
skill directs, it is spread on a table and separated from the too large leaves, and those
that are unrolled, yellow, broken, or bad.
Bohea tea is never imported by individuals: but it forms about one-sixth of the com-
pany's imports, being on an average of ten years, 1791 to 1800, 3310135lbs. per an-
num. Being a common tea, it is not so carefully examined as the better sorts. The
best is of a small blackish leaf, and dusty-to the smell somewhat resembling burnt hay;
of a rough and brackish taste; and it should be crisp. Reject those that are yellow; or,
though good in appearance, smell faint and disagreeable. The chops or parcels of
bohea teas have no names, or distinguishing characters.
It is understood the company have recently sent out orders to their supra-cargos at
China, that, in future, bohea tea should not form a part of their investments.
:
II. Congou, or Cong-foo, great or much care in the making, or gathering the leaves.
This tea is tatched twice, though some say both it and souchong are not tatched, but
only fired two or three times the latter is most probable, and yet the former may be
true; for, as tatching seems to give the green colour to the leaves, so we may observe
something of that greenness in the leaves of congou and souchong teas. It is further
stated, that the leaves of souchong, congou, hyson, and fine single teas, are beat with
flat sticks or bamboos, after they have been withered by the sun or air, and have ac-
quired toughness enough to keep them from breaking, to force out of them a raw or
harsh smell.
The trade in London make three sorts of congou teas, viz. congou, campoi-congou,
and ankay-congou. The following are directions for chusing them :-
Congou is a superior kind of bohea, larger leaf, and less dusty. It should be chosen
of a fresh smell, the taste less strong than that of bolea, to feel crisp, and easily crum-
bled; those congous which run broken and dirty, of a heated sinell, and faiut unplea-
sant taste, should be rejected. This tea does not yield so high a colour on infusion as
bohea; the leaves are sometimes of a greyish hue, and often black.
Compoi-congou is a superior kind of congou, from which it varies very little in ap-
pearance, taste, or smell, except that it is fresher, and of a cleaner flavour, more resem-
bling souchong.
Ankay, so called from the country that produces it, which is about twenty-four days
journey from Canton, is the tea from the bobea country propagated at Ankay. When
399
when I set my foot safe on shore, resolving, and my partner too, that, if it was
possible, to dispose of ourselves and effects any other way, though not every
gathered, the leaves are put into flat baskets to dry like the bohea; they are then tatched,
and afterwards rubbed with hands and feet to roll them, then put into the sun to dry. If
this tea is intended for Europeans, it is packed in large baskets, and those are heated in
a charcoal fire in a hot-house, as it is often practised in Canton. The worst sort of an-
kay is not tatched, but ankay congou, as it is called, is cured with care; this sort is ge-
nerally packed in small chests; there is also ankay pekoe, but the smell of all these teas
are much inferior to those of the bohea country; however, ankay congon of the first
sort is generally dearer at Canton than bohea. This tea is often mixed with the leaves
of other trees, but there are only two or three trees whose leaves will answer the pur-
pose; and they may be known when opened by hot water, as they are not indented as
tea leaves are; otherwise, from their resemblance, it is difficult to distinguish them.
This tea is sometimes taken by the commanders and officers in exchange for such part
of their investments as cannot be disposed of by a direct sale, and has at Canton a very
high flavour, but it flies off in the course of the voyage. The leaf is small and wiry, of
a burnt smell. It is not much esteemed in London.
III. Souchong, or See-ow-chong (i. e. small good thing), is made from the leaves of trees
three years old, and where the soil is very good, of older leaves; when not so good,
congou is made. Of true souchong tea, very little is produced; the value of it on the spot
is 1 to 2 tales per catty. What is sold to Europeans for souchong, is only the first sort
of
congou; and the
and the congou they buy is only the first sort of bobea. Upon a hill planted
with tea-trees, one tree only may produce leaves good enough to be called souchong, and
of these only the best and youngest are taken; the others make congous of the several
kinds, and bohea. The trade in London distinguish the following species of souchong
Souchong, or what is commonly called so. This tea should be chosen crisp and dry,
of a pleasant fragrant smell, and as free from dust as possible. When tried in water,
the inore reddish brown leaves the better, and the water of a lightish brown; it is some-
times of a high colour and sometimes pale; but the tea, if good in other respects, should
not be rejected, though the colour is not very high. Such as are broken, dusty, and foul,
or that smell old and musty, should be avoided.
Caper souchong; this tea takes its name from being rolled up somewhat resembling a
caper. The leaves of this should be chosen of a fine black gloss, heavy, of a fresh good
smell, taste full flavoured, and high. On being infused in water, it tinges of a bright
reddish brown colour. Reject that which is dusty and broken, and of a faint unpleasant
smell. This tea is not imported by the company, and only in small quantities by the
commanders and officers,
Padre souchong, or pow-chong; this is a very superior kind of souchong, having a
finer taste, smell, and flavour; the leaves are larger and of a yellowish hue, not so
strongly twisted; it is packed in papers, each containing about a quarter of a pound.
This tea is scarce, and difficult to be procured genuine; it costs a dollar per catty at
Canton, and is seldom imported unless as presents, as it is not considered to keep so
well as the other kinds of souchong. That which is small and broken, and that snells
musty or disagreeable, should be rejected,
Pekoe, or Pe-hao (white first leaf), is made from the leaves of trees three years old,
and from the tenderest of them, gathered just after they have been in bloom, when the
small leaves grow between the two first that have appeared, and which altogether make
a sprig, are downy and white, and resemble young hair or down. This tea is esteemed
superior to souchong. The quantity imported into England is inconsiderable. It is
purchased by the Danes and Swedes at Canton for the Russia market, and sometimes
sold as high as 80 tales per pecul; but in consequence of their trade being put a stop to,
it is to be bought at from 40 to 50 tales per pecul. This tea should be chosen with small
white leaves, or flowers at the end of the leaves; the more flower it has, the more it is
esteemed, It has a peculiar flavour, and a smell somewhat resembling new hay; it
greatly improves souchong on being mixed with it: that which is old, small, broken, and
with little flavour, should be rejected.
Green Teas are cured in the following manner. When the leaves are gathered, they are
directly tatched, and then very much rubbed by mens hands to roll them, after which they
are spread to divide them, for the leaves in rolling are apt to stick together; they are
then tatched very dry, and afterwards spread on tables to be picked: this is done
400
way to our satisfaction, we would never set foot on board that unhappy vessel
more; and indeed I must acknowledge, that, of all the circumstances of life,
by girls or women, who, according to their skill, can pick from one to four catties each
day. Then they are tatched again, and afterwards tossed in flat baskets, to clear them
from dust; they are then again spread upon tables, and picked, and then tatched for
a fourth time, and laid in parcels, which parcels are again tatched ten catties at a
time, and when done, put hot into baskets for the purpose, where they are kept till it
suits the owner to pack them in chests or tubs; before which again the tea is tatched,
and then put hot into the chests or tubs, and pressed into them by the hands. When
the tea is hot it does not break, which it is apt to do when it is cold. Singlo tea being
more dusty than hyson tea, is twice tossed in baskets; hyson only once.
It appears
that it is necessary to tatch these teas whenever they contract any moisture; so that if
the seller is obliged to keep his tea any time, especially in damp weather, he must
tatch it to give it a crispness, before he can sell it.
It is a common opinion that the verdure on green teas is occasioned by their being
dryed on copper; but it does not appear, from experiments that have been made, that
there is any foundation in that suspicion. The trade in London divide green teas into
the following sorts.
Singlo-There are two gatherings of singlo tea, the first in April and May, the
second in June; each gathering is divided into three or more sorts. The leaves of
the first are large, fine, flat, and clean; of this sort there may be collected from
a pecul, 40 to 55 catties, usually 45; the second sort is picked next, and what then
remains, is the third or worst sort.
Singlo tea is seldom imported by individuals.
Is of a flattish leaf. It should
be chosen of a fresh strong flavour; it is of a light green colour when chewed, and on
infusion, should yield a pale amber colour, and none of the leaves turn brown or dark
coloured, it should feel crisp. That which is yellow, of a large leaf, and dusty should
be rejected.
Twankay, or Tunkey, is a superior kind of singlo. It grows near the hyson country,
and is oftener tatched than the common singlo. Twankay, like other single tea, is
made into two or three sorts; the best is sometimes sold for hyson of an inferior
growth. It should be chosen with the leaves well twisted, it ought also to have a
burnt smell, not too strong, but pleasant, and on infusion, yield a paler colour than
single. That which is yellow, and the smell inclining to that of sulphur, should
be rejected. This tea is only imported by the company.
Hyson Skin, or Bloom tea, has its name from being compared to the skin of the
hyson tea, a sort of cover to it, consequently not so good. It consists of the largest,
unbandsome, bad coloured, and uncurled leaves that are picked from the hyson
tea.
Hyson Skin is a superior kind of green tea, of a round, knobby, brightish leaf; but
great part of what is imported, is of an inferior quality, of a yellowish open leaf, somewhat
resembling singlo, and, in consequence, varies greatly in price. It should be chosen of
a fresh smell, on infusion yield a pale yellowish green colour, and of a delicate taste
though somewhat of a burnt flavour, the more it approaches to hyson, the more it
is esteemed. The price of hyson skin at Canton, varies from 25 to 30 tubs per parcel.
Superior Hyson Skin.-This is a distinction inade in the tea trade to divide the com-
mon hyson skin and the hyson. This is said to be hyson tea a year or more old,
which, after undergoing the process of tatching, repeatedly, is brought to market a
second time; its appearance is much darker than hyson, with less bloom on it. Its
smell is somewhat musty, and the taste has more of that brassy flavour peculiar to
green teas, without the delicate aromatic taste of good hyson; on infusion, the water
is darker coloured, and with less fragrance than hyson.
of a
Hyson or Ile-chune, the name of the first crop of this tea. There are two gatherings
of it; and each gathering is distinguished into two sorts or more but as great care is
taken in gathering it, 60 catties may be chosen from a pecul of it, when only 45
catties can be chosen from singlo. Hyson tea should be chosen of a full size grain,
fine blooming appearance, very dry, and so crisp, that with a light pressure it will crumble
into dust when infused in water, the leaf should open clear and smooth, without being
broken, or appearing shrivelled, (which is one of the indications of old tea.) It should
give the water a light green tinge; the water should also have an aromatic smell, with
a strong pungent taste. Those leaves which appear of a dead yellowish green, or give the
401
that ever I had any experience of, nothing makes mankind so completely miser-
able as that of being in constant fear. Well does the Scripture say, 'The fear
water a similar tinge, or rather a brownish hue, should be rejected; likewise that
which appears highly glazed, which occasions it to yield a darker colour to water. The
price of hyson tea at Canton, varies from 48 to 60 tales per pecul. Gunpowder is a
superior kind of hyson. This tea should be chosen round, resembling small shot,
with a beautiful bloom upon it, which will not bear the breath; it should appear
of a greenish huc, and a fragrant pungent taste. The chest of gunpowder,
which is the same dimensions as that of Hyson, should weigh from 75 to 80 catties;
and the heavier it weighs, the better it is considered. Gunpowder tea is sometimes
adulterated; an inferior kind of tea is dryed and glazed, to bear the appearance of the
finest tea, but which on infusion, is very inferior in every respect. This should be
carefully avoided, likewise that which is open and loose, the face of a darker bloom,
or hue, and that has a brassy unpleasant taste. The price of gunpowder tea at
Canton is about 75 tales per pecul; the sale price from 7s. to 8s. per lb. the duty
payable by the purchaser; the retail price to the consumer is from 15s. to 18s. per lb.
Chulan Hyson is a peculiar kind of Hyson leaf, having the berries of a small plant,
called by the Chinese, Chulan, mixed with it, which gives it the cowslip flavour.
It should be chosen of a yellowish leaf, a fragrant smell, and when infused in water,
of a strong cowslip flavour. This tea is seldom imported but as presents.
Brush Tea:So called from the leaves being twisted into small cords, like pack-
thread, about 1 to 2 inches long; usually three of these are tied together at the
ends by different colored silks. These are made of both green and black tea, and,
like the former, are only imported as presents.
This
There are many different growths of Singlo and Hyson teas, and also some difference
in the manner of curing them, according to the skill or fancy of the curer.
occasions difference of qualities in the teas, as does also a good or bad season; a rainy
season, for instance, makes the leaves yellow, and a cold season nips the trees, and
makes the leaves poor. The Chinese at Canton also sell all sorts of old teas for new,
after they have prepared them for that purpose, either by tatching or firing, and
mixing them with new teas; but these deceits may, upon strict inspection, be disco-
vered; but where the advice of a person resident at Canton can be obtained, it is
preferable to a private trader's depending on his own judgment. The taste in Eng-
land should be the guide; as teas, which may please the sight and palate at Canton,
may, in the course of the voyage, lose their flavour, and be comparatively of little value.
The following are a few of the chops of hyson teas brought to Canton market, with
the number of chests usually contained in a chop, and a description of their quality,
according to the technical terins of the trade:
Chests.
Tien Hung ..104 best in market.
Hung Hung..100 mid. and good mid.
Hung Hee 140 middling.
Wun Hee...151 ditto.
Cao Mao....168 mid. and better.
Cowlong
Chests.
170 middling and better.
Mun Kee..140 ditto.
Khee Kee.. 110 ditto.
Hiong Chee 265 good middling.
Wo Hung 134 middling.
..
The surface of a chest of tea often carries a superior appearance to the middle or
bottom; it is therefore necessary to have some of them turned out. In the Company's
teas about five in every 100 are turned out of the black teas, but in greens not so
many, as the exposure of the air injures the appearance of the teas. Of teas purchased
from merchants who do not belong to the hong, it is necessary to be very particular
in examining them, as they are often falsely packed.
In taring goods, the scale in which the weights are placed, is allowed to prepon-
derate. On quarter chests, if on averaging those tared, they turn out even pounds, no
further allowance is made, unless the chest weighs gross 84lbs. or upwards, in which
case one pound is allowed for super-tare on each package; but if there be a fraction, it
is reckoned a pound as before: thus if the average tare be 36lbs, the allowance is 37lbs.
and if 36lbs. the allowance is 38lbs.
On whole chests, if, on averaging those tared, they turn out even pounds, 2lbs, are
allowed on each package for super-tare; but if there be a fraction, 1lb. and the
fraction wanting are allowed. Thus if the average tare be 66lbs. the allowance is
68lbs. and it is the same if the average tare be 66 lbs.
Robinson Crusoe.
[Naval-Chron. Edition]
DD
402
of man brings a snare:* it is a life of death; and the mind is so entirely
oppressed by it, that it is capable of no relief; the animal spirits sink, and all
the vigour of nature which usually supports men under other afflictions, and is
present to them in the greatest exigencies, fails them there.
Nor did it fail of its usual operations upon the fancy, by heightening every dan
ger, representing the english and dutch captains to be men uncapable of hearing
reason, or distinguishing between honest men and rogues, or between a story
calculated for our own turn, made out of nothing, on purpose to deceive, and a
The foregoing allowances on tea are also made by the Excise; but the customs allow
only the pound for a fraction as before stated.
Teas are generally allotted and arranged for sale by the East India Company,
according to the Chinese chops, which indicate them to be of one growth: all the
hyson teas of one mark or chop, being classed in the same bed or parcel, which thus
becomes almost synonymous terms: they are then subdivided into lots of a certain
number of chests, because it is found that the tea in each chop is always exactly the
same kind, although it may happen to be fresher and better in one year than another.
The number of chests in a lot are usually
Bohea..
Congou
Souchong
Single....
Chests.
Chests.
3
5
Twankay.
Hyson Skin
6
6
4
Hyson.
6
6
Gunpowder 2 or 3
1. Middling.
II. Good middling.
+ Fine.
The following are the Brokers Marks on Teas, and their Explanation.
M Musty and mouldy.
"Musty.
Is Barely sweet.
1 Ordinary.
9 Better face than the
[ Good.
† Very good.
Over any Mark.
SL Single leaf.
Flaggy.
w Woody.
os Odd smell.
common run of the
f
sort.
h Heated.
h Bloom.
L Large leaf.
sm Small leaf.
d Dusty.
bt Little burnt.
P Plundered.
D Damage taken off.
T Tared chests.
hb High burnt.
smo Smokey.
a
Signifies half a de
gree better.
sh Shippy.
The propagation of the tea-tree in Europe being very desirable, the following me
thods are recommended for preserving the seeds or plants from China.-Care should
be taken that the seeds are fresh, sound, ripe, plump, and moist internally; after
being well dried in the sun, they may be inclosed in bees wax; or, left in their capsules,
they may be put into very close canisters of tin ortutenague. In the directions given to La
Peyrouse by the french government, it is recommended that these, and other seeds, be
placed in alternate layers of earth in tin boxes, closed up exactly, and placed in solid
cases covered with waxed cloth; the boxes to be placed in a part of the ship least ex-
posed to moisture, and the most sheltered from extreme heat or cold. Seeds packed
in absorbent paper, and surrounded by raisins or moist sugar, are kept a long time in a
state fit for vegetation. American seeds are frequently brought over, by putting them
in a box not inade too close, upon alternate layers of moss, in such a manner as to admit
the seeds to vegetate. This might be tried with the seeds of the tea-tree; and, to suc-
ceed more certainly, some of the seeds might be sown in pots or boxes when the ship
arrives at Saint Helena, and after passing the tropic of cancer, or near the latitude of
30°. North. But the best method seems to be, to sow ripe seeds in good light earth in
boxes on leaving Canton, covering them with wire to prevent rats and other vermin
coming at them, and taking care that the boxes be not exposed to too much air, nor to
the spray of the sea. A little fresh or rain-water should be sprinkled on them now and
then; and when the seedling plants appear, they should be kept moist, and out of the
burning sun. If young plants can be procured in China, they may be sent over in a
growing state in boxes three feet four inches long, twenty broad, and as much deep,
having a few holes bored through the bottom.
*Proverbs, xxix. 25.
}
403
true, genuine account of our whole voyage, progress, and design; for we might
many ways have convinced any reasonable creature, that we were not pirates;
the goods we had on board, the course we steered, our frankly showing our-
selves, and entering into such and such ports; even our very manner, the force
we had, the number of men, the few arms, little ainmuuition, short provisions;
all these would have served to convince any incn that we were no pirates. The
opium, and other goods we had on board, would make it appear the ship had
been at Bengal; the Dutchmen, who, it was said, had the names of all the men
that were in the ship, might easily see that we were a mixture of English, Portu-
guese, and Indians, and but two Dutchmen on board. These, and many other
particular circumstances, might have made it evident to the understanding of any
commander, whose hands we might fall into, that we were no pirates.
But fear, that blind useless passion, worked another way, and threw us into the
vapours: it bewildered our understandings, and set the imagination at work, to
form a thousand terrible things that, perhaps, might never happen. We first
supposed, as indeed every body had related to us, that the seamen on board the
- english and dutch ships, but especially the Dutch, were so enraged at the name
of a pirate, and especially at our beating off their boats, and escaping, that they
would not give themselves leave to inquire, whether we were pirates or no; but
would execute us off hand, as we call it, without giving us any room for a de-
fence. We reflected, that there was really so much apparent evidence before
them, that they would scarce inquire after any more; as, first, the ship was cer-
tainly the same, and that some of the seamen among them knew her, and had
been on board her; and, secondly, that when we had intelligence at the river
Cambodia, that they were coming down to examine us, we fought their boats
and fled; so that we made no doubt but that they were as fully satisfied of our
being pirates, as we were satisfied of the contrary and I often said, I knew not
but I should have been apt to have taken the like circumstances for evidence, if
the tables were turned, and my case was theirs, and have made no scruple of
cutting all the crew to pieces, without believing, or perhaps considering, what
they might have to offer in their defence.
:
But let that be how it will, those were our apprehensions, and both my part-
ner and I too scarce slept a night without dreaming of halters and yard-arms,
that is to say, gibbets: of fighting, and being taken; of killing, and being killed;
and one night I was in such a fury in my dream, fancying the Dutchmen had
boarded us, and I was knocking one of their seamen down, that I struck my
doubled fist against the side of the cabin I lay in with such a force, as wounded
my hand most grievously, broke my knuckles, and cut and bruised the flesh, so
that it not only awaked me out of my sleep, but I was once afraid I should have
lost two of my fingers.
Another apprehension I had, was, of the cruel usage we should meet with
from them, if we fell into their hands. Then the story of Amboyna* came into
* AMBOYNA -This is the largest of those denominated "clove islands." It was
discovered by the Portuguese about 1511. In 1564, they obtained possession of the
island, which they retained until about 1607, when the Dutch made themselves mas-
ters of it, and of the neighbouring isles. At this time the English had a factory on it, and
were involved in frequent disputes with the Dutch. In 1619 a treaty was concluded
between the two nations, which stipulated that the Moluccas, Amboyna, and the Banda
isles, should be common to both; that the English should have one-third of the pro-
duce; and that each should contribute to the defense of the islands in proportion to the
benefit received. The conduct of the Dutch towards the English, soon after the treaty
took place, was so oppressive and over-bearing, that, in 1622, orders were sent from
England to withdraw the factory from Amboyna, and for the factors to return to Batavia,
It was at this period that the dutch colonial government projected those proceedings which
have remained so strongly impressed in the memory of the english nation, under the just
denomination of "the massacre of Amboyna.". On receiving in England positive ac-
counts of the transaction, the E. I. Company made application to the King to interpose
his authority with the States-general of the United-provinces, that redress might be obtain-
DD
404
my head, and how the Dutch might, perhaps, torture us, as they did our coun-
trymen there, and make some of our men, by extremity of torture, confess those
crimes which they never were guilty of; own themselves, and all of us, to be
pirates, and so they would put us to death, with a formal appearance of justice;
and that they might be tempted to do this, for the gain of our ship and cargo,
which was worth four or five thousand pounds, put altogether.
These things tormented me and my partner too, night and day; nor did we
consider that the captains of ships have no authority to act thus; and if we had
surrendered prisoners to them, they could not answer the destroying us, or tor-
turing us, but would be accountable for it when they came into their own coun-
try; this, I say, gave me no satisfaction, for if they will act thus with us, what
advantage would it be to us, that they would be called to account for it; or, if we
were first to be murdered, what satisfaction would it be to us to have them
punished when they came home?
I cannot refrain taking notice here what reflections I now had upon the past
variety of my particular circumstances; how hard I thought it was, that I, who
had spent forty years in a life of continued difficulties, and was, at last, come,
as it were, to the port or haven which all men drive at, viz. to have rest and
plenty, should be a volunteer in new sorrows, by my own unhappy choice; and
that I, who had escaped so many dangers in my youth, should now come to be
hanged in my old age, and in so remote a place, for a crime I was not in the least
inclined to, much less guilty of, and in a place and circumstance, where inno-
cence was not like to be any protection at all to me.
After these thoughts, something of religion would come in, and I would be
considering that this seemed to me to be a disposition of immediate Providence,
and I ought to look upon it, and submit to it, as such.
In its turn, natural courage would sometimes take its place, and then I would
be talking myself up to vigorous resolutions: that I would not be taken, to be
barbarously used, by a parcel of merciless wretches in cold blood; that it was
much better to have fallen into the hands of the savages, who were men-eaters,
and who, I was sure, would feast upon me when they had taken me, than by
those who would, perhaps, glut their rage upon me by inhuman tortures and bar-
barities; that, in the case of the savages, I always resolved to die fighting to
the last gasp; and why should I not do so now, seeing it was much more dread-
ful to me, at least, to think of falling into these men's hands, than ever it was to
think of being eaten by men; for the savages, give them their due, would not
eat a man till he was dead, and killed him first, as we do a bullock; but that
these men had many arts beyond the cruelty of death. Whenever these thoughts
prevailed, I was sure to put myself into a kind of fever with the agitations of a
ed, and that the guilty persons who had been instrumental in this disgraceful transaction
might be punished. A committee was appointed to take the business into consideration,
by whom the king was advised to adopt strong measures for obtaining from the govern
ment of Holland such satisfaction for the same as might be consistent with his justice
and honour, and such a compensation as the interests of his subjects required: in con-
formity to which advice, an immediate Order of Council was issued, to seize all dutch
east-india ships, and to detain them till reparation should be made. This measure
brought a conciliatory, but not satisfactory answer, from the Dutch: no farther steps
were then taken; and the death of King JAMES I., which happened early in 1625, put
an end to the business. The state of the public mind was such, that the dutch mer-
chants resident in London applied unto the Privy council for protection from the dan-
gers to which they declared themselves exposed from the numerous publications which
were disseminated, explanatory of the cruelties the English had experienced in the East-
Indies, more particularly at Amboyna. They represented, that a picture of the mas
sacre at this place had been drawn, which was calculated to inflame the public mind,
and bring its vengeance on them. This picture, the E. I. Company acknowledged to
the Privy-council had been painted by the Company's order, to be preserved in its
house as a perpetual memorial of treacherous and cruel rivality.
405
supposed fight: my blood would boil, and my eyes sparkle, as if I was engaged ;
and I always resolved that I would take no quarter at their hands; but even, at
last, if I could resist no longer, I would blow up the ship, and all that was in her,
and leave them but little booty to boast of.
By how much the greater weight, the anxieties, and perplexities, of these things
were to our thoughts while we were at sea, by so much the greater was our satis-
faction when we saw ourselves on shore; and iny partner told me he dreamed
that he had a very heavy load upon his back, which he was to carry up a hill, and
found that he was not able to stand long under it; but the portuguese pilot came
and took it off his back, and the hill disappeared, the ground before him show-
ing all smooth and plain. And truly it was so; we were all like men who had a
load taken off their backs.
For my part, I had a weight taken off from my heart, that I was not able and
longer to bear; and, as I said above, we resolved to go no more to sea in that
ship. When we came on shore, the old pilot, who was now our friend, got us a
lodging, and a warehouse for our goods, which, by the way, was much the same:
it was a little house, or hut, with a large house joining to it, all built with canes,
and palisadoed round with large canes, to keep out pilfering thieves, of which, it
seems, there were not a few in the country. However, the magistrates allowed
us also a little guard, and we had a soldier, with a kind of halberd or halfpike,
who stood sentinel at our door, to whom we allowed a pint of rice, and a little
piece of money, about the value of three-pence per day, so that our goods were
kept very safe.
The fair, or mart, usually kept in this place, had been over some time: however,
we found that there were three or four junks* in the river, and two Japanese, I
mean ships from Japan, with goods which they had bought in China, and were
not gone away, having japanese merchants on shore.

JUNK.-See page 395.
J
406
The first thing our old portuguese pilot did for us, was, to bring us acquainted
with three missionary* romish priests, who were in the town, and who had been
* MISSIONARY:-(Sce page 308.) D'ALEMBERT, speaking of this class of persons,
relates, that one who had spent twenty years upon a mission in Canada, did not believe
even the existence of a God. Nevertheless this atheist had numerous times run the ha-
zard of his life in defence of that religion which he preached among the savages. A
friend, well acquainted with his real principles, once expressed to him much surprise at
the warmth of his zeal; to whom the missionary observed: "Ah! you have no idea of
the pleasure there is in having twenty-thousand people listen to you; and in persuading
them what you do not believe an atom of yourself." The darling passion in the soul of
every missionary is, not to teach the great leading truths of the christian faith, but to
enforce the little paltry modification and distinction which he first taught from his own
tub. And, then, what a way of teaching christianity is this! There are five sects, if
not six, now employed as missionaries every one instructing the Hindoos in their own
particular method of interpreting the Scriptures; and when these have completely suc
ceeded, the church of England is to step in, and convert them all over again to its own.
doctrines. There is, indeed, a very fine varnish of probity over this ingenious and
plausible scheme, The missionaries complain of intolerance. A weasel might as well
complain of intolerance when he is throttled for sucking eggs. Toleration for their own
opinions, toleration for their domestic worship, for their private groans and convulsions,
they possess in the fullest extent; but who ever heard of toleration for intolerance?
Who ever before heard men cry out that they were persecuted because they might not
insult the religion, shock the feelings, irritate the passions of their fellow-creatures, and
throw a whole colony into bloodshed and confusion? The Editor does not say that a man
is not an object of pity who tormented himself from a sense of duty, but that he is not so
great an object of pity as one equally tormented by the tyranny of another, and with-
out any sense of duty to support him. These men talk of the loss of our possessions in
India, as if it made the argument against them only more or less strong; whereas, in the
Editor's estimation, it makes the argument against them conclusive, and shuts up the case.
Two men possess a cow, and they quarrel violently how they shall manage this cow ;-
they will, surely, both of them (if they have a particle of common sense) agree, that
there is an absolute necessity for preventing the cow from running away. It is not only
the loss of India that is in question,-but, how will it be lost?by the massacre of ten
or twenty thousand English-by the blood of our sous and brothers, who have been
toiling so many years to return to their native country. But what is all this to a fero-
cious methodist. What care brothers BARREL OF BAREBONES for us and our colo-
nies? If it were possible to invent a method by which a few men, sent from a distant
country, could hold such masses of people as the Hindoos in subjection, that method
would be the institution of castes. There is no institution which can so effectually curb
the ambition of genius, reconcile the individual more completely to his station, and re-
duce the varieties of human character to such a state of insipid and monotonous tame,
ness; and yet the religion which destroys castes is said to render our empire in India
more certain ! It may be our duty to make the Hindoos christians,-that is another ar-
gument: but, that we shall by so doing strengthen our empire, the writer of this denies,
What signifies identity of religion to a question of this kind? Diversity of bodily co-
Jour, and of language, would soon overpower this consideration. Make the Hindoos
enterprising, active, and reasonable, as yourselves,-destroy the eternal track in
which they have moved for ages,and, in a moment, they would sweep you off the
face of the earth. Let us ask, too, if the Bible be universally diffused in IIindostan,
what must be the astonishment of the natives to find that we are forbidden to rob, mur-
der, and steal?-we who, in fifty years, have extended our empire from a few acres
about Madras, over the whole peninsula, and sixty millions of people, and exemplified
in our public conduct every crime of which human nature is capable. What matchless
impudence to follow up such practice with such precepts! If we have common pru-
dence, let us keep the gospel at home, and tell them that MACHIAVEL is our prophet,
and the god of the Manicheans our god. There is nothing which disgusts more, than
the familiarity which these impious coxcombs affect with the ways and designs of Provi
dence. Every man, now-a-days, is an AMOS or a MALACHI. One rushes out of his
chambers and tells us we are beaten by the enemy because we do not abolish the slave
trade. Another assures us that we have no chance of victory till India is evangelised. The
new christians are now come to speak of the ways of their Creator with as much confis
407
there some time, converting the people to Christianity; but we thought they made
but poor work of it, and made them but sorry Christians when they had done.
However that was not our business. One of these was a Frenchinan, whom they
called Father Simon : he was a jolly, well-conditioned man, very free in his con-
versation, not seeming so serious and grave as the other two did; one of whom was a
dence as they would of the plans of an earthly ruler. We remember when the ways
of God to man were gazed upon with trembling humility,-when they were called
inscrutable, when piety looked to another scene or existence for the true explanation
of this ambiguous and distressing world. We were taught in our childhood that this
was true religion; but it turns out now to be nothing but atheisin and infidelity. When
the tenacity of the Hindoos, on the subject of their religion, is adduced as a reason
against the success of the missions, the friends to this undertaking are always fond of
reminding us how patiently the Hindoos submitted to the religious persecution and
butchery of TIPPoo. The inference from such citations is truly alarming. It is the
imperious duty of goverument to watch some of these men most narrowly. There is
nothing of which they are not capable. And what, after all, did TIPPoo effect in the
way of conversion? How many Mohamedans did he make?
Mohamedans did he make? There was all the car-
nage of MEDEA's kettle, and none of the transformation. He deprived multitudes of
Hindoos of their caste, indeed; and cut them off from all the benefits of their religion.
That he did, and we may do, by violence: but, did he make Mohamedans,-or shall
we make Christians? This, however, it seems, is a matter of pleasantry. To make a
poor Hindoo hateful to himself and his kindred, and to fix a curse upon him to the end
of his days!This, no doubt, may be very entertaining; and particularly to the friends
of toleration. But the Editor's ideas of comedy have been formed in another school.
He is dull enough to think, too, that it is more innocent to exile pigs, than to offend
conscience, and destroy human happiness. The scheme of baptizing with beef broth
is about as brutal and preposterous, as the assertion that you may vilify the gods and
priests of the Hindoos with safety, provided you do not meddle with their turbans and
toupees (which are cherished solely on a principle of religion), is silly and contempti-
ble. After all, if the Mohamedan did persecute the Hindoo with impunity, is that any
precedent of safety to a government that offends every feeling, both of Mohamedan and
Hindoo, at the same time? You have a tiger and a buffalo in the same enclosure; and
the tiger drives the buffalo before him ;-is it, therefore, prudent in you to do that
which will irritate them both, and bring their united strength upon you? In answer
to all the low cant of certain authors the Editor has only to reply, that he is a sincere
friend to the instruction of the Hindoos. He admits the hindoo religion to be full of
follies and enormities ;-he thinks religious instruction a great duty;-and should think
conversion, if it could be effected by mild persuasion, and, above all, by good example,
a great blessing: but his opinion of the missionaries, and of their employers, is such, that he
firmly believes,in less than twenty years, for the conversion of a few degraded wretches, who
would be neither methodists nor Hindoos, they would infallibly produce the massacre of
every European in India; the loss of our settlements; and consequently of the chance of
that slow, solid, and temperate, introduction of christianity, which the superiority of the
european character may ultimately effect in the castern world. The Editor recommends
the following answer of Lord MACARTNEY, to a charge of proselytizing, to the attention
of certain well-disposed persons in this island, who have conceived so earnest a desire for
the conversion of our eastern subjects:-" To this, I, [the ambassador] replied: that,
whatever might be the practice of some Europeans, the English never attempted to dis-
pute, or disturb, the worship or tenets of others, being persuaded that the Supreme Go-
vernor of the universe was equally pleased with the homage of all his creatures, when
proceeding from sincere devotion, whether according to one mode or another, of the
various religions which he permitted to be published: that the English came to China
with no such views, as was evident from their merchants at Canton and Macao, having
no priests or chaplains belonging to them as the other Europeans had; and that so far
from an idea of that kid entering into my mind, or my commission, I had not, in my
whole train, any person of the clerical character, and that it was such persons only
who were employed as the instruments of conversion; that it was true, as stated in the
letter, the English had been anciently of the same religion as the Portuguese and the other
missionaries, and had adopted another; but that one of the principal differences be-
tween us and them, was, our not having the same zeal for making proselytes which they
had."
".
408
Portuguese, and the other a Genoese; but Father Simon was courteous, easy in his
manner, and very agreeable company; the other two were more reserved, seemned
rigid and austere, and applied seriously to the work they came about, viz. to talk
with, and insinuate themselves among the inhabitants, wherever they had op-
portunity. We often ate and drank with those men and although I must
confess the conversion, as they call it, of the Chinese people to Christianity,
seems to amount to little more than letting them know the name of Christ, say
some prayers to the Virgin Mary and her Son, in a tongue which they understand
not,* and to cross themselves, and the like; yet it must be confessed that these
The ritual of the romish church is in general so little understood by protestants, and
by the prejudiced portion, so misrepresented, and the use of the latin tongue more espe-
cially so condemned with a degree of presumption, the usual concomitant of ignorance,
that the Editor thinks it necessary to offer a few remarks for the information of readers
in general little accustomed to the scenes described, and perhaps totally unacquainted
with many of the subjects alluded to. To such the following particulars may not he
unacceptable. They are extracted from an instructive publication of recent date, dis-
tinguishable for accuracy and candor." The mass is the communion service, or conse-
cration and administration of the holy sacrament. High mass is the same service,
accompanied by all the ceremonies which custom and authority have annexed to its cele-
bration. These ceremonies are in general very ancient, and may be traced as far back
as the third century. The language is that which prevailed at the period of the intro-
duction of christianity; the dresses are nearly of the same era. The surplice, called in
latin alba, was probably borrowed from the linen ephod worn by the Levites in their
functions under the old law. The other vestments are Roman. The Stola, called
originally Orarium or Sudarium, was a long stripe of linen worn round the neck by per-
sons of distinction, and particularly magistrates or public speakers; it was intended, as
its primitive name imports, for the same purposes as a handkerchief. The Manipulus,
or Mappula was a handkerchief to replace the Stola, when the latter in process of time
had become an ornament only. The upper vestment, called Casibulum or Planeta, was
originally a garment of a circular form, with an opening in the centre for the head, so
that, when put on, it hung down to the ground on all sides, and entirely covered the
body. It was raised when the action of the arms was necessary, and sometimes tied up
with ribands and tassels; it is peculiarly appropriated to the bishop or priest who
officiates at the altar, and is used at mass only. On other occasions, the bishop or
priest who presides wears the Cope, the ancient Toga, bordered on each side by the
Latus Clavus. This robe is the ordinary dress of the Pope in church, and on occasions
of ceremony. The Dalmatica and Tunica are the distinctive dresses of the deacon and
subdeacon. These garments, which naturally derive grace and beauty from their form
and drapery, are ennobled by their antiquity, and sanctified by their appropriation to
the altar. They combine decency and majesty, they distinguish the public man from
the individual, and, like the robes of kings and magistrates, garnish the exercise of
office, and teach the minister to respect himself, and both the minister and the people
to reverence the sacred charge of public function. The use of torches and of incense is
supposed to have been introduced into the church in the fourth century; it originated
in the east, but soon became general: it was founded on figurative reasons. The for-
mer were borne before the Book of the Gospels, and reminded the faithful of the light
diffused over the universe by the promulgation of the sacred volume, and of " that truẹ
light that enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world." (St. John, i.) The latter
had been expressly commanded in the Old Law, and was considered in the New as a
fit accompaniment to " be offered with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar before
the throne." (Rev. viii.) The most solemn part of the service is recited in a low tonę,
audible only to those who surround the altar, a circumstance which surprises protes-
tants, and has frequently been censured with severity. However, this custom is almost
coëval with the liturgy itself, and seems to have commenced almost immediately after
the apostolic age. It was in all probability a measure of precaution. One of the most
sacred rites of christianity, that of baptism, had been exposed to public ridicule on the
stage, and to prevent the recurrence of a similar profanation, in a more awful institu-
tion, it was thought prudent to confine the knowledge of the eucharistic prayer to the
clerical order. When a custom is once established, reasons are never wanting to justify
its continuance, and the secrecy which the fear of profanation rendered necessary in
times of persecution, was continued from motives of respect in the days of Christian
409
religious, whom we call missionaries, have a firm belief that these people shall be
saved, and that they are the instrument of it; and, on this account, they under-
go, not only the fatigue of the voyage, and hazards of living in such places, but
oftentimes death itself, with the most violent tortures, for the sake of this work;
and it would be a great want of charity in us, whatever opinion we have of the
work itself, and the manner of their doing it, if we should not have a good opinion
of their zeal, who undertake it with so many hazards, and who have no prospect
of the least temporal advantage to themselves.
But to return to my story: this french priest, Father Simon, was appointed, it
seems, by order of the chief of the mission, to go up to Pekin, the royal seat of
the chinese emperor, and waited only for another priest, who was ordered to
come to him from Macao, to go along with him, and we scarce ever met together,
but he was inviting me to go that journey with him, telling me how he would show
me all the glorious things of that mighty empire, and, among the rest, the greatest
city in the world, a city,' said he, that your London and our Paris, put toge-
ther, cannot be equal to.' This was the city of Pekin, which, I confess, is very
great, and infinitely full of people; but as I looked on those things with different
eyes from other men, so I shall give my opinion of them in a few words, when I
come, in the course of my travels, to speak more particularly of them.
But, first, I come to my friar, or missionary: dining with him one day, and be-
ing very merry together, I showed some little inclination to go with him, and he
pressed me and my partner very hard, and with a great many persuasions, to con-
sent. 'Why, Father Simon,' says my partner, why should you desire our com-
pany so much? You know we are heretics, and you do not love us, nor can keep
us company with '
any pleasure.' 'O,' says he, you may, perhaps, be good ca-
tholics in time: my business here is to convert heathens; and who knows but I
may convert you too? Very well, Father,' said I; so you will preach to us
all the way.'
I will not be troublesome to you,' said he. 'Our religion does
not divest us of good manners: besides,' said he, we are here like countrymen,
and so we are, compared to the place we are in; and if you are hugonots* and I
prosperity. Every person acquainted with ecclesiastical antiquity, knows with what
extreme delicacy the Fathers of the fourth century speak of the mysteries, and of
course will not wonder that the Roman church, which glories in its adherence to anti-
quity, should continue the same practice. Besides, it is considered as more con-
formable to the nature of the mysterious institution, and more favourable to the indul-
gence of devotion, both in the priest and congregation, than the most emphatic and
solemn recitation. Impressed with this idea, the Greeks have from time immemorial
drawn curtains, and in latter ages raised a screen before the altar, that conceals the
priest from public view, and environs him as the High-Priest of old when he entered
the Holy of Holies, with the awful solitude of the sanctuary. The laity at present lose
nothing by this silence, as they have the form of consecration, and indeed the whole
service translated in their prayer-books. To conclude-The rites which I have
described are pure and holy; they inspire sentiments of order and decency; they
detach the mind from the ordinary pursuits of life, and by raising it above its ordinary
level, qualify it to appear with due humility and recollection before the Throne of
Jehovah !-(EUSTACE Classical tour through Italy, anno MDCCCII.)
* HUGONOT: HUGUENOT:An appellation given by way of contempt to the
reformed or calvinist protestants of France. The name had its first rise in 1560; but
authors are not agreed as to the origin and occasion thereof: but one of the two following
seems to be the least forced derivation. One of the gates of the city of Tours is called
the gate Fourgon, by corruption from feu-Hugon, that is, "the late Hugon," who
repaired the same. This HUGON was once count of Tours, according to EGINHARDUS,
in his life of CHARLES the Great, and to some other historians. He was it seems a
wicked man, who, by his fierce and cruel temper, made himself dreadful; so that
after his death he was supposed to walk about in the night time, beating all those he
met with this tradition the judicious THUANUS has not scrupled to mention in his
history. DAVILA and other historians pretend, that the nickname of Huguenots was
first given to the french protestants, because they used to meet in the night time in sub-
terraneous vaults near this gate of Hugon; and what seems to countenance this opinion
"
410
a catholic, we may be all christians at last; at least,' said he, 'we are all gen-
tlemen, and we may converse so, without being uneasy to one another.' I liked
that part of his discourse very well, and it began to put me in mind of my priest
that I had left in Brazil; but this Father Simon did not come up to his character
by a great deal; for though Father Simon had no appearance of a criminal levity
in him neither, yet he had not that fund of zeal and strict piety, that my other good
ecclesiastic had, of whom I have said so much.
But to leave him a little, though he never left us, nor soliciting us to go with
him; but we had something else before us at that time, for we had all this while
our ship, and our merchandise, to dispose of: and we began to be very doubtful
what we should do, for we were now in a place of very little business; and once
I was about to venture to sail for the river Kilam, and the city of Nanquin; but
Providence seemed now more visibly, as I thought, than ever, to concern itself
in our affairs; and I was encouraged from this very time to think I should, one
way or other, get out of this tangled circumstance, and be brought home to my
own country again, though I had not the least view of the manner; and, when I
began sometimes to think of it, could not imagine, by what method it was to be
done. Providence, I say, began here to clear up our way a little; and the first
thing that offered was, that our old portuguese pilot brought a japan merchant
to us, who began to inquire what goods we had; and, in the first place, he
bought all our opium,* and gave us a very good price for it, paying us in gold, by
is, that they were first called by the name of Huguenots at this city of Tours. Others
assign a more illustrious origin to that name; and say that the leaguers gave it to the re-
formed, because the others were for keeping the crown upon the head of the present line
descended from HUGUE CAPET; whereas they were for giving it to the house of Guise,
as descended from CHARLES the Great. But however that be, the protestants
were so powerful in Touraine, that they kept it's capital firm to Kings Henry III. and
IV.; and when the parliament of Paris declared for the league, the loyalists retired
to Tours, and erected another tribunal, which annulled all the edicts of that parliament
in favour of the leaguers. Others again derive it from a french, and faulty pronun
ciation of the German word eidgnossen, signifying confederates, and originally
applied to that part of the city of Geneva, which entered into an alliance with the Swiss
cantons, in order to maintain their liberties against the tyrannical attempts of
CHARLES III. duke of Savoy. These confederates were called Eignots, whence
Huguenots. The persecution which they underwent has scarce its parallel in the history
of religion: though they obtained a peace from Henry III. in 1576, it was only of
short continuance; and their sufferings, mitigated by the famous edict of Nantes,
granted to them in 1598 by HENRY IV. were again renewed, after the revocation of
this edict, by LOUIS XIV. in 1685.
:
*OPIUM-As this drug taken in proper doses will suspend the sense of pain, and procure
sleep it is a general opinion, that, in a larger dose, it will bring on the sleep of death,
and dismiss the wretched from anguish and sorrow, without a pang, and even without a
consciousness of their dissolution. This fatal error has induced many, who have been
weary of life, to swallow opium as a poison; and they have discovered, too late, that
life is not destroyed by this drug without a dreadful struggle, nor death brought on but
with great agony. It is so powerful and penetrating, that, though taken only into the
stomach, it will change the colour of the skin, and even of the linen that is next it so
small a dose as three grains of solid opium, would be of dangerous consequence to
the most robust; and if the quantity is increased so as certainly to kill, without the inter-
vention of remedies it produces a beat and weight at the stomach, extravagant spirits,
convulsive laughter, short and quick breathing, nauseas, vertigoes, vomiting, hickups,
outrageous madness, contraction of the jaw, convulsions, profuse sweats, universal
relaxation, and death. It is made from the heads of the white Turkish poppy, which
are bruised and pressed, and the juice thus obtained is dried to a hard substance, which
being formed into balls, or lumps, generally under a pound weight, is covered with
leaves, and in this form sent to all the markets of Europe. It is frequently adulterated
with the acrid juices of other plants, and is to be chosen by its colour, taste, and smell;
the best or pure opium is of a reddish brown, very bitter and pungent, but not so acri-
monious as to leave a soreness on the tongue; and of a strong but not fœtid smell:
that which is very heavy is frequently mixed with sand; and that which appears very
411
•
weight, some in small pieces of their own coin, and some in small wedges, of
about ten or eleven ounces each. While we were dealing with him for our opium,
dry, has generally lost its volatile parts; it sometimes happens also to be drossy, but
that may be known by cutting it into thin slices, and holding it up to the light. Of this
drug the College of Physicians have ordered only two preparations, one is an extract,
the other is a solution of that extract in wine, in the proportion of two ounces to a pint;
the extract is called extractum thebaicum, and the solution laudanum. The mischief pro-
duced by laudanum is more sudden and transient, that by the extract more slow and
lasting. The first and most powerful action of opium being in the stomach, the first
intention must be to blunt its acrimony, and evacuate it as quickly as possible; and the
next to support nature with warm nervous stimulents. If only the first symptoms appear,
which are the same with those of drunkenness, give as soon as possible the following
vomit :-"Simple spearmint water, and oxymel of squills, of each one ounce, and half
a scruple of the powder of ipecacuanha." Frequent draughts of water gruel, not too
thin, should be given to assist the operation, and the patient should be kept standing,
if possible. If the poison was taken in a liquid state, which may be guessed from the
smell of the first discharge, four or five vomitings may be sufficient; but if in a solid,
two or three more must be procured, by giving fresh gruel; for the opium, in a compact
form, will be the last thing thrown up; and if it should be found necessary, an addition
must be made of the ipecacuanha. To make the gruel in the most expeditious manner,
mix a handful of oatmeal with cold water, and pour hot water upon it; it will immedi
ately be fit for use, without either standing to settle or straining. When the vomiting is
over, place the patient in a bed or chair, but do not let him lie down, and cover the
body very warm, in order to promote a sweat; if time and circumstances permit, a warm
bath will be of great service. (This advice, in which Mr. AWSITER is not singular, is
directly contrary to that of Doctor JONES, who has written expressly on the sub-
ject: for he directs the patient to be kept cold; to be thrown into cold water, if
possible; if not, to be exposed quite naked to the cold air, and have cold water
thrown on him.) The patient, after the vomit, and during the sweat, is to be
supported by the following medicine, which will strengthen and brace the frame:-
Simple penny-royal-water, an oz. and an half; strong nutmeg-water and distilled
vinegar, of each two drachms; the cardiac confection, and powder of mountain vale-
rian, of each half a drachm, of syrup of saffron two drachms, and of tincture of castor,
20 drops." Mix these ingredients for one dose, and repeat it every half hour, till the
patient has taken four doses, and then repeat it every second, third, or fourth hour, as
the case requires. If alvine evacuation was not excited during the vomit, as it gene-
rally is by the effect of the oxymel of squills, it will be necessary to give a gentle
dose of the powder of jalap, corrected by a few grains of the aromatic spices; in the
mean time the patient, though in bed, must be kept from sleep by all possible expedi-
ents, by frequent draughts of white wine whey, by shaking and applying oil of amber,
tincture of soot, assafoetida, valerian, and other antispasmodics, and continuing the
use of the correctors and nervous stimulents; if the patient cannot be kept from sleep
by this treatment, blisters must be applied to the arms, and the camphire julep may be
also added to the regimen already prescribed. This method will be generally efficacious,
when the opium has been recently taken, especially if the quantity was not large; but
as the patient must necessarily be weakened, as well by the effects of the poison, as by
the evacuations to carry it off, it will be necessary to continue the use of cordial and
bracing medicines for some days: it would also be proper for the patient to use light,
but nutritive aliments; to drink moderately after meals of some generous wine, and to
avoid sauces with butter, that tremors and loss of appetite may as much as possible be
prevented: if, notwithstanding, they do come on, tincture of the bark and elixir of
vitriol, in small doses, will certainly remove them. The method of treating a patient
when the symptoms are more violent, consisting of a heavy unnatural stupor, or of con-
vulsions and cold sweats, is in general the same as has been described, it being only ne-
cessary to increase the strength of the medicines in proportion to the power of the poison,
the constitution of the patient, and other concomitant circumstances. To illustrate
these rules, the author relates the following cases, with the method of cure. A man of
a strong constitution had taken an ounce of laudanum in small punch, drinking it by
glasses within the space of about an hour, and upon an empty stomach: as the poison
was thus gradually swallowed, it did not vellicate the stomach sufficiently to throw it up,
412
it came into my head that he might, perhaps, deal with us for the ship too; and
I ordered the interpreter to propose it to him. He shrunk up his shoulders at it,
and the patient having repented of his folly, endeavoured to surmount the effects of the
poison, by violent and incessant walking; the consequence of which was, that instead
of sinking into a stupor, he became delirious. When Mr. AwSITER was called in, he
found him mad, with a laboured respiration, florid complexion, fixed and distorted eye,
and faultering speech; the pulse, at the same time, moving slowly, but with great dis-
tension of the vessel there was also a cold moisture on the extream parts, which were
flaccid; there were also frequent convulsive twitchings, and a violent tremor. A
vomiting portion was immediately administered, which, by the help of gruel, soon
operated; and after the operation, a nervous cordial draught, of the same kind with
that already described, increasing the quantity of acid with castor instead of valerian,
the patient was placed sitting upright in bed, and being covered warm, soon fell into a
profuse sweat: he drank plentifully and frequently of warm whey: blisters were
applied to the arms, and the first four draughts were taken within two hours: his pulse
then grew full and regular, and the extreme parts warm. As he had then had no
stool, one scruple of jalap was administered, properly corrected, which produced its
effect the acid in each draught was then reduced, but they were still administered
night and morning for a few days, with a cordial julep to take occasionally when
the spirits were languid. By this process, the patient perfectly recovered.
A young woman about eighteen, of a slender, delicate constitution, being unhappily
with child, swallowed an ounce of laudanum which continued to work its effects,
without interruption, for about an hour. Mr. AwSITER was then called in, who found
her lying on a bed in a profound stupor, with inclination, but inability to vomit; hick-
uppings, an unequal pulse, convulsions, contraction of the jaw, profuse and cold
sweats, with a total relaxation of the extreme parts. He immediately ordered her to
be raised to a sitting posture, supported by attendants on each side, and gave her half a
drachm of ipecacuanha, and half a drachm of russia castor in powder, mixed with
warm water in a spoon: as it was not without great difficulty that any of this mixture
could be got down, half of it was lost by the way, yet the remaining quantity increas
ed the inclination to vomit, and gave an opportunity for pouring down warm water, and
in a short time she vomited five or six times; yet her senses did not in any degree re-
turn, her head falling upon her shoulder as if lifeless: the convulsions, however, ceased,
and she grew warm. He then directed her to be roused as much as possible, by mov-
ing her arms and body, and gave her in a bolus half a scruple of russia castor, half a
scruple of mountain valerian root in powder, with five grains of aromatic spices, and
a sufficient quantity of RAWLEIGH's cordial: this bolus was repeated every half hour,
taking after each bolus four spoonfuls of the following julep: simple spearmint water,
six ounces; strong cinnamon water and distilled vinegar, of each one ounce; and six
drachms of syrup of clove gilly flowers. He also laid blisters upon her arms as soon as
they could be got ready; and, during the whole process, applied assafœtida drops to
her nose and temples. The julep, besides being administered after each bolus, was given
in small quantities almost every two or three minutes after the vomiting was over; or,
instead of it, sometimes wine whey, and the patient was soon in a profuse sweat: in
about an hour she recovered, though imperfectly, her senses and speech; she had soon
afterwards motions downwards, but with universal relaxation, and almost continual
faintings, which MR, AWSITER imputes to the neglect of those about her, who for some
time omitted to repeat the julep: the bolus, leaving out the castor and encreasing the
valerian to a scruple, was, with the julep, continued some days, and in a week the
patient was well: a sallow look of the skin, however, continued some time, but she
did not miscarry. It is a common, but pernicious practice among nurses, to give infants
syrup of the sleeping poppy, and other quieting medicines, particularly GODFREY'S
cordial, which has opium in it, and is very binding; it happens therefore more fre-
quently than is generally known, that very young children die of this poison. A little
girl, eighteen months old, having the hooping cough, the mother was advised, by some
silly wretch, to give it a sleeping medicine, called elixir paregoricum, every night: what
quantity was given, is not known; but the poor infant soon sunk into a heavy sleep,
which continued four and twenty hours, and during that time suffered all the progres
sive symptoms of opium, which increased, as usual, to convulsions. Mr. AwSITER
being desirous to avoid acids, as hurtful to young children, except they should be found
absolutely necessary, gave a large spoonful of the following mixture as soon as possible,
413
when it was first proposed to him, but, in a few days after, he came to me, with
one of the missionary priests for his interpreter, and told me he had a proposal
to make to me, and that was this; he had bought a great quantity of goods of us,
when he had no thoughts, or proposals made to him, of buying the ship; and
that, therefore, he had not money enough to pay for the ship: but if I would
let the same men who were in the ship navigate her, he would hire the ship to go
to Japan, and would send them from thence to the Philippine islands with another
loading, which he would pay the freight of before they went from Japan, and
that, at their return, he would buy the ship. I began to listen to this proposal,
and so eager did my head still run upon rambling, that I could not but begin to
entertain a notion myself of going with him, and so to sail from the Philippine
islands away to the South Seas;* and accordingly I asked the japanese merchant
and repeated it often: castor water, an ounce and an half; crabs claws and cordial con-
fection, of each one scruple; syrup of saffion, two drachms; and tincture of castor,
twenty drops. He also applied a blister to the back; notwithstanding which, the con-
vulsions increased, with short intervals of a total relaxation. He then gave the follow-
ing draught: two drachms of simple penny-royal water; half a scruple of the cordial
confection; three grains of powder of russia castor; half a drachm of strong cinna-
mon water; and half a drachm of distilled vinegar. Soon after this medicine was ad-
ministered, the child recovered from its convulsions, opened its eyes, and cried.
He then gave it a powder of rhubarb and jalap corrected, the quantity he does not
mention, which, in the course of the day, produced several evacuations; and in a few
days, during which the testaceous powders were administered to correct acid fer-
ments, the patient perfectly recovered. Where medical assistance cannot readily be
had, the patient must be made to vomit by whatever expedient can be best and
soonest tried, and the more quickly and copiously liquor is given the better. He must
also be kept in continual motion; and when he has done vomiting, a glass of white
wine, with a spoonful of good vinegar in it, must be given him, especially if he has
a tremor in a languid and relaxed state, the vinegar thus mixed should be frequently
repeated; and if wine is not at hand, water may be used with honey or sugar dissolved
in it, till it will bear an egg. If he cannot be kept moving, he must be covered warm to
promote sweat, but kept from sleep if possible; if he should faint, or grow cold, grated
ginger and beaten pepper should be added to the vinegar mixture; yolks of raw eggs
will also contribute to check the activity of the opium, and carry it off by the bowels;
and sweet-wort, if it happens to be within reach, will still do better.
* SOUTH-SEA-Geographers, following the distribution of nature, divide the con-
tinent of America into two great parts, north and south; the narrow but mountainous
isthmus of Darien or Panama, serving as a link to connect them together, and formning a
partition between the Atlantic ocean on one side, and the Pacific ocean on the other.
These great bodies of water were anciently distinguished by their relative situation,
under the names respectively of the North, and the South, seas, The appellation of
North," is found almost always applied in the history of the Buccaniers to that por-
tion of the Atlantic which washes the shores of Darien: but it now seems entirely
disused; while the Pacific still retains the synonym of the "South sea." This latter
was discovered in 1513. In the year 1805, a spherical chart of the Caraibean sea
from Trinidad unto Honduras was constructed in the hydrographical department, from
scientific surveys made by order of the spanish government. By this chart an im-
portant discovery was made. The bay of Mandinga, an inlet of the sea commencing
about ten leagues from Puerto-Bello eastward, penetrates into the isthmus of Panama
to within five leagues of the Pacific ocean. This basin, which is almost closed by a
chain of islots extending close to one another across it's mouth, has never been navi-
gated by any europeans except Spaniards; and was never supposed to penetrate to
any considerable extent into the land, as all the old charts (down even to that of BRYAN
EDWARDS in 1793) abundantly testify. A river, from the name of which the bay is
denominated, falls into the bottom of this gulf. This river is navigable; and comes
very near a branch of the Chepo, a large river which flows southward into the gulph of
Panama. We are not yet furnished with any satisfactory details on the navigable
state or capabilities of these rivers; but the bay of Mandinga has 10 fathoms water at
the entrance, which increase to 11 in the middle, and it has 6 fathoms to the very head,
The most authentic account we have of this portion of the isthmus is in a passage of
ALCEDO, which is worth transcribing :—“ El rio referido, [Mandinga] nace in las monta-
414
if he would not hire us to the Philippine islands, and discharge us there. He said
no, he could not do that, for then he could not have the return of his cargo; but
he would discharge us in Japan, he said, at the ship's return. Well, still I was
for taking him at that proposal, and going myself; but my partner, wiser than
myself, persuaded me from it, representing the dangers, as well of the seas as of
the Japanese, who are a false, cruel, and treacherous people, and then of the
Spaniards at the Philippines, more false, more cruel, more treacherous than they.
But to bring this long turn of our affairs to a conclusion, the first thing we had
to do was, to consult with the captain of the ship, and with the men, and know
if they were willing to go to Japan; and, while I was doing this, the young man,
whom, as I said, my nephew had left with me as my companion for my travels,
came to me, and told me, that he thought that voyage promised very fair, and
that there was a great prospect of advantage, and he would be very glad if I un-
dertook it; but that if I would not, and would give him leave, he would go as a
merchant, or how I pleased to order him; that if ever he came to England, and
I was there and alive, he would render me a faithful account of his success, and
it should be as much mine as I pleased.
I was really loath to part with him, but considering the prospect of advantage,
which was really considerable, and that he was a young fellow as likely to do well
in it as any I knew, I inclined to let him go; but first I told him I would consult
my partner, and give him an answer the next day. My partner and I discoursed
about it; and my partner made a most generous offer. He told me, 'You know
it has been an unlucky ship, and we both resolved not to go to sea in it again:
the rest.
nas de Chep", y corre al E. hasta desembocar en la ensanada, à quien da nombre: su curso
es de 4 leguas, y està prohibida su navegacion con pena de la vida, por la facilidad con que
se puede internar por el à la mar del Sur, como lo hicieron el ano de 1679 los piratas Juan
JUAN
GUARLEM, EDWARDO BLOMEN, Y BARTOLOME,CHARPS. La ensenada dicha en la costa
de la provincia y gobierno del Durien y mar del Sur en el mismo reyno, es grande, hermosa
y abrigada &c. (ALCEDO: Diccion. geog.) From the circumstances herein stated, of
this navigation being prohibited by the spanish government, on the express ground that
it might discover the means of repeating the expeditions of the Buccauiers from sea to
sea, we are entitled to conclude that extraordinary facilities for that enterprise are
here presented. But besides this, HERRERA the famed historian of South-america, in-
forms us, with respect to the transit by the river Chagre to Panama, upon indisputable
authority, that a canal of 9 leagues, through a country mostly flat, is all that is wanting
to complete the navigation across the isthmus, the rivers Grande, and Chagre, fulfilling
A third, and very recent speculation on this subject (in a french work en-
tituled, Les trois ages de colonies, by DE PRADT. Paris, 1801) is to operate on the
lake of Nicaragua. See the note on that word, page 188 of the present volume. In
addition to the buccaniering expedition of 1679, recorded by ALCEDO, there is in the
history of the Buccaniers, a journal of a similar expedition to the South-sea from the
year 1684 to 1688; written by the Sieur RAVENAU de SUSSAN. The party of free-
booters to which this person belonged marched across from the vicinity of Carthagena,
and after a series of maritime warfare on the southern coasts returned from the South
to the "North," sea (as it is therein always denominated) by another way that con-
ducted them to a river which springs in the mountains of Segovia, and discharges
itself at Cape Gracios-a-dios, on what is called the "Moskito shore." It is time for
the people of Britain to view with courage and with wisdom those great interests which
are involved in the fate of S. America. The question for discussion is not about the
monopoly of a sugar island, or the occupation of a rock in the Mediterranean; but it
is about the fate of 20 millions of mankind, and the destination of a country whose
extent is so great, and fertility so varied, as to be capable perhaps of affording luxuri-
ous subsistence to all the existing individuals of the human race. When COLON was
at Porto-rico in 1502, during his 4th voyage he received information that there was a
great ocean on the other side of the continent, extending southward; and all his
labours afterwards were directed to find out an entrance into the southern ocean from
the Atlantic; for which purpose he explored more than 300 leagues of coast from
Cape Gracios-a-dios to the gulph of Darien; but the actual discovery of the South-sea,
was reserved for Vasco NUNEZ de BALBOA.
415
if your steward (so he called my man) will venture the voyage, I'll leave my
share of the vessel to him, and let him make the best of it; and if we live to
meet in England, and he meets with success abroad, he shall account for one
half of the profits of the ship's freight to us, the other shall be his own.'
If my partner, who was no way concerned with my young man, made him such
an offer, I could do no less than offer him the same; and all the ship's company
being willing to go with him, we made over half the ship to him in property, and
took a writing from him, obliging him to account for the other; and away he
went to Japan. The Japan merchant proved a very punctual, honest man to
him, protected him at Japan, and got him a license to come on shore, which the
Europeans in general have not lately obtained, paid him his freight very punc-
tually, sent him to the Philippines loaded with Japan and China wares, and a
supercargo of their own, who, trafficking with the Spaniards, brought back
european goods again, and a great quantity of cloves and other spice and there
he was not only paid his freight very well, and at a very good price, but being not
willing to sell the ship then, the merchant furnished him with goods on his own
account; that for some money, and some spices of his own, which he brought
with him, he went back to the Manillas to the Spaniards, where he sold his cargo
very well. Here, having gotten a good acquaintance at Manilla, he got his ship
made a free ship; and the governor of Manilla hired him to go to Acapulco,* in
America, on the coast of Mexico; and gave him a license to land there, and
travel to Mexico,* and to pass in any spanish ship to Europe, with all his men.
:
* ACAPULCO:- A noted sea-port of Mexico, in spanish America, seated on the
Pacific ocean.
It is a miserable little place, though dignified with the name of a
city; and being surrounded with granitic mountains, its atmosphere is constantly thick
and unwholesome. The harbour however is safe, extensive, and beautiful; and being
the ordinary port for the Manilla galleon, it derives an importance from this circum-
stance, which has rendered it famous over all the world. When the galleon arrives, the
mexican merchants hasten to receive their commodities; but at other times the town is
little peopled or frequented. The S.E. winds in the rainy season, are singularly des-
tructive, while the salutary N. winds of the eastern coast are unknown here. Hence
Acapulco is scarcely inhabited by any spanish families, while there are about four
hundred families of chinese emigrants from the Philippine isles, of negros, and of
mulattos. Provisions are scarce; and the city depends for its supply thereof upon the
native mexican peasantry.
The geographical site of Acapulco is in 17° 10' N.
101° 45′ W.
* MEXICO:-(See page 47.) The importance of New-Spain, as indicated even by
its extent and situation on the map of the globe, strikes every eye: but the idea of its
importance is still very imperfect, while the extent of its moral and physical resources
remains unexplored. The Editor, therefore, is glad to avail himself of the recurrence
of the word, Mexico, in the text, for the purpose of laying before the reader, who may
be desirous of more ample information on this subject, an english version of the answer
given by CLAVIGERO (the author of the History of Mexico) to certain questions which
Don JUAN PABLO VISCARDO Y GUSMAN, a native of Arequipa in Peru, and an eccle-
siastic of the order of Jesus, had addressed to the former, touching the number of the
Indians vassals [vassalos] to the crown of Spain, and of the inhabitants of all classes, in
the three audiencias of Mexico, Guatemala, and Guadalaxara. The authenticity of
the letter in which these particulars are stated, has been respectably vouched for. The
following is a very literal translation: viz. "Answer. To these questions we cannot
return an answer completely satisfactory, because we have no written document respect-
ing the number of Indians, or other inhabitants in the district of Guathemala, nor any
individual who can inform us of his own knowledge. As to the audiencia of Guadalaxara
there are details enough in writing respecting particular parts of it, but not enough to
enable us to tread on surveyed ground with respect to the whole. The only thing we
can pronounce with certainty is, that of the four dioceses, comprehended in the
audiencia of Guatemala,-two, those of Nicaragua and Honduras, are ill peopled; the
archbishopric of Guatemala is extensive and populous, the Indians here being extremely
numerous [un numero exesivo de Yndios]; in the bishopric of Chiapa, although the popula-
tion does not correspond with the extent, it is still very numerous [contiene poblaciones
416
1
He made the voyage to Acapulco very happily, and there he sold his ship :
and having there also obtained allowance to travel by land to Porto-Bello,* he
mui numerosas.] In the bishopric of Yucatan, the number of Indians is very great.
The audiencia of Guadalaxara, which is greater in territorial extent, contains likewise
four ecclesiastical dioceses,those of New-Gallicia, New-Biscay, New-Leon, and New-
Sonora, in which, though the population is very inferior to the vast extent, are never-
theless contained many hundred thousand souls. We are assured by the missionaries.
whom the Jesuits employed there, that there are about two hundred settlements
[poblaciones] of Indians, besides 100000 neophytes. In the audiencia of Mexico, are
comprised the four dioceses of Mexico, Puebla, Mechoacan, and Nuaxaca, well
peopled. Don JUAN de VILLA, receiver-general of the royal quicksilver, published
at Mexico, in two volumes folio (1746 and 1748), a description of the countries
belonging to the viceroyalty of Mexico; in which work, drawn up by order of PHILIP V.
were exhibited the most minute details respecting the population. According to these
statements, four millions of inhabitants nearly, of all classes, were found in the four
bishoprics; but I have no doubt that they exceed, and by not a little, that number;
1mo, because the said author, in various provinces, presents only the number of
inhabitants assembled in communities or villages, not including those who lived dis-
persed in the country, and who are very numerous [numero infinito]; 2do, because
he gives us only the statements made to him by the Alcaldes Majores, whose interest
it was to make the number of the tributaries appear as small as possible. It is true,
that the audiencia sends occasionally through the province certain commissioners,
who are called sellers of Indians [contudores de Yndios], because they are charged to
count the tributaries, and to report whether the statements of the Alcaldes Majores be
oorrect; but it is also certain that these have an understanding with the Contadores,
and join hands in order to prevent detection; and therefore, we may without temerity
conclude, that the true number of the tributaries exceeds, by one tenth at least, the
number returned by the Alcaldes Majores. Doctor EGUIARA affirms, in the first volume
of the Bibliotheca Mexicana, printed at Mexico in 1775, that the diocese of la-Puebla
alone contains a million and a half of inhabitants. Those who are acquainted with
that great man, know that he is incapable of such an affirmation, without good reasons
to be assured of its truth. The diocese of Mexico contains, without doubt, as great a
population as that of la Puebla; and, consequently, we may believe, that these two
dioceses, taken alone, contain upwards of three millions. Those of Mechoacan and
Huaxaca are so well peopled, that no person who has travelled through them can
doubt, but the population of both, taken together, considerably exceeds that of Mexico
alone. From all this we may with moderation [prudentemente] infer, that the audi-
encia of Mexico, by itself, contains from four and a half to five millions of inhabitants.
With respect to the other two audiencias, although we have not so much information
as concerning that of Mexico, we are nevertheless persuaded that, within the territory
of the three audiencias, we cannot be mistaken in computing eight millions of christi-
ans, subjects of the crown of Spain. Of this number, somewhat more than the third
part are Spaniards, Creoles, Mestis and Mulattos; the other two parts are Indians.”
There remains to add that the geographical site of the city of Mexico, as recorded in
one of the most accredited works on that country is 19° 25′ 50″ S. 100° 5' 45" W. from
Greenwich. For the extract of a letter from the german traveller HUMBOLDT, in which
he brings a charge of plagiarism on the subject of a map of Mexico, against a well-
known english geographer, see Maval Chronicle: xxvi, 401.
*PORTO-BELLO:-A city with an excellent harbour in the territory of Tierra-firme
in South America, discovered, explored, and named by CoLON in 1502. Its geogra-
The
phical site is 9° 33′ 5″ N. 79° 50′ 20″ W. See Baval Chronicle: xxxii, 228.
name of Tierra-firmè proper, given to Panama, is a term adopted for the narrowest
part of the american isthmus, to denote that however narrow, it was firm land, or
belonged to the continent. The province of Darien is extended on both sides the
gulph so called; and from the proximity of the city of Panama, and a considerable
coast on that bay, reaches as far as the district of Zinu, with a certain length of shore
on the Caribbean sea. The ruins of New-Edinburgh are marked by LA-CRUZ con-
siderably to the W. of the gulph of Darien, a feeble memorial of the scottish settle-
ment. The Puerto Escondido is also called Escoses; and there is a cape called
Caledonia. In adverting to the local situation of Porto-bello, it is impossible to pass
în silence over the mightiest event probably, in favour of the peaceful intercourse of
417
found meaus, some how or other, to go to Jamaica with all his treasure, and
about eight years after came to England exceeding rich of which I shall take
notice in its place. In the mean time, I return to our particular affairs.
nations, which the physical circumstances of the globe present to the enterprise of
man:~the formation of a navigable passage across the isthmus of Panama,-the junc-
tion of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is remarkable that this magnificent under-
taking, pregnant with consequences so important to mankind, and about which so little
is known in this country, is so far from being a romantic and chimerical project, that
it is not only practicable, but easy. The river Chagré, which falls into the Atlantic at
the town of the same name, about eighteen leagues to the westward of Porto-Beilo, is
navigable as far as Cruzes, within five leagues of Panama. But although the formation
of a canal from this place to Panama, facilitated by the valley through which the pre-
sent road passes, appears to present no very formidable obstacles, there is still a better
expedient. At the distance of about five leagues from the mouth of the Chagré it receives
the river Trinidad, which is navigable to Embarcadero; and from that place to Panama
is a distance of about thirty miles, through a level country, with a fine river to supply
water for the canal, and no difficulty whatever to counteract the noble undertaking.
The ground has been surveyed; and not the practicability only, but the facility of the
work, completely ascertained. In the next place, the important requisite of safe harbours,
at the two extremities of the canal, is here supplied to the extent of our utmost wishes.
At the mouth of the Chagré is a fine bay, which received the British 74 gun-ships, in
1740, when Captain KNOWLES bombarded the castle of St. Lorenzo ;-and at the other
extremity is the famous harbour of Panama. For the accuracy of these statements, may
be consulted a curious and instructive work, drawn up and published, in 1762, from
the draughts and surveys found on board the Spanish prizes; from other accessible
documents, and from the statements of eye-witnesses. The title of the book, as it is now
but little known, it may be worth while to transcribe. "A Description of the Spanish
Islands and Settlements on the Coast of the West Indies; compiled from authentic Memoirs;
revised by Gentlemen who have resided many Years in the Spanish Settlements; and illus-
trated with Thirty-two Maps and Plans, chiefly from original Drawings taken from the
Spaniards in the last War, and engraved by THOMAS JEFFERYS," &c. Nor is this the
only expedient for opening the important navigation between the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans. Farther north, is the grand lake of Nicaragua, which, by itself, almost ex-
tends the navigation from sea to sea. Into the Atlantic Ocean it falls by a navigable
river and reaches to within three leagues of the Gulph of Papagayo in the Pacific. (The
reader may consult, on the facility and importance of effecting a navigation from sea to
sea by this extraordinary lake, a curious memoir by Mr.MARTIN de la BASTIDE, ancien
secretaire de M. le comte de BROGLIO, published in the second volume of "Histoire
Abregée de la mer du Sud, par M. de LABORDE.") Mr. JEFFERYS tells us, it was the in-
struction of the King of Spain to the Governor of St. John's Castle, not to permit any
british subject to pass either up or down this lake; "for, if ever the English came to a
knowledge of its importance and value, they would soon make themselves masters (f
this part of the country.' (See p. 43, of " A Description," &c. above cited.) What
ALCEDO tells us is still more extraordinary, that it was even interdicted, on pain of death
to propose opening the navigation between the two seas. "Eu tiempo de FELIPE II.'
says he,
se proyecto cortarlo, y communicar los dos mares por medio de un canal,
y à este efecto se enviaron para reconocerlo dos Ingenieros Flamencos; pero encon-
traron dificultades insuperables, y el consejo de Indias representò los perjuicios que de
ello se seguirian a la monarquia, por cuya razon mandò aquel Monarca que nadie pro-
pusiese 6 tratase de ello en adelante, pena de la vida." (ALCEDO, Diccionario Geografico-
Historico de las Indias Occidentales, &c.) A similar interdiction and penalty was ordained,
respecting the navigation of the Atrato, where there is only an interval of a few miles
between the navigable parts of the two rivers. "Es navigable por muchas leguas, pero
esta prohibida su navegacion con pena de la vida, sin excepcion de persona alguna, para
evitar los perjuicios que se seguirian a las provincias del Nuevo Reyno, por la facilidad con
que se podrian internar por el." (Ibid.) The Editor is tempted to dwell for a moment
upon the prospects which the accomplishment of this splendid, but not difficult enter-
prise, opens to our nation. It is not merely the immense commerce of the western
shores of America, extending almost from pole to pole, that is brought, as it were, to
our door; it is not the intrinsically important, though comparatively moderate branch
Robinson Crusoe,
[Naval-Chron.-Edition.]
"
ER
418
{
Being now to part with the ship, and ship's company, it came before us, of
course, to consider what recompense we should give to the two men that gave us
such timely notice of the design against us in the river of Cambodia. The truth
was, they had done us a considerable service, and deserved well at our hands;
though, by the way, they were a couple of rogues too; for as they believed the
story of our being pirates, and that we had really run away with the ship, they
came down to us, not only to betray the design that was formed against us, but
to go to sea with us as pirates: and one of them confessed afterwards, that
nothing else but the hopes of going a roguing brought him to do it. However,
the service they did us was not the less; and therefore, as I had promised to be
grateful to them, I first ordered the money to be paid to them, which they said
was due to them on board their respective ships, that is to say, to the Englishman
nineteen months' pay, and to the Dutchman seven; and, over and above that, I
gave each of them a small sum of money in gold, which contented them very
well: then I made the Englishman gunner in the ship, the gunner being now made
、 second-mate and purser; the Dutchman I made boatswain. So that they were
both very well pleased, and proved very serviceable, being both able seamen, and
very stout fellows.
We were now on shore in China. If I thought myself banished, and remote
from my own country at Bengal, where I had many ways to get home for my
of our commerce, that of the South-sea whalers, that will alone undergo a complete
révolution, by saving the tedious and dangerous voyage round Cape Horn-the whole
of those immense interests which we hold deposited in the regions of Asia, become
augmented in value, to a degree which, at present, it is not easy to conceive, by ob-
taining direct access to them across the Pacific Ocean. It is the same thing as if, by
some great revolution of the globe, our Eastern possessions were brought nearer to us.
The voyage across the Pacific, the winds both for the eastern and western passage
being fair and constant, is so expeditious and steady, that the arrival of the ships may
be calculated almost with the accuracy of the post. On the surprising facilities of this.
navigation, there is some interesting information given in an "Account of an intended.
Expedition into the South-Seas, by private Persons," printed in the Appendix to the third
volume of Sir JOHN DALRYMPLE's Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland. "From the
Bay of Panama," says that document," "ships are carried to the East Indies, by the
great Trade-wind, at the rate of above an hundred miles a day. From the East Indies
to the South-Seas, there are two passages.-One by the north, to sail to the latitude of
40° north, in order to get into the great West wind, which, about that latitude, blows
ten months in the year; and which, being strong, carries vessels with quickness to the
northern part of the coast of Mexico. From the extreme point of Mexico, in the
north, there is a north wind which blows all the way to the Bay of Panama, which
never varies, and which carries ships above a hundred miles a day, reaching to the dis-
tance of a hundred leagues from the coast.-The other passage is at 40° south, and is
in all respects similar to that in the north, a land-wind blowing from the coast of Chili
to the bay of Panama, of the very same description with that which blows along the
coast of Mexico." Immense would be the traffic which would immediately begin to
cover that ocean, by denomination Pacific. All the riches of India and of China would
move towards America. The riches of Europe and of America would move towards Asia.
Vast depositories would be formed at the great commercial towns which would im-
mediately arise at the two extremities of the central canal; the goods would be in a
course of perpetual passage from the one depository to the other; and would be received
by the ships, as they arrived, which were prepared to convey them to their ultimate
destination. Is it too much to hope, that China and Japan themselves, thus brought
so much nearer the influence of european civilization-much more constantly and
powerfully subject to its operation-would not be able to resist the salutary impression,
but would soon receive important changes in ideas, arts, manners and institutions?
The hope rests, at least, on such strong foundations, that it seems to rise even to cer-
tainty; and then, what glorious results might be expected for the whole of Asia, that
vast proportion of the earth, which, even in its most favoured parts, has been in all
ages condemned to semi-barbarism, and to the miseries of despotic power?
F
1
419
'money, what could I think of myself now, when I was gotten about a thousand
leagues farther off from home, and perfectly destitute of all manner of prospect
of return!
All we had for it was this, that, in about four months' time, there was to be
another fair at that place where we were, and then we might be able to purchase
all sorts of the manufactures of the country, and, withal, might possibly find
some Chinese junks, or vessels, from Nanquin, that would be to be sold, and
would carry us and our goods whither we pleased. This I liked very well, and
resolved to wait; besides, as our particular persons were not obnoxious, so if
any english or dutch ships came thither, perhaps we might have an opportunity
to load our goods, and get passage to some other place in India nearer home.
Upon these hopes we resolved to continue here; but, to divert ourselves, we
took two or three journeys into the country. First, we went ten days' journey
to see the city of Nanquin, a city well worth seeing indeed. They say it has a
million of people in it, which, however, I do not believe: it is regularly built,
the streets are all exactly strait, and cross one another in direct lines, which gives
the figure of it great advantage:

L
1
NAN-KINGA city situated on the river Keang, in latitude about 32° 5′ N.
longitude 119° E. It is a place of very great trade, being the antient metropolis of
the southern portion of the chinese empire denominated Mangi. The river is about
a mile wide at the city, and is navigable for vessels of considerable burthen. The
articles manufactured here are in general superior to those of most other places,
particularly a sort of cloth which bears the same name (corrupted in English to
nankeen), porcelain ware, and various kinds of silk goods, the raw silk being of the
best kind. The most striking and peculiar feature of this city, is one of those edifices,
which, after the Portuguese we corruptly term pagoda: perhaps this word may be
a corruption of poo-ta-la, derived from Boodha-luya (tartaric), Boodha's habitation,
meaning his temple, as a christian church is sometimes figuratively styled, "the house
of God." They have generally been supposed to be temples: but there seems to be
better ground for supposing them to have been chiefly erected as ornamental memorials,
being towers which sometimes are raised to the height of nine stories of twenty feet
each; whereas the temples are commonly low buildings of a single story. The tower
of Nan-king (represented in the engraving annexed unto the text), is above 200 feet
high, and clothed with porcelain. Nan-king was a residence of the imperial court
until the fifteenth century; and the walls are said to be 17 british miles in cir-
cumference.
EE 2
420
But when I came to compare the miserable people of these countries with our's;
their fabrics, their manner of living, their government, their religion, their
wealth, and their glory (as some call it), I must confess I do not so much as
think it worth naming, or worth my while to write of, or any that shall come after
me to read.
1
It is very observable, that we wonder at the grandeur, the riches, the pomp,
the ceremonies, the government, the manufactures, the commerce, and the
conduct of these people; not that it is to be wondered at, or indeed in the least
to be regarded; but because having first a notion of the barbarity of those
countries, the rudeness and the ignorance that prevail there, we do not expect to
find any such things so far off.
Otherwise, what are their buildings to the palaces and royal buildings of
Europe? What their trade, to the universal commerce of England, Holland,
France, and Spain? What their cities to ours, for wealth, strength, gaiety of
apparel, rich furniture, and an infinite variety? What are their ports, supplied
with a few junks and barks, to our navigation, our merchants' fleets, our large
and powerful navies? Our city of London has more trade than all their mighty
empire. One english, or dutch, or french man of war, of eighty guns, would
fight with, and destroy, all the shipping of China.* But the greatness of their
wealth, their trade, the power of their government, and strength of their armies,
is surprising to us; because, as I have said, considering them as a barbarous
nation of pagans, little better than savages, we did not expect such things among
them; and this, indeed, is the advantage with which all their greatness and
power is represented to us; otherwise it is in itself nothing at all, for, as I have
said of their ships, so may be said of their armies and troops; all the forces of
their empire, though they were to bring two millions of men into the field
together, would be able to do nothing but ruin the country and starve them-
selves. If they were to besiege a strong town in Flanders, or to fight a disci-
plined army, one line of german cuirassiers, or of french cavalry, would overthrow
all the horse of China; a million of their foot could not stand beforé ope em-
battled body of our infantry, posted so as not to be surrounded, though they
were not to be one to twenty in number; nay, I do not boast, if I say that
thirty thousand german or english foot, and ten thousand french horse, would
fairly beat all the forces of China. And so of our fortified towns, and of the art
of our engineers in assaulting and defending towns; there is not a fortified town
in China could hold out one month against the batteries and attacks of an euro-
pean army; and, at the same time, all the armies of China could never take such
a town as Dunkirk, provided it was not starved, no, not in ten years' siege.
They have fire-armis, it is true; but they are awkward, clumsy, and uncertain in
going off; they have powder, but it is of no strength; they have neither disci-
pline in the field, exercise to their arms, skill to attack, nor temper to retreat;
and, therefore, I must confess it seemed strange to ine, when I came home, and
heard our people say such fine things of the power, riches, glory, magnificence,
and trade of the Chinese, because I saw and knew that they were a contemptible
herd, or crowd, of ignorant, sordid slaves, subjected to a government qualified
only to rule such a people; and, in a word, for I am now launched quite beside
* SHIPPING OF CHINA-Naval architecture is still in a most contemptible state
among the Chinese; and their skill in navigation exactly correspondent. They keep
no reckoning at sea, nor possess the least idea of imaginary lines upon the globe
whereby the geographical site of any particular position may be assigned. When a
ship [junk] leaves a port on a foreign voyage, it is considered an equal chance that
she will ever return. Nor indeed is there any other of the arts in a state which
indicates a stage of civilization much advanced beyond the infancy of agricultural
society. Such is the sum of the testimony afforded by the latest european missions to
China; corroborating in a striking degree the remarks in the text, and demonstrating
ROBINSON CRusoɛ to have been a close and accurate observer.
421
my design, I say, in a word, were not its distance inconceivably great from Mus-
covy, and were not the muscovite empire almost as rude, impotent, and ill-go-
verned a crowd of slaves as they, the Czar of Muscovy might, with much ease,
drive them all out of their country, and conquer them in one campaign; and
had the Czar,* who, I since hear, is a growing prince, and begins to appear for-
midable in the world, fallen this way, instead of attacking the warlike Swedes,
in which attempt none of the powers of Europe would have envied or interrupted
him, he might, by this time, have been emperor of China, instead of being beaten
by the king of Sweden at Narva,t when the latter was not one to six in number.
As their strength and their grandeur, so their navigation, commerce, and hus-
bandry, is imperfect and impotent, compared to the same things in Europe;
also in their knowledge, their learning, their skill in the sciences, they have globes
and spheres, and a smatch of the knowledge of the mathematics; but when you
come to enquire into their knowledge, how short-sighted are the wisest of their
students! They know nothing of the motion of the heavenly bodies; and are so
grossly absurdly ignorant, that, when the sun is eclipsed, they think it is a great
dragon has assaulted and run away with it, and they fall a clattering with all the
drums and kettles in the country, to fright the monster away, just as we do to
Live a swarm of bees.‡
* CZAR:―This word is not, as is sometimes supposed, a derivative from the latin
caesar; but is a slavonic title, and in that language is pronounced as if spelt in english
chur, or jar; the russian cz having nearly the same power as the english ch.
+ NARVA-A town of Ingria, in Russia, in the government of Revel. The houses
are built of brick, stuccoed white; and it has more the appearance of a german than
of a russian town. In the suburbs, called Ivangorod, or John's Town, the stupendous
remains of an ancient fortress, built by IVAN VASSILIEVITZ the Great, impend, in
a picturesque manner, over the steep banks of the river. The principal exports
from it are hemp, flax, timber, and corn. Near it is the spot where CHARLES XII.
of Sweden, in his 19th year gained a celebrated victory over the russian army in 1700.
It is situated on the river Narova, 8 miles from its mouth, in the gulph of Finland,
68 miles S.W. of Petersburg. Latitude 59° 18′ N. longitude 27° 52′ E. The river of
this name runs a short course from the Chudskoï, or Peypus, lake, into the Finnic
gulph.
GENIUS, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS, OF THE CHINESE :-The Chinesc, who pay
the greatest deference and respect to old men, are, in general, of a mild and humane
disposition, but violent and vindictive when offended; always avenging themselves
in a slow but methodical manner. Some among them are so litigious as to dispose of
their property to maintain a suit at law, in order to procure the bastinado to his adver-
gary. And, as it sometimes happens that the defendant, by mean of a bribe to the
judge, transfers the stripes to the back of the plaintiff, this never fails to engender
hatred and malice, which and often in the destruction of life and property. But
though they are vicious, they love virtue, and honor those who practise it. And not-
withstanding they are consummate dissemblers of their hatred, they detest every action
which seems to betray anger or emotion. The sciences, the foundation of their nobility,
and preferments, engross all their ardor and esteem. Interest is one of the grand
foibles of the Chinese; and the extreme love of life another. Such as have only ten
or twelve dubloons in the world, will expend them in a coffin, twenty years perhaps,
before wanted, and look upon it as the most valuable moveable in their possession. The
Chinese, in general, are low in stature, and of brown complexions; though, in the
northern provinces they are as fair as Europeans. A perfect beauty among them
consists of, a large forehead, a short nose, small well-cut eyes, a large and flat face,
broad ears, moderate sized mouth, and black hair. The tahtar sovereigns have com-
pelled the men to shave their heads, leaving only one lock in the middle of the crown.
They have little beards, full whiskers, and some long hairs at the bottom of the chin.
Their dress consists of a vest with full long sleeves; over this they wear, sometimes,
a loose short coat; but in paying or receiving visits, they have a long silk gown, and
over this a kind of spencer, reaching to the knee. They always wear silk or stuff
boots, and have in their hand a large fan. They are exceedingly scrupulous in their
420
As this is the only excursion* of this kind which I have made in all the account
I have given of my travels, so I shall make no more descriptions of countries and
people,† it is none of my business, or any part of my design; but giving an
ceremonies and compliments; the whole of whieh may be reduced to bowing, kneeling
and prostrating, according to the occasion, and place, as well as age or quality of the
persons. And though from the prejudice of education, we may look upon their
customs as fantastic; the Chinese, in their turn may be tempted to look upon our's as
barbarous. Their feasts are peculiarly troublesome to Europeans, the whole being
made up of ceremonies and compliments. Their ordinary feasts require sixteen, the
more solemn twenty-four, dishes upon each table, as well as more formalities. Some-
times there are as many tables as guests, who sit upon stools or chairs; but ordinarily two
persons sit at one table, which is not covered with a cloth, but neatly japanned, at the
front of which hangs a piece of silk, decorated with rich needle-work. Two pointed
sticks of ivory or ebony, do the office of knife and fork; their meats are cut into
small square pieces, and served up in bowls; their soups are excellent, but they use
no spoons; so that after sipping the thin, the grosser parts of it are directed to the
mouth by their chop-sticks. After the first dish, wine is served in cups to each guest;
but none is tasted until the entertainer has first drunk. A comedy is acted during the
repast; and when the dessert is brought in, money is collected for the domestics.
Their marriages, like their feasts, are celebrated for several days, with much splendor
and festivity. IIusbands are allowed concubines, but they are subordinate to the wife,
Criminals are punished in China, proportionate to the enormity of the crime. Capital
offenses pass through five or six different tribunals before a definitive sentence be passed.
The women are kept in prison separate from the men; neither is the debtor confined
in the same place as the felon. For slight offences the culprit is bastinadoed; for
others, he is made to wear, night and day, a heavy wooden collar about his neck,
something similar to an english pillory. For certain enormities offenders are marked
upon the cheek with graphic characters denoting their crimes; others are condemned
to temporary or perpetual banishment, or to drag barks on the rivers for one, two, or
three years. Capital punishment is inflicted three different ways; by strangling,
beheading; and, for assassination, by cutting into ten thousand pieces. They have,
likewise, in China, two kinds of torture to extort confession. None are put to death
without the emperor's express orders; and these executions take place on a certain
day in the year throughout the empire.
5
*EXCURSION, TRIP, JAUNT, RAMBLE, TOUR:--Excursion is latin for a running
out; celerity of removal, and lengthened departure from the starting-place, are ideas
essential to the term. To trip is to move lightly on the feet;
Come and trip it as you go,
On the light fantastic toe,- (MILTON.)
4
A trip, therefore, is properly a pedestrian movement for an amusing purpose; but it
is applied to any short journey, which might have come within the limits of a walk.
Jante is french for the felly of a wheel: hence janter, to pat the fellies in motion: to go
abroad in a carriage. Those are said to be fond of jaunting, who from slight pretences
get themselves moved about upon wheels. A jaunt is any needless ride in a carriage.
Ramble is the frequentative of to roam: it means to roam repeatedly. A trip made up
of many strolls is a ramble. Tour is french for a turn or circuit. The essential idea is
that a return takes place; but that it be by a different road from the setting-out. A
journey made to and fro the same way is not a tour. A voyage round the world.
Faire le tour du monde. Many a pious pilgrimage has been undertaken, because it
promised an amusing trip, Country families often intervisit as much for the sake of
the jaunt, as of the society. We shall stop on our way to Edinburgh; and make an
excursion to the lakes; to ramble among mountains is always delightful: my daughter-
is reading EUSTACE's tour, that none of the classic spots may escape us, in our journey
to Rome.
เ
+ PEOPLE:Nation. People marks the connection of common subordination ;
nation that of birth: the one being derived from natus, latin for born; and the other
from populus, a stock of bees. A nation is a great family; a people, a great incor-
poration. We do not yet oppose the american nation to the british nation, because the
ies of kindred, the marks of common birth and descent, are not yet withdrawn; był
1
423
•
account of my own adventures, through a life of inimitable wanderings, and a
long variety of changes, which, perhaps, few have heard the like of, I shall say
nothing of the mighty places, desert countries, and numerous people, I have yet
to pass through, more than relates to my own* story, and which my concern
among them will make necessary. I was now, as near as I can compute, in the
heart of China, about the latitude of 30° N. of the line, for we were returned
from Nanquin. I had, indeed, a mind to see the city of Pekin, which I had
heard so much of, and Father Simon importuned me daily to do it. At length,
his time of going away being set, and the other missionary who was to go with
kim, being arrived from Macao, it was necessary that we should resolve either to
go or not to go; so I referred him to my partner, and left it wholly to his choice,
who, at length, resolved it in the affirmative; and we prepared for our journey.
We set out with very good advantage, as to finding the way; for we got leave to
travel in the retinue of one of their mandarinst a kind of vice-roy, or principal
magistrate, in the province where they reside, and who take great state upon
them, travelling with great attendance, and with great homage from the people,
who are sometimes greatly impoverished by them, because all the countries they
pass through, are obliged to furnish provisions for them, and all their attendants.
That which I particularly observed, as to our travelling with his baggage, was this,
that although we received sufficient provisions, both for ourselves and our horses,
from the country, as belonging to the mandarin, yet we were obliged to pay for
every thing we had, after the market price of the country, and the mandarin's
steward, or commissary of the provisions, collected it duly from us, so that our
travelling in the retinue of the mandarin, though it was a very great kindness to
us, was not such a mighty favor in him, but was indeed a great advantage to
we oppose the american people to the british people, because the ties of common subordi-
nation are wholly cut asunder. The word nation excludes, the word people includes, fo-
reign residents. The people of Prussia, the people of Saxony, are parts of the german nation.
* My Own :-suggests a dependence of property; mine a dependence of habit :
the house I hire is mine; the house I buy is my own. A workman to whom certain
tools have been allotted by his master, may with propriety say, these tools are minc,
although they are not his own, being the property of his master. The clothes of a
wife are her's, though in the eye of the law they are not her own, but the property of
her husband. Own is a contraction of owen, the past participle of the verb owe.
† MANDARIN:—a name given by the Portuguese to the nobility and magistracy of
the eastern countries, especially to those of China. The word mandarin, in this sense,
is unknown among the Chinese, who, in lieu thereof, call their grandees and magis-
trates quan, or quan fu, that is to say, a servant or minister of a prince. The etymon of
the portuguese appellation is the verb active mandar, command. There are in China
nine orders of mandarins, or nine degrees of nobility; which have as many different
animals for their characteristic badges. The first is distinguished by a crane, the second
by a lion, the third by an eagle, the fourth by a peacock, &c. There are in all thirty-
two or thirty-three thousand mandarins in China. There are mandarins of letters and
mandarins of arms; both the one and the other of which pass several examinations;
besides civil mandarins, or those of justice. Since the time that the Tahtars have
rendered themselves masters of China, most of the tribunals, or courts of justice, &c
instead of one mandarin for a president, have two, the one a Taltar, and the other a
Chinese. The mandarinat is not hereditary, nor are any raised to it but men of letters.
In fact, this classification and progressive rank, according to the course of study, of
these magistrates, from the village-judge to the prime-minister, is a practical illustra
tion of the principle asserted by BACON that "knowledge is power.' -The preceding
etymology is corroborated by the following statement in A general description of China,
annexed to "The embassy of the Netherland East-India-Company (1665):”-
"All
magistrates both civil and military, are called in the countrey idiome Quonfu, which
signifies men fit for council; they are also called sometimes by the name of Lavie,
which signifies Lord or Master. The Portuguesses call these magistrates in China
Mandorines, it may be from the latin word mandando; by which name the officers of state
in that countrey are also received and understood by us of Europe."
424
him, considering there were about thirty other people travelled in the same
manner besides us, under the protection of his retinue, or as we may call it,
under his convoy. This, I say, was a great advantage to him; for the country
furnished all the provisions for nothing, and he took all our money for them.
We were five-and-twenty days travelling to Pekin, through a country infinitely
populous, but miserably cultivated; the husbandry, economy, and the way of
living all very miserable, though they boast so much of the industry of the
people; I say miserable, and so it is, if we, who understand how to live, were to
endure it, or to compare it with our own; but not so to these poor wretches who
know no other. The pride of these people is infinitely great, and exceeded by
nothing but their poverty, which adds to that which I call their misery. I must
needs think the naked savages of America live much more happy, because, as
they have nothing, so they desire nothing; whereas these are proud and insolent,
and, in the main, are mere beggars and drudges; their ostentation is inexpres
sible, and is chiefly shown in their clothes and buildings, and in the keeping
multitudes of servants or slaves, and, which is to the last degree ridiculous, their
contempt of all the world but themselves.
I must confess, I travelled more pleasantly afterwards in the deserts and vast
wildernesses of Grand Tartary, than here; and yet the roads here are well
paved and well kept, and very convenient for travellers; but nothing was more
awkward to me than to see such a haughty, imperious, insolent, people, in the
midst of the grossest simplicity, and ignorance; for all their famed ingenuity is
no more. My friend, Father Simon, and 1, used to be very merry upon these
occasions, to see the beggarly pride of those people; for example, coming by the
house of a country gentleman, as Father Simon called him, about ten leagues off
of the city of Nanquin, we had, first of all, the honor to ride with the master of
the house about two miles; the state he rode in was a perfect Don-Quixotism,
being a mixture of pomp and poverty.
+
The habit of this greasy Don was very proper for a scaramoucht or merry-
andrew, being a dirty calico, with all the tawdry trappings of a fool's coat, such
as banging sleeves, taffety, and cuts and slashes almost on every side. It covered
a rich taffety vest, as greasy as a butcher's, and which testified that his honor
must needs be a most exquisite sloven.
His horse was a poor lean, starved, hobbling, creature, such as in England
might sell for about thirty or forty shillings; and he had two slayes followed
him on foot to drive the poor creature along. He had a whip in his hand, and
he belaboured the beast as fast about the head, as his slaves did about the tail;
and thus he rode by us with about ten or twelve servants, and we were told he
was going from the city to his country-seat, about half-a-league before us. We
travelled on gently, but this figure of a gentleman rode away before us; and as
we stopped at a village about an hour to refresh us, when we came by the
country seat of this great man, we saw him in a little place before his door
eating his repast; it was a kind of a garden, but he was easy to be seen, and we
DON. A spanish title of honor prefixed to the name of a hidalgo, or gentleman,
and derived from the latin dominus.
† SCARAMOUCH :-This word is the english version of Scaramuccia, the proper name
of a famous italian buffoon, or posture-master, who acted in England, 1673.
·
† MERRY ANDREW-From the saxon myn13, which signifies gay, cheerful, jocund,
frolicsome. Andrew is a proper name adopted from the greek Avdpías, i. e. manly,
masculine. JOHNSON gives no other definition than that it is a n. s. a buifoon, a zany,
a jack-pudding; and quotes the following examples:
"He would be a statesman because he is a buffoon: as if there went no more to the
making of a counsellor than the faculties of a merry-andrew, or tumbler.—(L'ESTRANGE,)
"The first who made the experiment was a merry-andrew.”
See Dissertation I. section ix. On the Clowns and Fools of Shakspeare by Douce,
vol. ii, 305. The mountebank's fool, or Merry-Andrew. Also see Douce's remarks on
the feast of fools. Archaeologia, xv. (A. D. 1806.)
1
425
were given to understand that the more we looked on himn the better he would be
pleased.
He sat under a tree something like the palmetto tree, which effectually shaded
him over the head, and on the south side; but under the tree also was placed
a large umbrella, which made that part look well enough. He sat lolling back
in a great elbow chair, being a heavy, corpulent man, and his meat being brought
him by two women slaves, he had two more, whose office, I think, few gentlemen
in Europe would accept of their service in, viz. one fed the squire with a spoon,
and the other held the dish with one hand, and scraped off what he let fall upon
his worship's beard and taffety vest, with the other, while the great fat brute
thought it below him to employ his own hands in any of those familiar offices
which kings and monarchs would rather do, than be troubled with the clumsy
fingers of their servants.
I took this time to think what pains men's pride puts them to, and how trou-
blesome a haughty temper thus ill managed, must be to a man of common sense;
and leaving the poor wretch to please himself with our looking at him, as if we
admired his pomp, whereas we really pitied and contemned him, we pursued
our journey; only Father Simon had the curiosity to stay to inform himself what
dainties the country justice had to feed on in all his state, which he said he had
the honor to taste of, and which was I think, a dose that an english hound would
scarce have eaten, if it had been offered him, viz. a mess of boiled rice, with a
great piece of garlic in it, and a little bag filled with green pepper,* and another
plant which they have there, something like our ginger, but smelling like musk,†
and tasting like mustard. All this was put together, and a small lump or piece
of lean mutton boiled in it; and this was his worship's repast, four or five ser-
* PEPPER: This spice is the produce of a vine which, in its own climate is a
hardy plant, growing readily from cuttings or layers, rising in several knotted stems,
twining round any neighbouring support, and adhering by its fibres, that shoot from
every joint at intervals of 6 to 10 inches; if suffered to run along the ground these
fibres would become roots; but in this case it would not be fruitful, the prop being
necessary for encouraging it to throw out its prolific shoots: it climbs to the height of
20 feet; but thrives best when restrained to 12 or 15; as, in the former case the lower
part of the vine bears neither leaves nor fruit, whilst in the latter it produces both
within a foot of the ground; the stalk soon becomes ligneous, and in time acquires
considerable thickness. The leaves are of a deep green and glossy surface, heart-sha-
ped, pointed, not pungent to the taste, and have but little smell. The branches are
short and brittle, not projecting above two feet from the stem, and separating readily
at the joints; the blossom is small and white, the fruit round, green when young and
full grown, turning to a bright red when ripe and at perfection. The fruit grows
abundantly from all the branches, in long small clusters of 20 to 50 grains, somewhat
resembling bunches of currants, but with this difference, that every grain adheres to
the common stalk; which occasions the clusters of pepper to be more compact, and
also less pliant. The plant begins to bear about the third year.
+ MUSK:-This very strong-scented substance is found under the belly of an animal
of the goat species, and is brought from China in round thin bladders, generally about
the size of a walnut, covered with short brown hairs, well-filled, and without any ap-
pearance of having been opened. The musk itself is a dry light friable substance, of
dark color with a purple tinge: its taste is somewhat bitter, and its smell too strong
to be agreeable in any quantity. It is met with in grains, which feel unctuous,
smooth, and soft, and are easily trumbled between the fingers. This drug should be
chosen of a very strong scent, in the dry and sound natural bags of the animal, not in
the factitious ones made of skins sewed together, which may be distinguished by the
closeness and length of the hair on the latter kind of bags, these having more than
the genuine, and that generally also of a paler color. A small quantity of musk
macerated for a few days in rectified spirit of wine, imparts a deep color, and a strong
impregnation to the spirit. This tincture of itself discovers but little odor; but on
dilution it manifests the full fragrance of the musk; a drop or two communicates to a
quart of wine, or of watery liquor, a rich musky scent.
426
vants more attending at a distance. If he fed them meaner than he was fed
himself, the spice excepted, they must fare very coarsely indeed.
As for our mandarin, with whom we travelled, he was respected like a king,
surrounded always with his gentlemen, and attended in all his appearances with
such pomp, that I saw little of him but at a distance; but I observed that there
was not a horse in his retinue, but that our carriers' pack-horses in England seein
to me to look much better; but they were so covered with equipage, mantles,
trappings, and such like trumpery, that you could not see whether they were
fat or lean. In a word we could see scarce any thing but their feet and their
heads.
I was now light-hearted, and all my trouble and perplexity, that I have given
an account of, being over, I had no anxious thoughts about me, which made this
journey much the pleasanter to me; nor had I any ill accident attended me,
only in the passing or fording a small river, my horse fell, and made me free of
the country, as they call it; that is to say, threw me in the place was not deep,
but it wetted me all over. I mention it, because it spoiled my pocket-book,
wherein I had set down the names of several people and places which I had oc-
casion to remember, and which not taking due care of, the leaves rotted, and the
words were never after to be read, to my great loss, as to the names of some
places which I touched at in this voyage.*
At length we arrived at Pekin. I had nobody with me but the youth whom
*See page 343, where there is a concomitant reason for the editor's present
undertaking,
+ PEKIN: Is the chief of the province of that name, and the capital of the whole
empire. It has nine great cities subordinate to it, with their dependent districts, dis-
tinguished by the additional name of Fu or Foo. These nine large cities have sixteen
less-subjected to their jurisdiction, which are also distinguished from the others by the
appellation of Cheu or Choo; and the less considerable places which are under the
government of the last, have superadded the surname of Hien. This extensive power-
ful empire comprehends fifteen provinces, which might more properly be called king-
doms; for, before they were united under one head, upwards of three thousand years
ago, each had its peculiar king, as at present, every province has its viceroy; all
which are subordinate to one supreme sovereign, the emperor. The province of Leao-
tung, though situate without the great wall, is also reckoned among the rest, and passes
for the sixteenth. Pekin is situated in a fine fertile plain, not far south of the great
wall, in the most salubrious part of all China, abounding with corn, fruits, herbs, and
roots, and all the necessaries and comforts of life, except that of tea, none of which
grows in that province. The frost is pretty severe there in winter; but the heat of
sunimer is moderate and supportable. When the Tahtars conquered this country about
a hundred and sixty years since, they drove the Chinese out of the city, but gave them
leave to build a new one, contiguous to the old town, which was then nearly square
but the additions since made have given it an irregular form. These cities called for
distinction sake Chinese and Tahtar, independent of the suburbs, which are very exten-
sive, are twenty miles in circumference. The whole were said to contain two millions of
inhabitants; but the account given to the english embassy stated the total at nearly three
millions, The principal streets are spacious, and three or four miles long. The shops
of merchants for neatness, and perhaps riches, excel most in Europe.
The name
of the tradesman and the articles he deals in, are placed over the shop door;
the entrance to which, besides being decorated with streamers, is embellished with
gildings, sculptures, paintings, and japannings, in a manner which attracts and charms
the eye. But the principal chinese shops and markets are kept without, in the sub-
urbs. Most of the inhabitants of Pekin are Tahtars, the walls of whose city are seventy
feet high, and perfectly cover the town, the houses in general being only of one floor,
on account of earthquakes, by which formerly the city of Pekin had much suffered.
The streets are always crowded, although chinese women never appear in them, except
in covered seats or chairs. The reason of this crowding is, that all provisions are
brought thither by land carriage, no river or canal coming within three miles of the
city; which occasion the streets to be filled with carts, camels, horses, and other
beasts of burden with their drivers; somuch that it is difficult to pass through the
}
427
my nephew, the captain, bad given me to attend me as a servant, and whe
proved very trusty and diligent; and any partner had nobody with him but one
servant, who was a kinsman. As for the portuguese pilot, he being desirous
to see the court, we gave him his passage, that is to say, bore his charges for his
company, and to use him as an interpreter, for he understood the language of the
country, and spoke good French, and a little English; and indeed this old
man was a most useful implement to us every where; for we had not been
above a week at Pekin, when he came laughing, "Ah! senhor Inglez,” said
he, "I have something to tell you will make your heart glad."
'My heart
glad?" said I, "what can that be? I dont know any thing in this country can
either give me joy or grief, to any great degree." Yes, yes," said the old man,
in broken English, "make you glad, me sorrow:" sorry he would have said.
This made me more inquisitive. "Why," said I, "will it make you sorry?"
"Because," said he, you have brought me here twenty-five days journey,
and will leave me to go back alone, and which way shall I get to my port after-
wards, without a ship, without a horse, without pecune?" so he called money,
being his broken latin, of which he had abundance to make us merry with.
(4
In short, he told us there was a great caravan of muscovite and polish mer-
chants in the city, and they were preparing to set out on their journey, by land,
to Muscovy, within four or five weeks, and he was sure we would take the
opportunity to go with them, and leave him behind to go back all alone. I
confess I was surprised with his news: a secret joy spread itself over my
whole soul, which I cannot describe, and never felt, before nor since; and I had
no power, for a good while, to speak a word to the old man, but at last I turned
to him, "How do you know this?" said I: “ are you sure it is true ?"
"Yes,"
said he, "I met, this morning, in the street, an old acquaintance of mine, an
Armenian, or one you call a Grecian, who is among them; he came last from
Astracan,* and was designing to go to Tonquin, where I formerly knew him,
but has altered his mind, and is now resolved to go back with the caravan to
gates in a morning or evening. The artificers, also, contribute to increase the crowd,
as they work in the houses of those who employ them, and are perpetually looking
out for business. The streets are, likewise, in the day time filled with inimitable
jugglers, exhibiting for money; auctioneers selling their goods, and quack-doctors their
medicines. The magistrates have also their guard whenever they appear abroad; and
persons of distinction a numerous attendance. All these circumstances combined, make
the town appear more populous than it really is. The palaces of the chief mandarins
occupy a great extent of ground, as they have only one floor. They consist of several
open courts, in which the buildings are not contiguous and they are so fond of pri-
vacy that they have no windows towards the street, neither will they suffer their neigh-
bours to have any which can overlook them; and there is a skreen always within the
gate to prevent strangers from looking in. The furniture of their houses consists of
pictures, japanned cabmets, chairs, tables, and varnished skreens; and their beds are
very elegant. Their curtains, in the summer, are of silk, and their counterpanes of the
same. They have no feather-beds, but sleep upon quilts or matrasses. Besides the
buildings before-mentioned, the missionaries have four monasteries, to which are
annexed four churches; some of these are within the boundaries of the palace. The
Jesuits' cloyster is encompassed with a high stone wall, having two handsome gates.
Within is a pair of globes of great magnitude, being nearly six feet in diameter.
Their church is a large, beautiful structure, of Italian architecture; decorated with a
number of images and altars, and furnished with an excellent organ; and a large clock
with a set of chimes. There is likewise a museum well stored with curiosities.
* ASTRAKHAN:-The principal city of Asiatic Russia, on the Volga near its mouths;
and supposed to contain upwards of 70000 inhabitants. It was founded by the Moguls,
or Monghuls, of Kipchak, although some assert that the Russians had formed the rudi-
ment of a city here before this region was seized by the conquering chief of that
nation named BATU. These invaders were expelled in 1554. Astrakhan is built upon
several small eminences that arise amid the marshy meadows of the Volga, and which,
the Editor believes, are occasionally or generally insulated by the branches of that
428
K
Moscow, and so down the river of Wolga,* to Astracan." "Well, senhor,"
said I, "do not be uneasy about being left to go back alone; if this be a method
for my return to England, it shall be your fault if you go back to Macao at all.”
We then went to consulting together what was to be done and I asked my
partner what he thought of the pilot's news, and whether it would suit with his
affairs. He told me he would do just as I would, for he had settled all his affairs
so well at Bengal, and left his effects in such good hands, that as we had made
a good voyage here, if he could vest it in China silks, wrought and raw, such as
might be worth the carriage, he would be content to go to England, and then
make his voyage back to Bengal by the Company's ships.
Having resolved upon this, we agreed, that, if our Portugal pilot would go with
us, we would bear his charges to Moscow, or to England, if he pleased; nor
indeed were we to be esteemed over-generous in that part neither, if we had not
rewarded him farther; for the service he had done us was really worth all that
and more, for he had not only been a pilot to us at sea, but he had been also like
a broker for us ou shore; and his procuring for us the Japan merchant was some
hundreds of pounds in our pockets. So we consulted together about it, and
being willing to gratify him, which was indeed but doing him justice, and very
willing also to have him with us besides, for he, was a most necessary man on all
occasions, we agreed to give him a quantity of coined gold, which, as I compute
it came to about one hundred and seventy-five pounds sterling between us, and
to bear his charges, both for himself and horse, except only a horse to carry
his goods.
Having settled this among ourselves, we called him to let him know what we
had resolved. I told him he had complained of our being like to let him go
back alone, and I was now to tell him we were resolved he should not go back
stream. It is surrounded by fortified walls, but which are now neglected; and there
is a triangular citadel on the western side. Its wood-built houses have exposed it to
frequent conflagrations; and attempts have been fruitlessly made to introduce and
perpetuate the use of brick. Vines are cultivated in the neighbourhood, and other
fruits abound. There are 25 Greek-Catholic churches of the established national per-
suasion, and 2 convents. But, according to the liberal and enlightened policy of the
Russian government, the Armenians, Lutherans, Romanists, and Hindoos, have also
their places of worship. Astrakhan attracts some portion of oriental commerce; but
its chief trade is in salt and fish, particularly sturgeon, and also kaviar, (the cured roe of
the same) from the Volga. The fishery on the Caspian, which centers at Astrakhan,
is esteemed of the utmost importance to the Russian empire. The geographical site of
this city is in 46° 21′ 1″ N. 48° 2′ 45″ E.
VOLGA-This master-stream of european rivers forms through a long space the
boundary between Asia and Europe, belonging properly to the latter continent in which
it arises; having its sources in several lakes among the mountains of Valdaï, and
within the government of Tver, between Petersburg and Moscou; it bends its chief
course toward the S. E. but near its junction with the Kama, an important tributary
river, it turns S. W. until it arrives at Zaritzin, about 250 miles from its mouth, whence
it turns again S. E. into Asia. Its comparative length of course may be computed at
700 miles; and having no cataracts and few sholes it is navigable even from Tver.
The name of this river is usually spelt in most maps Wolga: but the english reader
will observe that it has been received in this way through the medium of the german
language; in which has the power of an english v, as a german has that of an
english f. The inland navigation of Russia deserves particular attention. Among
other laudable improvements the emperor PFTER I. formed the design of establishing
a perfect intercourse by water between Petersburg and Astrakhan; but the skill of the
engineers was not equal to the genius of the sovereign. However a sort of communi-
cation was opened under the reign of this monarch, by means of the canal of Vishnei
Voloshok, uniting the Twertza running toward the Caspian, with the Shlina, which com-
municates with the Baltic. The navigation is performed in, from a fortnight to a
month, according to the season of the year; and it is supposed that near 4000 vessels
pass annually.
429
:
at all that as we had resolved to go to Europe with the caravan, we resolved
also he should go with us, and that we called him to know his mind. He shook
his head, and said it was a long journey, and he had no pecune to carry him
thither, nor to subsist himself when he came thither. We told him we believed
it was so, and, therefore, we had resolved to do something for him, that should
let him see how sensible we were of the service he had done us, and also
how agreeable he was to us; and then I told him what we had resolved to
give him here, which he might lay out as we would do our own, and that,
as for his charges, if he would go with us, we would set him safe ashore (life
and casualties excepted) either in Muscovy or England, which he would, at
our own charge, except only the carriage of his goods.
He received the proposal like a man transported, and told us, he would ge
with us over the whole world; and so, in short, we all prepared ourselves for the
journey. However, as it was with us, so it was with the other merchants,
they had many things to do; and, instead of being ready in five weeks, it was
four months and some odd days before all things were got together.
It was the beginning of February, 1703, our style, when we set out from Pekin.
My partner and the old pilot had gone express back to the port where we had
first put in, to dispose of some goods which we had left there; and I, with a
chinese merchant, whom I had some knowledge of at Nanquin, and who came
to Pekin on his own affairs, went to Nanquin, where I bought ninety pieces of
fine damasks, with about two hundred pieces of other very fine silks, of several
sorts, some mixed with gold; and had all these brought to Pekin against my
partner's return. Besides this, we bought a very large quantity of raw silk, and
some other goods; our cargo amounting in these goods only, to about three
thousand five hundred pounds sterling, which, together with tea, and some fine
calicos, and three camel-loads of nutmegs and cloves, loaded in all eighteen
camels, for our share, besides those we rode upon, which, with two or three
spare horses, and two horses loaded with provisions, made us, in short, twenty-
six camels and horses in our retinue.*

* CAMEL:-Camelus, in the Linnean system of Zoology. This is a distinct genus of
animals; of the order of pecora; the great character of which is, the want of horns,
which all the other genuses of the pecora have: they have six cutting teeth in the
lower jaw, and none in the upper; and the upper lip is divided like that of a hare.
The hoofs are small. The word is formed from the Greek xanhos which signifies the
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The company was very great, and, as near as I can remember, niade between
three and four hundred horses and camels, and upwards of a hundred and twenty
same; and, according to Nicon, from the Hebrew gamal; but according to others from
xaμrure”, on account of the bunch on its back.
1
There are four species of camels: 1. The camel, with one bunch on its back, called
the Dromedary. 2. The Bactrian or Persian, camel with two bunches. 3. The Peru-
vian camel, called Glama, and by some claphocamelus, with a pectoral bunch. And 4,
The Pacos, usually called the Indian or Peruvian sheep, without any bunch at all.
Other naturalists distinguish them by the terms Turkman, Arab, Dromedary, and
Persian. The Turkman camel is much stronger, larger, more hairy and of a darker
color than the others, with a neck remarkably pendulous; it is seen from Haleb
(Aleppo) and Constantinople to Persia. Its common load is 8 cwt. but it sometimes
carries more. This animal does not bear well excessive heat, and is therefore not so much
used to the southward, nor worked there, during June, July, or August. The Arab
camel seldom carrics above 5 cwt. but it can endure heat, and will subsist on the
thistles and other dry plants, which it picks up, in the desert countries to which it is ap-
propriated. Some have been known to travel 15 days without water; but besides
putting the animal to an inordinate trial, such abstinence induces them to drink to
such excess afterwards, as it is great odds but it kills them. The Dromedary or war-
camel is chiefly used for riding; its real name is hedjin, it is only a high breed of the
Arab camel from which it differs principally in being of a higher colour, and is dis-
tinguishable from the vulgar beast of burden, generally named in Arabicjemmel, and
in Turkish devvel, as the racer is from the draught-horse, by superiority of form and
movement, going from five to six miles an hour at an ambling trot which it can maintain
with little intermission for four and twenty hours, or upon emergency much more.
The Persian or Bactrian camel differs from all the other breeds, in one main particular,
that is in having two bunches on its back instead of one, otherwise it is of the same
character possesses similar properties and participates in the same usefulness to man-
ind; it is used for travelling with loads. This creature last described is what the
common-people in most parts of Europe are apt to call a dromedary in order to cor-
rect which vulgar error in the minds of the juvenile readers of this book, as the double
bunched camel happens to be indigenous in the country through which R. C. is now
travelling, one of this variety is introduced in the wood-cut subjoined to the text, for
the purpose of comparison with the single-bunched kind better known to us. It is
therefore to this animal that what has been asserted of the dromedary's having two
bunches really applies. VOLNEY says, that, out of more than twenty thousand camels
and dromedaries he might have seen in Egypt and Syria, he never observed one with
two bunches. The Editor's zoological examination does not extend so far, but as far as
it does he can say the same. The camel in its general character is a domestic beast
of burden, of gentle disposition, much used for carriage in divers parts of Asia; and
making the chief riches of the Arabs. In Persia they only distinguish two sorts of
camels, viz. the southern, which are smaller, and not fit to carry above seven hundred
weight; and the northern, which are bigger, and able to carry twelve or thirteen hun-
dred weight. The name camel among us is vulgarly restrained to that sort which has but
one bunch on their back; the appellation dromedary being given to those which have two.
In this we follow the example of SOLINUS, contrary to PLINY, ARISTOTLE, and the
and the gene-
rality of ancient naturalists. The bunch on the camel's back is not formed by the cavity
of the spini dorsi, but is usually understood to be a callous sort of flesh. The academists
at Paris are said to have found it mere hair; and that when this was pressed close down,
the creature appeared no more bunch-backed than a swine. PLINY affirms, that the camel
can endure four days without drink whence PERSIUS gives it the appellation sitiens.
They can live on the little shrubs which the deserts produce, and are satisfied for a
whole day with half a gallon of beans and barley, or balls made of the flour. The
fleshy foot of the camel is formed for travelling on the hot sands, which would parch and
destroy the hoof. PocockE's Descript. of the East, vol. 1. p.208. SHAW's Travels p. 239.
Camels milk is said to be a sovereign remedy against the dropsy, for which purpose
the Arabs drink a pint per day for three weeks. Native sal-ammoniac is commonly
supposed to be the urine of camels. The Turks reckon the flesh of the young camet
delicious food, but prohibit the general use of it lest the breed should be des-
troyed. Camels cast their hair in the spring which is gathered up with great care, on
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431
men, very well armed, and provided for all events; for as the eastern caravans
are subject to be attacked by the Arabs,* so are these by the Tartars; but they
are not altogether so dangerous as the arabs, nor so barbarous when they prevail.
The company consisted of people of several nations, such as Muscovites
chiefly, for there were above sixty of them who were inerchants or inhabitants
of Moscow, though of them some were, Livonians, and to our particular satisfac-
tion, five of them were Scots, who appeared also to be men of great experience
in business, and of very good substance.
When we had travelled one day's journey, the guides, who were five in num-
ber, called all the gentlemen and merchants, that is to say, all the passengers,
except the servants, to a great council, as they termed it. At this great council
every one deposited a certain quantity of money to a common stock, for the
necessary expense of buying forage on the way, where it was not otherwise to be
had, and for satisfying the guides, getting horses and the like. And here they
constituted the journey, as they called it, viz. they named captains and officers to
draw us all up, and give the command in case of an attack, and gave every one
their turn of command. Nor was this forming us into order any more than what
we found needful upon the way, as shall be observed in its place.
The road on all this side of the country is very populous, and is full of potters,
account of the traffic thereof, which is very considerable. When left bare of hair
they pitch them over to defend them from the flies. They spin the camel's hair and
weave it into stuffs: it is sometimes used with other hairs in making of hats. The best
hair is that of the camel's back. Camels are chiefly used in caravans: and they
travel for fifteen or sixteen hours without stopping, at the rate of two miles and a half
an hour. They are very apt to slide in passing slippery ways, owing to the peculiar
form of their fleshy feet. The camel that carries Mohamed's standard, which the caravan
of pilgrims offer yearly on the tomb of their prophet, is exempted the rest of its
life from all services, it is even pretended that this happy beast will rise again at the
general resurrection, and enjoy the pleasures of paradise.
The following is a further illustration of the term dromedary, from a curious and scarce
book *
Dromedarius, a dromedary, is wonderously swift, and will run about hundred
miles a day. To the peculiar swiftness of this animal, the passage in the text
[of Ignoramus] must evidently allude; and it seems worthy of remark, that under
the term Dromo, applied to DAVUS DROMO, in this part of the text particularly, a
reference appears to have been intended to a person then living, as will hereafter be
shewn, and also to the greek word goμo, cursus, whence both that and the word
Dromedarius are imagined to be derived: for the character of DAVUS DROMO is, in
the former part of this prologue, represented as having escaped from his keeper, and
is here charged with being not only DAVUS DROMO, i. e. a runaway, but Dromedarius,
i. e. a runaway of so great swiftness, as to make it difficult to overtake him, which both
CURSOR and EQUIDO had found him to be by experience, in their pursuit of him.-
DAVUS DROMO-Musarum Cabellus-Hobby-horse: a singular character in the popular.
games by which May-day was celebrated down to the time of the reformation, and
introduced on the dramatic stage even so late as 1621." (RUGGLE:-Ignoramus: prol.
note ad verb. DAVUS-DROMO. See also MINSHEU's Dictionary.)
* ARAB-The Arabians have been a distinct, and, in great measure, an independent
nation for more than 3000 years. Some authors term them the Semitic family, as descended
from SHEM, son of NOAH; others comprehending in this nation the Cushites, Canaanites. -
and Amalekites, of the Bible, trace their descent from HAM. Their language, as it
is found in the Koran, contains some mixture of indian, persian, and abyssinian words:
its grammar was little cultivated until after the promulgation of that code. It certainly
is copious, but its copiousness has been ridiculously exaggerated. The best Arabic is
spoken by the upper classes in Yemen: in Mecca it is more mixed; in Syria corrupt.
There are dialects which require the assistance of an interpreter. Though not intimately
connected with the european languages, it has afforded some words to the Greek and to the
Latin. It has also some terms in common with the Sanskrit, although apparently fewer
than either the Greek or the German. Thus we we have bar, Chaldaïc, city; baru, buri,
Sanskrit; burg, Gernian: ben, Hebrew, sou; bun, San. child; esh, Heb. eshta, Chald,
432
66
+
and earth makers, that is to say, people that tempered the earth for the china
ware; and, as I was going along, our Portugal pilot, who had always something
or other to say to make us merry, came sneering to me, and told me he would
show me the greatest rarity in all the country, and that I should have this to say
of China, after all the ill-humoured things I had said of it, that I had seen oue
thing which was not to be seen in all the world beside. I was very importunate
to know what it was; at last he told me it was a gentleman's house built all with
china-ware. "Well," said I, "are not the materials of their building the
product of their own country? and so it is all china-ware, is it not?" No,
no," says he, "I mean it is a house all made of china-ware, such as you
call so in England, or, as it is called in our country, porcelain."" Well," said
I, such a thing may be. How big is it? Can we carry it in a box upon a
camel? If we can, we will buy it." Upon a camel!" said the old pilot, hold-
ing up both his hands, “ why there is a family of thirty people lives in it. I was
then curious indeed to see it, and when I came to it, it was nothing but this:
it was a timber house, or a house built, as we call it in England, with lath and
plaster, but all the plastering was really china-ware, that is to say, it was plas-
tered with the earth that makes china-ware. The outside which the sun shone
hot upon, was glazed, and looked very well, perfectly white, and painted with
blue figures, as the large china-ware in England is painted, and hard as if it had
been burned. As to the inside, all the walls, instead of wainscot, were lined
up with hardened and painted tiles, like the little square tiles we call gally-tiles,
in England, all made of the finest China, and the figures exceedingly fine indeed
with extraordinary variety of colors, mixed with gold, many tiles making but one
figure, but joined so artificially with mortar, being made of the same earth, that
it was very hard to see where the tiles met. The floors of the rooms were of
the same composition, and as hard as the earthen floors we have in use in
several parts of England, especially Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicester-
shire, &c. as hard as stone, and smooth, but not burned and painted, except some
smaller rooms, like closets, which were all, as it were, paved with the same
tile, the ceilings, and in a word, all the plastering work in the whole house, were
of the same earth; and, after all, the roof was covered with tiles of the same, but
of a deep shining black.* This was a china-warehouse, indeed, truly and lite
•
fire; aster, San. ish, Heb. man, isha, San. man or lord. The Arabs of Africa living in
houses are known under the corrupt name of " Mours;" as is amply explained at p. 16
(Sec . . xxii, 392.)
* POTTERY -as has been explained in a former note at page 116, is the art of making
earthen pots or vessels, or the manufacture of earthen-ware.
All kinds of pottery,
in general, are made of clays or argillaceous earth, because these earths are capable of
being kneaded, or easily receiving any forms, and of acquiring much solidity and
hardness by exposure to the fire. In the Mem. de l'Acad. des Sciences de Prusse, 1749,
there are some experiments tending to prove that the tenacity of clay is owing to some
inflammable matter which is mixed with it, and which is easily consumed in the fire.
But there are considerable differences in clays; some, which are of the purest kind,
resist the most violent fire, without receiving any other change than a considerable
hardness; others by exposure to violent heat, acquire hardness equal to that of flints,
and a compact glossy texture; but are infusible by the most intense fire; which qualities
they owe to some fusible materials mixed with them, as sand, chalk, gypsum, or ferru-
ginous earth, which occasion a partial, but not complete fusion. Another kind of
clay is first hardeued by fire, and afterwards completely fused, From these three
different kinds of clays three different kinds of pottery may be produced. Of the
first kind are formed the large pots or crucibles, used in glass-houses, &c. With clays
of the second kind may be made crucibles and other potteries, commonly called stone-
ware; which, when sufficiently baked, are very sonorous, so hard as to strike fire with
steel, capable of containing all liquids, which the former sort, on account of their po-
rosity will not admit of, and resist the action of nitre, glass of lead, and other fluxes,
provided that the earth of which they are formed, is of good quality, but their hard-
mess and density, which prevents their sudden expansion and contraction, by the hasty
433
rally to be called so; and, bad I not been upon the journey, I could have staid
some days to see and examine the particulars of it. They told me there were
fountains and fish-ponds in the garden, all paved at the bottom and sides with the
same, and fine statues set up in rows on the walks, entirely formed of the porce-
application of heat and cold, render them liable to break in all operations where they are
suddenly exposed either to heat or to cold. With the fusible clays may be made many
kinds of vessels which are cheap, as they require little fire to bake them; for this
kind of pottery is slightly baked, and consequently its texture is coarse and porous.
These are generally covered with a glazing, without which water, or other liquids,
would pass through their pores. Some of this pottery, which is carefully finished,
and covered with a white enamel, is called Delf ware. Other coarser potteries
of this kind are glazed with glass of lead, mixed with metallic calces or fusible
coloured earths, from which they receive various colours. There is also a kind
of pottery made of white clays, or of such as whiten in the fire, the surface of
which is vitrified by throwing into the furnace, when the ware is sufficiently baked,
some common salt and salt-petre. The french stone-ware is formed of a whitish clay, in
which a good deal of fine white sandy particles is intermixed. The english stone-
ware is composed of tobacco-pipe clay, and ground flints. The use of the flints
is, to give strength to the ware, so that it shall preserve its form during the baking;
whereas vessels made of clay alone, although unfusible by fire, and capable of acquir
ing, by having been exposed to an intense heat, the hardness of the best porcelain,
while they are hot, are soft, and sink by their weight, so as to lose the form given to them.
This stone-ware is glazed by means of common salt only, without any mixture of nitre;
and the glazing has not the beauty or smoothness of good vitreous glazings. The flint
or white stone ware is made in Staffordshire, and other places, in the following manner.
Tobacco-pipe clay, which they have from Dorsetshire, is beaten much in water: by
this process, the finer parts of the clay remain suspended in the water, whilst the coarser
sand, and other impurities, fall to the bottom, the liquid, consisting of water, and the
finer parts of the clay, is farther purified, by being passed through hair and lawn sieves
of different degrees of fineness; the clay is then sufficiently prepared to be mixed with
powdered flint. They use annually in Staffordshire about five thousand tons of flint,
which they have from Hull. They were formerly accustomed to grind these flints with
moor-stone, or granite, but of late years a large bed of chert (a species of flint) has
been discovered near Bakewell, in Derbyshire, and the Staffordshire and the Yorkshire
potters prefer it to moor-stone, for grinding these flints; it is very hard, and, being
itself of the nature of flint, the parts of it which are worn off, and mixed with the flints
in grinding, do not vitiate the quality of the flint-powder. When the flints have been
properly calcined and ground, they are sifted in water, till the water is, as near as
may be, of the same thickness as that in which the clay is suspended; then the liquid
clay and flints are mixed together in various proportions for various wares, and left to
set; the mixture is then dried in a kiln, and being afterwards beaten to a proper temper,
it becomes fit for being formed at the wheel into dishes, plates, bowls, &c. When this
ware is to be put into the furnace to be baked, the several pieces of it are placed in
cases, made of clay, called seggars, which are piled upon one another in the dome of
the furnace; a fire is then lighted, and when the ware is brought to a proper temper,
which happens in about forty-eight hours, it is glazed by common salt. The salt is
thrown into the furnace (through holes in the upper part of it) by the heat of which it
is instantly converted into a thick vapour, which, circulating through the furnace,
enters every seggar, through holes made in the side (the top being covered, to pre-
vent the salt from falling upon the ware), and attaching itself to the surface of the ware,
it forms that vitreous coat upon the surface, which is called its glaze. This very curious
method of glazing earthen ware, by the vapor of common salt, was introduced into
England from Holland: at least it was introduced from thence into Staffordshire, about
eighty years ago, by two Dutchmen. The art of pottery among the Chinese, is one of
the most remarkable. But this is a very simple one, and in fact invented by some of
the rudest people. They are understood to have an earth possessing certain peculiar vir-
tues in regard to this manufacture; and BARROW informs us, that the merit of their porce-
lain is less owing to any ingenuity they display in the making of it, than to the prodigious
care with which they select the very finest materials, and separate them from all inpu-
rities. A very remarkable proof of their want of ingenuity is, that they should have
Robinson Crusoe,
[Naval-Chron.-Edition.]
FF
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434
se
lain earth, and burned whole. As this is one of the singularities of China, so
they may be allowed to excel in it; but I am very sure they excel in their ao-
counts of it, for they told me such incredible things of their performance in
crockery ware, for such it is, that I care not to relate, as knowing it could not be
true. One told me, in particular, of a workman that made a ship, with all its
tackle, and masts, and sails, in earthen-ware, big enough to carry fifty men.
If
he had told me, he launched it, and made a voyage to Japan in it, I might have
said something to it, indeed; but, as it was, I knew the whole story, which was,
in short, asking pardon for the word, that the fellow lyed. So I smiled and said
nothing to it.
This odd sight kept me two hours behind the caravan, for which the leader of
it for the day fined me about the value of three shillings; and told me, if it had
been three days' journey without the wall, as it was three days within, he must
have fined me four times as much, and made me ask pardon the next council-day;
so I promised to be more orderly, for, indeed, I found, afterwards, the orders
made for keeping all together, were absolutely necessary for our common safety.
In two days more we passed the great China wall,* made for a fortification

been in possession so long of an art so analogous to that of making glass, and yet should
never have been able to invent that beautiful and useful manufacture. Their want of
taste in the shapes and ornaments of their vessels, is now proverbial. Their accuracy,
in copying any models is wonderful but it is also remarkable for its servility, carried to
such excess, that there is an anecdote current, of a compleat service of porcelain hav-
ing been made in China, in conformity to an order from Europe, on every piece of
which there was repeated, fuc-simile, the effects of an accident which befel the original
drawing of a coat of arms sent out as a pattern; which accident was neither more nor
less than the oversetting of an inkstand upon it, which formed a rivulet of ink from
one corner to the other.
* GREAT WALL:-DIONYSIUS KAO, a native of China, from whose works, published
in the year 1705, the following account is principally extracted, though we have bor-
435
L
against the Tartars; and a very great work it is, going over hills and mountains
in an endless track, where the rocks are impassable, and the precipices such as
as,
-
rowed from Du HALDE and others, says, this prodigious wall was built some centuries
before CHRIST's time, by the Chinese Emperor CHIEN-CHU, VOANG, (according to Du
HALDE by ZIN-SHI-WANG, who makes it two hundred and twenty one years before
the birth of CHRIST) to prevent the incursions of the restless western Tahtars. It is
extended from the Oriental sea far beyond the middle of Shep-si, and includes the
provinces of Pekin, and almost the whole of Shen-si. Its length, in a direct line, is
computed at six hundred and fifty four French miles; but reckoned as a curved line.
amounts to upwards of one thousand. It has three or four lofty towers or forts within
the compass of every mile, many of which are situated upon the highest mountains;
and the wall is broad enough upon the top for 6 or 7 horses to gallop abreast without
any danger. DU HALDE, on the same subject states, that its beginning is a large bul-
wark of stone, raised in the sea to the east of Pekin; and ends when you have passed
the little city of Chwang-lan. It is well terraced and cased with brick, and is as high
and much broader than the walls of the empire usually are; that is, from twenty
to twenty five feet in height. The top is wide enough for five or six horsemen to ride
abreast. The gates of the great wall are all defended, on the side of China, by pretty
large forts. The first of them, to the east, is called Shang-hay-Quan. It stands near
the wall which extends, from the bulwark above mentioned, the space of a league along
a country perfectly level, and does not begin to ascend the mountains till after it has
passed that place. It was the chinese general, commanding in this part, who first
called in the Tahtars of the province of Leao-tung, which lies beyond it; and thus
gave them an opportunity of conquering China, notwithstanding their mural ramparts,
which the Chinese thought impregnable. Many of the square towers are large and
lofty; some of two stories high, built of brick, upon a foundation of stone, which
rises about four feet above the ground. Each side of the square at the base measures
from thirty five to forty feet, and their height is nearly the same dimensions. The side
of the square at the top is from twenty eight to thirty feet. The first story is upon a
level with the platform of the wall, in which there are embrasures. The foundation of
the wall, formed of large square stones, which project about two feet beyond the brick
work, is about twenty five feet thick at its base, and rises not less than two feet above
the surface of the ground. The rest is cased both inside and outside with brick work,
each of the thickness of five feet, having the intermediate space filled up with earth
or tempered clay, and terraced upon the top with a platform of square bricks. The
parapets, about eighteen inches thick, are a continuation of the brick work above the
terreplain. EVERT YSBRANT IDEs, Embassador from the Czar, PETER the Great, to
the Court of Pekin, an account of whose travels from Moscow to that city was published
in the year 1705, has also given a description of the Great wall; and that we may be
able to point out to our readers the particular spot, let it be remembered, that the last
fortress of his czarish Majesty's dominions, bordering upon the frontiers of China,
which his Excellency stopped at, was Argunskoy. From this place he proceeded to
the silver river, called Mongagol, which falls into the river Argun; and, having crossed
that, traversed the great tahtarian wilderness, and arrived at the river Calabu. Passing
along the banks of the river Jalo, he came to Xixiger, a city upon the borders of China,
where, by order of his Imperial Majesty, his Excellency was met by a mandarine,
accompanied by eighty men, who conducted him to Kara Katon, or "Black City," on
his route to Pekin. He then says, "On the twenty seventh of October we reached
some watch towers on the pinnacles of the rocks, from whence we got sight of the
Great wall, at which we arrived on the same day. This seems to be one of the seven
wonders of the world. About five hundred fathoms from this famous wall is a valley,
having on each side a battery of hewn stone; from one of which to the other a wall
about three feet high is erected, with an open entrance. Passing through this fore
wall, we came to the entry of the Great wall, through a watch tower, about eight
fathoms high, arched over with hewn stone, and provided with large massy doors
strengthened with iron. The wall runs from east to west across the valley up extra-
ordinary high rocks: and, about five hundred fathoms distance from the other, has,
upon the rocks on each side of it, a tower built. The foot of this wall was of large
hewn quarry stone, for about a foot high, and the remaining upper part was composed
of brick and lime; but as far as we were able to discover, the whole had been fore
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436
1
no enemy could possibly enter, or, indeed, climb up, or where, if they did, no
wall could hinder them. They tell us its length is near a thousand english miles,
but that the country is five hundred in a straight measured line, which the wall
bounds, without measuring the windings and turnings it takes: it is about four
fathom high, and as many thick in some places.
I stood still an hour, or thereabout, without trespassing on our orders, for
so long the caravan was in passing the gate; I say, I stood still an hour to look
at it on every side, near and far off; I mean what was within my view: and the
guide of our caravan, who had been extolling it for the wonder of the world,
was mighty eager to hear my opinion of it. I told him it was a most excellent
thing to keep off the Tartars; which he happened not to understand as I meant
it, and so took it for a compliment: but the old pilot laughed; "O senhor
Ingles," said he, " you speak in colours." "In colours," said I," what do you
mean by that?" Why you speak what looks white this way, and black that
way; gay one way, and dull another way; you tell him it is a good wall to keep
out Tartars; you tell me by that it is good for nothing but to keep out Tartars;
or, it will keep out none but Tartars. I understand you, senhor Ingles, I un-
derstand you, senhor Ingles, I understand you," said he, joking," but senhor
Chinese understand you his own way."
6
"Well," said I, "senhor, do you think it would stand out an army of our
country people, with a good train of artillery; or our engineers, with two com-
panies of miners? Would they not batter it down in ten days, that an army
might enter in battalia,* or blow it up into the air, foundation and all, that there
merly built with the same stone. Within this first port we came into a plain full á
hundred fathoms broad, after which we arrived at another guardport which had a wall
on each side, and, like the first wall, was carried quite across the vale. This, as well
as the first port, was guarded by a watch of fifty men. Upon the first or great wall
was erected an idol temple, with the ensign of the idol and that of the Emperor flying
upon it. The wall was full six fathoms high, and four thick; so that six horsemen
might easily ride abreast upon it, and was in as good repair as if it had been finished
about twenty or thirty years since." To raise men for building this wall, which is
stated to have been completed in five years, the Emperor commanded that three out of
every ten men throughout his dominions should work at it; and afterwards-two out of
every five were compelled to labour at this vast undertaking. It is also said, that
though the inhabitants of each province worked as near their own abode as they could,
yet, either by the length of their journey or the difference of climate, almost all those
employed in its construction died unexpectedly. This raised a tumult in the empire,
which proceeded to the length of murdering the Emperor, and his son AGUTZI, in the
fortieth year of his reign. When it is considered, that this structure, upwards of a
thousand French miles in length, besides being extended along dreary wastes, and
even surfaces, is carried over expansive rivers in the form of bridges, some having two
tiers of arches, and also, in the same shape, across deep and wide-extended valleys,
uniting, as it were, the mountains which form them; that it ascends the highest, and
descends the steepest precipices; and, with all this, considering the immensity of
labour, the ingenuity of the artists, the difficulty of transporting materials,-and
the short time of its completion;-the imagination is lost in the contemplation of an
object whose grandeur is not surpassed by any of the seven wonders of the world.
BATTALIA:-This military term whose ancient synonym appears to be "battell"
and its modern one “corps,” occurs twice in a poem almost coëval with these adventures
THOMAS MAY, who was born as is conjectured, about 1594, was a translator of LUCAN;
and caught no small portion of the energy and declamatory spirit that characterize the
roman poet, whom as he translated, he made his model; as is more particularly dis-
played in his Reigne of Edward III, which he undertook at the express command of
CHARLES I. This poem possesses in a considerable degree the requisites for interest-
ing the feelings of an Englishman: while in accuracy it vies with a gazette, it is
managed with such dexterity, as to busy the mind with unceasing agitation, with
scenes highly diversified, and empassioned by striking characters, minute incident, and
alarming situation. In that part of the poem descriptive of the battle of Creçy, (edi
1635,) the poet says :-
437
should be no sign of it left ?" "Aye, aye," said he, "I know that." The Chinese
wanted mightily to know what I said, and I gave him leave to tell him a few days
after, for we were then almost out of their country, and he was to leave us in a little
time afterwards: but when he knew what I had said, he was dumb all the rest
of the way, and we heard no more of his fine story of the chinese power and
greatness while he staid.
After we had passed this mighty nothing, called a wall, something like the
Picts' wall, so famous in Northumberland, and built by the Romans, we began
to find the country thinly inhabited, and the people rather confined to live in
fortified towns and cities, as being subject to the inroads and depredations of
the Tartars, who rob in great armies, and, therefore, are not to be resisted by
the naked inhabitants of an open country.
And here I began to find the necessity of keeping together in a caravan as we
travelled; for we saw several troops of Tartars roving about: but when I came
to see them distinctly, I wondered more that the chinese empire could be con-
quered by such contemptible fellows; for they are a mere herd or crowd of wild
fellows, keeping no order, and understanding no discipline or manner of fight.
Their horses are poor, lean, starved creatures, taught nothing, and are fit for
nothing; and this we found the first day we saw them, which was after we en-
tered the wilder part of the country. Our leader for the day gave leave for about
sixteen of us to go a hunting, as they call it; and what was this but hunting of
sheep! However, it may be called hunting, too, for the creatures are the wildest
and swiftest of foot that ever I saw of their kind, only they will not run a great
"While thus the French march on in rich array,
In Crescy parke encamped Edward lay:
His firme battalia on well chosen ground
Was clos'd behinde, and barricado'd round
With strongest fences made by plashing trees,
And placing there the weightyest carriages.
"In three battalias does the king dispose
His strength, which all in ready order stand
And to each other's rescue neere at hand.”
HOLLINSHED and FROISSARD corroborate the poetic account of the disposition of
the english army. The former's Chronicle saith:-" Then he ordeined three battels;
in the first was the Prince of Wales, and with him the Earl of Warwicke, *****
They were eight hundred men of armes, and two thousand archers, and a thousand of
others, with the Welsh men.' * * * * * * * Thus was the cnglish armie marshalled
according to the report of FROISSARD."
* CARAVAN-To the former note on this word, p. 361, the Editor is desirous of
adding some information upon a term nearly connected therewith, that is to say
"Caravan-seraï." The same author quoted in the beforementioned note continues:-
"Hinc mercatorum hospitia publica quae arabibus audiunt can, persis carvan-serai nomi-
nantur, i. e. caravanae hospitium. Nam serai est quaevis domus ampla; unde in Constan-
tinopoli, imperatoris palatium foeminarum turcis dicitur nomine persico serai, Europaeis
minus bene sérail et seraglio. (Vid. PERITS. Itinera mundi, ed. T. HYDE.) In these
cans, kans, or karwan-serais, sometimes provender for beasts of carriage or burthen can
be purchased, tho' generally speaking these edifices afford only shelter; that is to say
a dirty room opening into the quadrangle round which it is built, in the area of which
the horses &c. are received. A day's march of a karwan is called KONAK; which
is the same appellation as πανδοχείον and κατάλυμα of the bible which are vulgarly tran-
islated hospitia or inns. But, excepting the kervan-serais there are, properly speaking,
no houses of entertainment in the Levant (except in some cases the port-houses or
mentzil-khàanch,) in the sense at least that we understand public houses. For a konak
denotes the place itself where a halt is made for repose and refreshment, whether en-
closed and covered or not; a Turk estimates the marches of an army or the stages of
a journey by so many konak, (plural konak-lar.) Thus the malon or inn, of Genesis
Alu, 27; xliii, 21. &c. is no other than one of the like stations.
*
438
1
way; and you are sure of sport when you begin the chase, for they appear gene-
rally by thirty or forty in a flock, and, always keep together when they fly.
In pursuit of this odd sort of game, it was our hap to meet with about forty
Tartars; whether they were hunting mutton, as we were, or whether they
The
* TARTAR:-The true spelling and pronunciation of this word has been already
pointed out, in a note appended unto page 266 but its recurrence presents occasion for
some additional information concerning this nation. It is not solely in a philological
view that correctness in language is interesting. Languages afford the surest and most
imperishable guide to the history of the nations who speak them, when their monu-
ments are deficient: a language remains an indelible monument of origin; and whilst
it continues to be spoken will serve to attest descent. Hence the corruption of words,
so justly complained of by ROBINSON CRUSOE in the outset of his life, (page 1,) as
"usual in England," is real matter of complaint, and cannot be too perseveringly resisted
by writers. The languages of the central and elevated parts of Asia are compre-
hended in the order Tahtarian: they extend from the Caspian sea to the mouth of
the Amour, through countries which have been in former ages the. constant scenes of,
emigration and barbarism. The Turcotahtarians are supposed to correspond to the
scriptural appellation Magog, and to the Scythians of the Greeks. The Turks of Tur-
kestan seem to have been the Massagelae and Chorasmii of the ancients; their country
extended north of Persia and Tibet from the Caspian to the Altaic mountains. In the
twelfth century they were brilliant and victorious, at present a few of the people only
are left in the neighbourhood of the Mongols, and their language is unknown: the
Turcomans scattered in Persia and Arabia, are derived from the same race.
Osmans, now commonly called Turks, separated from Turkestan in 545, and conquered
Persia: they were denominated Osmans from one of their leaders in the fourteenth
century; their language has been much mixed with Arabic and Persian. This lan-
guage, with the neighbouring dialects, the Editor ventures to distinguish by the term
Caspian, having already applied the word Tahtarian to the whole order: several of
these dialects exhibit a mixture of words from the language of the Mongols, which, as
well as the Calmuck, has a sufficient connexion with them to be arranged as belonging
to the same Turco-tahtarian family: it would, perhaps, be equally correct to consider
some of them rather as distinct languages than as dialects of a single one: but it is
not easy to discriminate those which are entitled to this rank. The Bucharians are
situated between the Oxus and Jaxartes: they still retain some traces of a superior
degree of civilisation, by which they were once distinguished: their language is little
known. The Tahtars were described by the terms Scythians, Bulgarians, Avari, and
other, appellations, before they were conquered and united by JenGurz Khaan the
Mongol: in the year 1552, they became subject to the Russians. The most westerly
are the Nogaic, or Nagaic, and Crimean Tahtars: their language is much like the Turk-
ish, but mixed with some Mongol. Those of Cumania in Hungary have now forgotten
their original language, and speak the Hungarian; the last person who understood the
Cumanian having died in 1770: they entered Hungary in 1086, and became Chris-
tians in 1410. The Tahtarian, or rather Caspian, is spoken in great purity at Kasan: a
dialect somewhat different in Orenburg; and another by the Kirgishes, who occupy
part of the ancient Turkestan. Among the siberian Tahtars, the remains of the king-
dom of Turan, some are Mohamedans; others, as the Turalinzic villagers, have been
made Christians: at least, the Archbishop PHILOPHEI performed the ceremony of
baptizing them, by ordering his dragoons to drive them in a body into the river: the
inhabitants of the banks of the Tara, a branch of the Irtish, are said to be derived
from the Bucharians. The Tshulymic Taltars enjoy the same advantage as the
Turalinzic, and are considered as Christians by the Russians. The Teleutes, in Sonjor,
are heathens, nearly like the Shamanites of India. The Iakuts extend along the Lena
to the sea: their language contains some Mantshuric and some Tungusic: that of the
Tshuwashes, on the Volga, is said to have beer once distinct from the Tahtarian, but
is at present much mixed with it. The Mongols are marked by their features as a race
very different from the other Tahtars: the character of their countenance seems to be
easily propagated, and never completely effaced: they appear to have been originally
situated about the Altaïc mountains. The description of the Huns, found in AMMIAN,
PROCOPIUS, and others, agrees exactly with the present Mongols, whom the Chinese
still call Hi ng nu; and more particularly with the Calmuks; the names of the Huns
439
looked for another prey, I know not; but as soon as they saw us, one of themn
blew a kind of horn very loud, but with a barbarous sound that I had never
heard before, and, by the way, never care to hear again. We all supposed this
was to call their friends about them; and so it was; for in less than half a
quarter of an hour a troop of forty or fifty more appeared, at about a mile dis-
tance; but our work was over first, as it happened.
are also found to be explicable from the Mongol language. In the first century they
were driven westwards by the Chinese; under ATTILA they penetrated into the mid-
dle of Europe: and they were little less successful at subsequent periods under
JENGHIZ-Khaan and TIMUR LENG. When they were expelled from China, after
having held it in subjection for more than a century, they carried back no civilisation,
with them; nor was either of the languages permanently affected by this temporary
mixture of the nations, although the physiognomy of the Chinese bears ample testi-
mony of its having once existed. The construction of their language seems to be
very indirect and figurative. The Calmuk dialect is somewhat mixed with Tahtarian.
The Tagurians, or Dahurians, between the lake Baikal and the Mongol hills, are said
to be of Mantshuric origin: but their language evidently resembles the Calmuk.
The Mantshurians are sometimes improperly called eastern Mongols; they are subjects ·
of the empire of China. Their language is rude, and not much like the Chinese,
though evidently derived from the monosyllabic class: it has some words in common ·
with the European languages; as Kiri patient, Kirre, Germ. Cicur, Lat. tame; Furu,:
Furor; Lapta, rags, Lappen, Germ. ; Sengui, Sanguis; Ania, Annus: but these resem-
blances are scarcely sufficient to justify us in forming any conclusion from them. The.
Tungusians, in the east of Siberia, subject to the Chinese, speak a peculiar language
mixed with some Mongol. Whether that of the island of Sagalien, opposite to the
mouth of the Amur, is a dialect of the Mantshuric, or a language totally distinct from
it, appears to be not sufficiently ascertained. The Corean has been supposed to be a
mixture of Mantshuric and Chinese; the Coreans do not understand either of those
languages when they are spoken, but this fact is perfectly compatible with the suppo-
sition. The languages belonging to the siberian order occupy the whole of the north
of Asia, between the mountainous tahtarian territory and the Frozen Sea. At the
commencement of this order we find a variety of inconsiderable nations in the neigh-
bourhood of the confines of Europe and Asia, which have their distinct languages,
probably formed in times comparatively modern, out of the fragments of others.:
They have almost all of them some Finnish words, but none a sufficient number to jus-
tify us in considering them as dialects of the Finnish language, although the people
were very probably connected with the Fins, as neighbours, in the middle ages, on the
banks of the Dwina and elsewhere. The Sirjänes, in the government of Archangel,
speak the same language with the Permians, who are partly in the same government,
and partly in that of Kasan: the Wotiaks, on the Wiatka, also in Kasan, have a
dialect which seems to be intermediate between the Permian and the Tshèremissic.
The Woguls, situated on the Kama and Irtish, have borrowed much from the language
of the Ostiaks; they have also some Hungarian words. The Tsheremisses, on the
Volga in Kasan, have a little mixture of Turcotahtarian. The Morduins on the Oka
and Volga, have about one eighth of their language Finnish, and also some turcotah-
tarian words. The Teptjerai are people paying no taxes, who originated from the
relics of the tahtaro-kasanic kingdom in the sixteenth century. Perhaps the connexion
of these languages with each other, and with the Finnish, would justify us in con-
sidering them as belonging at least to one family: but the specimens are too scanty
to enable us to arrange them in a manner perfectly satisfactory. The Samojedic
nations are situated north of the Tartars, by whom they may possibly have been
driven into their present habitations. The Camnashes are on the right of the Jenisei :
they are Shamanites or Buddists: their language seems to be a mixture of several
others. The Koibals have been baptized; their dialect has borrowed some turcotah
tarian words. The Motors are situated on the Tuba. The Jukadshirs are few in num-
ber; they are between the Iakuti and the Tshutshi: they have some Iakutish words;
and, it may be added, some Tshe remissic. The Koriaks and the Tshutshi occupy the
north casternmost point of Siberia: the Kamtshatkans are immediately next to them
on the south. The insular order of the tataric or atactic class of languages must be
understood as comprehending all the Asiatic islands east of Borneo. The language of
the Kurilees is different from that of the neighbouring Eastern islands, as well as from
440
t
One of the scots merchants of Moscow happened to be amongst us; and as
soon as he heard the horn he told us, in short, that we had nothing to do but
to charge them immediately, without loss of time; and, drawing us up in a line,
he asked if we were resolved? We told him we were ready to follow him. So
he rode directly up to him. They stood gazing at us like a mere crowd, drawn
up in no order, nor showing the face of any order at all; but as soon as they saw
us advance, they let fly their arrows, which, however, missed us, very happily.
It seems they mistook not their aim, but their distance; for their arrows all
fell a little short of us, but with so true an ain, that, had we been about twenty
yards nearer, we must have had several men wounded, if not killed.
Immediately we halted, and, though it was at a great distance, we fired, and
sent them leaden bullets for wooden arrows, following our shot full gallop,
resolving to fall in among them sword in hand, for so our bold Scot, that led us
directed. He was, indeed, but a merchant, but he behaved with that vigor and
bravery on this occasion, and yet with such a cool courage too, that I never saw
any man in action fitter for command. As soon as we came up to them, we fired
our pistols in their faces, and then drew; but they fled in the greatest confusion
imaginable; the only stand any of them made was on our right, where three of
them stood, and by signs called the rest to come back to them, having a kind of
scimitar in their hands, and their bows hanging at their backs. Our brave
commander, without asking any body to follow him, galloped up close to them,
and with his fusil knocked one of them off his horse, killed the second with his
pistol, and the third ran away; and thus ended our fight. But we had this
inisfortune attending it; viz. that all our mutton which we had in chase got away.
We had not a man killed or hurt; but as for the Tartars, there were about five
of them killed how many were wounded we knew not; but this we knew, that
the other party was so frightened with the noise of our guns, that they fled, and
never made any attempt upon us.
We were all this while in the Chinese dominion, and, therefore, the Tartars
were not so bold as afterwards; but in about five days we entered a vast, great,
wild desert, which held us three days and nights' march; and we were obliged
to carry our water with us in great leather bottles, and to encamp all night, just
as I have heard they do in the deserts of Arabia.
I asked our guides, whose dominion this was in ? and they told me this was a
kind of border that might be called No Man's Land; being a part of the Great
Karakathay, or Grand Tartary; but that, however, it was reckoned to China;
that there was no care taken here to preserve it from the inroads of thieves, and
:
the Japanese but in some of them Japanese is spoken. The Japanese derive them-
selves from the Chinese; but their language contradicts this opinion: they have
evident traces of mongol extraction or relationship. Formosa was conquered by the
Dutch in 1620, but in 1661 it was taken from them by a chinese pirate: the next
year some books were printed in the formosan language in Holland, the capture of
the island not being yet known: in 1682, it was given up to the chinese government.
The Tagalish and Bissayish, which are the principal dialects of the Philippines, and of
the neighbouring islands, are supposed to have been originally derived from the Ma-
layan; but their resemblance to it is in great measure lost. Some single words, as
Matta, the eye, and Multe, death, are found in almost all the islands of the Pacific
ocean; the languages of which, notwithstanding their immense distances, seem to
differ less than those of the inhabitants of some very small continental tracts: they
might perhaps be distinguished into a few well defined families, if our knowledge of
them were more complete. The resemblance of Matte to the Arabian Mot and the
Latin Mactare is probably accidental. The Tahtars or Tâtars, from their superior
horsemanship, activity, and fidelity, became from early times so exclusively employed
in the conveyance of correspondence that they have given name to the profession
and although the express service is now no longer confined to that nation, Tâtar is
still as thoroughly the synonymous title of a special messenger in Turkey as Suisse
for porter, or Savoyard for chimney sweeper, at Paris.
441
therefore, it was reckoned the worst desert in the whole march though we were
to go over some much larger.
In passing this wilderness, which, I confess, was at the first view very frightful
to me, we saw two or three times, little parties of the Tartars, but they seemed
to be upon their own affairs, and to have no design upon us; and so, like the
man who met the devil, if they had nothing to say to us, we had nothing to say
to them, we let them go.
Once, however, a party of them came so near as to stand and gaze at us;
whether it was to consider what they should do, viz. to attack us, or not attack
us we knew not; but when we had passed at some distance by them, we made
a rear-guard of forty men, and stood ready for them, letting the caravan pass
half a mile, or thereabouts, before us. After a while they marched off, only we
found they saluted us with five arrows at their parting, one of which wounded a
horse so that it disabled him, and we left him the next day, poor creature, in
great need of a good farrier; we suppose they might shoot more arrows, which
might fall short of us, but we saw no more arrows or Tartars at that time.
We travelled near a month after this, the ways being not so good at first,
though still in the dominions of the emperor of China, but lay, for the most part,
in villages, some of which were fortified because of the incursions of the Tartars.
When we came to one of these towns (it was about two days and a half journey
before we were to come to the city of Naum), I wanted to buy a camel, of which
there are plenty to be sold all the way upon that road, and of horses also, such
as they are, because so many caravans coming that way, they are very often
wanted. The person that I spoke to to get me a camel, would have gone and
fetched it for me, but I, like a fool, must be officious, and go myself along with
him. The place was about two miles out of the village, where, it seems they
kept the cainels and horses feeding under a guard.
I walked it on foot, with my old pilot in company, and a Chinese, being very
desirous, forsooth, of a little variety. When we came to this place, it was a
low, marshy ground, walled round with a stone wall, piled up dry, without mor-
tar or earth among it, like a park, with a little guard of chinese soldiers at the
door. Having bought a camel, and agreed for the price, I came away, and the
chinese man that went with me led the camel, when, on a sudden, came up five
Tartars on horseback; two of them seized the fellow, and took the camel from
him, while the other three stepped up to me and my old pilot, seeing us as it
were, unarmed, for I had no weapon but my sword, which could but ill defend
me against three horsemen. The first that came up stopped short upon my
drawing my sword (for they are arrant cowards), but a second coming upon my
left, gave me a blow on the head, which I never felt till afterward, and won-
dered, when I came to myself, what was the matter with me, and where I was,
for he laid me flat on the ground; but my never-failing old pilot, the Portuguese
(so providence, unlooked for, directs deliverances from dangers, which, to us,
are unforeseen), had a pistol in his pocket, which I knew nothing of, nor the
Tartars neither; if they had, I suppose they would not have attacked us. But
cowards are always boldest when there is no danger.
1
The old man, seeing me down, with a bold heart, stepped up to the fellow
that had struck me, and laying hold of his arm with one hand, and pulling him
down by main force a little towards him with the other, he shot him in the
head, and laid him dead on the spot; he then immediately stepped up to him
who had stopped us, as I said, and before he could come forward again (for it
was all done, as it were, in a moment), made a blow at him with a scimitar,
which he always wore; but, missing the man, cut his horse into the side of his
head, cut one of his ears off by the root, and a great slice down the side of his
face. The poor beast, enraged with the wound, was no more to be governed by
his rider, though the fellow sat well enough too; but away he flew, and carried
him quite out of the pilot's reach, and at some distance rising upon his hind legs,
threw down the Tartar and fell upon him.
442
}
In this interval, the poor Chinese came in who had lost the camel, but he
had no weapon; however, seeing the Tartar down, and his horse fallen upon
him, he runs to him, and seizing upon an ugly, ill-favoured weapon, he had
by his side, something like a pole-axe, but not a pole-axe neither, he wrenched
it from him, and made shift to knock his tartarian brains out with it. But my
old man had the third Tartar to deal with still; and seeing he did not fly, as he
expected, nor come on to fight him, as as he apprehended, but stood stock-still;
the old man stood still too, and falls to work with his tackle to charge his pistol
again; but as soon as the Tartar saw the pistol, whether he supposed it to be
the same or another I know not, but away he scoured, and left my pilot (mny
champion I called him afterwards) a complete victory.
By this time I was a little awake, for I thought, when I first began to awake,
that I had been in a sweet sleep'; but as I said above, I wondered where I was,
how I came upon the ground, and what was the matter; in a word, a few mo-
ments after, as sense returned, I felt pain, though I did not know where I
clapped my hand to my head, and took it away bloody, then I felt my head
achc, and then, in another moment, memory returned, and every thing was
present to me again,
I jumped up upon my feet instantly, and got hold of my sword, but no ene-
mies in view. I found a Tartar lie dead, and his horse standing very quietly by
him; and looking farther, I saw my champion and deliverer, who had been to
see what the Chinese had done, coming back with his hanger in his hand. The
old man, seeing me on my feet, came running to me, and embraced me with a
great deal of joy, being afraid before, that I had been killed, and seeing me
bloody, would see how I was hurt; but it was not much, only what we call a
broken head; neither did I afterwards find any great inconvenience from the
blow, other than the place which was hurt, which was well again in two or
three days.
We made no great gain, however, by this victory, for we lost a camel and
gained a horse; but that which was remarkable, when we came back to the
village, the man demanded to be paid for the camel. I disputed it, and it was
brought to a hearing before the chinese judge of the place, that is to say, in
English, we went before a justice of the peace. Give him his due, he acted
with a great deal of prudence and impartiality, and having heard both sides, he
gravely asked the chinese man that went with me to buy the camel, whose
servant he was. "I am no servant," said he, "but went with the stranger."
"At whose request?" said the justice. "At the stranger's request," said he.
"Why then," said the justice, " you were the stranger's servant for the time;
and the camel being delivered to his servant, it was delivered to him, he must
pay for it."*
* LAW.-There certainly is no one document from which we may form a judgment
of the character and condition of any nation, with so much safety as from the body of
their laws; and when these are presented to us, not in the partial abstracts of their
admirers or detractors, but in the original fulness and nakedness of their authentic sta-
tutes, the information which they afford may be fairly considered as paramount to all
that can be derived from other sources. The representations of travellers, even where
their fidelity is not liable to impeachment, will almost always take a tinge from their own
imagination or affections; and where enthusiasm or controversy have any place in the
discussion, there is an end to all prospect of accuracy or justice. The laws of a people,
however, are actual specimens of its intellectual character; and may lead the reflecting
observer to a variety of important conclusions, that perhaps did not occur to the com-
piler. In such a work the legislator inevitably paints both himself and the people for
whom he legislates; and as nothing here depends upon the coloring of style or ornament,
nothing short of intentional fabrication in the editor or translator can prevent us from
forming a correct notion of the original. It may be considered as an historical fact, that
the Chinese were united under a regular government, and in no low state of civiliza
tion, at least as early as the third century.before our era, it might have been expected
443
I confess the thing was so clear, that I had not a word to say: but admiring
to see such just reasoning upon the consequence, and so accurate stating the
that, among a people so tenacious of old usages, their fundamental penal code should
have been deduced from a very remote antiquity. Their great love of their ancestors,
however, gives place, it seems, to their greater love for their reigning emperor; and, on
the accession of every new dynasty, it is the custom to make a sort of redaction, or new
edition, of the subsisting statutes, which takes the name of the reigning family, and
forms the Lee, or fundamental code, during the subsistence of that race; all the addi-
tional statutes being subjoined in a subordinate form, as supplementary clauses of expla-
nation or commentary, called Lee, to this immutable text. Upon the accession of a
new dynasty, such parts, both of text and supplement, as are approved of, are incor-
porated into a new text, which takes the name of that family, and receives successive
increments in the form of Lee, during all the period that it possesses the sovereignty.
The present dynasty is that of ZING, which ascended the throne in the year of the
christian aera, 1644; and the date of the present fundamental code cannot therefore be
quite so ancient. This, however, it is obvious, is only true of its present form and
arrangement, or rather of its authoritative publication under that form; for, in a nation
where the veneration for antiquity and established usage is so strong as to form the
chief security of the government, and the chief obstacle to improvement among the
people, it is impossible not to conclude, that by far the greater part of the code thus
promulgated, would consist of the identical precepts and regulations which had been
enforced from time immemorial among this unchanging people. The earliest compila
tion of which the english embassy to China has procured any authentic intelligence, is
ascribed to a worthy named LEE-QUEE, who is supposed to have lived about 250 years
before JESUS CHRIST, and who does not appear to have been the author of any of
the laws which he collected. The greater part of the present code may be supposed to
be as old as the time now mentioned; and much of it may be reasonably presumed to
be far more antient. These observations are meant to introduce to the knowledge of
the reader, a curious and meritorious publication of the year 1810, entituled:-" Tah-
zing-leo-lee being the fundamental laws and a selection from the supplementary statutes of
the penal code of China originally printed and published in Pe-kin in various successive
editions under the sanction and by the authority of the several emperors of the Tah-zing or
present dynasty: Translated from the chinese, and accompanied with an appendix,
consisting of authentic documents, and a few occasional notes, illustrative of the subject
of the work. By Sir GEORGE THOMAS STAUNTON, Baronet, F.R.S. (4to. pp. 581.)
What strikes one as remarkable in this collection is, the excessive minuteness and accu-
racy of its regulations, the constant desire to regulate every thing whatever,-to
interfere in every action, and to fix immutably, beforehand, the effect of every shade
of distinction which a case may receive from its circumstances. Thus, the foundation
of the whole code is laid in fixing a scale of punishments, rising through twenty degrees,
'from ten blows with the bamboo to 100 blows,-to 60 blows, with banishment for one
year to the distance of 150 miles,-to 100 blows, and perpetual banishment to the
distance of 1500 miles,-to death, by strangling, by decollation, or by torture; and in
case of any offence, the legal punishment is directed to be increased or diminished by
a certain number of those degrees, according to the circumstances of aggravation or
palliation by which it may be attended. In like manner, the punishment of theft is
made to vary, according to the value of the thing stolen, from ten blows with the
bamboo, to death by strangling; and all the considerations of stealing under trust, or
from the public, or from relations, are made to aggravate or diminish the punishment
by a certain number of those degrees. Besides all this, almost all the actions of a
man's life are subjected to the controul of the government; and its penal sanctions are
incurred for improprieties of the most domestic nature, and even for the most innocent
transactions, if entered into without its special license. Thus a man is severely punished
for marrying while his parents are in prison, or within three years after their death, or
for neglecting to pay honour to their sepulchres; and also for acting as a commercial
agent, or even for killing his own oxen, without a written permission from the magis-
trate-for dressing himself in an unsuitable manner-for allowing his lands to lie waste,
or neglecting to pay interest for borrowed money. Now, this extraordinary minute.
ness and oppressive interference with the freedom of private conduct, is not to be con
sidered merely as arising from that passion for governing too much, which is apt to
·
444
case, I paid willingly for the camel, and sent for another: but you may observe
I sent for it; I did not go to fetch it myself any more. I had enough of that.
infect all persons in possession of absolute power; but appears to indicate a certain stage
in the progress of society, and to belong to a period of civilization, beyond which the
Chinese have not yet been permitted to advance. In the spirit of this policy, however,
and in the stage of society by which it is engendered, does the chinese code appear to
have been framed; and to this general and widely operating cause, are we inclined to
refer its jealous and vexatious interference with the ordinary duties of individuals. Its
minute and anxious attempts at accuracy in distinguishing cases and proportioning pu-
nishments, originate in the same blind love of regularity; and will be found to corre-
spond exactly with the institutions of other countries, while under the influence of the
same principle. In Hindustan, where this systematic spirit has perhaps been carried
the most unrelenting length, and been longest maintained, the distinctions are still more
ludicrously minute, and the scale of punishment graduated with more elaborate inge-
nuity. In China, the legislator thought he went far enough, when he specified the
precise penalty for tearing off two tse of hair, or for throwing filth and ordure on ano-
ther. The Hindu, however, has had the precaution to provide an appropriate rate of
punishment for the offence of throwing the wax of the ears, or the parings of the nails at
one's neighbour; and even to vary the pain, according as those substances are thrown
on the upper or the under part of the body, or on the back part or the fore. In antient
Europe, there was the same fantastic and preposterous minuteness;the table of pains,
indeed, was different; and, as our ancestors were of too high a spirit to submit to being
flogged, consisted, for the most part, in pecuniary fines. In Wales, where specie was
less abundant, the law laid on the mulct in grain; and the operation of the same spirit
is visible in the anxiety with which the chinese code directs certain offences to be expiated
by 50 blows inflicted on the posteriors with a piece of bamboo, five tsun in length, 1
tsun in thickness, and two kin in weight, held by the smaller end; and in the no less
ingenious and anxious enactment of the Welch legislator, who provides, that for cer-
tain delinquencies the culprit shall pay as much grain as, being poured out on the floor,
shall stand in a heap sufficiently high in the centre to cover the body of a full grown
cat, held by the tip of the tail, with her nose just touching the ground! Another very
remarkable feature in this code, is the indiscriminate frequency of corporal punish-
ments. The bamboo is the great moral panacea of China: and offences of all descrip
tions are punished, in every rank of society, by a certain quantity of flagellation. The
highest officer in the state is whipped like a common pickpocket; and there are at least
fifty, clauses in this code, by which, for particular offences, a general officer is ordered
to receive fifty lashes on his posteriors, and to continue in the command of the army.
Those things sound strangely in our ears; and are, no doubt, accompanied in a certain
degree with that general debasement of character, which, according to our notions,
must have existed to an enormous degree before they could be endured, The fact,
however, probably is, that the degradation which attaches to a blow in modern Europe,
is something greater than its natural share of degradation; and that we are indebted to
the peculiar institution of chivalry, for that generous and refined system of manners,
which makes it worse than death for a gentleman either to receive a blow, or to be
convicted of a falsehood. In China, they have no such delicacy;-a blow is a bad
thing in so far as it is painful-and no farther; and, in a country where there seems to
be absolutely no sense of honour, there is, perhaps, no punishment so equal and
manageable. The truth is, that where the government is strong, and the police active
and vigilant, it is a matter of no great consequence what be the character of punishment
inflicted on individuals, so it be uniform and unvarying. Before we utterly despise the
Chinese, however, for flogging their generals, it would be as well that we should cease
to flog the brave men, who should share in the honour, as they do in the perils of our
generals; and not aggravate the baseness of such a punishment by the inconsistency of
confining it to that order of men, to whom it must be most intolerable. In some parti-
cular cases, the law of China allows the corporal punishment to be redeemed by a fine,
at the rate of about 30s. for each blow. Such are the chief peculiarities that strike on a
general view of this code, The Editor will now proceed to make a brief and hasty
abstract of such of its particular regulations as appear to be curious and important, either
as affecting the general system of law, or as illustrating the character and condition of
the people. Foreigners, guilty of crimes within China, must answer for them accords
445
The city of Naum is a frontier of the chinese empire. They call it fortified,
and so it is as fortifications go there, for this I will venture to affirm, that all the
ing to the common law of the empire. There is no proper hereditary nobility in China,
except the descendants of some great Tahtar princes, who still possess lands in
Tahtary. The emperor, however, can bestow nobilility, with a remainder to heirs-
male, to be resumed when he pleases: and, by law, those who have been exalted for
rendering eminent services to the state, transmit their honours to the first three genera-
tions of their male descendants. In general, however, there is no nobility but that of
office; and every magistrate, high or low, must be appointed by the emperor. Slavery
is established by law; but a man, killing his slave intentionally, shall answer for it as
for the death of a free man. There is no proper priesthood in China, except the
emperor and the magistrates, who perform all public oblations. The religion of Fo is
tolerated: but no new convents can be established without the imperial license; nor
can any one become a priest in that faith, without a similar permission. Such priests are
debarred from marrying; and are bound to wear a particular habit. It is not quite
clear whether the national religion is a species of Deism, or whether they worship
different subordinate divinities under the name of the Spirits of Earth and Heaven, &c.
STAUNTON is inclined to hold them vulgar Polytheists; but admits, that the missionaries
always represent them as pure Deists. The truth seems to be, that they have no reli-
gion, but a set of established solemnities. Degrees in literature are certainly granted
to all persons pretending to public offices, after examination by the magistrate and heads
of tribunals; but there does not appear to be any establishment analogous to our univer-
sities. Sir GEORGE STAUNTON has printed, in the Appendix, a curious edict of the
present emperor, in answer to an application from some of his Tahtar subjects, praying
to have the means of. obtaining literary degrees afforded them in Tahtary, without
putting them to the trouble of coming to Pekin for examination. His Majesty, after a
gracious preamble, is pleased to refuse the petition; and to recommend to the Tahtar
officers to instruct and exhort their sons to consider the art of riding, and the use of the
bow, as the most appropriate objects of their emulation, and which they cannot study
and practise with too much assiduity.' An accurate enrolment must be made of the
people, and of the lands, in every district,-each male child being registered when
four years of age. The magistrates can call for the services of all males from 16 to 60,
either for military or civil purposes. The common rate of wages seems to be about 7d.
a day. All the land in the kingdom pays a tax; and it is disputed, with regard to this
country as well as India, whether the sovereign is considered as the proprietor, and this
tax as his rent, or whether it be a tax merely. It seems to favour the former supposi-
tion, that the possessor is liable to severe punishment for not cultivating, over and
above being obliged to pay the tax. Certain assessors or valuators are chosen for each
district, who become responsible for its quota. Robbery in the night is punished with
death;—in the day, with a hundred blows, and perpetual banishment. Any attempt
to rescue the offender after he is seized, is capital. The pains of stealing rise in pro-
portion to the value taken-from sixty blows of the bamboo, to death; though Sir
GEORGE STAUNTON says, that this extreme punishment never is inflicted fe this
offence. Swindling, or obtaining money on false pretences, punished exactly as theft
to the same value;-extorting by threats, one degree more severely. Stealing from
near relations, incurs a punishment five degrees less severe than that of common theft.
Sir GEORGE STAUNTON attempts to explain this very extraordinary law, by observing,
that all the members of a family are considered as having a sort of joint interest in their
property; so that the domestic thief takes only what is partly his own. Kidnapping, or
stealing human creatures, punished with a hundred blows and banishment;-if the
person be wounded or injured, with death. Any person entering a house, either by
force or by stealth, in the night, may be lawfully killed. There are very severe and
extremely anxious penalties against disturbing graves, or exposing dead bodies to any
kind of indecent treatment. Murder is punished with death. Even an intention to
commit parricide has the same pain; and, if the parent be actually killed, torture is
added. Administering poison is capital, even though it does not kill. Killing in an
affray is also capital-if by accident, and quite without intention, the party may
redeem his life by a small fine. Physicians who kill by absurd medicines, if without
any malicious purpose, may also redeem themselves, but must for ever quit the pro-
fession. Husbands may kill persons caught in adultery. There is a long gradation of
446
Tartars in Karakathay, which, I believe, are some millions, could not batter
down the walls with their bows and arrows; but to call it strong, if it were at
tacked with cannon, would be to make those who understand it, laugh at you.
We wanted, as I have said, above two days' journey of this city, when messen-
gers were sent express to every part of the road, to tell all travellers and caravans
to halt, till they had a guard sent to them, for that an unusual body of Tartars,
making ten thousand in all, had appeared in the way, about thirty miles beyond
the city.
punishments in cases of assault; both the pains and the injury being nicely distinguished.
Mitigations are also allowed on account of provocation, as may be seen from the follow-
ing characteristic enactment. In the case of a combat between two persons; and in
the case of several persons engaging in an affray, and promiscuously striking and fighting
each other, they shall be punished respectively, according to the blows duly ascer-
tained, and proved, by the examination of the effects, to have been received by their
antagonists; except that the punishment of the person or persons who only return the
blows received, and have the right and justice of the dispute on his or their side, shall
be reduced two degrees in consideration of such favourable circumstances but this
reduction shall not take place in the instance of striking an elder brother or sister, or an
uncle; or when inflicting, in any case, a mortal blow. As for instance; let K1A and
YEE be supposed to quarrel and fight, and that KIA deprives YEE of an eye, and YEE
deprives KIA of a tooth; now the injury sustained by YEE is the heaviest, and subjects
KIA to the punishment of 100 blows and three years banishment, whilst the lesser
injury sustained by KIA subjects YEE to a punishment of 100 blows only :-neverthe-
less, if it appears that KIA only returned the attack, and had the right on his side, his
punishment shall be reduced two degrees, and accordingly amount to 80 blows and
two years banishment :-on the contrary, if YEE only returned the attack, and had the
right in the dispute, his punishment shall be reduced two degrees, and amount to 80
blows only; the punishment to which the antagonist is subjected, remaining in either
case the same as before.'
Such are a few of the leading provisions of this oriental code; and defective as it must
no doubt appear, in comparison with our own more liberal and indulgent constitutions,
the Editor conceives, that even this hasty sketch of its contents will be thought suffi-
cient to justify what has been said of its merits and demerits. The grand and peculiar
reproach of the singular people we have been contemplating is, that it is a nation
without honor! That noble and capricious principle, which it is as difficult to define,
as to refer, in all cases, to a sure foundation in reason or in morality, is, after all, the
true safeguard of national and individual happiness and integrity, as well as of their
dignity and greatness. It is found, too, in almost all conditions of society, and in
every stage of its progress-among the savages of America, and the bandits of Arabia,
as well as among the gentlemen of London or Paris-among Turks, heathens, or
christians-among merchants and peasants; republicans and courtiers; men and child-
ren it is found every where refining and exalting morality-aiding religion, or sup-
plying its place-inspiring and humanising bravery-fortifying integrity-overawing or
tempering oppression-softening the humiliation of poverty, and taming the arrogance
of success. A nation is strong and happy exactly in proportion to the spirit of honor
which prevails in it; and no nation, antient or modern, savage or civilized, seems to
have been altogether destitute of it, but the Chinese. To what they are indebted for
this degrading peculiarity, we shall not pretend to determine. The despotism of the
government-the trading habits of the people-the long peace they have enjoyed-
and their want of intercourse with other nations, may all have had their share. The
fact, however, we take to be undoubted; and it both explains and justifies the chief
deformities in the code we have now been considering. If such a code could be
imposed by force upon an honourable and generous people, it would be the most
base and cruel of all atrocities to impose it. But it is good enough for a race to
whose habits it was originally adapted, and who have quietly submitted to it for two
thousand years. When governments begin to think it a duty to exalt and improve the
condition of their subjects, the chinese government will have more to do than any
other; but while the object is merely to keep their subjects in order, and to repress
private outrages and injuries to individuals, they may boast of having as effectual
provisions for that purpose as any other people.
? 447
C
This was very bad news to travellers; however, it was carefully done of the
governor, and we were very glad to hear we should have a guard. Accordingly,
two days after, we had two hundred soldiers sent us from a garrison of the Chi-
nese on our left, and three hundred more of the city of Naum, and with those we
advanced boldly. The three hundred soldiers from Naum marched in our front,
the two hundred in our rear, and our men on each side of our camels, with our
baggage, and the whole caravan in the centre. In this order, and well prepared
for battle, we thought ourselves a match for the whole ten thousand mogul
it
Tartars, if they had appeared; but, the next day, when they did appear,
was quite another thing.
It was early in the morning, when marching from a little well-situated town,
called Changu, we had a river to pass, where we were obliged to ferry, and
had the Tartars had an intelligence, then had been the time to have attacked us,
when the caravan being over, the rear-guard was behind: but they did not
appear there.
:
those
About three hours after, when we were entered upon a desert of about fifteen
'or sixteen miles over, behold, by a cloud of dust they raised, we saw an enemy
was at hand and they were at hand indeed, for they came on upon
the spur.
The Chinese, our guard on the front, who had talked so big the day before,
'began to stagger, and the soldiers frequently looked behind them, which is a
certain sign in a soldier, that he is just ready to run away. My old pilot was of
my mind, and, being near me, he called out, "Senhor Inglez," said he,
fellows must be encouraged, or they will ruin us all; for if the Tartars come on,
they will never stand it." "I am of your mind," (said I,) "but what course must
be done?" Done,"
," said he, "let fifty of our men advance, and flank them on
each wing, and encourage them, and they will fight like brave fellows in brave
company; but without it, they will every man turn his back." Immediately I
rode up to our leader, and told him, who was exactly of our mind; accord-
ingly fifty of us marched to the right wing, and fifty to the left, and the rest
made a line of reserve; and so we marched, leaving the last two hundred men
to make another body by themselves, and to guard the camels, only that, if need
were, they should send an hundred men to assist the last fifty.
•
In a word, the Tartars came on, and an innumerable company they were; how
many we could not tell; but ten thousand we thought was the least. A party of
them came on first, and viewed our posture, traversing the ground in front of
our line, and as we found them within gun-shot, our leader ordered the two wings
to advance swiftly, and give them a salvo on each wing with their shot, which
was done; but they went off, and, I suppose, went back to give an account of the
reception they were like to meet with; and indeed that salute clogged their
'stomachs, for they immediately halted, stood awhile to consider of it, and wheel-
ing of to the left, they gave over the design, and said no more to us for that
time, which was very agreeable to our circumstances, which were but very in-
different for a battle with such a number.
Two days after this, we came to the city of Naunm, or Naum. We thanked
the governor for us, and collected to the value of one hundred crowns, or there-
abouts, which we gave to the soldiers sent to guard us; and here we rested one
day. This is a garrison indeed, and there were nine hundred soldiers kept here ;
but the reason of it was, that formerly the muscovite frontiers lay nearer to them
than they do now, the Muscovites having abandoned that part of the country
(which lies from this west, for about two hundred miles) as desolate, and unfit
for use and more especially, being so very remote, and so difficult to send
troops thither for its defence, for we had yet above two thousand miles to Mus-
covy, properly so called.
After this, we passed several great rivers, and two dreadful deserts, one of
which we were sixteen days passing over, and which, as I said, was to be called
"No-Man's Land;" and on the thirteenth of April we came to the frontiers of
the muscovite dominions. I think the first city, or town, or fortress, whatever
448
it might be called, that belonged to the czar of Muscovy, was called Argun,
being on the west side of the river Argun.*
I could not but discover an infinite satisfaction, that I was now arrived in,
as I called it, a christian country, or, at least, in a country governed by christians;
for though the Muscovites do, in my opinion, but just deserve the name of
christians, yet such they pretend to be, and are very devout in their way. It
would certainly occur to any man who travels the world as I have done, and who
had any power of reflection, I say it would occur to him, to reflect what a bless-
ing it is to be brought into the world, where the name of God and of a Re-
deemer is known, worshipped, and adored ;† and not where the people, given up
by heaven to strong delusions, worship the devil, and prostrate themselves to
stocks and stones, worship monsters, elements, horrible shaped animals, and
statues or images of monsters. Not a town or city we passed through, but had
their pagods, their idols, and their temples, and ignorant people worshipping even
the works of their own hands.
* ARGUN :—This river, whose name is pronounced Argoon, may be properly con-
sidered when joined with the Onon as constituting the original Amoor: it rises near
the Yablonoy mountains, and becomes during a considerable portion of its course the
limit between the russian and the chinese empires, according to the treaty of Nershinsk,
A. D. 1689. A part of the trade with China has been latterly conducted at Zuru-
chaitu on this river, in latitude 50° N. longitude 117° E. Some mountains seeming an
extension of the great chain of Emaüs, bear the same name as this river.
+ WORSHIP, ADORE, HONOR, REVERE:-These words are so commonly confounded
as synonyms, that perhaps the following elucidation may be found acceptable by the
general reader. Originally honor signifies a slight gift or present; reverence, a bow
or prostration; worship, a hoisting or extolling; adoration, a praying-to, or invoking.
These are all symptoms of veneration, which rise on each other in significance.
Honor the king. Merit should be honoured in every condition, Divûm templis
indicit honorem. In these instances the word honor is in its place. We are to pay our
taxes; we are to remunerate utility; oblations are to be carried unto the temple. The
primary or radical idea of offering a gift is here an applicable metaphor. But in that
sentence of the decalogue," honor thy father and thy mother," some philologists are
of opinion that the word, revere, would have been more proper, it being the place of
parents to make gifts, and to endow their children and not the reverse.
"Prithee, TRIM,
what do'st thou mean, by honoring thy father and
mother?" "Allowing them an' please your Honor, three half-pence a day out of my
"He
pay when they grow old." "And didst thou do that TRIM?" said YORICK.
did indeed, replied my uncle TOBY." "Then TRIM," said YORICK, "thou art the best
commentator on that part of the Decalogue; and I honor thee more for it, than
if thou hadst had a hand in the Talmud itself." (STERNE. Tristram-Shandy.)
The slang of fashion often uses the word honor perversely. A man expresses
himself rationally when he accepts the honor of dining with another: he accepts the
gift of a dinner. But when the english plenipotentiaries at Ghent, address to the
american plenipotentiaries the expression of doing themselves the honor to &c.....
the metaphor is violent.
The word revere, had been more fortunate: it is correctly used by the greater part of
our writers.
"
They forthwith to the place repairing where he judg'd them, prostrate fell before
him reverent." (MILTON.)
"LUCIUS VERUS would omit no opportunity of doing honor to MARCUS AURE-
LIUS, whom he rather revered as his father, then treated as his partner in the empire."
(ADDISON.)
Adoration (from ad and orare) is that rite of worship which consists in addressing
prayer to, or invoking by word of mouth the divinity. It implies a belief in the con-
tinued existence and super-human power of the being so invocated. The catholics
adore the mother of god. The unitarians confine their adoration to the supreme
being. The anglican litany concludes with repeated and earnest adorations of Christ.
Intelligent beneficence is the purest attribute of mind: in our equals, it should be
honored; in our elders, revered; in the heroes of mankind, it may fitly be worshipped;
and in the author of the universe it is devoutly adored.
449
Now we came where, at least, the face of the christian worship appeared,
where the knee was bowed to Jesus; and whether ignorantly or not, yet the
christian religion was owned, and the name of the true God was called upon and
adored: and it made the very recesses of my soul rejoice to see it. I saluted
the brave scots merchant I mentioned above, with my first acknowledgment of
this, and taking him by the hand, said to him, "Blessed be God, we are once
again come among christians!" He smiled, and answered, "Do not rejoice too
soon, countryman; these Muscovites are but an odd sort of christians, and but
for the name of it, you may see very little of the substance for some months
farther of our journey.
"Well," said I, "but still it is better than paganism, and worshipping of
devils." Why, I'll tell you," said he, "except the russian soldiers in garrisons,
and a few of the inhabitants of the cities upon the road, all the rest of this
country, for above a thousand miles farther, is inhabited by the worst and most
ignorant of pagans; and so indeed we found it.”
We were now launched into the greatest piece of solid earth, if I understand
any thing of the surface of the globe, that is to be found in any part of the world.*
We had at least twelve hundred miles to the sea, eastward: we had at least
two thousand to the bottom of the Baltic sea, westward; and almost three
thousand miles, if we left that sea, and went on to the british and french channels;
we had full five thousand miles to the indian or persian sea, south; and about
eight hundred miles to the frozen sea, north. Nay, if some people may be
believed, there might be no sea, north-east, till we came round the pole, and
consequently into the north-west, and so had a continent of land into America,
no mortal knows where; though I could give some reasons why I believe that
to be a mistake too.
As we entered into the muscovite dominions, a good while before we came
to any considerable town, we had nothing to observe there but this; first that
all the rivers run to the east. As 1 understood by the charts, which some of
our caravans had with them, it was plain that all those rivers ran into the great
river Yamour or Gammour. This river, by the natural course of it, must run
into the east sea, or chinese ocean. The story they tell us, that the mouth of
this river is choaked up with bulrushes of a monstrous growth; viz. three feet
about, and twenty or thirty feet high, I must be allowed to say I believe nothing
of. But as its navigation is of no use, because there is no trade that way,
the Tartars, to whom it alone belongs, dealing in nothing but cattle, so nobody,
that ever I heard of, has been curious enough either to go down to the mouth
of it in boats, or come up froin the mouth of it in ships; but this is certain,
that this river running due east, in the latitude of sixty degrees, carries a vast
concourse of rivers along with it, and finds an ocean to empty itself in that lati-
tude; so we are sure of sea there.
Some leagues to the north of this river there are several considerable rivers,
whose streams run as due north as the Yamour runs east; and these are all found
to join their waters with the great river Tartarus, named so from the northern-
most nations of the Mogul Tartars, who, the Chinese say, were the first Tartars
* VON WICHMAN, in his picture of the russian monarchy, states its size, in rela-
tion to other countries, as follows:-Russia is 28 times larger than France, 29 times
larger than Austria, 38 times larger than Sweden, five times larger than the turkish.
empire, four times larger than China, seven times larger than Persia, and 39 times
larger than Japan.
YAMOUR: The important stream, thus named by our adventurer, is called by the
Russians, Amoor, by the Manchoos or Mandshurs, Sagalien-oula. It is deservedly
classed among the largest rivers; rising near the Yablonoy mountains, where it is first
known by the names of Argoon and Kerlon, and pursuing an easterly course of about
1800 miles. It is the grand receptacle of the Mandshur streams, among which the most
considerable is the Songari, which itself receives the large river Nonni.
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nav. Chron. Edit.]
G G
450
in the world, and who, as cur geographers allege, are the Gog and Magog men,
tioned in sacred story
*
These rivers running all northward, as well as all the other rivers I am yet
to speak of, make it evident, that the northern ocean bounds the land also on
that side; so that it does not scem rational in the least to think, that the land
can extend itself to join with America on that side, or that there is not a commu-
nication between the northern and the eastern ocean; but of this I shall say no
more; it was my observation at that time, and therefore I take notice of it in
this place. We now advanced from the river Arguna, by easy and moderate
journeys, and were very visibly obliged to the care the czar of Muscovy has taken
to have cities and towns built in as many places as it is possible to place them,
where his soldiers keep garrison, something like the stationary soldiers placed
by the Romans in the remotest countries of their empire, some of which, I had
read, were particularly placed in Britain for the security of commerce, and for
the lodging of travellers; and thus it was here; for, wherever we came, though
at these towns and stations the garrisons and governor were Russians, and pro-
fessed christians, yet the inhabitants of the country were mere pagans, sacrificing
to idols, and worshipping the sun, moon, and stars, or all the host of heaven;
and not only so, but were, of all the heathens and pagans that ever I met with,
the most barbarous, except only that they did not eat man's flesh, as our
Savages of America did.
Some instances of this we met in the country between Arguna, where we
enter the Muscovite dominions, and a city of Tartars and Russians together,
called Nertzinskoy,† in which the space is a continued desert, or forest, which
cost us twenty days to travel over it. In a village, near the last of those places,
I had the curiosity to go and see their way of living, which is most brutish and
unsufferable. They had, I suppose, a great sacrifice that day; for there stood
out, upon an old stump of a tree, an idol, made of wood, frightful as the devil,
at least as any thing we can think of to 'represent the devil, can be made: it had
a head certainly not so much as resembling any creature that the world ever
saw; ears as big as goat's horns, and as high; eyes as big as a crown-piece; a
nose like a crooked ram's horn, and a mouth extended four-cornered, like that of
*GOG :-Twy, i. e. roof of a house: son to Shemiah of the posterity of Reuben.
Gog and Magog are taken, in an allegorical sense, for the enemies of the church and its
saints.
MAGOG, Mayy, i, e. covering or melting. The son of JAPHET, and grandson of
NOAH; supposed to be the patriarch of the Scythians or Tahtars. It is to be observed,
however, that all tradition of high antiquity is as little to be depended upon, in its
details, amongst the Orientals as amongst the Europeans. With them, as with us, facts
of an hundred years, when not recorded in writing, are altered, denaturated, and
forgotten; so that, to expect of them any rational account of what may have happened
in the times of DAVID or ALEXANDER, is as if one was to interrogate a Highlander about
FINGAL, or a flemish boor about CI.ovIs, or CHARLEMAGNE. As one instance of
the uncertainty of such information, throughout maritime Turkey, most ruined edifices,
at ail remarkable for solidity, are attributed to the Genoese, while the Syrians, with a
sturdy disregard of chronology, usually ascribe such remains to SOLOMON. GOG is
named in the following places of the bible:-I. Chronicles v, 4; Ezekiel xxxviii, 2, 3,
16, 18, xxxix, 11; Revelations xx, viii. MAGOG in these :-Genesis x, 2; I. Chronicles
i, 5; Ezekiel xxxviii, 2, xxxix, 6; Revelations xx, viii. GoG-MAGOG, a british giant,
said to be 12 cubits high, an image of which stands in the, guild-hall of London.
(BAILEY, 1733.) For a description of the two gigantic figures in the city of London,
usually styled Gog and Magog, see European Magazine; vol. Iviii, p. 116.
+ NERTZINSKOY:-or Nershinsk. A city of russian Dahoria, mostly remarkable
for the treaty of peace signed there in August 1689, whereby the boundaries between
Russia and China were definitively settled. The limits specified were a chain of
mountains far to the north of the river Amoor, and the source of the small river
Gorbitza, thence to where that river joins the Amoor, and lastly along the Argoon, &ç,
451
a lion, with horrible teeth, hooked like a parrot's under bill. It was dressed up
in the filthiest manner that you can suppose: its upper garment was of sheep-
skins, with the wool outward; a great tartar bonnet on the head, with two horns
growing through it. It was about eight feet high; yet had no feet, or legs, or
any other proportion of parts.
This scare-crow was set up at the outside of the village, and when I came near
to it, there were sixteen or seventeen creatures, whether men or women I could
not tell, for they make no distinction by their babits, either of body or head:
these lay all flat on the ground, round this formidable block of shapeless wood,
I saw no motion among them, any more than if they had been logs of wood,
like their idol. At first, I really thought they had been so; but when I came a
little nearer, they started up upon their feet, and raised a howling cry, as if it
had been so many deep-mouthed hounds, and walked away as if they were dis-
pleased at our disturbing them. A little way off from this monster, and at the
door of a tent, or hut, made all of sheep-skins and cow-skins dried, stood three
butchers. I thought they were such; for when I came nearer to them, I found
they had long knives in their hands, and in the middle of the tent appeared three
sheep, killed, and one young bullock, or steer. These, it seems, were sacri-
fices to that senseless log of an idol, and these three men, priests belonging to
it; and the seventeen prostrated wretches were the people who brought the
offering, and were making their prayers to that stock.
I confess I was more moved at their stupidity, and this brutish worship of a
hobgoblin,* than ever I was at any thing in my life: to see God's most glorious
and best creature, to whom he had granted so many advantages, even by
creation, above the rest of the works of his hands, vested with a reasonable
soul, and that soul adorned with faculties and capacities adapted both to honour
his Maker, and be honoured by him; I say, to see it sunk and degenerated to a
degree so more than stupid, as to prostrate itself to a frightful nothing, a mere
imaginary object, dressed up by themselves, and made terrible to themselves by
their own contrivance, adorned only with clouts and rags, and that this should be
the effect of mere ignorance, wrought up into hellish devotion by the devil him-
self, who, envying to his maker the homage and adoration of his creatures,
had deluded them into such gross surfeiting, sordid, and brutish things, as one
would think should shock nature itself.
But what signified all the astonishment and reflection of thoughts? Thus it
was, and I saw it before my eyes; and there was no room to wonder at it, or
think it impossible. All my admiration turned to rage, and I rode up to the
image, or monster, call it what you will, and, with my sword, cut the bonnet that
was on its head in two, in the middle, so that it hung down by one of the-horns;
and one of our men that was with me took hold of the sheep-skin that covered
it, and pulled at it, when, behold, a most hideous outcry and howling ran through
the village, and two or three hundred people came about my ears, so that I was
glad to scour for it, for we saw some had bows and arrows: but I resolved,
from that moment, to visit them again.
Our caravan rested three nights at the town, which was about four miles off,
in order to provide some horses which they wanted, several of the horses having
* HOBGOBLIN :-a name vulgarly applied to faëries or apparitions. SKINNER calls
the word robgoblin, and derives it from Robin-good-fellow, Hob being the nick name
of Robin: but WALLIS and JUNIUS, (etymol, angl.) with greater probability, derive
it from hopgoblins, empusae, because they are supposed to hop without moving both
their feet. (JOHNSON.) Hobgoblin (q. d. Robgoblin, from Robin Good-fellow) imagi
nary apparitions, spirits, faëries. Goblins (gobelins, french) evil spirits, bug-bears, or
hob-goblins. (BAILEY 1733,) Hobgoblin and Puck are identified in the following
lines of a pretty poem:-
"Scarce set on shore, but there withal
He meeteth Puck, which most men call
Hobgoblin."-
(DRAYTON: Nymphidia.)
452
1
been famed and jaded with the badness of the way, and our long march over the
last desert; so we had some leisure here to put my design in execution. I come
municated my project to the Scots merchant of Moscow, of whose courage I
had had sufficient testimony, as above. I told him what I had seen, and with
what indignation I had since thought that human nature could be so degenerate.
I told him, I was resolved, if I could but get four or five men, well armed, to go
with me, to go and destroy that vile, abominable idol; to let them see that it
had no power to help itself, and consequently could not be an object of worship,
or to be prayed to, much less help them that offered sacrifices to it.
:
6
<
He laughed at me. Said he, Your zeal may be good; but what do you
propose to yourself by it? Propose!' said I: to vindicate the honour of God,
which is insulted by this devil-worship.' 'But how will it vindicate the honour
of God,' said he, while the people will not be able to know what you mean by
it, unless you could speak to them too, and tell them so. And then they will
fight you too, I'll assure you, for they are desperate fellows, and that especially
in defense of their idolatry. Can we not,' said I, do it in the night, and
then leave them the reasons in writing, in their own language?' 'Writing?' said
he why there is not in five nations of them, one man that knows any thing of
a letter, or how to read a word in any language, even in their own.' • Wretched
ignorance!' said I to him. However, I have a great mind to do it: perhaps
nature may draw inferences from it to them, to let them see how brutish they
are to worship such horrid things.' 'Look you, sir,' said he, if your zeal
prompts you to it so warmly, you must do it; but, in the next place, I would
have you consider, these wild nations of people are subjected by force to the
czar of Muscovy's dominions; and if you do this, it is ten to one but they will
come by thousands to the governor of Nertzinskoy, and complain, and demand
satisfaction, and if he cannot give them satisfaction, it is ten to one but they
will revolt, and it will occasion a new war with all the Tartars in the country.
6
C
This, I confess, put new thoughts into my head for a while; but I harped
upon the same string still, and all that day I was uneasy to put my project in
execution. Towards the evening the Scots merchant met me by accident in our
walk about the town, and desired to speak with me. I believe,' said he, ‘I
have put you off of your good design: I have been a little concerned about it
since, for I abhor the idol and idolatory, as much as you can do.' Truly,' said
I, ' you have put me off a little as to the execution of it, but you have not put
it all out of my thoughts, and, I believe, I shall do it still before I quit this place,
though I were to be delivered up to them for satisfaction.' 'No, no,' said he;
'God forbid they should deliver you up to such a crew of monsters: they shail
not do that neither; that would be murdering you indeed.' 'Why,' said I,
how would they use me?" 'Use you!' said he. I'll tell you how they served
a poor Russian, who affronted them in their worship just as you did, and whom
they took prisoner. After they had lamed him with an arrow, that he could
not run away, they took him, and stripped him stark naked, and set him upon
the top of the idol-monster, and stood all round him, and shot as many arrows
into him as would stick over his whole body; and then they burned him, and all
the arrows sticking in him, as a sacrifice to the idol.' 'And was this the samo
idol?' said I. 'Yes,' said he, the very same. Well,' said I, I'll tell you a
story. So I related the story of our men at Madagascar, and how they burned
and sacked the village there, and killed man, woman, and child, for their mur
dering one of our men, just as it is related before; and when I had done, I
added, that I thought we ought to do so to this viliage.
C
<
He listened very attentively to the story; but when I talked of doing so to
that village, said he, 'You mistake very much; it was not this village, it was
not this village, it was almost a hundred miles from this place; but it was the
same idol, for they carry him about in procession all over the country.'. 'Well,'
said I, then that idol ought to be punished for it; and it shall,' said I, ‘if {
live this night out.'
6
453
6
In a word, finding me resolute, he liked the design, and told me I should not
go alone, but he would go with me; but he would go first, and bring a stout
fellow, one of his countrymen, to go also with us; And one,' said he, as
famous for his zeal as you can desire any one to be, against such devilish things
as these.' In a word, he brought me his comrade, a Scotsman, whom he called
captain Richardson, and I gave him a full account of what I had seen, and also
of what I intended; and he told me readily he would go with me, if it cost him
his life. So we agreed to go, only we three. I had indeed proposed it to my
partner, but he declined it. He said he was ready to assist me to the utmost,
and upon all occasions, for my defense; but that this was an adventure quite
out of his way: so, I say, we resolved upon our work, only we three, and my
man-servant, and to put it in execution that night about midnight, with all the
secrecy imaginable.'
However, upon second thoughts, we were willing to delay it till the next
night, because, the caravan being to set forward in the morning, we supposed
the governor could not pretend to give them any satisfaction upon us when we
were out of his power, The Scots merchant, as steady in his resolution for an
enterprise as bold in executing it, brought me a Tartar's robe, or gown of sheep-
skins, and a bonnet, with a bow and arrows, and had provided the same for
himself and his countryman, that the people, if they saw us, should not be able
to determine who we were.
All the first night we spent in mixing up some combustible matter with aqua-
vita, gunpowder, and such other materials as we could get; and, having a good
quantity of tar in a little pot, about an hour after night, we set out upon
our expedition.
We came to the place about eleven o'clock at night and found that the
people had not the least jealousy of danger attending their idol. The night was
cloudy, yet the moon gave us light enough to see that the idol stood just in the
same posture and place that it did before. The people seemed to be all at their
rest, only that in the great hut, or tent, as we called it, where we saw the three
priests, whom we mistook for butchers, we saw a light; and, going up close to
the door, we heard people talking, as if there were five or six of them. We
concluded, therefore, that if we set wildfire to the idol, these men would come
out immediately, and run up to the place to rescue it from the destruction that
we intended for it: and what to do with them we knew not. Once we thought
of carrying it away, and setting fire to it at a distance; but when we came to
handle it, we found it too bulky for our carriage, so we were at a loss again.
The second Scotsman was for setting fire to the tent, or hut, and knocking the
creatures that were there on the head when they came out: but I could not
join with that; I was against killing them, if it was possible to be avoided. .
Well, then,' said the Scots merchant, I'll tell you what we will do: we will
try to take them prisoners, tie their hands, and make them stand still and see
their idol destroyed.'
As it happened we had twine or packthread enough about us, which was
used to tie our fireworks together with so we resolved to attack these people
first, and with as little noise as we could. The first thing we did, we knocked
at the door, when one of the priests coming to the door, we immediately seized
upon him, stopped his mouth, and tied his hands behind him, and led him to the
idol, where we gagged him, that he might not make a noise: we tied his feet
also together, and left him on the ground.
Two of us then waited at the door, expecting that another would come out
to see what the matter was; but we waited so long till the third man came back
to us; and then, nobody. coming out, we knocked again gently, and immediately
out came two more, and we served them just in the same manner, but were
obliged to go all with them, and lay them down by the idol some distance from
one another, when going back, we found two more were come out to the door,
and a third stood behind them within the door. We seized the two, and im
454
!
mediately tied them, when the third stepping back, and crying out, my Scots
merchant went in after him, and taking out a composition we had made, that
would only smoke and stink, he set fire to it, and threw it in among them. By
that time the other Scotsman, and my man, taking charge of the two men
already bound, and tied together also by the arm, led them away to the idol,
and left them there, to see if their idol would relieve them, making haste
back to us.
When the fuze we had thrown in had filled the hut with so much smoke that
they were almost suffocated, we then threw in a small leather bag of another
kind, which flamed like a candle, and following it in, we found there were but
four people left, who it seems, were two men and two women, and, as we sup-
posed, had been about some of their diabolic sacrifices. They appeared, in
short, frighted to death, at least so as to sit trembling and stupid, and not able
to speak neither, for the smoke.
In a word, we took them, bound them as we had the others, and all without
any noise. I should have said, we brought them out of the house, or hut, first;
for indeed we were not able to bear the smoke, any more than they were,
When we had done this, we carried them all together to the idol. When we
came there we fell to work with him; and, first, we daubed him all over, and
his robes also, with tar, and such other stuff as we had, which was tallow mixed
with brimstone; then we stopped his eyes and ears, and mouth, full of gunpow-
der; then we wrapped up a great piece of wildfire in his bonnet; and then
sticking all the combustibles we had brought with us upon him, we looked about
to see if we could find any thing else to help to burn him, when my man re-
membered that by the tent, or hut, where the men were, there lay a heap of
dry forage, whether straw or rushes I do not remember: away he and one of
the Scotsmen ran, and fetched their arms full of that. When we had done this,
we took all our prisoners, and brought them, having untied their feet, and un-
gagged their mouths, and made them stand up, and set them just before their
inonstrous idol, and then set fire to the whole.
We staid by it a quarter of a hour, or thereabouts, till the powder in the eyes,
and mouth, and ears of the idol blew up, and as we could perceive, had split
and deformed the shape of it: and, in a word, till we saw it burn into a mere
block or log of wood; and then setting the dry forage to it, we found it would
be soon quite consumed, so we began to think of going away: but the Scotsman
said, 'No, we must not go, for these poor deluded wretches will all throw them-
selves into the fire, and burn themselves with the idol.' So we resolved to stay
till the forage was burned down too, and then we came away, and left them.
In the morning we appeared among our fellow travellers, exceeding busy in
getting ready for our journey: nor could any man suggest that we had been any
where but in our beds, as travellers might be supposed to be, to fit themselves
for the fatigues of that day's journey.
But it did not end so; for the next day came a great multitude of the country
people, not only of this village, but of a hundred more, for aught I know, to
the town gates, and, in a most outrageous manner demanded satisfaction of the
Russian governor, for the insulting their priests, and burning their great
Cham-Chi-Thaungu,* such a hard name they gave the monstrous creature they
worshipped. The people of Nertzinskoy were at first in a great consternation;
for they said the Tartars were no less than thirty thousand, and that, in a few
days more, they would be one hundred thousand strong.
The Russian governor sent out messengers to appease them, and gave them all
* CHAM-CHI-THAUNGU-Of this barbarous sounding compound name, the Editor
takes the first syllable chum, to be an incorrect spelling of Khan. This title is of Tatar
(Tartar) origin and signifies Lord; we often meet with it in East Indian correspondence.
and literature under the typographic form of cawn; which the Persians pronounce conf,
and the Turks han: the difference arises from softening more or less the guttural k, rás
presented in these notes by kh; as the broad a is by d or ca,
455
the good words imaginable. Ile assured them he knew nothing of it, and that
there had not a soul of his garrison been abroad; that it could not be from any
body there; and if they would let him know who it was, they should be exem-
plarily punished. They returned, haughtily, that all the country reverenced the
great Cham-Chi-Thaungu, who dwelt in the sun, and no mortal would have
dared to offer violence to his image, but some christian miscreants,* so they
called them, it seems; and they therefore denounced war against him and all the
Russians, who, they said, were miscreants and christians.
The governor, still patient, and unwilling to make a breach, or to have any
cause of war alleged to be given by him, the czar having strictly charged him to
treat the conquered country with gentleness and civility, gave them still all the
good words he could: at last, he told them, there was a caravan gone towards
Russia, that morning, and, perhaps, it was some of them who had done them this
injury, and that, if they would be satisfied with that, he would send after them,
to inquire into it. This seemed to appease them a little, and accordingly the
governor sent after us, and gave us a particular account how the thing was, inti-
mating withal, that if any in our caravan had done it, they should make their
escape; but that, whether they had done it or no, we should make all the haste
forward that was possible; and that, in the mean time, he would keep them in
play as long as he could.
This was very friendly in the governor. However, when it came to the
caravan, there was nobody knew any thing of the matter; and, as for us that
were guilty, we were the least of all suspected: none so much as asked us the
question. However, the captain of the caravan for the time took the hint that
the governor gave us, and we marched, or travelled two days and two nights,
without any considerable stop, and then we lay at a village called Plothus; nor
did we make any long stop here, but hastened on towards Jarawena, another of
the czar of Muscovy's colonies, and where we expected we should be safe. But it
is to be observed that here we began, for two or three day's march, to enter
upon a vast, nameless desert, of which I shall say more in its place, and which
if we had now been upon, it is more than probable we had been all destroyed.
It was the second day's march from Plothus, that, by the clouds of dust behind
us, at a great distance, some of our people began to be sensible we were pur-
sued. We had entered the desert, and had passed by a great lake, called Schaks-
Osier, when we perceived a very great body of horse appear on the other side of
the lake to the north, we travelling west. We observed they went away west as
we did, but had supposed we would have taken that side of the lake, whereas we
very happily took the south side; and, in two days more, we saw them not,
for they, believing we were still before them, pushed on, till they came to the
river Udda: this is a very great river when it passes farther north; but where
we came to it, we found it narrow and fordable.
The third day they either found their mistake or had intelligence of us, and
came pouring in upon us, towards the dusk of the evening. We had, to our
great satisfaction, just pitched upon a place for our camp, which was very con-
venient for the night; for as we were upon a desert, though but at the beginning
of it, that was above five hundred miles over, we had no towns to lodge at, and
indeed expected none but the city of Jarawena, which we had yet two days
march to. The desert, however, had some few woods in it on this side, and
little rivers, which ran all into the great river Udda. It was in a narrow strait,
* MISCREANT: From the old french mecreant; a word invented by the crusaders,
and confined, in that language, to its primitive sense of misbelieving. It should seem,
that the zeal of our ancestors boiled higher, and that they branded every unbeliever
as a rascal. A similar prejudice still lurks in the minds of many who call and perhaps
think themselves christians. This word seems to be the most appropriate translation
of the epithet with which the mohamedans usually stigmatise the christians; viz.
gheahoor or gkiamur; this is generally rendered in english by the word "infidel;" but
miscreant would be the better equivalent.
W
456
between two small, but very thick woods, that we pitched our little camp for
that night, expecting to be attacked in the night.
་
Nobody knew but ourselves, what we were pursued for; but as it was usual
for the Mogul Tartars to go about in troops in that desert, so the caravans always
fortify themselves every night against thein, as against armies of robbers; and it
was therefore no new thing to be pursued.
But we had this night, of all the nights of our travels, a most advantageous
camp; for we lay between two woods, with a little rivulet running just before
our front; so that we could not be surrounded or attacked any way, but in our
front or rear.
We took care also to make our front as strong as we could, by
placing our packs, with our camels and horses, all in a line on the inside of the
river; and we felled some trees in our rear.
In this posture, we encamped for the night; but the enemy was upon us,
before we had finished our situation. They did not come on us like thieves, as
we expected; but sent three messengers to us, to demand the men to be deli-
vered to them that had abused their priests, and burned their god Cham-Chi-
Thaungu, that they might burn them with fire and upon this, they said, they
would go away, and do us no further harm, otherwise they would burn´us all
with fire. Our men looked very blank at this message, and began to stare at
one another, to see who looked with most guilt in their faces; but, nobody' was the
word, nobody did it. The leader of the caravan sent word, he was well assured it
was not done by any of our camp; that we were peaccable merchants, travelling
on our business; that we had done no harm to them, or to any one else; and that
therefore they must look farther for their enemies who had injured them,
for we were not the people; so desired them not to disturb us, for if they did
we should defend ourselves.
They were far from being satisfied with this for an answer, and a great crowd
of them came down in the morning, by break of day, to our camp; but seeing
us in such an advantageous situation, they durst come no farther than the brook
in our front, where they stood, and showed us such a number as indeed terrified,
us very much; for those that spoke least of them spoke of ten thousand. Here,
they stood, and looked at us awhile, and then, setting up a great howl, they let fly a
cloud of arrows among us ; but we were well enough fortified for that, for we were
sheltered under our baggage; and I do not remember that one man of us was hurt.
Some time after this, we saw them move a little to our right, and expected
them on the rear; when a cunning fellow, a cossack,* as they call them, of
*COSSACK:-The celebrity which the warriors so denominated have recently attained
by their extraordinary services in war, invites a brief notice of them. They are sup-
posed to have come originally from the region of mount Caucasus, and established,
themselves in the fine and boundless plains watered by the Don and the Volga. In
1574, they first made their appearance in the russian armies. In the battle of Preuss-
Eylau, (1807) when the french cuirassiers made their desperate charge on the russian cen-
tre, the Cosaks instantly bore down upon them, speared them, unhorsed them, and in a few
moments 530 of the heroes of the Don re-appeared in the field equipped in the spoil
of the slain, A subscription was afterwards made among them, to defray the expense
of conveying these cuirasses to the native regions of the hardy conquerors, where
Both as a
they will be preserved as memorable trophies of their prowess in war.
soldier, and an individual in time of peace, the Cosuk has a character peculiar and in-
teresting. Mounted on a little ill-conditioned horse, but well-bred and of great speed,
armed with a pike of from 14 to 16 feet long, with a short whip on his wrist, a pistol
in his girdle, and a sword, he is a formidable and desperate enemy in the field; whilst,
in the season of peace and in his own country, he is generous, domestic, affectionate,
hospitable to the stranger, faithful to his engagements, and presents a graceful simpli-
city of manners, which engages confidence, and recommends him to regard. His cos-
tume is a blue jacket, a pair of loose trowsers, short boots, a black cap with a plume on
the side, and a white or black short circassian hair-cloak. (Sec, Remains of the late
JOHN TWEDDELL, Fellow of Trinity college, Cambridge, &c. Edited by the Rev.
ROBERT TWEDDELI, A. M. London, 1815.) The Dashté kipsak, or plain of Kasak,
extends on either side of the Volga, in a boundless space, towards the laïk and the
Borysthenes; and is supposed to contain the primitive name and nation of the Kozaks,
f
54.
457
Jarawena, in the pay of the Muscovites, calling to the leader of the caravan, said
to him, "I will send all these people away to Sibeilka." This was a city four
or five days' journey, at least, to the south, and rather behind us. So he takes
his bow and arrows, and getting on horseback, he rides away from our rear
directly as it were, back to Nertzinskoy after this, he takes a great cir-
cuit about, and comes to the army of the Tartars, as if he had been sent
express to tell them a long story, that the people who had burned their Cham-
Chi-Thangu were gone to Sibeilka, with a caravan of miscreants, as he called
them, that is to say, christians; and that they were resolved to burn the god
Schal-Isarg, belonging to the Tonguses.
As this fellow was a mere Tartar, and perfectly spoke their language, he
counterfeited so well, that they all took it from him, and away they drove, in a
most violent hurry, to Sibeilka, which, it seems, was almost five days' journey to
the south; in less than three hours, they were entirely out of our sight, and
we never heard any more of them, nor ever knew whether they went to that
other place called Sibeilka, or no.
So we passed safely on to the city of Jarawena, where there was a garrison
of Muscovites; and there we rested five days, the caravan being exceedingly
fatigued with the last day's march, and with want of rest in the night.
From this city we had a frightful desert, which held us three-and-twenty days'
march. We furnished ourselves with some tents here, for the better accommo-
dating ourselves in the night; and the leader of the caravan procured sixteen
carriages, or waggons, of the country, for carrying our water and provisions;
and these carriages were our defense every night round our little camp; so that
had the Tartars appeared, unless they had been very numerous indeed, they
would not have been able to hurt us.
We may well be supposed to want rest again after this long journey, for in
this desert we saw neither house nor tree, nor scarce a bush. We saw, indeed,
abundance of the sable-hunters, as they call them; these are all Tartars, of the
mogul Tartary, of which this country is a part, and they frequently attack small
caravans; but we saw po numbers of them together. I was curious to see
the sable-skins they catched, but I could never speak with them, for they
durst not come near us, neither durst we straggle from our company to go
pear them.
After we had passed this descrt, we came into a country pretty well inhabited;
that is to say, we found towns and castles settled by the czar of Muscovy, with
garrisons of stationary soldiers to protect the caravans, and defend the country
against the Tartars, who would otherwise make it very dangerous travelling; and
his czarish Majesty has given such strict orders for the well-guarding the caravans
and merchants, that if there are any Tartars heard of in the country, detach-
ments of the garrison are always sent to see travellers safe from station to station.
And thus the governor of Adinskoy, whom I had an opportunity to make a
visit to, by means of the Scots merchant, who was acquainted with him, offered
us a guard of fifty men, if we thought there was any danger, to the next station.
I thought long before this, that as we came nearer to Europe, we should find
the country better peopled, and the people better civilized; but I found myself
mistaken in both; for we had yet the nation of the Tonguses to pass through,
where we saw the same tokens of paganism and barbarity, or worse, than be-
fore; only as they were conquered by the Muscovites, and entirely reduced,
they were not so dangerous; but for rudeness of manuers, idolatry, and poly-
theism, no people in the world ever went beyond them. They are clothed all
in skins of beasts, and their houses are built of the same. You know not a
man from a woman, neither by the ruggedness of their countenances, nor their
clothes; and in winter, when the ground is covered with snow, they live under
ground, in houses like vaults, which have cavities, or caves going from one
>
Lu another.
If the Tartars had their Cham-Chi-Thangu for a whole village or country,
458
4
these had idols in every hut and every cave: besides, they worship the stars, the
sun, the water, the snow, and, in a word, every thing they do not understand,
and they understand but very little; so that almost every element, every uncom-
mon thing, sets them a-sacrificing.
But I am no more to describe people than countries, any farther than my
own story comes to be concerned in them. I met with nothing which was
peculiar to myself in all this country, which, I reckon, was from the desert which
I spoke of last, at least four hundred miles, half of it being another desert,
which took us up twelve days' severe travelling, without house, tree, or bush;
but we were obliged again to carry our own provisions, as well water as bread,
After we were out of this desert, and had travelled two days, we came to Jane-
zay, a muscovite city or station, on the great river Janezay.* This river, they
told us, parted Europe from Asia, though our map-makers, as I am told, do not
agree to it. However, it is certainly the eastern boundary of the antient
Siberia, which now makes a province only of the vast muscovite empire, but
is itself equal in bigness to the whole empire of Germany.
* JANEZAY; YENISEY:-This river is considered as deriving it's source from the
mountains S. W. of the lake Baikal, in the river there called Siskit; but the name
Yenisey is not imparted until many streams have joined, when it holds its course
northward to the arctic ocean. Yet with more propriety might the Yenisey be con-
sidered as deriving from the Baikal, whence flows the Angara, afterwards improperly
called Tunguska, being a stream of more length and importance than the Yenisey, so
that the name of Angara might be continued until it flows into the sea. This river has
some rapids; but is navigable for a great way. The Angara is said to be about a mile
in breadth when it issues from the Baikal, and to be so clear that the pebbles of the
bottom may be seen at the depth of two fathoms. The channel is full of rocks for the
space of about a mile from its egress, and there is no navigable passage except along
the eastern bank. The river Yenisey gives name to the small town of Yeniseisk, which
stands on its western bank.
+ SIBERIA:Even the poor and frozen regions of the north attracted the arms of the
Moguls: SHEIBANI-Khaan, brother of the great BATOU, led an horde of 15000 families
into the wilds of Siberia; and his descendants reigned at Tobolskoy above three centuries,
till the russian conquest. The spirit of enterprise which pursued the course of the
Oby and Yenisey must have led to the discovery of the icy sea.
After brushing away
the monstrous fables of men with dogs' heads and cloven feet, we shall find that 15
years after the death of ZENGIIS, the Moguls were informed of the name and manners
of the Samoyeds in the neighbourhood of the polar circle, who dwelt in subterraneous
buts, and derived their furs and their food from the sole occupation of hunting. See
CARPIN'S relation in HACK.UYT. The pedigree of the khaans of Siberia is given by
ABULPHAZI: Have the Russians found no tahtar chronicles at Tobolsk? The nature
of a journey to Siberia is exceedingly misunderstood in this country, and by the world
in general. Such a degree of banishment presents to our minds the picture of every
thing that is deplorable in the lot of humanity-separation from home, and friends, and
beloved pursuits-transportation to a bleak, dismal, and savage region-the exchange
of comforts and luxuries, for all that is most comfortless and wretched. When viewed
a little nearer, this picture has no such frightful aspect; and a man must both see what
the Russian leaves, and have a detailed account of what he is doomed to in his new resi-
dence, to estimate fairly the extent of the sacrifice which the caprice of his autocrat may,
at any moment, and without any reason, compel him to undergo. Now our best author
(Dr. E. D. CLARKE) represents the Russians as by no means strongly attached to their
native soil, and as knit to their families and friends by ties not much stronger. The life
which they love to lead is so brutal and sensual, that its gratifications may be obtained
in one part of the world as easily as in another, and in all situations with equal facility,
and in equal perfection. But, so numerous are the emigrants to Siberia, that the
capital of the country has assumed a very superior appearance; and, in reading the
description of it, which our author presents us with, we are certainly disposed to mis-
take it for the representation of one of the most flourishing and civilized russian cities.
From the number and rank of the exiles, Tobolski has become a large and populous.
city, enriched with shops, full of what, in Russia, must be deemed good society, adorned
with theatres, with private assemblies, and with plaees of public resort. "We there
459
And yet here I observed ignorance and paganism still prevailed, except in
the muscovite garrisons; all the country between the river Oby* and the river
Janezay, is as entirely pagan, and the people as barbarous, as the remotest of
the Tartars; nay, as any nation, for aught I know, in Asia or America. I also
found, which I observed to the muscovite governors whom I had opportunity
to converse with, that the pagans are not much wiser, or the nearer christianity,
for being under the muscovite government; which they acknowledged was true
enough; but they said it was none of their business; that if the czar expected
to convert his siberian, or tonguse, or tartar subjects, it should be done by
sending clergymen among them, not soldiers; and they added with more since-
rity than I expected, that they found it was not so much the concern of their
monarch to make the people christians, as it was to make them subjects.
From this river to the great river Oby, we crossed a wild uncultivated country;
I cannot say it is a barren soil, it is only barren of people, and good manage-
ment; otherwise it is in itself a most pleasant, fruitful, and agreeable country.
What inhabitants we found in it are all pagans, except such as are sent among
them from Russia; for this is the country, I mean on both sides the river Oby,
whither the muscovite criminals that are not put to death, are banished, and
from whence it is next to impossible they should ever come away.
I have nothing material to say of my particular affairs, till I come to Tobol-
skit the capital city of Siberia, where I continued some time, on the following
occasion.
meet with booksellers, masquerades, french hotels. The wines of France, and the malt-
liquors of England may be had there as at Petersburg or Moscow. The gaiety of the
place is extolled by all who have, either as soldiers or exiles, been forced to visit it:
provisions are so cheap, that about fifty years ago, Dr. GMELIN found it possible for
a person to live on ten roubles (about two pounds) a year. He describes it as the "
very
temple of Bacchus and Indolence." It is no wonder, that an officer of considerable
rank in the russian service should have said, that he would rather have half his pay, and
live at Tobolski, than the whole of it, and reside at St. Petersburg; and that many of
the exiles after being ordered home, have anxiously sought to return thither. These
particulars may correct our notions of the horrors attending a sentence of expulsion to
Siberia; but let it at the same time be remembered, that the desert has only been
cultivated, and made to smile, by the wanton excess to which the russian despots have
carried their power; and that the phenomenon of a city tolerably populous and civilized,
in the heart of Siberia, 1500 miles from Petersburg, is as monstrous and unnatural a
thing, as the parent from whence it sprang-the despotism which reigns at Petersburg
itself the boundless power which outraged nature, by planting that city in the
marshes of the Neva-and which profanes it still more, by stunting the shoots of human
happiness there, and almost every where else in that enslaved empire.
*OBY:-The Ob, including it's wide frith, or aestuary, may be said to hold a course
of 1900 miles, while that of the Yenisey is about 1750. The Ob may be traced from
the Alten-nor, (Golden lake,) in latitude 51° N. if it's source be not traceable even
along the river Shabekan to latitude 47°. The upper Irtish flows into the Saisan lake,
whence (like as the Rhone traverses the Leman lake) it issues under the name of lower
Irtish, and after a long circuitous course, joins the Ob below Samarof. It rises about
latitude 45°, and perhaps ought to be regarded as the principal stream. Be this as it
may, the Ob, piercing the Altaian chain of mountains, after having received many
minor streams, passes Kolivan, and at some distance to the N. receives the Tomm, and
other large rivers from the E. Below Samarof, as already mentioned, the Ob receives
the Irtish, and diseinbogues in a gulf of the arctic ocean, thence denominated the sea
of Ob. It is navigable almost to its source, or at least to the lake ofAlten: it abounds
in fish, particularly with sturgeon, but which, the geographer PINKERTON says, is not
so much esteemed as that of the Irtish. This is universally and justly considered the
largest river in the russian empire. The shores and channel are generally rocky till
the Ob receive the Ket; after which the course is through clay, marl, sand, and morass.
+ TOBOLSKI-On passing the Uralian chain of mountains, and at a, distance of
about 800 miles E. froin Moscow, occurs the city of Tobolskoy, standing on the east
bank of the river Irtish: it contains about 15000 inhabitants, and is esteemed the
460

强强
​We had been now almost seven months on our journey, and winter began to
come on apace; whereupon my partner and I called a council about our parti-
cular affairs, in which we found it proper, considering that we were bound for
England, and not for Moscow, to consider how to dispose of ourselves. They
told us of sledges and rein-deer, to carry us over the snow in the winter time;
and, indeed they have such things, as it would be incredible to relate the parti-
culars of, by which means the Russians travel more in winter than they can in
summer; because in these sleds they are able to run night and day; the snow,
being frozen, is one universal covering to nature, by which the hills and vales
the rivers; the lakes, arc all smooth, and hard as a stone; and they run upon the
surface, without any regard to what is underneath.
But I had no occasion to push at a winter journey of this kind; I was bound
to England, not to Moscow, and my route lay two ways; cither I must go on,
as the caravan went, till I came to Jaroslaw, and then go off west for Narva, and
the gulph of Finland, and so either by sea or land to Dantzic, where I might
possibly sell my china cargo to good advantage; or I must leave the caravan ag
a little town on the Dwina, from whence I had but six days, by water, to Arch-
angel, and from thence might be sure of shipping, either to England, Hollaud,
or Hamburg.
Now to go any of these journeys in the winter would have been preposterous;
for as to Dantzic, the Baltic would be frozen up, and I could not get passage, and
to go by land in those countries was far less safe than among the mogul Tartars ;
;
capital of Siberia. But it is more distinguished as the residence of the governor, and
as an archiepiscopal see, than for the importance of its commerce. The upper town
stands on a hill, and contains a stone-built fortress of some strength. Indian commo-
dities are brought hither by kalmuk and bukarian merchants; and provisions are
cheap and plentiful. It's geographical site is in 58° 12′ N. 68° 25′ E.
The ac-
count of a journey to Siberia in the year 1761, gives the following authentic description
of this city:"Tobolski is the capital of Siberia, &c. &c. &c. the clergy consists
of about 50 monks or priests, three of whom, including the archbishop, all natives
of Poland, are acquainted with the latin tongue. The manner of the people
are the same with those already described, except that they are more corrupt.
The women, of all ranks and ages, paint; they are in general very handsome,
but have not the feminine softness which is the principal charm of the sex. This city
had once a considerable trade to China, by caravans; but the mutual knavery of the
russian and chinese merchants, soon reduced it to a languishing state; and some dif-
ferences which arose between the two powers have since totally destroyed it. These
differences arose from a revolution which happened among the Zungor Calmucs, after..
the death of GALDAN-CHERIN, which happened in 1746. GALDAN-CHIERIN was Kaw
461
likewise to go to Archangel in October, all the ships would be gone from thence,
and even the merchants, who dwell there in summer, retire south to Moscow
in the winter when the ships are gone; so that I should have nothing but ex-
tremity of cold to encounter, with a scarcity of provisions, and must lie there in
an empty town all the winter. So that, upon the whole, I thought it much
my better way to let the caravan go, and to make provision to winter where
I was; viz. at Tobolski, in Siberia, in the latitude of sixty degrees, where I was
sure of three things to wear out a cold winter with; viz. plenty of provision,
such as the country afforded, a warm house, with fuel enough, and excellent
company: of all which I shall give a full account in its place.
I was now in a quite different climate from my beloved island, where I never
felt cold, except when I had my ague;* on the contrary, I had much to do to
bear any clothes on my back, and never made any fire but without doors, and
for my necessity, in dressing my food, &c. Now I made me three good vests,
Caun, or sovereign, of the nation which inhabited that part of Northern Tartary,
which is situated between Siberia and China. This nation admitted no sovereign but
its Kan, and upon the death of GALDAN-CHERIN a civil war broke out among several
competitors to succeed him. The chinese, who dreaded the power of this nation,
which was become formidable to all its neighbours, contrived first to weaken it on this
occasion, by favouring each of the competitors by turns, and then to fall upon the con-
queror, and destroy his power at once. The name of this prince was AMOUR-
SAMAN; and the wretched remains of this once mighty nation, consisting of about
20,000 families, took shelter under the protection of Russia, upon the banks of the
Wolga. AMOURSAMAN, after having wandered from place to place, at last retired to
the frontiers of Siberia, in 1757, where he died of the small-pox, according to the
russian account. The Chinese, as soon as they heard he had retired to Siberia,
demanded that he should be delivered up, or, as the Russians say, that he should
be confined for life. It is said, that he continued a long time at Tobolski, tho' the
Russian account makes no mention of it; and that when he was dead the body was
sent to the frontiers of Siberia, whither the Chinese, sent commissaries, more than
once, to examine the body."
AGUE:-See, page 88. In the hot fits of fever the following are the usual means of
relief. Decrease the irritations by blood-letting, and other evacuations; by cold water
taken into the stomach, or injected as an enema, or used externally; by cold air breathed
into the lungs, and diffused over the skin; with food of less stimulus than customary.--
As a cold fit, or paroxysm of inactivity of some parts of the system, generally precedes
the hot fit, or paroxysm of exertion, by which the sensorial power becomes accumula-
ted, this cold paroxysm should be prevented by stimulant medicines and diet, as wine,
opium, bark, warmth, cheerfulness, anger, surprise. (Zoonomia: i, 95.) In diseases
occasioned by a defect of sensorial exertion as the ague, nervous fever, &c. increase
the stimulation above its natural quantity for some weeks, till a new habit of more
energetic contraction of the fibres be established. This is to be done by wine, opium,
bark, steel, given at exact periods, and in appropriate quantities; for if these medicines
be given in such quantity as to induce the least degree of intoxication, a debility suc-
ceeds from the useless exhaustion of spirit of animation in consequence of too great!
exertion of the muscles or organs of sense. To these irritative stimuli, should be added
the sensitive ones of cheerful ideas, hope, affection. Change the kinds of stimulus.
The habits acquired by the constitution depend on such nice circumstances, that when
one kind of stimulus ceases to excite the sensorial power into the quantity of exertion
necessary to health, it is often sufficient to change the stimulus for another apparently
similar in quantity and quality. Thus when wine ceases to stimulate the constitution,
opium in appropriate doses supplies the defect; and the contrary. This is also
observed in the effects of cathartic medicines, when one loses its power, another, ap-
parently less efficacious, will succeed. Hence a change of diet, drink, and stimulating
medicines, is often advantageous in diseases of debility (ibid. p. 96.) AMERIGO
VESPUCCI describes cold bathing as the remedy for fever which was used by the Ameri-
can Indians; but they accompanied it with a practice which must have counteracted
its beneficial effects. "Cum corum quempiam febricitare contigit, horâ quá febris eum
asperius inquietat, ipsum in frigentissimam aquam immergunt & balneant, postmodumque
per duas horas circa ignem validum, donec plurimum calescat, currerc et recurre cogunt,
7
462
with large robes or gowns over them, to hang down to the feet, and button
close to the wrists, and all these lined with furs, to make them sufficiently
warm.
As to a warm house, I must confess I greatly dislike our way in England,
of making fires in every room in the house, in open chimneys, which, when the
fire was out, always kept the air in the room cold as the climate. But taking
an apartment in a good house in the town, I ordered a chimney to be built like a
furnace, in the centre of six several rooms, like a stove, the funnel to carry the
smoke went up one way, the door to come at the fire went in another, and all
the rooms were kept equally warm, but no fire seen; like as they beat the bagnios
in England.
By this means we had always the same climate in all the rooms, and an equal
heat was preserved; and how cold soever it was without, it was always warm
within; and yet we saw no fire, nor were ever incommoded with any smoke.
The most wonderful thing of all was, that it should be possible to meet with
good company here, in a country so barbarous as that of the most northerly
parts of Europe, near the frozen ocean, and within but a very few degrees of
Nova Zembla,
But this being the country whither the state criminals of Muscovy, as I observed
before, are all banished; this city was full of noblemen, princes, gentlemen,
colonels, and, in short, all degrees of the nobility, gentry, soldiery, and courtiers
of Muscovy. Here were the famous prince Gallilfken, or Galoffken and his son;
the old general Robostisky, and several other persons of note, and some ladies.
By means of my Scots merchant, whom, nevertheless, I parted with here, I
& postremo ad dormiendum deferunt, quo quidem medicamento complures corum sanitati
restitui vidimus.”
The following are well-authenticated domestic recipes for the treatment of agues.
I.
Half an ounce powdered bark, one scruple of salt of tartar, a quarter of a pint of
brandy, and half a pint of spring-water, to be shaken well together, and to infuse twenty
four hours: take two spoonfuls every two hours till the fit be stopped; after that the
same quantity to be taken two or three times a day.
II.
Frankincense spread on linen cloth, a nutmeg grated over it, and a cloth put over it
all. Put this to the pit of the stomach.
III.
R Salt of wormwood gr. 20.
Snake root,
Bark,
.gr. 30.
1.
02.
Infuse for three days in half a pint of brandy. Dose:-a wine glass night and
morning. The use of this medicine to be preceded by an emetic.
IV.
This recipe is rather of a preventive kind against ague, by checking the accumulation
of bilious matter in the first passages..
}
a 3. 1.
R Pulv. Rhoi.
Sapon....
Aloes Soc.
Tart, emet. gr. iij.
M. ut fiant pilulæ. xxxvi.
Dose:-from 1 to 3 pills to be taken occasionally at bed time.
*NOVA-ZEMBLA -properly Novaya Zemlia, or the "New-land" is uninhabited and is
said to consist of five isles, but the channels between them are filled with ice. Seals,
walrusses, arctic foxes, white bears, and a few rein-deer, constitute the zoology of this
desert; and are occasionally hunted by the people of Mezen. To the south of Novaya-
Zemlia is Karskoy, [the sea of Kara] in which the tide flows about two feet nine inches.
(PINKERTON.) This island is now found, from the discoveries of the russians, to be
bisected by a narrow strait, but nearly the whole of the eastern coast remains unex-
plored, from the place (N. E. point) where HEEMSKERK and BARENSZ wintered in
1596. Its southern division was formerly known, by the name of the Isle of Weigat
or Waygatz; (MARTEN, in his voyage to Spitzbergen, says, that the Weihgatt or
463
made an acquaintance with several of these gentlemen,* and some of them of the
first rank; and from these, in the long winter nights in which I staid here, I
received several agreeable visits. It was talking one night with a certain prince,
one of the banished ministers of state belonging to the czar of Muscovy, that
my talk of my particular case began. IIe had been telling me abundance of fine
things, of the greatness, the magnificence, the dominions, and the absolute
power of the emperor of the Russians. I interrupted him, and told him I was
a greater and more powerful prince than ever the czar of Muscovy was, though
my dominions were not so large, nor my people so many. The russian grandee
looked a little surprised; and, fixing his eyes steadily upon me, began to wonder
what I meant.
I told him his wonder would cease when I had explained myself. First, I told
him I had the absolute disposal of the lives and fortunes+ of all my subjects:
that, notwithstanding my absolute power, I had not one person disaffected to my
government or to my person in all my dominions. He shook his head at that, and
said, there indeed I outdid the czar of Muscovy. I told him, that all the lands
in my kingdom were my own, and all my subjects were not only my tenants, but
tenants at will; that they would all fight for me to the last drop; and that never
tyrant, for such I acknowledged myself to be, was ever so universally beloved,
and yet so horribly feared by his subjects.
straits of Hindlopen were so called from the word Weihen (blowing), a term at present
confined to a small island, at the entrance of those Straits which separate it from RUSSIA.
Of Nova Zembla little is known beyond two capes on its N. W. coast, Britwin and
Nassau, so called by the survivors under IIEEMSKERKE, and one of its northern
promontories, the point of which has received the name of Cape Zelanda : to the east-
ward of this, and at the opening of a bay, three small islands have been discovered.
The russians, as Mr. BARRINGTON informs us (Miscellanies, page 23), not only disco-
vered, but lived several years in the island of Maloy Brun, which lies between Spitz-
bergen and Nova Zembla, and extends from N. latitude 77° 25′ to 78° 45'. The
northern point of Nova Zembla according to the latest russian maps is nearly in 77°.
Mr. LE MONIEn published a memoir concerning the longitude of Nova Zembla in the
history of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris for 1799. (Naufragia; ii. 53.)
* GENTLEMEN.—Of the words gentilis, gentilhomme, gentleman, two etymologies are
offered: 1, from the barbarians of the fifth century, the soldiers and at length the con-
querors of the roman empire, who were vain of their foreign nobility; and 2, from the
sense of the civilians, who consider gentilis as synonymous with ingenuus. SELDEN
inclines to the first: but the latter is more pure as well as probable.
FORTUNE. HAP. LUCK. CHANCE.-Fors, whence fortune, means a lot; and
probably describes a stake at some principal game, in which the venturers were fewer
than at the game of hap; for a misfortune is a more serious evil than a mishap; yet by
an unaccountable contradiction to be fortunate is less than to be happy. In the north
of England lake, means to play, to game. The colateral gothic infinitive luikan means
to exult. Food, staked any where as a bait, in order to draw wild animals into a snare
is called in german lock-speise. From these indications it seems probable that the
substantive luck, must originally have meant first the thing staked to be played for;
next, the game, or critical point which determines success; and lastly, the unknown
cause of casual event in general: good-luck; bad-luck. When the word luck is used
without an epithet, it has a favourable sense: he has a run of luck; that is, of good
luck he is a lucky man; that is he wins, or succeeds. Hap is Welch, and fortuna is
latin, for luck. The adjectives happy and fortunate are taken in a favorable sense.
Mishap and misfortune are the antithetic substantives; but unhappy and unfortunate
are the antithetic adjectives. What games were in early use among the Welch and the
Latins, is of difficult investigation. It should seem that hap must have meant a stake
raised by the contribution of numbers for the venture, or hap-hazarded seems not to
be a very stimulant idea: perhaps I may succeed. On the contrary, the thing won
must have borne a very large relation to the _venture: the happus, the happy man, or
winner, announces complete satisfaction. Hup-nap, whence our hob-nob, is Cimbric
for rashly. A mishap, a disappointment as to the prize, describes but a subordinate
464
}
After amusing them with these riddles in government for a while, I opened
the case, and told them the story at large of my living in the island, and
degree of vexation. Luck, seems to be the abstract expression or personification of
even chance; fortune; of chance moderately uneven; and hap of very uneven risk.
To be lucky is less than to be fortunate; to be fortunate, less than to be happy: yet
to be unlucky is more constantly mortifying, and to be unhappy is more decidedly
pungent, than to be occasionally unfortunate. Chance, means a die. It is conse-
quently applicable to even, or uneven risks, to six-ace, or ambes-ace competitions.
Whatever results from causes so uncertain in their operation; as the resting of a die
on any one of its six bases, is said to happen, or take place, by chance.
"Uncommon chances common men can't bear."
The adjective chance, excites no favorable
favorable idea: chante-medley is accidental
slaughter: the meeting of chance companions may be unlucky or lucky: a chance-ful
jeopardy is a risk leaning to disappointment. Mis-chance is the antithetic substantive,
Rhetors call fortune fickle, and chance blind. Haply means by chance: happily by
good chance. He who gains riches is said to acquire a fortune, even when they are
obtained by slow industry. Mishap cxcites the idea of a distress somewhat ridiculous;
as when a man bruises his nose, or is jilted by his mistress. Luck is not used, like
hap and fortune, of a man's general lot, or destiny in life; but only of particular
Occurrences.
It is to the imperfectiou of the human mind, and not to any irregularity in the nature
of things, that our ideas of chance and probability arc to be referred. Events which
to one man seem accidental and precarious, to another, who is better informed, or who
has more power of generalization, appear to be regular and certain. Contingency and
verisimilitude are therefore the offspring of human ignorance, and, with an intellect of
the highest order, cannot be supposed to have any existence. In fact, the laws of the
material world have the same infallible operation on the minute and the great bodies.
of the universe; and the motions of the former arc as determinate as those of the latter.
There is not a particle of water or of air, of which the condition is not defined by rules
as certain as that of the sun or the planets, and that has not described from the
beginning a trajectory determined by mechanical principles, subjected to the law of
continuity, and capable of being mathematically defined. This trajectory is therefore
in itself a thing knowable, and would be an object of science to a mind informed of all
the original conditions, and possessing an analysis that could follow them through their
various combinations. The same is true of every atom of this material world; so that
nothing but information sufficiently extensive, and a calculus sufficiently powerful, is
wanting to reduce all things to certainty, and, from the condition of the world, at any
one instant to deduce its condition at the next; nay to integrate the formula in which
those momentary actions are included, and to express all the phenomena that ever
have happened, or ever will happen, in a function of duration reckoned from any given
instant. This is in truth the nearest approach that we can make to the idea of Omni-
science; of the wisdom which presides over the least as well as the greatest things;
Över the falling of a stone as well as the revolution of a planet; and which not only
numbers and names the stars, but even the atoms that compose them.
In our time it has happened, that the testimony produced in support of a set of
extraordinary facts, has been confirmed by a scrupulous examination into the natural
history of the facts themselves. When the stones whith were said to have fallen from
the heavens and called “urynolites," came to be chemically analyzed, they were found
to have the same characters, and to consist of the same ingredients, nearly in the same
proportions. Now, let us suppose two such instances:-the first person gives the stones
into the hands of a naturalist, and their characters are ascertained; the second does so
likewise, and the stones have the same character. Now if this character were one
which, like that of sandstone, or of limestone, belongs to a numerous class, the chance
of the agreement might be considerable, because the chance that the second observer
should fall on a stone exactly of the same species with the first, would be as the number
of the stones existing of that species, divided by the whole number of stones, of all
different species existing on the face of the earth. This, with regard to sandstone
or limestone, might be a large fraction; and the co-incidence of the two testinonies
in a falsehood might not be extremely improbable. But if the species is a very rare
one, the probability of the co-incidence becomes extremely small.
Suppose, for
465
how I managed both myself and the people there that were under me, just as
I have since minuted it down. They were exceedingly taken with the story,
and especially the prince, who told me with a sigh, that the true greatness of life
was to be master of ourselves: that he would not have exchanged such a state
of life as mine, to have been czar of Muscovy, and that he found more felicity
in the retirement he seemed to be banished to there, than ever he found in the
highest authority he enjoyed in the court of his master the czar; that the height
of human wisdom was, to bring our tempers down to our circumstances, and to
make a calm within, under the weight of the greatest storm without. When
be came first hither, he said, he used to tear the hair from his head, and the
clothes from his back, as others had done before him; but a little time and
consideration had made him look into himself, as well as round him, to things
without: that he found the mind of man, if it was but once brought to reflect
upon the state of universal life, and how little this world was concerned in its
true felicity, was perfectly capable of making a felicity for itself, fully satisfying *
to itself, and suitable to its own best ends and desires, with but very little assist-
ance from the world: that air to breathe in, food to sustain life, clothes for
T
(261)3
example, that it is a species, numerous in a medium degree; and as there are reckoned
about 261 species, let us suppose that the individuals of the species to which the mete-
oric stones belong amount toth part of all the stones on the surface of the earth.
The accidental coincidence of the second witness with the first is denoted by the frac-
tion of a third with the other two, by z X 21
261
a; of a fourth with the other
three, by (zī); and so on. As there are more than ten such cases, the chance of deceit
or imposture is not more than (1): that is, 1 divided by the ninth power of 261, or by
a number so large as to consist of 22 places. This fraction, though extremely small,
is vastly greater than the truth. The individuals of this species, instead of making
a 261th part of all the stones on the surface of the earth, make, so far as we know, no
part of them at all. Here, therefore, we have a testimony confirmed, and rendered
quite independent of our previous knowledge of the veracity of the witnesses.
The truth of the descent of these stones on the evidence of testimony alone, would
have been long before it gained entire credit; and scepticism with respect to it would
have been just and philosophical. In certain states of their information men may, on
good grounds, reject the truth altogether.
The solution of another curious problem is closely connected with the preced-
ing. An event having happened a certain number of times in succession, what
is the probability that it will happen once more. When the number of times
the event has happened is small, the formula that contains the answer to this ques-
tion is considerably complicated; when the number is very great, it is extremely
simple. Suppose the number to be n, the chance that the same event will again occur,
n+1
i3.
n+2
which, if n be great, is very near to unity, and may express a probabi-
lity not sensibly inferior to certainty. Thus, supposing that the greatest anti-
quity to which history goes back is 5000 years, or 132621 days, the probability
that the sun will rise again to morrow, is according to this rule,
1828214
1826215
; or there is
1826214 to 1, to wager in favor of that event. This, therefore, may be considered as
affording a measure of the probability that the course of nature will continue the same
in future that it has been in time past. It is not however on the refined principles of
this calculus, that the universal belief of mankind in such continuance is founded.
* SATISFYING :-Satisfied is derived from the latin for having done enough; it imples
that farther exertion would pass the limits of comfort. Content is from the latin fog
contained it does not imply fulness; excludes the idea of running-over, Content
with a moderate income-Satisfied with moderate exercise. Do not content your-
selves with obscure and confused ideas, where clearer are to be obtained. (WATTS.
My lust shall be satisfied upon them. (Exodus, xv. 9.) See page 370.
Robinson Crusoe.
Nav. Chron. Edit.]
M II
466
warmth, and liberty for exercise in order to health, completed, in his opinion,
all that the world could do for us; and although the greatness, the authority,
the riches, and the pleasures which some enjoyed in the world, and which he had.
enjoyed his share of, bad much in them that was agreeable to us, yet he observed
that all those things chiefly gratified the coarsest of our affections, such as our
ambition, our particular pride, our avarice, our vanity, and our sensuality; all which
were indeed the mere product of the worst part of man, were in themselves crimes,
and had in them the seeds of all manner of crimes; but neither were related to, or
concerned with, any of those virtues that constituted us wise men, or of those
graces which distinguished us as Christians; that being now deprived of all the
fancied felicity which he enjoyed in the full exercise of all those vices, he
said, he was at leisure to look upon the dark side of them, where he found all
manner of deformity, and was now convinced that virtue only makes a man
truly wise, rich, and great, and preserves him in the way to a superior happiness
in a future state; and in this, he said, they were more happy in their banish-
ment, than all their enemies were, who had the full possession of all the wealth
and power that they (the banished) had left behind them.
*
"Nor, sir," said he, " do I bring my mind to this politically, by the necessity
of my circumstances, which some call miserable; but, if I know any thing of
myself I would not now go back, no, not though my master, the czar, should
call mie, and reinstate me in all my former grandeur; I say, I would no
more go back to it, than I believe iny soul, when it shall be delivered from this
prison of the body, and has had a taste of the glorious state beyond life, would
come back to the gaol of flesh and blood it is now enclosed in, and leave heaven
to deal in the dirt and crime of human affairs."
He spoke this with so much warinth in his temper, so much earnestness and
motion of his spirits, which were apparent in his countenance, that it was evi-
dent it was the true sense of his soul; there was no room to doubt his sin-
cerity.
I told him, I once thought myself a kind of a monarch in my old station, of
which I had given him an account, but that I thought he was not a monarch
.only, but a great conqueror; for that he that has got a victory over his own exor-
bitant desires, and has the absolute dominion over himself, whose reason
entirely governs his will, is certainly greater than he that conquers a city. But,
my lord,' said I, shall I take the liberty to ask you a question!'
• With all my
<
C
heart,' said he. 'If the door of your liberty was opened,' said I, would not
you take hold of it to deliver yourself from this exile?'
Hold,' said he, your question is subtle, and requires some serious just
distinctions to give it a sincere answer; and I'll give it you from the
bottom of my heart. Nothing that I know of in this world would move me
to deliver myself from this state of banishment, except these two; first, the
enjoyment of my relations, and, secondly, a little warmer climate. But I pro-
test to you, that to go back to the pomp of the court, the glory, the power, the
hurry of a minister of state; the wealth, the gaiety, and the pleasures, that is to
*BANISHMENT:-The situation of a family banished to Siberia has been thus strikingly
sketched by a female pen. Renfermée dans ce désert, cette famille n'avoit de communi-
cation avec personne; le pére alloit tout seul à la chasse, jamais il ne venoit à Saimka, jamais
on n'y avoit vu ni sa femme ni sa fille; hors une pauvre paysanne tartare qui les scrvoit, nul
être au monde ne pouvoit entrer dans leur cabane. On ne connoissoit ni leur patrie, ni leur
naissance, ni la cause de leur châtiment; le gouverneur de Tobolsk en avoit seul le secret, et
ne l'avoit pas même confié au lieutenant de sa jurisdiction établi à Saïmka. En mettant ces
exilés sous sa surveillance, il lui avoit seulement recommandé de leur fournir un logement
commode, un petit jurdin, de la nourriture et des vêtements, mais d'empêcher qu'ils eussent
aucune communication au dehors, et surtout d'intercepter serérement toutes les lettres
qu'ils hasarderoient de faire pusser à la cour de Russie.' (COTTIN, Elisabeth, qu les
Exilés de Sibérie.)
1
467
}
ay, follies of a courtier; if my master should send me word this moment, that
he restores me to all he banished me from, I protest, if I know myself at all,
I would not leave this wilderness, these deserts, and these frozen lakes, for the
palace of Moscow.'
'But, my lord,' said I, perhaps you not only are banished from the pleasures
of the court, and from the power, and authority, and wealth, you enjoyed before;
but you may be absent too from some of the conveniences of life, your estate,
perhaps, confiscated, and your effects plundered; and the supplies left you here
may not be suitable to the ordinary demands of life.'
'
Aye,' said he, that is as you suppose me to be a lord, or a prince, &c. so
indeed I am; but you are now to consider me only as a man, a human creature,
not at all distinguished from another; and so I can suffer no want, unless Í
should be visited with sickness and distempers. However, to put the question
out of dispute, you sce our manner, we are in this place five persons of rank;
we live perfectly retired, as suited to a state of banishment.
We have soine-
thing rescued from the shipwreck of our fortunes, which keeps us from the mere
necessity of hunting for our food, but the poor soldiers who are here, without
that help, live in as much plenty as we; who go into the woods, and catch
sables and foxes: the labour of a month will maintain them a year; and as the
way of living is not expensive, so it is not hard to get sufficient for ourselves: so
that objection is out of doors.
SABLE:-an animal of the weasel kind, but resembling the martin in shape and size.
It seems to form the link which unites the weasel with the martin, resembling the weasel
in the number of its teeth, which is thirty four. Its whiskers are long; ears round;
feet large; claws white; and tail bushy. It is generally of a dark brown color; though
some are found of a yellowish hue; and others of a snowy white. Like all the weasel
kind, it sleeps by day, and seeks its prey by night; is sprightly and active; and pos-
sesses a disagreeable smell. It usually lives under ground, or beneath the roots of
trees; but in some countries it is found residing in the boughs of trees, like the lark;
where it forms its nest, and skips from one bough to another. It inhabits Siberia,
Kamchatka, and Lapland. The females produce their young about the beginning
of April, and generally four or five at a time. These animals are hunted in the
winter for the sake of their skins, which are then in the greatest perfection. The
darkest colored skins are most valued; the price varies in proportion to length, color,
and fineness of the fur; and is from 14. to 15l. each skin. This creature is called in
zoology, mustela sibellina. The color of the hair being black at the tips and cinereous
at the bottom, chin cinereous, sometimes white, yellow, or spotted; the edges of the
ears yellowish; the hair has sometimes a tawny cast, and sometimes a snowy white-
ness; for the color varies. They prey in summer, chiefly on hares; in winter, on birds;
and in autumn, feed ou hurtle-berries, cranberries, and the berries of the service-tree.
The hunters of sables form themselves into troops, from five to forty each; and put
themselves under the conduct of a leader; and being provided with boats and pro-
visions, together with a dog and net for every two men, they proceed to the hunting
country, where they wait till the waters are frozen and the season commences; they
then penetrate into the woods, building huts and laying traps as they advance; aud
having provided as many skins as the season will admit, they share the booty and
return home. Fine and middling sable skins are without bellies, and the coarse ones
are with them: the finest are sold in pairs perfectly similar, and are dearer than single
ones of the same goodness. The blackest are reputed the best. They are in season
from November to February; for those caught at any other time of the year are short-
haired. The more long hair the skin has, and the blacker they are, the more valuable
is the fur. The best of all have none but long and black hairs. The gloss vanishes in
old furs, and the dyed sables always lose their gloss: though the chinese have a
method of dying them (unknown to the russians) so that the color not only lasts, but
the fur keeps its gloss: the best sables are, therefore, carried to Russia and the rest go
to China. White sables are rare and bought only as curiosities; some are yellowish,
and are bleached in the spring on the snow. The common sables are scarcely better
in hair and colour than the martin. The american fur is more glossy than that of the
iberian, and of a brighter chesnut colour, but of a coarse quality.
468
I have not room to give a full account of the most agreeable conversation I had
with this truly great man, in all which he showed that his mind was so inspired
with a superior knowledge of things, so supported by religion, as well as by a
vast share of wisdom, that his contempt of the world was really as much as he
had expressed, and that he was always the same to the last, as will appear in
the story I am going to tell.
I had been here eight months, and a dark, dreadful, winter I thought it to be;
the cold was so intense, that I could not so much as look about without being
wrapped in furs, aud a mask of fur before my face, or rather a hood, with only
a hole for breath, and two for sight. The little daylight we had, was, as we
reckoned, for three months, not above five hours a day, and six at most, only
that the snow lying on the ground continually, and the weather clear, it was
never quite dark. Our horses were kept (or rather starved) under ground; and
as for our servants (for we hired servants here to look after our horses and our-
selves), we had every now and then their fingers and toes to thaw and take care
of, lest they should mortify and fall off.
It is true, within doors we were warm, the houses being close, the walls thick,
the lights small, and the glass all double. Our food was chiefly the flesh of deer,
dried and cured in the season; good bread enough, but baked as biscuits; dried
fish, of several sorts, and some flesh of mutton, and of the buffalos, which is
pretty good beef. All the stores of provision for the winter are laid up in the
summer, and well cured. Our drink was water mixed with aqua-vila, instead of
brandy; and, for a treat, mead, instead of wine, which, however, they have
excellent good. The hunters, who venture abroad all weathers, frequently
brought us in fresh venison, very fat and good; and sometimes bears' flesh, but
we did not much care for the last. We had a good stock of tea * with which we
treated our friends as above; and, in a word, we lived very cheerfully and well
all things considered.
It was now March, and the days grown considerably longer, and the weather
* TEA.~(See p. 397.) The tea tree often grows upon the sides of mountains, and
among rocky cliffs, to come at which is frequently dangerous, and sometimes impracticable.
The Chinese, that they may gather the leaves, makeu se of a singular stratagem. Those de-
clivities are often the habitation of monkeys, whom they mow at, mock, and imitate, until
the animals, to revenge themselves, break off the branches, and shower them down upon
the insulters; from which branches the Chinese afterwards strip off the leaves.-The above
passage, taken from GROSSIER's description of China, has been treated with unmerited
ridicule. In nations which have not acquired the art of printing, the arts which they have
discovered are generally preserved and explained by paintings, and hieroglyphic represen-
tations. In chinese drawings are to be seen the history of making porcelain, of cultivating
rice, as well as collecting and preparing tea; in which that irascible animal the monkey is
employed to advantage. The Chinese, perceiving these dispositions in the monkey, took
advantage of the propensities of the aninial, and converted them to use in a domestic state
which, in that of nature, were exerted to their annoyance. Dr. LETSom, in his History of
the Tea tree, mentions drawings, in which monkeys are represented gathering the
branches or leaves of the tea tree, without exhibiting any menacing attitude. They
appeared rather to be fulfilling an office to which they had been regularly trained;
and the more so, because others were walking and sitting by the people, as if tamed
and domesticated, whilst they were quietly gathering the branches upon the trees.
Among the most celebrated compositions of the Emperor KIEN-LONG (who died
1799, aged 89 years) is an ode in praise of tea, which has been painted on half the
tea-pots of the chinese empire. The following is a literal extract:--
On a slow fire set a tripod, whose color and texture show its long use; fill it with clear
snow-water; boil it as long as would be necessary to turn fish white, and cray-fish redi
throw it upon the delicate leaves of choice tea, in a cupof'yoey (a particular sort of porce-
Jain). Let it remain as long as the vapor rises in a cloud, and leaves only a thin mist
floating on the surface: at your case drink this precious liquor, which will chase away
the five causes of trouble. We can taste and feel, but not describe, the state of trans
quillity produced by a liquor thus prepared,"
1
469
•
at least tolerable; so the other travellers began to prepare sleds to carry them
over the snow, and to get things ready to be going; but iny measures being fixed;
as I have said, for Archangel, and not for Muscovy* or the Baltic, I made no
motion, knowing very well, that the ships from the south do not set out for that
part of the world till May or June; and that if I was there by the beginning of
August, it would be as soon as any ships would be ready to go away; and there-
fore, I say, I made no baste to be gone, as others did: in a word, I saw a great
many people, nay, all the travellers, go away before me. It seems, every year
they go from thence to Moscow for trade; viz. to carry furs, and buy necessaries
with them, which they bring back to furnish their shops; also others went on
the same errand to Archangel, but then they also, being to come back again
above eight hundred miles, went all out before me.t
* MUSCOVY, RUSSIA.-Amid the grand conflux of nations towards the west, which at-
tended the decline and fall of the roman empire, the slavonic tribe of Rossi escaped the
observation of history till the ninth century; and it is uncertain whether the term were
native, or imported by the scandinavian chiefs, who founded the russian monarchy. In
the sixteenth century, when Russia first attracted the observation of enlightened Eu-
rope, we find that the new appellation of Muscovia had unaccountably passed among
foreigners from the capital to the kingdom; an impropriety which long maintained its
ground, and has not even yet finally ceased. Their turkish neighbours denominate the
Russians "Moskov."
LAND CARRIAGE IN RUSSIA:-Though a great part of the internal trade of the
Russian empire is carried on by water communication, land carriage is also necessary
because many of the towns are not situated on navigable rivers, nor is every province
intersected by canals. To render this mode of conveyance more expeditious, care
has been taken to improve the state of the roads; but in this respect Russia seems
still to be considerably belund many of the other nations of Europe. According to
zome of the old annalists, roads began to be constructed in Russia at a very early pe-
riod. In the year 1614, VLADEMIR gave orders that highways should be mended
and bridges built, to facilitate an expedition he had undertaken against Novgorod,
which refused to pay him tribute: but the first regular road in this empire was begun
by PETER, I. between Petersburg and Narva. The trees on both sides of it being cut
down and placed across it, were covered with gravel, so that according to an eye
witness it might truly be called a royal road, and compared with the highways of the
ancient Romans. This prince caused other roads to be constructed, and particularly
that from Petersburg to Moskva, which was completed with great difficulty and much
expense about the year 1718. Both these highways, and those to Archangel and
Voronesh, were planted with trees; but the woods, to the distance of a musket
shot on each side, were cut down, that travelling might be rendered more agreeable
and less dangerous. Another good regulation was, that the emperor ordered all
the roads in the kingdom to be measured, and stones, on which the distance from one
town to another is marked, to be erected. Under the succeeding reigns attempts were
made to improve gradually the rest of the roads; but it may be readily conceived,
that in so extensive an empire they cannot be every where the same; and if travellers
sometimes complain of their wretched condition, this defect seems chiefly to arise
from the way in which they are constructed. The roads are generally repaired in the
following manner: trees or planks are laid across them, and fastened at both ends by
means of stakes driven into the earth; fascines, or the branches of trees, are then
placed above them, and the whole is covered with a stratum of earth or of sand.
As long as a road of this kind is new, travelling is casy and agreeable; but when the
trees sink into the ground, and the sand falls into the interstices between them by the
julting of carriages, or is washed away by the rain, the road becomes filled with holes,
which render travelling difficult and laborious. This method of constructing roads is
not only bad because it renders continual repairs necessary, but it occasions a prodigi-
ous consumption of timber, which might be employed to much better purpose. To
remedy so great an evil, CATHARINE II. in the year 1786, established a commission of
roads, which had orders to cause the principal highways in the kingdom to be paved
with stones. For the accomplishment of this grand undertaking, the commission at
Erst imagined that five millions of roubles would be sufficient, but they afterwards
470
In short, about the latter end of May, I began to make all ready to pack up;
and as I was doing this, it occurred to me, that seeing all these people were
banished by the czar of Muscovy to Siberia, and yet, when they came there,
were left at liberty to go whither they would, why did they not then go away to
any part of the world, wherever they thought fit: and I began to examine what
should hinder them from making such an attempt.
But my wonder was over, when I entered upon that subject with the person
I have mentioned, who answered me thus: 'Consider, first, sir," said he, the
place where we are; and, secondly, the condition we are in, especially,' said he,
raised their estimate to seven, which was accordingly granted. The construction of
bridges being the most urgent business, the commissioners exerted themselves with so
much activity, that in a very short time 180 new ones were built, for the most part,
of granite; and in the course of a very few years, above three hundred versts of the
causey from St. Petersburg to Moskva, or nearly one-half of the distance between
these two cities, was completed. The road also between St. Petersburg and Riga was
begun, and above 80000 roubles were expended on the work; but the war in which
Russia was then engaged put a stop to these useful labors, and on the death of
CATHARINE II. the commission of highways was abolished by her eccentric successor.
The want of good roads becomes daily more sensible, in consequence of the increase
of its internal trade; but it is not felt so much in this empire as in many other countries.
In most of the districts travelling and the transportation of goods during several
months in the year is facilitated by the nature of the climate, as sledges can be con-
yeyed over the frozen snow much better than common carriages can on the best roads
in summer. In winter a horse with a sledge can pass over in a given time a distance
greater by one half than he could in summer with a cart. Journies are then performed
with much greater speed; the carriages are simpler as well as cheaper, and last much
longer. To these advantages another may be added; the roads are much shorter, as
people can then proceed in a straight line over rivers, lakes, and morasses without the
least impediment. On this account the transportation of large and heavy packages is
put off till winter, and the freight at this season is so small, that it scarcely exceeds the
expense of water conveyance in some of the provinces. To give an idea of the
difference between the price of freight in summer and in winter, it needs only be
remarked, that in the former the carriage from St. Petersburg to Moskva costs from 90 to
100 copecs per pood; but in the latter, according to the nature of the path, from
25 to 30 or 50 at most. Cartage forms a very extensive business, as may be seen by
the great number of persons employed in this occupation. According to the revision
of the year 1783, there were above 38000 carters in twenty of the governments as
then established, and of these 6691 belonged to Novgorod. These people form a
peculiar class among the boors, and are particularly specified in all enumerations of
the people. They are called Yemshtshiki, or post-boors, because they supply travellers
with horses for their carriages at the different stations, and they are united in a
particular guild, subject to their own officers and regulations. Another class, called
Isroshtshiki, are boors, who in the intervals during their agricultural labors, but
chiefly in winter, employ themselves as carriers. In the year 1713 PETER 1. gave
orders that the Yemshishiki horse, which stood ready at the different stations, should
not be used for drawing carts; and by this regulation separated entirely the busmess
of letting post horses from that of letting carriages. The Yemshtshiki, however, were
still allowed to keep more horses than the number appomted for each station, and to
employ them in the transportation of goods. The Russian carriers generally travel in
companies or caravans of from twenty five to a hundred carts, each drawn by a single
horse, and undertake very long jourmies, not only within the kingdom but to foreign
countries, and particularly to Dantzic, Kongsberg, Berlin, Breslau, and Leipsic.
Sometimes they even convey travellers to Vienna and Paris. The price of carriage is
charged per pood, according to the weight. A cart or sledge with one horse can carry,
according to the nature of the road, from twenty-five to thirty-five poods; and one
man generally drives two carts. Internal navigation is burthened with no tolls, and
the case is the same in regard to the transportation of goods by land. The merchants
of Riga since the year 1780 have established a company of carriers, into which a
certain number only are admitted. They set out every fortnight from that city, with
money and goods for Petersburg, and bring back other articles in return. The meg
471
the generality of the people who are banished hither. We are surrounded,
said he, with stronger things than bars and bolts: on the north side is an
unnavigable occan," where ship never sailed, and boat never swam; neither, if
chants have entered into an engagement to employ no other conveyance under the
penalty of a hundred ducats; and each carter, after every journey, lays by two
roubles and a half, in order to form a permanent fund, to make good any loss in case of
unfortunate accidents. This is the only establishment in Russia for the regular trans-
portation of merchandise from one trading city to another.
* OCEAN:-The following succinct account of the more antient voyages at-
tempted on the arctic sea by the Russians, is extracted from an original memoir by
Captain KRUSENSTERN, on certain isles recently discovered there-in, communi-
cated by that eminent navigator to the Babal Chronicle:-" Le premier voyage sur cette
mer fût entrepris en 1646 par Ignatieff, marchand de la ville de Mesen. Il partit de la
rivière Kalima et dirigea su course à l'est. Ce voyage est d'autant plus remarquable que,
quoique les Russes bravassent alors pour la première fois les dangers d'une navigation péni-
ble, le long de cóles inconnues et couvertes de glaçons, Ignatieff fút, excepté Shalaouroff ce-
lui, qui alla plus loin que l'on n'a été dans toutes les autres cxpéditions entreprises dans ces
derniers tems; c'est à dire, qu'il parvint jusqu'à la baye de Chavunsk, ainsi appelée de la
rivière de Shuun, qui s'y jette, et située à 200 milles à l'est de l'embouchure de la Kalima,
entre le cap Chalaiskay et le cap de Sables, ainsi nommé en 1762 pur Shalaouroff. Le cup
ale Sables forme la point occidentale de la baye de Chavunsk, et il fut aperçu par le Capi-
taine Billings, à la distance de 30 milles, dans le tems que, doublant cette point, connue
sous le nom de le pierre de Buranoff, il cherchoit à pénétrer plus avant vers l'est. Voyez le
voyage de Saritchoff.-En 1648 le Cosaque Deshneff entreprit son voyage, dont la descrip-
tion originale fút trouvée en 1736 dans les archives de Iakoutzk par Miller, pendant son
séjour dans cette ville. Deshneff descendit la Kalima le 20 Juin, doubla le cap Shalatzky,
passa par le détroit de Béring près du cap Choukozkoy, et arriva en Octobre au Kamtchatka.
-Il existoit parmi les habitans des côtes de la mer glaciale une tradition, que de sept barques
(qu'on appelle en Siberie Kotchi) gouvernées par Deshneff, quatre avoient péri, ct que les
gens qui les montoient, s'étoient sauvés dans une ile, située au Nord de la Katima. Sur la
foi de cette tradition le Cosaque Stadouhinc, le méme qui avoit élevé en 1644 l'Ostrog de
Nijni-Kolimsk, entreprit en 1649 la découverte de cette ile. Quoique son projet n'ait pas
eu le plus grand succès, il réussit cependant à en rapporter plusieurs dents de morse, qu'il
envoya aussitot à Iakoutzk.—En 1652 et en 1711, on fit vainement de nouvelles tentatives
pour découvrir cette ile. Il n'est pas douteux que le voyage du cosuque Markoff en 1714,
ne soit chimérique. On assure qu'il partit de la rivière Jana dans des nartes (espèce de
traineau sibérien traîné par des chiens), que son voyage duru sept jours, et qu'il s'en éloigna
de 300 milles au N. sans avoir vu aucune terre. Dans cette direction et plus près du conti-
ment se trouvent les îles de Liuhoff; ainsi son rapport est denué de toute vraisemblance.
Enfin le lakout Amossoff fit courir le bruit qu'il avoit découverte la cóte en 17:3.
Muis
Miller ayant fait connoissance avec lui pendant son séjour à Iakoutzk, finit d'après les détails
qu'il lui demanda, par ne rien croire de tout ce qu'Amossojf lui dit.—On a fait depuis bien
d'autres tentatives dans la mer glaciale, mais en pure perte; et il n'est pas surprenant que
toutes ces expéditions aient été infructueuses, vu les difficultes inséparables de pareils voyages
sur la mer Glaciale pendant l'hiver et l'été, surtout dans ces tems-là.- Enfin un certain
Iakout, nommé Etirikan, natif d'Oustiansk, découvrit en 1760 une le vers le N. à la dis-
tance d'environ 30 milles du cap Sviatoi, ou Saint. Liahoff, marchand Sibérien et homme
très entreprenant ne fût pas plutót instruit de cette découverte, qu'il alla reconnoître cette
le; et il y trouva une si grande quantité de renards el de dents de morse, qu'il résolut de
s'approprier à lui seul tout le profit de ce commerce avantageux, et qu'en conséquence il de-
manda au gouvernement le droit exclusif de transporter les dites marchandises en Sibérie ;
ce qui lui fut accordé par le Général Gouverneur de ce tems là, ct confirmé par ses sveces-
Liahoff découvrit aussi en 1774 et 1775 deux autres îles: une petite, située à peu
de distance de la pointe septentrionale de la première, et une autre plus grande, à la dis-
tance d'environ 100 milles, précisément au N. de la première. Cette île fat appellée Kotel-
noy, d'un chaudron de cuivre qu'on y avoit trouvé. Ces trois îles sont connues maintenant
sous le nom d'îles de Liahoff. Mais pour perpétuer la mémoire du Iakout Etirikan, il fung
droit donner son nom à l'île qu'il a découverte; cclui de Liahoff à la grande îlc dù chnu-
dron, et appeler la dernière, petite île. On peut trouver beaucoup de détails sur ces trois îles
dans le tome 1 de nouvelles relations de Mr. Pallas sur le Nord. (M. C. xxxi. 322.)
seurs.
472
we had both, could we know where to go with them. Every other way,' said
he, 'we have above one thousand miles to pass through the czar's own dominions,
and by ways utterly unpassable, except by the roads made by the government,
and through the towns garrisoned by its troops; so that we could neither pass
undiscovered by the road, nor subsist any other way, so that it is in vain to
attempt it.
I was silenced indeed at once, and found that they were in a prison, every jot
as secure as if they had been locked up in the castle of Moscow.* Ilowever, it
came into my thought, that I might certainly be made an instrument to procure
the escape of this excellent person, and that, whatever hazard I run, I would
certainly try if I could carry him off; upon this, I took an occasion one evening
to tell him my thoughts; I represented to him, that it was very easy for me to carry
him away, there being no guard over him in the country; and, as I was not
going to Moscow + but to Archangel, and that I went in the nature of a caravan,
by which I was not obliged to lie in the stationary towns, in the desert, but
could encamp every night where I would, we might easily pass uninterrupted to
Archangel, where I would immediately secure him on board an English or Dutch
* CASTLE OF Moscow. By this probably is meant that castellated palace, deno-
minated the Kremlin.
"This
+ Moscow :-Although R. C. did not visit this antient muscovite metropolis (the pro-
per name of which is Moskva), the Editor thinks his reader will peruse with satisfac-
tion the following correct and spirited description of it, by the same intelligent traveller
who is quoted in the note appended unto the word "Siberia," page 458. "Moscow is in
every thing extraordinary; as well in disappointing expectation, as m surpassing it; in
causing wonder and derision, pleasure and regret. Let me conduct the reader back
with me again to the gate by which we entered, and thence through the streets. Nu-
merous spires, glittering with gold, amidst burnished domes and painted palaces, ap-
pear in the midst of an open plain, for several versts before you reach this gate. Hav.
ing passed, you look about, and 'wonder what is become of the city, or where you are;
and are ready to ask, once more, How far is it to Moscow? They will tell
you,
is Moscow !" and you behold nothing but a wide and scattered suburb; huts, gardens,
pig-sties, brick-walls, churches, dunghills, palaces, timber-yards, warehouses, and a
refuse, as it were, of materials sufficient to stock an empire with miserable towns and
miserable villages. One might imagine all the states of Europe and Asia had sent a
building, by way of representative, to Moscow; and, under this impression, the eye is
presented with deputies, from all countries, holding congress: timber huts, from regions
beyond the Arctic; plastered palaces, from Sweden and Denmark, not white-washed
since their arrival; painted walls, from the Tyrol; mosques, from Constantinople; tar-
tar temples, from Bucharia; pagodas, pavillions, and verandas, from China; cabarets,
from Spain; dungeous, prisons, and public offices, from France; architectural ruins,
from Rome; terraces and trellisses, from Naples; and warehouses from Wapping. Hav-
ing heard accounts of its immense population, you wander through deserted streets.
Passing suddenly towards the quarter where the shops are situated, you might walk up-
on the heads of thousands. The daily throng is there so immense, that, unable to force a
passage through it, or assign any motive that might convene such a multitude, you ask
the cause; and are told that it is always the same. Nor is the costume less various than
the aspect of the buildings: Greeks, Turks, Tartars, Cossaks, Chinese, Muscovites,
English, French, Italians, Poles, Geraus, all parade in the habits of their respective
countries." CLARKE'S Travels, i, 47. The same writer gives an accurate statement, with
respect to the size and population of Moscow, from the journal of another distinguished
traveller (Mr. R HFBER). He states its arca as about 26 miles, or nearly 12 times
greater than that of St. Petersburg; and yet its population is reckoned by the intend-
ant of police at only 250,000 fixed inhabitants, and 30,000 servants and retainers of the
nobles, who reside in it only during the winter. Some farther information, concerning
this city, is to be obtained in TwEDDELL's "Remains" (a work which is more particularly
described at page 456). Among other interesting details, the latter presents a statistical
table of the actual state of Moscow, exhibiting a comparative view of the ravages
inflicted by the late french invasion of the russian empire, which is equally authentic and
curious, viz.
473
ship and carry him off safe along with me; and, as to his subsistence, and other
particulars, that should be my care, till he could better supply himself.


Inhabitants.
January,
1814.
August,
1814.
Births in 1813.
Deaths in 1813.
Ecclesiastics.
3909
4571
Boys....2498
Men....4357
Gentlemen..
8329
8256
...
Girls ..2663
Women..3646
Military
12733
22930
Traders
12111
12824
Total..5161
8003
Citizens...
13448
12133
Domestics...
29407
35654
Srangers...
1508
1832
Houses
before the Fire.
Houses
after the Fire.
Various other
80541
classes....
Stone.
...
.2567
Wood....6591
526
2100
Total..
161986
172991
Total..9158
2626
of which,
Males.. 102514
Females 59472
101729
71262
Moscow has a surface of 16120800 square
fathoms [toises], it is divided in 20
"parts," & subdivided in 90 "quarters."|
*SHIP-Naval architecture can hardly be said to have existed (as an art) among
the antient nations of Europe; and all the researches that have been made into its ori-
gin and progress, except for the gratification of literary curiosity, have but ill rewarded
the labor and time bestowed on them. Poets and historians, not very careful in their
investigation of facts, nor over scrupulous in their examination of probabilities, have set-
tled the point of origin to their entire satisfaction, by making rational man the humble
imitator of brutes: they sent him to
"Learn of the little nautilus to sail :"
And it was a settled point, that,
"Fishes first to shipping did impart—
Their tail the rudder, and their head the prow."
Yet the probable fact is, with regard to ships, that the floating body on which man first
entrusted himself, was neither the result of imitation nor of reflection, nor of skill, but a
something that mere chance might have thrown in his way, when pressed by necessity to
cross a river or a narrow strait. It might be a floating tree, which, when once used
would probably suggest the superior advantage of binding two or three trees into a float
or raft; or, it might chance to be the trunk of a tree hollowed out by accident, or a
roll of bark; which, when the sap rises, is stripped off easily; for all nations, how re-
mote soever, being all reasonable creatures, and enjoying one and the same imagination
and fantasie, have devised, according to their means and materials, the same things.
That such cylindrical vessels were employed at an early period, may be infered from
the almost universal use in which one or other is still met with among the savage island-
Indeed, the
ers of the ocean, and throughout the whole extent of the american coasts.
name of almost every species of sailing craft has a relation to something scooped or
hollowed out, from the general term "vessel" (vas), down to the canoe canna,
a cane or hollow cylinder (see note, peragua, page 121.). "Primum galli inchoantes
cavabant arbores” (Livy). The origin of the word bark, which, in danish, swedish, and
english, is equally employed to express the bark of a tree, and a ship, is so obvious, that
one finds it difficult to conceive how JOHNSON could derive "bark, a small ship, from
barca, low latin;" it seems equally strange that " barge” barkje, a little hark, should
not have occurred to that lexicographer as the diminutive of bark, instead of his deriv-
ing it from "bargie, dutch" (the Dutch have no such word), and this from
low latin." In deriving these words from low latin, JouNsON has evidently mistaken
barga,
474
'
He heard me very attentively, and looked earnestly on me all the while I
spoke; nay, I could see in his very face, that what I said put his spirits into an
exceeding ferment: his colour frequently changed, his eyes looked red, and his
heart fluttered, that it might be even perceived in his countenance; nor could
he immediately answer me, when I had done, and, as it were, expected what he
would say to it, and after he had paused a little, he embraced me, and said,
'How happy are we, unguarded creatures as we are, that even our greatest
acts of friendship are made snares to us, and we are made the tempters of one
another! My dear friend,' said he, your offer is so sincere, has such kindness
in it, is so disinterested in itself, and is so calculated for my advantage, that I
must have very little knowledge of the world, if I did not both wonder at it, and
acknowledge the obligation I have upon me to you for it. But did you believe
I was sincere in what I have so often said to you of my contempt of the world?
did you believe I spoke my very soul to you, and that I had really attained that
degree of felicity here, that had placed me above all that the world could give
me, or do for me? did you believe I was sincere, when I told you I would not
go back, if I was recalled even to be all that once I was in the court, and with
the favor of the czar my master? did you believe me, my friend to be an honest
man, or did you think me to be a boasting hypocrite?' Here he stopped, as if
he would hear what I would say; but indeed I soon after perceived that he
stopped because his spirits were in motion, his heart was full of struggles, and he
could not go on. I was, I confess, astonished at the thing, as well as at the
the derivative for the original.-(AINSWORTH writes barka). HORNE-TOOKE's mistake
is still more remarkable: he includes bark and barge in a long list of words derived, as
he says, from bar, to defend; surely barks and barges were used for purposes very dif-
ferent from defense. Chaloupe, shallop, or sloop, is from chalumeau, a hollow reed or
cane; the idea, indeed, is extended to the general appellative, ship; whose derivation.
is obviously from the greek word Exaon, scupha, cymba, skiff, schiff, schip, ship, from
Examтe, to excavate, to dig out; here again the editor conceives HORNE-TOOKE to be
wrong in his derivation of shop and ship, from shape. The first formatum aliquid, in
contra-distinction from a stall, the latter formatum aliquid, in contra-distinction from a
raft, just as erroneous, not to say absurd, as his hull, hold, hole, hole, from to cover.
It reminds one of the derivation of pippin from draper; viz. pippin, pipkin, nipkin,
napkin, diaper, draper. The fact is, hull, hulk, hold, convey the same idea of some-
thing that is hollow, or that will contain, or hold. Abundant examples might be pro-
duced to shew that it was from our northern invaders that we (english) have derived the
art of ship-building and navigation: almost all the names and terms employed in the
equipment and management of a ship, are of northern origin; as, stern, star-board,
oar, rudder, &c. Something in the way of enlargement, or improvement, we might
have obtained from the Mediterranean, though the nations of the shores and islands of
that sea could have derived little skill in the art of ship-building from the antient
Greeks and Romans. The ships of the Chinese (pp. 395, 405, 420), as described
by that accurate observer, MARCO-POLO, were, in the thirteenth century, pre-
cisely what they are now, and what they probably were thirteen centuries before.
that period. To meet the reader's possible incredulity on this point, one need ouly re-
fer to what the most modern professional writer on the subject (SLPPINGS), says, with
respect to ourselves:-" It will scarcely be credited, by persons not conversant with
"It
ship-building, that little or no advancement has been made, within the last century, in
naval architecture, so far as relates to the disposition of the materials which compose the
fabric of a ship, whereby alone strength and fixedness of the parts can be obtained."
Let us hope that this artist will succeed by precept and example in removing this stig-
ina: for, we may say with RALEG, it is a miserable shame and dishonour for our
shipwrights not to exceed all others in the setting up of our royall shippes." It is, how-
ever, with legitimate admiration, that, ascending from the excavated log of 6 or 8 feet
long, the mind is ultimately stricken at the sight of the largest ship that ever floated un-
der the british flag, the Commerce-de-Marseille, whose comparative dimensions are stated
as follow:-Length of keel, 172 feet; length of gun-deck, 208 fect 4 inches; extreme
breadth, 54 feet 9 inches; depth of hold, 25 feet & inch; burthen in tons, 2747!
475
mán, and 1 used some arguments with him to urge him to set himself free; that
he ought to look upon this as a door opened by heaven for his deliverance, and
a summons by Providence, who has the care and disposition of all events,
to do himself good, and to render himself useful in the world.
<
He had by this time recovered himself. How do you know, sir,' said he,
warmly, ' that instead of a summons from heaven, it may not be a feint of another
instrument, representing in all the alluring colours to me, the show of felicity as a
deliverance, which may in itself be my snare, and tend directly to my ruin?
Here I am, free from the temptation of returning to my former miserable great-
ness; there I am not sure but that all the seeds of pride, ambition, avarice, and
luxury, which I know remain in nature, may revive and take root, and, in a
word, again overwhelm me, and then the happy prisoner, whom you see now
master of his soul's liberty, shall be the miserable slave of his own senses, in the
full of all personal liberty. Dear sir, let me remain in this blessed confinement,
banished from the crimes of life, rather than purchase a show of freedom at the
expense of the liberty of my reason, and at the expense of the future happiness
which I now have in my view, but shall then, I fear, quickly lose sight of; for
I am but flesh, a man, a mere man, have passions and affections as likely to
possess and overthrow me as any man. O be not my friend and my tempter
both together!'
If I was surprised before, I was quite dumb now, and stood silent looking at
him, and indeed admired at what I saw the struggle in his soul was so great, that,
though the weather was extremely cold, it put him into a most violent sweat,
and I found he wanted to give vent to his mind; so I said a word or two, that
I would leave him to consider of it, and wait on him again, and then I withdrew
to my own apartment.
About two hours after, I heard somebody at, or near, the docr of my room,
and I was going to open the door; but he had opened it and came in. My
dear friend,' said he,' you had almost overset me, but I am recovered. Do not
take it ill that I do not close with your offer. I assure you, it is not for want of
a sense of the kindness of it in you, and I came to make the most sincere
acknowledgment of it to you; but, I hope, I have got the victory over myself.'
"My lord,' said I, 'I hope you are fully satisfied that you do not resist the
call of Heaven.' 'Sir,' said he, if it had been from Heaven, the same power
would have influenced me to accept it; but, I hope, and am fully satisfied that
it is from Heaven that I decline it, and I have an infinite satisfaction in the
parting, that you shall leave me an honest man still, though not a free man.'
I had nothing to do but to acquiesce, and make professions to him of my
having no end in it, but a sincere desire to serve him. Ile embraced me very
passionately, and assured me he was sensible of that, and should always
acknowledge it; and with that he offered me a very fine present of sables, too
much indeed for me to accept from a man in his circumstances; and I would
have avoided them, but he would not be refused.
The next morning I sent my servant to his lordship, with a small present of
tea, two pieces of China damask, and four little wedges of Japan gold, which did
not all weigh above six ounces, or thereabout; but were far short of the value
* AVOID, SHUN:-To shun (scheuen, german), is to turn away from: to avoid (vuider,
french), is to leave empty hence the word shun is oftener applied to persons; avoid,
to things. We shun those whose presence reminds of any unpleasant or mortifying
incident. Let no man make himself a confident of the forbles of a beloved companion,
lest he find himself shunned by the friend of his heart. Shun bad company. Avoid
the gaming house. Those who satisfy their appetites with a measured indulgence but
avoid intemperance, commonly enjoy better health than the affectedly abstemious.
Six only of us stayed; and the rest avoided the room. (BacON.) Of late it has been
uagined that the verb avoid derives from the french eciter, or the latin vitare; and it
has consequently been confounded by modern writers with shun.
476
of his sables, which indeed, when I came to England, I found worth near two
hundred pounds. He accepted the tea, and one piece of the damask, and one
of the pieces of gold, which had a fiue stamp upon it, of the Japan coinage,*
which I found he took for the rarity of it, but would not take any more; and he
sent word by my servant, that he desired to speak with me.
When I came to him, he told me I knew what had passed between us, and
hoped I would not move him any more in that affair; but that since I had made
such a generous offer to him, he asked me, if I had kindness enough to offer the
same to another person that he would name to me, in whom he had a great
share of concern. I told him, that I could not say I inclined to do so much for
any one but himself, for whom I had a particular value, and should have been
glad to have been the instrument of his deliverance. However, if he would
please to name the person to me, I would give him my answer, and hoped he
would not be displeased with me, if he was with my answer. Ile told me, it was
* JAPAN COINAGE:-The monies of account are tales, mace, and candarins; 10
candarins make 1 mace, and 10 mace one tale. The gold coins current are the new
and old itjibs, and kobangs; the silver coins are the nandiogin, ilaganne, and kodama,
they are in general very simple, stricken plain and unadorned, the greater part of them
without a rim round the margin, and most of them without any determined value.
For this reason they are always weighed by the merchants, who put their chop or
stamp upon them, to signify that the coin is standard weight, and unadulterated. The
new cobangs are oblong, rounded at the ends, and flat, about two inches long, and
rather more than two inches broad, and scarcely thicker than an english farthing, of a
pale yellow color; the die on one side consists of several cross lines stamped, and at
both ends there is a parallelogrammical figure with raised letters on it, and besides, a
moon-like figure, with a flower on it in relief. On the other side is a circular stamp
with raised letters on it, and within the margin towards one end, two smaller sunk
stamps with raised letters, which are different on each cobang; these are valued at
60 mace, or 6 rix dollars. There are old cobangs occasionally met with, which are of
fine gold, somewhat broader than the new, and are worth 10 rix dollars, The itjib
is called by the dutch, golden-bean; and is made of pale gold, of a parallelogrammical
figure, and flat, rather thicker than a farthing, with many raised letters on one side,
and two figures or flowers in relief on the other; the value of this is cobang. There
are old itjibs also to be met with; these are thicker than the new ones, and in value
22 mace 5 candarins. Nandiogin is a parallelogrammical flat silver coin, of twice the
thickness of a halfpenny, one inch long, and half an inch broad, and formed of fine
silver. The edge is stamped with stars and within the edges are raised dots. One
side is marked all over with raised letters, and the other on its lower and larger moiety
is filled with raised letters, and at the same time exhibits a double moon-like figure,
its value is 7 mace five candarins. Itaganne and kodoma are denominations by which
various lumps of silver, without form or fashion, are known; which are neither of the
same size, shape, or value. The former of these, however, are oblong, and the latter
roundish, for the most part thick, but sometimes, though seldom, flat. These pass in
trade, but are always weighed in payment from one individual to another, and have
a dull leaden appearance. Seni is a denomination applied to pieces of copper, brass,
and iron coin, which bear a near resemblance to our farthings. They differ in size,
value, and external appearance, but are always cast, and have a square hole in the
middle, by means of which they may be strung together; and likewise have always
broad edges. Of these are current sjumon-seni, which pass for half a mace, or 10 com-
nion seni. Simoni-seni, of the value of four common seni, are made of brass, and are
almost as broad as a halfpenny, but thin. The common scri are the size of a farthing,
Doosa-seni is a cast iron coin,
and made of red copper; 60 of them make a mace.
in appearance like the last, of the same size and value, but so brittle, that it is
easily broken by the hand, or breaks in pieces when let fall on the ground. The seni
are strung 100 at a time, or, as is most commonly the case, 96 on a rush. The coins in
one of these parcels are seldom all of one sort, but generally consist of two, three, or
more different kinds; in this case, the larger sorts are strung on first, and then follow
the smaller; the number diminishing in proportion to the number of large pieces in the
parcel, which are of greater value than the smaller.
477
only his son, who, though I had not seen him, yet was in the same condition
with himself, and above two hundred miles from him, on the other side the Oby;
but that, if I consented, he would send for him.
I made no hesitation, but told him I would do it. I made some ceremony in
letting him understand, that it was wholly on his account; and that seeing I
could not prevail on him, I would show my respect to him by my concern for
his son but these things are too tedious to repeat here. He sent away the next
day for his son, and in about twenty days he came back with the messenger,
bringing six or seven horses, loaded with very rich furs, and which, in the whole,
amounted to a very great value.
His servants brought the horses into the town, but left the young lord at a
distance till night, when he came incognito into our apartinent, and his father
presented him to me; and, in short, we concerted there the manner of our
travelling, and every thing proper for the journey.
I had bought a considerable quantity of sables, black fox-skins, fine ermines,†
and such other furs as are very rich; I say, I had bought them in that city in
* SEND:-is to convey by deputy; to carry, to bring, to fetch, is to convey under
one's own care. To carry, is to go with a burden; to bring, is to come with a burden.
To fetch, implies movement in two directions; it is to go and bring. To send away:
to carry out; to bring home; to fetch back. Residing in the country, what I forward
to London by another, I send; what I take to London, I carry; what I take from
London with me, I bring; what I went to take, I fetch. If I send for a workman, he
brings his tools; should he leave any behind, he goes back to fetch them; when his
job is done he carries them home. If you would have your business done, go;
if not,
send. Carry it home, implics that I am from home; bring it home, implies that I am
at home. We may bring without fetching; but we cannot fetch without bringing.
To fetch breath is to make the double effort of exhalation and inhalation. He sends
an answer, who forwards it by another: he carries an answer, who bears it thither
himself; he brings an answer, who bears it hither himself; he fetches an answer, who
went for it and returns with it. Send, (gothic sendjan, anglo-saxon rizhian) is the
causative form of the old verb sinan, to go; sind means a path. As from to fall, comes
to fell, to cause to fall; so from sinan to go, comes sindian to cause to go. Carry is
from the french charier, which is from the latin carrus; and originally implied to
transport on a wheeled carriage: hence, an idea of facility in conveying still attaches
to the word. You can lift that weight, but you cannot carry it. Carry it properly,
do not drag it along. A dog is said to fetch and carry well, who will run for a stick,
which is thrown before him, and bring it unto his master without trailing. This sense
of the verb carry is unnoticed by JOHNSON. Bring is contracted from the preposition
by, (which originally meant the lap) and ringen to reach: ringt uns unser swær, is
frankish for reach us our sword. To bring, is to hand into the lap. Fetch is from the
anglo-saxon, recctan, which means to hit with an arrow: hence the ideas of sending
out, as well as bringing back, coalesce in the word.
ERMINE: An animal greatly resembling the stoat, or weasel, in its conformation,
and remarkable for its fine soft fur, which constitutes its most valuable appendage; it is
about nine inches in length; of a light brown colour in summer, and white in winter;
the tail always tipped with black, and covered with hair; and the edges of the ears, and
extremities of the toes, are of a yellowish white. The fur of this creature is in its
greatest perfection during the winter; when, besides being white, it is also long, thick,
and soft; but, in the summer, it is coarse, thin, and brown, This change of clothing is
more apparent in the cold polar regions, where it is common to all other animals in a
greater or less degree.
or less degree. Ermmes are found in most parts of Europe; but the fur of those
in Siberia and Norway is mostly valued. They burrow under ground, and are taken in
traps or snares baited with flesh, and sometimes shot with blunt arrows.
This creature
is called by RAY, mustela candida; and, by LINNAEUS, mustela erminea: it has a little
yellowish grey about the eyes, and a mark, or spot, of the same colour on the head,
another on the shoulders, and a third near the tail. It is frequent about rivers, and iņ
meadows, in those countries which produce it, and feeds on moles, mice, and other
Small animals. The skis and tails are a very valuable article of commerce in Russia,
and other northern countries, where they are found in prodigious numbers.
1
478
exchange for some of the goods I brought from China: in particular, for the
cloves and nutmegs,* of which I sold the greatest part here, and the rest after-
wards at Archangel, for a much better price than I could have done at London;
and my partner who was sensible of the profit, and whose business more par-
ticularly than mine was merchandise, was mightily pleased at our stay, on account
of the traffic we made here.
It was the beginning of June, when I left this remote place, a city, I believe,
little heard of in the world, and indeed it is so far out of the road of commerce,
that I know not how it should be much talked of. We were now come to a
very small caravan, being only thirty-two horses and camels in all, and all of
them passed for mine, though my new guest was proprietor of eleven of them.
It was most natural also, that I should take more servants with me than I
had before, and the young lord passed for my steward; what, great man I passed
for myself, I know not, neither did it concern me to inquire. We had here the
worst and the largest desert to pass over that we met with in all the journey;
indeed I call it the worst, because the way was very deep in some places, and
very uneven in others: the best we had to say for it, was, that we thought we
had no troops of Tartars and robbers to fear, and that they never came on this
side of the river Oby, or, at least but very seldom; but we found it otherwise.
My young lord had with him a faithful Muscovite servant, or rather a Siberian
servant, who was perfectly acquainted with the country, and who led us by
private roads, that we avoided coming into the principal towns and cities, upon
the great road, such as Tumen, Soly-Kamaskoy,t and several others, because
the muscovite garrisons which are kept there, are very curious and strict in their
observations upon travellers, and searching lest any of the banished persons of
note should make their escape that way into Muscovy; but by this means, as we
were kept out of the cities, so our whole journey was a desert, and we were
obliged to encamp, and lie in our tents, when we might have had very good
accommodation in the cities on the way. This the young lord was so sensible of,
that he would not allow us to lie abroad, when we came to several cities on the
way, but lay abroad himself, with his servant, in the woods, and met us always
at the appointed places.
We were just entered Europe, having passed the river Kama, which, in these
NUTMEG :-(See p. 375.) “Unica nux prodest, nocet altera, tertia mors est" (Schol.
Salern). One nut is wholesome, a second hurtful, the third mortal. See observations on
some extraordinary symptoms caused by an immoderate use of nutmeg, by Dr. Jacos
SCHMIDEUS, in the Ephemerides of the curious.
† TUMEN, SOLY-KAMASKOY (or, as usually marked on the charts, Solikainsk):
The vast extent of northern Asia was first known by the name of Siberia; but this ap-
pellation seems gradually to pass into disuse. When the Monguls established a kingdom
in these northern regious, the first residence of the Khaans (princes), was on the river
Tura, at the spot where now stands the town of Tumen, about 180 miles S. W. of To-
bolskoy. But the Khaans afterwards moved to the eastern shore of the river Irtish,
where they founded the city of Isker, near Tobolskoy. This new residence was also
called Sibir, from what etymon or cause is not explained; and the name of the city
passed unto the mangul principality. When the Russians began the conquest of the
country, being unconscious of its extent, the name of Siberia was gradually diffused
from this western province over half Asia. The termination ski, skoï, or skoy, in the
Russ, answers to the english ian, ish, &c. tantamount to the latin ensis, or cus; Kamas-
koy, therefore, means the same thing as Kamaskian; and Soly, as R. C. himself ex-
plains, meaning great or major; the two words, conjointly, signify emphatically, or,
by way of excellence, Grand Kamaskian (city being understood). Tobolskoy, or To-
bolski, as it is rendered in the text, may be interpreted in a similar way.
KAMA (see page 428.):-According to the luminous historian of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, the castern boundaries of Europe were nearly the same 2000
years ago, that they are now. The Tanais, watering the plains of Sarmatia, separated
the Roxolani and the Jazyges from the Hamaxobü and the Alani. In moderu geogra
phy the same river, altered in its appellation [Don], divides the tribe of Don-Kozaks
479
parts, is the boundary between Europe and Asia; and the first city, on the
european side, was called Soly-Kamaskoy, which is as much as to say, the great
city on the river Kama; and here we thought to have seen some evident altera-
tion in the people, their manners, their habit, religion, and their business; but
we were mistaken, for as we had a vast desert to pass, which, by relation, is
near seven hundred miles long, in some places, but not above two hundred
miles over where we passed it; so, till we came past that horrible place, we
found very little difference between that country and the Mogul Tartary,† and
from that of the Cherno-morski (or those of the Black Sea), whose territory extends
from the sea of Azof to the river Kooban. Such is the outline incidentally traced by
GIBBON. But a more recent writer, treating professedly of the subject (PINKERTON),
- says: toward the cast, the limits of Europe admit of some discussion. The Uralian
mountains, a grand natural limit, not extending to the arctic ocean; the river Cara,
which flows into the Karskoy sea, is admitted as a boundary. The Uralian limit ex-
tends to about 56 degrees of north latitude: to the south of which the grand confines of
Europe and Asia have been sought in the petty distinctions of russian provincial govern-
ments. More natural limits might be obtained by tracing the river Oufa from its source,
to its junction with the Belaia. Thence, along the Kama to the Volga, which would
constitute a striking natural division, to the town of Sarepta; whence a short ideal line,
the only one admitted in this delineation, will lead due W, to the river Don, which would
complete the unascertained boundary; that on the north and west of the Euxine, being
clear and precise. The products of the governments of Viatka and Permia are trans-
ported by this river, and almost all those of Siberia by its branches; viz. Zusova, Ousa,
Belaia, and Viatka. In the year 1786, it was proposed to join the northern Dvina with
the Volga, by means of the Kama, and of a canal, which accordingly was begun but
not continued. A little below the mouth, by which the Kama empties itself into the
Volga, are many superb monuments of the ancient city Bulgari, consisting of towers,
mosks, houses, and sepulchres, all built of stone or brick; the oldest epitaphs have
been there more than eieven centuries, and the most modern at least four.
* DESERT:-The chief feature of the country in Russia, consists of plains, prodigi.
ously extensive, rivalling in that respect the deserts of Arabia and Afric. These arid
plains are denominated in the vernacular language stepps. They are not so barren of
vegetation as the sandy deserts of the torrid zone, having scattered patches of thin
grass; or of saline plants, and at wide intervals a sort of stunted thicket. In fact, al-
though a russian stepp sometimes resembles a desert, at other times it is more like an
american savanna, waving with luxuriant herbage. On the eastern side of the Volga
begins an extensive stepp, formerly called that of the Kalmuks, from tribes of that na-
tion who used to roam there, till they withdrew from the russian dominions, in 1771.
To the S. it is bounded by the Caspian sea and the lake Ural; while, to the N. it may
be regarded as connected with the stepp of Issim; and, on the E. may be considered
as extending to the river Sarusa; the greater part not belonging to the Russians, but be-
ing abandoned to the wandering Kirguses. This vast desert extends about 700 miles
from E. to W.; and, including Issim, nearly as far from N. to S. A ridge of sandy
hills stretches from near the termination of the uralian chain of mountains to the Cas-
pian; the rest is a prodigious level, containing salt-pools, with sea-shells intermixed
with the soil. This stepp of Barabin, N.W. of Omsk, is about 400 miles in length and
300 in breadth, containing a few salt-lakes, but in general of a black soil interspersed.
with forests of birch. That of Issina aspires but rarely to so good a quality; in both
are found many tombs, inclosing the remains of pastoral chiefs, Tahtar or Mongul. The
wide space between the Ob and the Yenisey, from the N. of Tomsk to the Arctic ocean,
is regarded as one stepp, being with no appearance of a mountain, and scarcely of a
hill. The same term is applied to the wider space, between the Yenisey and the Lena,
between the Arctic Ocean on the N. and a river, Tunguska, in latitude 65°; and to the
parts beyond the Leua, as far as the river Kolima, or Covima.
†TAHTARY (see page 438.):-The vague and improper name, Tartary, is nearly dis-
carded from eur maps, and might yield with far more appropriate precision to names
derived from the seats of the three distinct nations, viz. Talitars, Monguls, and Manchoos
Mandshurs or Tonguses; which are by far the most interesting in these middle regions
of Asia and whose ancestors have overturned great empires, and repeatedly influenced
:
*
1
480
་
the people mostly pagans, and little better than the savages of America; their
houses and towns full of idols, and their way of living wholly barbarous, except
:
the destiny of half the globe. The following sketch of those Tahtars existing
in the Krimea, has been drawn by an accomplished modern traveller, and will serve
for the whole nation under the russian yoke:-" PALLAS has properly distinguished
the two distinct races of Tahtars, the Nogays and the Mountaineers. These last, how-
ever, appeared to me to resemble in their persons the Turks and the Tahtars of Kos-
troma and Yaroslaf. They are a fair and handsome people, like the Tahtars in the
north of Russia, given to agriculture and commerce, and here as well as there deci-
dedly different from the Nogays, or other Mongul tribes. The Nogays, however,
in the Crimea, appear to have greatly improved their breed by intermarriages with the
original inhabitants: being much handsomer and taller than those to the north of the
Golden-gate. The Mountaineers have large bushy beards when old; the Tahtars of
the plain seldom possess more than a few thin hairs. The Mountaineers are clumsy
horsemen, in which they resemble the northern Tahtars. Their neighbours ride very
boldly and well. I had an opportunity of seeing two Nogay shepherd-boys, who
were galloping their horses near Koslof, and who shewed an agility and dexterity
which were really surprising. While the horse was in full speed they sprung from
their seats, stood upright on the saddle, leapt on the ground, and again into the saddle,
and threw their whips to some distance and caught them up from the ground. What
was more remarkable, we ascertained that they were merely shepherds, and that these
accomplishments were not extraordinary. Both mountaineers and shepherds are
amiable, gentle, and hospitable, except where they have been soured by their Russian
masters. We never approached a village at night-fall, where we were not requested
to lodge; or in the day time, without being invited to eat and drink and while they
were thus attentive, they uniformly seemed careless about payment even for the
horses they furnished; never counting the money, and often offering to go away
without it. They are steady in refusing russian money; and it is necessary to procure
a sufficient stock of [turkish] yusluks, paras, and sequins. This is not their only way of
shewing their dislike to their new masters; at one village we were surprised at our
scanty fare, and the reluctance with which every thing was furnished, till we learnt
they had mistaken us for russian officers. On finding that we were foreigners, the
eggs, melted butter, mardek, and bekmess, came in profusion. General BARKADOF told
us they were fond of talking politics; when we addressed them on this subject they
were reserved, and affected an ignorance greater than I thought likely or natural,
PALLAS complained of them as disaffected, and spoke much of their idleness. Yet
their vineyards are very neatly kept, and carefully watered; and, what is hardly a
sign of indolence, their houses, clothes, and persons, are uniformly clean. But his
account seemed to me by no means sufficiently favourable. They are, I apprehend, a
healthy race; but we met one instance where a slight wound had by neglect become
very painful and dangerous. On asking what remedies they had for diseases, they
returned a remarkable answer," We lay down the sick man on a bed, and, if it
please God, he recovers. Allah Kerim!" Their women are concealed; even more
than the wives of Turkish peasants; and are greatly agitated and distressed if seen,
for a moment, without a yeil. Like the men, they have very fair and clear complexions,
with dark eyes and hair, and aquiline noses. Among the men were some figures
which might have served for models of a Hercules; and the mountaineers have a
very strong and nimble step in walking. An Imaum, who wears a green turban, and
who is also generally the schoolmaster, is in every village. Not many, however, of
the peasants could read or write; and they seemed to pay but little attention to the
regular hours of prayer." (HEBER'S MS. Journal.)
The distinction between the Mongul and Tahtar tribes alluded to in the preceding
extract is the more essential, because the two nations, having been associated in most of
the expeditions undertaken by ZENGHIS and his immediate successors, are frequently
confounded by historians; as is the case in the text of R. C. to which this note is
appended. The Nogays, there is some reason to believe, are so called from the name of
a Mongul chieftain, who, about the year 1261, is said to have married a natural daugh-
ter of the Greek emperor. All the Mongul tribes retain, to a certain degree, that
peculiarity of features which Lady CRAVEN has described in her letters; their cheek
pones are remarkably square, and their eyes incline downwards towards the nose,
481
in the cities as above, and the villages near them, where they are Christians, as
they call themselves, of the Greek church; but even these have their religion
mingled with so many reliques of superstition, that it is scarce to be known in
some places from mere sorcery and witchcraft.
In passing this forest, I thought indeed we must, after all our dangers were,
in our imagination, escaped, as before, have been plundered and robbed, and,
perhaps, murdered, by a troop of thieves: of what country they were, whether
the roving bands of the Ostiachi,* a kind of tartars, or wild people on the bank
The Tallars of the Crimea seem to be, like those of Constantinople whom we call
Turks, a turkoman tribe, but probably improved in every respect by an early mixture
of blood with the inhabitants whom they found established in the Crimea; viz. Goths,
Greeks and Genoese. Of the former, we know that a considerable number remained
in the time of RUBRUQUIS; and BUSBEQUIUS has proved, by a short but convincing
vocabulary, that the Gothic language was not extinct, in the neighbourhood of
Mankoup, at the time of his embassy. PALLAS and Dr. CLARKE have also shown that
there is still some affinity between the genoese dialect and that of the mountain Tabtars.
The progress made in agriculture and gardening, by a people originally accustomed
to an erratic life, is a farther symptom of their admixture with some more civilized
settlers; and it may be presumed that these industrious habits were introduced among
them at a very early period, and have long continued to influence and meliorate their
national character, because it is evident that neither the nature of their own feodal
government, nor the intolerant spirit of Mohametanism which they derived from their
subsequent connection with Constantinople, were at all likely to contribute to their
civilization.
* OSTIACHI :-The population of asiatic Russia may be regarded as wholly primi-
tive, except a few russian colonies recently planted, and the Chooks, or Techuks in
the part opposite to America, who are supposed to have proceeded from that continent,
because their persons and customs are different from the other asiatic tribes. Next to
these, far in the north, are the Yukagis, a branch of the Yakuts, and farther west are
the Samoyeds. The Ostiaks, and other tribes of Samoyeds, have penetrated conside-
rably to the south, between the Yenisey and the Irtish; and are followed by various
tribes of the Monguls, such as the Kalmuks, Burats, &c. and by those of the Tahtars
or Huns, such as the Teluts, Kirguses, and others. The radically distinct languages
amount to seven, independent of many dialects and mixtures. Thus, Asia presents a
prodigious original population, as may be judged from the following table of the nations
and languages, arranged according to the linnean system, which will be found more
clear than a prolix textual description of the subject :-
Ordo.
Genus.
Species.
Assyrians.
1. Assyrians..
Arabians
Chaldee,
Hebrew, &c..
Egyptians
Persians...
Armenians.
2. Scythians...
Scythians, within and without
Emäus, &c.
Medes...
Georgians,
3. Sarmats..…………….
Parthians
4. Seres
Hindoos
Indi
Cherkez (Circassians).
Within and without Ganges,
northern and southern;
Nairs, &c.
These are possibly highly civi-
lized Tahtars; they ave a
tahtaric form and face.
5. Sinæ....
6. Samoyeds.......
7. Yakuts.
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nay. Chron. Edit.]
Chinese.
Japanese.
Ostiaks
Yurals &c.
{Yukagirs
I I
Supposed to be originally ex-
{Supp
pelled Taktars.
482
50
*
of the Oby, and ranged thus far, or whether they were the sable-hunters of
Siberia, I am yet at a loss to know; but they were all on horseback, carried
hows and arrows, and were at first about five-and-forty in number: they came
so near to us, as within about two musket-shot, and, asking no questions, they
surrounded us with their horse, and looked very earnestly upon us twice. At
length they placed themselves just in our way, upon which we drew up in a
little line before our camels, being not above sixteen men in all; and be-
ing drawn up thus, we halted and sent out the siberian servant who
attended his lord, to see who they were. Ilis master was the more willing
to let him go, because he was not a little apprehensive, that they were a
siberian troop sent out after him. The man came up near them, with a
flag of truce, and called to them; but though he spoke several of their languages
or dialects of languages rather, he could not understand a word they said.
However, after some signs to him, not to come nearer to them, at his peril, so
he said he understood them to mean, offering to shoot at him if he advanced,
the fellow came back no wiser than he went; only that, by their dress, he said,
he believed them to be some Tartars of Kalmuck, or of the Circassian
Ordo.
Genus.
*
Species.
Chooks, Techuks, or Chukchi.. Emigrant Americans.
3. Koriaks.
9.
Kamtchadals.....
Kurilians.
guses...
10. Manchoos, Mand-)
11. Monguls......
shurs, or Tun-
Lamuts...
These resemble the Japanese.
Ruling nation in China,
(Sungars,
Kalmuks..
Torguts,
Burats, &c.
Turks
Naghaïs,
Khasars...
Bashkirs,
12. Tahtars or Huns..
Uzes.
Siberians..
Kirguses or Kaïzaks,
Teleuts.
The Parsi and Zend languages are cognate with the Gothic, Greek, and Latin. The
Pehlavi, is Assyrian or Chaldaic. After the destruction of ATTILA's swarms, and the
effects of unfortunate inroads, the Huns became subject to the Monguls, who under
ZENGHIS Khaan, TIMUR, &c. constituted the supreme nation in Asia. The Ostiaks are
a Finnish race, and form one of the most numerous nations in Siberia. Before they were
in subjection to Russia, they were governed by princes of their own stock, whose
descendants are still reputed noble. This nation is divided into different tribes, and they
choose their chiefs from the progeny of their ancient rulers. These maintain peace and
good order, and superintend the payment of taxes. The Ostiaks are unacquainted with
the use of letters, and are so ignorant, that it is said even that they cannot reckon
beyond the number ten. The Tunguses are of the Manchoo race, and also are one of the
most considerable nations of Siberia. They are of a middle stature, well made, and of a
good mien. Their sight and hearing are described as of a degree of acuteness and delicacy
that is almost incredible; but their organs of smelling and feeling are more blunt than
ours. They are acquainted with almost every tree and stone within the circuit of their
usual perambulation; and they can even describe a course by the configuration of the
trees and stones they meet with, so as to enable other persons to take the same route.
They also discover the tracks of game by the compression of the grass or moss. They
learn foreign languages with ease, are alert horsemen, good hunters, and expert with
the bow.
* KALMUCK:-According to the synoptic table given in the preceding note, this tribe is
a genus of the Mongul ordo. The Kalmooks (for such is the proper word) are the ugliest
and most erratic of all the pastoral nations. It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed
account of one whose history, laws, arts, and manners have been so often described; but
the arrival of the english traveller, CLARKE, at a kalmook camp, is related by him in a man-
ner so amusing, that the reader will not feel sorry to be detained by the perusal
:-" We
483
1
hordes, and that there must be more of them on the great desert, though he never
heard that any of them ever were seen so far north before.
observed them running backwards and forwards from one tent to another, and moving seve-
ral of their goods. As we drew near on foot, about half a dozen gigantic figures came
towards us, stark naked, except a cloth bound round the waist, with greasy, shining, and
almost black skins, and black hair braided in a long cue behind. They began talking very
fast, in so loud a tone, and so uncouth a language, that we were a little intimidated. I
shook hands with the foremost, which seemed to pacify them, and we were invited to a large
tent. Near its entrance hung a quantity of horseflesh, with the limbs of dogs, cats,
marmots, rats, &c. drying in the sun, and quite black. Within the tent we found
some women, though it was difficult to distinguish the sexes, so horrid and inhuman was
their appearance. Two of them, covered with grease, were lousing each other; and it
surprised us, that they did not discontinue their work, or even look up as we entered.
Through a grated lattice in the side of the tent, we saw younger women peeping, of
more handsome features, but truly Kalmuk, with long black hair hanging in thick braids
on each side of the face, and fastened at the end with bits of lead or tin. In their ears
they wore shells, and large pearls, of a very irregular shape, or some substance much
resembling pearl. The old women were eating raw horseflesh, tearing it off from large
bones which they held in their hands. Others, squatted on the ground in their tents,
were smoking with pipes not two inches in length, much after the manner of Lap-
landers. In other respects, the two people, although both of eastern origin, and both
nomade tribes, bear little resemblance. The manner of living among the Kalmuks is
much superior to that of the Laplanders. The tents of the former are better constructed,
stronger, more spacious, and contain many of the luxuries of life; such as very warmı
and very good beds, handsome carpets and mats, domestic utensils, and materials of art
and science, painting and writing. The Kalmuk is a giant, the Laplandera dwarf;
both are filthy in their persons; but the Kalmuk more so than perhaps any other
nation."- -Various encampments of the same people were occasionally seen on the
stepps on both sides of the Donetz; and many of the tributary streams which fall into
that river as well as the Don, have considerable villages on their banks, so that
the population of these wild plains, though certainly very disproportionate to their
extent, is probably more considerable than is generally imagined. But of these establish-
ments, or of the course of the streams on which they are placed, or of the roule pur-
sued by Dr. CLARKE, no correct notion can be derived from the wretched maps pub-
lished in Russia.-" Kalmuk women," says he, "ride better than the men. A male
Kalmuk on horseback looks as if he was intoxicated, and likely to fall off every instant,
though he never loses his seat; but the women sit with more ease, and ride with extraor
dinary skill. The ceremony of marriage among the Kalmuks is performed on horse-
back. A girl is first mounted, who rides off in full speed. Her lover pursues; if
he overtakes her she becomes his wife, and the marriage is consummated on the spot;
after which, she returns with him to his tent. But it sometimes happens, that the woman
does not wish to marry the person by whom she is pursued, in which case she will not
suffer him to overtake her; and we were assured that no instance occurs of a kalmuk
girl being thus caught, unless she has a partiality for her pursuer."-The stepp or
wilderness over which this traveller passed, is described as every where dotted with
tumuli, and covered with long grass affording pasture to some camels, and a retreat to nuin-
berless small animals, such as the surok (the marmot of the Alps): the suslie, a sort of
rat or weasel, of which the fur is in some estimation; and the mus jaculus, or jerboa, a
minute resemblance of the australasian kangaroo. The military author, Sir R. WILSON,
speaking of the jugglers anong the Kalmuks (who are intermixed in the army with Cos-
saks), relates this anecdote :-The russian general, BENNIGSEN, Consulted one of them
who pretended to fortune-telling, and asking him to divine what was about to happen,
the juggler made the following very significant answer: "that he always wrought on a
roasted shoulder of mutton; and if one was then placed before him he could give some
important intelligence, but otherwise he was unable to trace the destinies."-The
following additional particulars, descriptive of this nation, are collected from other
modern authorities: The Kalmooks are a courageous tribe, and numerous; for the
most part raw-boned and stout. The isage is so fat, that the skull of a Kal-
mook may easily be known from others. They have thick lips, a small nose. a short
chin, a reddish or yellowish brown complexion, and their heads are exactly Chinese.
in
113
484
This was small comfort to us. However, we had no remedy. There was, on
our left hand, at about a quarter of a mile's distance, a little grove or clump of
trees, which stood close together, and very near the road. I immediately
resolved we would advance to those trees, and fortify ourselves as well as we
could there; for, first, I considered that the trees would, in a great measure,
cover us from their arrows, and, in the next place, they could not come to charge
us in a body. It was indeed my old portuguese pilot who proposed it, and who
had this excellency attending him, namely, that he was always readiest and most
apt to direct and encourage us, in cases of the most danger. We advanced
immediately with what speed we could, and gained that little wood, the Tartars,
or thieves, for we knew not what to call them, keeping their stand, and not
attempting to hinder us. When we came thither, we found, to our great
satisfaction, that it was a swampy, springy piece of ground, and on the one
side, a very great spring of water, which running out in a little rill, or brook,
was a little farther joined by another of the like bigness, and was, in short, the
head, or source, of a considerable river, called afterwards the. Wirtska. The
trees which grew about this spring were not in all above two hundred, but were
Their clothing is after the oriental cut; some of their women wear a large golden ring
in their nostrils. Their principal food is animal; and they (even their chiefs) will feed
on cattle that have died of age or distemper, even although the flesh be putrid; so that
in
every horde the flesh-market has the appearance of a lay-stall of carrion: they eat
also the plants and roots of their deserts. They are great eaters, but can endure want
for a long time without complaint. Both sexes smoke tobacco; during the summer they
sojourn in the northern, and during the winter in the southern deserts. They sleep upun
felt or carpet, and also cover themselves with the same. Subjoined is a characteristic
specimen of kalmook poetry, being a literal version of an elegy on the secession of a
horde on the Volga, which, disgusted by the russian domination, sought the protection of
China:
"The water of the vast ocean
When it has raged with all its fury, becalms itself again:
This is the course of the world; and likewise still to forget,
Ye white herds, with the mark of Shebinér !
Thou prince SHERENG, in the van as conductor
Riding on thy noble red-bay horse!
The prince ZEBFK following with his numerous troop.
Ah! UBASHA-khaan, conduct us now the Torgols!
There, over rocks, over stones, and rough places,
The herds drag themselves along, and become lean,
By flying over the land all covered with snow and frost.
Ah! how the droves trot over the snow!
Now, you are gotten thither and come to your resting-place.
Why was there any quarrel between thee and the Zagan khaian ?
Ye otherwise peaceful Torgots between the Yahik and the Idshel,
How far ye now retreat !
Ab! the beautiful Idshel is abandoned by the Torgot.
Ah! the lovely stream Mazak is dow likewise an orphan.
Ah! thy many excellent young princes,
Ye are now all marched far away over the Yahik.
Ah! thou well-arranged troop of Torgois
Art now perhaps arrived at the Ertshis.
Ah! helpless lamentable time!
Thou excellent host of warriors marching towards Altai!
Ye have no princely women among you,
Farewell! ye who bring up the rear of the hordou
Princes AKSAKAL and KIREP!”
Zagan-khaian, or the white khaan, is the denomination of the russian monarch among
atmost all the oriental nations, Idshel is the mongul name of the river Volga. Ertshis
that of the Irtish.
485
very large, and stood pretty thick; so that as soon as we got in, we saw our-
selves perfectly safe from the enemy, unless they alighted and attacked
us on foot.
But, to make this more difficult, our Portuguese, with indefatigable applica-
tion, cut down great arms of the trees, and laid them hanging, not cut quite off,
from one tree to another; so that he made a continued fence, almost round us.
We staid here, waiting the motion of the enemy some hours, without per-
ceiving they made any offer to stir, when, about two hours before night, they
came directly upon us; and though we had not perceived it, we found they had
been joined by some more of the same, so that they were near fourscore horse;
whereof, however, we fancied some were women. They caine on till they were
within half a shot of our little wood, when we fired one musket, without ball,
and called to them, in the russian tongue, to know what they wanted, and bade
them keep off; but, as if they knew nothing of what we said, they came on with
a double fury, directly up to the wood side, not imagining we were so barricadoed
that they could not break in. Our old pilot was our captain, as well as he had
been our engineer, and desired of us not to fire upon thein till they came within
pistol shot, that we might be sure to kill; and that when we did fire we should
be sure to take good aim. We bade him give the word of command, which he
delayed so long, that they were, some of them, within two pikes' length of us
when we fired.
We aimed so true, that we killed fourteen of them at the first volley, and
wounded several others, as also several of their horses; for we had all of us
loaded our pieces with two or three bullets a-piece, at least.
They were terribly surprised with our fire, and retreated immediately about
one hundred rods from us, in which time we loaded our pieces again, and seeing
them keep at that distance, we sallied out, and caught four or five of their
horses, whose riders, we supposed, were killed; and coming up to the dead, we
could easily perceive they were Tartars, but knew not from what country, or how
they came to make an excursion of such an unusual length.
About an hour after, they made a motion to attack us again, and rode round
our little wood, to see where else they might break in; but finding us always
ready to face them, they went off again, and we resolved not to stir from the
place for that night.
We slept little, you may be sure, but spent the most part of the night in
strengthening our situation, and barricadoing the entrances into the wood; and,
keeping a strict watch, we waited for daylight, and, when it came, it gave us a
very unwelcome discovery indeed; for the enemy, who we thought were dis-
couraged with the reception they had met with, were now increased to no less
than three hundred, and had set up eleven or twelve huts and tents as if they
were resolved to besiege us; and this little camp they had pitched was upon
the open plain, at about three quarters of a mile from us. We were indeed
surprised at this discovery, and now, I confess, I gave myself over for lost, and
all that I had. The loss of my effects did not lie so near me (though they were
very considerable), as the thoughts of falling into the hands of such barbarians,
24 the latter end of my journey, after so many difficulties and hazards as I had
gone through; and even in sight of our port, where we expected safety and
deliverance. As for my partner, he was raging; he declared that to lose his
goods would be his ruin, and he would rather die than be starved; and he was
for fighting to the last drop.
The young lord, as gallant as ever flesh showed itself, was for fighting to the
last also; and my old pilot was of opinion that we were able to resist them all,.
in the situation we then were in: and thus we spent the day in debates of what
we should do; but towards evening we found that the number of our enemies
still increased. Perhaps, as they were abroad in several parties for prey, the
first had sent out scouts to call for help, and to acquaint them of the booty;
and we did not know but by the morning they might still be a greater number;
486
so I began to inquire of those people we had brought from Tobolski, if there
was no other, or more private ways, by which we might avoid them in the night,
and, perhaps, either retreat to some town, or get help to guard us over
the desert.
The Siberian, who was servant to the young lord, told us, if we designed to
avoid them, and not fight, he would engage to carry us off in the night to a way
that went north, toward the river Petrou, by which he made no question but we
might get away, and the Tartars never the wiser; but, he said, his lord had
told him, he would not retreat, but would rather choose to fight. I told him,
be mistook his lord, for that he was too wise a man to love fighting for the sake
of it; that I knew his lord was brave enough, by what he had showed already;
but that his lord knew better, than to desire to have seventeen or eighteen men
fight five hundred, unless an unavoidable necessity forced them to it; and that,
if he thought it possible for us to escape in the night, we had nothing else to do
but to attempt it. He answered, if his lord gave him such an order, he would
lose his life, if he did not perform it. We soon brought his lord to give that
order, though privately, and we immediately prepared for the putting it in
practice.
And, first, as soon as it began to be dark, we kindled a fire in our little camp,
which we kept burning and prepared so as to make it burn all night, that the
Tartars might conclude we were still there; but as soon as it was dark, that
is to say, so as we could see the stars (for our guide would not stir before),
having all our horses and camels ready loaden, we followed our new guide, who
I soon found, steered himself by the pole, or north-star, all the country being
level for a long way.
After we had travelled two hours very hard, it began to be lighter still;
not that it was quite dark all night, but the moon began to rise, so that, in short,
it was rather lighter than we wished it to be; but by six o'clock, next morning
we were gotten near forty miles, though the truth is we almost spoiled our
horses. Here we found a Russian village, named Kermazinskoy, where we rested,
and heard nothing of the Kalmuck Tartars that day. About two hours before
night we set out again, and travelled till eight the next morning, though not
quite so hastily as before; and about seven o'clock we passed a little river called
Kirtza, and came to a good large town, inhabited by Russians, and very popu-
lous, called Ozomoys. There we heard, that several troops or hordes of Kal-
inucks had been abroad upon the desert, but that we were now completely
out of danger of them, which was to our great satisfaction, you may be sure.
Here we were obliged to get some fresh horses, and, having need enough of rest
we staid five days; and my partner and I agreed to give the honest Siberian,
who brought us thither, the value of ten pistoles, for his conducting us.
In five days more we came to Veussima, upon the river Witzogda,* which
running into the river Dwina,t we were there very happily near the end of our
* VITZOGDA :-By this river is probably meant the Vitzegda; into which falls the
northern Keltma. In 1786, it was intended to unite the latter with a southern river of
the same name that joins the Kama. A canal proposed by General SouCUTELEN was
begun, but war put a stop to the work. At a small expense, a new branch of navigation
would have been opened between the provinces of Permia, Viatka, and Archangel; not
only for commercial purposes, but for the conveyance of timber for the navy.
† DWINA :-The northern Dvina, one of the largest rivers in Europe, with its dif-
ferent branches, is deserving particular attention. It is navigable, and a great traffic
is carried thereon, and on the streams that fall into it, to Archangel, the only sea-port
in possession of Russia till the eighteenth century. It empties itself after a course of
500 miles into the White-sea by five different mouths: two only of these are navigable.
The White Sea, is a large branch or arm of the Northern or Frozen Ocean, which
is navigable throughout at proper seasons. It separates Russian Lapland from the N.
W. part of Samoieda, the most northerly province of Russia in Europe. Before the
conquest of Finland, Ingria, and Livonia, the Russians only traded on this sea.
*
487
travels by land, that river being navigable in seven days' passage to Archangel.
From hence we came to Lawrenskoy, where the river joins, the third of July,
and provided ourselves with two luggage-boats, and a barge, for our convenience.
We embarked the seventh, and arrived all safe at Archangel the eighteenth,
having been a year, five months and three days, on the journey, including
our stay of eight months and odd days at Tobolski.
We were obliged to stay at this place six weeks for the arrival of the ships,
and must have tarried longer, had not a Hamburger come in above a month
sooner than any of the English ships; when after some consideration, that the
city of Hamburg might happen to be as good a market for our goods as London,
we all took freight with him; and, having put our goods on board, it was most
natural for me to put my steward on board, to take care of them, by which
means my young lord had a sufficient opportunity to conceal himself, never
coming on shore again in all the time we staid there; and this he did, that he
might not be seen in the city, where some of the Moscow merchants would
certainly have seen and discovered him.
We sailed from Archangel the twentieth of August, the same year, and, after
no extraordinary bad voyage, arrived in the Elbe,f the thirteenth of September.
An
* ARCHANGEL:-The town of its name stands on the river Dvina, in latitude 64°. 33′,
36". N. and longitude 38°. 59′. S0". E. about four miles from its mouth. There is a
bar at the mouth of this river, which is 13 leagues S. by W. from Cat's Nose Point, as
that is 20 leagues S. W. from Cross Island. It is high water at 6 o'clock. The passage
to Archangel was discovered by the English, in 1553, but not traded unto till about
1569. PETER I. divided Russia into eight governments. In the year 1763, under
CATHARINE II., they had encreased to eighteen. In the following year this number
was augmented by two; and, in 1773, by the first partition of Poland, two more were
added. The empire consisted of these twenty-two governments in 1776; about which
period Russia was enlarged by the accession of the Krim. Of these, twenty-three pro-
vinces, forty-two stadtholderships, or vice-royalties, were formed; and this division
existed from 1786 to 1794. In 1795, by new conquests on the polish frontier, and by
the subjection of Courland, the number was encreased to fifty; but in consequence of the
change which these cight new districts produced in the political geography of the south-
ern and western portions of the empire, the whole underwent a fresh division in 1796,
and the fifty governments were reduced by PAUL I. to forty-one. A fresh alteration
took place on the accession of the Emperor ALEXANDER I., who thought proper to
revive most of those governments which had been abolished by his predecessor.
ukase, or edict, was issued in 1801; by the operation of which the forty-one were
restored to fifty, together with Grusia, or Georgia. The following is an enumeration of
the governments of Russia as they stood in 1803; viz. 1, Moskva; 2, St. Petersburg;
3, Novogorod; 4, Olonetz; 5, Archangel; 6, Pskove: 7, Smolensk; 8, Toola; 9,
Twer; 10, Kalouga; 11, Yaroslav; 12, Kostroma; 13, Vlodomir; 14, Vologda; 15,
Nisneygorod; 16, Vlatka; 17, Kazan; 18, Perm; 19, Tobulsk; 20, Tomsk; 21,
Irkutsk; 22, Orenburg; 23, Sinibirsk; 24, Penza; 25, Saratov; 26, Astrakhan
27, Kabkas [Caucasus); 28, Voronetz; 29, Tambov; 30, Râzan; 31, Kursk; 32,
Orel; 33, Slobodish Ukrain (or Malo-Russia); 34, Ekaterinaslav; 35, Tauria [Krimea];
36, Kerson (or Nicolayev); 37, Pultova; 38, Chernigov; 39, Kiev; 40, Podolia
41, Volbynia: 42, Grodno; 43, Vilna; 44, Vitebsk; 45, Moghulev; 46, Misk; 47,
Kurland [Courland]; 48, Lettland [Livonia]; 49, Esthland [Esthonia]; 50, Finland;
51, Grusia. In the russian empire, during the year 1812, there were, according to of-
ficial lists, 1264391 births and 971358 deaths, making the surplus of births above deaths
293033. Of these, one had reached the extraordinary age of 165; there were also
three of the age of 135, one of 130, fifteen of 125, thirty-three from 115 to 120, fifty-
three from 110 to 115, one hundred and twenty-seven from 105 to 110, 527 from 100
to 105, 1473 from 95 to 100, 2749 from 90 to 95, and 4487 from 85 to 90. The
White Sea was known to OCTER, in the reign of ALFRED, by the name of the Qven Sea;
and the icelandic writers styled it the sea of Ganvik, on the shore of which was their
Biarmia.
;
† ELBE-A noted river on the continent of Europe, that falls into the Ger
man ocean, after traversing a considerable part of Germany, on which is the free
488
Here my partner and I found a very good sale for our goods, as well those of
China, as the sables, &c. of Siberia; and dividing the produce of our effects
mny share amounted to three thousand four hundred and seventy-five pounds,
seventeen shillings, and three-pence, notwithstanding so many losses we had sus
tained and charges we had been at, only remembering that I had included in this
city of Hamburg. From thence it flows on by the fortress of Gluckstadt, below which
it discharges its waters. It is navigable for ships of considerable burthen higher than
any river in Europe; for vessels of 300 or 400 tons come up to Hamburg, at the dis-
tance of full 70 miles from the sea. Immense quantities of goods of almost every
description are transported up and down this river to and from various parts of Ger-
many; and within the ports of this river are many exports and imports cleared out and
delivered. It may not be improper to note, that the names of Elven, Elve, or Elbe,
in the old northern language, are used generally to denote large streams and rivers,
and is used emphatically of this river in particular. Holy Island lies off it to the W.
and forms a point of direction for the Weser river to the S., the Elbe to the E., the Eyder
and the Hever to the N. E. The mouth of the Elbe is in lat. about 34° N. and long.
about 9 E.
میرا
* SIBERIA: (see page 458.) Although the Russians had made some incursions into
the interior parts of Asia as early as the middle of the fifteenth century, under the
reign of IVAN VASILIEVITZ (called by european historians JOHN BASILIDES); they
had not any fixed establishments there till the middle of the sixteenth; when Strogo-
NOFF, a russian merchant of Archangel, having found means to open a trade for funs
with Siberia, the czar then on the throne, IVAN VASILIEVITZ II., to whom be disclosed
the nature of his connections, promised him protection, and in 1553 assumed the ntle of
lord of Sibir. Soon after, YERMAK, a chief of the Don kazaks [cosaks], being coms
pelled by russian conquest either to submit or seck some distant place of refuge, retired
with a number of his followers into Siberia; where, having defeated the tahtar khaan of
Sibir, he seized his capital city and made it his residence ; but finding himself too weak
to preserve his conquest, YERMAK applied to Russia for succour and protection, and sent
a deputation to do homage to the czar as his liege. In the course of two or three years
after, almost all the kazaks were slain in repeated battles, and YERMAK himself was
drowned in attempting to leap into a boat. The Russians, however, after many con-
flicts, secured to themselves the possession of this extensive country; and, by the midle
of the seventeenth century, had advanced unto the river Amoor, where they built some
fosts, which occasioned hostilities between them and the Chinese, who destroyed the rus-
stan forts. These disputes were terminated by the treaty of Nertchinsk, concluded in
1689, by which the Argoon was made the boundary of the russian and chinese territory.
In the course of the month of August 1811, a caravan, consisting of fifty horses,
loaded with merchandize valued at 50200 rubles, left asiatic Russia by the siberian
frontier, or line of the Irtish, and passed through the custom-house of Banchtharma,
its destination Koulgi, a frontier town of China. It belonged to Mr. NERPIN, Coun
sellor of Commerce, and agent of the chief Guild at Tara; who also prepared
at the custom-house a second export, in two parts, the one valued at 4000 rubles,
the other at 18000. This operation is entitled to the attention of the public, for the
commerce with China, which began in 1803, was conducted till 1809, only by the
frontier of the Government of Tomsk, and the new Chinese conquests, formerly called
the country of Saongars or Eleuts, a people of Kalmuks, and only a commerce of
baster, of very little importance. The great exportation, in 1806, did not amount to
more than the value of 14000 rubles; but in 1809 Mr. NERPIN, encouraged by the
Government, sent the first caravan with merchandize, amounting in value to 5000
rubles from the fortress of Banchtharma, across the frontier to Koulgi. The precau-
tions taken by the Government against the incursions of the Kirguses, securing a
facility of transmit, induced Mr. NERPIN to gradually extend his commercial specu-
lations. Other merchants followed his example, and since the 1st of January of that
year, the date of the departure of Mr. NERPIN's caravan, other merchants have suc-
cceded in transmitting detached portions of goods, amounting in the whole to the value
of 25700 rubles. The chinese town of Koutcha, and some other chinese fortresses, form
at the foot of the mountain Tarabagatay a line, which extends to the little Bukaria, on the
border of the kingdom of Koutatscha, conquered by the emperor of China towards the
middle of the last century.
489
about six hundred pounds' worth of diamonds, which I had purchased at Ben-
gal.
Here the young lord took his leave of us, and went up the Elbe, in order
* DIAMOND :-The curious reader will be gratified, and the incredulous may be con-
vinced, by a sight of an exact outline of the size of the great diamond sent to the king
of Portugal from Brazil, mentioned in page 366. The Editor therein stated the value
to be 56448001, sterling, upon the authority of MILBURN's Oriental Commerce; but he
now deems it necessary also to state, that the sketch from which the annexed outline has
been traced, is accompanied by a memorandum of its valuc so widely different from
MILBURN'S estimate as to be hardly credible. This document bears date anno 1746,
WEIGHT,
1680 carats
12 ounces;
VALUE,
224 millions sterling.
The same publication states Governor PITT's diamond to weigh but 127 carats, and that
it was sold to the king of France for 120000l. Recent political events, however, enable
us to bring down the history of this latter famed pebble to the present day in the most
authentic form, by means of the following official document, entituled
"Procès verbal.
"In the year 1815, the 28th March, at one o'clock in the morning [une heure de relcree],
we, the Ministers of Finance and of the imperial Treasury, undersigned, in virtue of
orders from the emperor, repaired to the treasury of the crown, in order to ascertain
what had passed in that treasury, relative to the carrying off of the diamonds which
had been deposited there. We found the Baron DE BOULLERIE, ex-treasurer of the
crown, who exhibited to us in the original an ordinance of the king, of the 13th March
current, of which the tenor was as follows:-
Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre. On the report of the
Minister and Secretary of State of our Household, we have ordered and do order as
follows:-The intendant of the treasury of our civil list shall cause to be immediately
given over by the cashier general of the said treasury, to the Sieur HUE, one of our
first valets de chambre, and on his receipt, all the diamonds, jewels, pearls, and pre-
cious stones, belonging to our crown and extraordinary domain. For which the
1
490
+
to go to the court of Vienna,* where he resolved to seck protection, and where
present order, and the receipt of the said valet de chambre, shall be a sufficient dis-
charge. The minister secretary of state of our household is charged with the execution
of this order.
(Signed.)
Given at our palace of the Tuilleries 13th March, 1815.
(Countersigned.)
Louis.
Blacas D'Aulps.
Here follow two receipts of Mr. HUE, acknowledging that the cashier-general, Mr,
GEORGES, had delivered over to him the jewels, according to the annexed inventory :-
The total value is estimated 14,393,881 francs 60 centimes, including the diamond
called, the Regent, valued at six millions; to which are to be added the amount of
47,763 f. in diamonds and pearls, from the extraordinary domain, as described in the
registry of 7th April, 1812. By a previous order of Mr. BLACAS, exhibited to us,
the king's jeweller, Mr. MENIERE, had received the diamond comb, and other orna-
ments belonging to the crown treasury, with the crown set with sapphires and diamonds,
valued at 1,176,558 fr.; also, included in the preceding sum of fourteen millions, of
which Mr. MENIERE gave a return to the amount of 603,598 fr. returned to the
royal treasury, the remainder having been otherwise made use of. From the whole
investigation the result is
Cts.
Total value of the diamonds, pearls, and precious stones, in?
the crown treasury before the removal, was..
Remaining..
Missing....
Fr.
14,441,645 21
603,598 51
13,834,046 70
Signed and sealed in the treasury of the crown the year and day aforesaid.
The Minister of Finances,
The Minister of the Treasury,
Duke of Gaeta.
Mollien."
To conclude this subject. As well as we can compare antient with modern geogra
phy, Rome was supplied with diamonds from the mine of Jumulpur in Bengal, which
is described in the voyages of TAVERNIER. The diamond is stated by chronological
writers to have first been cut by DE BERGUEN, of Bruges, in the year 1489.
* VIENNA:-The chief city of the austrian dominions, is seated in a fertile plain on the S.
or rather W. side of the Danube (now called in German Donau), at its conflux with
the river Wien, which has given its name to the city, and near the site of the ancient
Vindebona. The Danube is here very wide, and contains several woody isles. The
country towards the N. and E. is level, but on the S. and W. hilly and variegated with
trees. This city was of little note until the twelfth century, when it became the resi-
dence of the dukes of Austria, and was fortified in the manner of that age. It was
twice ineffectually besieged by the Turks in 1589 and 1683. At the latter period, the
siege was raised by JOHN SOBIESKI, king of Poland, who totally defeated the turkish
army before this place. Here is a sort of harbour on the Danube, where there are
magazines of warlike stores; and vessels have been fitted out to serve on that river
against the Turks. The city itself is not large, being limited by a strong fortification;
but, with the suburbs, which are far more extensive than the city, and at a conside-
rable distance from its walls, is said to contain upwards of 260,000 inhabitants. The
suburbs are not near so populous, in proportion to their size, as the city; many
houses in the former having extensive gardens belonging to them, and many families,
who live during the winter within the fortifications, spend the summer in the suburbs.
The houses are generally of brick, covered with stucco of a peculiarly durable
kind. The second floor of all burghers' houses, is allotted for the reception of officers,
of the imperial court, and the owners can only purchase an exemption, by paying
a sum of money towards the erection of barracks. Vienna contains 50 churches or
491
he could correspond with those of his father's friends, who were left alive,
Ile did not part without all the testimonies he could give me of gratitude for
the service I had done him, and his sense of my kindness to the prince
his father.
To conclude having staid near four months in IIamburg,* I came from thence
cross.
chapels, and 21 convents. Its chief edifices are the metropolitan cathedral of St.
Stephen, built of free-stone, 114 yards long and 48 broad; the steeple is 447 feet
high; having, instead of a weathercock, a black spread eagle, over which is a gilded
Here is a monument in honour of prince EUGENE of Savoy. Adjoining the ca-
thedral is the archbishop's palace, the front of which is very fine; the imperial palace,
library, arsenal, house of assembly for the states of lower Austria; council-house, and
university. Besides the university, containing a number of students, there is the
academy of lower Austria; and the arcbducal library, which is open every morning
3 or 4 hours to the public, contains 5 or 5000 volumes, printed in the 15th century,
with a well-furnished and valuable collection of prints and useful modern books.
The academy of painting is remarkable for the fiue pictures it produces. The impe-
rial cabinet is very rich in medals, and still more so in natural history. Provisions
are brought in great plenty and variety; and wild hogs, stags, with cart-loads of
hares, pheasants, and partridges, may be seen in the game market. The manufactures
of the city are numerous, and the trade extensive; and a considerable inland com-
merce is carried on by the noble stream of the Danube. Lat. 48°. 12′. 30″. N.
Lon. 169. 22'. 45". E. from Greenwich.
* HAMBURG, is a large hanseatic city of Germany, with a harbour on the N. shore of
the river Elbe, here nearly a mile broad. It is situated partly on islands, and partly
on the continent. Merchants of all nations resort to it, whose goods are sent into the
heart of Germany by means of the river. They also send vessels every year to Green-
land to catch whales; and there are not less than 200 ships at a time belonging to foreign
merchants frequently at anchor before the city. Ships come up to the doors to lade and
unlade goods, as the tide flows for 16 miles beyond the town. It has a considerable
trade with London, especially in linen, and is 20 leagues to the S. E. from the German
Ocean; in lat. 53°. 34'. 8". N. and long. 9º. 43′. 15". E. and it has high water on full and
change days at six o'clock. This city, in point of magnitude and population, may be
considered, after Vienna and Berlin, the third in Germany; it is supposed to contain
between 95 and 100 thousand inhabitants; it was originally fortified by CHARLEMAGNE,
A. D. 808. The present fortifications are in the old dutch taste,-spacious ramparts
planted with trees. Its form of government is aristocratic, being ruled by a senate of
37 persons. The religion is Lutheran. The bank was founded in 1619.-A french tra,
veller (MANGOURIT) who visited this city in 1804, makes the following topographic,
and otherwise descriptive remarks, respecting it :-" After having passed Bergen, Saltau,
and Well, we ascended a high plain, from whence we enjoyed a very extensive prospect; in
our progress we travelled over harren heaths, much marshy land interspersed with solitary
woods, and extensive rivers of sand, which are here denominated high-ways. Another
hilly plain which succeeded threw us into an ill-humour, but that was soon dissipated by
the surrounding prospect. Towards the left, we had a glimpse of the town of Harburg;
in front a circular bending of the Elbe; at a greater distance, the elevated coast of
Holstein; and a little towards the right, the Cadiz of the north-Hamburg. The sun set at
this period nearly about half past nine o'clock. Here the twilight, which is not so transi-
ent as in France, served to light us on our way to Harburg.
Every morning and evening, a passage-boat proceeds from Harburg to Hamburg. I
went on board one of these boats, and in two hours landed at the guard-house of Ham-
burg. I lodged at the London tavern, which is situated in a row of neat and elegant
buildings. The streets are embellished with rich shops and warehouses. A paved foot-
way borders a long and beautiful street, which leads to the port, to the senate-house, and
to the exchange. This street is ornamented with four rows of linden-trees; three pavi
lions are erected at equal distances: that in the centre is employed as a coffee-house,
and the other two serve as guard-houses. A magnificent basin, into which the river
Alster pours its waters, washes the parapet by which it is surrounded. It is covered
with barges; and its level banks are embellished by villas, small eminences, and the
most luxuriant verdure. During my stay at Hamburg, I have often seated myself on
its banks observing the mercantile bustle; the large wigs worn by the senators, and
i
1
f
492
over land to the Hague,* where I embarked in the packet, and arrived in Londont
extending over their black robes; the cane chariots drawn by the beautiful horses of
Mecklenburg and Holstein; and the courtezans, whose figure, gait, and manners, are ex-
tremely elegant. These last never accost any one; but their mode of dress sufficiently
indicates to the stranger that he may safely address them without fear of being repulsed.
The commercial part of Hamburg is full of activity and bustle; but the interior of the
city appeared to me dull and uninteresting: it would in fact be a place of banishment to
a Frenchman, The government has no influence beyond the precincts of the city; and
the only territory possessed by it is the small portion of land which surrounds the town
of Ritzebattel, and the little port of Cuxhaven, with its peninsular bailiwick."
* HAGUE: A town of the United Provinces in Holland, which may compare with
the handsomest cities in Europe, with regard to extent, the number and beauty of its
palaces, it's streets, it's agreeable walks, and it's society. It was the late residence
of the stadtholder, the states-general, and the states of the province: was governed by
it's own magistrates, viz. a baily, whose office was was for life; 3 burgomasters,
changed every year; 7 echevins; 12 common council; a pensioner; a secretary; and
a treasurer. In 1768, it was supposed to contain 40,000 souls; but at present (1815),
its population is computed at not more than 36000. It is seated about two miles from
the sea, to N. of Rotterdam, and 30 S. W. of Amsterdam. Lat. 52. 3'. 5'. N. Lon.
4º. 16′. 40″ E. The Ilague is only esteemed a village in a municipal sense, notwith-
standing its political importance, its extent, and its population. The palace contains
several apartments allotted to the different branches of government, besides those pro-
perly belonging to the stadtholderian court. The states-general meet in a room which
contained twenty-six chairs for the usual number of the meinbers. The Hague is dis-
tinguished by its pleasant situation and tranquil grandeur.
†
+ LONDON (Midd.):-The metropolis of Great Britain, according to CAMDEN, derived
its name from the british words Llhwn, a wood; and Dinas, a town (signifying a town in
a wood); or Lhong, a ship; and Dinas, a city (signifying a city, or harbour for ships).
It was certainly a considerable, opulent, and commercial city, in the reign of the emperor
NERO. It is represented as such by TACITUS; and AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, who
wrote in the reign of JULIAN the Apostate, calls it "vetustum oppidum," an ancient
city. Its roman names were Londinum, or Londinium, and Augusta. The first is still
retained in its modern appellation; the last is the favourite of the poets. Augusta was a
name given to seventy cities in the roman provinces, in honour of AUGUSTUS. Hence
London, as the capital of the Trinobantes in Britain, was called Augusta Trinobantina.
It frequently suffered by fires, and was twice plundered by the Daues; in 1348, it was
visited by a most terrible pestilence, which continued to rage so violently, that the com-
mon burying places were not sufficient to receive the dead bodies, and people were obliged
to purchase ground for the purpose. On this awful occasion, RALPH STRATFORD, bishop
of London, bought a piece of ground called No Man's Land, which he enclosed with a
brick wall, and dedicated it to the purpose of burying the dead. Another piece, called
Spital Croft, was also purchased for the same use by Sir WALTER MANNY; which was for
many centuries remembered by a latin inscription, fixed on a stone cross, in english as
follows: "A great plague raging in the year 1349, this burial-ground was consecrated,
wherein were buried more than fifty thousand persons, who died of that mortality." So
general was this distemper, that it is asserted not more than one in ten escaped; and
that not less than 100000 persons died in the whole. Yet, notwithstanding the dreadful
effect of this calamity, the city of London soon after recovered itself, and advanced
greatly in its prosperity and trade. A few years after; viz. in 1354, EDWARD III. granted
to the mayor and community of the city of London, the privilege of having gold and
silver maces borne before them; whereas all other cities and towns in the kingdom were
forbidden the use of any other metal than copper. And it was probably on this occasion
that the chief magistrate of London first received the title of Lord Mayor, as corre-
sponding with the increase of dignity to his official character and appearance. In the
5th year of RICHARD II. it suffered greatly by the rebellion of WATT TYLER. In 1407
a dreadful plague carried off 50000 of the inhabitants, whereby corn became so cheap,
that wheat sold at Ss. 4d. the quarter. In the reign of HENRY V. Sir HENRY BArton,
the Lord Mayor, first ordered lanterns to be hung out for illuminating the streets by
night. In the second year of EDWARD IV. a dreadful pestilence raged in this city,
which swept away an incredible number of people. In the beginning of the reign of
493
the tenth of January 1705, having been gone from England ten years and
nine months.
HENRY VI. the two lord mayors and one of the sheriffs died within the year of the
sweating sickness, which then began to rage. In 1500 the plague carried off 20000
persons, and during this reign the city also suffered greatly by the oppressions of the
king's ministers, EMPSOM and DUDLEY. Another dreadful plague broke out about the
beginning of May 1665, and swept off 68596 persons; this calamity had scarcely
ceased, and those who had fled returned, when, September 2, 1666, a fire broke out in
the house of Mr. FARRYNER, a baker in Pudding-lane, and furiously seizing on the
neighbouring houses, continued burning and destroying every thing for about four days,
by which dreadful conflagration were consumed 400 streets and lanes, 13200 houses,
the cathedral of St. Paul, 86 parish churches, 6 chapels, the Royal Exchange, Black-
well-hall, and the Custom-House, several hospitals and libraries, 52 of the Companies
Halls, three of the city gates, four stone bridges, four prisons, &c. the loss amounting
to about 10730500l. Mr. MADOX, in his "Firma Burgi," relates, that the weavers,
bakers, and sadlers, were the most ancient guilds or fellowships in London; which is
natural enough, since food and clothing are most immediately necessary to mankind. In
the ninth year of RICHARD II. in 1386, a company of linen-weavers, consisting of such
as had been brought over from the Netherlands by EDWARD III. was first established;
but they were so much molested by the weavers company of London, that in the end
they never arrived to any considerable degree of success. Other companies were pa-
tronised and incorporated at different times, namely, the goldsmiths and skinners, 1327;
the grocers, anciently called pepperers, 1345; the mercers, 1393; the salters, in 1394;
the fishmongers, in 1433; the vintners, anciently called merchant wine-tunners of Gas-
cony, 1437; the drapers, in 1439; the haberdashers, in 1451; the ironmongers, in
1464; the merchant-taylors, in 1466, anciently called taylors and linen armourers; the
cloth-workers, anciently called sheermen, in 1482; and the rest much later. The haber-
dashers were anciently called hurrers and milaners, the latter name coming from the wares
they sold, which were imported from Milan and Lombardy. So rich were these com-
panies, even as early as the year 1558, that they advanced to queen MARY a loan of
200001.; for the repayment of which the queen bound certain lands, and allowed for interest
12. for every 100l. for a year. This city is divided into 26 wards; viz. Aldgate, Al-
dersgate, Bassishaw, or Basinghall, Billingsgate, Bishopsgate, Breadstreet, Bridge, or
Bridge Within, Bridge Without, Broad-street, Candlewick, Castle baynard, Cheap,
Coleman-street, Cordwainer, Cornhill, Cripplegate, Dowgate, Farringdon-Within,
Farringdon-Without, Langborn, Lime-street, Portsoken. Queenhithe, Tower, Vintry,
and Walbrook, each governed by an alderman. From the aldermen, the chief magis
trate, the Lord Mayor, is annually chosen. There are likewise 236 Common-Council
men, who sit in one court with the Lord Mayor and aldermen, and thus form, as it were,
the city parliament, which enacts the bye-laws and regulations of the corporation.
There are likewise a recorder, a common serjeant, two sheriffs (who are also sheriffs
of Middlesex), a chamberlain, town clerk, city remembrancer, water bailiff, common
hunt, and many inferior officers. It would far exceed our limits to give a minute detail
of the various buildings, &c. in these respective wards, we can only notice the most
remarkable. Of the churches, St. Paul's cathedral is the most conspicuous. This noble
fabric is 2292 feet in circumference, and 340 in height to the top of the cross. In the
magnificence of exterior architecture, it is inferior to none in Europe, except St. Peter's
at Rome. The inside of this church will one day be distinguished for a magnificence
unknown to our ancestors, and even to the present age: it is now destined to be the re-
ceptacle of the monuments of such illustrious men as have done honor to their coun-
try by their talents and their virtues. St. Stephen, Walbrook, is a small church, of
exquisite beauty, the master-piece of Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN.
There is not a
beauty which the plan would admit of that is not to be found here in the
greatest perfection; and foreigners very justly call our taste in question, for un-
derstanding the graces no better, and allowing it no higher degree of fame. Over
the altar is a beautiful picture of the martyrdom of ST. STEPHEN, by WEST.
Bow Church, in Cheapside; St. Bride's, in Fleet-street; and St. Dunstan's in the East.
near the Tower, are among those most distinguished for fine architecture; others are
remarkable for curious monuments. Besides these churches, that belonging to the Tem-
494
In a former part of my life, I have said that when I came back to England
I found letters from my island, by means of my Brazil partner; which this is
ple, one of our celebrated seats of law, merits particular attention. It was founded by the
Knights-Templars in the reign of HENRY II. upon the model of that of the Holy Sepul-
chre at Jerusalem. The reader will find a full description of this church, and its curious.
ancient monuments, in Mr. PENNANT'S account. Among the illustrious persons of
later date, interred in this church, were the celebrated lawyer PLOWDEN, treasurer of
the Temple in 1572 (of whom CAMDEN says, that in integrity he was second to none of
his profession); and SELDEN, the best skilled of any man in the english constitution,
and in the various branches of antiquity; but who, toward the close of his life, was so
convinced of the vanity of all human knowledge, as to say, that the 11th, 12th, 13th,
and 14th verses, of the second chapter of the Epistle to Titus, afforded him more con-
solation than all he had ever read. St. Catharine, by the Tower, is also well worth.
inspecting the choir is very curious. There are likewise a great number of chapels for
the established church, foreign protestant churches, roman-catholic chapels, meetings
for the dissenters of all persuasions, and three synagogues for the Jews. Before the
year 1711, the Court-hall or Bury, as it was called, was held at Alderman's Bury, so
denominated from the meeting of the Aldermen there. The Guildhall of the city (where
all such business is now transacted), situated at the end of King-street, Cheapside, was
built in the year 1431. Its great hall is 153 feet long, 50 broad, and 58 high; in which
are placed two tremendous wooden giants, the pictures of several of the kings and
queens of England, with whole lengths of their present majesties, by RAMSAY, and
the judges who distinguished themselves in determining the differences between land-
lords and tenants, on rebuilding the city after the fire. Here is likewise a fine picture
of the late lord chief justice PRATT, afterwards earl of Camden; a marble whole-
length statue of Mr. BECKFORD, who was twice lord mayor; and a magnificent cenotaph
to the memory of the earl of CHATHAM, both executed by BACON. The front of this
hall has been lately rebuilt by Mr. DANCE. In this Guildhall, the courts of King's
Bench and Common Pleas hold sittings at Nisi Prius; the city elections are also held,
and all the business of the corporation transacted here. The Sessions House, in the
Old Bailey, in which the criminals both of London and Middlesex are tried, is a large
modern structure. The County Hall or Middlesex was built by Mr. ROGERS, on Clerken-
well-green, in 1781. The front towards the green, is composed of four columns, three
quarters, of the ionic order, and two pilasters, supported by a rusticated basement. The
county arms are placed in the tympanum of the pediment. Under the entablature are
two medallions, representing Justice and Mercy. In the centre, is a medallion of his
majesty, decorated with festoons of laurel and oak leaves; and, at the extremities, are
medallions of roman fasces and sword, the emblems of authority and punishment. The
execution of these designs, was by the masterly hand of NOLLEKENS. Doctors-Commons,
or the college of Civilians, is situated to the S. of St. Paul's cathedral. Here are held
the Ecclesiastical courts, and the court of Admiralty; but the trial of offenses on the
high seas, under the jurisdiction of the latter, is transferred to the Old Bailey. London
Bridge was first built of wood, about the beginning of the 11th century. The present
stone bridge was begun in 1176, and finished in 1209. The length of it is 915 feet, the
exact breadth of the river in this part. The number of arches was 19, of unequal
dimensions, and greatly deformed by the enormous sterlings, and by houses on each side,
which overhung and leaned in a terrible manner. These were removed in 1756, when
the upper part of the bridge assumed a modern and noble appearance. But the
sterlings were suffered to remain, although they contract the space between the piers so
greatly, as to occasion, at the ebb of every tide, a fall of five feet, or a number of te in-
porary cataracts, which, since the foundation of the bridge, have caused the loss of
innumerable lives. To build a new bridge in the place of this, now the oldest on the
Thames, has been for some time in agitation. Blackfriars Bridge, that elegant addition
to the magnificence of the metropolis, was built by Mr. MYLNE. The first stone was
laid in 1760, and the whole was completed in 1768, at the expense of 152840l. 3s. 10d.
The length of this bridge is 995 feet, the breadth of the carriage-way 28, and of the
foot-patch, seven feet each. It consists of nine elliptical arches, the centre one of
* Page 336.
·
495
the place to take notice of. These were the last I had from thence, and I had
not the letters till five years after they were written. My islanders gave me to
This tower is in
which is 100 feet wide; and both this and the arch on each side are wider than the cele-
brated Rialto at Venice. The ionic pillars projecting from the piers give a happy relief
to the whole, and appear singularly light and beautiful from the river. These columns
support recesses for the foot passengers in the balustrades of the bridge. This noble
structure is built of Portland stone; but its decay is already too visible, while Westmins
ter Bridge has stood half a century without receiving the smallest injury from time.
London and Westminster, the river Thames, and the adjacent country, are viewed from
no other spot with more advantage than from this bridge. The Tower, to the E. of
London Bridge, is surrounded by a wall and ditch, which inclose several streets, besides
the building properly called the Tower. Here are some artillery; a magazine of small
arms for 60000 men, ranged in beautiful order; a horse armory, in which are seen
figures of our kings on horseback; and likewise the crown and other regalia, the Mint
and the menagerie. The circumference is about a mile. It contains one garrison church,
and is under the command of a constable and lieutenant-governor. The Tower was a
palace during 500 years; but ceased to be so on the accession of queen ELIZABETH.
The most ancient part, called the White Tower, was founded by WILLIAM the Con-
queror, in 1078. The Tower now seems rather a town than a fortress; new barracks
were lately erected on the tower-wharf, and the ditch was railed round in 1758. Upon
this wharf is a line of about 60 pieces of cannon, which are fired upon days of state, &c.
In the reign of CHARLES II., BLOOD, a military adventurer, with assistants, attempted
(under the disguise of a clergyman) to steal the crown, the globe, and sceptre. Hav-
ing been pursued, the goods were happily recovered, and BLOOD not only pardoned,
but received into favour at court, and had a pension of 5001. per ann.
the best situation that could have been chosen for a fortress, and sufficiently near to cover
this opulent city from invasion by water. The Royal exchange, the resort of all the
nations of the world, rises before us with the full majesty of commerce.
Whether we
consider the grandeur of the edifice, or the vast concerns transacted within its walls, we
are equally struck with its importance. The original structure was built, in 1557, by Sir
THOMAS GRESHAM, one of the greatest merchants in the world, after the model of that
of Antwerp. In 1570, Queen ELIZABETH went to the Bourse, as it was then called,
visited every part, and then, by sound of trumpet, proclaimed it the Royal Exchange.
Being destroyed by the great fire in 1666, it was rebuilt, in its present form, for
the city and the company of mercers, at the expense of 800001. by Sir CHRISTO-
PHER WREN, and was opened in 1669. In each of the principal fronts is a piazza, and
in the centre an area. The height of the building is 56 feet, and from the centre of the
south side rise a lantern and turret 178 feet high, on the top of which is a vaue in the
form of a grass-hopper, the crest of Sir THOMAS GRESHAM. The inside of the area,
which is 144 feet long and 117 broad, is surrounded by piazzas, forming walks to shelter
the merchants in bad weather. Above the arches of these piazzas, is an entablature
extending round, and a compass pediment in the middle of each of the four sides. Under
that on the north are the king's arms, on the south those of the city, and on the east
those of Sir THOMAS GRESHAM, and the west those of the mercers' company. In these
intercolumniations are 24 niches, 20 of which are filled with the statues of the kings
and queens of England, In the centre of the area, is the statue of CHARLES II, in a
Roman habit, encompassed with iron rails. This new statue, by BACON, was placed
here in 1792, in the room of another of that king. In this area the merchant's meet
every day. These merchants are disposed in separate classes, each of which have their
particular station, called their walk. The Bank of England, a magnificent structure, is
situated in Threadneedle-street. The centre, and the building behind, were erected in
1733.
Before that time, the business was carried on in Grocers Hall. The front is a
kind of vestibule; the base is rustic; and the ornamented columns above are Ionic.
Within is a court leading to a second building, containing the hall, and other offices.
Within a few years, have been added two wings of uncommon elegance, designed by
the late Sir ROBERT TAYLOR. In addition to Sir ROBERT's improvements, those by
Mr. SOANE, from the model of the Sybil's Temple at Tivoli, render the Bank respecta-
ble in its architecture, and commodious for business. We are prevented by our neces-
sary limits from including a description of its other public buildings.-The last and pre-
sent reign are rendered remarkable by the multitude of fine streets and spacious
496
understand that they were malcontent with their long stay there; that WILL
ATKINS was dead; that five of the spaniards were come away; and that
although they had not been much molested by the savages, yet they had some
skirmishes with them; that they begged of my partner to write to me to think
of the promise I had made to fetch them away, that they might see their own
country again before they died.-But, alas! as I before exclaimed, I was gone
a wild-goose chase indeed.
And here resolving to harass myself no more, I am preparing for a longer
journey than all these, having lived seventy-two years, a life of infinite variety,
and learned sufficiently to know the value of retirement, and the blessing of
ending our days in peace.
squares, that have been added, and still are adding, to this metropolis. The chief squares,
however, are to be found in Middlesex. The cleanliness of London, as well as its sup-
ply of water, are greatly aided by its situation on the banks of the Thames ; and the
New River, together with many good springs within the city itself, further contributes to
the abundance of that necessary element. All these are advantages, with respect
to health, in which this metropolis is exceeded by few.--The Rabal Chronicle,
Vol. xxxi., p. 235., thus describes the geographical sites of remarkable stations in the
metropolis; viz. "Travelling westward from Greenwich, you come to Spital-square,
4.20". W. St. Paul's cathedral, 51°. 30′. 49". N. 5′. 47″. W. Christ's Hospital, 5'.
51". W. Surry-street, 6'. 45". W. Navy office (Somerset-place), 6'. 54". W. Leices-
ter-square, 7'. 74". W. St. James's Church, Picadilly, 8'. 5". W. Argyll-street, 8'.
19". W."

EVET

Copy of the head-piece to the original edition, MDCCXIX.
Appendix.
PREFACE, Page ix.
ROBINSON CRUSOE:-The Editor understands that there is a french
translation of it in the possession of Dr. KELLY, master of Finsbury academy,
with English interlined, in two large 4to. volumes, by the Duchess Dowager
DE LUYNES, a lady of superior endowments, who chose this task as the most
interesting she could find, in order to beguile the melancholy hours of her cap-
tivity in France during the reign of terror, in the time of ROBESPIERRE: and
what is more remarkable, it is understood that this lady actually printed the
work with her own hands.
PREFACE, Puge x.
MERCATOR:-The frontispiece to this volume is a representation of that
portion of the world comprising the voyages and travels of ROBINSON Crusoe,
delineated according to the projection imagined by MERCATOR and EDWARD
WRIGHT, denominated flat maps, and which perfectly answer the conditions
required by mariners, in order to trace exactly the course which they have made,
and to determine the distance from different parts of the coasts, and the
direction which they must observe to arrive at, or to avoid, them. The meridians
are herein strait parallel lines, equidistant, and intersected at right angles by the
parallels to the equator; but the intervals which separate them, increase in pro-
portion as we advance toward the poles, in a relation precisely the inverse of
the diminution of the degrees of longitude upon a globe. Thence it follows,
that the distances in longitude measured upon each parallel have, with regard
to the correspondent distances in latitude, the same relation as on a globe. For
drawing these maps, there are tables calculated with great care, observing the
oblate figure of the earth. These bear the name of tables of encreasing lati-
tudes, because of the augmentation of each degree of latitude, in proportion
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nav. Chron, Edit.]
K K
498
as they approach the pole. It is evident that, on the reduced maps, there must
not be sought, neither the relations of the extent of countries, nor the exact-
ness of their configuration; for this projection considerably augments the
regions which are placed near the poles, although it have the quality of preserv-
ing similitude in very small portions of the globe: but these defects are not
attended with inconvenience in nautical charts, which may be regarded as
instruments, designed graphically to resolve the principal questions of pilotage,
which they do with equal exactness and facility. In fine, the great advantages
peculiar to this projection are, that every place drawn upon it retains its true
bearing with respect to all other places; the distances may be measured with
exactitude by proper scales, and all the lines drawn upon it are right lines. For
these reasons, it is exclusively the projection in drawing maps for the use of
navigators. Its only disadvantage is, that the countries in high latitudes are of
necessity encreased beyond their just size to a monstrous degree. On this map,
to find the distance of one place from another:-The triangular scale marked
ABC under Asia, serves universally for this purpose. Suppose the distance be
required from the island of St. Helena to that of Georgia in the southern ocean :
take with a pair of compasses, or with the edge of a slip of paper, the extent
from one island to the other, and mark it off on the line BC towards C; it will
reach to e; draw the oblique line Ae; then find the middle point of latitude
between the two places on the graduated meridian at the side of the chart:
this will be about 37° S. Next, look at the perpendicular line A B of the scale,
and from 37° on that line draw de, parallel to CB; or, suppose it to be done, the
extent from e to d, applied to the line BC at top, will shew the true distance in
degrees; viz. nearly 46°: which, multiplied by 60, gives it in geographic miles,
or by 694 in english statute miles. A strait rule laid from A to e will answer
the same purpose as drawing the line.
Page 1.
YORK:-The great difficulties attending the etymology of this city's name,
are themselves a proof of its very high antiquity. The early chronicles record
that, EBRAUCUS, son of MEMPUCrus, the third king of Britain from Brute,
founded a city north of the river Humber, which, from his own name, he called
Caer-Ebrauc; that is, the city of EBRAUCUS. This is stated to have been
1223 years before CHRIST. CAMDEN, however, suggests that its latin name,
Eboracum, coines from the river Ure, implying its situation on that river. Thus
the Eburovices, in France, were seated on the river Eure, near Evreux, in Nor-
mandy; the Eburones, in the Netherlands, near the river Ourt, in the diocese of
Liege. Hence Eborac, or Euorvic, became York; and the same mutation has
attended the derivative name of the county, which, from Ebora-sciria, has
become York-shire. The chronology of York may be summed up thus:-
The supposed time of its foundation has been already stated above. It was
made an archbishopric about 625, and until 1470 the archbishop had juris-
diction over all the bishops of Scotland; PAULINUS was the first: city and
cathedral burnt by the Danes, 1069; deanry, chancellorship, precentorship,
treasurership, and arch-deaconry, of the west-riding [trithing], erected about
1090; arch-deaconry of the east-riding, 1130; sub-deanry, 1329; monastery
founded, 1072; cathedral rebuilt, 1075; St. Mary's abbey (Benedictins) built,
1088; city burnt again with 39 churches, 1179; Ouse bridge rebuilt, 1566.
The geographical site of York is in latitude 53° 59 N., longitude 1° 6′ 40″ W.
The following additional particulars concerning this venerable city, are gleaned
from a pleasing tour lately published:"York, with its spacious river
gliding smoothly through the city, its picturesque bridge, and beautiful avenue
of stately elm-trees on its eastern bank; its walls, its numerous spires, and its
499
A
*
*
vast cathedral, was not seen till we had nearly approached it. But our approach
was favorable for a view of its whole extent, and though time and misfortunes
have effaced many traces, its antiquity and majesty are still visible. Were this
cathedral, like that of Lincoln, seated upon an elevation, it would be, as far as
the eye could reach, the most impressive of objects; for it stands in one of the
largest vales in Europe, which spreads over a considerable part of Yorkshire,
and stretches through Lincolnshire into Norfolk. The first object of our curi-
osity was the cathedral, admirable for its size, style, and ornaments, and proba-
bly the finest model of gothic architecture in the world. From the interruptions
which took place during the erection of this stupendous edifice, it was two cen-
turies in building, and was finished in 1421; but we found it internally so clean
and entire (much to the honour of the clergy to whom its preservation is en-
trusted), that it seemed fully restored to its pristine perfection. Standing
under the steeple and looking around us, we were filled with astonishment and
rapture by the union of magnificence and elegance, which so cininently distin-
guishes this venerable structure. Here, the windows being entirely of painted
glass, diffused over the whole cathedral a soothing, "dim religious light,”—a
rich and awful grandeur, exceeding, perhaps, the effect of any other place of
worship in England. The curious contrivance of the chapter-house, with its
airy lightness, its marble stalls, and its alabaster sounding pillars, next claimed
our admiration.
The western door of the
cathedral opens into the middle nave of the church, under the highest gothic
arch in Europe, which binds and supports the two towers. The eastern front
is exceedingly noble, possessing the finest window in the world. The principal
entrance from the south is ascended by several flights of steps. The north
side, with the exception of the entrance, is the same as the south. In walking
through one of the streets, our eyes dwelt upon the picturesque beauties of
the octagon tower of All-Hallows church, which has lately been repaired with
much taste. This steeple has long been esteemed one of the finest of its kind.
It is well known that York was the seat of government in this island under the
Romans, and that in this city the Emperor SEVERUS died. It has been justly
observed, says GIBBON, that the possession of a throne could never yet
afford a lasting satisfaction to an ambitious mind: he had been all things as
he said himself; but all was of little value.' It is the misfortune of strong
faculties when distracted with cares, and oppressed with age and infirmities, to
feel the most melancholy depression, and to forget the sprightliness of youth,
the fair cheeks and the full eyes of childhood; their early years of careless
gayety and vivid hopes; their delightful moments in maturity, of fullness of
heart and pride of victory; and while, in spirit, softened to the lowness of a
child, they are exposing to those around them their weakness by unavailing
complaints, they imagine themselves displaying the wisdom of sages. York is
also renowned for being the burial-place of the Emperor CONSTANTIUS; but
more for giving the imperial purple to his son CONSTANTINE, whose fame
subjected every minute circumstance of his life to investigation. It was in-
possible that the establisher of the christian church should not have two charac-
ters; and he seems to have merited both. At the commencement of his reign,
he was diligent, indefatigable, and attentive to the complaints of his subjects.
In the field, he displayed the talents of a consummate general, and for some
time the regular course of his administration, and of his private conduct, was
guided by wisdom and justice. But in his old age he degenerated into a cruel
and dissolute monarch; corrupt in his morals and oppressive to his subjects.
This city was likewise the metropolis of the kingdom of Northumbria, and
suffered dreadful devastations from the Danes, Normans, and Scots. Before
the burning of it by that pitiless destroyer WILLIAM the Conqueror, authors
scruple not to compare it with Rome. In importance, it has long been regarded
as the second or third city in Eugland. About the middle of the sixteenth century
J
KK 2
500
complaints were made of its decay, and an ecclesiastical historian attributes it
to the dissolution of monasteries. Down the Ouse, within about eight miles of
the city of York, landed, from 500 ships, the army of the king of Norway,
with TOSTI, brother of HAROLD; and at Fulford they defeated MORCA, the
governor of the city, and EDWIN, earl of Mercia. They afterwards took pos-
session of York; but, on the approach of HAROLD, they withdrew to Stamford-
bridge, about six miles distant, on the banks of the Derwent; there, however,
though they had judiciously entrenched themselves with the river in their front,
the saxon prince determined to attack them. The passage over a narrow
wooden bridge was effected after having been disputed three hours by a single
Norwegian, who killed fory men with his own hand; HAROLD then attacked
the enemy in their entrenchments, and after a severe conflict put them entirely
to the rout. But this was a dear-bought victory, for to it inay undubitably
be attributed the loss of the battle of Hastings. HAROLD's refusal of plunder
to his troops, as well as the fall of many of his best soldiers, caused a great
diminution of his forces; while the fatigue of a forced march into Sussex, and
the time allowed to the Normans to recruit themselves after the sickness of
their voyage, but too certainly secured the success of a prince who taught the
English by bitter experience the miseries infallibly attendant on subjugation.
Having taken leave, not without regret, of
our york friends, we passed through the southern entrance of the city, Mickle-
gate-Bar, one of the finest in the kingdom, a noble roman arch, which supports a
massy pile of gothic turrets in high preservation." (An excursion to the high-
lands of Scotland and the English lakes, with recollections, descriptions, and
references, to historical facts; with this epigraph: "Seek for wisdom in the
wide variety of the rich store-house of nature." London: J. MAWMAN, 1805.)
*
Ibid.
COUNTRY: What constitutes a person's country? The latin word patria,
and still used in Italian, has a much more extended signification than our
english translation; referring not to mere nativity, but to origin, and to the
other circumstances which appropriate country to a name. Among biographers
it is still a point of controversy, whether a person should recognize for his
patria or country, the antient and accustomed seat of his family, or his native
place? Without embarking in verbal dispute, the editor feels tempted to
venture an opinion that something more substantial is connected with the
question than the accident of nativity; and that in order to ascertain the right
of a place to the honor of having produced any eminent individual, it is ueces-
sary to enter into a kind of philosophical consideration of the causes which
have chiefly conduced to render him what he is. On reflecting upon this matter,
we find three causes connected with place which may be supposed to exert au
influence in this respect; these are, parentage, climate, and education. The
effect of parentage, or blood, is manifest, and universally recognised, as well in
the inferior animals as in man; and doubtless is that which first operates.
Through its force we see particular races of mankind preserving marked dis-
tinctions in the midst of people of different origin with whom they have long
been locally intermixed, but with whom they have formed no connection of
consanguinity. Of this fact, the Jews in all the northern countries of Europe are
a remarkable instance; standing so much apart in feature and constitution, as
well as in religion and manners, from the natives of those countries, that they
never have any other national designation than that of Jews. The Chinese in
various countries of the east in which they have settled, are equally retentive
of their national characteristics. By which of the two parents the influence
of blood is principally transmitted, might be a curious physiological enquiry;
but as every family affords manifest indications of its being derivable from
501
both, we may consider the share of the two sexes in this agency as perfectly
equal. In determining the patria of a person, the first inquiry, therefore,
should be the country of his father, bis mother, or both; for at the time of birth
no other influence can have operated. The effect of climate is evidently
secondary, and in many cases it would be absurd to pay any regard to that of mere
birth-place. What can it signify to a child born on the passage from India
whether the event occurred under the line, or in any particular degree of lati-
tude between it and the English channel? Nothing is more common than for
persous in the diplomatic service to have children dropt in balf the capitals of
Europe; but no one considers their progeny as a inotley brood of French,
Spaniards, Germans, Turks, &c. Climate may, indeed, exert a considerable
influence when long residence allows it a stable operation upon the human
frame; and we have examples of its efficacy in the creole character, as com-
pared to that of the european nations, whence that race has originated. In-
deed, upon the supposition that the whole human species is derived from one
family, no other cause than climate, and its natural concomitants of food,
employment, &c. can be assigned for the existing diversities among mankind.
But this slides into the third cause of connection with place; namely, educa-
tion, Education, understood in its large sense, of every thing that is employed,
either with or without a direct intention, to impress the youthful mind, is a
powerful agent in forming the character, moral, and intellectual, and is there-
fore much to be regarded in awarding the claim of patria. By its efficacy, a
family of foreigners, conforming in language and manners to their adopted
country, may soon be indistinguishably blended with its natives, where the
radical differences of origin are not very strongly marked: as, on the other
band, by keeping apart, and using their own language and customs, they may
for some generations exist as a foreign colony in the midst of strangers. Both
these cases are discernible in the progeny of french refugees in this and other
protestant countries. From all these considerations it will appear, that the
affair of properly localizing individuals must frequently be a difficult and com-
plicated problem, and that not only nomenclature, but the philosophy of the
human mind, is concerned in the question. Commonly, indeed, it is a question
merely of local vanity, as where two different provinces of the same country
contend for an eminent man who has relations to both. The contests of this
kind between our three sister kingdoms are nearly similar, since neither origin,
climate, nor manners are sufficiently different in them to prevent a ready
coalescence between native and adoptive races. In Italy, the national diversity
between Lombards and Neapolitans might, perhaps, render the controversy
about TASSO somewhat more important than provincial rivalry; though it is
evident that TIRABOSCHI, from the turn he has given to it, has taken part merely
as a Lombard. For, upon the principle that, physically considered, the share
of one parent in a child is as much as that of the other, and that therefore
family name and inheritance are nothing to the question, the maternal descent
of Tasso, added to his birth and early education, would clearly adjudge
him rather to Naples than to Bergamo. Lastly, the claim of the place
where a person happens to be born, in assigning his patria, is of the lowest
degree-that of the country of his ancestry, if derived through a long and
unbroken meage, is, perhaps, of the highest-but that in which his mind
and manners have been formed from infancy to manhood may in certain cases
acquire equal validity. To conclude; by country, in the sense of patria, is
meant, not so much the birth-place, but the school, the residence, the place o
education, or of settlement. Geography is one of the sciences on which we
cannot write in a florid or elegant style; we may, however, enliven it by some
little flowers of erudition. Thus, in noticing some inconsiderable place, it is a
pleasing addition to notice it as the place that has produced, or possessed, some
considerable man. Some men confer distinction on, instead of being, distin-
502
guished by, their nation. They do not so much receive birth from, as give it to,
the place of their nativity; and they may be said to vivify the region around
their dwelling. For instance, the original editor of Robinson Crusoe was one
of our own writers. DE FOE was one of those englishmen who make us proud
of the name.
Ibid.
BREMEN-Capital of a duchy in the circle of lower Saxony; the whole a
vast plain, almost surrounded by the rivers Weser and Elbe, with Oldenburg
and the German ocean on the W. It contains 111 Lutheran churches. The
air is cold, but the country is well peopled, and fertile in grain, fruits, flax, &c."
and produces large breeds of cattle. They have manufactures of cordage,
linen, and woollen stuffs. It formerly was subject to the Swedes, but was con-
quered by the Danes in 1712, who transferred it, together with Verden, to the
elector of Hanover, in 1715, for 700000 rix dollars; and, in 1719, the crown,
of Sweden renounced all the rights and appurtenancies of the two duchies in
favour of the elector (GEORGE I., king of England), for a million of rix-dollars.
This transaction was completed by GEORGE II. obtaining the imperial investi-
ture from the emperor of Germany, 1732. In the winter it is subject to inun-
dations; and, particularly in 1617, several thousands of cattle were drowned,
besides several hundreds of the inhabitants. Bremen is an imperial city, large
and populous, seated on the Weser; in latitude 50° 41′ 45" N., longitude
8° 48' 3" E.
Page 1, 3.
HULL: The river Hull, descending from the eastern edge of the Wolds, not
far below Druffield, pursues a southward course, aud passing the town of Bever-
ley, to which it is united by a navigable cut, it falls into the Humber at Hull,
contributing to form the port: the progression and confluence of the two rivers
sweeping round to the extremities of the shortest sides of the triangle which cir-
cumscribes the site of Kingston, rendered it naturally a situation of great
strength; and it was formerly justly esteemed one of the keys of the kingdom.
Its artificial defenses consisting of a strong wall, ditches, ramparts, and barbicans,
were built, in the year 1296, by EDWARD I. after his return from his famous
scotch expedition (in which he had acted as the arbitrator between BRUCE and
BALIOL). He was so much stricken with the advantages of the situation, that
he added considerably to the town, and granted it a charter, with many privi-
leges, making it a free borough, under the jurisdiction of a warden, who had the
power of gaol-delivery, with judgement of life and death; fairs, markets, &c.
In the latter end of the reign of EDWARD II. the government was changed to
that of a grand-bailiff. In the reign of EDWARD III. flourished WILLIAM de la
POLE, head of the families of the earls and dukes of Suffolk, so famous in our
history, when the government was again changed to a mayor and four bailiffs.
De la POLE was knighted, and made the first mayor of Hull, in 1332. In 1399,
when HENRY IV. landed at Ravenspurn (a place lost by the encroachments of
the sea), he was denied entrance into the town. In the year 1440, and in the
reign of HENRY VI. the town was erected into a county, comprising nine vil-
lages in the environs, within two, three, four, and five miles distance; the
government was again changed from a mayor and bailiffs, to a mayor and twelve
aldermen, with a sheriff and two chamberlains, as it continues: so that it is now
called the town and county of the town of Hull. Soon after, the town was divided
into wards. HENRY VI. visited Hull in 1448; aud, in 1460, the mayor, RICHARD
HANSON, was slain at the battle of Wakefield, fighting for the House of Lancas-
In 1463, the town was visited and garrisoned by EDWARD IV. being
encumbered with heavy debts by the civil wars, insomuch that they were con-
strained to sell the lead of the market-cross. Numbers of the inhabitants were
ter.
503
swept off by the plague in 1472; the place was almost abandoned; and grass
grew in the streets. The inhabitants were miserably oppressed in the reign of
HENRY VII. by his two leeches, EMPSOM and DUDLEY. The suppression of the
monasteries was executed here with great rigor in 1536; and, in the same
year, Hull was taken by the rebel ASKE; also, in 1537, by another party of the
rebels; and again by Sir ROBERT CONSTABLE, in whose possession it remained a
month, when it was retaken, and he was hanged at the gates of the town.
HENRY VIII. visited the town in 1541. It was again visited by the plague in
1637, and the inhabitants were in the greatest danger of being starved to death.
The king added strength to the fortifications. LELAND, in his Itinerary, gives
the following account of Hull :-" The town of Kingston upon Hull was, in the
time of EDWARD III. but a mere fishar-town, and longed as a member to Hasill
village two or three miles off, up to the Humber. The first great encreasing of
this town, was by passing for fische into Iceland, from whence they had the
whole trade of stoke-fish into England, and partly other fische. In RICHARD
Ild's time, the town waxed very rich, and MICHAEL de la POLE, marchaunt of
Hull, and prentice as some say to one Rottenherring of the same town, came
into so high favour for witt, activite, and riches, that he was made a counte of
Suffolk; whereupon he got of King RICHARD many graunts and privileges to
the town; and yn his time it was wonderfully augmented in building, and was
inclosed with ditches, and the waul begun, and in continuance ended, and made
al of brike, as most parts of the houses of the town at that time was. In the
walle be four principol gates of brike, and 25 towers; from the mouth of Hull-
river, upper with the haven, there is no walle. MICHAEL de la POLE builded
a goodly house of brike, two of them in the heart of the town (one was the
White Horse inn, since gone), the third is upon Hull Ripe (in the haven side).
There be two chirches in the town: Trinite, most made of brike (now plaistered
over), is the larger and fairer, with transepts, and six chapels, and very slender
pillars, and St. Maries and a free school (a very old bricke building, erected
by Bishop ALCOKE); a faire row of loggenges for priests of the town remain
still called Preistow. The town-hall is hard by, and a tour of brike for a prison.
Most part of the brike that the waulles and houses were builded with was niade
in the south side of the town, the place is called the Tylery. At such time as
al the trade of stok-fisch for England cum from Isleland to Kingston, the shipes
were balissed with great cobble-stone brought out of Isleland, the which, in
continuance, paved the town of Kingston throout. The town had first by
graunt custodim, then bailives, then maire and bailives; and in King HENRY
the VIths tyme, a maire, a sherive, and the town to be shire ground, by itself
(as it still continues). The charter house of the De la POLES' foundation (valued
at 1741). and an hospital of ther foundation by it, without the north gate; the
hospital standeth (rebuilt and enlarged in the last age). Certen of the De la
POLES were berried in this house, most part of which was builded with brike, as
the residew of the buildings of Hull, for the most parts.". In 1639, CHARLES 1.
made his first visit to Hull, and met with a loyal reception: the following year
his governor was received, but resigned soon after. In 1642, the acquisition
of Hull engaged the attention of the king and parliament. It was esteemed of
great consequence, and it was the opinion of many, that if CHARLES had secured
it (as he had the tower of London and the fortress of Portsmouth), being then
in possession of the keys of the kingdom and the principal magazines, be
would never have been subdued; but IIOTHAM being soon after received as
governor from the parliament, the king abandoned all hopes of it: and on Sr.
GEORGE's day the same year, the gates were closed against him. After a variety
of letters, memorials, and messages, between the king and parliament, it
was blockaded by the former; at the same time the sluices were pulled up,
and the country flooded to annoy the royal army, by which immense dainage
was done to the inhabitants and the suburbs; various attempts to gain the
1
504
1
place by negociation were made by the royalists without success. On Saturday,
Sept. 2, 1643, the royal army, under the command of WILLIAM CAVENDISH,
duke of Newcastle (then marquis) set down before Hull and invested it; and
the siege was carried on with various success till the 12th of October following
(five weeks and four days), when it was raised, after being defended with great
bravery by Lord FAIRFAX. In 1645, the book of Common-Prayer was burnt
in the market-place: soon after which the plague again appeared. A perpetual
garrison was now forced upon the town in spite of their necessities and griev-
ances, and their petitions were disregarded. ANDREW MARVELL, the patriotic
representive of this town, lived during the reign of CHARLES II. A vain attempt
was made at the Revolution to secure the town for King JAMES II. In the war
ended by the peace of Utrecht, the flects from Hull to London were fiequently
100 sail, sometimes, including the other creeks in the Humber, 160 sail at one
time: and their trade was so considerable to Holland, that the Dutch always
employed two men of war to convey the merchant-ships to and from Hull,
which was as much as they did for the London trade. Hull is regularly built,
well paved, and the streets broad and handsome. There are two churches,
Trinity and St. Mary's; the former is very large (but the pillars remarkably
small); the latter is thought to have been larger formerly than it now is. King
\ HENRY VIII. used it as his chapel royal, and pulled down the steeple. The
inhabitants afterwards built it up again at their own expense. Hull lies very
low, and was formerly subject to great inundations; but by proper drains is
now rendered more dry and healthy. Though the recorder has the power by
charter (repeatedly confirmed) of gaol-delivery, yet from motives of delicacy
he never uses it: and it is only once in three years that the judge comes to
hold the assize-a circumstance often attended with a miserable confinement to
the unhappy prisoners in the gaol. The quarter-sessions are holden Thursday in
the week after Epiphany, Thursday in the week after Easter, Thursday in the
week after THOMAS-A-BECKET, and Thursday in the week after Michaelmas.
There is also a court of venire for civil actions, and a court of conscience for
the recovery of small debts. Hull sends two representatives to parliament.
Having returned, 33 EDWARD I., it ceased sending until 12 EDWARD II. The
right of election is in the burgesses, which is derived either from being born the
son of a burgess, from having served seven years apprenticeship to a burgess,
from purchase, or from donation for public service. The number of
electors is computed at about 2000. The sheriff is the returning-officer.
According to the returns made under the act of parliament in 1801, the popu
Jation of Hull, including Sculcoates, appears as follows; viz. inhabited houses,
4278; families, 6979; males, 12094; females, 15408.-Total, 27502. Average
four persons to a family.
Ibid.
DUNKIRK:-Was first drawn from its original obscurity of a fishing hamlet
by BALDWIN carl of Flanders, who enlarged the place, and surrounded it with a
kind of wall, about the year 960. Its strength was considerably augmented by
ROBERT of Flanders in 1022, who built a castle for its defence, which was
shortly afterwards destroyed by the flenish revolters. ROBERT of Bar also for-
tified it, and some of the walls erected by him are said still to be visible on the
side next the harbour. In the reign of the Emperor CHARLES V. of whose
extensive dominions it formed a part, an additional castle was erected to defend
the harbour. In 1558, we find it was taken by storm, and almost destroyed by
the French under the command of Marshal de THERMES. It was retaken
again by the Spaniards shortly after; they recovered it by surprise, and put
all the French to the sword. During the reign of PaILIP II. of Spain, Dun-
kirk flourished exceedingly; a considerable portion of the commerce, which
was diverted from other parts of Flanders by tlie war, falling into the hands of
ļ
505
the Dunkirkers, they rebuilt their town with great splendor. It was at this
period considerably enriched by privateers, which were fitted out against the
Dutch; the accession of wealth acquired during the war enabled the inhabi-
tants to fortify the town and harbour with additional works; and in 1634, a
canal was began in conjunction with the inhabitants of Bruges, which, when
finished, opened a communication between these towns. The increasing com-
merce of Dunkirk inviting many foreigners to settle there, the town was con-
siderably enlarged, and the fortifications consequently extended. In 1646, it
was taken by the Prince of Condé, and captured by the Archduke LEOPOLD,
then governor of the Netherlands, in 1652. During the spanish war under the
Protectorate of CROMWELL, the Dunkirkers, fitting out many privateers to
annoy the trade of England and France, then in alliance, it was agreed that
the town should be attacked by the forces of the two nations, and also stipu-
lated that when taken it was to be delivered into the hands of the English;
after a memorable action, called from the place where it was fought, the bat-
tle of the Duns, or Downs, in which CROMWELL'S forces gained great reputa-
tion, the place was captured. It is said that the French endeavoured to evade
the treaty, but that the spirit and firmness of CROMWELL prevailed, and the place
was put into his possession. It was considered of great importance to Eng-
land even at that time, as the dunkirk privateers are asserted to have captured
during the war 250 sail of vessels. The forutications were immediately im-
proved, and a citadel built. It did not long remain in our hands, for shortly
after the Restoration, 1662, it was sold to France for 500000/; no event during
the dissolute reign of CHARLES II. left such a stain on his memory as this scan-
dalous transaction. Louis XIV. having made so valuable an acquisition, deter-
mined to make it a place of greater consequence than ever; he employed the
celebrated engineer, Marshal VAUBAN, to enlarge and strengthen it; under
his directions it gradually became one of the most impregnable fortifications in
Europe. An arsenal was constructed capable of containing stores sufficient
for the outfit of a large fleet of men of war. The entrance of the harbour was
improved, and piers run out to a considerable distance; cannons were mounted
on them for the protection of vessels in the road, and the famous fort called the
Risbank was also erected on one side, and fort Galliard on the other. It was
the year 1683 before these works were completed, and the basin was not
finished until 1685; this was faced with masonry; the principal sluice was
forty-five feet wide, and a depth of water was always kept in the basin capable of
floating a large frigate. The French were continually augmenting the fortifica-
tions of this important place. In 1701, an additional fort was erected to-
ward the sca, called fort Blanc. During the war which preceded the treaty
of Utrecht, it was calculated that the value of prizes taken from the English by
the privateers fitted out there, was near a million and a half sterling. By the
treaty of Utrecht, it was stipulated that the fortifications of the town and p rt
of Dunkirk should be demolished, and the harbour filled up, so as to be
rendered entirely useless. Two english officers, Colonels CLAYTON and ARM-
strong, were deputed to see the treaty executed, so far as related to the works
and
port of Dunkirk. Under the inspection of these commissioners the fortifica-
tions were entirely destroyed, the harbour and basin filled up, the piers levelled
with the strand, and the forts which protected them demolished; a large dam
or bar was also built across the harbour to cut off the communication between
the town; and when the basin had been destroyed, even the stones of which
the sluices and basin were formed, are said to have been broken in pieces.
Immediately after the commissioners quitted it, Lours XIV. employed 90000
men to work upon a new canal, called the Mardyck, which they finished in a
short time, and rendered the harbour almost as good as ever; this was also
rendered unserviceable in 1717. In the year 1720, during a great storm, the
bea destroyed the bar, and by this, in a considerable degree, contributed to
506
restore the harbour. In 1740, Louis XV. previous to his joining the arms of
Spain against Great Britain, improving the advantage created by the storm of
1720, repaired the harbour, built jetties, and erected new forts in the place of
those which had been destroyed. By the peace of Aix la Chapelle, it was sti-
pulated that all the works next the sea should be destroyed; however, during
the peace, they were in a great measure destroyed, and their destruction again
became an article in the treaty of Paris, 1763. The fortifications on the land
side were, however, augmented, and the place was suffered to become as strong
as ever; nor does it appear that the demolition of the harbour was rigidly
enforced; as early in the american war privateers of considerable force were
fitted out there. At the conclusion of the american war, no farther stipulations
were made relative to this place, and the french government, before the revo-
lution of 1789, paid considerable attention to its commerce and welfare; an at-
tempt was made to establish a competition in the Greenland fishery, and people
were invited from North America for this purpose, who received great en-
couragement, but from various causes the scheme totally failed. During the
late contest, the army under the command of the duke of York failed in an
attempt on this place, owing, it is said, to the battering train, which was
expected by sea, not arriving in due time. Towards the latter part of the war,
the Dunkirkers being particularly active in fitting out vessels of war, it became
an object of Government to watch the port closely, and it was the scene of seve-
ral affairs highly honorable to the prowess of the british navy. (M. C. vii, 29.)
Ibid.
;
AGED. Erratum, for aged, read ancient: old, ancient, antique, are words that
rise upon one another in meaning: antique is more than ancient, ancient is more
than old. An old man; an antient family; an antique statue; an old record
an ancient word; an antique inscription. Old, is the participle of alen, to
grow; it describes what has long been, but what still exists. Antient and
antique are both derived from the latin preposition ante, before: they describe
what is of other times, which existed before us. The word ancient coming to
us from the french, and the word antique from the latin, an accessory idea of
A fashion
remoter, and of classical antiquity, is attached unto the latter term.
is old when it is decaying; ancient, when its use has been sometime past;
antique when it is of greek or roman time. How inferior to antique sculpture
are the ancient carvings in old churches. L'antique a toujours été la règle de
Ia beauté. However, there is so much of caprice in the use of these words,
that by ancient history we mean, not the history of our fore-fathers, but greek
or roman history. Ancient is opposed to modern; old to new.
An old family
is one, where the individuals are stricken in years; an ancient family is one,
whose pedigree has been preserved for many generations, like that of HOWARD
or BOURBON; an antique family is one, which, like the houses of COURTENAY
and COLONNA, can connect its genealogy with patrician families of antiquity.
The french say, il est mon ancien dans le parlement; he is my senior in parlia
ment. The english never use the word ancient in that manner,
"My copper lamps at any rate,
For being true antique I bought;
And wisely melted down my plate
On modern models to be wrought."
(PRIOR.)
Fage 4.
HUMBER: This is a name almost confined to a large estuary, which receives
many considerable rivers that fertilize the central parts of England. The Hum-
507
ber may be regarded like the stem of a venerable oak, which, as usual with that
tree, spreads its chief branches horizontally. Of these, the most important is
the Trent, which rises at New-pool, in Staffordshire, and proceeding N. E.
enters the Humber after a direct course of about 100 miles, being navigable to
Burton. The other tributary streams are: the Dun, a navigable river that runs
by Doncaster; the Aire, navigable to Leeds; the Calder, to Halifax; the Warf
(Verb, Guerf,or Wherf), toTadcaster; the Derwent, to New-Malton; and theOuse,
which takes this name at York, being formerly called the Ure, rises near the borders
of Westmoreland: and collecting, during its course through the beautiful dale
of Wensley, many tributary streams, flows for many miles with a very rapid
current within the North Riding; but, about three miles below Masham, it be-
comes the boundary of this Riding, dividing it from the West Riding till it
arrives at Ripon; from whence, it takes a circuit of a few miles into the West
Riding, but again becomes the division between the two, and so continues as
long as it retains its name: this it loses about six miles below Boroughbridge,
at the influx of an insignificant stream, that gives to the great river Eure its own
name of Ouse: which at last, in its turn, is lost in that of the Humber. The
Ouse continues to be the boundary of the North Riding, dividing it from the
West Riding and the Ainsty of the city of York, till its arrival at York, where
it entirely quits the North Riding. The Ouse is navigable for vessels of 120
tons as far as York, where the spring tides rise about twenty inches, but are
spent about six miles above. The Ure is navigable for vessels of 30 tons as far
as Ripon; where, on account of the rapidity of the stream, all navigation
ccases. Nor must, although last and least, the Ilull be omitted, as contributing
to swell this noble estuary.
Ibid.
WIND:-Is a current of air, or a part of our atmosphere in a state of more
or less rapid motion; its principal cause is a partial or local rarefaction of the
air by heat. When the air is heated it becomes specifically lighter, and in this
state naturally ascending-the less rarefied or colder air rushing into its place
to restore the equilibrium, forms a current of air, or what is properly called
wind. Heat also encreases evaporation, by which the atmosphere is rendered
more elastic, and capable of retaining a greater quantity of moisture in the
gaseous state than it can when colder; this may be considered as another cause
tending to produce diversity in winds and weather, as an addition of moisture
expands the air and renders it specifically lighter than it would be at the same
temperature with humid vapour. Electricity must be considered as a third
cause acting on the atmosphere, and having great influence in the local changes
of winds and weather; currents of air are always produced by the passage of
electric matter, and when the atmosphere is expanded by the presence of the
electric fluid, and surcharged with aqueous vapor, it is incapable of supporting
a great quantity of the latter, which consequently descends in wet fogs or rain,
while the denser and more elastic air near the rainy district rushes towards it to
restore the equilibrium. Winds may be arranged under three distinct heads;
1, constant or perpetual; 2, periodical; 3 variable winds. The first are those
which blow always in the same direction, and are called trade-winds; the
second are those which blow one half of the year in the same direction, and the
other half in a contrary one, and are generally called monsoons, but which would
be more properly written mossoon; the third are those which are not subject to
any determinate periods or uniformity.
1
508
AD VENTOS-ante A. D. 1727,
Vatis Threicii nunc citharam velim
Vocisque illecebras blanda furentibus
Dantis jura procellis
Mulcentis pelagi minas
Venti tam rapido turbine conciti
Qua vos cumque vagus detulerit furor
Classis vela britannae
Transite innocui precor
Ultores scelerum classis habet deos
Et pubem haud timidum pro patriâ mori
En ut lintea circum
Virtus excubias agit
En nobis faciles parcite et hostibus
Concurrant puriter cum ratibus rates
Spectent numina ponti et
Palmam qui meruit ferat.
J. Jortin, A. M.
Ibid.
WAVES-Are in general governed by the wind, and come from the same
direction, when the latter has continued steady for a considerable time; but
this regularity of the waves is often obstructed by local causes. Sometimes
they run contrary to the wind; at other times, several waves are seen moving
in various directions, running into and crossing each other at different angles.
During light winds, when a strong current is prevailing, there is generally a
short confused swell running in the opposite direction to the current, by attend-
ing to which experienced navigators may often foretel the direction of the latter.
There is reason to think that few observations have been made at sea relative
to the velocity of the waves, which is generally greater in the ocean than in
shole water near the land; because here the mixed particles of sand and mud,
and the friction occasioned by them and the ground, must considerably retard
the regular progress of the waves. Dr. WOLLASTON, secretary to the Royal-
Society, found the velocity of the waves to be near 60 miles an hour, by some
observations taken at anchor close to the east coast of England. This may be
measured by the common log when a ship is running with them. To do this,
when there is several knots of line out, or after the log is hoven to obtain the
velocity of the ship, mark the time to the nearest second by watch when the
log is lifted upon the top of any wave: the length of line between the stern and
the log will be the measure of the apparent velocity of the wave for the interval
of time; to which must be added the velocity of the ship, and the sum will be
the true velocity of the wave. It may also be measured when two ships, or a
boat and ship, near each other, are sailing on the same course with equal velo-
city, or when they are stationary during a calm. This is done by taking the
angle of one of the ships' mast-heads with a sextant, the height of it from the
´deck, or above the surface of the sea, being known, and correction must be
made for the height of the eye above the water. In this right-angled triangle the
perpendicular, or height of the mast and the angles, are given to find the hori
zontal base line, or distance between the ships. At the time the angle of the
ship's mast-head is taken, mark the time when the first ship is lifted up by a
wave, and also the time when the other ship is lifted up by the same wave, and
509
the distance between them, if they are both in a line with the course of the
waves, will be the measurement of the velocity of that wave for the interval of
time. In order to approximate near to the truth, the mean of several observa-
tions should be taken; the velocity of the waves may be measured in this man-
ner, although the two ships are not in a direct line with the wave's course, by
taking the angle between one of the ships and that course. In such case, the
distance between the ships will be the hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle,
which, with the angles, are given to find the opposite side or perpendicular;
and this will be the measurement of the velocity of the waves for the interval
of time marked by watch. These methods are mentioned principally with the
view of exciting young navigators to rational amusement during a leisure hour
and that they may, by practice, improve themselves in the knowledge of mari-
time surveying, so essential to mariners in general, and it may be said, indis-
pensable to skilful navigators. (See HORSBURGH's Directions for Sailing to and
from the East-Indies, China, &c.)
Page 5.
SEA-SICK:-Dr. WOLLASTON being appointed to read the Croonian lecture
(1810) before the Royal-Society of London, commenced his discourse by observ-
ing, that the remarks which he had to offer on the occasion might be thought to
bear too little direct relation to each other for insertion in the same lecture, yet
that any observation respecting the mode of action of voluntary muscles, and
every enquiry into the causes which derange, aud into the means of assisting,
the action of the heart and blood vessels, must be allowed to promote the
design of Dr. CROONE, who had instituted these annual disquisitions. Ile
accordingly divided his discourse into three parts; viz. on the “duration of
voluntary action;" on the "origin of sea-sickness," as arising from a simple
mechanical cause, deranging the circulation of the blood; and then he endea
vours to explain the advantage derived from riding, and other modes of gesta
tion in assisting the health under various circumstances, in preference to every
species of actual exertion. In speaking of the duration of muscular action, he
observes, that besides the necessity of occasional intermission from a series of
laborious exertions, and the fatigue of continuing the effort of any one volun-
tary muscle without intermission, which are obvious to every person, there is a
third view of the subject; viz. that each effort, though apparently single, con-
sists in reality of a number of contractions repeated at extremely short intervals;
so short that the intermediate relaxations cannot be visible, unless prolonged
beyond the usual limits by a state of partial or general debility. The existence
of these alternate motions he infers from a sensation perceptible upon inserting
the extremity of the finger into the ear, because a sound is then perceived
which resembles that of carriages at a distance passing rapidly over a pave-
ment, and their frequency he estimates at twenty or thirty in a second: and he
adds, that the resemblance of the muscular vibrations to the sound of carriages
at a distance, arises not so much from the quality of the sound, as from an
agreement in frequency with an average of the tremors usually produced by
the number of stones in the regular pavement of London passed over by car-
riages moving quickly. If the number of vibrations be twenty-four in a second,
and the breadth of each stone be six inches, the rate of the carriage would be
about eight miles in an hour, which agrees with the truth of the facts on which
the estimate is founded. The doctor was led to the investigation of the cause
of sea-sickness from what he himself experienced in a voyage. He first ob-
served a peculiarity in his mode of respiration, evidently connected with the
motion of the vessel: that his respirations were not taken with the accustomed
uniformity, but were interrupted by irregular pauses, with an appearance of
watching for some favourable opportunity for making a succeeding effort; and
510
it seemed as if the act of inspiration were in some manner to be guided by the
tendency of the vessel to pitch with an uneasy motion. This action, he thought,
affected the system by its influence on the motion of the blood; for at the
same instant that the chest is dilated for the reception of air, its vessels become
also more open to the reception of the blood, so that the return of blood from
the head is more free than at any other period of complete respiration. But
by the act of expelling air from the lungs, the ingress of the blood is so far
obstructed, that when the surface of the brain is exposed by the trepan, a suc-
cessive turgescence and subsidence of the brain is seen in alternate motion with
the different states of the chest. Hence, perhaps, in severe head-aches a
degree of temporary relief is obtained by occasional complete inspirations: in
sea-sickness also the act of inspiration will have some tendency to relieve, if re-
gulated so as to counteract any temporary pressure of blood upon the brain.
The principal uneasiness is felt during the subsidence of the vessel by the sink-
ing of the wave on which it rests. It is during this subsidence that the blood
has a tendency to press with unusual force upon the brain. This fact is eluci-
dated by reasoning, and by what is known to occur in the barometer, which,
when carried out to sea in a calm, rests at the same height at which it would
stand on the shore; but when the ship falls by the subsidence of the wave, the
mercury is seen apparently to rise in the tube that contains it, because a por-
tion of its gravity is then employed in occasioning its descent along with the
vessel; and accordingly, if it were confined in a tube closed at bottom, it would
no longer press with its whole weight upon the lower end. In the same man-
ner, and for the same reason, the blood no longer presses downwards with its
whole weight, and will be driven upwards by the elasticity which before was
merely sufficient to support it. The sickness occasioned by swinging may be
explained in the same way. It is in descending forwards that this sensation is
perceived; for then the blood has the greatest tendency to move from the feet
towards the head, since the line joining them is in the direction of the motion;
but when the descent is backwards, the motion is transverse to the line of the
body; it occasions little inconvenience, because the tendency to propel the
blood towards the head is considerable. Dr. WOLLASTON thinks that the con-
tents of the intestines are also affected by the same cause as the blood; and if
these have any direct disposition to regurgitate, this consequence will be in no
degree counteracted by the process of respiration.
"In thus referring," says
our lecturer," the sensations of sea-sickness in so great a degree to the agency
of mere mechanical pressure, I feel confirmed by considering the consequence
of an opposite motion, which, by two quickly withdrawing blood from the
head, occasions a tendency to faint, or that approach to fainting which amounts
to a momentary giddiness with diminution of muscular power. At a time
when I was much fatigued by exercise, I had occasion to run to some distance,
and seat myself under alow wall for shelter from a very heavy shower. In ris-
ing suddenly from this position, I was attacked with such a degree of giddiness,
that I involuntary dropped into my former posture, and was instantaneously
relieved by return of blood to the head, from every sensation of uneasiness.
Since that time the same affection has frequently occurred to me in slighter
degrees; and I have observed, that it has been under similar circumstances of
rising suddenly from an inclined position, after some degree of previous fatigue,
sinking down again immediately removes the giddiness; and then by rising a
second time more gradually, the same sensation is avoided." In his observa-
tions on the salutary effects of riding, &c. Dr. WOLLASTON observes, that
although the term gestation is employed by medical writers as a general term
comprehending riding on horseback, or in a carriage, yet he suspects that no
explanation has yet been given of the peculiar advantages of external motion;
nor does he think that the benefits to be derived from carriage exercise have
been estimated so highly as they ought. Under the term exercise, active exer-
511
cise has been too frequently confounded with passive gestation, and fatiguing
efforts have been substituted for motions that are agreeable, and even in-
vigorating, when duly adapted to the strength of the invalid, and the nature of
his indisposition. His explanation of the effects of external motion upon the cir-
culation of the blood is founded upon a part of the structure observable in the
venous system. The valves allow a free passage to the blood, when propelled
forward by any motion that assists its progress; but they oppose an immediate
obstacle to such as have a contrary tendency. The circulation is consequently
helped forward by every degree of gentle agitation. The heart is supported in
any laborious effort; it is assisted in the great work of restoring a system,which
has recently struggled with some violent attack; or it is allowed as it were to
rest from a labor to which it is unequal, when the powers of life are nearly
exhausted by any lingering disorder. In the relief thus afforded to an organ so
essential to life, all other vital functions must necessarily participate, and the
offices of secretion and assimilation will be promoted during such comparative
repose from laborious exertion. Even the powers of the mind are, in many
persons, manifestly affected by these kinds of motion. It is not only in cases
of absolute deficiency of power to carry on the customary circulation that the
beneficial effects of gestation are felt, but equally so when comparative inability
arises from redundancy of matter to be propelled. When, from fulness of
blood, the circulation is obstructed, the whole system labors under a feeling of
agitation, with that sensibility to sudden impressions which is usually termed
nervousness: the mind becomes incapable of any deliberate consideration,
and is impressed with horrors that have no foundation but in a distempered
imagination. The composed serenity of mind that succeeds to the previous
alarm, is described by some persons with a degree of satisfaction that evinces
the decided influence of the remedy. Dr. WOLLASTON quotes a very striking
fact in justification of his theory; and adds, "If vigor can in any instance be
directly given, a man may certainly be said to receive it in the most direct
mode, when the service of impelling forward the circulation of his blood is per-
formed by external means. The first mover of the systems is thereby wound
up, and the several subordinate operations of the machine must each be per-
formed with greater freedom, in consequence of this general supply of power."
In many cases, he farther observes, the cure of a patient has been solely owing to the
external agitation of his body, which must be allowed to have had the effect of
relieving the heart and arteries from a great part of their exertion in propelling
the blood, and may therefore have contributed to the cure by that means only.
Different degrees of exercise must be adapted to the different degrees of bodily
strength; and, in some cases, a gentle, long-continued, and perhaps incessant
motion, inay be requisite; and, in these circumstances, sea-voyages have
sometimes been attended with remarkable advantages. (M. C. xxv, 571.)
The young sailor may find relief under this ailment by the use of the fol-
lowing
ANTI-EMETIC JULEP :-(to relieve nausea or sickness. }
B Sal. absynth. drachmam unam.
Succ. limon, sescunciam, vel q. s. ad saturationem.
Aq. cinnum. simp. uncias tres.
Sacchar. purissim. drachmam unam.
Page 5.
M.
SAILOR :-This word, together with its synonyms, seaman, mariner, water-
man, denote persons employed in navigation. Sailor is mostly applied unto
the common men of a ship's crew or, in the tarpaulin-phrase, to those "before
512
the mast." Seaman is mostly applied unto the superior class of the crew,
even unto the pilot and the officers. Mariner is the legal designation of those
who gain their living at sea, but is more particularly applied unto those who
are their own masters, as fishermen. Waterman designates a fresh-water
sailor, a man who exercises any department of the nautical profession on lakes,
rivers, or canals. Sailors are deemed ignorant of scientific navigation, and are
they who work the vessel mechanically under the direction of others: seamen
are supposed to understand it, and are they who take the lead and set an exam-
ple to the others. Mariners work their own vessels, and adhere to their own
coasts; they do not, like sailors and seamen, make long voyages. Watermen
make use of the sail and oar, but still more of the quunt, or long pole, with
which they push their barges along in shallows.
Ibid.
LEE (Note):-A minute erratum of one letter, r, has rendered it requisite to
repeat the quotation in the note appended unto the page to which reference is
now made; and, to render the sense more obvious, the context also is given
here-under:
"Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created, hugest that swim the ocean stream:
Him, haply slumb'ring on the norway foam,
The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff
Deeining some island, oft, as sea-men tell,
With fixed anchor in his skaly rind
+
Moors by his side under the lee, while night
Invests the sea, and wished morn delays."
MILTON: Paradise Lost, i, 201.
Page 6.
DRUNK:-In other people, a paroxysm of drunkenness has another termina-
tion; the inebriate, as soon as he begins to be vertiginous, makes pale urine in.
great quantities, and very frequently, and at length becomes sick, romits re-
peatedly, or purges, or has other profuse evacuations; a temporary fever ensues
with a quick strong pulse, and terminates by encreased perspiration. This, in
some hours, is succeeded by sleep; but the unfortunate bacchanalian does not
perfectly recover himself till about the same time of the succeeding day, when
his course of inebriation began. The temporary fever, with strong pulse; the
glow on the skin, the flow of urine, and sickness, all arises from the same
cause; that is to say, from the whole system of irritative motions being thrown
into confusion by their associations with cach other, as in sea-sickness.
Ibid.
YARMOUTH:About the middle of the 11th century, the northern channel
of the river Yare being obstructed with sand, the inhabitants were induced to
remove their dwellings towards the southern branch of the river; hence,
this town was called Yare-mouth. The ancient name of this river was
“Gare;" CAMDEN says the saxon name was Gane-mouth." This anti-
quary is of opinion that, at Yarmouth, or near that town, was the ancient
Garione-grun, where the stablesian horse were quartered against the barba-
rians. Previous to the establishment of the saxon heptarchy, CERDIC, a saxon
chief, landed on this coast at a place which, in CAMDEN's time, was still known
513
1
by the name "Cerdic's Sand." This prince waged a furious war with the
Icéni (aboriginal inhabitants of this county), and then set sail westward; where.
being eminently successful, he founded the kingdom of the West Saxons. In
the time of King EDWARD the confessor, there were seventy burgesses belong-
ing to Yarmouth. The walls were built about 1340, and the inhabitants
became so populous as to attack the neighbouring inhabitants of Leostoffe,
and the Cinque-Ports by sea; but the population was greatly decreased, and
the warlike spirit of the people damped, by a dreadful pestilential disorder,
which swept away seven thousand inhabitants of this town.
After this great
calamity the inhabitants applied themselves to the improvement of the herring
fishery, for which Yarmouth has ever been celebrated. In the civil wars
between CHARLES and the parliament, this town declared for the latter, but
the inhabitants were greatly averse to its being garrisoned. Yarmouth castle
was dismantled and pulled down in 1621. This town was originally an important
naval station, and was made a borough by King Jonn. It sent members to.
parliament in the reign of EDWARD I. King JAMES I. granted a charter for
incorporating it. King CHARLES II. granted a new charter, by which in future
it was to be governed by a mayor, seven aldermen, a recorder, and thirty-six
common-council. The corporation has particular and extensive privileges; it
has a court of record and of adiniralty. In the court of Record, are tried civil
causes for unlimited sums; in the court of Admiralty, authority is given to try,
condemn, and execute, in some cases, without waiting for a warrant. The
mayor and aldermen are conservators of the river Ouse, in this county; of the
Humber, the Derwent, the Wherve, the Aire, and the Dun, rivers, in Yorkshire.
By a charter granted by HENRY III. this town is bound to send to the sheriffs
of Norwich every year one hundred herrings, baked in four pasties, which the
sheriffs are to deliver to the lord of the manor of East Carlton, a village near
new Buckenham; the lord of the manor gives a receipt for them: and by his
tenure is obliged to present them to the king, wherever his majesty may be resi-
dent. Yarmouth is admirably situated for commerce, particularly to the north of
Europe. CAMPBELL, in his Political survey of Great Britain, observes, that
Harwich and Yarmouth are now the great marts, from their being capacious
and commodious barbours; but one may, notwithstanding, take the liberty to
ask, whether it would not be an act of national policy to have preserved (while
(practicable) these ports by a sea-dike? "This," adds that author, "arose
probably from not having a just notion of the benefits arising from commerce,
from the difficulty of establishing an adequate fund, and from the great con-
fusion and uncertainty of the times." Immense expenses have been incurred
in expedients adopted to preserve the harbour from decay. In 1800, an act of
parliament was passed, by virtue of which certain harbour-taxes are levied.
The plan of the new harbour was executed under the direction of JOAS JOHN-
SON, a native of Holland, who came from that country to conduct the works.
A pier and a jetty were erected for preventing the haven from being overflowed,
and for preserving at all states of tide a sufficient depth of water for ships to
float at their moorings. These piers have been considerably improved since
their erection. CAMPBELL observes, "whether it is yet too late, by an exten-
sive sea-wall, to retrieve this port, and recover a part, at least, of the lands the
ocean has devoured, and of course restore its port to the town of Orford, is a
question I venture to propose, but must leave it to wiser heads to determine;
but if this be attempted in any future period it should be at the public expense,
and not by local taxes on the trade and navigation of particular places." Yar-
mouth road forms a grand rendezvous for the North Sea fleet, and also for the
numerous colliers coining from Shields, Sunderland, and Newcastle to London.
This is accounted the most dangerous coast in Britain. A melancholy event
occurred in 1692, when a fleet of 200 sail of colliers, having left the road with
a fair wind, were, assailed with a furious tempest. Some of the vessels tacked
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nav. Chron. Edit.]
LL
514
and arrived safe in the roads, the remainder pushed out to sea; some rode it
out at a distance; but the rest, amounting to more than 140 sail, were driven
ashore wrecked, and scarcely any of the crews were saved. Some coasting vessels
laden with grain and bound to Holland, experienced the same disaster; in fine,
more than 200 sail of vessels, and 1000 persons, perished. In 1790, a similar
disaster occurred.-Yarmouth is celebrated for its extensive fishery; there
being 60000 barrels of herrings generally taken and cured in the year. One
hundred and fifty vessels are employed in this trade, and between forty and fifty
sail in the exportation. The herrings are generally exported by the merchants
of Yarmouth; the rest by those of London, to Italy, Spain, and Portugal:
which, with the camlets, crapes, and other norwich stuffs, which the merchants
of this town export, occasion much bustle of commerce, employing many
hands and much shipping; also, many ships are built every year. Except Ilull,
in Yorkshire, Yarmouth has more trade than any other town on the east coast
of England. Among the singularities of this place, is the peculiar mode of
conveying goods through the narrow lanes of the town by a vehicle formed like
a wheel-barrow, and drawn by one horse. Some of these machines are also
made use of for carrying people from one place to another, and from the sea-
side. This vehicle is called "a Yarmouth coach." One of these is represented
in the wood-engraving at page 6. The town of Yarmouth, which inakes a
fine appearance from the sea, is more compact, neat, and well built, than any
town in England, the streets being strait and parallel to each other; and there
is a view across all the streets from the quay to the sea, the town standing in a
peninsula between the sea and the harbour. It extends more than a mile in
length and half a mile in breadth, and contains four principal streets in a direc-
tion from north to south, and 156 narrow lanes intersecting them; it contains
3081 houses, and 14845 inhabitants. The market-place is extensive, and is
admirably well furnished: and the quay is superior to that of Marseille, and the
finest in Europe, Seville in Spain alone excepted. It is so commodious, that
persons may step directly from the shore into any of the ships, and walk from
one to another as over a bridge, sometimes for a quarter of a mile in length;
it is also so spacious, that in some places it is near a hundred yards from the
houses to the wharf. On the wharf is a Custom-house and Town-hall, with
several merchants' houses nearly as magnificent as palaces. The quay is a
fashionable promenade; and among the fine range of buildings which embel
lish it, the assembly-room has a superb effect. The church, dedicated to St.
Nicholas, the patron of fishermen, is a magnificent edifice; the steeple was
of such an altitude, as to serve as a mark for mariners. This church was
built in the reign of King HENRY I.; it is 250 feet in length, and the aisles 180
in breadth. The wooden steeple, which was 136 feet high, is now taken down,
and rebuilt somewhat reduced in height. On the north side of St. Nicholas
church, Bishop HERBERT established a priory of black monks, subordinate to
the monastery at Norwich. The black-friars had also a monastic establishment,
founded in the reign of HENRY III; in the reign of his son, EDWARD I. THOMAS
FALSTAFF founded an hospital,which consisted of a warden, eight brethren, and
eight sisters. There were two Łazar-houses for the reception of indigent lepers..
The sea-water Bath-house was erected in 1759; it stands on the beach. The
sea-water is raised every tide by a horse mill into a reservoir fifty yards from
the bath; to which it is conveyed by pipes. Adjoining, there is a fine hospital
in this town, which is of quadrangular form, containing twenty rooms on the
ground-floor. There are also two charity-schools for 35 boys and 32 girls, who
are clothed; the boys are instructed to make nets, and the girls to knit, spin,
and work plain-work. Yarmouth is in the hundred of East-Flegg. The great
market is on Saturday; a smaller one is kept on Wednesday. A barge sails to
Norwich twice a week. This town gave title of viscount and earl to Sir
Robert Patson, of Patson, in this county, 1678, which titles expired with his
1
515
son WILLIAM in 1733; it was revived in Madam AMELIA SOPHIA WALMODEN,
who was created countess of Yarmouth in 1740, at whose death it expired in
1765; the earldom has been revived in the family of SEYMOUR. The coast
about Yarinouth, as has been already observed, is so extremely dangerous, that
most of the sheds, out-houses, &c. for twenty miles upon the shore, from Win-
terton-ness to Cromer, and farther, are made of the wrecks of ships, and the
ruins of merchants' and sailors' fortunes; and in some places are great piles of
wrecks laid up for the purposes of building. There are no less than eight light-
houses within the length of six miles: two of which are south, at or near
Gorelston, between Yarmouth and Leostoffe; two at Winterton town; one at
Winterton-ness, which is the most casterly point of land of Norfolk; and one
farther north. There are also abundance of sea-marks and beacons along the
shore, all the way from Yarmouth to Cromer. The old steeple in Gorleston,
about 100 feet high, which has stood and been a mark for ships passing through
Yarmouth-road for time immemorial, was, on the morning of the 25th of
February 1812, blown down in a storm. In justification of the asser-
tion made in part of the note appended unto page 7, that the experiments for
preservation from shipwreck, recently tried on the western coast of England,
are founded on prior projects for the same laudable purpose, the Editor feels
himself bound to give insertion unto a public document of undoubted authen-
ticity, being a parliamentary report made specifically on this subject to the
house of Cominons; viz.
The Committee to whom the petition of ELIZABETH WHITFIELD, late
BELL, now the only surviving child of many, of the late Lieutenant BELL,
royal invalid artillery, on behalf of herself and three infant children, was
referred, have examined the same, and agreed upon the following report:
Your committee, in investigating the matter of the petition referred to their con-
sideration, beg leave, in the first instance, to state, they do not in any degree
mean to derogate from the zcal and perseverance of Captain MANBY, in bringing.
into practical use the means of preserving the lives of shipwrecked seamen and
others, first suggested by the said Lieutenant BELL. Next, your committee
examined Mr. J. HOOKHAM (assistant inspector at Woolwich), who stated that
the plan pursued by Captain MANBY was originally the invention of the late
Lieutenant BELL, of the royal invalid engineers; and that his majesty's com-
mission was granted to him for his great abilities and ingenuity, not only for the
said invention, but for many other useful plans and inventions, which he from
time to time suggested for the public service, some of which bear his name and
are in use at this time: others might have been brought into more particular
notice, but owing to a conflagration which happened some years ago at Wool-
wich warren, the same were destroyed. That soon after the invention, which
is the immediate object of consideration before the committee, the said Lieut.
BELL died, leaving a family of two sons and a daughter in grea, distress, princi-
pally owing to the unavoidable expense incurred in bringing his said inventions to
perfection; that the said sons were sent to sea, and died in his majesty's service;
that the only survivor of the said Lieut. BELL is the petitioner, who has three
infant children, whose existence depends on the labor and industry of their
mother. Your committee, in referring to the copies of reports made to the
Board of Ordnance, on the result of Captain MANBY's experiments for effecting
a communication with ships stranded, presented to the house in 1809, beg leave
to call their attention to the copy of a letter from Lieutenant-general FARRING-
TON, dated 19th of January, 1808, containing the report of the committee of
field-officers of artillery, on Captain MANBY's experiments, expressing their satis-
faction of the same; but observing, "that this invention was brought forward
by the late Lieutenant BELL, near fourteen years since; his idea was to project
the rope from the ship to the shore, which is assuredly the method most to be
depended upon, as the vessel, in that case, carries the means with it, and need
LL 2
516
not rely upon any fortuitous assistance from the shore." Likewise, to the copy
of a letter from Colonel RAMSAY, dated 7th October 1808, containing the
report of the committee of field-officers of artillery on Captain MANBY'S expe-
riments, in which they state, "that the committee, in giving their opinion on
the merits of this invention, think it incumbent on them to notice, that the
late Lieutenant BELL of the royal artillery, was several years ago presented
with a premium by the Society of Arts, for a similar application of ordnance to
communicate from the ship to the shore; and for having also suggested its
utility in projecting the rope from the land, to vessels in danger of being
wrecked, the particulars of which have been republished with the Society's
Transactions for 1807." Your committee, in referring to the publication of
the said transactions, vol. x, find the following report:-" In consequence of
a letter received by the society, from Mr. JoHN BELL, serjeant of the royal
regiment of artillery, application was made to his Grace the Duke of Ricu-
MOND, master-general of the ordnance, requesting his grace would give direc-
tions that proper experiments might be made before a committee of the society,
to ascertain the merit of Mr. BELL's invention; and his grace having given
directions accordingly, proper trials were made by throwing a loaded shell on
shore from a small mortar, fixed in a boat, moored in the river, about two
hundred yards from the shore. To the shell was attached a rope, one end of
which remained on board the boat; and the shell falling about one hundred
yards within land, buried itself about eighteen inches in the gravel; when Mr.
BELL and another person, on a raft, floated by casks, properly ballasted,
hauled themselves on shore, in a few minutes, by the before-mentioned rope :
these trials having been three times repeated with the desired success; and it
appearing that the method proposed by Mr. BELL of throwing a line on shore
from a ship in distress, either stranded, or in danger of being so, promises to be
of infinite advantage in the maritime world, as by means thereof such vessel
may obtain relief; any person, when landed, being enabled to secure ropes
from the ship; or additional hands may be conveyed thereby from the shore,
to assist those on board: and, in cases of imminent danger, where all hopes of
saving the ship may be lost, Mr. BELL'S method offers the most probable means
of saving the lives of the crew. The society therefore voted a bounty of fifty
guineas to Mr. BELL, he leaving a complete model of his contrivance with the
society; which model is reserved in the repository for the inspection and use
of the public, and has been exhibited to your Committee by CHARLES TAYLON,
M. D. secretary to the said society." That, in consideration of the above cir-
cumstances, your committee humbly recommends that such gratuity may be
made by the house to the petitioner, as to them in their humanity shall seem
meet. July 11, 1814.
In conformity to the preceding report, the House of Commons, on the 23d
of June, 1815,-" Resolved that a sum, not exceeding five hundred pounds,
be granted to his majesty, to be paid to ELIZABETH WHITFIELD, only surviving
daughter of the late Lieutenant BELL, of the royal invalid artillery, in conside~
retion of the merit and exertions of the said Lieutenant BELL, towards the at-
tainment of the object of preserving the lives of shipwrecked seamen and others;
and that the said sum be issued and paid without any fee or other deduction
whatsoever."
Page 9, 10.
WINTERTON-NESS.-In the historical statement of the priority in point of time
attributable to the respective projects for preserving human life from the
dangers of the sea, discussed in preceding notes, the Editor of Robinson Crusoe
is far from meaning to depreciate the philanthropy that has dictated, or the
ingenuity that has executed those carried on more recently: on the contrary,
517
he considers Mr. MANBY as possessing indisputably, and exclusively, the merit
of methodising, and reducing to an operative system, those desultory efforts
towards self-preservation, by which persons in peril yield an instinctive
obedience to the law of nature; but which, from the disorder of their
minds, or from want of due co-operation, too often fail of effect. Therefore,
agreeing as he does with their author, that "the riches of a country are its
population, and the lives of its subjects one of the dearest possessions we have
to protect," the Editor seizes this opportunity for giving every permanent
publicity that this volume can afford to one of several useful expedients
calculated to meet the various casualties when a ship is driven on a lee-
shore, suggested by that individual and developed in his "Lecture on the pre-
servation of persons in the hour of shipwreck." (London 1814.) Supposing
the grand desideratum, of establishing connection with a stranded vessel by
a rope, obtained, and the same made fast to some firm part of the wreck; it
will give a power, if a boat be at hand, to haul it off by; the boat's head is
thereby kept to the waves, and secured against upsetting by her rising to the
surge. But should there not be any boat procurable, the crew to be con-
veyed on shore should successively adopt the following method. With the
rope make a clove-hitch thus:

to be put over the shoulders of the person, bring it close under each arm,
observing particularly to place the knot on the breast-bone, this keeps the face
uppermost while drawing through the water, and consequently admits of time
for respiration between each succeeding surf; it likewise prevents the head
being dashed on the shore, which it would be more liable to, were the knot
behind. To attempt to swim on shore without such aid, is exemplified by
ROBINSON CRUSOE himself to be almost certain destruction to the best or
strongest swimmer, who must in such endeavour run the greatest risk of being
drowned in struggling against the regurgitation, or of being killed by the vio-
lence with which he is dashed on the beach. Dreadful as this alternative is,
the success of the resource bere pointed out may be relied on, and indeed has
been demonstrated in extraordinary perilous cases,
1
Page 10.
WINTERTON :--- is in the hundred of West Flegg. It is situated on the coast,
and is seven miles from Yarmouth. It lies in a soil accounted among the
richest in Englaud, and the most easy to be ploughed. The church is a hand-
some structure, but the houses of the inhabitants are very mean.
It les open
to the ocean, the waves of which beat violently against the banks opposed to it.
Winterton had formerly a market and a fair, both of which are now dis-
continued. It is a rectory, with East-Somerton chapel annexed. It was
formerly the lordship of ROBERT HULFORD, admiral of King EDWARD the
third's fleet. Ilere are two light-houses. In 1665 great part of the cliff was
washed away by the tide, which discovered several large bones, one of which
brought to Yarmouth, weighed 57/b, was 2 feet 3 inches long, and was affirmed
to be the leg bone of a man.
Ibid.
CROMER-is in the hundred of North-Erpingham, 130 miles from London,
containing 140 houses, and 676 inhabitants. This town was formerly a part of
Shipden, whose church and many houses were swallowed up by the sea; which
i
518
is still making fresh encroachments on the land. The town is small, and
situated on a cliff of considerable height, and inhabited principally by fish-
ermen. The first attempt for a pier was in temp. RICHARD II. The remains
of the ancient town-walls of Shipden are yet to be seen. Though Cromer has no
harbour considerable trade is carried on, and much coal is imported in ves-
sels, from sixty to one hundred tous burden; the barges lie upon the beach,
and at ebb-tide carts are drawn along side to unship their cargoes; when
empty, the vessels anchor a little distance from the above, and reload by
means of boats. Cromer bay has fisheries both of crabs and lobsters from May to
October, herrings in September and October, also turbots, haddocks, skaite, &c.
The sea about Cromer is almost daily crowded with shipping. The church is a
handsome pile, built of flint and free-stone, having a square tower, a nave, and
an embattled top, rising 159 feet high; the living is a vicarage. The curio-
sities in this neighbourhood are the ruins of the abbey at Beeston Regis,
Beacon hills, Foulness light-house, and Wayborn hoop. A large fair is held
at Cromer, on whit-monday, the weekly market is on Saturday.
Page 12,
TARSHISH.-(aggis) Bishop Lowrn, in one of his potes upon Isaiah, (xxiii, i,)
supposes Tarshish to be Tartessus, now Tortosa in Spain. But the context of
the prophecy under annotation rather applies to Tyre, and contiguous havens
of the Levant scas only; and why wander so far when "Tarshush,” co nomine
still exists on the coast of Cilicia, over against Egypt. There is, it must be
admitted, mention made of a Tarshish in II. Chronicles xx, 36; but that must
be another place, of the same name, somewhere in the Erythracan sea;
because the text says: "And he [JENOSHAPHAT] joined himself with him,
[AHAZIAH] to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-
gaber." Now, Ezion-gaber is topographically identified in the same book,
(viii, 17.) as being in the land of Edom; which locality is corroborated in
I Kings xxii, 47, 48, PINKERTON differs from Lowrn, and in his historical
geography of Spain asserts the Tarsish of the Phoenicians to have been the
little isle of Tartessus near Gudes; yet the latter seems hardly to have been
disclosed to the Grecks in the time of HERODOTUS. Tarshish occurs in the
following places of the Bible:-Genesis x, 4. Į. Chronicles i, 7. II. Chronis
cles ix, 21; xx, 36, 37. I. Kings x, 22. Psalms xlviii, 7; lxx, 10. Isaiah ii,
16; xxiii, 1, 14, 6, 10; lx, 9; lxvi, 19. Jeremiah x, 9. Ezekiel xxvii, 12, 25;
xxviii, 13. Jonah i, 3; iv, 2.
i
Ibid.
AFRICA: The original greek passage descriptive of the circumnavigation of
this continent by the ancients, runs thus:-
σε Λιβύη μεν γαρ δηλοῖ ἑαυτην, εασα περιφυτος, πλην όσον αυτής προς την Ασίην έριξε
Νεκω το Αιγυπτίων βασιλεος πρωτα, των ημείς ίδμεν, κατα δεξαντος ός επει τε την
διωρικα επαίσατο ορύσσων, την εκ τε Νειλε διέκυσαν ες τον Αραβίον κολπον, απέπεμψε
Φοινικας άνδρας πλοίοισι, εντειλάμενος ες το οπισῳ δί Ηρακληίων στηλέων εκπλεειν έως εδ
την Βόρησην θαλασσαν, και ετω ες Αίγυπτον απικνέεσθαι, ὁρμηθέντες ων οι Φοινικες, εκτης
Ερυβρης καλεομένης θαλάσσης, επλεον την Νοτιην θάλασσαν. όπως δε γενοιτο φθινόπωρον,
πρόσκοντες αν σπείρεσκον την γην, ίνα εκαστοτε της Λιβύης πλέοντες, γενοίατο και μενεσκον
τον αμήτον θεξισαντες δ' αν τον σιτον επλεον, ώστε δυο ετεων διεξελθόντων, τρίτω επει καμ
ψαντες Ηρακληίας στήλας, απίκοντο ες Αίγυπτον.” Hinop. Melpom. 42. Sat.
The literal english of the words which particularly relate to the text, is
this:-
"He (viz. NECHO) sent away some Phoenicians (of course, from the
place where, in the words immediately preceding, he is stated to have been,
}
519
1. e. from the arabian gulph), ordering them to make their homeward voyage, or,
in their return home, to sail (25 To oniow exx200) through the columns of Her-
cules, till they got into the northern sea, that is, the Mediterranean, which
bounds Egypt on the north, and thus to return to that country."
Page 13.
GUINEA-Erratum: for Lopez, read Lopé-Gonsalvez, according to BRYAN
Edwards's West-Indies; or, Lobo-Gonsalez, according to a map annexed to
CLARKE'S History of Maritime discovery.
Fage 15.
name
SALEE: See . C. xix, 117. Population of Salee proper, 18000; that
of Rabad, 25000; together 43000. The history of Marocco by J. G. JACKSON,
gives the following particular description of this place, whose
is so familiar to the readers of romance; but the knowledge of it little diffused
among us. Travelling to the south from Meheduma, at the distance of 16 miles
we reach Slâa, or Salec, on the northern bank of the river which is formed by
the junction of the streams denominated Buregregh and Wieroo; the river at
Salee was formerly capable of receiving large vessels; when going thence
however a few years since to Mogodor, the vessel which conveyed me being
about 150 tons burden, struck three times on the bar, and as the sand
continues to accumulate, it is likely that in another century there will be
a separation from the ocean at ebb tide, as is the case in some of the rivers
of Ilaha and Suse, particularly that of Messa. Salce is a walled town, having
a battery of 24 pieces of cannon, which commands the entrance of the
river. To the north of the town, in the plains, are the remains of many
gardens, and the ruins of a town, built by MULLY ISMAEL for his (Abeed
Secdy Bukaree) black troops. When I visited Salee, I was conducted to
the subterraneous apartment, where the Europeans were formerly confined,
who had the misfortune to fall into the hands of those miscreants: it is a
miserable dungeon, though spacious. Salee stands in latitude 34° 2' N.
After crossing the river we enter the town of Rabat, which is rather larger
than Salee. European factories have been established at different times, in
Rabat, but have been frequently quitted, or altogether abandoned, on account
of some new order from the Emperor, the instability of whose decrees,
whenever they relate to commerce, is but too well known; at other times these
establishments have been neglected from the insufficiency of supplies from
Europe, owing to a want of confidence in the security of property in a country
whose affairs are directed too frequently by the momentary impulse of a
despotic fanatic, who often orders, judges, and executes, without considering
cause or consequence. Near the entrance of the river, at Rabat, on an
eminence, are to be seen the ruins of an old castle, built by the Sultan EL
MONSOR, in the 12th century: some subterraneous magazines, remarkable for
their strength, being bomb proof, are still preserved; there is also the remains
of a small battery, which defended the entrance of the river: some batteries
were rebuilt here in 1774, on a more extensive plan, but the engineer has
made the embrasures to close, that it would be inconvenient to work the guns
against an attacking enemy. At a short distance south of the castle, on an
elevated situation, is a square fort erected by MULEY EL ARSHEED. The
walls were built by the Sultan EL MONSOR, when he residea here; they are
about two miles in circuit, and strengthened by square towers; they enclose
the castle, the town of Rabat, and a large space of ground, where a palice,
and the mausoleum of SEEDY MOHAMMED, the reigning Emperor's fathe
stand; fakeers are constantly praying with a loud voice, under the colonnade
520
1
which surrounds the latter building. The town and walls of Rabat having
been built by spanish slaves, taken by the Sultan EL MONSOR, in his wars with
Spain, are not very strong; and it has even been reported that the christians
expressly built the houses weak, that the roofs might fall on the Moors, which,
it is also said, actually happened, and the Emperor, in retaliation, ordered the
same Spaniards to be decapitated at the iron gate. The Sultan repaired the
roman well at Shella, and built a spacious mosque at Rabat, the roof of which
was supported by 360 columns of marble; toward the east were apartments
for those who had employment in the mosque. Many of the rough marble
columns are still remaining, broken and scattered about; there are also the
remains of a large (mitferc) subterraneous cistern, which was attached to the
mosque, the tower of which is called (Sma Hassen) the tower of Beni Hassen,
so named from the province in which it stands, I have frequently visited this
curious tower, and once went to the top of it with a very ingenious Frenchman,
the Comte de FOURBAN; it is built of hewn stone, and is 180 feet in height;
the view from it is pleasing and extensive. It has a gradual ascent to the top
made of a mixture of lime and sand, which time has so hardened, that when
the Emperor SEEDY MOHAMMED ordered the building to be destroyed (he
having been informed that it was a place of assignation to gratify illicit
passions), the workmen, after hammering at it for several days, were able only
to destroy a few cubits of the terraced floor; the Emperor afterwards came to
Rabat, and having been informed of the slow progress of the workmen, he
himself visited the tower, and was so struck with the durability of the work,
that he ordered them to desist, and caused the entrance to be closed up,
which, however, has since been opened. A man on horseback may ride up
to the top of this building. At every two or three circles of the terrace are
apartments built of solid stone. It is reported that this tower, the grand
tower at Marocco, and the tower of Seville in Spain, were built after the same
plan, and by the same architect, in the 12th century. Ata small distance to thẹ
north of it, are to be seen the ruins of an ancient wall, on which were formerly
erected a battery and castle. The country, in the neighbourhood, is planted
with wines, oranges, and cotton of an excellent quality: at Rabat there is a
manufactory of cotton cloth, which is made more for durability than shew.
There are docks for ships building at Salce, as well as at Rabat; at the latter
place, when I was last there, the hulls of two sloops of war were nearly
finished; I went aboard of them, and was astonished to learn that they had
been built by a man who must have had a natural genius, inasmuch as
he built them by the eye, without the use of rules and compasses, a circum-
stance which appeared to me very extraordinary and incredible; but I was
repeatedly informed by many of the inhabitants of Rahat, Moors, Jews, and
Christians, that it was a known fact, and might be ascertained by going to see
the daily progress made in the building of them. The road of Salee is
dangerous for shipping, and the accumulation of sand at the entrance, will
scarcely permit a vessel of 100 tons to enter the river without danger.
Vessels may lie in safety out of the river, near Rabat, from April to September
inclusive; but they are not secure the rest of the year, the wind blowing from
the southern quarter, and often obliging them to quit their moorings. The
best anchorage in this season is between the mosque of Rabat and the old
tower of Hassen, having the latter to the north. A great number of anchors,
having been lost, much attention must be paid to the cables and buoys,
Rabat stands in latitude 34 3″ N.”
Page 15.
MAROCO:-The military government of Algier [Al-Jezair] oppresses the
wide extent of Numidia, as it was once united under MASSANISSA and Jugur-
521
THA: but in the time of AUGUSTUS, the limits of Numidia were contracted;
and at least two thirds of the country acquiesced in the name of Mauritania,
with the epithet of Caesariensis. The genuine Mauritania, or country of the
Moors, which from the ancient city of Tingi (or Tangier) was distinguished by
the appellation of Tingitana, is represented by the modern kingdom of Fez
Salle on the ocean, so infamous at present for its piratical depredations, was
noticed by the Romans as the extreme object of their power, and almost of
their geography. A city of their foundation may still be discovered near
Mequinez, the residence of the barbarian whom we condescend to style the
emperor of Marocco; but it does not appear that his more southern dominions,
Marocco itself and Segelmessa were ever comprehended within the roman
province. The western parts of Africa are intersected by the branches of
mount Atlas, a name celebrated by the fancy of poets, but which is now
diffused over the immense ocean that rolls between the antient and the new
world. The long range, moderate height, and gentle declivity of mount Atlas
are very unlike a solitary mountain which rears its head into the clouds, and
seems to support the heavens. The peak of Teneriff, on the contrary rises
a league above the surface of the sea; and as it was frequently visited by
the Phoenicians. might engage the notice of the greek poets. VOLTAIRE, UN-
supported by either fact or probability, has gratuitously bestowed the Canary
isles on the roman empire. It is quite an cnigina, that with so small a naval
force as these scoundrels have, and so ill managed as their corsairs are, they
should be the terror of the seas, and the desolation of the neighbouring
countries. While christian nations are making long and destructive wars against
each other for trivial objects, often from mere rivalship and ambition, they
allow these perpetual enemies of the civilized world, to trample on every
right and the laws of nations to destroy commerce-to annihilate the mutual
exchange of benefits deriving from the intercourse of one kingdom with
another to give to war an atrocious aspect; and they suffer that the in-
habitants of civilized Europe should become the slave of a Mohametan and
a barbarian! Ob shame, shame on her who styles herself Queen of the Seas!
Europe expects from England security of navigation, and England owes it to
her high character to obtain it. We should never cease to call aloud for war
against the African monsters, for a war of expulsion from the coast against
the ferocious pirates of Barbary !"
Page. 19
COFFEE. The extended use of this production combines individual economy
with national benefit to so great a degree, that it is important for every family
in Britain to be apprised, that whereas coffee was formerly imported from
enemies colonies, and was therefore burdened with heavy duties, it has now
become a branch of british produce, and parliament has wisely reduced the
duty-wisely, because the land on which it grows is cultivated by british
capital; the labourers who prepare it are clothed in british manufactures;
the seamen who import it are trained to the defense of our country. The
efforts of the enemy have been occasionally too successful in checking the
foreign consumption of our produce. To counteract this hostility, Govern
ment has opened the home market to our planters, and the intention of the
present note is to point out the advantages of this source of comfort and
economy. The sobriety which the habitual use of coffee would promote among
the lower orders, deserves the attention and co-operation of every benevolent
mind. Being in itself a cordial stimulant, it is a most powerful antidote to the
temptation of spirituous liquors. In those countries on the continent where
these liquors do not cost one-sixth of their price in this country, drunkenness is
less in almost the same proportion, in consequence of the universal predilection for
soffee. In this, as in other countries, it will be found a welcome beverage
522
to the robust labourer, who would not relish a lighter drink. The aid of the
enlightened and patriotic is therefore demanded to communicate its merits
and the improved methods of preparing it, which are explained below. It is
a mistake to think that the coffee sold under the name of Mocha, is in reality
of that growth. The fact is, that more coffee, 15 sold under the name of
Mocha in a month than is actually imported in twelve. The Public has,
consequently, long been drinking, West India coffee under the idea that it was
Mocha. Besides, the opinion of the superior flavor of Mocha to West India.
coffee was established when our plantations were in their infancy; for the
older the tree, the smaller the berry, and the finer the flavor. But the ber-
ries of coffee grown on those West-india estates, where the trees have long
been planted, are now nearly as small as those of Mocha coffee, and the diffe-
rence in the flavor is scarcely to be distinguished. Good coffee may be
purchased at 2s. 6d. per pound, roasted; ordinary coffee lower.
Roasting-Private families may roast their own coffee-Dealers must apply
to a roasting office. Employ the round or barrel-roaster, in preference to the
fat hand-roaster. The cominon error is to over-roast. Avoid this, by shaking
it from time to time. Ten or twelve minutes, over a middling fire, will be
found sufficient. If you have a jack in your kitchen, make use of it to turn
the coffee roaster on the spit before the grate; this will take rather more time,
but it will roast the coffee equally throughout, and will save the trouble of
holding the roaster in the hand. Coffee should not be roasted until it is wanted
for use; but it may be more convenient for many people, at once, to buy
coffee roasted; in this case it should be gently heated before grinding,
Roasted coffee should be kept very close, dry and warm-Raw coffee should
be kept in a dry, well-aired place in the kitchen. The price of a good iron
coffee-roaster is about 3s. 6d. Dealers should manage so as to let their
customers have newly-roasted coffee. When coffee is bought raw, the advan-
tage is that the buyer can easily judge of the quality. All families who have a
jack should roast their own coffee, because the roasting is not only well performed
by the spit, but the servant's trouble is saved; for all that is wanted in this
case is to see that the turning before the fire has been continued ten, twelve,
or fifteen minutes, according to the strength of the fire. The Turks roast
coffee in earthen vessels placed on a hearth among wood embers, or placed
in an extreme hot oven, which is preferable to metallic recipients.
Grinding-Coffee-mills are of various prices, from 5s. upwards. Those who
cau afford it should buy a substantial mill for 15s. or 16s. and fix it up at arm's
Leight. It will grind the quantity required in a few seconds, and will last a
private family a life-time. Those who are obliged to have their coffee ground
at a grocer's, should see that it is finely ground, which may always be the case
if the coffee is well roasted. Coffee, imperfectly roasted, is both bad in flavor and
injures the mill. After coffee is ground, it should be kept close and dry in a
canister or bottle, preferable in the latter. The Turks keep it in leather bags
or wooden boxes, with well closed lids.
Preparing coffee for the table.- -There are several methods of pre-
paring coffee for the table. Any of the following plans will do: 1. If
you have one of the new coffee boilers with two tin sieves, rince the
machine with boiling hot water, as when making tea.
Take off the up-
per strainer and presser, put in your coffee, and spread it even on the
bottom strainer with the presser, press the coffee gently down, replace
the upper strainer, pour in the water quite boiling hot, and put on the cover
directly, to keep in the steam: then, after standing three or four minutes, it
will have filtered clear from the upper into the lower vessel, impregnated with
the whole flavour of the coffee. The presser may either be taken out or left in
during the process. Half an ounce of coffee to a pint of water is the smallest
proportion that should be used, and this will make the layer of coffee of the
thickness of three quarters of an inch, 2. If you have a biggin or coffee-pot,
523
with a strainer, put the coffee on the strainer, pour the water on it boiling hot,
and the coffee will be ready in a few minutes. Both these methods are exactly
on the plan on which tea is made. There is very little trouble either way,
but it is easier to keep the tin sieves clean than the strainer. 3. The other
method is to boil the coffee. Put the coffee in a coffee-pot or saucepan; pour
on it, boiling hot, the quantity of water you intend drinking; let it stand a few
minutes on the fire, after which, place it beside the fire, till the grounds
settle the settling of the grounds will be quickened by dropping in a spoonful
of flour or brown sugar. As soon as
As soon as it will flow clear, pour it off from the
grounds into a tea or coffee pot, and from that into the cup. If this method
extract the strength of the coffee more completely, it causes, on the other
hand, somewhat more trouble; so that either of the other methods is perhaps
preferable for making small quanties and for daily use. But in whatever way
you make coffee, keep it hot, and, if milk be used, let it be hot: on the
continent of Europe, coffee is generally drunk without milk. Raw sugar is best
for ordinary coffee, candied for strong coffee.
Medicinal qualities of coffee:-Several medical men have written on
the qualities of coffee, particularly Dr. MOSELEY, physician to Chelsea
Hospital. "Coffee," says he, "accelerates digestion, corrects crudities,
removes cholic and flatulencies. t mitigates head-aches, cherishes the
animal spirits, takes away listleness and languor, and is serviceable in
all obstructions arising from languid circulation." DE BLEGNY says, it
is a wonderful restorative to emaciated constitutions and highly refresh-
ing to the studious and sedentary. Tastes differ as to the strength of
coffee. Persons living on high seasoned dishes naturally prefer coffee
strong, and in small quantities; others, living on plainer dishes, will take a
greater quantity, and of less strength. Workmen of active occupations, like
ship-carpenters, require the use of stronger coffee than those of sedentary
habits, like weavers. Half an ounce to the pint is perhaps the weakest that
should be made. It is important to caution the reader against drawing un-
favorable conclusions in regard to coffee, from any casual disappointment
when beginning to use it. Its preparation, although a very simple affair when
understood, is liable to occasional mistakes in the outset. These mistakes
may arise either from unskilfulness in roasting or boiling, or from the selfish-
ness of a few individuals, who may attempt to sell inferior coffee. A little
perseverance, however, will point out the proper methods of roasting and
boiling, and it will also teach those grocers who would wish to sell inferior
coffee, that the public will not have it. Every respectable grocer will find it
his interest to discourage the sale of bad coffee. It may be taken for granted,
that whenever coffee is fairly prepared, it is a healthy, palatable beverage, and
that the exceptions to this rule must be the result of accidental or temporary
causes. The advantage of recent roasting from not being generally enjoyed,
is not yet sufficiently understood. To the foregoing general directions for
the use of coffee, it is thought proper to subjoin the following extract from
a small pamphet entituled "Thirty choice receipts for the use of those who are
friends to themselves and to their country.". To make coffee:-One ounce
of coffee ground fine to one pint of water, put sugar after it is boiled or made;
it may be made at any time and set by, and warmed again for use; put the
coffee in first, pour the boiling water upon it; then put it on the fire and boil
it a minute or two; pour out a cup full and return it into the pot again two
or three times to mix the whole well together, let it stand a few minutes for
the grounds to settle, then pour it out for use. Or, take a mug, put a funnel
into it, and a fine sieve or piece of clean linen over the fuunel, put the coffee
in the sieve or linen and pour boiling water over it, which will wash all the
goodnees of the coffee through, and the liquor will be clean in the mug for
use; another cupful of boiling water may be poured through the coffee grounds
*
524
!
to get any thing from them that might remain. As a proof of the advantages
of using coffee in certain situations, the editor of the pamphlet adds two
facts supplied by a gentleman of North-America, and which came within his
own personal knowledge. His account is as follows:-"In March and the
early part of April, 1806, on a passage from the West Indies to the northern
part of the United States, we were exposed to a series of gales of wind, and
squalls of rain, hail, and sleet, for eighteen successive days, in which, from
the short number of hands and the state of the vessel, constant and severe
exertion was required, without a dry thread, or four hours uninterrupted sleep,
for the whole period. While we were short of provisions, and those we had
so bad in quality as only to be tasted to avoid starving, the strength and spirits.
of the whole crew were preserved by strong hot coffee, served three times a
day, and not limited as to quantity, and sometimes an additional quantity
during the night. As to the effect of coffee in severe cold, I can only state,
that having passed the greater part of fourteen winters in the district of
Maine, where the cold is very severe, and where a person who is much en-
gaged in any active pursuit, must frequently in the course of every winter ba
exposed to very piercing frost, all prudent people abstain from the use of any
ardent spirits, and make great use of coffee. It is a general custom in travel-
ling (which is almost always in open sledges) to have coffee as a beverage at
dinner, in lieu of any other, and the effect I have always heard attributed to
it, and which it certainly has on myself, is, to produce a general glow over the
whole surface of the body, which lasts for a considerable time, while the effect
of spirituous liquors under the same temperature only produces heat in the
mouth, throat, and stomach, and renders the effect of the cold much more
sensible on the extremities. That this is the effect of spirituous liquors, too
many fatal instances can be adduced; and though perhaps needless, I will
mention one in which I was concerned, and a witness. Twenty-five persons
volunteered their services in the province of Maine, to cut a vessel out of the
ice in an exceedingly severe winter night. At day-light, nine only were able
to persevere in the attempt, and on inquiry it appeared that none of those had
tasted spirits, all the rest had in a greater or less degree made use of them;
and had there not been inhabited buildings near where they were employed,
several must have perished; those who had abstained from spirits, took a
breakfast of hot strong coffee, and with that meal only, completed a severa
exertion of twenty-four hours, wet the whole time, and exposed to an ex-
treme degree of cold."
Again, a late writer asserts "coffee to be one of the greatest blessings (among
those that are not really necessaries of life) that providence has indulged to man-
kind; considering its beneficial qualities, as well as its agreeable flavor." In
order to diffuse these blessings more generally to all classes of people, some
persons have been inquiring a cheap and easy method of preparing it fine (i. e
to prevent the earthy parts, which are prejudicial, from incorporating) and
thereby rendering this repast highly palatable, and exhilarating to the spirits.
The method is, to put your ground coffee into a coarse linen bag, which should
be suspended loosely in the coffee-pot: pour in boiling water (as you like to
make it, strong or weak) then boil it ten minutes, serve it up, sweeten it to
taste with moist sugar, or brown candy. A Berlin newspaper, of two or three
years back, announces the discovery of an indigenous substitute for coffee, in
the following terms:-" Although the majority of our readers are prejudiced
against all the pretended methods of imitating coffee, of which it must be ad-
nitted that the greater part have by no means answered the praises by which
they have been recommended; this general distrust shall not prevent us from
introducing one more to notice: the astragalus-bælicus, an annual plant, which
grows well in a soil moderately manured, and with a certain degree of heat.
The seeds furnish a decoction, which may pass for real coffee, even to de
525
eiving the most acknowledged epicures." The same paper says, that similat
experiments have been tried at Vienna with mahiz, or turkey-wheat, and with
equal success. It is stated in the Paris papers of last year, that Mr. BAMAS, a
cloth manufacturer in the commune of Charny, in the departinent of Seine-
and-Marne, has found out the means of growing coffee in France. He sowed
some Mocha coffee, and this trial has produced to him the first season about
fifteen pounds of beans, which have preserved both their flavor and form. In
the culture of this coffee, it is said that he neither employs a green-house with
artificial heat, nor glass frames, nor glass covers: his success arises wholly
from the mode in which he prepares the soil designed for this production.
According to the Linuéan nomenclature and classification of botany, coffee
is denominated coffea, and is of the class and order pentandria-monogynia.
Page 21, 38.
NEGRO-In the year 1442, while the Portuguese, under the encouragement
of the celebrated Prince HENRY, were exploring the coast of Afric, ANTHONY
GONSALEZ, who, two years before, had seized some moors near cape Boyador,
was, by that prince, ordered to carry his prisoners back to Afric: he landed
them at Rio-del-oro, and received from the moors in exchange, 10 blacks and a
quantity of gold-dust, with which he returned to Lisbon. The success of GONSALEZ
not only awakened the admiration, but stimulated the avarice of his country-
men ; who, in the course of a few succeeding years, fitted out no less than 37
ships in pursuit of the same gainful traffic. In 1481, the Portuguese built a
fort on the gold coast; another, sometime afterwards, on the island of Ar-
guin ;
and a third at St. Paul, of Loaugo (or Loaugo St. Paul's), on the coast of
Angola; and the king of Portugal took the title of Lord of Guiney. So early
as the year 1502, the Spaniards began to employ a few negros in the mines of
Hespaniola; but in the year following OVANDO, the governor of that island, for-
bad the farther importation of them; alleging, that they taught the indians all
manner of wickedness, and rendered them less tractable than formerly (HER-
RERA, Decad. i, lib. 5, c. 2.). So dreadfully rapid, however, was the decrease
of these last-mentioned unfortunate people, as to induce the court of Spain, a
few years afterwards, to revoke the orders issued by OVANDO, and to authorise
by royal authority the introduction of african slaves from the portuguese settle-
ments on the coast of Guiney. In the year 1517, the emperor, CHARLES V.
granted a patent to certain persons for the exclusive supply of 4000 negros
annually to the islands of Hespaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico (HER-
RERA, Decad. ii.). This patent having been assigned to some genoese mer-
chants, the supply of negros to the spanish american plantations became from
that time an established and regular branch of commerce. Of the English, the
first who is known to have been concerned in this commerce, was the celebrated
JOHN HAWKINS, who afterwards received from Queen ELIZABETH the honor of
knighthood, and was made treasurer of the navy. His adventures are recorded
by HAKLUYT, a cotemporary historian. Having made several voyages to the
Canary isles, and there received information (says HAKLUYT)" negroes
were very good merchandise in Ilespaniola, and that store of negroes might
easily be had on the coast of Guiney, he resolved to make trial thereof, and
communicated that device, with his worshipful friends of London, Sir LIONEL
DUCKET, Sir THOMAS LODGE, Master GUNSON (his father-in-law), Sir WILLIAM
WINTER, Master BROMFIELD, and others; all which persons liked so well of
his intention, that they became liberal contributors and adventurers in the
action; for which purpose there were three good ships immediately provided,
the Salomon, of 120 tunnes, wherein Master HAWKINS himself went as
general; the swallow, of 100 tunnes; and the Jonas, a bark of 40 tunnes; in
which small fleet Master HAWKINS took with him 100 men." HAWKINS sailed
526
from England for Sierra-Leone in the month of October 1562, and in a short
time after his arrival on the coast got into his possession, partly (says HAK-
LUYT) by the sword, and partly by other means, to the number of 300 negroes,
besides other merchandise; with which he proceeded directly for Ilespaniola,
and touching at different ports in that island, disposed of the whole of his cargo
in exchange for hides, ginger, sugar, and some pearls; and arrived in England
in September 1563, after a very prosperous voyage, which brought great profit
unto the adventurers. The success which had attended this first expedition,
appears to have attracted the notice, and excited the avarice, of the british
government; for we find HAWKINS, in the year following, appointed to the
command of one of the queen's ships, the Jesus, of 700 tons; and with the
Salomon, the Tiger, a bark of 50 tons, and the Swallow, a bark of 30 tons, sent
a second time on the same trading expedition; but with what part of the profits
for his own share, is not mentioned. ile sailed 1564. He made a third voyage
in 1568 for the same purpose, which terminated miserably. The first english
charter for regular african trade, was granted by King JAMES I. 1618, which
expired in 1631; and King CHARLES I. erected a company by a second charter.
Page 24, 188.
AFFECTION; LOVE:-Affection is love, unaccompanied with desire; and love
Is affection, accompanied with desire: both imply good-will, well-wishing, bene-
volence toward the object of attachment; but the one excludes, and the other
includes, corporeal longing. Affection unites a man to his child; love to his
concubine. In married life, affection fills up the pauses of love, and often suc-
ceeds to it. Love is fitful; affection constant. This distinction has been copied
from the latin. Simiarum generi praecipua erga foetum affectio (PLINY). Non
sum praeceptor amoris (OVID). SHAKESPEARE often uses the word affection
vaguely and impurely.
Page 26, 27.
TENERIFFE;-Dabal Chronicle, xxiii, 9.
Page 28.
LION:-Concerning this aniraal, we find the following additional observations
in a modern instructive writer on Marocco (JACKSON):-" The lion is too well-
known to need a particular description. He is hunted by the africans in the
same manner as the nimmer or leopard, but they do not consider the chase to
be so dangerous; the lion is not so active, nor does he climb as the nimmer
does. The arabs say, that if a person unarmed meet the nimmer he is sure of
being destroyed; but that if, on the sight of a lion, he let his garments drop off
and stand undaunited, secming to defy him, the lion will turn round and quietly
walk off. Few people would be inclined to try the experiment for the purpose
of ascertaining the truth of this assertion. In the forests near the city of Me-
quinas, the lions are very fierce, and have frequently been known so to infest
the roads, as to render it impracticable for the caravans to pass. They are
also seen at the foot of the Atlas, where the country is well wooded." The
maximum of the leonine dimensions seem well authenticated by the fol-
lowing article extracted from an east-indian newspaper:--- Calcutta,
March 30, 1814. By a letter from a correspondent at Kurnaul, we are informed
of the particulars of a lion hunt in the vicinity of that station, during which
Colonel THOMPSON and a party of officers killed a lion of enormous size, and
supposed to be the largest ever seen in India. His dimensions were the follow-
ing: length from the end of the nose to the tip of the tail, ten feet two inches
height from the ground to the top of the shoulder, four feet six inches; cir
527
eumference of the fore leg, two feet four inches. He had killed eight villagers,
a great number of bullocks, and otherwise done much damage, previous to
information being sent to the military cantonments of his being in the neigh
bourhood."
Page 31.
:—
LEOPARD:-The same author just quoted in the note on the reputed king of
the beasts, gives the following account of the african animal, denominated
nimmer, which he says may be translated leopard :-" It is rather spotted than
striped; and in size resembles the royal tiger of Asia. The strength and agility
of this animal are wonderful: I have seen one receive nine balls before he felt.
When the nimmer is known to be in any particular district, deep holes are
made in the ground, and covered lightly over, on which if he happen to tread,
the ground sinks and he falls in. The sides of the hole being formed like an
inverted cone, the animal cannot get out, although he will make many efforts
to regain his liberty in the mean time the hunters come up and shoot him.
At other places, where he is supposed likely to pass, they build up a wall and,
cover it over, making a hole or two sufficiently large to admit a musket-barrel ;
and here the patient Shelluh will wait whole days for his enemy, living all the
time on barley-meal (hassowa) mixed with water. After building a few of these
walls, enclosed like rooms, several Shelluhs will go in quest of the nimmer :
each taking his station either in these buildings, or in some lofty tree, and
waiting a favourable opportunity to get a shot at him.”
Page 33.
BRAZIL: The reader who may be interested in acquiring more information
Concerning this country, can consult the following places of the Raval Chronicle :
miz. vol. xxiv, p. 274; xxx, 211; xxxi, 488; xxxiii, 483.
Page 35, 59.
SUGAR:-Mr. DE GRANVOGL, of Munich has established at Augsburg a
manufactory of sugar, from beet root which succeeds so well, as to pro-
mise the most important results. He manufactured, during the year 1812,
above twenty thousand pounds of sugar, and the quantity is expected to be
five times as much. The price of this sugar is 20 per cent. lower than that of
the sugars from cane, and at the same time is superior to it in quality or
sweetness. A pound of sugar from beet root is equal to two pounds and a
quarter of sugar from grapes. It is, besides, much less expensive, because ar
acre may produce from 300 to 600 quintals of beet root, and each quintak
30 pounds of juice, which will produce three pounds and a half of white
sugar, and an equal quantity of syrup. The residue serves for rum or aqua-
vile, and after having extracted all the saccharine and spirituous matter it
contains, there still remains a refuse excellent for feeding cows.
besides has leaves of a very large size, which are in much request for cattle.
This manufacture may be carried on during eight months of the year, whereas
that of sugar from grapes is limited to a very short period, and that of sugar
from the maple tree is scarcely of longer duration. Such are the advantages
of making sugar from beet root. In the country near Nassaberg, in Bohemia,
in the district of Prince CHARLES d'AUERSBERG, 70lbs. of sugar have been
manufactured from maple trees, equal to any procured from canes.
The
wees furnished from 80 to 200 measures of syrup, and they were not injured
Beet
528
by the operation. Sugar made from turnips, manufactured by Messrs.
GRANVOGL and Co. of Augsburgh, sells at Munich for 1 florin 6 kreutzers,
or 2s. 4d. sterling per pound. In France, Mr. DIVE, a chemist, at Peyrche-
rade, in the department of Landes, has made several experiments to extract
sugar from honey. They appear to have been crowned with success. He has
presented the prefect of the department with two samples of his sugar of
honey. One was in the state of the first crystallization, or raw sugar. It
retained a slight ódor of its origin, which, however, Mr. Dive hopes to be
able to remove. The other, which has undergone only one purifying process,
is a fine powder sugar, and partakes much less than the former of the taste of
honey. Mr. DIVE is engaged in manufacturing a considerable quantity, for
the purpose of comparative experiments between it and sugar extracted from
the cane, or from grapes.—( Moniteur.)
Page 36, 220.
TOBACCO :-The advance in price of tobacco has occasioned a variety of experi
ments to be made, with a view to discover a substitute, and it is now ascertained
that the very common herb yarrow does as well for smoking as the Virginia.
The herb should be gathered in the summer season. The College of medicine
at Stockholm has discovered that the leaves of the potato-root, dried in a partí-
cular manner, gives tobacco a superior fragrance to ordinary tobacco. The
king has ordered the public authorities to favour the cultivation of this root.
The danish gazettes recommend the use of the substitute instead of foreign
tobacco. It is an ascertained fact, that every professed, inveterate, and incurable
snuff-taker, at a moderate computation, takes one pinch in ten minutes; every
pinch, with the agreeable ceremony of blowing and wiping the nose, and other inci-
dental circumstances, consumes one minute and a half out of every ten, allowing
sixteen hours to a snuff-taker's day, amounts to two hours and twenty-four minutes
out of every natural day, and one day out of every ten. One day out of every ten
amounts to thirty-six days and a half in a year. Hence we suppose the practice
to be persisted in for forty years, two entire years of a snuff-taker's life will be
dedicated to tickling his nose, and two more to blowing of it! And if the
expense of snuff, snuff-boxes, and handkerchiefs were considered, it would be
found that this luxury encroaches as much on the income of the snuff-taker as
it does on his time. On the subject of tobacco, how different from the invectives-
against this herb, at page 220, are the strains of the subsequent imitation of
YOUNG!-
1
"Critics, avaunt! Tobacco is my theme:
Tremble like hornets at the blasting steam.
And you, court-insects, flutter not too near
It's light, nor buzz within the scorching sphere,
Pollio, with flame like thine, my verse inspire,
So shall the muse from smoke elicit fire.
Coxcombs prefer the tickling sting of snuff;
Yet all their claim to wisdom is a paff.
Lord FOPLING smokes not, for his teeth afraid;
Sir TAWDRY Smokes not, for he wears brocade.
Ladies, when pipes are brought, affect to swoon:
They love no smoke, except the smoke of town;
But courtiers hate the puffing tribe-no matter,
Strange if they love the breath that cannot flatter!
It's foes but shew their ignorance; can he,
Who scorns the leaf of knowledge, love the tree?
:
529
Yet crowds remain, who still it's worth proclaim,
While some for pleasure smoke, and some for fame :
Fame, of our actions universal spring,
For which we drink, eat, sleep, smoke, every thing.
(Hawkins Browne).
Page 37.
STERLING: Since the former note on this term, used to denote english
money, was written, farther research has led the Editor to entertain some
doubts as to the perfect exactness of the definition therein given.-The
reader interested in numismatic investigation will find an instructive article on
this word in the Gentleman's Magazine for the year 1756, (page 466). SOMNER
(Glossar. in TwYSDEN script. in voc. Sterlingius) objects, with considerable
ingenuity and force to the derivation of this word generally given, and
adopted in JAMIESON's Etymological Dictionary. His objections are founded
both on the date of its first occurrence, and on the orthography which it then
had. He traces it as far back as the year 1082, when it is written lib.
Sterilensium. This form it preserved until the time of HENRY II, when it ap-
pears to have been changed to Sterlinium. Soon afterwards, in JOHN of
Salisbury, it is written Sterlingi; it was at last changed to Esterlingi; whence
it has been supposed to be derived from Esterling, a name given to the people
of the north-east of Germany, who are said to have first brought the art of
refining silver into Englaud. In that case, however, the orthography would
have changed from Esterling to Sterling, and not from Sterling to Esterling.
Besides, the coming over of the Esterbrigs is known to have taken place in
the reign of K. JOHN, long after the use of the word. SOMNER derives it
from A. S. rreone, lex, canon, signifying money made according to a fixed
rule, or lawful money. TRUSLER'S Chronology gives the following different
explanations of the word :-" Sterling-moncy is so called from the town of
Sterling in Scotland; because OSBERT, a Saxon prince, after the overthrow of
the Scots, established a mint there: but some say that sonie easterling coiners
from the coast of Germany were invited over here under RICHARD II. and
coined for us; and that the money was so called from them: others say that
it means sound metal; and was so called to distinguish it from base inetal
called cocudini."
Page 38.
San-Salvador:—An interesting description of this city is to be found in
the Babal Chronicle: vol. xxxiii, p. 418.
GUINEA-GRAINS:-Some botanists describe this production thus:-" Am-
momum. Gr. Paradisi. Monandria-monogynia." Others are of opinion that it
approaches nearer to Limodorum. Gynandria-diandria. On 7th September
1814, at Aston, several victuallers were convicted in mitigated penalties of
201. and costs, by the presiding magistrates, for having made use of Grains-
of-Paradise in the brewing of ale and beer. Should any victualler be here-
after discovered using Grains-of-Paradise, or any other noxious ingredient, in
the brewing of ale or beer, not only the whole penalty, which is 2007. will
be inflicted, but such victualler will not be again liceused.—(Birmingham.)
Page 39.
ASSIENTO:The progress of this work now brings us to the contemplation of
human nature in its most debased and abject state; to the sad prospect of
450000 reasonable beings (in the english islands only) in a state of barbarity
and slavery; of whom, great numbers assuredly have been torn from their
Robinson Crusoe,
(Naval Chron.-Edition.]
M M
530
native country and dearest connections, by means which no good mind can
reflect upon but with sentiments of disgust, commiseration, and sorrow. The
note explanatory of the term assiento, at the page where it occurs, informs the
reader of what was doing at the eventful æra when this work was put to press,
towards wiping off from our nation the reproach of complicity in such a traffic.
Since which, parliament has given publicity to the following documents, illustra
tive of what has been effected at the congress of Vienna towards declaring the aboli
tion of the africau slave trade, an integral part of the european law of nations :-
Extract from the Treaty between Great Britain and Sweden, signed at Stockholm
the 3d day of March, 1813.-Separate article.
As a consequence of the cession made by his britannic majesty in the fifth arti-
cle of the treaty signed this day, of the island of Guadaloupe, his majesty the
king of Sweden engages; To forbid and prohibit, at the period of the cession,
the introduction of slaves from Africa into the said island, and the other pos-
sessions in the West-Indies of his swedish majesty, and not to permit swedish
subjects to engage in the slave trade; an engagement which his swedish majesty
is the more willing to contract, as this traffic has never been authorised by
bin.
Extract of a Treaty between Great Britain and Denmark, signed at Kiel,
14th January, 1814.
His majesty the king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
and the british nation, being extremely desirous of totally abolishing the slave
trade, the king of Denmark engages to co-operate with his said majesty for the
completion of so beneficent a work, and to prohibit all his subjects, in the most
effectual manner, and by the most solemn laws, from taking any share in such
trade.
Belgic State-paper.
WC, WILLIAM, by the grace of God, prince of Orange-Nassau, sovereign
prince of the United-Netherlands, &c. &c. &c. Having heard the report of
our secretary of state for foreign affairs relative to the contents of a note
received by him from the ambassador of Great Britain, bearing date the 7th
instant, and requesting to obtain our prompt and effectual assistance in the
measures which Great Britain has already adopted for herself, and earnestly
recommended to other european powers with regard to the slave trade; and
being desirous to embrace every opportunity of affording to his royal highness
the prince regent of Great Britain, proofs of our amicable sentiments, and of
our readiness to contribute, as much as possible, to the attainment of his
views; have decreed, and do decree:-
Article 1. Henceforward no ships or vessels destined to convey negros from
the coast of Africa, or from any islands belonging to that quarter of the globe,
to the continent, or to the islands of America, shall be cleared out or expedited
from any of the harbours or roads within the territory of the United Nether-
lands, the financial department being specially ordered to take such precau-
tions that our intentions in this respect be complied with, and that no ship or
vessel be cleared out, which, from its equipment, or from other circumstances,
may lead to a supposition of its being destined to the aforesaid purpose, or of
being any way connected with the slave trade.
2. It shall be signified to the general government of the coast of Guinea,
that in none of the forts, offices, or possessions, within the limits of that com-
mand, any ships or vessels destined or equipped for the slave trade shall be
admitted; and also that no inhabitants of that country, or any other persons in
the vicinity of those ports or offices, shall be sold or exported as slaves; and to
such ships or vessels, in case they navigate under foreign colours, notice shall be
531
given of the existing prohibition, and they shall forthwith be ordered to put
back to sea; whilst such vessels belonging to the inhabitants of the Netherlands
shall be seized, and a report thereof made to the commercial and colonial
department.
3. Copies of this present decree shall be sent to the financial and to the
commercial and colonial departments, that they may respectively attend to the
execution of the same; and also to our secretary of state for foreign affairs,
who is ordered to communicate the contents of these presents.
"1. To the ambassador of Great Britain, in answer to his aforesaid note,
adding, that at the eventual negociations relative to the restitution of
the dutch colonics, we shall not be averse to having inserted in the
treaty such an article as shall continue to bind the government of this
state to the perpetual observance of the aforesaid measures, and to the
effectual prohibition of the slave trade.
"2. To the boards of trade for the information of the trading parts of the
inhabitants."
Given at the Hague the 15th of June, in the year 1814, and of our reign the
first.
(Signed)
William.
By order of his royal highness the secretary general of state.
(Signed)
A. R. Falch.
Extract from the definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and France,
signed at Paris the 30th of May, 1814.-Additional article.
His most christian majesty, concurring without reserve in the sentiments of
his britannic majesty, with respect to a description of traffic repugnant to the
principles of natural justice, and of the enlightened age in which we live, engages
to unite all his efforts to those of his britannic majesty, at the approaching con-
gress, to induce all the powers of christendom to decree the abolition of the
slave trade, so that the said trade shall cease universally, as it shall cease defi-
nitively, under any circumstances, on the part of the french government, in the
course of five years; and that during the said period no slave merchant shall
import or sell slaves, except in the colonies of the state of which he is a subject.
Regulations concerning the Slave Trade.
The minister and secretary of state for the department of the marine and of
the colonies, considering that the king, from motives of humanity, and in con-
cert with several powers of Europe, has resolved speedily to put an end to the
slave trade; that his majesty, who has already manifested the desire of confin-
ing this trade within those bounds which circumstances seem to have assigned
to it, has nevertheless found that it was still for some time necessary to settle-
ments, which are of importance to their mother-country, with a view of gradu-
ally preparing a new order of things, and of rendering less painful the sacrifices
which it must carry along with it; that as all the persons actually employed in
cultivating our colonies, have an interest in the temporary continuation of this
trade, it is also useful: that the subjects of the king would defeat the intentions
'formally expressed by his majesty, if they were to renew the trade on those
points of the coast of Africa where it has effectually ceased to be carried on
for several years, and where settlements have been established for the purpose
of civilizing the inhabitants of those countries, and of replacing the traffic in
slaves by that in the produce of the country; and, considering that his majesty
*
M M 2
532
has ordered the slave trade to cease immediately, in that portion of Africa which
is situated north of cape Palmas; It is decreed:
Article 1. The masters and owners of slave-ships shall, in future, for-
bear carrying on this trade on that part of the coast of Africa which is
situated between cape Blanc and cape Palma.-2. This trade is also probi-
bited to every individual inhabiting any of the french settlements on the coast
of Africa, and should any negros have been bought by any of them, the governor
of Senegal shall seize those negros, and dispose of them in the manner of those
found on board private vessels, in contravention of the present regulation.-3.
Slave-ships, in sailing to those places where the slave trade is permitted, may
sail along that part of the coast of Africa which extends from cape Blanc to
cape Palma, on which this trade is prohibited, but, on their return, they must
not approach it. Hence every vessel found within less than forty leagues of
the coast, situated between cape Blanc and cape Palma, and having negros on
board that form no part of her crew, shall be considered as having carried on
the slave trade in those quarters, and shall therefore be seized and carried to
Senegal.-4. Accidents at sea, such as stress of weather, which might force a
slave-ship, against her inclination, to go near that portion of the coast where the
trade is prohibited, shall be verified on board by a written account, signed by
the captain, the officers, and the master. A similar account shall be drawn up
in case a leak, or any other accident, calculated to prevent a ship from prose-
cuting her voyage, should oblige her to touch at that coast, either for the pur-
pose of saving her crew, or of making such repairs as may be necessary to ena-
ble her to proceed to her place of destination. If the damage sustained justifies
the necessity of her having entered a prohibited course, the commanders of his
majesty's ships are authorised to succour her and afford her every assistance in
their power, in order that she may leave the coast as speedily as possible. The
said commanders shall transmit to the minister of the marine, and of the colo-
nies, a detailed report, concerning the circumstances of absolute necessity that
may have compelled a ship to make for a prohibited coast; and they shall annex
to such report copies of the vouchers.-5. Every owner and captain engaged in
this trade, on such tracts of the coast where it is allowed, shall, at the moment
of leaving the coast, in order to proceed to the french colonies in America,
draw up an account, stating the number, the sex, and the age of the negros on
board his vessel, and the latitude in which the said trade shall have been carried
on.
Such papers to be signed by the captains, supercargos, and masters.-6.
Two of his majesty's ships shall cruize on the coast of Africa, in order to ensure
the execution of the king's directions.-7. All vessels carrying on the slave
trade within the prohibited limits, on being met by his majesty's ships, shall be
detained and carried into Senegal. The commanders of these ships shall, with
regard to such vessels, proceed according to the regulations which are acted
apon respecting prizes in tine of war,-8. Such negros as may be found on
board the captured vessels shall immediately be landed, and the governor of
Senegal shall provide for their being lodged, subsisted, and furnished with
necessaries.-9. The formal proceedings, respecting the prize and its adjudica-
tion, shall be under the direction of a commission formed at Senegal, and which
shall govern itself by the regulations observed in time of war relative to mari-
time prizes; it shall be composed of the king's governor of Senegal, and of two
superior civil officers; and one of the principal clerks shall act as secretary.-
10. Immediately after the decision of the commission the captured vessels
shall be sent back to some french port in Europe, carrying with them all the
documents of their adjudication; the merchandizes and effects shall remain on
board, except those whose preservation may require them to be landed. The
governor of Senegal and the commander of the capturing vessel, shall, in con-
cert, appoint a conductor of the prize. The said prize shall be given in charge
to the administration of the marine in the port to which she shall have been
carried.-11. There shall be formed at Paris a superior commission for the
533
purpose of pronouncing judgment, in the last resort, in case of appeal, upon
prizes made, according to the 4th and 5th articles, on the coast of Africa. It
shall be composed of two counsellors of state, two maitres des requêtes, two
general or superior officers of the marine, and of four officers of the administra-
tion of the marine, one of whom shall act as the king's attorney, and another as
secretary.-12. It shall be lawful for the parties concerned to appeal to this
superior commission from the adjudications made by that at Senegal.—13. The
vessels definitively condemned, as well as the merchandizes and effects found
on board, shall be sold through the agency of the administration of the marine,
established in the port into which they shall have been carried, and the proceeds
of them shall be paid over to the fund of invalid sailors of the marine, deduct
ing therefrom the expenses caused by the detention and the guarding of those
vessels, as well as by the subsistence of the negros, and by supplying them with
necessaries.-14. In case, pursuant to the decisions of the commission in Sene-
gal, and of the superior commission, the negros found on board the captured
vessels are not to be restored to the owners; the governor of Senegal shall em-
ploy them as cultivators and free labourers, unless they should prefer returning
to their country.-15. It is particularly recommended to the owners and cap-
tains of slave-ships to treat the negros with lenity, to procure for them wholesome
and abundant food, and to employ in their preservation all the care prescribed
by humanity; but, above all, to embark on board each vessel only such a num-
ber of slaves as she can hold without prejudice to their health. The governors
and intendants of our settlements in America shall cause the negro vessels, on
their arrival in our colonies, to be inspected, and shall report to the minister and
secretary of state for the marine the names of such owners as shall not have
punctually fulfilled the benevolent inteutions of the king.
(Signed)
Ferrand,
Whether the following decree by BUONAPARTE for the abolition of the slave-
trade, on the part of France, be or be not carried into immediate operation, or
whatever may be the final result of his enterprise, it will be henceforth continued,
or resuined, with a very ill grace, under any other legislation than his own.
Imperial Decree,
Paris, 29th March.
"NAPOLEON, emperor of the French. We have decreed, and do decree as
follows:-
"Article 1. From the date of the publication of the present decree, the trade
in negros is abolished. No expedition shall be allowed for this commerce,
neither in the ports of France, nor in those of our colonies.
"2. There shall not be introduced, to be sold in our colonies, any negro the
produce of this trade, whether french or foreign.
"3. Any infraction of this decree shall be punished with the confiscation of
the ship and cargo, which shall be pronounced by our courts and tribunals.
"4. However, the ship-owners who before the publication of the present
decree, shall have fitted out expeditions for the trade, may sell the product in
pur colonies.
66
5. Our ministers are charged with the execution of the present decree.
(Signed)
By the emperor, the minister secretary of state,
(Signed)
Napoleon.
The Duke of Bassano,
534
Page 41.
NEGRO, SLAVE:-In Jamaica, the usual mode of calculating, in a general way,
the average profits of a sugar estate, is to allow 107. sterling per annum for
every negro, young and old, employed in this line of cultivation; according to
which the income of the BECKFORD estates, arising from 2533 negros, ought
to be 25330l. sterling. It is doubtful, however, as the proprietor does not
reside in the island, if he has received on an average, of ten years together,
any thing near that sum: but even this is but 64 per cent. on his capital, which
is 3800007.; negros being of the property, and being usually valued at 50%.
sterling each, upon an average.
Page 44.
MAN AND THE BOY WASHED OVERBOARD:-From the numerous instances of
persons being washed, or falling, overboard, who could only be saved by the most
immediate assistance, a life-rope was lately constructed, and publicly exhibited
to the naval officers at Portsmouth; which obtained such general approbation,
that many of them said they should immediately have some ropes titted up for
such mode of relief, to be placed on each quarter-gallery, or other suitable parts
on board their respective ships. The admiral commanding in chief at that
station more particularly testified to the projector (Mr. MANBY), that he was
of opinion his method of using a life-rope, for the assistance of persons who
may have fallen overboard, was ingenious, and likely to be extremely useful in
such cases; and, moreover, that the several officers with whom the admiral had
conversed on the subject, fully concurred with him in those ideas. The Editor
of this publication being desirous of rendering it, not only an entertaining, but
an useful article of every cabin-library (to which the liberality of our pre-
sent race of naval officers habitually indulge the junior members of their profes-
sion with access), does not hesitate to devote a page of ROBINSON CRUSOE, to
the description and delineation of this simple but valuable process. The life-
rope recommended in MANBY'S "Lecture on the prescrvation of persons in the
hour of shipwreck," is of the following form :

The rope having a noose, can be tightened by drawing a small wooden button
or slide (B), through which the spliced or double part of the rope passes; the
noose is kept open and a-float by a piece of whalebone, with which the bight of
the rope passes through a number of corks (A). An egg-shaped piece of wood
as a small buoy (C), (being painted white as well as the corks, to make them
better seen in the dark) is also upon the rope, so that when grasped by the per-
son in danger, it is prevented from slipping through and cutting the hands (as
would be the case with a common rope), and by which he can support himself
while getting the noose over his head and arm; when, by slipping the button or
slide, he secures himself in it, and can be drawn up the ship's side in perfect
safety, and the corks have the additional use to prevent him from being hurt by
the rope.
Page 46.
AMAZONES.-Marañon, Orellana, or Solimoes: a river of all the above names,
and the largest not only that is known in America, but (perhaps with the sole
535
exception of the great river [Zair] of Congo) in the whole world. It
is said to rise from the lake Lauricocha, in the province of Tarma, of the king-
dom of Peru; in lat 10° 29′ S.; but its most remote source is the river Beni,
which rises in the cordillera De Acama, about 35 miles from La Paz, in the
province of Sicasica. It runs from N. to S. as far as the province of Yaguar-
songo in the kingdom of Quito. From thence it forms the strait of Guaracayo,
follows its course from W. to E. running a distance, from its rising to where it
enters the sea, of 1800 leagues. The mouth or entrance of this river is about
180 miles wide; the tide water ends at Obidos, which is about 400 miles from
its mouth. The river at this place is 905 fathoms wide, and the violence with
which this river flows is so powerful that it repels the waters of the ocean, and
retains its own stream pure and unimpregnated for a distance of 80 leagues
within the sea; (a circumstance the inore wonderful, in as much as from the
above distance of Obidos to its mouth, 400 miles, it has a fall of only four
feet.) Innumerable are the rivers which it receives in its long extended course,
but the larger and more considerable are, to the N. the Santiago, Morona,
Pastaza, Tigre, Napo, Negro, Putumayo, Yupura, Yaguapiri, Curupatuba, and
Gari; and to the S. the Guallagu, Ucayale, Cuchwara, Yahuari, Yutay or
Yotau, Cayari or Coyari, Madera, Topayos, Tocantines, Xingu, Guanapu,
Muju, and others. The first who discovered the mouth of this immense river
was VICENTE YANEZ PINZON, in 1498. It was afterwards reconnoitred in
1541, by FRANCISCO de ORELLANA, lieutenant of GONZALO PIZARRO; in 1560
by PEDRO de URSUA, by order of Don ANDRES HURTADO de MENDOZA, Marquis
of CAÑETE, Viceroy of Peru; in 1602, by the father RAFAEL FERRER, of the
abolished order of Jesuits of the province of Quito, and missionary amongst
the Cofanes indians; and in 1616 by order of Don FRANCISCO de BORJA,
prince of ESQUILACHE, Viceroy of Peru; also in 1725 by JUAN de PALACIOS,
in company with the fathers DOMINGO, BREDA, and ANDREAS de TOLEDO, by
the command of SAN FRANCIsco. Besides these PEDRO TEXEIRA, a Portuguese,
undertook in the name of SANTIAGO RAIMUNDO de NORONHA, governor of San
Luis de Marañan, the farther navigation of this river, arriving by the Napo as
far as the port of Payamo, in the province of Moxos. In 1639, Don GERONIMO
FERNANDEZ de CABRERA, Count of CHINCHON, and Viceroy of Peru, sent as
far as Parà the fathers CHRISTOVAL DA CUNNA and ANDRES de ANTIEDA,
jesuits of the province of Quito, and also the father SAMUEL FRITZ, a German,
and of the same extinguished company, a great missionary and profound
mathematician. He it was that took the most exact observatious as far as
Parà, in his voyage made in the year 1689, and 1691, and who gave to the
world the first geographical chart of the Marañon, made and published at
Quito in 1707. Subsequently to this, another map was published by Mr.
CHARLES de la CONDAMINE, of the royal academy of sciences at Paris, he being
one of the persons commissioned to make astronomical observations under the
equinoctial line. This last map is the most correct, and was made in the
voyages he performed in the Marañon, 1743 and 1744, although it was much
amended and enlarged by another map which had been formed by the father
JUAN MAGNIN, of the aforesaid company, and then missionary at the city of
Borja, of the province of Mainas, and an honorary academician of the Sciences
at Paris. The shores and innumerable islands of this large river, were peopled
and inhabited by many barbarous nations of Indians, which have, for the most
part, at the present day, either become extinct, or retired to the wilds of the
mountains. The name of Amazonas is derived to this river from some warlike
women, who attacked and opposed the Spaniards on their first arrival, and
more especially the discoverer ORELLANA. Some hold this as fabulous, but others
maintain that there not only were, but are at this time, such women as those
of whom we speak; and these people recount of them the same stories that are
536
told of the asiatic Amazons in the Termodonte. The fact, however, is, that
the women here called Amazonas were nothing more than women who assisted
their husbands in battle; a practice very prevalent amongst the greater part of
the nations of the american Indians. Such was the case when GONZALO had
to encounter women in the kingdom of Tunja, SEBASTIAN de BENALCAZAR in
Popayan, PEDRO DE VALDIVIA in Chilé, as also other conquerors in different
provinces. The Amazons of the Maranon, of which we treat, and who made
front against ORELLANA, were of the nation of the Omaguas, dwelling in the
islands and on the shores of the river. The historians who paint the govern
ment and customs of this fictitious race, are nothing but idle dreamers aud
fabulists, publishing wonders to accredit their voyages and histories. From
the mouth of the river, as far up as the Yavari, on the S. shore, and as far as
the settlement of Loreto de los Ticunes on the N. including the river itself,
and the adjacent territories, the Portuguese possessions are considered at the
present day to extend, and from thence upwards is claimed by the Crown of
Spain. The latter power has founded many settlements of Indians, who have
become Christians; as also certain reducciones, which form the mission called
De Mainas, the same having had its origin, and having since flourished, under
the discipline and management of the regulars of the company of Jesuits of the
province of Quito, until that this order was supplanted, in 1767, by the presi-
dent Don JOSEF DIBUJA, who sent various priests in the place of the former;
these banishing the Jesuits from the dominion of the king. Other missionaries
were also sent of the religious orders of San FRANCISCO, to the shores of the
rivers Manua, Putainayo, and Caqueta. The woods of the Marañon are
immense, full of tigers, dantas, bears, leopards, wild boars, and an infinite
variety of venomous snakes and serpents; the most formidable of which are
those called yacumamas, saramicues, corales, exis, cascabeles, canelas, tigrillas,
buhos and intiyuyes. The waters swarm with alligators or crocodiles, fine fish
of various kinds, the same being peculiar to the lakes in its vicinities, some sorts
exceedingly rare, and especially those called charapas or tortoise, the manati
or sea-cow, the same being called also pere-buey or ox-fish, from its great
resemblance to this animal, and which feeds upon grass and suckles its young.
The multitude, variety, and beauty of the birds, are truly striking to foreigners;
and amongst the most noted are the piuries, quacamayos, loros, chiricluses,
paujies, poeticadores, trompeteros, mountain-fowl, partridges, pheasants, quails,
and the rest. Here are infinite variety of apes of different figures, and of the
most extravagant and ridiculous appearances. The vegetable productions
which grow wild, are cacao, cinnamon, bainilla, zarzaparilla, and pines; and
those which are in part wild and generally cultivated are coffee, sugar-canes,
rice, mahiz, plantains, pitajayas, lemons, limes, oranges, &c. also wax, storax,
capayve carana, oil of Maria, copal, and other balsams, resins, and medicinal
drugs. The woods are extremely precious, of every kind, color, and size;
such as cedar, red-wood, (pulo-rojo) holy-wood (palo santo) pine, basla and
chonta, which resembles ebony. The herbs and roots, although they are in
very great abundance, are but little known, as are the different coloured
mineral earths. Throughout the whole country washed by this mighty river,
from the point or strait of Manseriche to its mouth, there is to be found no
kind of stone, gold, or other mineral. Its current has great violence and rapidity,
and its depth is unfathomable. The swellings and freshes are usually very
great: and when these happen, the country is inundated for many leagues, the
whole of the islands are covered with water, and are made to change their
situation, or new ones are formed by the fresh channels which the river in
its boundless impetuosity is accustomed to procure itself. In the parts called
Pongo de Manseriche and Pauxis, its stream is confined in a narrow channel
of about three leagues across. The water here is pure and well tasted, but
very turbid and thick, owing to the number of trees, of pieces of earth, which
537
it draws down with it in its course; and these impediments render its navi-
gation here somewhat dangerous to canoes, although not so to the larger ves-
sels, or piraguas, of the Portuguese. This river is navigable from the city of
Jaen, in the kingdom of Quito, as far as its entrance into the sea, which is
nearly its whole course. The climate of the countries that it irrigates, from
the province of Yaguarsongo to its mouth, is hot, moist, and unhealthy, espe-
cially on its shores, which have also the disagreeable molestation of mosquitos
of a thousand kinds, as well as of many other venomous insects. The history of
this river was written and published in a folio volume by the father MANUEL
RODRIGUEZ, of the extinguished company of Jesuits.
Ibid.
OROONOQUE :-(Thus written in the 2d edition of Robinson Crusoe) A
river of the Nuevo Reyno de Granada, in S. America, one of the four
largest rivers on the continent. It rises in the Sierras Nevadas to the
N. of the lake Parime, in the province of Guayana, according to the
discovery made by order of the court by Admiral Don JOSEPH ITUR-
RIAGA, and by means of the information received from the Caribes In-
dians, proving erroneous the origin given to it by the father JOSEPH GU-
MILLA, the jesuit, in his book entitled "Orinoco Illustrudo," as also the
origin given it by the ex-jesuit COLETI, namely, in the province of Mocoa,
in lat. 1° 21' N. The fact is, that, according to the more recent and best
accounts, it should appear to rise in the Sierra Ibermoqueso, from a small
lake called Ipava, which is, agreeably with the account of our author, in the
province of Guayana. This river runs more than 600 leagues, receiving in
its extended course an exceeding number of other rivers, which swell it to an
amazing size, and it proceeds to empty itself into the sea, opposite the island
of Trinidad, by seven different mouths, forming various isles, denominated the
Orotomecas or Palomas, so called from a barbarous nation of Indians of this
name inhabiting thein. The Orinoco bears the name of Iscante, until it passes
through the country of the Tames Indians, where it receives, by the W. side,
the rivers Paparnene and Plasencia, and acquires then the name of that dis-
trict, which it changes at passing through the settlement of San Juan de
Yeima into that of Guavare, and then to that of Barragan, just below where
it is entered by the abundant stream of the Meta, and before it is joined by the
Cazanare, of equal size. It receives on the N. side, the rivers Pau, Guaricu,
Assure, Cabiari, Sinaruco, Guabiaris, Irricha, San Carlos, and others; and by
the S. those of Benituari, Amariguaca, Cuchivero, Caura, Aroi, Caroni, Ac-
quiri, Piedras, Vermejo or Colorado, and others of less note; and being ren-
dered thus formidable with all the above, it at last becomes the Orinoco. Its
shores and islands are inhabited by many barbarous nations of Indians, some
of whom have been reduced to the catholic faith by the jesuits, who had
founded some flourishing missions, until the year 1767; when, through their
expulsion from the spanish dominions, these Indians passed to the charge of
the capuchin friars. The Orinoco is navigable for more than 200 leagues
for vessels of any size, and for canoes and small craft from its mouth as far as
Tunja or San Juan de los Llanos. It abounds exceedingly in all kinds of fish ;
and on its shores, which are within the ecclesiastical government of the bishop
of Puerto Rico, are forests covered with a great variety of trees and woods,
and inhabited by strange animals and rare birds, the plants, fruits, and insects
being the same as those on the shores of the Maranon. This last mentioned
river communicates with the Orinoco by the river Negro, although this was a
problem much disputed until acknowledged by the discovery made by the
father RAMUEL ROMAN, the jesuit, in 1743. The principal mouth of the
Orinoco was discovered by Admiral CHRISTOPHER COLON in 1498, and
538
DIEGO de ORDAS was the first who entered it; he having sailed up it in 153 t.
The sounding between fort San Francisco de la Guayana and the channel of
Limon is 65 fathoms, measured in 1734 by the engineer Don PABLO DIAS
FAXARDO, and, at the narrowest part, it is more than 80 fathoms deep; in
addition to which, during the months of August and September, the river is ac-
customed to rise 20 fathoms at the time of its swelling or overflow, which lasts
for five months; and the natives have observed that it rises a yard higher
every 25 years. The flux and reflux of the sea is clearly distinguishable in
this river for 160 leagues. In the part where it is narrowest stands a for-
midable rock in the middle of the water, of 40 yards high, and upon its top
is a great tree, the head of which alone is never covered by the waters, and is
very useful to mariners as a mark to guard against the rock. Such is the
rapidity and force with which the waters of this river rush into the sea, that
they remain pure and unconnected with the waters of the ocean for more than
20 leagues distance: its principal mouth, called de Navios, is in lat. 8° 9" N.
The Orinoco is remarkable for its rising and falling once a year only; for it
gradually rises during the space of five months, and then remains one month
stationary, after which it falls for five months, and in that state continues for
one month also. These alternate changes are regular, and even invariable.
Perhaps the rising of the waters of the river may depend on the rains which
constantly fall in the mountains of the Andes every year about the month of
April; and although the height of the flood depends much upon the breadth or
extent of the bed of the river, yet, in one part where it is narrowest, it rises
(as ALCEDO has correctly observed) to the astonishing height of 120 feet. One
mouth of the river is S. by E. of the gulph of Paria, in latitude 8° 50′ N. lon.
60° W. and opposite to the island of Trinidad. It is large and navigable, and
has many good towns on its banks that are chiefly inhabited by the Spanish,
and is joined also on the E. side by the lake Casipa. There are two other
islands at its mouth, the entrance to which is also somewhat dangerous, as
there is frequently a dreadful conflict between the tide of the ocean and the
current of the river, that must, for the reasons assigned, sometimes run very
rapidly. It is true that the river, including its windings, takes a course of
1380 miles. It may be considered as having many mouths, which are formed
by the islands that lie before its opening towards the ocean; yet there are
only two that are considered as of any use for the purposes of navigation.
These are the channels of Sabarima and Corobana, otherwise called Carib-
biana. The latter lies in a S. by W. direction, and is also divided into two
distinct channels, that afterwards meet again at the island of Trinidad in the
mouth of the grand river. But pilots pretend to say, that the mouth of this
great river begins from the river Amugora, reaching from thence to the river
Sabarima, and from thence about to the river Caribbiana; and some accounts
state its mouths to be upwards of 40 in number, as if it were a collection of
many rivers, all uniting at the mouth of the great river, and assisting to con-
vey the main stream of that river into the ocean. The W. passage or channel
of the river Orinoco, called by the Spaniards the gulph of Paria, lies between
cape Salinas on the main, and the N. W. point of the island of Trinidad. It
contains several islands, which divide the stream of the river into several
branches, particularly the Boca Grande, or Great Mouth, which is the eastern-
most, being about gun-shot wide, but having no soundings within 300 fathoms,
and the Boca Pequena, or Little Mouth, which is the westernmost, being
almost as wide as the other, and having ground at from 50 to 60 fathoms. At
New Cape Araya, on the N. side of the mouth of this river, are salt-pits, which
yield the finest salt in the world. In some maps the head waters are called Inir-
chia. A more diffuse and particular account of this mighty river will be found
in a recent publication of merit, under the following heads, which have been
translated and selected from the works of DEPONS, and other writers, viz. The
539
An
seven principal mouths of the Orinoco. The navigation of the Orinoco up to St.
Thomas.-Enchanting variety of its banks.-Importance of this river. Far-
ther account of its waters, and its annual swell. Its tides, and peculiar animals
inhabiting it. Table of latitudes and longitudes of these parts. It is presumed
that the course of this river, for the first 100 leagues, is N.E. and S. In this
part it leaves the imaginary lake of Parima 60 leagues from its left bank. The
rivers which flow into the Orinoco give it, before it has run these 100 leagues
from its source, as rapid a current, and as great a body of water as any of the
most considerable rivers. From the Esmeraldas to San Fernando de Atabapa,
its course is from E. to N.E. Between these places is the canal of Casiquiari,
which forms the communication between it and the Amazones, by the river
Negro. About 100 miles from the sea, the Orinoco, like the Nilę, forms a sort
of fan, scattered with a number of little islands, which divide it into several
branches and channels, and oblige it to discharge itself through this labyrinth
into the sea by an infinite number of mouths, lying N.E. and S. W. and extend-
ing more than 170 miles. These islands increase so on the coast, that the
mouths of the Orinoco are very numerous, but very few of them are navigable,
It is computed that these openings amount to near 50, and only seven of them
admit the entrance of vessels, and these must not be of a large burden.
idea of the prudence and skill requisite for the navigation of these mouths may
be formed by what daily happens among the Guayanos Indians, who, although
born on the islands, and from subsisting solely on fish, are so accustomed to
the intricacies of the different channels, yet frequently lose themselves, and are
obliged to allow the current to carry them out to sea, and then to re-enter, not
without the most minute observations and endeavours to ascertain the proper
passage. It even requires a considerable skill to find the current; for the nu-
merous channels have such different directions, that, in the greater part of
them no current at all is perceptible, and, in the others, the eddies or the winds
give the currents a direction up the river instead of down. The compass is
frequently of no use, and when a person is once lost, he is often obliged to
wander several days among the Guayanos islands, conceiving he is ascending
the river when he is descending, or that he is descending when he is ascending,
and at length finds himself at the very point from which he set out, The first
of the mouths which are navigable is 25 miles S. E. of the entrance of the
Guarapiche river, in the province of Cumanà. It is one of those which empty
their water in the gulph of Paria. It is called the great Manamo in contra-
distinction to the little Manamo, which runs in the same channel with it,
nearly to the sea, and is navigable for shallops. The second mouth is 20 miles
N.E. of the first, and is called the Pedernales. It runs from the E. of the
island of Guarisipa, and falls into the sea 3 leagues S.W. of Soldier's Island,
which is situated at the S. entry of the gulph of Paria. It is only navigable for
canoes, or at the most for shallops. The third mouth is called Caparo; it is
an arm of the channel of Pedernales, from which it branches off at 30 miles
from the sea. Its mouth is in the southernmost part of the gulph of Paria, 34
miles S.E. of that of the channel of Pedernales. The navigation is hardly fit
for any vessels but canoes and shallops. Macareo is the name of the fourth
mouth, it enters the sea six leagues S. of Capuro, and is the channel of commu-
nication between Guayana and Trinidad, and every thing concurs to give it this
advantage exclusively. It is navigable for moderate-sized vessels, its channel
is exceedingly straight and clear, and it falls into the sea opposite the point and
river Erin in Trinidad. The fifth mouth is very little frequented, on account of
the difficulty of the navigation and the ferocity of the Indians inhabiting its
banks. They are called Mariusas, and have given their name to the fifth pas-
sage of the Orinoco. This mouth is 35 miles E.S.E. of the fourth. Between
Mariusas and the sixth mouth are several outlets to the sea, which are naviga-
540
ble by the tide or by the floods. Twenty-five miles more to the S.E. is what is
called the great mouth of the Orinoco; it bears the name of the mouth of ves-
sels, (Navios) because it is the only one which admits ships of 200 or 300 tons.
Its extent is six leagues, but it is far from being every where of an equal depth.
Navigation of the Orinoco up to St. Thomas. The grand mouth of the Orinoco
is formed S.S.E. by Cape Barima to which is in 8° 54' lat. N. and the island
Cangrejos, lying W.N.W. of the cape. They are 25 miles from each other,
but the breadth of the navigable part of the passage is not quite three. The depth
of water on the bar, which lies a little farther out to sea than the cape, is, at ebb,
17 feet. Immediately on passing the bar, the depth on the side of the island is 4
or 6 fathoms, whilst on the side of the cape it is not more than 14. The flats
extend from Cangrejos 7 leagues into the sea, but from Cape Barima they do
not extend more than 2 leagues. Nearly one league from Barima is a river of
the same name which discharges itself into the Orinoco. The entrance is by a
narrow channel 14 fathom deep. On the same shores, S. of the Orinoco, and
two leagues higher up than this river, is the mouth of the Amacuro, which
crosses a great part of the eastermost territory of Guayana, occupied by the ca-
puchins of Catalonia. Shallops can sail ten or fifteen leagues up. It is S. of the
island and cape of Cangrejos, which forms, as has been before observed, the
N. coast of the mouth of Navios or Vessels. Three leagues above Cangrejos
is the island of Arenas, which is small, and of a sandy soil. It is from 12 to
15 feet under water in spring tides. In the S. part of it is a channel, which is
often altered by the sand, of which the bottom is composed. Before ascend-
ing half a league there are two points, called by the Spaniards, Gordas. That
on the N. side has a flat which runs out a little, but not enough to obstruct the
navigation. Proceeding along the S. shore of the Orinoco, eight leagues above
Barima, is the river Araturo, the source of which bounds the savannas of the
missionaries. Its mouth is very narrow, but it is navigable for 10 leagues. It
communicates, by different arms with the river Amacuro to the E. and with the
Aguirse to the W. There is much wood on its banks, and some small islands
bearing its name, opposite its mouth. On the N. side is the channel called Co-
cuma. It discharges itself into the sea, Eleven leagues above Barima is the
island of Pegayos, in the middle of the Orinoco, but nearest to its right bank.
Its soil is white mud,covered with mangles [qu. mangrove?] and at flood-tide it is.
11 feet under water. It was formerly much larger than it is at present, and is
observed to diminish sensibly. Immediately above the island of Pagayos, is that
of Juncos. It is the most E. of the Itamaca islands, which occupy a space of
18 leagues in the Orinoco. They divide the river into two branches; the S.
branch being called Itamaca, and the N. Zacoopana. Both of these are naviga-
gable, but the S. branch, although the least, has by far the most water, We
will describe the Itamaca branch to the W. point of the chain of islands, and
afterwards give a description of that of Zacoopana :-The E. entrance of the
Itamaca branch, which is 900 fathoms wide, is formed by the island of Juncos
and cape Barima Zanica, which jets out from the right bank of the Orinoco.
A creek called Carapo runs from the cape in-shore, and afterwards joins the
river Arature. A little higher up
A little higher up is the mouth of the river Aquirre. Its source
is in the tract of the missionaries of the catalonian capuchins. Its mouth is
very broad, and the depth at 10 or 12 leagues from the Orinoco, is 3 fathoms.
It was once much more navigable than it is at present, but very trifling repairs
would be sufficient to restore it to its former state. As this river does not pass
through any cultivated country, it is only frequented by those who resort to its
banks for wood. The trees on each side are so high, that the sail cannot be
used, and vessels consequently avail themselves of the tide, Two leagues from
the mouth of this river, in the midst of the Orinoco, is the little island of Ve-
nado, and on the S. bank of the Orinoco, eight leagues above the Aguirre, is
1
541
the creek of Caruzina. It proceeds from the Orinoco, runs by the back of the
mountains, and thence takes its course S.E. thus forming of the bank of the
Orinoco an island, on which the Guayanos Indians have built a hamlet subject
to the Indian Gemericabe. This creek or branch has plenty of water at its
entrance, but the point of the rising grounds of Itamaca causes it to be hardly
navigable for half a league. This creek spreads into an infinite number of
branches, and therefore it might be of great use to agriculture, the neighbour-
ing land lying too high for inundation. The Spaniards have recently enter-
tained the project of driving away the Guayanos Indians, of building villages,
and of erecting batteries for the defence of the Orinoco. The river Itamaca,
on the N. side of the Orinoco, is next to be described. Its mouth is narrow,
but deep, having from 16 to 18 feet water. There is a bank in the Orinoco
running across the mouth of the Itamaca, with the exception of a very narrow
passage, which requires, especially at low water, great precaution in the navi-
gation. This river, six miles from its mouth, divides into two branches, the first
of which goes to the W. and runs through the valleys formed by the mountains,
the other runs to the Savanna, near the mission of Polomar. The river is na-
vigable up to where it thus branches off, for sinall craft and boats. The W.
point of the Itamaca islands is 21 leagues from the river. We will here again
descend the Orinoco to where the Itamaca and Zacoopana branches unite, for
the purpose of describing the latter, and afterwards re-ascend in making the
tour of the island of Juncos, leaving it to our fleet. From the E. point of
Juncos runs out a flat to the N. making a very narrow but deep passage for
vessels, which should keep close to the N. coast. Within the E. point of the
island of Juncos, is that of Pericos, which has very lately disappeared. It
formed two channels; that to the S. was almost choked by the sand, that to the
N. was narrow, and afforded but a difficult passage for vessels. This island was
small and sandy, it was seen at ebb-tide, and covered in the swellings of the Ori-
Its disappearance was not occasioned by any earthquake or extraordi-
nary inundation. Four leagues above the point where was once the island of
Pericos, is the isle of Iogs, which we leave to the right, because it inclines to
the N. The navigable channel continues to the S. it has however between it
and the shore, a narrow creek navigable for small vessels. A league to the W.
of the isle of Hogs is the channel Laurent, on the N. side of the Orinoco. From
its mouth proceeds a shallow which crosses half of the Zacoopana channel. The
Laurent, at its mouth, has the appearance of a large river, but at a very little
distance to the N. it forms many ramifications, all of which are so shallow,
that only by one can small vessels find egress to the sea. At the entrance of
the Laurent channel there is a small island of the same name from which pro-
ceeds a flat which extends to the mouth of Mateo, which crosses the Itamaca
branch. Musquito island, situated near the S. shore, has from its E. and W.
points flats extending more than a league. In the middle of the river is the chan-
nel, half of aleague broad. From the mouth of the Abacayo channel runs a shal-
low, extending to the island of Palomas. On the N.coast are two channels which
fall into the sea. Another flat runs from the island of Palomas, and reachesto the
westernmost point of the Itamaca islands. At the mouth of the channel of the
island of Zacoopana commences a flat, running two leagues to the W. and often
filling half the river. Between this flat, and another which proceeds from the
island of Palomas is the passage for vessels. Here the Orinoco, or rather that
part of it which discharges itself into the sea by the mouth of vessels, forms only
one channel, eight leagues W. In this space is seen the mouth of a lake, on
the shore, at a little distance from the river. It extends to the foot of the
mountain of Piacoa. From the middle of the Orinoco to the S. are seen the
mountains of Meri. We now come to the chain of [little islands which divide
the channel of Piacoa from the river. They extend 12 leagues from S. to W.
On the N. bank is the mouth of the little Paragoan, from which runs a flat ex-
noco.
1
542
·
tending to the great Paragoan. The two channels called Paragoan unite be-
fore falling into the sea. Above the great Paragoan is detached the arm known
under the name of mouth of Pedernales, and which the Orinoco throws towards
the coast of Trinidad. It forms the divers channels from the Orinoco to that
island, and proceeds from the Orinoco at a league from the E. point of Yaya.
There is here a flat which crosses half the river. A league and a half up the
river are the Red bogs. This is the first place where the Orinoco re-appearing
to the N. is seen Tierra Firmé, and land entirely secured from the water.
Op-
posite is a shallow, which runs along the S. coast, nearly half a league from Ê.
to W. The passage for vessels is here along the two banks, but the N. bank
is the better of the two. In the middle of these bogs there is a very narrow
channel called Guaritica, by which shallops can pass in the flood-tides, or dur-
ing the swelling of the river, to a lake which is close to it. A league higher up
on the N. bank, is the mouth of the Guarapo channel. During summer it has
but very little water, but nevertheless, for several years vessels carried on a
contraband trade in mules, oxen, and the productions of Cumana and Vene-
zuela, giving in exchange dry goods. This channel, excepting at its mouth, is
very deep, and admits of the navigation of large vessels, but on account of the
high mountains by which it runs, they are obliged to use the oar or to be towed.
Two leagues above Guarapo, is the island of Araya; it is of a moderate size,
and is close to the N. coast. Towards the S. coast are seen the cascades of
Piacoa, they are formed by three or four ridges which extend from the
middle of the channel to the S. coast, but there is sufficient water on the
N. coast for large vessels. On this coast was formerly the mission of
Piacoa, and the Catalonian capuchins. Here is excellent pasture, very fertile
land, good water, regular winds, and a good situation for agriculture. After
having reviewed the three islands of Arciba, the next is that of Iguana,
it is more than half a league from the N. bank. The river continues navigable
on the S. side. In summer, on the N. side, are banks of sand which have very
little water, but in winter there are no obstructions. From the W. point of
the island of Iguana, the small mountain of Naparenia is only one league. It
indeed appears to be nothing more than a high rock. All this coast as far as
the isles of Iguana and Araya is full of sand banks. The Simon's channel,
lying on the S. coast, has at its mouth the ruins of a small fort. From hence
is seen the island of St. Vicente, baving a flat on the E. part, which crosses
the channel unto a little below the fortress, but which at full tide is of no in-
convenience. This is the spot where once stood the ancient capital of
Guayana before it was trausferred to Angostura. The distance described is
therefore 50 leagues, and it is consequently 40 leagues hence to St. Thomas.
The Spaniards, when they transferred the capital 40 leagues higher up, thought
proper to leave the forts they destined for the defence of Guayana, on the site
of the old town. They are now seen at the foot of a small hill, one is called ·
St. Francis and the other El Padostro. By the side of these are two small
lakes named El Zeibo and Baratello. Half a league lower than St. Francis is
the little rivulet of Usupamo, having a lake near its mouth. Nearly half a
league above the old town, in the centre of the river, is the large rock of Mo-
rocoto, it is rather nearer the S. bank than the N. and is visible in the summer,'
but under water during the winter. Not far from this rock is the island of
Mares, and on the S. side is the rock of the same name, and another called
Hache. The channel N. of this island is preferable to that on the other side.
Three leagues higher on the S. side, is point Aramaya, which is merely a
jetting rock. Opposite this point are the three little islands of San Miguel:
they are all of stone, with a little sand in summer. When the river is swelling
they are nearly under water. On the right bank, opposite the village of San
Miguel, are two islands called Chacarandy, from the wood with which
they are covered; they are divided by only a narrow channel. The island of
543
+
Faxardo is in the middle of the river, opposite the mouth of the river
Caroni. It is 3000 fathoms long, 1387 broad. The W. side is subject
to inundations. On the right bank, and a league above this island, is
the island of Torno. It is separated from the main land by a small channel;
and on the W. point there are rocks, and a flat running out to five leagues.
Point Cardinal is on the S. side of the island, three leagues above Faxardo.
Nearly a quarter of a league from this point is a chain of rocks stretching to
opposite Gurampo. During winter, one only of these is visible, but in summer
three are discernible opposite Gurampo. There is a port formed by point
Cardinal, called Patacon. Gurampo is a number of rocks lying five leagues
above the island of Faxardo, on the N. coast. These rocks form a port bear-
ing the same name. A shallow runs from this port nearly N. and S. with E.
point Cardinal, and having on the W. extremity three rocks, under water in
winter. The island of Taquache lies half a league from Gurampo, on the left
bank. It is 1 leagues from E. to W. On the opposite side of the river is the
island of Zeiba, four leagues long and more than one league broad. The channel
separating it from the mainland has very little water, excepting in the winter.
Between the mainland to the N. and the island of Toquache, there is a chan-
nel navigable at all seasons. The river Cucazana on the E. point has a flat,
running a little to the W. and occupying half of the river. At the mouth is
the island of the same name, which nearly joins that of Taquache. It has also
a flat on the W. point which is in many places visible during summer. The
Mamo channel has at its mouth a flat reaching nearly to the middle of the
river, and seven leagues below the capital is another, lying N. and S. with the
island of Mamo, and having from the month of January to April, only eight
feet water. Vessels are obliged to be lightened in order to pass, which is the
case with another channel which forms the island of Mamo. After this bar is
passed, are numerous rocks on the coast and in the middle of the river. The
Currucay points are but jetting rocks, and lie three leagues above port
St. Anne. Nearly opposite these points, in the middle of the river, is a large
rock named La Pierre du Rosaire. Between this and the coast are several
others. To the N. of the Pierre du Rosaire is a channel very narrow on
account of the rocks lying under water, and stretching to nearly the coast.
Vessels run great risks in summer, and in winter the current is so violent that
if the wind dies away, they are in danger of being wrecked against the Pierre
du Rosaire. A league above this is a point of rocks on the N. shore, and
some distance from this are three ridges near each other, and bearing S. of the
E. point of the island of Panapana. The island of Panapana is a league above
point Des Lapins, separated from the S. shore, by a channel moderately wide,
but very shallow in summer. At the E. and W. points there are flats with
very little water on them. That of the W. point ascends more than a league,
and inclines always to the S. Between this island, which is 1 league long,
and the N. coast, is the principal channel of the Orinoco. It is rather narrow
and of little depth, excepting when the river experiences its swellings. Two
leagues higher up is the narrowest part of the Orinoco, called by the Spaniards
Angosturita. Two rocks N. and S. form this strait. A little higher up, and
nearly in the centre, is a large rock called Lavadero, that is, washing place. It
is visible only in summer. Between this and the S. coast there is a little island
of stones, opposite which the river Maruanta discharges itself. Point Tinco
to the N. and point Nicasio to the S. are also formed of rocks. St. Thomas
the capital of Spanish Guayana, is the next place. It is situate at the foot of
a small hill on the right bank of the river. There is a fort for its protection
on the opposite side. This place is called Port Raphael and is the passage of
communication betweenGuayana and the provinces of Venezuela and Cumana.
Between Port St. Raphael and the city, is an island called Del Medio, from
being in the centre of the river. It is a rock under water in winter, but the N.
544
side is dry during summer. The principal channel is between this island and
the city. It has at ebb tide 200 feet of water, and about 50 more at flood.
In summing up this description, it is to be observed, that from the junction of
the Apure [or Assure] with the Orinoco to St. Thomas, they reckon 80 leagues.
In all this space no other important river falls into the Orinoco on the S. save the
Caura and Caucapasia. It is however true, that from its source it receives
almost all the rivers by its left shore, and from the Assure it receives others
which ensure it from thence to Guayana all the commerce of the S. plains.
The navigation of all the upper part of the Orinoco is very far from being as
easy and safe as the size of the river would make one imagine. Scattered with
islands which obstruct the channel, and which throw its bed sometimes to the
right bank, and sometimes to the left; filled with rocks of all sizes and heights,
of which some are consequently even with the water, and others of a depth
more or less alarming according to the season, subject to terrible squalls; the
Orinoco cannot be navigated but by good pilots, and with vessels of a certain
construction and size; though, be it observed, that this description relates here,
peculiarly to the navigation from Guayana to the Orinoco, and from the mouth
of Meta to the capital. From the enchanting variety of its banks, the naturalist
must be enraptured with the navigation of this river. Its banks are frequently
bordered by forests of majestic trees, which are the resort of birds of the most
beautiful plumage and exquisite melody. Various species of monkeys contribute
by their cries, their leaps, and gambols, to the embellishment of the surrounding
scenery. The savages inhabiting the woods, content in sharing the possession
with the wild beasts, are fed by the same fruits as the birds and quadrupeds,
living in perfect harmony with them, neither inspiring fear nor feeling appre-
hension. In some parts, the eye, no longer confined in its view by the foliage
of the forest, roves over extensive plains, which burst upon the sight in luxuriant
verdure, covered with excellent pasture, and extending 20 or 30 leagues.-Im-
portance of this river-Volume and rapidity of its water, and its annual swell.
-The Orinoco, as has been already observed, is one of the largest rivers in the
world. M. de HUMBOLDT observes, that the mouth of the Amazonas is much
more extended' than that of the Orinoco, but the latter river is of equal consi-
deration with respect to the volume of water which it has in the interior of the
continent; for at 200 leagues from the sea, it has a bed of from 2500 to 3000
fathoms, without the interruption of a single isle. Its breadth before St. Thomas
is 3850 fathoms, and its depth, at the same place, according to the measurement
made by order of the king in 1734, in the month of March, the season when its
waters are at the lowest, was 65 fathoms. This river, like the Nile and others,
has an annual swell. This commences regularly in April, and ends in August.
All the month of September it remains with the vast body of water it has
acquired the five preceding months, and presents a spectacle astonishingly'
grand. With this increase of water it enlarges, as it were, its natural limits,
making encroachments of from 20 to 30 leagues on the land. The rise of the
river is, opposite to St. Thomas, 30 fathoms, but it is greater in proportion to
the proximity to the sea; it is perceptible at 350 leagues from its mouth, and
never varies more than one fathom. It is pretended in the country, that there
is every 25 years a periodical extraordinary rise of an additional fathom.
The beginning of October the water begins to fall, leaving imperceptibly the
plains, exposing in its bed a multitude of rocks and islands. By the end of
February it is at its lowest ebb, continuing so till the commencement of April.
During this interval, the tortoises deposit themselves on the places recently
exposed, but which are still very humid; it is then that the action of the sun
soon developes in the egg the principles of fecundity. The Indians resort from
all parts with their families, in order to lay in a stock of food, drying the
tortoises, and extracting an oil from their eggs, which they either
make use of for themselves or sell. The water of the Orinoco is potable,
and even some medicinal virtues are attributed to it. Its tides, and
545
peculiar animals inhabiting it.-Though the tide is very strong at the mouth
of the river, it is so broken and obstructed by the numerous channels
through which it passes, that before the town of St. Thomas it is scarcely
perceptible, or rather there is no tide at all so high up, excepting in summer,
or when the wind blows from the sea. The Orinoco abounds in fish of various
descriptions, but these, although they bear the same name as the fishes
of Europe, are found not to correspond precisely with them in their
nature or quality. The amphibious animals are also curious, and worthy of
notice.
Page 52.
LODGING; APARTMENT:-He lets lodgings, who offers bed-rooms only for
hire: he lets apartments who offers sitting-rooms besides. An apartment is a
set of rooms. In my apartment the lodging is good. Those who have "cham-
bers" in the inns of court, have apartinents where they are usually better
accommodated with sitting-rooms than with lodgings.
Page 56, 64.
GUN-POWDER:-The first and second volumes of WATSON'S Chemical Essays
contain two valuable discourses on the discovery and composition of gun-
powder. See particularly vol. i, essay 10.-Also, Biographia Brit. i. DUTENS
Origine des découvertes, &c. ch. iii. § 10.-FRANC. SWEERTI.
Page 58.
COMFORT:-One of the correspondents of a respectable periodical miscel-
lany, now discontinued, much to the regret of the lovers of that species of lite-
rature, (the Athenæum,) addresses the following philological observations on
this word to the editor of that publication :-" A correspondent has favoured
your readers with some remarks on the words comfort and comfortable,
which appear to me in many respects just: I cannot, however, but think that
his definition of comfort is faulty in being made so large, that the greatest part
of his paper is occupied in limitations. The possession and enjoyment of what
a man wants, and the exemption from all incumbrances,' is a description so
comprehensive, that it can correspond with nothing less than a term denoting
happiness in general; for in what else does happiness consist? If the supply of
want be essential to comfort, your correspondent may well assert that comfort
is a very different thing to different people; for what so vague and various as
human wants? I was lately told of a rich citizen who was making heavy com-
plaint of the high price of pine-apples. You know,' says he, when one has a
few friends to dinner, one likes to make them comfortable; so, having a party
last week, I sent for a brace of pines; and, would you believe it, I was
charged six guineas for them, and they were not fit to eat. If the comfort
of his guests after a dinner of turtle and venison depended upon pine-apples, I
wonder how many degrees of want must be placed between them and the
labourer who makes a comfortable meal with his family upon a dish of potatos
with a slice of bacon! It is a mighty comfortable thing in a cold morning to step
out of bed upon a bed side carpet, and if our volunteers should be called out to
a winter campaign, I doubt several of them would sadly miss such au indul-
gence; but I suppose few french conscripts ever heard of such a piece of
furniture. With respect to incumbrances, I think I know some men who would
consider a wife and half-a-dozen children in a small house as the greatest
incumbrances in nature, and totally incompatible with every idea of comfort;
but the pious MELANCHTHON Wrote works of profound learning in perfect tran-
Robinson Crusoe,
[Naval-Chron.-Edition.]
NN
546
quillity while he was rocking the cradle with one foot; and many a practica
philosopher among our mechanics is able to forget both wife and brats over a
pipe and a pot of porter. In speaking of comfort absolutely, your correspondent
says, the most general wants of mankind, and the most comprehensive rules of
convenience, are to be regarded;' but as soon as we quit the limits of what is
essential to the preservation of life and health, we find such interminable
diversities, that this limitation stands for nothing. The absolute comforts of an
inhabitant of London or Paris, and of a Kamtchatkan, bear scarcely any
relation if positively considered: I therefore think, that if the word will admiti
of a precise definition, it must turn upon negative qualities. Whenever, from
any cause, external or internal, bodily or mental, we are brought into a state of
uneasiness, we feel the want of its removal; and when this is effected, the
change produces relative comfort. Thus, one who comes in from abroad wet
and cold, is rendered comfortable by dry clothes and a good fire; and the
mother who is under apprehensions for the safety of her son at sea, is com-
forted by the news of the ship's arrival in port. Comfort, indeed, in its sense
of consolation, always implies relief from preceding suffering; and I suspect
that the use of the word for positive good is a mere abuse of language." It
probably has arisen from the figure of speech which consists in diminution or
disparagement, and is the result either of affectation or of querulousness.
If, therefore, an Englishnan terms comforts of life, what another would call
blessings or enjoyments, it is, perhaps, only a consequence of the coldness and
mingled discontent with which he is accustomed to regard the advantages he
possesses, looking upon them merely as alleviations of that human lot which
would otherwise be intolerable. For that there
For that there is any essential difference in
his estimate of goods and evils from that of other people in a similar state of
society, I see no reason to believe. Where is the country in which to eat and
drink well, to be decently clad, to be protected from the inclemencies of the
seasons, to be waited upon, to be excused from toilsome and disagreeable
occupations, are not reckoned among the most desirable things in life? and the
name given to the aggregate of these is immaterial.
Cosmus."
Page 62, 64.
CAVE. (Cell). The sense in which these words are esteemed synonymous is
that of the retired dwelling of some religious person. Cave is a habitation under
ground, made there by art or nature. Cell is a little dwelling raised above
ground. We dig, or excavate, a cave; we build a cell.
"Through this a cave was dug with vast expense."
"Then did religion, in a lazy cell,
In empty, airy, contemplations, dwell."
"Each in his narrow cell for ever laid
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
''
Fage 66, 126, 463.
(DRYDEN.)
(DENHAM.)
(GRAY)
A THOUSAND TO ONE:-The text of the 5th edition (1720), says an hundred
thousand to one. Innumerable problems might be given for determining the
laws of chance: but the solution of thein would swell, beyond all due limits,
that sort of annotation whose chief design is to give a clear idea of the princi-
ples on which the doctrine of chances is founded, together with the demonstra-
tion of such general problems as admit of the most extensive application. Those,
547
however, who wish for farther information can have recourse to the writings of
DE MOIVRE, J. BERNOUILLI, T. SIMPSON, &c. but particularly the former,
who has not been surpassed by any other writer on this subject. Nevertheless,
in addition to the problems given in page 465, one other should be noticed, as
being one of the most important, as well as abstruse, in the whole theory of
chance it was first solved by Bernouilli, and afterwards to greater exactness
by DE MOIVRE. The former introduces his solution of it with observing:
"Hoc est illud problema, quod evulgandum hoc loco proposui, postquam jam par
vicennium pressi, et cujus tum novitas, tum summa utilitas cum pari adjuncta
difficultate omnibus reliquis hujus doctrinae capitibus pondus et pretium super-
addere potest." Such, therefore, being the opinion of that eminent mathema-
tician concerning this problem, perhaps the present additional note ought not
to be concluded without giving the solution of it; more particularly as De
MOIVRE, though he pursued the investigation to a greater degree of accuracy,
has contented himself with stating the rules, without giving any demonstration
of them.
Proposition Supposing a very great number of trials to be made concern-
ing any event, it is required to determine the probability there is that the
pro-
portion of the number of times it will happen to the number of times it will fail
in those trials will differ less than by very small assigned limits from the pro-
bability of its happening to the probability of its failing in a single trial.
Solution:-Let the probabilities of happening and failing be equal, and the
number of trials be n. Let L and L also be the two terms equally distant, by
the interval 7, from the middle term of the binomial 1 + 1)", and s the sum of
the terms included between L and L, together with the extremes; then if n be
a very great number, the probability that the event happens neither more fre-
quently than n, nor more rarely than
7 times will be
G
1
2
1
n
2
S
But
2n.
if the probability of its happening to the probability of its failing in any one trial
be as a to b, let L and R be the two terms equally distant by the interval / from
the greatest term of the binomial a +6", and let S be the sum of the terms
included between L and R, together with the extremes, then will the proba
bility that the event happens neither more frequently than
nor more rarely than
an
at b
an
a+b
7 times be rightly expressed by
+ 7 times,
S
a +67
These are the rules given by DE MOIVRE for the solution of this very difficult
proposition, which, he observes, are founded on the common principles of the
doctrine of chances, and therefore require no demonstration. This is certainly
true, so far as regards the general principles of the solution, but the method of
determining the values of s and S are by no means so obvious. In this, indeed,
consists the whole difficulty of the solution; and as DE MOIVRE has omitted the
process by which he obtained those values, it will be necessary to supply the
omission by inserting the following lemma, which is derived from SIMPSON'S
treatise "On the nature and laws of chance."
Lemma :-To find the sum of the series 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 continued to x terms.
Solution-Let
+ B +
+
C
C
Ꮖ
+
22,
D
the series be P, and its hyp. log.xa. log. x + A x
&c. then will r+ 1 — a. log. a + 1+ A. ~ +1 + B
9
·· +
+1
,&c. log. 1.2.3
• • • . x. x + 1 = log. P+log.
x + 1/2
}
548
1
x
+1, and a — a log. 2+1 + A + C .π + 1
2
C.x
X
"+D.
1+ 3 is
x
20
But the fluxion of the log. of
x+11-2
x −2 +, &c. = 0.
x
a
whose fluent is x
2
+0
Ꮖ
3
4
+, &c. The above
1, a-
F — 0, G
1
5.6.6.7
X.
x² + x
series, therefore, converted into simple terms will be 1
अ
+, &c. ax-1+
a 2
2
+Cx-s ·Cx-4
→4 +, &c.
3 Ex+6 Ex
will be found = -
&c.
ax
a X
+
3
4
4
2 D x →3 + 3 D x
X
+
2
S
&c. + A − C x −9
4 D x 5+, &c.
Hence, by equating the homologous terms, A
1, C=1, D=0, E =—
2
3.4
1
3.4.5.6
6.7 &c. and consequently the above expression will be
changed into + ½ . log. x —
x + B +
1
12 x
1
360xs
1
+
&c.
1260 x³
1
=log. P. If a be supposed 1, this equation will become
1+B+
12
1
360
+
1
1260
1
1
&c. = 0.
Hence B will be 1
+
&c., and
12
360
1
1
ix + 1
f
&c. +
12
360
therefore the log. Pa+ log. x
1
1
1
+
12 x
360 x³
1260 xs
&c. Now the number whose hyp. log. is 1 is
=2.71828 &c., the number whose hyp. log. is
1
1
1
f
12 2
360 x³
1260 x
1
-, &c. is 1 +
+
12 x
1
288x2
1
51840x³
+, &c. (see COTES's Hurm.
1 1/2 +
Mens. Prop. i. Schol. 2.), and the number whose hyp. log, is 1
1
360
&c. is easily found to be 2.5066 &c. which Mr. Stirling has proved to
be the square root of the circumference of a circle, whose radius is unity. Let
1
1
this circumference be denoted by c, the series 1 +
+
-, &c. by
12x
288x2
x + λ
C
× d
mx
d, and the number 2.71828 &c. by m, then we shall have
P. But when x is a very great number, the
inconsiderable, and P in this case will be nearly
series denoted by d becomes
X
2
x Vcx.
m
549
Page 69, 70, 90, 115, 132, 162, 175.
Verses as supposed to be written by ALEXANDER SELKIRK, during his solitary
abode in the island of Juan Fernandez.
I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
Ob solitude! where are thy charins,
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms
Than reign in this horrible place.
I am out of humanity's reach,
I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech,
I start at the sound of mine own.
The beasts that roam over the plain
My form with indifference see;
They are so unacquainted with man,
Their tameness is shocking to me.
Society, friendship and love,
Divinely bestow'd upon man,
Oh! had I the wings of a dove,
How soon would I taste you again.
My sorrows I then might assuage
In the ways of religion and truth;
Might learn from the wisdom of age,
And be cheered by the sallies of youth.
Religion! what treasure untold
Resides in that heavenly word!
More precious than silver and gold,
Or all that this earth can afford.
But the sound of the church-going bell
These vallies and rocks never heard,
Never sigh'd at the sound of a knell,
Or smil'd when a sabbath appear'd.
Ye winds! that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore
Some cordial endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more.
My friends, do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?
Oh! tell me I yet have a friend,
Though a friend I am never to see.
How flect is a glance of the mind!
Compar'd with the speed of its fight;
The tempest itself lags behinds,
And the swift winged arrows of light.
When I think of my own native land,
In a moment I seem to be there;
But, alas! recollection at hand
Soon hurries me back to despair.
But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest,
The beast is laid down in his lair;
Even here is a season of rest,
And I to my cabin repair.
550
There's mercy in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives even affliction a grace,
And reconciles man to his lot.
Page 73.
CAT: With the generic description of this animal given in loco, the critical
reader may find pleasure in comparing the two following characters, by a master
and by his pupil: whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the point of
latinity, the Editor cannot help thinking that in vigor and spirit, as well as origin-
ality, the advantage is clearly with the former.
:
LINNÆUS.“ Habitat in Europe australis sylvis-moribus congenerum.
Tranquilla ore molat, caudam erigit, excitata agilissime scandit: irata fremit
odore ambrosiaco: oculi noctu lucent. Pupilla interdiu perpendiculari, ob-
longâ noctu tereti, ampliata: unguibus complicatis incedit: parcè bibit→
stercus sepelit, clamando rixandoque miserè amat: in prædam intenta caudam
movet: murum leo: pacata in comessantibus, carnes piscesque edit: calida,
salsa vegetabilia respuit; os, instante tempestate, manu lavat: dorsum in
tenebris electrisat; in altum acta decidit in pedes. Delectatur maro, nepete,
valeriano."
GRAY." Domesticus parum docilis, subdolus, adulatorius: domino dorsum,
latera, caput affiicare amat. Junior mire lusibus deditus & jocis: adultus
tranquillior.-Bis quotannis fæmina (vere scilicet & autumno) & aliquando
sæpius, murem ejulando appellat, mordet, & ad venerem quasi compellat :
dies 55 uterum gerit: pullos circiter 6 parit, quos mas sæpe devorat, aliquando
& ipsa mater. Mammæ 8.-Penis brevis, glande conica retrorsum aculeatâ.
Dentes 30 potius ad lacerandum quam ad rodendum aut masticandum parati.
-Colore variat: totus niger: totus albus cinereus maculis fasciisque nigris;
rufus maculis magis saturate rufis: bicolor albo-niger; tricolor albo, nigro,
rufoque varius, &c. tres autem aliæ principales varietates.”
:
The generality of persons who harbour these ferocious vermin about their
dwellings, seem not aware that the cat is as liable as the dog to that dreadful
opprobrium medicorum, hydrophobia. A striking example has been recently
furnished of the efficacy of the cautery in cases of the bites of mad animals;
and at the same time an example of the danger of the insignificant remedies
which a false pity too often substitutes for that process. Of two persons bitten at
Charenton, in France, almost at the same instant by a mad cat, one being cau
terized immediately after the wound, did not suffer the least inconvenience;
the other to whom they contented themselves with applying a blister, died of
the hydrophobia. This example is the more striking, as the individual who fell a
victim was a child aged only thirteen years, upon whose complaint the imagi-
nation could not have had much influence; and the person who has been saved
from the hydrophobia is a woman of mature age, whom her neighbours and
friends had not spared from any one of the fears and inquietudes which her
accident was calculated to excite, not disguising from her the sad end of her
companion in misfortunes, with which she was made acquainted in all its
details. It cannot be too often repeated that the cautery is the certain means
for preventing hydrophobia; the only means whose efficacy experience has
proved; and that all the others are doubtful, insignificant, and dangerous
besides, inasmuch as they prevent recourse being had to the cautery.
BACON tells us that "the age of the cat terininates between 6 and 10."
What JUVENAL says of tyrants (Sat. x, 112,) is true of cats-that seldom do
they die a natural death.
"Ad generum ceresis sine code et vulnere pauca
Descendunt feles et siccâ morte fruuntur."
But if they escape the hand of violence they hold out beyond the period
assigned by BACON. Witness-
551
Epitaphium felis.
Fessa annis morboque gravi mitissima felis
Infernos tandem cogor adire lacus:
Et mihi subridens Proserpina dixit," habeto
Elysios soles Elysiumque nemus.”
Sed bene si merui facilis regina silentám
Da mihi saltem und nocte redire domum;
Nocte redire domum dominoq; hæc dicere in aurem,
Te tua fido etiam trans Styga felis amat.
Decessit felis anno MDCCLVI, vixit annos xiv, menses ii, dies v.
Epitaph of cat, translated.
With age o'erwhelm'd, deep sunk in dire disease,
At last I visit the infernal shades:
Fair PROSERPINE with smiles dispos'd to please,
Said "welcome TABBY to th' elysian glades."
But ah! I cried, mild queen of silent sprites,
Grant me once more to view my late dear home:
Once more; to tell the man of studious nights,
"I love thee, faithful still, though distant far I roam.",
Page 77.
rundlet≈
RUNLET.-Errata: for runlet read rundlet-for 43 read 18 gallons. Wine-
measure is thus given in the schools: 18 gallons=1 rundlet; 1
1 barrel; 1½ barrel≈1 tierce; 1½ tierce (63 gallons)=1 hogshead.
Page 83.
DOLPHIN. See Maval Chronicle: xxvii, 306,
Page 93.
Brand-goose. For gaus, read gang.
Page 108,
༄
PENGUIN. Erratum: for alea, read alca. In the little auk (Alca alle)
the solvent glands are spread over a greater extent of surface than in any other
bird that lives on animal food, and the form of the digestive organs is peculiar
to itself. The cardiac cavity appears to be a direct continuation of the œso-
phagus, distinguished from it by the termination of the cuticular lining, and
the appearance of the solvent glands. This cavity is continued down with
very gradual enlargement below the liver, and is then bent up to the right side,
and terminates in a gizzard: when the cavity is laid open, the solvent glands.
are seen at its upper part, every where surrounding it, but lower down they
lie principally on the posterior surface, and where it is bent upwards towards
the right side they are entirely wanting. The gizzard has a portion of its
anterior and posterior surfaces opposite each other, covered with a horny
cuticle. The peculiar formation of the digestive organs of this bird, appears
to be fitted for economizing the food; which may be rendered more necessary
in a bird that spends a portion of the year in the frozen regions of the north
where supplies of nourishment must be precarious.
552
!
Page 112.
In
BUSHEL. The establishment of uniform weights and measures throughout
the realm, has engaged the attention of the legislature since a very early
period. The statute book from the 9th of HENRY III. abounds with acts of
parliament enacting uniformity; but every act complains that the preceding
statutes had been ineffectual. A select committee of the house of commons
was appointed in the year 1758 to enquire into the original standards, and to
consider the laws relating thereto; which committee made two reports,
wherein is contained all the information that is necessary with regard to the
enquiry into what were the original standards of weights and measures.
the year 1765, bills were brought in founded on these reports; but the un-
timely prorogation of parliament prevented the attainment of the end so much,
and so wisely desired. These proceedings have formed the subject of reference
to another select committee appointed in the present parliament; which has
agreed upon avery elaborate historical report, and sundry resolutions, ordered to
be printed 1st July, 1814. These serve as the ground-work of a bill now in pro-
gress through the house of commons; which it is to be hoped may at length
prove an efficient remedy for the confusion that has arisen in this matter.
Meanwhile it appears that in an act of the 51st of HENRY III. entituled
“Assisa panis et cervisiae," it is declared "an english penny called the sterling,
round without clipping, should weigh 32 grains of wheat, well dried and gathered
out of the middle of the ear; 20 pence to make an ounce, 12 ounces a pound,
8 pounds a gallon of wine, and 8 galions a bushel of Loudon. This is one of
the earliest attempts to establish a mode of connecting capacity with weight:
but nothing can be more rude and uncertain than to determine the size of a
measure by a certain number of vegetable products that must vary according
to soil and season. It farther appears that the gallon or th of the Winchester
bushel as fixed by the act, 13th and 14th of WILLIAM and MARY ought to
contain 268.803˚ cubical inchies, and the bushel consequently 2150.42 inches.
The length of a pendulum vibrating 60 times in a minute of time in the latitude
of London (see page 496) has been ascertained to be between 39.126 and
39.13 inches, of which the standard yard comprises 36. The dimensions of
the Winchester bushel are fixed by law; but it is almost impossible for work-
men to make it truly cylindrical according to the prescribed dimensions; so
that the practical method of adjusting new made measures is, to fill the staud-
ard measure in the Exchequer, or other places, with water, and then bale that
water into those which are brought for examination. It is no less strange than
true, that the manufacturers of weights and measures are in the prevalent
habit of proving the same not by the standard at the exchequer, but by a
duplicate kept at Guildhall, in London, with which consequently the greater
part of the measures in use throughout the kingdom tally, whereas this Guildhall
standard differs from that at the Exchequer, in the proportion of 224 to 272;
and moreover cannot be resorted to legally, for no law or statute refers to it.
Farther, the Exchequer is deficient in no less than ten different measures to
make up a complete set and some tradesmen have set the magistrates at
defiance touching those measures for which there are no legal standards in
existence.
:
An Account of Standard Weights and Measures remaining in the Court of
Receipt of Exchequer. 22 June, 1814.
One of a Bushel,
One of a Gallon,
One of a Quart,
One of a Pint,
Winchester incasure.
One of a Bushel, Coal measure.
One of a Gallon, Wine measure.
One of an Ell, and one of a Yard.
553
}
Measures.
lbs.
One of 56
One of 28
One of 14
One of 7 Bell-fashioned, Avoirdupois weights.
One of 4
One of 2
One of 1
A pile of flat weights from 8lbs. to 1 dram Avoirdupois.
A nest of cup weights from 256 ounces to 1 dram Troy.
The above weights and measures are all of Queen ELIZABETH, (except the wine
gallon which is Queen ANN's,) and the coal bushel, which is King GEORGE the
Second's. The whole of the fees for a set of weights and ineasures, as paid
into court, is one pound fourteen shillings.
Page 112, 297.
BREAD. The editor has referred to HORNE-TOOKE's origin of the terms,
bread, dough, and loaf: but he objects to the etyinon of bread, in the past par-
ticiple of the verb to bray, to pound. For as bray does not seem to be a
gothic verb, grain merely in a brayed state has never been reckoned bread.
He is disposed to seek the etymology of bread in the A. S. bread-an, to roast;
braedde, roasted. The different terms mentioned by TOOKɛ will then stand
thus: dough, past part. of A. S. deap-ian, to moisten; denoting the meal or
flour moistened: loaf past part. of klep-ian to raise, denoting the dough raised
by the leaven; and lastly, bread, from braedde past part. of bɲaed-an to roast;
denoting the loaf after it has been exposed to the fire. With respect to the
connection between the word louf and the title lord, the editor's deduction of
that etymology is justified by a charter of K. HENRY III. in the old english of
Henry thurg godes fultome King on Engleneloande Lhouuerd
on Yrloand Duk on Normand on Acquitain and Eorl on Anjou, &c. Rot. put.
43. II. III.
that time.
เ
Translation.
HENRY, by god's help, King of England, lord of Ireland, Duke of Nor-
mandy and of Aquitain, and Earl of Anjou, greeting to all his faithful clerks
and laics of Huntingdonshire.
Puge 121,
PERIAGUA. This word is spelt peragua in B. EDWARDS History of the
West Indies. (i, 84.)
Page 122.
CEDAR. Almug.-Epódga. Shittim.-Earreiv, i. e. spreadings out, turnings
aside, whips, thorns.
Page 125.
So on he fares, and to the border comes
Of Eden where delicious paradise,
Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,
As with a rural mound, the champain head
Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides.
With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
554
}
Access denied; and over-head up grew
Insuperable highth of loftiest shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm,
A sylvan scene;
Ibid.
For TONNEFORT read Tournefort.
Page 135, 155.
DOG.-Among
DOG. Among the eminent men Norfolk has given birth to, and one whose
writings have an intimate connection with the animal now under annotation,
we may mention JOHN KAYE, better known by his latinised name, CAIUS, a
renowned doctor of physic in the reigns of Queens MARY and ELIZABETH, who
was born at Norwich, 1510. His treatise de Canibus, or an account of the
whole race of british dogs, was a masterly performance for the age in which it
was written. It was composed at the request of his friend CONRAD GESNER; and
established the fame of Dr. CAIUS on the continent for his knowledge of natu-
ral history. In a progress of King JAMES I. to Cambridge, as he passed
through Caius-College, which the doctor had founded, the master of that
institution as a compliment to the monarch's learning, and also to the memory
of the founder, presented KAYE's History of the University to the king; upon
which JAMES observed; "Give me rather CAIUS de Canibus." PENNANT
selected this work out of all the publications extant on the subject, to illus-
trate his British Zoology, as the most judicious synoptical arrangement he could
find. Like LINNAEUS, KAYE united a great variety of learning and science
with the art of medicine. He died 1573; and was buried in the chapel of
his own college, with this laconic inscription on his tomb:-" Fui CAIUS. Vivit
post funera virtus." The following diagram will serve to illustrate the genealogy
of the canine race according to the system of BUFFON, so far curtailed, as
only to exhibit the pedigree of such dogs that may be regarded as immediate
descendants from the pastor, or shepherd-dog.

IV
(III
V
II
рахов
XVI)
VIL
VI
(VID
XV
XIX
Xm
IX
(XII)
X
(XVII)
(XVII
(XI)
(XIV)
555
#
1 Shepherd
2 Siberian
3 Lapland
4 Iceland
5 Wolf-dog
6 Hound
7 Terrier
8 Harrier
Reference to the foregoing diagram.
9 Spaniel (large)
10 Spaniel (small)
11 Water-dog small)
12 Water-dog
13 Bull-dog
14 Mastiff
15 Grey-hound (irish)
16 Danish (large)
17 Grey-hound (large)
18 Grey-hound (english)
19 Great-hound, mongrel.
The senses of smell and taste in many animals are known greatly to exceed
those of mankind. Dogs in particular are led, not only to their proper nourish-
ment by this organ of sense, but it also, at a maturer age, directs them in the
gratification of other appetites-Thus :
Nonne pides ut tota tremor perlentat equorum
Corpora si tantum nolas odor attulit auras?
Nonne canis nidum veneris nasutus odore
Quaerit et erranti trahitur sub lumbere linguâ?
Respuit at gustum cupidus labrisque retractis
Elevat os trepidansque novis percutitur æstris
Inserit et vivum felici vomere semen.
Quam tenui filo caecos adnectit amores
Docta Venus vitaeque monet renovare favillam !!"
From a contemplation of the services rendered to mankind by this animal in
his domestic and sane state, our ideas naturally turn to the reverse of the picture,
to the afflicting consequences attendant upon the bite of a mad dog. A sum-
mer is seldom known to pass during which most countries in Europe are not
visited by that dreadful calamity. The idea of dread spreads with pestilential
rapidity, and infests almost every rank of people! The cpidemic terror of
madness prevails beyond all example. The whole country groans under the
maliguity of its baneful influence; and it appears unaccountably strange
that mankind, subject as they are to external injury and internal decay, should
add to the already sufficiently numerous afflictions, complaints which appear
never to have had existence but in the imagination! That the economy and
formation of all animals are different may be denied, but cannot be refuted by
any who have investigated the immutable laws of nature; and, as far as we
are capable of judging from finite to infinite Being, it appears to be the eternal
order of nature that radical causes should exist in the seed of all animals and
vegetables, and that, when placed in congenial soils they are enabled to attract
principles peculiar to themselves; and it is only from the radical cause being
thus affixed that animals and vegetables are enabled to produce and extend
their species. From the same principle of affinity are all granivorous animals
capable of extracting from the herbage on which they feed (although many
different classes feed upon the same) principles peculiar to each. The differ-
ence of the radical cause which exists in every genus of animals and vegeta-
bles, constitutes a different formation and economy. Man is not subject to
the diseases of animals when uncompounded with his own species: instance
the disease termed cow-pox, it appears to be a milder state of small-pox,
arising from, and possessing the same original radical cause; shewing, at the
same time, the necessity of there being compounded in a preternatural state
the juices of three different species of animals, prior to constitutional affection
in man.-Now if cow-pox be not a milder state of small-pox, why should
556
cause
disease possessing a totally different radical cause, not render man incapable
of being affected with any other of those diseases which human nature is subject
to? Or, why do small-pox, measles, scarlet-fever, and typhus-fever arise from
and possess different radical causes? Or, why was small-pox never found
to render mankind incapable of an attack from measles, or measles that of
scarlet-fever? &c. (though all these belong to the same class of disease.) If,
therefore, these as well as all other diseases with which we are acquainted,
invariably produce their own likeness, cow-pox must, if it be a pre-
ventive of small-pox arise from and possess the same radical
as small-pox itself: and let those who think otherwise prove, by those
immutable laws which govern all productions, that nature ever varied lower
than the first stage of a mule. The qualities of different natures are known not
to produce the same similitude. The diseases of animals, too, are known, when
uncompounded with others, to be as distinct as their species. Therefore the
idea of one genus of animals being subject to the diseases of another, must be
fallacious; since it is contrary to all the known laws by which nature is invari-
ably governed, and has been from all eternity: no contagious disease ever pro-
ducing other than its own determined likeness. Should, therefore, hydrophobia
be supposed to arise from a virus secreted by any rabid animal, does it not
follow that it must be, either infectious or contagious? and, if so, why are the
appearances dissimilar? Why should hydrophobia appear in man, and not
madness, until produced by mental and bodily exhaustion? It appears from
nature's laws, that, for the preservation and protection of one genus of animals.
from the diseases of another, they have each been furnished with a peculiar
radical cause in the formation of their own compounded bodies, which renders
one genus proper food for another, thereby tending to prevent the existence of
putrefaction upon the face of the earth. Now if it should be said that the
economy and formation of every genus of animals is not different, how will it
be accounted for that the dog, and every other carnivorous animal is fouud
capable of feeding upon the bodies of every other genus, when even in the
highest state of putrefaction, and of converting those compounds formed dur-
ing such state into compounds proper for the support of life; while, if the body
were placed among living animals of its own class, it would, from those inva-
riable laws in nature, find its own likeness produce the same preternatural
state, and, finally the destruction of life? A most dreadful and convincing
proof of this assertion arises out of the contemplation of the dysentery in man-
kind; it shews the existence of a peculiar radical cause even in the formation
of every minute part of the compounded viscera of the human frame; for the
compound is evolved and inhaled, like all other infectious disease; it circu-
lates, and is repelled; producing not the smallest preternatural state in any
part, from a want of affinity, until brought into the sphere of attraction of that
particular part of the viscera in which the disease did originate. The reason is,
the radical cause; it is different, and the disease not finding the same attrac-
tive, consequently cannot find a seat. Such demonstration is, sufficiently
powerful to prove that the economy and formation of every genus of animals
must be different. If, then, the dog, in a state of madness, is supposed to
secrete a virus capable of affecting mankind and all other animals with a
disease which will destroy life, does it not follow, that that disease must find
its own likeness in them? And, must not the dog be again susceptible of it
from being bitten by a carnivorous animal? Again, are not all infectious and
contagious diseases equally capable of producing their likeness as well after
death as before? And, again, is it not from the principle of chemical affinities
alone, that all infectious and contagious diseases are cured or prevented? And
is it not from the invariable and unchangeable appearances in nature's laws
that we are enabled to ascertain and class diseases generally? And is it not
from close attentions to such laws that the medical art has been of such utility
to mankind? So long, therefore, as this disease continues to be speculatively
557
treated without due attention to those general laws, so long will it remain a
disgraceful reflection upon medical professors! All medicines called specifics
or preventives must be looked on as quackeries, upon which no faith can possi-
bly be placed. The Editor does not wish to lesson the weak support the
afflicted must at present lean on, for his sole intention in submitting these
opinions to the public eye, is the hope that they will tend to alleviate suffer-
ings; and as he is persuaded that but few men can feel pleasure in deceiving,
so is be convinced that the diseases of one genus of animals are probably not
conveyed to another. The disease, therefore, in man supposed to arise from the
bite of a mad dog, or any other rabid animal of the canine species, seems to
be a mental affection, on which no bodily remedies ever had, or can have avail.
-As a farther proof of this, the numerous recorded cases furnish this evidence,
that fewer deaths have occurred where medicines have not been administered;
and it appears, from all analogical researches, not to have any existence in
nature. Were medical professors, therefore, to endeavour to dispossess the
mind of fear, and encourage a confidence in the means pursued, it would
establish a mode of cure by which those too generally received (prejudiced)
opinions would be put to flight; but should fear again resume the place of
confidence, debility and death are generally inevitable. Notwithstanding such
is the leaning of the Editor's mind, upon a subject which may justly be deemed
of national importance; and which he here submits to the reader in the fond
hope of contributing to calm the mind of the afflicted, to satisfy the scruples
of the sceptic, and, if possible to diffuse general comfort and consolation, yet
he will not reject from the pages of a book (which, perhaps, like its hero, may
visit the four quarters of the globe) those prescriptions for the treatment of
hydrophobia which have been handed down to us by the wisdom or experience
of our ancestors. The following have been found, by the Editor, among some
family papers:
1. A recipe for the bite of a mad dog, taken some years ago out of Calthorp
church, Lincolnshire, the whole town being bitten by a mad dog, and all that
took this medicine did well, while all the rest died mad. In a P.S. it is added:
many years experience have proved that this is an effectual cure:-" Take
leaves of rue, picked from the stalks and bruised, six ounces: garlic, picked
from the stalks and bruised, Venice treacle or mithridate, and scrapings of
pewter, of each four ounces. Boil all these over a slow fire in two quarts of
strong ale, till one pint is consumed; then keep it in bottles, close stopped,
and give of it, nine spoon-fuls to man or woman, warm, every morning for seven
together, fasting.-This, if given within nine days after the biting of the dog,
will prevent the hydrophobia. Apply some of the ingredients from which the
liquor was strained to the bitten place."
2. The Tonquin Recipe for the Bite of a Mad Dog.
"Musk (the best sort..
"Native cinnabar
16 grains;
30 grains;
“ Cinnabar of antimony - - - - - 30 grains;
"Mix the above dose in three spoonfuls of arrack, brandy, or spirits of wine:
in case the patient has the hydrophobia upon them, you may give a double dose
with safety. As soon as the patient has taken it, they ought to go to bed, for
the medicine has the effect of a strong opiate, and throws them into a violent.
sweat; they may drink of small liquor, as tea, sage tea, small wine and water
warm, as often as they please, avoiding absolutely any thing that has milk in it;
the persons who are bitten must take three doses, leaving a day between each of
them, and afterwards they must take three doses more, one upon each of the
three next changes of the moon; if afterwards there should be the least ten-
dency to madness, repeat the doses as before. The patient must not be
let blood, nor use the cold bath on any account.-For a child of ten
or eleven years old, you may give half the above quantities.
***
558
"N.B. The above is also a good remedy for a malignant fever, even in
extreme cases, and when there remains but little or no hopes of recovery.
The same dose must be repeated every twelve hours for a grown person."
3. "Common salt, a little wetted, rubbed on the wound occasioned by the
bite of a mad dog, or any poisonous animal, will take off all bad effects."
This, the writer of the foregoing memoranduin states that he has proved.
4.
"Wash the fresh wound copiously with a very stronglather of the common
soft soap."
But after granting place to these, at best doubtful, remedies, it is reasonable
to revert to what more confidence may be placed in, viz. prevention. It seems
established by concurrent testimony that the operation called "worming,”
doth disqualify the canine race from inflicting this mortal bite upon the human.
In an Irish news-paper of recent date, containing a relation of the madness of
some hounds the property of GEORGE HODDER, Esq. of Fountain's town, there
is added a circumstance well worth attending to:" Several of the dogs had
been wormed, and all which had been so treated, lay down and died without
any symptoms of that rage and ferocity which actuated the rest. This fact
strongly suggests the propriety of subjecting dogs of every description to the
simple operation of extracting a nerve from the tongue of the animal, which
vulgarly called the worm. If the practice were universal, the dreadful cala-
mity of canine madness, to which the human race is often exposed, would, it is
presumed, be rendered at least much less dreadful, if not effectually prevented."
-(Cork Chronicle.)
Puge 152.
CHARCOAL-A memoir lately read before the french Institute on the use of
powdered charcoal for the cure of wounds and sores, and also of the conta
gious diseases occasioned by the crouded state of hospitals and other recep-
tacles for wounded persons, terminates with the following important conclu-
sions: These observations serve to explain the action of charcoal on pesti-
lential gases, and corrupted substances: thus: it purifies putrid water, because
it possesses the property of condensing, in great quantity, the gases generated
by their putridity. In this case the charcoal previously saturated with atmo-
spheric air, abandons the latter, and seizes in a much greater proportion the
putrid gases generated by the corrupted water. The same phenomenon occurs
when the charcoal is applied unto purulent and foetid ulcers. It immediately
removes the infectious and pestilential effluvia which they emit in abundance.
By its contact with the wounds, it absorbs the putrid gases formed in great
quantity by the corruption of the flesh and humors. This effect must evidently
produce two important advantages: in the first place, it checks the emission of
the contagious principles which are so dangerous unto the attendants of persons
afflicted with putrid sores, and must therefore be considered as a preservative
against infection; and in the second place, it accelerates their cure. The wood
of which the charcoal for this use is made, should be perfectly charred in
contact with the air, and well cleaned from ashes before it be pulverised: it
ought also to be kept very dry, as it strongly attracts humidity.
Page 153.
Erratum: (in the same note on this word) line 6, from the bottom; for, as be-
ing a supposed incorruptible, read—as being a supposed incorruptible substance.
SOUND:-
Page 159.
·Erratum: (note) last line, for Pimento, read Cimento. The aca-
demy del Cimento was instituted by the Duke of Tuscany in 1651.
559
Page 160.
Erratum: (same note) for seconds, read 4 seconds.
Page 162.
TOBACCO-PIPE :-This utensil is prettily praised in the subsequent parody of
the style of that puling bard, AMBROSE PHILLIPS :-
Little tube of inighty pow'r,
Charmer of an idle hour,
Object of my warm desire,
Lip of wax and eye of fire:
And thy snowy taper waist,
With my fingers gently brac'd;
And thy pretty swelling breast,
With my little stopper press'd:
&c. &c. &c.
Page 195, 193.
(I. HAWKINS-BROWNE.)
LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE-An address of the quakers to JAMES II. on his
accession, preserved in WANLEY's Common-place Book, is highly characteristic
of that sect:- “We come to condole the death of our friend CHARLES; and we
are glad that thou art come to be our ruler. We hear that thou art a dissenter
from the Church of England, and so are we. We beg that thou wouldst grant
us the same liberty that thou takest thyself, and so we wish thee well.-
Farewell?" This address reminds one of the words of the poet :-
"Let no false politics confine
In narrow bounds, your vast design
To make mankind unite:
Nor think it a sufficient cause
To punish man by penal laws,
For not believing right."
Page 200.
WALSH.
INQUISITION. The following is an authentic copy of the act mentioned in the
note at foot of the page here refered to :-

QUE
DIEULETA
DRON
Anno quinquagesimo tertio GEORGII III. Regis, (21st July, 1813.)
An act to relieve persons who impugn the doctine of the Holy Trinity
from certain penalties.
WHEREAS, in the nineteenth year of his present Majesty an act was passed,
entituled An Act for the further Relief of Protestant Dissenting Ministers and
Schoolmasters; and it is expedient to enact as herein-after provided; be it
560
therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the
advice and consent of the lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this
present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that so much
of an act passed in the first year of the reign of King WILLIAM and Queen
MARY, intituled, An act for exempting his Majesty's protestant subjects dis-
senting from the Church of England, from the penalties of certain laws, as pro-
vides that that act, or any thing therein contained, should not extend, or be
construed to extend, to give any ease, benefit, or advantage, to persons denying
the Trinity as therein mentioned, be, and the same is hereby repealed.-II.And
be it further enacted, That the provisions of another act passed in the ninth and
tenth years of the reign of King WILLIAM, intituled An act for the more effec-
tual suppressing blasphemy and profaneness, so far as the same relate to persons
denying as therein mentioned, respecting the Holy Trinity, be, and the same
are, hereby repealed.--III. And whereas it is expedient to repeal an act passed
in the parliament of Scotland, in the first parliament of King CHARLES the
Second, intituled, an Act against the crime of blasphemy; and another act
passed in the parliament of Scotland, in the first parliament of King WILLIAM,
intituled, An act against blasphemy; which acts respectively ordain the punish-
ment of death; be it therefore enacted, that the said acts and each of them
shall be, and the same are, and is, hereby repealed.-IV. And be it further
enacted, That this act shall be deemed and taken to be a public act, and shall
be judicially taken notice of as such by all judges, justices, and others, without
being specially pleaded.".
While the reader must naturally recognise the true policy of such legislation;
and offer to it a becoming tribute of applause; the prolonged existence of such
penal laws upon our statute book, as those scottish acts, thereby repealed, will
doubtless occasion a proportionate measure of surprise.
Page 208.
LEEWARD-ISLANDS :-Erratum (note): for Ophirans read Ophiram.
Page 231.
WOLF:-
:-" And withered murther." &c.-In the quotation from SHAKE-
SPEARE given in loco, as illustrative of the character of this animal, the editor
adopted the received text of that poet: he was not aware that the passage
quoted was a subject of controversial criticism; and that in fact the true read-
ing is not yet settled. The following is a sample of the learned annotation
that has been expended by commentators thereon. In all the editions before
that of POPE, the word sides was used instead of strides. THEOBALD has tacitly.
copied the latter, although a more proper alteration might perhaps have been
made. A ravishing stride is an action of violence, impetuosity, and tumult,
like that of a savage rushing on his prey; whereas the poet is here attempting
to exhibit an image of secrecy and caution, of anxious circumspection and
guilty timidity, the stealthy pace of a ravisher creeping into the chamber of a
female, and of an assassin approaching the bed of his victim, without awaking
him; this he describes as moving like ghosts, whose progression is so different
from strides, that it has been in all ages represented to be as MILTON ex-
pressed it.
"Sinooth sliding without step."
This hemistich will afford the true reading of this place, which is, JOHNSON
thinks, to be corrected thus:
1
561
und withered murder,
thus with his stealthy pace,
With TARQUIN, ravishing slides toward his design,
Moves like a ghostɩ
TARQUIN is, in this place, the general name for a ravisher, and the sense is-
Now is the time in which every one is asleep, but those who are employed in
wickedness; the witch, who is sacrificing to Hecate, and the murderer, who,
like me, are stealing upon their prey. When the reading is thus adjusted, he
wishes with great propriety, in the lines following, that the earth may not hear
his steps. Another critic (HENLEY) thinks, that as MACBETH wishes, the earth
might not hear his steps, he naturally takes as few as possible, and therefore
advances with stealthy strides, the sooner and the safer to perpetrate his pur-
pose. Though ravishment itself be an act of violence, a ravishing stride, or the
stride of a ravisher, is not; and we have SHAKESPEARE'S word that he did not
think so
so; for when IACHIMO steals upon the sleeping IMOGEN, he says:
ર
Our TARQUIN thus
Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken'd
The chastity he wounded.'
But, if the progression of MACBETH was a ((
Smooth sliding without step,"
it was ridiculous in him to talk of the earth's hearing his steps, and prating
of his where-about.
STEEVENS Cannot agree with JOHNSON, that a stride is always an action of
violence, impetuosily, or tumult.
SPENSER uses the word in his Faery Queen, iv, 8; and with no idea of
violence annexed to it.
"With easy steps so soft as steps could stride.”
And as an additional proof that a stride is not always a tumultuous effort,
the following instance, from HARRINGTON's translation of ARIOSTO, may be
brought:
"He takes a long and leisureable stride.
And longest on the hinder foot he staid;
So soft he treads, altho' his steps were wide,
As though to tread on eggs he was afraid.
And as he goes, be gropes on either side
To find the bed, &c.- -Orlando Furioso, xxviii, 63.
This translation was entered on the books of the stationers' company, Dec. 7,
1593. Whoever has been reduced to the necessity of finding his way about a
house in the dark, must know, that it is natural to take large strides, in order
to feel before us whether we have a safe footing or not. The ravishér and
murderer would naturally take such strides, not only on the same account, but
that their steps may be fewer in number, and the sound of their feet be re-
peated as seldom as possible.
Page 265.
DAMN: The epigram against Swearing, was written by Sir John Har-
RINGTON.
Page 282.
The proper reading of the text and context of the second scriptural quotation
Robinson Crusoe.
[Nav. Chron. Edit.]
00
562
in this page is thus:-"He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but
the hand of the diligent maketh rich." (Proverbs: x, 4.)
Page 284.
SPANISH CRUELTY:~Erratum : (note) line 6. from bottom; for now,
know.
read
Page 307.
ARTICLES OF RELIGION.-In order to reduce the assertions of vague theorists,and
the exaggerations of augry disputants, to the (sometimes mortifying) standard of
reality, it has been thought proper to elucidate the text of R. C.'s theological con-
versation by the following parallel view of the real tenets of the two churches,
of England and of Rome, by means of the most admitted record of each
respectively; viz.
"Articles agreed upon by the arch-
bishops and bishops of both provinces,
and the wh...e clergy in the convo-
.cation holden at London, 1562, for
the avoiding of diversities of opi-
nions, and for the stablishing of con-
sent touching true religion.
1. Of faith in the holy Trinity.
"There is but one living and true
god, everlasting, without body, parts, or
passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and
goodness; the maker and preserver of
all things, both visible and invisible.
And in unity of this god-head there
be three persons of one substance,
power and eternity: the father, the
son, and the holy-ghost.
II. Of the word or son of god, which
was made very man.
"The son, which is the word of the
father, begotten from everlasting of the
father, the very and eternal god, of one
substance with the father, took man's
nature in the womb of the blessed vir-
gin, of her substance: so that two
whole and perfect natures, that is to
say, the god-head and manhood, were
joined together in one person, never to
be divided, whereof is one CHRIST,
very god, and very man; who truly
suffered, was crucified, dead, and bu-
ried, to reconcile his father to us, and
to be a sacrifice not only for original
guilt, but also for actual sins of men.
III. Of the going down of CHRIST
into hell.
"AS CHRIST died for us, and was
buried; so also it is to be believed that
lie went down into hell.
"A profession of Catholic faith, ex-
tracted out of the Council of Trent,
[1545–1563.] by Pope Pius IV.
" I
(N.)
believe and profess
with a firm faith all and every one
of the things which are contained in
the symbol of faith which is used in
the holy roman church: viz.
"I believe in one God, the father
almighty, maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible;
and in one lord JESUS-CHRIST, the
only begotten son of God, and born
of the father before all ages; God
of god, light of light; true god of true
god. Begotten not made, consubstan-
tial to the father, by whom all things
were made; who for us men and for
our salvation came down from hea-
ven, and was incarnate by the holy
ghost of the virgin MARY, and was
made man. Was crucified also for
US under PONTIUS-PILATE, suffered
and was buried; and rose again the
third day according to the scripture,
and ascended into heaven, sits at the
right hand of the father, and from
whence he will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead, of
whose kingdom there will be no end.
And in the holy ghost the lord and
life-giver, who proceeds from the father
and the son; who together with the
us
2
563
·
IV. Of the resurrection of CHRIST.
"Christ did truly rise again from
death, and took again his body, with
flesh, bones, and all things appertain
ing to the perfection of man's nature;
wherewith he ascended into heaven,
and there sitteth until he return to
judge all men at the last day.
V. Of the holy-ghost.
"The holy-ghost, proceeding from
the father and the son, is of one sub-
stance, majesty, and glory, with the
father and the son, very and eternal
god.
VI. Of the sufficiency of the holy
scriptures for salvation.
:
"Holy scripture containeth all things
to salvation so that whatsoever is
not read therein, nor may be proved
thereby, is not to be required of any
man, that it should be believed as an
article of the faith, or be thought re-
quisite or necessary to salvation. In
the name of the holy scripture we do
understand those canonical books of
the old and new Testament, of whose
authority was never any doubt in the
church.
[Follow the names and number of
the canonical books from Genesis to
· Twelve prophets the less inclusive.]
"And the other books (as HIEROME
saith) the church doth read for exam-
ple of life, and instruction of man-
ners; but yet doth it not apply them
to establish any doctrine: such are
these following [from The third book
of Esdras, to the second book of Mac-
cabees, inclusive.] All the books of
the new Testament, as they are com-
monly received, we do receive and
account them canonical.
&
VII. Of the old Testament.
"The old Testament is not con-
trary to the new: for both in the old
and new Testament everlasting life is
offered to mankind by CHRIST, who
is the only mediator between god and
man, being both god and man. Where-
fore they are not to be heard, which
feign that the old fathers did look
only for transitory promises. Although
the law given from God by MOSES,
as touching ceremonies and rites, do
not bind christian men, nor the civil
precepts thereof ought of necessity
4
father and son, is adored and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets. And one
holy catholic and apostolic church.
I confess one baptism for the remis
sion of sins. And I expect the resur-
rection of the body. And the life of
the world to come. Amen.
"I most firmly admit and embrace
apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions,
and all other constitutions and ob-
servances of the same church.
"I also admit the sacred scriptures
according to the sense in which our
holy mother the church has holden
and does hold them; to whom it be-
longs to judge of the true sense and
interpretation of the holy scriptures;
nor will I ever take and interpret them
otherwise than according to the unani-
mous consent of the fathers.
"I profess also that there are truly
and properly seven sacraments of the
new law, instituted by Jesus-Christ
our lord, for the salvation of mankind,
though all are not necessary for every
one: viz. Baptism, confirmation, eu-
charist, penance, extreme unction,
holy-order, and matrimony: and that
they confer grace; and that of these,
baptism, confirmation, and holy-order,
cannot be reiterated without sacrilege.
"I also receive and admit the cere
monies which the catholic church has
received and approved of in the so-
lemn administration of the above said
sacraments. I receive and embrace
all and every one of the things which
have been defined and declared in the
holy council of Trent, concerning ori-
ginal-sin and justification.
"I profess also that in the mass
is offered unto god, a true, proper,
and propitiatory sacrifice for the liv
ing and the dead: and that in the
sacrament of the eucharist there is
truly, really, and substantially present
the body and blood, together with the
soul and divinity of our lord JESUS
CHRIST, and that there is made a con-
version of the whole substance of the
bread into the body, and of the whole
002
564
to be received in any commonwealth;
yet notwithstanding, no christian man
whatsoever is free from the obedience
of the commandments which are called
moral.
VIII. Of the three creeds.
"The three creeds, Nicene creed,
ATHANASIUS's creed, and that which is
commonly called the Apostles' creed,
ought throughly to be received and
believed. For they may be proved by
most certain warrants of holy scrip-
ture.
IX. Of original or birth-sin.
Original sin standeth not in the
following of ADAM, as the Pelagians do
vainly talk; but it is the fault and
corruption of the nature of every man,
that naturally is engendered of the off-
spring of ADAM; whereby man is very
far gone from original righteousness,
and is of his own nature inclined to
evil, so that the flesh lusteth always
contrary to the spirit; and therefore,
in every person born into this world,
it deserveth god's wrath and daina-
tion. And this infection of nature
doth remain, yea, in them that are
regenerated; whereby the lust of the
flesh, called in greek pornua Yagxos,
which some do expound the wisdom,
some the sensuality, some the affec-
tion, some the desire of the flesh, is
not subject to the law of god. And
although there is no condemnation for
no condemnation for
them that believe and are baptized;
yet the apostle doth confess, that con-
cupiscence and lust hath of itself the
nature of sin.
X. Of free-will.
[This article contains a doctrinal
exposition not needful for the compa-
rative purpose of this note.]
substance of the wine into the blood;
which conversion the catholic church
calls transubstantiation.
"I confess also that either kind
alone, CHRIST whole and entire and
a true sacrament, is received.
"I constantly hold that there is a
purgatory, and that the souls therein
detained are helped by the suffrages
of the faithful. Likewise that the
saints reigning together with CHRIST
aré to be honored and invocated
that they offer prayers to God for us ;
and that their relics are to be vene-
rated.
"I most firmly assert that the images
of Cunts, and of the mother of God,
ever a virgin, and also of the other
saints, are to be had and retained';
and that due honor and veneration is
to be given unto them.
"I also affirm that the power
of indulgences was left by CHRIST
to the church, and that the use of
them is most wholesome to christian
people.
"I acknowledge the holy catholic
and apostolic roman church to be the
mother and mistress of all churches
and I promise and swear true obedi-
ence to the bishop of Rome, the suc
cessor of St. PETER, prince of the
apostles, and vicar of JESUS CHRIST
on earth.
"I also profess and undoubtedly
receive all other things delivered, de-
fined, and declared by the sacred ca-
nons and general councils, and parti
XI. Of the justification of man.
The text of this article also is cularly the holy council of Trent
omitted for a similar reason.]
XII. Of good works.
[The same.]
and likewise I also condemn, reject,
and anathematize all things contrary
thereto, and all heresies whatsoever,
XIII. Of works done before justifi- condemned, rejected, and anathema-
cation.
[The same.]
XIV. Of works of supererogation.
[The same.]
XV. Of CHRIST alone without sin.
[The same.]
XVI. Of sin after baptism.
[The same.]
tized by the church.
"This true catholic faith, out of
which none can be saved, which I now
freely promise and truly hold, I
(N). promise, vow, and swear
565
XVII. Of predestination and elec- most constantly to hold and profess
tion.
[The same.]
XVIII. Of obtaining eternal salva-
tion only by the name of Christ.
[The same.]
XIX. Of the church.
"The visible church of CHRIST is a
congregation of faithful men, in the
which the pure word of god is preached,
and the sacraments be duly ministered
according to CHRIST's ordinance, in
all those things that of necessity are
requisite to the same. As the church
of Hierusalem, Alexandria, and An-
tioch, have erred, so also the church
of Rome hath erred, not only in their
living and manner of ceremonies, but
also in matters of faith.
XX. Of the authority of the church.
[Enough of the doctrine of the
church of England having been exhi-
bited in the foregoing extracts, for the
purpose of comparison with the roman
catholic profession of faith in the up-
posite column, the titles only of the
remaining articles will be given. The
reader who may be desirous of pur-
suing the investigation farther is re-
ferred to The book of common prayer;
to which the articles of religion are
usually appended.]
XXI. Of the authority of general
councils.
XXII. Of purgatory,
XXIII. Of ministering in the con-
gregation.
XXIV. Of speaking in the congre-
gation in such a tongue as the people
understandeth. [See page 408.]
XXV. Of the sacraments.
XXVI. Of the unworthiness of the
ministers, which hinders not the effect
of the sacraments.
XXVII. Of baptism.
XXVIII. Of the lord's-supper.
XXIX. Of the wicked which do not
eat the body of CHRIST in the use of
the lord's supper.
XXX. Of both kinds.
XXXI. Of the one oblation of
CHRIST finished upon the cross.
XXXII. Of the marriage of priests.
XXXIII. Of excommunicate persons,
how they are to be avoided.
XXXIV. Of the traditions of the
church.
the same whole and entire, with god's
assistance, to the end of my life.-
men,
566
XXXV. Of homilies.
XXXVI. Of consecration of bishops
and ministers.
XXXVII. Of the civil magistrates.
XXXVIII. Of christian men's goods
which are not common.
XXXIX. Of a christian man's oath.
"This book of articles before re-
hearsed is again approved, and allowed
to be holden and executed within the
realm, by the assent and consent of
our sovereign lady ELIZABETH, by the
grace of God, of England, France, and
Ireland, queen, defender of the faith,
&c. Which articles were deliberately
read, and confirmed again by the sub-
scription of the hands of the arch-
bishop and bishops of the upper-house,
in their convocation, in the year of
our lord 1571."
Page 324.
BIBLE.-Erratum (note): for S566480, read 3506480.
Page 326, 327.
BARBADOS.-Erratum in the poetical quotation: for bearded, read hended.
The Editor presents the following as a more correct version of the passage
referred to, after careful collation with an original edition of MILTON's works,
viz.---
"So counseled he, and both together went
Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose
The fig-tree; not that kind for fruit renown'd,
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between :
There oft the indian herdsman, shunning heat,
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds
At loop-hools cut through thickest shade:
Those leaves they gathered,"-
JONSON, however, had been beforehand with MILTON, in introducing this
tree into english poetry. Neptune's Triumph, first acted in 1624, vol. vi,
p. 159.
"The goodly bole being got
To certaine cubits hight, from every side
The boughs decline; which taking root afresh,
Spring up new boles, and there spring new, and newer;
Till the whole tree become a porticus,
Or arched arbour, able to receive
A numerous troup," &c.
Page 368.
SUSHAM: This name is spelt in the second edition of Robinson Crusoe
(1719) "Suskan :" but in the map of the world on which is delineated the
voyages of R. C. prefixed unto the same, it is "Chusan,"
}
307
Page 396,
JAPAN:-The new Chinese Dictionary by DE GUIGNES, gives je as the
chinese word for the sun, instead of yal, as stated in the original note appended
to this word in loco.
Page 401.
"The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the lord
shall be safe." (Proverbs, xxix, 25).
Page 428, 484.
VOLGA :-This river is denominated Aidil, in the travels of PRAN-PURI, a
hindoo, who peregrinated into Russia a few years ago.
Page 431.
CAMEL-Erratum (note): for EQUIDO read EQUISO.
Page 443.
Law :- Erratum : line 6 (note), for lee, read leu or leo.
Page 452.
IDOLATORY:-Erratum:-read idolatry.
WRITING:
Ibid.
Blest be the man; his memory at least,
Who found the art, thus to unfold his breast;
And taught succceding times an casy way
Their secret thoughts by letters to convey;
To baffle absence and secure delight,
Which, till that time, was limited to sight.
The parting farewell spoke, the last adieu,
The less'ning distance past, then loss of view,
The friend was gone which same kind moments gave,
And absence separated, like the grave.
When for a wife the youthful patriarch sent,
The camels, jewels, and the steward went,
And wealthy equipage, tho' grave and slow,
But not a line that might the lover show.
The ring and bracelets woo'd her hands and arms;
But bad she known of melting words the charms
That under secret seals in ambush lie,
To catch the soul when drawn into the eye,
The fair Assyrian had not took the guide,
Nor her soft heart in chains of pearl been ty'd.
Page 454.
{
FUZE.-Many of the modern editions of R. C. render this word “furze ;" but
the present text is corroborated by that of the second edition, (which is the car-
liest the editor possesses the means of reference to) and this reading is justified
by the evident sense of the context,
Puge 455.
SCHAKS-OSIER.-Erratum: for osier, read oser or osero; which is the slavonic
word for lake. Quare? whether by this is meant the Baikal, a lake in the vici-
nity of Nertzinck, the river of Udda, and of Uddinsk; which last city seems to be
the Adinskoy of ROBINSON CRUSoe.
Page 456.
COSSAK:-The following is a more particular description of the interesting
book quoted in the note on this word:
568
"Remains of the late JOHN TWEDDELL, Fellow of Trinity-College, Cambridge;
being a selection of his letters, written from various parts of the continent;
together with a re-publication of his Prolusiones Juveniles; to which is subjoined,
an appendix, containing some account of the author's journal, MSS. collections,
drawings, &c. and of their extraordinary disappearance. Prefixed, is a brief
biographical memoir, by the editor, the Rev. ROBERT TWEDDELL, A. M.
"Pause on the tomb of him who sleeps within
Fancy's fond hope, and learning's fav'rite child,
Accomplished TWEDDELL ! HAYGARTH'S Greece."
In one large volume 4to. illustrated with plates, maps, &c. price 31. 3s.
boards. Printed by J. GOLD, for J. MAWMAN, 39, Ludgate-street London.
Page 466.
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his
spirit, than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs: xvi, 32.)
Page 492.
LONDON :— Errutum (note): for, JULIAN the apostate, read, the Emperor
JULIAN. The editor much regrets that the haste unavoidable in voluminous
compilation, should have misled him into the adoption of a vulgar epithet,
injurious to the name, and unjust to the memory, of a great man and a patriot
prince. We must not take the character of eminent personages through the
medium of political interest or religious enmity. Witness the treatment of
JULIAN by the antient fathers of the christian church. In their sacred indigna-
tion against the persecutor, or rather oppressor, of the believers in JESUS, they
suppress the truths, that be was inflexibly just, strictly moral, and eminently
politic: To estimate the merits of this sovereign, consult MONTAIGNE, La-
MOTHE-LE-VAYER, and above all, GIBBON's masterly delineation of his cha
racter. This caution may be extended to the biography of K. RICHARD III.
of Q. MARY I. and of MARY Q. of Scots.
Page 512.
DRUNK-Errata (note): for arises, read arise: after pulse, for semi-colon,
read comma: after fever, before with, dele cominą.
The editor being duly sensible that it is but too probable several errors
and omissions may be found in a compilation undertaken single handed and em-
bracing such multifarious subjects as the present publication; so, as he would
be glad to avoid the one, and to make good the other in a future edition, it is
respectfully requested, that any corrections, or any additional information on
technical or scientific subjects, which may occur to the reader may be communi-
cated to the editor through the medium of the printer or publisherof this volume.

Fuc simile of vignette in the title-page of the original edition printed for W. Taylor,
at the Ship in Pater noster-row, London: MDCCXIX.
1

Head-piece to the original cdition.
Index.
A.
ACAPULCO, adventure to, 415.
De-
scription of the sea-port of (note), 415.
Achin, arrival at, $67. Curious stipula-
tion made by the king, ibid. Descrip-
tion of the town of (note), 367.
Adelung, his Mithridates quoted (note),
260.
Affection, synonymical definition, 526.
of Xury towards R. C., 24.
Friday
- 188.
Affectionate meeting of Friday and his fa-
ther, 259.
Africa, suggested emendation of its name.
(note),12. J.Ogilby's description of (note)
22. Antient circumnavigation (app.),518.
Ague, R. C. attacked by the, 88. General
symptoms of (note), 88. Method of cure,
ibid. Method of treatment (note), 461.
Recipes for the (note), 462.
Agra, overland journey to, 376. Account
of the city of (note), ibid.
Ahead, definition of the term of (note), 7.
Alexandretta, geographical description of
(note), 361.
Aleppo, geographical description of (note),
361.
Aloe, botanical description of (note), 96.
All-Saints bay, arrival at, 333.
Almug, 122, 553.
Amazones, river (note), 46. 534.
Amboyna, massacre at, 403. History of
(note), 403.
Anchor (sheet), definition of (note), 7.
Invention of ascribed to Pliny (note), 23.
Etymology of (note), 151.
Angel, various significations of (note), 337.
Antilles, why so called (note), 46.
Apartment, definition of, 52, 545.
Apotheosis, signification of (note), 314,315.
Arabs, historical description of (note), 431.
Arabians, part of the crew killed by the, 356.
Arabian Nights quoted (note), iv.
Arac, different descriptions of (note), 55.
Archangel, arrival at, 486. Description of the
sea of (note), ibid. Departure from, 487.
Archæologia quoted (note), 424.
Argun, description of the river of (note), 448.
Aristotle, his definition of a dream(note),172.
Arms, delineation of K. of England's, 559.
Arrival in England, 218. At Madrid, 228.
At Pampeluna, 229. At Thoulouse, 237.
At Paris, 237. At Dover, 238. At Gal-
way, 245. Final arrival in England, 491.
Arctic Ocean, account of the voyages to
(note), 471.
Articles of religion discussed, 307. In-
stances of intolerance (note), ibid. Given
at length, 562.*
Assiento, definition of (note), 39.
Astrakhan, description of the city of (note),
427.
Athenæum, quoted, 545.
Attack of R. C. and Friday on the savages,
191, 192.
of the english boats on the river
Cambodia, 383.
on the mutineers, 208, 210.
of the Cochin-Chinese on the
ship, 389.
Atkins (Will), solicits pardon of his cap-
tain, 212. Dialogue between him and
R. C. 319. Death of, 491.
Auto-da-té, description of a (note), 200.
Ave-Maria, definition of (note), 224.
Awster (Mr.), his advice on the use of
opium (note), 411.
570
B.
Bahamas,the islands of, described (note),254.
Babia-de-todos-os-Santos, arrival at, 34.
Description of the town of (note), 34.
Baronius,bis definition of a pagan(note),182.
Barentz (W.), attempts to sail round the
north of Europe (rote), 371.
Banishment to Siberia described, 466.
Barbados (note), 47, 326, 327.566.
Barley, natural history of (note), 178.
Unexpected appearance of the growth
of on the island, 78.
Barrere (Dr.), quoted (note), 21.
Barricado, definition of (note), 58.
Barbary, description of (note), 261.
Bassora,description of the city of (note),360.
Batavia, description of (note), 373.
Battalia, philological definition of the term
(note), 436.
Battle between the savages, 272.
the English, Spaniards, and
savages, 289.
the ship's crew and the
savages, 330, 331.
Beattie (Dr.), his opinion of Robinson
Crusoe, viii.
Bear, attacked by, in the Pyrenees, 231.
Killed by Friday, 234. Zoological his-
tory of (note), 232. Description of by
Duhamel, ibid.
Beaumont and Fletcher, extract from
(note), 183.
Bedford, a farm purchased in the county
of, by R. C. 241.
Bedlam, or Bethlem hospital (note), 250.
Bell (Mr. Jolm), original inventor of the
system for saving the lives of wrecked
seamen (note), 10.
Bengal, arrival in the road at, 356. De-
parture from, 366. Return to, 369. Geo-
graphical history of (note), 356.
Benamuckee (Friday's god), description of,
182.
Bernouilli, J. abstruse problem solved by,
547.
Bible, part of it supposed to be lost (note),
92. First translation of it, ibid. Ana-
lysis of (note), 324. First given to
the colony by R. C. 324. 566.
Bilbao, R. C.'s nephew return from, 243.
Description of the town of (note), 243.
Biscuit, process of making (note), 82.
ovens at Deptford, description of
the (note), 82.
Blane (Dr.), his recipe for curing salt-meat
(note), 301.
Boerhaave,his definition of sleep (note), 169.
Bochart quoted (note), 17.
Bonavista, Captain Cook nearly lost at
(note), 25.
Bones of human bodies discovered on the
island, 146.
Boatswain of the english ship killed at the
island, 211.
Borneo, arrival at, 374. Predatory dispo
sition of the natives, 375. Historical
account of (note), 374.
Bordeaux, description of the city of, (note),
229.
Boyle, quoted (note), 21. His calcula-
tion of the velocity of sound (note), 159.
Brand-goose, natural history of (note), 93.
551.
Bread, various modes of making (note), 112.
Brazil, arrival at, 34. 333. Departure from,
42.
additional references concerning,
(app.) 527.
Bucaniers, description of the (note), 335.
Buenos Ayres, R. C. shipwrecked on the
island, on Ins voyage from, 164. Descrip-
tion of the city of (nole), 164.
Burning of the town in Madagascar, 350.
Burthen of a 74 gun ship calculated (note),
247.
Bushel, 112. 552.
Bremen, R. C.'s father came from, 1. Des
scription of (appendix), 498.
C. 9
Cable, etymology of (note), 23.
Cadiz, description of the city of (note), 20.
Caius Dr. author of a tract on british dogs
(note), 156.
Calamus, aromaticus, natural history of
(note), 59.
Calais, arrival at, 237. Geography of
(note), ibid.
Calendar, description of the (note), 159.
Jewish calendar fixed by Hillel, ibid.
Calenture, R.C, seized with a violent, 14. De-
finition of (note),ibid. Cure of (note),ibid.
Calculation of the extent of a person's view
(note), 32. Of chances, 464, 547.
Cambodia, arrival in the river of, 379.
Attacked by english boats, 383. Ge-
neral account of (note), 379.
Camden, his opinion of Britain (note), xiv.
Camel,natural historyof(note),429.431.567.
Cannibals, description of (note), 105. Vi-
sit of, to the island discovered, 146. 174.
Cannibalism, formerly practised in the
Caraibees (note), 296.
Canoe, description of a (note,) 24. Form-
ed on the island, 123.
Canary islands, geography of the (note), 25.
Candles, method of making (note), 77.
Cape of Good Hope, arrival at the, 339.
Description of the (note), 339. · Im-
portance as a naval station, 342.
Cape Town, description of (note), 339.
Cape St. Augustino, arrival at, 42. Descrip
tion of (note), 4.
7
571
Cape Verde, described (note), 32.
Cape Verde Islands, description of the
(note), 25.
Caravan, definition of (note), 361, 437.
Attacked by the Tahtars, 440.
Caribean Islands, description of (note),
46. 120. Cannibals formerly known
there, 120 (note), 296.
Cartier, Jaques, sails from Florence on a
voyage of discovery (note), 248.
Cassava, botanical description of (note),
95.
Cat, 73. 550, Latin epitaph, 551.
Cato, extract from, (note), 135.
Catholic, etymology of (note), 304.
Cargo found by R, C. in the wrecked ves-
sel, 166. Brought on shore, 168.
Cave, synonymy, 62. 64. 547.
Caulking, account of the process of (note),
390.
Cedar, botanical description of (note), 122.
553.
Ceylon, description of (note), 373.
Cham-chi-Thaungu, the Tahtar idol, des-
cription of, 454. Destruction of, 455.
Chance, 66. 126. 463. 546.
Chelsea, description of the cedars at, 122.
Charcoal, chemical analysis of (note),
152. Made of corn, 153. Experiments
on, 294. 558.
Cheyne, Dr. opinion of Punch (note), 299.
China, description of the great wall of
(note), 434 Laws of, 443. Trading
voyage to, resolved on, 266.
Chinese, genius, manners and customs of
the (note,) 421. Art of pottery amongst
them, 433.
Chocolate, description of (note), 165.
Method of making, 166. Electrical
properties of, ibid.
Christianity, conversion of the Chinese to,
408.
Christian religion expounded by R. C. to
Friday, 184. Chusban, chart of, 369.
Citron, botanical description of (note), 98:
Classical education, advantages of, 12.
Clove, botanical description of (note),
370. Medicinal qualities of, ibid.
Clove-hitch, delineation of (app.), 517.
method of using it in saving shipwrecked
persons (app.), 517.
Cocoa, botanical description of (note), 98.
Codfish, calculation of the spawn of (note),
249.
Coffee, mention of 19. Advantages of the
use of it (app.), 521. Method of roast-
ing, ibid. Of grinding, ibid. Preparing
for the table, ibid. Medicinal qualities
of, 523.
Coinage of Japan, account of the (note),
476,
Cockswain, definition of (note), 358.
Cochin-china, voyage to the coast of, 385.
History of (note), 385.
Columbus, Trinidad discovered by (n.),181.
Comfort, synonymy, 58. 545.
Compass, mariner's, 18.
Conference with the mutineers, 216.
Confucius, history of (note), 338.
Congreve, quoted (note), 217.
Constantius, (Emperor), arianism predomi-
nant in the reign of (note), 304.
Contented situation of R. C. in the island
described, 155.
Country, what constitutes a person's pa-
tria (appendix), 500.
Cook, Capt. nearly lost at Bonavista (note),
25. His recipe for curing salt meat, 27.
Cortez, his palace of Mexico described
(note), 122.
Coromandel, french priest set on shore on
the coast of, 253. Country of, described
(note), 253. Etymology of (nole), 343.
Cossak, cunning of a, 456. History of
(note), 456. 567.
Cottin, (Madam), her picture of banish-
ment (note), 466.
Cotton, Dr. his lines on tobacco (note), 222.
Coup-de-grace, definition of (note), 49.
Cromer, shipwrecked at, 10. Description
of the town of (note), 10.—(app.), 517.
Cromwell, South American fleet attacked
by at Santa Cruz (note), 27.
Cruzado, description of (note), 223.
Curious coincidences in the life of R. C.
126.
Czar, etymology of (note), 421.
D.
Dauxion Lavaysse, Voyage to Trinidad
quoted, 258.
D'Alembert, his opinion of a missionary
(note), 406.
Damn, 265. 559.
Deal, situation of, described (note), 244.
Death of the he-goat in the cave, 154.
-R. C's wife, 242.
of Friday, 330.
Will-Atkins, 491.
Decree, re-establishing the Inquisition
(note), 198,
Defoe, original editor of R. C. iii. His
application of Selkirk's adventures dis-
cussed, vi, vii.
Demorage, definition of (note), 311.
Departure of R. C. from the island, 217.
from Pampeluna, 230.
from Pekin, 429.
Deptford, description of the bread and
biscuit ovens at (note), 82.
Derham, (Dr.) queries relative to the law
of sounds, 160.
572
Desert, account of the russian (note), 479. Elephants' teeth,natural history of (note),39.
Description of Friday, 175.
Destruction of the Tahtar idol, 455.
Devil, etymology of (note), 140. Various
quotations of, in the bible, 141. An-
cient and modern devils compared
(note), 182.
Dialogue between Friday and R. C. 180.
Dialogue between Will Atkins and R.C.319.
Diamond, chemical character of (note),
363. Mineralogical history of, ibid.
Commercial account of (note), 363, 4.
Account of the largest in the world (note),
366. Sketch of the diamond sent to the
King of Portugal from Brazil, 188.
Dioscorides, quoted (note), 36.
Difference between the english and french
foot (note), 160.
Discourse between the priest and R. C. 305.
Distressed situation of the crew of a Bar-
bados ship, 255, 257.
Dog, natural history of the (note), 135. Bri-
tish dogs, synopsis of, ibid. Used in Russia
as draught animals, 156. Dog feast, de-
scription of a (note), 156. Found on
board a wrecked vessel by R.C. 163.554.
Dolphin, zoological description of (note),
83. 551.
Don, definition of the title of (note), 424.
Doubloon, description of a (note), 166.
Dover, arrival at 238. Description of
(note), 238.
Downs, R. C. sails from the, 244. Descrip-
tion of the (note) 224.
Drayton, quoted (note), 451.
Dream, definition of a (note), 172. Law
suit arising from a (note), 326.
Drogheda, massacre at (in the year 1649),
351.
Dromedary, illustration of the term (note),
431.
Drowned boy, cast on shore on the island,
162.
Drunk, 512. 568.
Ducange quoted (note), 23.
Ducat, descriptive value of a (note), 34.
Dunkirk, brother of R. C. killed near, 1.
Description of the town of, (app.), 504.
Dutch, history of their trade, 37 1.
ship purchased, 376.
Ephesians quoted, 178.
Equinox, description of the (note), 67.
Eratosthenes quoted (note), 36.
Ermines, bought in Siberia, 477. Natural
history of (note), ibid.
Estate in Brazil sold, 240.
Eustace's tour through Italy quoted (note),
408, 409.
•
Excursion, trip, jaunt, ramble, tour, syno-
nyms, (note) 422.
Exodus quoted, 301.
Exotics naturalized in Jamaica, list of
(note), 207.
F.
Falconer quoted (note), iv, 5, 18, 44, 45,
47, 84, 347.
Falls in with a Portuguese ship, 33.
Farm, purchased in the county of Bedford,
by R. C. 241.
Father of Friday rescued, 193. Sails from
the island to rescue the shipwrecked
Spaniards, 202.
Fayal, portuguese ship driven to, 306.
Geographical description of (note), ibid.
Fernando de Noronha, description of,
(note), 42.
First voyage from the island, 128.
Firelock, definition of (note), 202.
Fletcher, (Mr.) his opinion of curing salt
provisions (note), 301.
Fleury, (Abbé de) definition of Pagan
(note), 182.
Flinders, (Capt.) his juvenile conduct in-
fluenced by R. C. ix.
Fox, zoological description of (note), 106.
Fontarabia, arrival at, 229. Description of
(note), ibid.
Fore-chains, definition of (note), 52.
Formosa, voyage to, 391. Account of
(note), 392.
Fortune, hap, luck, chance, considered as
synonyms (note), 463.
Francais de la Roche, (Jean), lands at.
Quebec (note), 248.
Franklin, (Dr.) observations on the art
of swimming (note), 50.
Dvina, description of the river (note), 486. Frederic 2d. opinion of shooting (note),263.
E.
East India Company, origin of (note), 362.
Earthquake felt, 80. Natural history of
(note), 81.
Eddy, natural definition of (note), 129,
Edwards, Bryan, account of the Koro-
mantin negroes (note), 283.
Elbe, arrival in the, 487. Description of
the (note), 487.
Friday rescued from the savages, 174.
His surprise at the firing of a gun, 178.
Discovers savages on the island, 192.
Rescues his father, 193. His joy at
meeting again with his father, 259. Killed
by the savages, 330. Committed to the
deep, 333.
Fustic tree, felled by
made of it, ibid.
the (note), 188.
Fuze, 454, 567,
R. C. 188. Canoe
Natural history of
573
G.
Galliczen (Prince), resident at Tobolski,
462.
Gambia, description of the river of (note),
29.
Galway, arrival at, 245. Description of
the town of (note), 245.
Ganganelli (Pope), anecdote of (note),
335.
Gassendus, his calculation of the velocity
of sound (note), 159.
Genesis quoted by R. C. 314, 337,
353.
Gentleman, etymology of (note), 463.
Gibbon quoted (note), 224, 568.
Glazing, difficulty of, experienced by R. C.
(note), 117. Definition of (note), ibid.
Gog, definition of (note), 450.
Goat discovered on the island, 65. Caught
in a trap, 132. Zoological description
of (note), ibid.
·
Gold, description of (note), 167. Chemi-
cal properties of, ibid.
Gongora, his lines on the river Manganares
(note), 228.
Goree, description of (note), 32.
Grape, natural history of the (note), 139.
Graving, definition of (note), 389.
Great Wall of China, description of the
(note), 434.
Grotto discovered on the island, 154.
Groyne, geographical description of (note),
227.
Ground tackle, definition of (note), 7.
Gudgeon, description of (note), 75.
Guinea, description of (note), 12, Pros-
perous voyage to, 14.
grains, description of (note), 38.
Guiana, description of, 45.
Gulph, etymology of (note), 354.
of Persia, arrival at, 355. Geo-
graphical account of (note), 354.
of Nanquin, arrival in the, 396.
Gunpowder (note), 64. 56.
Supposed to be invented by Polydori
Virgil, ibid. 545.
Guyton Morveau, experiments on char-
coal (note), 153.
H.
Habitation of R. C. described, 62, 63.
Haedo (D.), quoted (note), 16.
Hague, arrival at the, 492.
description and geographical site of
(note), 492.
Hales (Dr.), statistical essays quoted, 43.
Hammoc, description of (note), 58.
Harmer (Mr.), examination of the spawn
of a cod (note), 249.
Hartley's definition of a dream (note), 172.
Havanna, description of the (note), 165.
Hebrews quoted, 110, 337.
Henley (Mr.), his discovery respecting
chocolate (note), 166.
Henry's elements of chemistry, extract
from, xiii.
Herbert (Sir Thos.), extract from the
voyage of (note), 181.
Herodotus, quotation from greek text of
(app.), 518.
Herrera, founder of the name of Trinidad
(note), 181.
Hillel, jewish calendar fixed by, 159.
Hobbes, hypothesis of a dream (note), 172.
Hobgoblin, etymology of (note), 451.
Hoffinan quoted (note), 16, 206.
Horace quoted (note), 122, 314.
Hottentots, description of (note), 341.
Howard (Edward, Esq.), process for refine
ing sugar (note), 35.
House in China, description of a, 432.
Hudibras quoted (note), 91.
Hugonot, etymology of, 409.
Humber, storm on leaving the, 4. De-
scription of the (note), ibid.—(app.),
506.
Hull, account of (app.), 502.
Hume, his division of british wars (note),
343.
Hydrophobia, 550. 553.
I.
Iago, etymology of (note), 337.
Idol, etymology of (note), 309. Descrip-
tion of a Tartarian, 430. Destruction of
an, 455.
Idolator, etymology of (note), 314.
Indians, description of the (note), 81.
Indelible writing-ink, method of making
(note), 103.
Indulgences granted by the church of
Rome, account of (note), 261.
Information obtained from Friday of the
situation of the island, 180, 181.
Ink, composition of (note), 68. Method
of making (note), 69.
Ink-stains,method of discharging (note),217.
Inkle and Yarico, account of (note),326,327.
Inquisition, description of, 193. Decree
re-establishing the, ibid. Origin of, de-
scribed, 199. Auto-da-fé, description
of, 200.559.
Iron,mineralogical description of(note),302.
Iron-wood, botanical description of (note),
118.
Isaiah quoted, 35, 178.
Island,discovered by R.C.to be uninhabited,
57.
of despair, R. C.'s island so called
by him, 71.
574
J.
Jamaica, proposal of the mutineers to carry
the ship to, 207. Description of the
island of (note), 207. Its name derived
from Xamayca (note), 208.
Janezay, arrival at the town of, 458. De-
scription of the river of (uote), ibid.
Japan, description of the island of (note),
396. Coinage of, 476. Etymology, 567.
Jarawena, arrival at the city of, 457.
Jefferys (Tom), killed by the natives of
Madagascar, 347. His death revenged,
350. Conduct of R. C. on the occasion,351.
Jeremiah quoted, $5.
Job quoted, 224.
Johnson (Dr.), culogy of R. C. ix, xi.
John's gospel quoted, 124.
Jonah, the prophet quoted, 12.
Journey to Pekin, 423.
Journal de physique, experiments on char.
coal in the (note), 294.
Juice drawn from cedar to preserve books
(note), 122.
Julian, emperor, 492. 568.
Latin verses, ad ventos (app.), 508. On dogs,
555.
Law, account of the Chinese, 442. Speci-
men of chinese law, ibid. 443. 567.
Law-suit arising from a dream (uote), 326.
Lawrenskoy, arrival at the town of, 486.
Las Casas (Bartholomeo de), his account of
spanish cruelty (note), 283.
Latitude, geographical definition of the
(note), 14.
Lebanon, description of the cedar of (note),
122.
Le Cat, his contrivance of a hammoc
(note), 58.
Leeward islands, why so called (note), 46.
208. 560:
Left on shore in the bay of Bengal, 359.
Leopard killed by R. C. and Xury, 31. Na-
tural history of, ibid.
Leman and Oar banks described (note), 3.
Lemon, botanical description of (note), 99.
L'Estrange, extract from, 424.
Letter received by R.C. from the island,490.
Leviathan, described by Milton (app.), 512.
Junk, or jonk bought by R. C. 394. De- Lewenhoek, calculation of the spawn of a
scription of a (note),395.
K.
Kalendar begun by R. C. on the island, 67.
Kalmucks, description of the, 482.
Kama, caravan passes the river of, 478.
Description of the (note), 478.
Kings, book of, quoted, 126.
Kingston-upon-Hull, departure from, 3.
Historical and geographical description
of (note), ibid. Farther account, 502.
Kid (the pirate), account of, 359.
Knowles (Sir Charles), recipe for curing
salt-meat (note), 300.
Kongfoozee, history of (note), 338. His
morals, ibid.
Koromanun negroes, Bryan Edwards's ac-
count of (note), 283.
Kreutznaer, original family name corrupted
to Crusoe, 1.
Krusenstern, his account of voyages to the
Arctic ocean (note), 471.
L.
Ladder, description of a, invented by G.
W. Manby, Esq. (note), 63.
Lady of the sea, Britain so termed by Cam-
den, xiv.
Languedoc, journey through, 236. Geo-
graphical description of (note), ibid.
Dialect of, peculiar to itself, ibid,
Land-carriage in Russia described, 469.
Landing on the uninhabited island, 51, 52.
Lancaster (Sir James), Achin, first visited
by (note), 367.
cod (note), 249.
Liberty of conscience, 195. 198. 559.
Lisbon, arrival at, 219. Description of
(note), 219.
Linnæus quoted, xi.
Lion killed by R. C. 27. Natural history
of (note), ibid.-(app.), 526.
farther account of, 526.
List of exotics naturalized in Jamaica (note),
207.
Lockyer(Mr.), his account of arac(note),55.
Lodging, synonymy, 52. 545.
London, arrival at, 492.
historical account of (note), 492.
bridge (note), 494.
tower of (note), 195.
geographical site of (note), 496
Long-boat, description of (note), 17.
Longitude, geographical definition of (note),
45.
Lopez, cape of, 13. A corruption of Lope-
Gonsalvez (app.), 519.
Lucan quoted (note), 224.
Lucretius quoted (note), 172.
Luke (St.), quoted, 11, 12, 124, 356.
M.
Macao, intended visit to, 386. Description
of (note) 386, 387.
Madagascar, arrival at the island of, 343.
Description of the island (note) 343.
Signs of peace or war at, 346.
Madeiras, Portuguese ship bound to, 305.
Geographical description of (note), 305.
Madrid, arrival at 228. Description of
(note), 228.
575
1
Magdeburg, geographical description of Moidor, descriptive value of (note), 68.
the town of (note), 351.
Magog, definition of (note), 450.
Main, definition of (note), 120.
Malacca, detention in the straits of, 378.
Navigation of (note), ibid.
Malays, crew of the dutch ship attacked
by, 377. Account of the (note), ibid.
Malthiolus, quoted (note), 60.
Mandelslo, his account of Siam (note), 368.
Mançanares, description of the river (note),
228. Lines of Gongora on (note), ibid.
Manby, (G. W. Esq.) improvement in sys-
tem of saving shipwrecked persons 7, 9.
Ladder invented by him, 13.
Mandarin, definition of (note), 423. Lu-
dicrous description of a, 424.
Manillas, voyage to, 371. Supposed inis.
nomer on the part of R. C. (note), 371.
Marsden, his account of the Malays (note),
377.
Marriage, of R. C. 240.
-, summary performance of among
the Kalmuks, 485.
Maroco, R. C. carried prisoner into, 15.
Description of (note), 15.—(app.), 520.
Martinico, description of (note), 252.
Maryland, geographical description of
(note), 334.
Mariner's Compass, description, delineation
of the (note), 17.
Mawman's excursion toScotland quoted,500.
Maya, ship loaded with salt at, 306. Geo-
graphical description of the island of
(note), 306.
Meeting of R. C. at Lisbon with the old
Captain, 219,
Mercator's sea chart adopted in this work
frontispiece (preface) X, explanation of
(appendix) 497.
Menage, quoted (note), 23.
Merry Andrew, definition of (note), 424.
Mersenne, his calculation of the velocity
of sound (note), 139.
Mexico, licence granted to R. C.'s captain
to travel to, 415. Description of (note),
47, 415.
Method of determining the length of a
keel for tonnage (note), 246.
Milburn's oriental commerce quoted (note),
56, 60, 164.
Milton, quoted (note), 5, 251, 327, 422.
His definition of an Erudit (note), 299.
Description of the Leviathan (app.), 512.
Mineralogical history of the diamond
(note), 363.
Miscreant, etymology of, 445.
Missionary, history of the sect, (note),
310, 406, 407.
Mitchell, (Dr. John) quoted (note), 21.
Mogul, (the Great) description of the do-
minions of (note), 359.
Money, secondary value of 62, 124.
Monkies, employed in China in gathering
Tea, 468.
Monsoons, origin of the denomination of
385.
Mooley, thrown overboard by R. C. 20.
Morisco, definition of (note), 16, 17.
Moscow, description of (note), 472. Cas-
tle of, ibid. Ravages committed by the
French, account of the, 473.
Mosely, Dr. Benjamin, quoted, 523.
Musk, natural history of (note), 425.
Muscovy, entrance into, 448.
Mutineers killed 207. Left on the island,
217.
Mutiny of the ship in the bay of Bengal,358.
My own, definition of (note), 423.
N.
Names, origin of proper (note), 332.
Nanking, history of the city of, 419.
arrival in the gulph of, 396.
Narrative of the spaniard, 262, 298.
Narva, description of (note), 421.
Natives of Madagascar,battle with the,347.
Native of China, description of a, 424.
Naufragia quoted (Pierre Viaud), iv.
Naum, arrival at the city of 447,
Naval Chronicle, extract from the pros-
pectus of, xiv. Analytical account of
the (note), ibid.
Negros, history of the (note), 21.
, origin of the trade, 525.
Nertzinskoy, arrival at the city of, 450.
Description of (note), 450.
Newfoundland, arrival at the banks of, 253.
Description of (note), 248.
Nimmer, (african leopard), account of the
(app.)527.
Ningpo, account of the city of (note), 393
No Man's Land, arrival at, 440.
Nova Zembla, description of (note), 462.
Nutmeg, botanical account of (note), 375.
Observations on, by Dr. Schmideus
(note), 478.
0.
Oakum, description of (note), 78.
Oar bauk, nautical description of the
(note), 10.
Ob, description of the river, 459.
Observation, method of taking one at sea,
15.
Old style of reckoning the calendar sup-
pressed (note), 159.
Ogilby, John, description of Africa (note),
22.
Oliver, (Dr. John), quoted (note), 14.
576
Oowokakee, the clergy of Friday's coun-
try, 182.
Opium, botanical history of (note), 368.
Medicinal qualities of, 411.
Orange, botanical description of (note),
199.
Original preface to R. C. extract from,
111, v.
Origin of the East India Company (note),
362.
Orinooque (Orinoko), river, 46, 537.
Pottery, description of the manufactory of,
423.
Precautions adopted by R. C. in conse-
quence of the discovery of the man's
foot, 144.
Priest, narrative of the, 305. His discourse
with R. C. ibid.
Priestly, his experiments on charcoal (note),
152, 153.
Process-verbal, relative to the jewels of
France, 489.
Osman, founder of the Turks, account of, Property saved by R. C. from the wreck,
252.
Ostiachi, description of the, (note), 481.
Ovid quoted, 84.
P.
Pagan, definition of 182, 318,
Pamplona, arrival at, 229.
Departure
from, 230. Description of the city of,
229.
Paris, geography of (note), 227.
Parrot, ornithological description of (note),
106.
Pastel, description of (note), 116.
Patron, definition of (note, 16.
Pearl fishery at St. Martha, account of
the, 181.
Pekin, arrival at, 426.
Departure from, 429.
Described, ibid
Penguin, ornithology, 108.551.
Pepper, natural history of (note), 425.
People, definition of (note), 442.
Periagua, description of a (note), 121.
553.
Persius quoted, 122.
Persia, erroneous appellation of (note),
376.
Perspective glass, description of a (note)
67.
Piece of eight, definition of a (note), 33.
Pickel, definition of, 217.
Pingeron's, (Mr.) Translation of Sestini's
recipe for punch, 299.
Pirates, eastern seas infested by, 345, 359,
(note). Sell their ship to R. C. 376,
Plantation in Brazil, purchased by R. C.
36.
Pliny quoted (note), 122, 139.
Plumier, his definition of a hammoc, 58.
Pomponius Mela quoted (note), 25.
Porcelain, description of a house built with,
423.
Porto Bello, permission granted to R.C.'s
commander to travel by land to, 416. Ac-
count of the city of (note), ibid.
Portuguese ship fallen in with at sea,
33,
Potter's, (Dr.), opinion of the invention of
the anchor (note), 23
55, 56.
Prosperous state of R. C.'s affairs in the
Brazils, 224.
Proverbs quoted, 2. 282. 319. 401.567.568.
Psalms quoted, 93, 142.
Punch, composition of, 299.
royal, recipe for making, 299.
Purgatory, description of (note), 261.
Pyrenees, adventures among, 233, 235.
Q.
Quarrels between the Spaniards and muti-
neers, 265, 267.
Quarter, of ship, definition (note), 15.
Quebec, town of described, 247. Francis de
la Roche, Jean, lands at, 248.
Queries, (Dr. Derham's), relative to the law
of sounds, 160.
Quinchang, arrival at the port of, 397.
Quotations from the original edition of R.C.
xxi.
R.
Radcliffe quoted (note), 43.
Raft, formed from the shipwreck, 54. De-
finition of a (note), 54.
Ralegh Sir Walter, first imports tobacco
into England, 255.
Randall's (Mr.) narrative quoted (note), iv.
Recipes for the ague, 462.
Reflections on solitude, 66.
Reformation of the morals of the colony,
311, 313.
Rescue of the shipwrecked Spaniards pro-
posed, 197, 198.
Resolution to revisit the island, 243.
Return to Bengal, 369.
London from Bedfordshire, 242.
Revisit of R. C. to the island, 258.
Rice, natural history of (note), 53.
Ma-
thod of making bread of, ibid.
Rio de la Plata, description of (note), 196.
Right and left of a river, definition of
(note), 57.
Roberts, his calculation of the velocity of
sound, 159.
Robostiski (Prince), resident at Tobolski.
462.
577
Rochelle, geographical description of
(note), 227.
Roberval, his calculation of the velocity of
sound (note), 159.
Robinson Crusoe, veracity of the second
edition impeached, iv.
Beattie, viii.
Character of by Dr.
by Rousseau, viii.
Johnson, ix.
French translation of by
the Duchess of Luynes, (Appendix) 497.
Rohault, his definition of sleep (note), 169.
Romish ritual described (note), 406.
Rouppe's experiments on charcoal (note),
153.
Method
Ruggle quoted (note), 217, 230.
Rum, description of (note) 53.
of making, ibid.
Rumphius, method of curing nutmegs
(note), $75.
Runagate, definition of (note), 295, 551.
Runlet, explanation of (note), 77.
Russia, land-carriage in, described, 469.
Russian prince, R. C.'s adventures related
to a, 463.
Proposal of R. C. to rescue
him from exile, 474, 475.
S.
Sabbath, etymology of (note), 102.
Sable, zoological description of, 467.
value of the skins of the, 467.
Saint Christopher,described (note), 253.
Martha, description of, 181.
De-
ibid.
pearl fishery described, 181.
-Paul's church, London, geographical
site of (note), 496.
Salee, R. C. carried prisoner into, 15.
scription of the town of (note),
Farther particulars (upp.), 519.
Salt, chemical analysis of (note), 133.
Salt meat, various recipes for curing, 300.
Salmasius quoted, 60.
his definition of pagan (note), 82.
Samuel, quoted, 143.
Santa Cruz described (note), 26,
Savages discovered on the island, 157, 174,
190.
Scanderoon, geography of (note), 361.
Scaramouch, origin of the name of (note),
424.
Schmideus (Dr.), observations on nutmegs,
478.
Schwartz, Barthold, inventor of gunpowder
(note), 64.
Sen-sickness, philosophical account of
(app.), 509.
recipe for the relief of (app.),
511.
Robinson Crusoe.
(Nav.-Chron. Edit.]
Seal, natural history of (note), 74.
Search, definition of (note), 110.
Second departure from the island, 329.
Selkirk, (Alex.) superfluous importance
attached to his papers, vi. Verses, 549.
story of, revealed by
Capt. Woodes Rogers. vi.
Senhor, definition of (note), 33, 260.
Serious reflections, R.C.'s deposition in his,
ii. iv.
hall, iv.
entered at stationers-
Sestini's letters, recipe for making punch.
in (note), 299.
Schaks-oser, 455, 567.
Shakspeare, extracts from, 139, 231, 238.
Shaw, essay on distillation quoted (note),
54, 56.
Sheet anchor, description of (note), 17.
Sip, etymology of, 474.
wrecked on the uninhabited island,
161. Visited by R. C. 163.
ascertained by R. C. to be English,
204.
203.
discovered at anchor off the island,
captain of the, put on shore by the
mutineers, 205.
boat staved, 208.
taken possession of, 214.
on fire, discovered at sea, 240.
Shipping of China, degraded state of, 240.
Siam, account of (note), 567.
Siberia, description of, 458.
banishment to described, 466.
Siberians, R. C. and the caravan attacked
by, 482.
Sinbad the sailor, reference to (note), iv.
Simon (father), account of, 409.
Signs of peace and war in the island of
Madagascar, 316.
Sketch of the dress of R. C. 156.
of the diamond sent to the king of
Portugal, from Brazil, 480.
Skiff, definition of (note), 248.
Slave trade, ongin of (note), 224.
Sleep, definition of (note), 169.
Sloop, fitted out at Brazti, 3.4.
Smythe (Adm. Sir William Sidney). juve-
nile conduct of, influenced by R. C. ix.
Snuff-taking, vicious hint of (app.), 528.
Solitary reflections of R. C. 170.
Soly-Kamaskny, account of, 478.
Son of the russ. an exiled Price, rescued
from banishment by R. C. 478.
Sound, description of (note), 159.
PP
velocity of, calculated by Roberval,
159. By Gassendus, ibid. Mersenne,
ibid. Duhamel, ibid. Academy del C:-
mento, ibid. Boyle, ibid. Roberts, ibid
Walker, 160. Sir Isaac Newton, ibid,
Dr. Derham, ibid.
578
South Sea, geographical description of, Terentius Varro Atacinus quoted (note), 60.
(note), 473.
Spanish cruelty, specimen of, 283. Vindi-
cated, 284, 559.
192.
Spaniards, history of the (note), 371,
Spaniard rescued from the savages,
sails from the island to rescue
his countrymen, 202.
Specimen of chinese law, 442.
Staunton's account of the chinese law, 443,
Start, geographical situation of (note), 226.
Stavorinus, J. S. description of a junk, 395.
State of the island on revisiting it by R. C.
259.
Sterling, definition of (note), 37. Various
opinions respecting it ibid. Ascribed by
Camden to Richard I. 529.
•
Sterne, quoted (note), 448.
Stoics, history of the sect of the (note), 134.
Storm near the Humber, 4.
Strait of Malacca, detention there, 378.
Subtlety of Friday, 184.
Sugar, natural history of (note), 35, 59.
Sugar Cane, discovered in India by Near-
chvs (note), 36.
-european manufacture of (app.) 527.
Sumatra, description of the island of (note),
362.
Surat, description of the city of (note), 360.
Surprise of R. C. occasioned by the view
of a man's foot, 140.
Supercargo, R. C. accepts the situation of
a, 41. Definition of the term (note), 41.
Susham, 368, 567.
Swimining, practical observations on by Dr.
Franklin (note), 50.
Synopsis of british dogs (note), 135.
T.
Table of the velocity of the wind (note), 43.
Tamoosi, god so called by the Caribeans
(note), 120, 182.
Tarshish, ship of, 12. Investigation of its
situation (app.), 518.
Tartar, definition of (note), 266.
description of the, 438, 480.
attack upon the, by R. C. and the
members of the caravan, 440.
Shot by the portuguese Pilot, 441.
Idol destruction of the, 455.
Tartary, entrance into 437.
Taylor, original MS. of R. C. purchased by
iii. R.C.'s serious reflections entered at
stationers hall by, iv.
Tea account of (note), 397. Method of
preserving the seeds from china, 402.
Monkies employed in gathering in
China, 468.
Telescope, description of (note), 67.
Teneriffe, described (note), 26, 526.
---, Reference to N. C. concerning,526.
1.
Theophrastus, the first who had a know-
ledge of sugar (note), 56.
Thuanus quoted (note), 15.
Tides, definition of (note), 52.
Tobolski, description of the city of, 459.
Cheap living there, 459.
Departure from, 478.
Tobacco, botanical history of (note), 36.
When first discovered, ibid.
brought from Lisbon by Nicot, 36.
original name given to it by Fer-
nandez de Toledo, 36.
antipathy of James I. to, 220.
-, laudatory verses on, (app.). 528.
Tobacco-pipe, 162, 559.
Ton, definition of (note), 246.
Tonquin, arrival in the bay of, 388.
account of (note), 384.
Torbay, geographical description of (note);
226.
Tornado, description of a (note), 42.
Toulouse, arrival at, 236. Geographical
description of (note), 236.
Tow-line, nautical definition of (note), 347.
Trade-winds, account of the (note), 385.
Trading voyage to China resolved on, 360.
Travels of R. C. to London by land, 12.
Treaty entered into by R. C. with the cap-
tain of the english ship, 206.
Trinidad, R. C.'s island in the vicinity
of, 180.
description of the island of (note),
180, 296.
181.
discovered by Columbus, 181.
Herrera's account of its name,
Trumpet (speaking), invention of the
(note), 382.
Tumen, 478.
Turk, definition of (note), 251.
Tweddell (John), quoted, 456, 472.
Turtle, zoological description of (note), 86.
manner of dressing, 87, 268.
Two savages killed, 174.
U.
Uninhabited island, R. C. wrecked upon,
47, 48, 49.
Unitarians, act for the relief of, 559.
Uranolites, descent of examined, 65.
V.
Varro quoted (note), 36.
Vasco (Nunez de Balbao), his discovery of
the South sea (note), 414.
Vernon's (admiral), recipe for curing salt
meat (note), 300.
Veuslima, arrival at the town of, 486.
Victory obtained by R. C. over the muti-
neers, 206, 207.
579
Visit of R. C to the wrecked vessel, 52. Wolf, described by Shakespeare, 560.
Second visit, 58.
natural history of (note), 230.
the cannibals to the island dis- Wollaston, on sea-sickness, 509.
covered, 146.
Virginia, county of, described (note), 255.
Tobacco first imported, ibid.
Volga, river (note), 428, 484, 567.
Voltaire, anecdote of, 335.
Voyage to the coast of Cochin-china, 385.
W.
/
Woodes-Rogers (captain), reveals the
story of Selkirk, vi.
Writing, 452,567.
Wound by mad-dog may be washed with
soft soap, 558.
X.
Walker's calculation of the velocity of Xaymayca, ancient name of Jamaica (note),
sound (note), 169.
Waves, physiology of (app.) 508.
Weights and measures, 112, 552.
White's (Mr.), description of dogs fat-
tened for the table in China, 156.
Whitfield, late Bell's, petition to the House
of Commons (app.), 515.
Wichman (Von), statement of the size of
the russian monarchy, 449.
Wild-cat, natural history of (note), 73.
killed by R. C. ibid.
Will Atkins solicits the pardon of his cap-
tain, 212.
dialogue between R.C. and,319.
death of, 491.
William K. act of, against blasphemy re-
pealed, 559.
Wind, tables of the velocity of (note), 43.
physiology of, 507. Latin verses,
ad ventos, 508.
Winterton, description of (app.), 517.
Winterton-ness, description of (note), 9.-
(app.), 516.
Wolfius' opinion of a dream (note), 172.
Wolf, attacks R. C. in the Pyrenees,
230. Killed by Friday, ibid.
207.
Xury leaves Salee, 21.
affection of, towards R. C. 24.
sold to a portuguese captain, 34.
Y.
Yard-arms, definition of (note), 216.
Yamour, description of the river of, 449.
Yarmouth, arrival at, 6.
description of the town of (note),
6.-(app.), 512.
Yarmouth-road, arrival at, 6.
Yeast, description of (note), 114.
premium offered for the discovery
of a substitute for, 114.
method of making, 114.
York, R. C.'s birth-place, 1. Description of
(app.),498.
Z.
Zaharah, description of the desert of (note),
26.
Zenith,geographical definition of (note),110.

J. S. S. 1814
finis.
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